Like Sands Through The Hourglass...[updated]

[ I just received this text: "I quit; he cried."  We are flying without a net, ladies.  Wish us luck.]

These are the Days of Our Lives.

So Speedy might get fired today.

She is a phenomenal vet with more than 20 years' experience and 14 years at this particular clinic.  At this clinic she gets 0 sick days, 0 vacation days.  They calculate pay on this cockamamie "production" system-- i.e., she gets 25% commission on the cases she treats.  A few years back, she negotiated for a higher base salary, to get away from the vagaries of working on commission like a car salesman.  In the last year she has taken off 2 weeks for our honeymoon in Spain and 3 weeks' unpaid maternity leave.  Because of that, her "production" has fallen below her base salary, which is none too high considering her experience and NYC standards.  Thus, her boss, who views the veterinarian thing as solely a means of making money, wants to cut her pay or extend her hours.  (She works 10-12 hour days, 4 days a week, takes client calls on her personal cell phone, spends untold hours on her days "off" in the clinic doing call-back and paperwork, consults with the other vets on her off hours about cases, and regularly goes above and beyond to help clients and their animals with no thought to herself or getting paid-- just to do the right thing.)

So, neither extending her hours nor cutting her pay is feasible for us, nor should he have the gall to ask! He has no scruples and no compassion.  This is a man who combats the bad economy by doubling prices on routine labwork and implementing medically unjustifiable bloodwork requirements. Last year he suffered a terrible biking accident that nearly left him temporarily paralyzed-- and required three surgeries on his neck and back.  Speedy and another senior vet ran the clinic while he was out for several months.  And when he got back, he changed the healthplan offerings to one that would pay 90% of hospital care...or one that would pay 80%.  Speedy jumped onto my plan at that time even though we have to pay more for it and it's a taxable benefit-- we are not willing to risk one hospitalization that could bankrupt us for good!

All of this is to say that there is absolutely no good reason for this other than that his business is losing money and he's looking for someone else, not him, to take the hit.  And Speedy is not going to stand for it.

We are going to be fine-- Speedy can cobble together enough per diem work to float what I can't pick up while we expedite our plans to flee.  But if we ever needed a boot in the ass to get us out of this city, this is pretty much it.

And... I KNOW I owe y'all pics of the boy, so....