I want my heat (and life) back

Ok, so the weather is going insane again. Lookit! It's gonna be a chilly Thanksgiving in Vegas y'all! I dragged out my little Honeywell heater, and have set it at 65° in eSaver mode. I might even drag out an extra blanket, for extra warmth. Sable definitely appreciates it. Beyond that, I am just trying to stay sane. Not easy to do on a budget. PS. An Update on Thanksgiving morning! Looks like snow on Black Friday!

And the gears start cranking...

Yesterday, Scott & Co. decided to do another reading on me. A more precise reading.

The 'Success' card came out several times. 4-6 weeks (actual H1B acquisition or restarting work, I am not sure which one). No travels. The 'Obstacle' card also came into play. More specifically, that card read 'Uncaring woman.'Geez, doesn't that somehow sound familiar? Either way, something needs to happen and I realized that I needed to set the wheels in motion. So just what did I do? Well...for one, I made my sister aware that I might need financial assistance. I don't want to borrow from my family, but if push comes to shove, I rather them have the most advanced heads-up possible. I sent an email to my attorney, asking her to contact me as well.

The next morning, I managed to get in touch with her assistant. Long story short, they're standing their ground: either my previous employer provides a signature, or I have to fly home. She also stated the reason that she doesn't want to contact my employer (or their attorney) directly is because they don't want to land me in more trouble. But guess what? I'm already in this deep, what does it matter?

I had lunch with Scott, then went to the office to talk with HR and see a few colleagues of mine to with them a Happy Thanksgiving (I skipped the Potluck, though). Kim, realizing that this is a highly time-sensitive matter, has already emailed her attorney stating asking about the next steps. The attorney was out early for Thanksgiving (understandably), so I will hear from them early next week. Lan was also very helpful in listening to me and bouncing my thoughts with a fresh but professional perspective.

And that's where it all stands right now. I am glad that things are finally starting to move forward.

SiLENCE the Killer

So it's been one week. And...nothing. Nothing from my attorney. Apparently, attempts by my company's immigration attorneys to contact her are not soliciting any responses. I suppose I have to try and get in touch with her. Lets hope I can get through, because this is a time-sensitive matter. Ugh...get some balls and pick up the damn phone.

On my iPod...

I'm usually not one for this kind of music, but for some reason, this song has been on my playlist, and getting played ALOT. I just find the vocals from Deborah Harry to be fantastic and the melody to be hauntingly beautiful. It has a calming effect on me. Which in and of itself is scary. Anywho, check it out. Just wait for the sponsor ad to go to the actual video. Oh, and the remixes to Two Times Blue are not too bad at all. And yes, I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. But it is mine for now, so deal.

An Apology? AN APOLOGY!?!

So it's been one week since I started my unpaid holiday. I have not heard anything yet (from anyone), and am keeping afloat. For now. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it's in a transitional spot, and Kim has nothing to report to me beyond that they are in talkings with each other. Maybe Kim was just out that day.

Lots of questions have surfaced, the most common being if my attorney has apologised for this mess. I'm sorry to say that the answer is NO. Why not? In her mind, she hasn't done anything wrong. In fact, she probably considers herself generous in trying to resolve the situation by gathering (in whatever ways) the necessary evidence and not charging me for the additional time, effort and services. She also believes that she has a right to insist on her services being paid upfront, and she does indeed have that right. What happened is that she failed to communicate to me (or my agency) the urgency of the matter, should there be a delay in processing my file. While I did receive an invoice from her in February, there was no disclosure that she will not begin processing my papers until she received full payment and that the INS may require additional materials that can be difficult (if not impossible) to produce. I don't want to get any party in trouble. I thought I had it all together. Little did I know this sticky mess would show up. Blegh.

Another question is whether she has done this to other people. I don't know the answer to that. I stuck with her because she was already my existing attorney, had all my paperwork, and a stellar success rate. I do not know about her methods in getting the job done. All I know is that she is resorting to some shady ways to get evidence, and she's not budging from her position.

Hopefully this will all get resolved soon. I'm going insane. I've been trying to keep myself busy, but it's quite a challenge. A vacation is no fun if you can't do a thing. If I stay at home, I spend money. If I go out, I still spend money. I'm not a social butterfly that has a rolodex of readily available contacts that I can just call up and ask them to hang out. Not having a car helps reduce the spendings, but not the isolation.

And yes, I know I am whining at this point. I hate that, it is not doing anyone any good nor is it resolving anything, and I do apologise if you have been on the receiving end of my incessant negative ramblings. Hopefully this will clear up soon. If not for me, then for you.

I heart my kitty

Today has been trying. And like always, she's there for me. This is the most she's ever been by my side. Purring away. A cat she may simply be, but to me she is so much more. She been my one and only faithful companion in Springfield and St. Louis. Her spunkiness and playful antics makes me feel alive. Her needs make me feel needed. She's a very comforting presence that only pet owners can understand. Especially since I feel very lonely and isolated. Her purring calms me down and take me to a happier place. I love this cat more than I ever thought I would. And yes, she's the best alarm clock ever. No batteries required. Unbelievably effective.

And so it starts...

So today is the first day I am officially on "Temporary Leave of Absence." Which also happens to be Veterans Day. Well, I am still here. I'm alive. I'm eating. I've played more Final Fantasy VI Advance and watched the second dvd of Red Garden. Princess Tutu is next. I've also tried some really good green tea from Taiwan that Scott gave me. Light and flavorful. According to Aaron, a Capricorns' lucky days for November 2007 are the 13th and 14th. The unlucky days are the 26th and 27th. Let's hope the lucky days are correct. Also, a big thank you to everyone who is supportive of me and helping me see the silver lining in these trying times. You know who you are.

Thou Must Fulfill

So you've read the last post, and you'll notice that I state "I am not fired" several times. Why? Two words: Positive reinforcement. Besides, it's the truth. A very good one that that.

Another two things to note around this past week.

Scott's roommate did a reading for me on Monday. Actually, roommate and a friend of theirs did a reading for me. Simultaneously. Without me there or my birth date. And they got very similar results. Good outcome in 2 weeks. No travels. That was their result. That Friday was the first week. The second one is still coming along. In the meantime, I am going to feed as much positive energy into that reading as I can. And this reading was done on the day I had the worst energy/aura possible.

I was listening to the Diana Cage Show on Sirius OutQ. She had a psychic as a guest one evening, and she mentioned Saturn's Return. Basically, it a period between 27-33 when you grow up. All your paths will get sorted and weeded. Career, love, finances, investments... it all gets sorted out. Well, in a way, this is cleaning up a big part of my junk drawer: my immigration messes. It's far from over, but all the cards have been laid out.

And Mercury Retrograde even just passed. WTF? Honestly. WTF?!

Now you're asking if Scott can help me. He has, but not financially. Scott himself has been having job problems, and is currently unemployed himself. He lost his job due to the fact that the Frontier closed down. He (stupidly) turned down a job at Circus Circus in hopes that a job at Imperial Palace would pan out. It didn't. He quit his last job at Arizone Charlies' because he was sick of it and his bosses were threatened by his skills. He's got a strong potential for a job in another advertising agency, and had a first interview with MGM Grand. In the meantime, he's making ends do my helping his roommates with their chores and the occasional odd-n-ends jobs. But that can only go so far...

Scott hasn't faltered yet. All that Strip customer service experiences, plus his past relationships and retail experiences has toughened him. I have yet to learn that.

OMFG! AGAIN?!?

Wow. I can't believe it.

I was released from my agency in Springfield, MO on 10/31/06, during the middle of a Mercury Retrograde phase. That sucked royally, but was a blessing in disguise. I would never have discovered Las Vegas otherwise. And this year...a repeat, per se?

I found a job within a month, and started within 2 months, on 1/8/07, to be precise. We did all the paperwork, and filed my H1-B case with my attorney. That made the most logical sense, since she handled my last two H1-Bs and has all my paperwork. Repeat business. My agency paid for half of the INS Filing Fees, and I took a small paycheck deduction for the other half until it was paid for.

I also received an invoice from my attorney stating the filing fees, as well as her processing fees (just under $2500). Well, naturally, I don't have such funds, nor did I want to bug my parents for an advance. They've done so much for me already, and I didn't want to tax them more. Plus it showed them that I am not an ungrateful leech. So what did I do? I paid $500 each month from my own paycheck, until it was paid off in June. In the past, my attorney went ahead and processed the application, and waited for my installments.

Well...not this time. She waited until June to file it, after she received the last of her payments. She never told me or my company this. This is where the problem starts.

Fast forward to early November 2007. I get a letter from her stating that the INS is requesting 2 items: a reinstituted $750 fee, and proof of my legal status for the 8 months prior to June 2007.

Now, let's backtrack a bit. I stopped working in 10/06 and started again on 1/07. Since there is no technically defined period for me to find a job, typically one to three months is the the standard. However, this doesn't fly. The INS is now requiring proof that I was employed in Springfield until June 2007. Employment can include "personal leave of absence, etc." and is technically acceptable. Also, if my previous agency did not consciously report to the INS and CIS that I have been terminated, then my H1-B with them remains valid.

Of course, this isn't the case. I forwarded the letter that my attorney sent me to Springfield in hopes that perhaps they'd sign it. Of course they didn't. In addition to being skittish, that is not what actually happened. As far as they're concerned, October 2006 was the cutoff date. They also don't want to get in trouble by faking dates. I don't want to get them in trouble either. That's bad karma right there.

Back to Las Vegas. I alerted my agency, and Kim, our HR director, lost it. Literally. She went through my entire file. She was under the impression that everything was going great. I was too. Neither one of us received any disclosure that the process will not be started until my attorney received full payment. That is what caused this whole ordeal. If we had known that, Kim and I would have worked out something to get the ball rolling. So now...it looks like I have been illegally employed...at least before June. And of course, this wasn't the case. In addition to potentially losing a valuable employee, my company is now liable for illegal hiring, if they get audited.

We called my attorney, but we were not able to get in contact with her. Instead, my attorney contacted me, explaining my options. A) Try a non-dated letter to my previous employer, or B) be prepared to fly home to Malaysia to collect my H1-B. She feared that if I told Kim, I would get terminated. Another thing she mentioned is that I could get an entire new H1-B, which I will still have to collect from Malaysia before March 2009, and I will not be out of legal status that way. However, my employer will be considered to have hired an illegal worker until the new visa is collected. All in all, its not much of an alternative.

Now here's a bit of a silver lining. Because I have been a stellar, productive employee, my supervisors are all for me coming back. In short, I still have my job, regardless.

Kim contacted her immigrations attorney (ironically, also in Atlanta), and he requested all my paperwork. He then called back saying that I need to stop getting paid immediately. What my attorney is doing is borderline malpractice. In short, a clusterfuck of a mess. Since it was a Friday afternoon, he's going to call my attorney on Monday and try and solve this mess. If that doesn't work, then my company's actual attorney in Las Vegas will step in to continue the case. I will be kept notified of the whole process.

So on Friday, I finished all my assignments, and notified all the people I needed to notify. My news spread like wildfire through my department. Everyone was saddened to see this happen to me, especially since I myself didn't do anything wrong. I retain my keyfob, my desk is still there, with my computer and all my personal files and belongings. My employee benefits are still effective for me. I will receive one last paycheck, plus all my unused vacation hours.

As of Monday, 11/12/07, I go on unpaid personal leave of absence. For how long, I do not know. For at least 2 weeks, I assume. I will resume my job the moment this case is cleared. If I have to leave for a few months, they will terminate me, and reissue a job offer to me. I just have to redo all the paperwork.

In the meantime, all I can do us stay optimistic and be on the down low. And that is not easy. Rent, bills, much less anything else that may come out of this. I think i will suddenly be able to catch up on Final Fantasy and my anime dvds. Maybe even lose weight.

I want to say one thing. My employer rocks. Not many will go this far. And they have. And I still have my job. I am eternally grateful. In the meantime...help!

A burger break...

A couple weeks ago, Scott and I wanted to go eat dinner together. He was thinking of an old faithful. I wanted something new. A coworker of mine recommended Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay.

Created by Chef Hubert Keller, it was actually quite decent. Good prices, good atmosphere (though I could have done without the sports telecasts), and good food. You choose your meat, then you add on the toppings. There was definitely some gourmet toppings on the menu, such as $30 truffles and $20 lobster. All in all, it was a good experience, and we'd go back.

While we were there, we checked out Eyecandy Sound Lounge & Bar, Mandalay Bay's new entertainment venue. It was very cool, albeit a bit too untramodern for the rest of the venues. Nevertheless, it seems to be doing well.

And we've been going to Tea Planet way too much. LOL.