Halfway Between the End of Summer and Fall

Or thirteen days until "official" fall, although I've felt it in the air for a few weeks now. And yay.

This is the time when I was expecting to be paid for three jobs I finished, one in July and two in August. But, alas, it is my fate to wait. As usual.

I wish that they would set up a regular payment schedule, like the 1st and the 15th, that way when those dates pass, and I haven't received a check in the mail, I know the client hasn't yet paid, and I can simply look to the 1st for the next payment cycle.

Instead, it's willy-nilly, whenever someone has time (or is in the mood) to process payables to the sub-contracters.

A bookkeeper was hired in July which was supposed to mitigate this scattered approach at bookkeeping and paying it's staff, but that has not been the case.

I'm disappointed.

I've talked to many people about this, some small business owners, and they've all agreed with me that this is not a good business model. The first thing you pay is payroll. The End.

I once worked for a transcription service who had mis-billed a large client $4,000 instead of $40,000. The owner gathered us all together and told us she wouldn't be able to make payroll and she wasn't sure when, but at least two weeks. All while she owned the building we worked in and should have had an emergency escrow account for just such situations, and drove to work in her Mercedes Benz 450SL two-seater convertible while we had conversations with our landlords, and scoured our cupboards for whatever was left. Uh, yeah, that went over well with the staff. NOT.

Within the month, more than half of us had quit. I had to be nasty to get my last paycheck. I didn't deposit it, but cashed it at a check cashing service for a small fee. Every check I received from this employer was written on a different bank--I wasn't taking any chances. A week or so later, I received a call from my former employer, yeah, I'd found a new job, to tell me they were sorry, but the check was going to bounce. I told her--the owner's cousin *rolleyes*--that I had cashed it at Alligator ASS check cashing...there was a pause on the other end of the phone as she thought of the repercussions of that particular business coming after them--and charging them beau-coup fees, more than I would have. Heh.

So I'm not DYING (that I know of), or going to be evicted, or starve, or even have our internet or cable TV turned of...BUT, the waiting is unpleasant. Fortunately, I don't rely on this money for a living, but for extras, like my cell phone and the cable (which I ordered and pay for because my husband is just not a TV watcher), and maybe out to eat once in a while (with a BOGO coupon, of course).

No, but it still stings to wait. It makes me feel marginalized and unimportant, and I don't like that.

One job I finished July 18th, I checked. The client has 30 days to pay, so even with a little cushion time, I should've had a check last week. But nope. No check.

I could quit with only a small impact to my lifestyle, but I really enjoy what I'm doing. I just really dislike being at the bottom of the barrel.

I will, I think, continue to put out feelers for freelance work from other sources.

OK, rant over.

Thank you..

PS: Retinologist and oncology appointments have been moved to October as both my husband and I have been, and are still, sick with a nasty version of bronchitis. It's going on two weeks, and we're still coughing and feeling lousy. Ugh. ***

RESPONSE TO COMMENTER HDSILVERSMITH--For whatever reason, I am unable to leave comments on this, my own blog. So here is my reply:

I agree wholeheartedly. It makes me cry, also. A "come-to-Jesus" moment is in the making. But not yet. I was hoping you-know-who would have a job by now so I would have more stable ground to stand on, but it's not happening. I will never be able to go back to work in a corporate environment. Not physically, not emotionally, not psychically,so for now, I wait. But the moment I feel I can speak up, and live with any consequences, such as never working for them again, I will.

I have a contract, but it doesn't include any clients I find on my own, only current clients. So there's that. And either side may nullify the contract at any point. So, we'll see.

They're nice people, but really lousy business people.

I'm on several other freelance sites (like elance, which pays so very low, mein gott,) and I've not gotten any work as of yet.