He terminated her for violating a policy which he did not have, had never mentioned, and made up only AFTER she pushed him to explain his reason for terminating her. He lost the initial dispute for unemployment because he didn’t have any documentation.

Then, as if by magic, he produced a photocopied page from “a” policy manual, which Jenna had never seen, and another page from somewhere else (that didn’t even have the same font or font size) that he ALSO claimed was part of his policy manual. Jenna was never given a copy of this document (probably because it didn’t exist), and EVEN IF THE DOCUMENT DID EXIST, HE DIDN’T FOLLOW THE DISCIPLINE STEPS IN THE FRIGGIN DOCUMENTS! It said two written warnings would be given, then possible termination. Well, he didn’t give written warnings.

His other point in his appeal was that Jenna had a job and was, in essence, scamming the unemployment system. He was referring to Jenna being on the radio… which she is. However, what he didn’t know (since it was none of his damn business) was that she is a volunteer. She’s killing time while she looks for work. She’s never been paid a cent.

He sent a page from her blog on the radio station’s website claiming it proved that she was working.

The fact that he won this appeal only proves that he must have lied through his teeth to the judge. There’s no other way he could have won. The facts were not on his side. He couldn’t produce one solid piece of evidence that she violated a policy, and he didn’t even follow the policy that he submitted (which was apparently downloaded from the Internet) to the judge as evidence. And his second claim of her being employed was just bunk. He assumed.

If you just go by the “facts” that were presented in the documentation, he can’t win. He must have just lied and lied and lied.

We could fight it, but frankly it wouldn’t help. The next appeal step doesn’t allow any new information to be added, a panel just reviews the current file to make sure the JUDGE didn’t break any rules with the judgment. Which I’m sure she didn’t.

We could hire an attorney and sue the idiot. But Jenna and I have already had 4 months of this guy trying to cause us sleepless nights, stress, and just general anger. I think 4 months of him upsetting us is enough, and so my decision is to let it go.

It’s not fair, in fact it may be criminal. It’s DEFINITELY jerky, for someone who acted like he was friends with Jenna up till the day he fired her then fought tooth and nail to stop her unemployment. And the thing is, it might have cost him a few hundred bucks on his unemployment rates, but the money was coming from the state, not from him. If he had any understanding of the system he’d know that it was only a few bucks to him but ten THOUSAND bucks to us.

Either he’s evil and trying to ruin us, or he’s a complete moron who doesn’t understand how the system works. Before the appeal hearing, I might have guessed moron, but after all the lies, it has to be evil.

Anyhow, we will be accepting donations, because we have to pay back the unemployment money they paid us for the last 4 months. Talk about adding insult to injury!

But truthfully, we will be fine. We will even be fine financially. It’s a temporary (and brief) setback. And in the end, I can still say that I never got a DIME from the government, ever. When I was laid off back in the 90’s, they wouldn’t let me have unemployment because I signed up for classes. Now, we’re paying back what we got for Jenna, with interest I’m sure.

I can preserve my pristine record of never getting a handout. I hope he’s happy with his 3.2% UE rate instead of it going to 3.3%.

And yes, I did tag this post in the category “Gay Stuff.” LOL

Avatar sucked.

Last year, my resolutions were pretty basic. I resolved to get my blood pressure under control, which I accomplished via diet. Last year it was around 160/100, and as of this past Sunday, it was 120/82. And that was while I was sick. So yeah, mission accomplished.

I resolved to have my giant tax bill paid by the end of the year. Well, I paid it back in April. Mission accomplished. I resolved to go to at least 6 non-routine social events with Jenna. I more than accomplished that goal, albeit mostly in the past 4 months. I did prepare harder and make myself more interesting for the class I was teaching. I also decided not to teach again in 2010. I also resolved to play outside with my dogs when the weather is nice, which I did.

Five for five. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Now for the 2010 resolutions:

1. I will pay off (In addition to my large tax bill) at least $10,000 in debt in 2010.

2. I will not buy things I do not legitimately need.

3. I will not postpone the surgery on my wrist despite my desire to do so.

4. I will only agree to do photo shoots I WANT to do.

5. I will start charging people for photography and web hosting/design enough that I actually make a little bit of money rather than just breaking even. It’s far too much work to do for “free.” (I know all my web customers just had a cold chill run up their spines)

January brought cold weather and Savior Obama. With promises of worldwide nirvana and economic equality, the world hailed him as such. In the face of overwhelming odds, I boldly stated my opinion that he was a socialist boob intent upon recycling all of the bad ideas his liberal predecessors had already failed at. In spite of the hordes of uneducated masses sending me hate mail and threats, I stuck to my guns, until a few months later, when all of them had forgotten they supported Obama and decided they had “always thought he was under-qualified.”

In February, I lost my damn mind when I decided to announce I would update every day for the rest of 2009. For those of you who blog, you know this is not an easy thing to do, especially not to do well. I can’t say I did it well, but I can say, with pretty good certainty, that I accomplished the goal. For those of you who still read here… I apologize for all the crap writing.

Most of March was spent mocking Obama and the tax-evadercrats in Washington. I found it hilarious to see how everyone he appointed to a cabinet position was a lying scumbag with documented tax fraud in their past. Meanwhile Biden says it’s “patriotic” to pay taxes. I’m still not sure why Obama wanted to appoint non-patriotic people. Oh yeah – I almost forgot Obama is a Chicago Machine Politician.

In April, I finally decided to get some happy pills to help with my anxiety. This was something I probably needed to do three years ago, but it seemed wimpy so I didn’t. The downside to starting on anxiety medicine is that you spend the first 3-5 days in a cold sweat, nauseated, suicidal, and 100% apathetic, to the point where I nearly died of starvation and dehydration 5 feet from my kitchen full of food and water. Granted, you’re supposed to tell your doctor if you have “thoughts of suicide” but I figured all he’d say would be “don’t commit suicide.” I also figured I didn’t need psych counseling since the only reason I was contemplating offing myself was due to the side effects of the stupid anxiety pills.

Fortunately, things started to improve after a month or so, and I once again started bathing, eating, and speaking.

In May, I received my first death threat related to a blog post since 2005. In it, I implied that George Tiller (the late-term abortionist) got what was coming to him. And by implied, I mean I couldn’t have been more happy that someone finally put a stop to his work. Yes, it should have been the government, but the government is filled with liberal bed-wetting wussies who can’t stand up for principle. The person who sent the death threat turned out to be an old high school friend, and he was quickly arrested for making “terroristic threats” which is apparently a felony. Lucky him. Looks like this blog is responsible for a very dumb guy serving a hefty sentence. Woot Woot. For the record, I’m still glad George Tiller is out of business.

In June, I developed a ganglion cyst which was causing me a lot of pain in my wrist and hand. I made the mistake of going to a wrist specialist for treatment, and he promptly shattered the bone in my wrist. On accident. After 6 weeks in a cast the main chunk of bone healed up, but there are still 3 small fragments floating around that I may have to get cut out eventually. Here’s a tip. Don’t let a doctor break your wrist without anesthetic. It hurts.

July started a flurry of Barrett Graphics activity, meaning I was spending a great deal of my time at the studio shooting quasi-attractive people. The bad news was I had no free time, but the good news was I was finally inspired to upgrade the website and improve my portfolio. July was also the company picnic at the lake, by which I mean it was in the proximity (but not within sight) of a lake. And by proximity, I mean in the same sense that the Sun is in proximity to the Earth.

I spent most of August developing Black Sky Radio’s website with Mike Walker (aka Nightmare). This was a joint venture between him and another local DJ (who lasted all of a month before quitting). It was a pretty major project because it has a lot of features. Most notably, it has streaming audio 24/7, which requires lots of fun software and configuration on the web server. It also has a premium content section by subscription, so there were plenty of kinks to work out. August is all a blur to me…

Jenna and I celebrated our first anniversary September 5th. We had a “staycation” at the Marriot downtown, and we had dinner at the Melting Pot. September was also when I decided I finally needed to form an LLC for my independent enterprises, IHS Web Solutions and Barrett Graphics. I did it on the cheap by using LegalZoom, and I made Barrett Graphics a DBA of IHS so I wouldn’t have to pay for two LLCs. The bad news is, now I have to deal with all of the IRS crap that comes along with running a business. I can hardly wait for tax season. Oh yeah, Jenna lost her job with the chiropractor in September as well. Let’s just say it was NOT for cause and leave it at that.

In October, I put two and two together and realized that Jenna would make a great DJ for Black Sky Radio. I floated the idea to Mike (who happened to be looking for a co-host) and he decided to let her try it as an intern. It was clear from the beginning that they make a good duo, and within a couple of months, Mike promoted her from lowly intern to lowly co-host. You should check her out, every weekday from 2-7 PM Central. While she was an intern and we were waiting for unemployment to kick in (which took ELEVEN weeks thanks to her old employer trying to screw her over), I had to work my ARSE off doing photo and web gigs to try and make up her income. I was working my regular job, then at night and all weekend I was shooting photos, then after I got home from those, I was doing web design.

November is a complete blank for some reason. I’m sure I did something, but I must have been drunk.

And of course December brings Jenna’s birthday. This year she got a snazzy microphone for her birthday to use at her job. Practical but also fun. I think. Hey, she said she wanted it. I also spent some time and money upgrading the ole’ IHS computer at my house, because it’s tax deductible! Stick it to the man, I say! (If you’re the IRS, I’m totally kidding!)

Except for the broken bones, unemployment, over-work, death threats, anxiety meds, and liberal takeover of the government, 2009 was a great year!

Shoot me.

More accurately, we are going with Devyn and Geoff to the Cinema Suites to see Twilight.

Yeah, I know. Gay.

Even the girls don’t think it’s a good movie, they just like the eye candy.

I am in the wrong business.

Six months of little sleep makes you grumpy, I’ve found.

Anyone who has some home remedies, feel free to pass them along.

If she doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to take her to the vet. I’m almost out of paper towels.

It’s not much fun waking up to a mess like that, especially after she’s woken me up to let her out TEN times during the night.

Mercy Church Video Page (Click “Getting Close to God,” then click “Special Music Service,” then click the play button.)