June 07, 2007: End of Week One Back At Work

Well, I must say it has been pretty good this week. Monday was wading through over 1200 e-mail. That was a trip because I couldn't respond to any until I deleted or moved many of them. I was way over the 90K of storage I am allowed. I had 120K. The result is they don't allow you to send e-mail until you remedy the usage. That took most of the day.

Actually talking to folks took MOST of the day. I mean the e-mail work took most of my "work day". But then I came home to find a letter in my mail box from the FMLA Unit (Family Medical Leave Act) at my work. They stated that they sent me the forms on May 3rd and as of the May 28 they had not received them. I have 2 days after returning to work to submit the form or my time off may not be protected. That sounds pretty dire.

Of course the office is closed when I get home so I took the letter to work with me on Tuesday. The SECOND DAY I am back at work. I called the number listed and pressed option 7 as told to. "That don't work." They tell me I'm an idiot and to just stay on the line and a representative will be with me soon. It really was soon, only about two minutes. She asked for my identifying information like social security number and birth date and address and full name, etc. And then the pleasant, "How may I help you today?"

I explained that I had received the FMLA request form and the cover page stated that I can file it as soon as possible but no later than 15 days after returning to work. She said, "That's correct."

I proceeded to explain that Monday I received a letter from the FMLA Unit stating, correctly, that I had been sent the form on May 3rd and as of may 28 they had not been filed. That letter also stated that I must file within 2 DAYS of returning to work or I might not be protected. She said, "That's correct."

I started to get a little steamed and said I don't understand how both can be correct since they state two totally different times. Why do we have to always do illogical things? She said, "The government makes us say that."

I still don't know which government, federal or state, makes her say 'that'. Nor do I know whether 'that' is '2 days' or '15 days'. But I realized that she too is ignorant and unable to do anything about it, even if I could convince her that they BOTH cannot be correct.

So, I printed out another copy of the form sent to me via e-mail several weeks ago and left work early to take the new form to the doctors office in Barrington. The receptionist checked and there were no forms waiting for action so they must have been sent. I left the new copy and requested it be sent again. No wonder doctors used to charge per form to fill out for insurance.

That done, I had it downhill from there. I am starting to catch up on my work and recall what it is I do and how I do it. I don't know what I will put on my time sheet this week. But I will put something down.