Teetering on the brink

EatingBeans

Hi D, thanks for giving a different perspective.

The thing is I don’t work for the civil service and our rules are very different. I had it confirmed to me previously by HR that I get 4 weeks full pay when returning to work despite working part time. Reduced pay would normally kick in if I continued to work part time after four weeks but it would be a permanent renegotiation of my contract. In my case the only reason I want to continue only doing two days is I have five and a half weeks annual leave to use up and they will only pay me for a max of two weeks on termination. Even my line manager agreed that they shouldn’t be using up my annual leave to cover the return to work period but he thought that is what I had asked them to do so he was just going with it. It might just be crossed wires somewhere in the background as it seems to be a conversation bouncing from one person to the next, to the next, probably with a bit of reinterpretation along the way since the HR rep is on holiday, but I intend to be paid what I am entitled to rather than less just because it is easier to understand. I am not trying to get anything more than what my contract says I am owed, if they choose to give me no work to do that’s on them (I gave them a heads up a month ago that I would likely be returning on 1st April). I am not going to lie, the calculation is complicated because I work compressed hours so my work pattern is all over the place at the best of times, and there is a complication that I could potentially lose some of the untaken annual leave as I am past a cut off for carrying over annual leave from last year, but that still should be enough for me to be paid full pay for both remaining months and still have some paid out in lieu at the end. I just need the HR lady to come back and help get us all on the same page.

The reality is if there is a difference that needs to be made up then I would choose to work more hours rather than take more leave. I didn’t agree to them just using my leave so I will not be happy if they decide to use it just because it suits them.

EatingBeans

Had a lovely walk at the park today with Little dog and dd2. The weather was glorious. It was absolutely packed with families, cyclists and dog walkers but Little dog was very good and mostly managed to walk to heel for the best part of an hour past almost all the people without reacting. 🎉 I still hate having to put her in a muzzle every time I take her out (because she very obviously hates it), but it does help people to understand she needs space so I guess it is worth it. I still very much doubt she would actually bite anyone unless a dog actively went for her first but I’d rather not find out the hard way that I am wrong. One thing’s for sure, it is a hell of a lot easier walking each dog by themselves than it is trying to walk them together! Fingers crossed I will be able to walk them more now the weather is nice and the TN is a lot better, then hopefully at some point this summer we can get to the stage where I can walk the pair together and not come back with blisters! 😬

badmemory

But you know that if she isn't muzzled some small dog & their idiot owner will do something stupid & your dog will get all the blame because she is bigger. The other name for the muzzle is insurance. A sad necessity. I used to own a very friendly but total nutcase. Once we moved away from the forest we were reduced to hours of ball chasing in the garden & the hallway.

ArtyJ931

I’ve also been there with a dog who was a small white fluffy ball of reactivity. I suspect she was from a puppy farm. Had to be muzzled and on lead because she would bite the many many people who ignored my warnings and bent down to pet her. She would never go for anyone else but nobody ever left her alone as she looked so cute and not at all dangerous.

Walking a little fluffy white dog with a muzzle on was quite something else lol

biggerpickle

You must be so pleased to have the pain under control @EatingBeans ! I do hope you get your work pay sorted out soon so not to add to the stress. How long do you have left?

EatingBeans

Not much progress on getting agreement on my hours and pay just yet - mainly because people are on holiday tbf (it is half turn after all). I have a meeting tomorrow to at least start the conversation so we will see.

As for the muzzle thing, I think we just need to accept that as the price for walks sadly. 😞 It was Little dog’s turn again this morning and she seemed ok with it most of the time so I didn’t feel so bad. It was super busy everywhere due to the glorious weather so she was on lead for the whole time (over an hour), and she pottered along past everyone except a couple that walked up close behind us whilst we waited at some traffic lights. Dogs though were a different matter. She needed to be a good 10 meters away from any dogs in order to remain calm. Thankfully we managed to avoid all the off-lead dogs enough not to end up being accosted, but she still pulled a bit to get to a few that were on lead but still got too close. 😞 I hate flexi-leads! That said, I am extremely grateful that as a general rule she doesn’t pull on the lead (unlike her brother who needs a halti atm), so taking her for a walk can actually be quite pleasant if I am careful where I go. 😊

Big dog got to stay home this morning, but don’t worry he had his turn yesterday and has spent the whole morning happily snoozing instead.

My feet on the other hand have not had a days rest and boy I can tell I haven’t walked much recently! I actually have blisters and had to put plasters on just to go for my walk today! Absolute madness for just taking the dog out for a potter, but that’s what happens when you don’t do anything for months on end. It’s not stopping me though - I am determined to see some of the outside world this summer. 💪

Which reminds me, I don’t know if I mentioned it previously but the van had to go in for its MOT yesterday. It failed - I knew it would - but I was praying that it wasn’t terminal as I am desperate to use it to travel around the country and see a bit whilst I am waiting for a new job to come along. Well, I now have to wait until the 14th to get it fixed (where I will find out exactly what is going to cost), but current estimate is about £500. Now, normally I would be devastated to have a vehicle need that much work done to pass its MOT, but actually I am pretty pleased. Most of the things that need doing are what I consider ‘consumables’ (tires and a bulb), then there is the fix for the airbag light being on (the thing I knew it would fail on), and that leaves only one item that crept in - a small part on the suspension - so that’s pretty good imo. I mean, it is still £500 but hey, it’s totally worth it to have the van another year. 😁

EatingBeans

Oh and I also forgot to say - I applied for a job yesterday! It’s not quite as much money as I was on but it sounds like a job I might actually enjoy so I thought it worth it. It is for a Product Owner role which I think I am much more suited to. I worked in a similar role around 8 years ago and I have missed the ownership element ever since. If I get it that would be awesome as my lump sum leavers payment would then make a significant dent in the debt but I am not stressing too much as I still have time to find something and I am actually looking forward to travelling a bit first. It’s kind of a win either way. 😁

Cherryfudge

It also shows those jobs are out there, and what perfect timing as your health improves!

EatingBeans

omg I ache so bad! Day 4 of joining dd2 on one of her hour long daily walks and not only have I got blisters but everything aches! This morning we started at 7:30am in order to get it in before I work all day and my body doesn’t know what’s hit it. 😬 Big dog was very happy to join us this morning and even got a little bit of off lead time which he thoroughly enjoyed. It is so nice to finally see a bit of the world again! The new tablets are very good at killing the pain just so long as I remember to take them! My memory is so shocking that left to my own devices I either forget to take them or I do take them and then cannot recall if I have taken them or not. 😬 Thankfully I got a pill box for a recent present and I’ve finally started using it. Now I can at least check to see if I have taken it, and, as an added bonus, it is now easy to remember to take my supplements to as I just portion everything out at the start of the week and I grab them all together. I don’t know if they are actually doing me any good but I do know that I feel a lot better so I’m just going with it. 😁

Cherryfudge

An hour of walking is a lot when you've been stuck indoors as long as you have! I put a handful of Epsom salts in the bath when I've done more exercise but a doctor friend says she thinks the hot water might be the active agent. Perhaps something to look forward to later!

And you also get the morning daylight which is so good for us, so it's a win/win (apart from aching, but it's probably a good ache, if I may put it that way).