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What I had to go thru to get that lump sum payout is almost a sin.

Had to send in to get secret password to sign on that I’m interested, packet will come.

Packet came….one quadrillion papers to fill out...husband to sign notorized form agreeing that he’ll give up any pension death benefits, sign here, certified marriage c ertific ate...got from Annapolis Merryland, my birth certificate...on and on and on.

Meanwhile I hear out the side of my head that Obama plans to take over all American pension benefits being held overseas-Alcatel is now a FRENCH company. I’m freaking.

And the French, folks, are boobs….sheesh….terrible time doing this.

Then I must get a rollover account AHEAD of time or Alcatel will withold some $8,000 from my payout so did that, bank gets all cornfused.

“You will get your check by 10/16/12 if you fill out the forms right. If you donj’t then no check and Alcatel will NOT return any papers.”

So I did then forgot to sign paper verifying I do NOT owe child support anywhere….as an aside, THIS is a fine example where we have private businesses policiing the social laws and how big a pain it is. “You must return this with postmarked by 9/16 or you don’t get your money”.

Well I received this on….9/15! A Saturday! No way I could get it postmarked on that date but I figger, okay, since 9/16 is a weekend day, I got till Monday right?

So comes 10/16...NO CHECK!

I throw up arms….I knew it wouldn’t happen. I was hoping for what would not happen.

THEN, outta the blue, somebody from the ALCATEL calls me up…”We are very sorry, we should have processed your check, we will process it by 11/16”. Actually TWO people from Alcatel called me up, I don’t know why, both said same thing. And since it was THEIR mistake, they would give me an extra month’s interest.

Still I would believe when I see.

Last week bank calls me …”your money’s in”. AND I did get that extra month’s interest, heh, check was for $42,015.37.

All day, folks, all damn day at the bank, signing this check, signing that, signing papers, how to invest rollover, I want one thousand bucks cash…..which I got but wasn’t easy.

More on cash and husband’s input coming up…...

Okay, since yon reader has endured my story, let me throw in a bit of Women’s Lib just to add some balance.

This is the last entry on this matter, thank you for indulging me.

So I give my daughter $150 out of my windfall. Lookit, I gave it to her, right there, outta my hand, just gave it to her, yes I did. Well actually I transferred it into her account cause she’d just moved, she gets up at 4 am every day to take her license-less husband to work, must also take kid, works hard....and she’s my daughter.

$150 bucks folks, out of my $42K.

Well it’ll be more than that but I digress.

Husband chances to see the transfer on bank statement, asks what is, I tell truth.

Argument ensues...I shouldn’t give her money, don’t get my nephew a gift for Christmas, so Kaitlyn got straight A’s (Kaitlyn is granddaughter)...in his home getting straight A’s was the norm.

You know, it’s how arguments go, one thing to another to another. My daughter is NOT my husband’s child though he helped raise her since she was 12. They had a falling out long time ago, goodness when she was 15 she shouted to him that he was NOT her father....all of 15, imagine that...and still he holds it against her. She’s now 35.

Whatever....finally I pulled out the big gun. And women’s lib or not, go to hell....here’s the facts. I worked at ersatz ALCATEL from 1968 through 1983 or so. I married my husband in 1988.

HUSBAND WAS NOWHERE AROUND WHEN I WORKED AT WESTERN ELECTRIC!

IT’s MY money, I told husband, though I emphasoze now that I didn’t initially think of it that way, I did consider it OUR money, such as it is, the thought of his and ours didn’t, at first, enter my head.

But he’s griping about me slipping my kid $150?

Oh yes I did, I pointed out how the hell he thought he had a right to tell me what to do with MY money, and further, if I wanted to I could give the entire amount to my daughter, a court of law would take my size for funds I earned some six years before I ever met the man.

HE, of course, launched into a litany of how much money HE brought in, which he had a handsome 401K but facts are facts, his 401K came from Sears from a matching program they had. AND HE NEVER PARTICIPATED IN THAT PROGRAM UNTIL....hold your breath folks, HE MARRIED ME!

In other words I was picking up the deducts from his salary through MY salary and he earned every dime of it while married to me...which was, of course, the plan. And I made, every year I worked, DOUBLE what he made, just so’s you know I sure did do my share, bringing home the bacon and y’all know I cook it up in a pan.

Not quite the same thing and I never took any of this 401K money and gave it to my daughter or would I without telling him.

Further, I was rolling over my pension and HE would be named my beneficiary (I am beneficiary of his money and I respect our marriage). I rolled over $35,000 and I won that argument about whose money it was and the stupid arguing about a minute $150.

Which is why I managed to get $1,000 cash out of the Alcatel check which husband does not know about, which I might give a big chunk to daughter for Christmas sorry I got to be so sneaky but I just want to share with my daughter, who was THERE the whole time I worked at WE, who got taken to the babysitter every morning so I could work there, sometimes at 3am in the morn.

Anyway, that’s my story.

It’s MY money and the big lug should have kept his selfish mouth shut.

I still love him and know that I can have money any time I want but he doesn’t like to give my daughter anything.

It’s an old wound but hey, again, it’s MY money.

Heh.