Mar 18, 2024 21:08:14 GMT iron maiden said:

Got a nice surprise today in that I received another raise...and a bonus. Now I won't see the bonus until end of Sept which is kind of weird to me seeing as that's our year end and it was based on our performance for the year before, but I'm not complaining. I wish it were a pre tax bonus though cause I lose 40% of it, but again just an observation, not a complaint.

That means in 2 years I've gotten 3 raises, an extra week vacay, I work 90% of the time from home and I got a bonus. Plus they are paying me back for my current schooling to the tune of 14K. Makes me think back to all those years with no raises, working 16+ hour days with no OT and finally I feel I'm with a company who treats it's workers decently. Of course it's definitely not all monetary, but it sure helps.

You are obviously a very valuable employee, just by our interactions on PW I have zero doubt you are an amazingly productive person

Credit to your company for being able to recognise this.

Mar 18, 2024 22:52:53 GMT Gyro LC said:

Mar 18, 2024 21:08:14 GMT iron maiden said:

Got a nice surprise today in that I received another raise...and a bonus. Now I won't see the bonus until end of Sept which is kind of weird to me seeing as that's our year end and it was based on our performance for the year before, but I'm not complaining. I wish it were a pre tax bonus though cause I lose 40% of it, but again just an observation, not a complaint.

That means in 2 years I've gotten 3 raises, an extra week vacay, I work 90% of the time from home and I got a bonus. Plus they are paying me back for my current schooling to the tune of 14K. Makes me think back to all those years with no raises, working 16+ hour days with no OT and finally I feel I'm with a company who treats it's workers decently. Of course it's definitely not all monetary, but it sure helps.

That's great news, congrats. An end-year bonus being 9 months late seems kinda weird, but... maybe Canada? When does fiscal year in Canada end?

Fiscal year end here is March 31. Which means the next 8ish weeks are gonna suuuuuuck for me but this is the positivity thread, so way to go iron maiden! I also got a raise, hooray! 

Mar 18, 2024 22:52:53 GMT Gyro LC said:

Mar 18, 2024 21:08:14 GMT iron maiden said:

Got a nice surprise today in that I received another raise...and a bonus. Now I won't see the bonus until end of Sept which is kind of weird to me seeing as that's our year end and it was based on our performance for the year before, but I'm not complaining. I wish it were a pre tax bonus though cause I lose 40% of it, but again just an observation, not a complaint.

That means in 2 years I've gotten 3 raises, an extra week vacay, I work 90% of the time from home and I got a bonus. Plus they are paying me back for my current schooling to the tune of 14K. Makes me think back to all those years with no raises, working 16+ hour days with no OT and finally I feel I'm with a company who treats it's workers decently. Of course it's definitely not all monetary, but it sure helps.

That's great news, congrats. An end-year bonus being 9 months late seems kinda weird, but... maybe Canada? :lol: When does fiscal year in Canada end?

Depends on the company. Ours is Oct 1-Sept 30 but some run calendar year. Yeah I don’t get the delay either but hey whatever.

Thanks for the kind words and kudos everyone and congrats Foos!

I put my pay up this week too! (Actually I put everyone's pay up) Yay us... Pay rises all round.
Congrats Foos!

Pay rise for me too this month. Probably still going backwards considering inflation is supposedly 3% even though everything is at least twice as expensive as it used to be, but yeah whatever economics and all that.

Anyway, my real motivation for this post was to talk about how it's occurred to me that I have been dehydrated my entire life. :lol: It probably sounds foolish but I always thought that the idea of drinking 2 litres of water a day was something that people say but no one did. I've been having increasing issues with allergies in the last couple of years, and the other day read that drinking more water is something you can do to help ease symptoms. A couple of my colleagues have been talking non-stop about their Owala water bottles (apparently they're big on tiktok) so I bought one and for the last couple of weeks I have been drinking 2 litres plus every day - and it's significantly reduced how much I'm coughing and sneezing! I've also noticed how much better my skin is looking and feeling, so it's a win all around.

Also Neil Young's put his music back on Spotify. So plenty of positives at the moment :cheer:

Apr 15, 2024 22:47:20 GMT @admin said:

Pay rise for me too this month. Probably still going backwards considering inflation is supposedly 3% even though everything is at least twice as expensive as it used to be, but yeah whatever economics and all that.

Anyway, my real motivation for this post was to talk about how it's occurred to me that I have been dehydrated my entire life. :lol: It probably sounds foolish but I always thought that the idea of drinking 2 litres of water a day was something that people say but no one did. I've been having increasing issues with allergies in the last couple of years, and the other day read that drinking more water is something you can do to help ease symptoms. A couple of my colleagues have been talking non-stop about their Owala water bottles (apparently they're big on tiktok) so I bought one and for the last couple of weeks I have been drinking 2 litres plus every day - and it's significantly reduced how much I'm coughing and sneezing! I've also noticed how much better my skin is looking and feeling, so it's a win all around.

Also Neil Young's put his music back on Spotify. So plenty of positives at the moment :cheer:

Every girl in my daughters grade 5 class has a $70 Frank Green water bottle. The school has a uniform to try and level the playing field but kids always find away to establish status.

I of course caved and bought one for my eldest.

Apr 15, 2024 23:37:18 GMT iNCY said:

Apr 15, 2024 22:47:20 GMT @admin said:

Pay rise for me too this month. Probably still going backwards considering inflation is supposedly 3% even though everything is at least twice as expensive as it used to be, but yeah whatever economics and all that.

Anyway, my real motivation for this post was to talk about how it's occurred to me that I have been dehydrated my entire life. :lol: It probably sounds foolish but I always thought that the idea of drinking 2 litres of water a day was something that people say but no one did. I've been having increasing issues with allergies in the last couple of years, and the other day read that drinking more water is something you can do to help ease symptoms. A couple of my colleagues have been talking non-stop about their Owala water bottles (apparently they're big on tiktok) so I bought one and for the last couple of weeks I have been drinking 2 litres plus every day - and it's significantly reduced how much I'm coughing and sneezing! I've also noticed how much better my skin is looking and feeling, so it's a win all around.

Also Neil Young's put his music back on Spotify. So plenty of positives at the moment :cheer:

Every girl in my daughters grade 5 class has a $70 Frank Green water bottle. The school has a uniform to try and level the playing field but kids always find away to establish status.

I of course caved and bought one for my eldest.

Love this, what colour combo did she get? 

Apr 15, 2024 23:37:18 GMT iNCY said:

Apr 15, 2024 22:47:20 GMT @admin said:

Pay rise for me too this month. Probably still going backwards considering inflation is supposedly 3% even though everything is at least twice as expensive as it used to be, but yeah whatever economics and all that.

Anyway, my real motivation for this post was to talk about how it's occurred to me that I have been dehydrated my entire life. It probably sounds foolish but I always thought that the idea of drinking 2 litres of water a day was something that people say but no one did. I've been having increasing issues with allergies in the last couple of years, and the other day read that drinking more water is something you can do to help ease symptoms. A couple of my colleagues have been talking non-stop about their Owala water bottles (apparently they're big on tiktok) so I bought one and for the last couple of weeks I have been drinking 2 litres plus every day - and it's significantly reduced how much I'm coughing and sneezing! I've also noticed how much better my skin is looking and feeling, so it's a win all around.

Also Neil Young's put his music back on Spotify. So plenty of positives at the moment

Every girl in my daughters grade 5 class has a $70 Frank Green water bottle. The school has a uniform to try and level the playing field but kids always find away to establish status.

I of course caved and bought one for my eldest.

$70! For a water bottle? Does it make lunch for them daily, do their homework? Sounds like this company has a good racket going. 

I would have caved too.

Congrats on your pay raise and lack of dehydration @admin. 

Apr 15, 2024 23:48:28 GMT iron maiden said:

Apr 15, 2024 23:37:18 GMT iNCY said:

Every girl in my daughters grade 5 class has a $70 Frank Green water bottle. The school has a uniform to try and level the playing field but kids always find away to establish status.

I of course caved and bought one for my eldest.

$70! For a water bottle? Does it make lunch for them daily, do their homework? 

I would have caved too.

No but you can sip from the straw and chug from the spout! 

Apr 15, 2024 23:44:54 GMT @admin said:

Apr 15, 2024 23:37:18 GMT iNCY said:

Every girl in my daughters grade 5 class has a $70 Frank Green water bottle. The school has a uniform to try and level the playing field but kids always find away to establish status.

I of course caved and bought one for my eldest.

Love this, what colour combo did she get? 

It's a light green with a pastel pink lid and gold metal straw... It's pretty well made but still a total rort, but I'm a shocker when it comes to my girls

Apr 16, 2024 0:02:35 GMT iNCY said:

Apr 15, 2024 23:44:54 GMT @admin said:

Love this, what colour combo did she get? 

It's a light green with a pastel pink lid and gold metal straw... It's pretty well made but still a total rort, but I'm a shocker when it comes to my girls

Do I have the taste of a 10 year old girl? Possibly...

Apr 16, 2024 0:15:30 GMT @admin said:

Apr 16, 2024 0:02:35 GMT iNCY said:

It's a light green with a pastel pink lid and gold metal straw... It's pretty well made but still a total rort, but I'm a shocker when it comes to my girls

Do I have the taste of a 10 year old girl? Possibly...

😂 Love it!

I also got a pay raise and promotion this month for a job I’ve been doing for a year.

Stanley mugs were a fad here, are those water bottles the Aussie version?

Think I’m also getting promoted this week, though the pay structure that they’ve put out there suggests it’s a lot of work for a title bump and insignificant pay increase so I’ve already floated turning the opportunity down if there’s not at least a 10% increase in it.

Would be a little less middle management, so that’d be nice. Also three work from home days a week will cut 300 miles a week out of my commute.

Apr 16, 2024 1:28:25 GMT mikec said:

Think I’m also getting promoted this week, though the pay structure that they’ve put out there suggests it’s a lot of work for a title bump and insignificant pay increase so I’ve already floated turning the opportunity down if there’s not at least a 10% increase in it.

Would be a little less middle management, so that’d be nice. Also three work from home days a week will cut 300 miles a week out of my commute.

The work from home benefit would probably equal the pay raise with the saved gas consumption, wear and tear on your vehicle, and added personal time of not having to travel so much. Or maybe not. After not being able to work from home since late 2021, it's something that I deeply miss and value a lot. Except my job is amazing, so I can't look for something else. 

Congrats to all of the pay raises and promotions around! We should have a PW party! 

Apr 16, 2024 1:28:25 GMT mikec said:

Think I’m also getting promoted this week, though the pay structure that they’ve put out there suggests it’s a lot of work for a title bump and insignificant pay increase so I’ve already floated turning the opportunity down if there’s not at least a 10% increase in it.

Would be a little less middle management, so that’d be nice. Also three work from home days a week will cut 300 miles a week out of my commute.

Like Foos said, the not having to pay for fuel and your time in traffic is a pay rise.
I also think the better title is worth more than you think. If you ever move to the private sector your title will mean a lot for how you get paid, even if it doesn't now.

Apr 16, 2024 1:39:17 GMT iNCY said:

Apr 16, 2024 1:28:25 GMT mikec said:

Think I’m also getting promoted this week, though the pay structure that they’ve put out there suggests it’s a lot of work for a title bump and insignificant pay increase so I’ve already floated turning the opportunity down if there’s not at least a 10% increase in it.

Would be a little less middle management, so that’d be nice. Also three work from home days a week will cut 300 miles a week out of my commute.

Like Foos said, the not having to pay for fuel and your time in traffic is a pay rise.
I also think the better title is worth more than you think. If you ever move to the private sector your title will mean a lot for how you get paid, even if it doesn't now.

My title is made up and ambiguous. If I ever move to the private sector I'll have some explaining to do as an Assessment and Funding Specialist :lol: 

It’s a significant increase in work and responsibility.

I don’t doubt that I’ll appreciate the savings from the commute (I go through cars pretty quick because of the job), but my current employer and I are already on uneasy terms after they hired someone a level below me at a higher starting wage last year.

Great news - a new breakthrough to make vaccines much more effective news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/04/15/vaccine-breakthrough-means-no-more-chasing-strains



“ Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. ”

Apr 16, 2024 1:44:50 GMT mikec said:

It’s a significant increase in work and responsibility.

I don’t doubt that I’ll appreciate the savings from the commute (I go through cars pretty quick because of the job), but my current employer and I are already on uneasy terms after they hired someone a level below me at a higher starting wage last year.

Accepted the promotion with a pay increase that was double what I had put out there for what I wanted, and they’re transitioning me to the new pay early even though I’ll have to do my current job during the transition.

Apr 18, 2024 7:52:47 GMT Gyro LC said:

Great news - a new breakthrough to make vaccines much more effective news.ucr.edu/articles/2024/04/15/vaccine-breakthrough-means-no-more-chasing-strains



“ Scientists at UC Riverside have demonstrated a new, RNA-based vaccine strategy that is effective against any strain of a virus and can be used safely even by babies or the immunocompromised. ”

What makes this exciting is if this works and we can do it for most vaccines, we do not need mandates anymore or to maintain herd immunity levels.

Apr 22, 2024 18:03:11 GMT mikec said:

Accepted the promotion with a pay increase that was double what I had put out there for what I wanted, and they’re transitioning me to the new pay early even though I’ll have to do my current job during the transition.

Good for you.  Grats.

In Vegas we went to The Pinball Museum. Lots of great old pinball and arcade games. Not all working. It’s one guys’ collection. Doesn’t cost to get in just to play.

Here’s a couple of faves:

imgur.com/a/ZjBTwXE

May 1, 2024 0:31:03 GMT iron maiden said:

In Vegas we went to The Pinball Museum. Lots of great old pinball and arcade games. Not all working. It’s one guys’ collection. Doesn’t cost to get in just to play.

Here’s a couple of faves:

imgur.com/a/ZjBTwXE

Nice we went there in January since my BIL is a huge pinball fan. I had to play some DDR as well.

There was a newer Elvira one I think was my favorite and a WWE Royal Rumble one that at one point there were balls flying at me from everywhere. That sounds bad if you take it out of context. :lol:

May 1, 2024 19:36:30 GMT iron maiden said:

There was a newer Elvira one I think was my favorite and a WWE Royal Rumble one that at one point there were balls flying at me from everywhere. That sounds bad if you take it out of context. :lol:

What happens in Vegas....

I ended up drunk in a fountain. Does that count?

May 1, 2024 23:10:20 GMT iron maiden said:

I ended up drunk in a fountain. Does that count?

Stood in, fell in, or both?

I guess stood. I climbed in myself.

Smashlynn my vacation alter ego is A LOT. That's why I said one more day in Vegas I would have died or been in jail. I'm good and mostly responsible the rest of the time, but vacation...all bets are off.

Finally have some good news after my car accident last month.

Oh, yeah, I got in a car accident at the start of April. Nobody got hurt but my car is totaled and I have to go to court in two weeks because I was panicking after the accident and thought the car was uninsured.

But anyway, my folks have been able to help me find a car, which is still in Connecticut, but it's in really good condition, especially for three grand. My dad's mechanic friend is looking it over and my dad really trusts him, so if he says it's good, it'll be good. And my parents found my checkbook and they're gonna mail that to me, so when that gets to me I'll turn around and mail the check back to them. Plus I just got my federal tax rebate, I got my Illinois tax rebate in the mail, and I get paid next Friday. So hopefully with all of that, the car and the carrier service that'll deliver it to where I currently live won't eat into my savings much, if at all. I've been having to take the bus everywhere the last month, but soon enough this'll all be behind me.