Another day, and a couple of calls

I had my first day on the phone today. Sort of. I actually only spent about 45 minutes actually making and taking calls, and only answered two of them. Apparently in the live call role-play, I had missed by two points the minimum score necessary to go on the phones, and I had to retake that portion of the test today after spending a couple of hours listening to someone else take calls.

While I won't say that I blew the retake away, I did score high enough to go on the phone. But I didn't get to go on the phone until almost time to pack it in for the day. And I'm apparently going to need a little remedial coaching. While I won't deny that smarts, on the other hand it does reiterate the fact that the call center and client care a lot about giving the customers a good experience rather than getting them off the phone as fast as possible. That's a very different experience from how it was at MCI. And I know I can do better as soon as I get over my initial nervousness and get more experience with the systems.

My next milestone comes tonight: assuming everything went well, my first paycheck should be direct-deposited in my bank account, hopefully by tomorrow morning. It's going to be interesting to see how much it is. Since my benefits don't kick in until September 1, this check and the next couple like it should be for a full $800, less however much is deducted for stuff like social security and taxes. I intentionally chose not to withhold anything on my W2 given the money I've been making this year from other sources, such as writing for the Springfield Business Journal or TeleRead, or doing a BioKinetic study. Hopefully the extra tax take will cancel out whatever I haven't been keeping back for taxes out of those.

I'm going to be losing about another $140 per check from September for the rest of the year, between benefit premiums and the amount I chose to deduct into my health FSA. (It'll be less after the first of the year, since whatever I deduct for next year's FSA will be split over 3.25 times as many pay periods.) That might hurt, but I'll still be making more than I did on unemployment and I was able to get by all right with that for the most part.

Another day, and a couple of calls

I had my first day on the phone today. Sort of. I actually only spent about 45 minutes actually making and taking calls, and only answered two of them. Apparently in the live call role-play, I had missed by two points the minimum score necessary to go on the phones, and I had to retake that portion of the test today after spending a couple of hours listening to someone else take calls.

While I won't say that I blew the retake away, I did score high enough to go on the phone. But I didn't get to go on the phone until almost time to pack it in for the day. And I'm apparently going to need a little remedial coaching. While I won't deny that smarts, on the other hand it does reiterate the fact that the call center and client care a lot about giving the customers a good experience rather than getting them off the phone as fast as possible. That's a very different experience from how it was at MCI. And I know I can do better as soon as I get over my initial nervousness and get more experience with the systems.

My next milestone comes tonight: assuming everything went well, my first paycheck should be direct-deposited in my bank account, hopefully by tomorrow morning. It's going to be interesting to see how much it is. Since my benefits don't kick in until September 1, this check and the next couple like it should be for a full $800, less however much is deducted for stuff like social security and taxes. I intentionally chose not to withhold anything on my W2 given the money I've been making this year from other sources, such as writing for the Springfield Business Journal or TeleRead, or doing a BioKinetic study. Hopefully the extra tax take will cancel out whatever I haven't been keeping back for taxes out of those.

I'm going to be losing about another $140 per check from September for the rest of the year, between benefit premiums and the amount I chose to deduct into my health FSA. (It'll be less after the first of the year, since whatever I deduct for next year's FSA will be split over 3.25 times as many pay periods.) That might hurt, but I'll still be making more than I did on unemployment and I was able to get by all right with that for the most part.

The so-called "Flexible" Spending Account

A post-script to my last: I was thinking about it and I just realized: my health FSA (Flexible Spending Account) is basically a long-term TV game show challenge.

I have to guess, at the beginning of the year, how much money from my paycheck I'm going to want to set aside in a tax-free fund for medical expenses for the entire rest of the year. And I can't change it once I've set it. If I guess too low, then I don't get to tax-deduct additional medical expenses. If I guess too high, I lose the unspent money at the end of the year.

It's exactly the kind of either-way-you-lose challenge they like to hit those poor saps with on shows like Jeopardy or The Price is Right.

"Flexible"? Ha.

I'll grant that being able to set aside money for that kind of expenses is helpful. It's going to let me get some tax-free remedial dentistry done in September, and make my chiropractic visits deductible. But surely there could have been a more, well, flexible way to make that possible.

Who thought this was a good and helpful idea?

(I ask this elsewhere and a friend replies, "The insurance company that gets to keep the unspent money, at a guess." So much for rhetorical qustions.)

The so-called "Flexible" Spending Account

A post-script to my last: I was thinking about it and I just realized: my health FSA (Flexible Spending Account) is basically a long-term TV game show challenge.

I have to guess, at the beginning of the year, how much money from my paycheck I'm going to want to set aside in a tax-free fund for medical expenses for the entire rest of the year. And I can't change it once I've set it. If I guess too low, then I don't get to tax-deduct additional medical expenses. If I guess too high, I lose the unspent money at the end of the year.

It's exactly the kind of either-way-you-lose challenge they like to hit those poor saps with on shows like Jeopardy or The Price is Right.

"Flexible"? Ha.

I'll grant that being able to set aside money for that kind of expenses is helpful. It's going to let me get some tax-free remedial dentistry done in September, and make my chiropractic visits deductible. But surely there could have been a more, well, flexible way to make that possible.

Who thought this was a good and helpful idea?

(I ask this elsewhere and a friend replies, "The insurance company that gets to keep the unspent money, at a guess." So much for rhetorical qustions.)