Does anybody recognize this woman?

I zipped east to Grosse Pointe to visit with my parents this weekend and while there, a mysterious woman approached my car and started dancing. Concerned for my safety and the safety of my car, I quickly left the area.






















If any of you know the name of this person and have any idea why she was dancing in front of my car, please let me know so I can alert the proper authorities... and get her some dancing lessons.

Father's Day

Nothing says "Father's Day" like buying a headstone, in advance, for your Dad.

No good deed goes unpunished...

This is going to be a bit of a long blog post as I have quite a story to tell. It began two weeks ago...

GE pays its employees every other Friday. Like clockwork, whether I deserve it or not, my salary is deposited directly into my NFCU account. After a tax deductions, long term disability insurance, health insurance deductions, 401(k) contributions, etc., my bi-weekly salary has been the same amount for months. So, on the morning of 5 June, I did not bother to go on line and check what had been deposited into my savings account. I went to work, and in a quiet moment, I logged onto my NFCU account and noticed that in addition to my normal paycheck, there were two other payments. One of the payments was for $300, and the other was for $600. Thus, precisely $900 was deposited into my savings account, above and beyond my expected salary. I sent an e-mail to my local payroll representative and she was unable to determine why I received a $900 increase in my pay. She told me to call the GE Payroll central office, which I did as soon as she sent me the 800 number. My call with GE Payroll went something like this:

"Hello, this is Mary, with GE Payroll, can I help you?"

"I hope so. I received an extra $900 pay last night and I doubt that these funds were meant for me."

"OK, let me ask you a few questions..."

Mary asked me 5 or 6 questions, such as "Do you work overseas? Did you recently move?..." and my answers were all the same: "No." Mary said to me, "Well, I cannot see why you were paid an extra $900, so I will need to open a trouble ticket and start an investigation. That will take a few days and we will contact you."

I thanked Mary and went back to work. On 10 June, I received the following e-mail:

From: ~Corp PR Infrastructure
Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 2009 11:28 AM
To: Kratochwill, Paul (GE Infra, Aviation, US)
Cc: ~Corp PR Audits
Subject: FW: sso#,Paul Kratochwill
Dear Mr. Kratochwill,
As per your call last Friday regarding the checks you received on 06/05/09 for local premium, after further research I found out these were entered by HR, Robert DeVry. Please check with him, regarding whether these payments are valid or not. Thank you.
GE Payroll

Great. Payroll is telling me that somebody named Robert DeVry approved this payment and I need to contact him. Nobody from Payroll was going to investigate this issue and contact Mr. DeVry. I was directed to contact him.

I looked in the GE Global Address List and there were three Robert DeVrys listed. One worked in Massachusetts, one worked in Missouri, and the last one worked in the United Kingdom. I decided to call GE Payroll again to see if they could narrow down the field of Robert DeVry who approved these payments to me down to one. After 5 or 6 minutes of discussions with Lisa from Payroll, she confirmed that the Robert DeVry in Massachusetts was the person who entered the authorization for the payment of "local premium pay." I sent Mr. DeVry an e-mail explaining what had occurred and within 30 minutes he responded that he had indeed submitted the authorization for me to be payed the additional $900, but that these funds were supposed to go to a co-op student. He said that he entered the wrong employee ID number (mine was one digit off from the co-op student's employee ID number). He apologized and said and that he would contact Payroll and have the funds withdrawn from my account.

Now, I waited. Each morning I checked my NFCU account and each day the $900 was still there. I know that GE is a big company and it might take some time for the Payroll Department to right its wrong. Fast forward to Friday, 19 June. Today was my next scheduled payday. Once again, I checked my NFCU account and the $900 was still there. What was missing was my scheduled paycheck.

I went to work and had a couple of back to back morning meetings. After the meeting ended, I returned to my desk and now it was time to call Payroll again. My call went something like this:

"Hello, this is Deborah at GE Payroll, how can I help you?"

"Hi. I was waiting for GE Payroll to take back the $900 it mistakenly gave me two weeks ago, but not only did Payroll not take back the $900, but it did not pay me last night."

"Let me see what happened. Oh, I see. On 15 June, we tried to take back to $900 but since the funds were deposited into your savings account, federal banking rules prohibit us from making withdrawals from savings accounts. When Payroll was unable to withdraw the funds, it assumed that your account had been closed, so a paper paycheck is being mailed to you for your protection."

"What?"

"Yes, a paper check has been issued and should arrive at your business address today or early next week. Also, since Payroll was unable to withdraw the $900, you will receive a letter from us asking that you repay the $900 by check or deduction from your paycheck within 45 days of receipt of the letter."

"You are kidding me, right?"

"No."

"Let me get this straight. Payroll made a mistake two weeks ago paying me monies I should not have received. I pointed out the error, Payroll was unable to retrieve the funds, and then Payroll decided that my bank account was closed, so instead of my paycheck being directly deposited into my account, you are sending me a paper check that I might see today or sometime next week?"

"Yes."

I remained pleasant to Deborah as she did not cause this problem and she was trying to help me. I asked her if there was someone I could speak to in order to complain about what had happened and she said that all she could so is place my call into an automated survey of the service Payroll had provided to me. I told Deborah if that was the best that could be done, I would be happy to take the survey.

I took the survey and was asked at the end of it, "Is there anything Payroll can do in order to improve its service to you? Please be specific and leave your comments after the beep." After the beep, I said, "Yes, there is. I need a human being to call me in order to explain how all of this happened to me. Because of Payroll's mistakes, I am penalized for being honest." So far, nobody from Payroll has called me.

The mail came today and there was nothing in my mail slot. I suppose that on Monday or Tuesday a check will arrive in my mail slot. I will then have to drive to our local bank deposit the check, wait for it to clear and only then will I have access to the funds.

Thankfully, I was not counting on this paycheck for my mortgage or car payment. Not everyone is that fortunate. I could have kept the extra $900 and said nothing. It would have taken GE Payroll a while to figure out what went wrong with this co-op's "local premium" pay. Instead, I did the right thing and reported the overpayment immediately. For my efforts, I am eventually penalized and inconvenienced. I will keep the readers of this blog informed as this develops.

Rats...

Penguins 2 Red Wings 1.

Game 7

OK, I watched the game on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh and I was disappointed at the outcome. There were wrong calls, calls not made, and well, the Wings lost. I am over that loss, but now the Wings face Game 7 tomorrow night at the Joe. History is often made in a Game 7, and most teams prefer never to play on one. They prefer never to play in one because it means that their season is over and they lost or their season is over and they are champions. Emotions run very high, as opposed to a Game 4 when one of the teams is up 3-0.

I remain hopeful and confident of a victory on home ice tomorrow night. Just don't call me between 8PM-11PM or so. Let's go, Red Wings!

One win away...

The Red Wings are just a single win away from capturing their 12th Stanley Cup. Last night, the Wings pummeled the Penguins 5-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Last Sunday, the Wings were up 2-0 and went to Pittsburgh for two games. I was hoping that the Wings would win one and make Game 5 the clincher, but they were unable to win either game. I like to think that the momentum has shifted back to the Wings and I am hopeful for a win on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh.

OK, this is getting out of hand

Since my last post, I have noticed more chairs placed out on the front lawns of nearby homes. Here are a few examples:
















Notice extra stuff for this chair. This alien must be important:
















I am trying to discern if the color of the chairs have meaning. Does white represent a plebeian class, while colored chairs are those of patricians?





















This must be a gathering place for the aliens as they plot and plan to take over the Earth:














And this is clear evidence that the aliens have reproduced, possible during their stay on earth:















So, gentle reader, what am I to do? Do I contact DHS and see what they can do, or do I knock on the door of one of these alien homes and confront them? I have see some of the "people" who populate the homes with these chairs and they look like any other human, but I saw Cocoon, I know that aliens can morph into pretty much any form they desire.

I think that it will be best if I continue to monitor the situation. They all seem so normal, but there must be something insidious about these chairs and what they represent. I will keep all of you posted as this develops...