Inexplicably, the agency did not issue me a paycheck today. It wasn't in my checking account (direct deposit) and I confirmed on their website the check wasn't cut. I sent an email to the woman who does payroll, only to get an auto reply saying she was out til Monday. I then called my recruiter contact John at his office and I get a fast busy signal. (I'm getting a wee bit nervous now.) I called again and this time someone answered and said, "No one by [that name] works here." I finally get my contact John on his cell. He said everything was fine at his agency but they were having phone problems. And that he'd look into the paycheck issue.

Despite my having emailed my timesheet to payroll with a copy to John, they claim they didn't get it. And no, they can't cut a check for me until next Friday's payday.

This happened this morning and I'm still feeling ticked off. Partly because the payroll people over there apologized very nicely to John and never bothered to get back to me. Listen, people, I'M the one who didn't get the paycheck, not John. You’d think as a courtesy they would make a simple apology, but no.

Can you tell I hate dealing with this agency? How much effort is it to send a quick email?

Today I did 2 loads of laundry and was totally annoyed to find the "Start" button the GE dryer I just bought 2 years ago is not working properly. That is, the dryer won't stay on unless you keep holding the button down. I got it to work by applying duct tape over the button. (It's an auto shut-off.) I don't think it's under warranty.

I started mowing the lawn but then it started raining so I had to give up. It only lasted 5 minutes, but it was enough to make everything wet, so I decided to bag it until tomorrow.

I vacuumed both floors.

I made good progress on my weeding schedule. Everything here got real overgrown during all that heat we had, so this is catch-up time now in the garden.

I got a phone call this a.m. from my #1 freelance client. I was very surprised to learn (and so was he) that his right hand woman (she was at director level), quit the job to pursue her personal passion: thoroughbred horse rescue. She was very capable. He told me he wound up hiring 2 different people to cover everything she did. This past month had been very quiet and I'd been wondering why…now I know. After I got off the phone with him, I was thinking hmmm, maybe this is a good time to suggest we restructure our own work relationship. That is, instead of my continuing to freelance for him, I could work for him as a p/t employee 1 or 2 days a week, on-site. The advantage to him would be to not have to always worry about my availability and having me there on a regular basis would only improve the quality of my work since I'd have easier access to him when I needed info. The advantage to me, of course, would be more consistent income.

I was thinking how good it would be to have a steady p/t job with them now. For as long as my other job lasts, it would mean I'd be working 5 days a week. And if and when I lose the other job sometime later this year, most likely, I'd then have the other job to rely on.

He hasn't responded yet so don't know if there's any interest there. I know he likes my work and we have a very long work relationship, 20 years, in fact. I have worked as a staff writer there in the past, as well as part-time and now freelance. The question would be do they have room in their budget for this? I'm pretty sure they could keep me busy with all the work they have. I charge them $50/hr now; if I get that same rate working on-site for 15 hours a week. I'd gross $39K and I'd be golden.

I mean, I recently learned my HVAC guy charges $95/hr, for gosh sake's, and I'm pretty sure he has only a high school diploma.