David and I used to work for a company that was quite bad to their employees ... along with being commanded to lie to customers [which I wouldn't do ... I told them the truth always and that is why they liked me] anyway that is off the subject ... we just worked for horrible people ... they stole from the company ... we were required to work overtime without extra pay ... they ripped people off ... it just sucked ... it was great cause I learned a lot and I met David there ... but in reality with 20/20 vision it sucked ...


a little over a year ago David filed a claim with the NY Department of Labor ... stating how they wouldn't pay for overtime ... they shredded time sheets ... all sorts of stuff ... he was persistent ... I was quite impressed with his gumption ... even when everyone told him he would never get a dime he kept fighting ... the D of L sent letters to all the employees asking about work and over time and whatnot ... and he kept on ...


last week they called and left a message ... the D of L lawyers and settled an agreement with our ex-company's lawyers ... they would be sending us checks by the end of the year for our back pay ... I couldn't believe it ... we were dancing around the house ... I told David the first thing I was going to do was do something nice for someone else with my newly-gotten-gains ...


do you know how slow time travels when you are waiting for a check ... I call home every day to see if it has gotten here ...


today David had a terrible day ... I was really hoping the checks would be here instead he found this link when he logged onto his computer ... it is all about how Interliant is going to buy Hostcentric for 25.8 Million dollars ... Hostcentric is the company we worked for ... the company that laid off more than 80% of their staff because they weren't making any money, they were loosing customers ... and they all spent a fortune redoing their office when they thought we would be a big company ... and now some jackass is paying them 25.8 million dollars ...


David is worried that we won't get paid now ... that they said they would settle because they knew this deal was going through ... and the new company will say it isn't their responsibility ...


to show you how important this money is ... and what we are talking about ... in the 2 years I worked there I kept every single pay check stub I ever got ... I also kept a very specific calendar of all the hours I worked ... in 2 years I worked a full year of overtime ... and I was paid on an hourly wage ... the D of L told me the amount of my check and it is about 1/3 of what I would have made in a year but that is fine ... I was willing to settle for that ...


I am still going to call home every day till the end of the year to see if my check has arrived ... and I can almost guarantee David will be calling his friend at the D of L to see if this will have an effect ...


cause I have that money earmarked to do something nice ... and damn it I wanna do it ... :)