Line in the sand

Way back in March, I and some other honors students were given an offer to work for a loan officer at a mortgage company, handling notary signings at $50 a pop. Of course, this meant we had to BECOME registered notaries, but that's not as hard a process as you might think, and once we completed that process we were all guaranteed work. So I considered, and went for it, and my license was issued in May.

The bozo has been giving me the runaround ever since.

I'm sick of waiting. With the assistance of my roommate, who is well-versed in legalese (and who has a vested interest in making sure I can keep paying my share of the rent), I drafted the following. It goes in his inbox shortly. *crosses his fingers*


Dear Sir,

Firstly, I'd like to thank you for considering me for a notary position. I believe I will be able to make a significant contribution, and am eager to begin as soon as possible, as I have previously indicated. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly evident that I will not be given any assignments any time in the near future. When I first discussed my employment with you in March, I was given assurances that upon my certification as a notary public, I would be hired by you. However, since receiving my notary license in May, I have not been given any assignments by your firm. Through email, I was told that assignments could vary between 2 to 20 a week. Unless you can guarantee me at least two assignments a week starting next week, I ask that you reimburse me the $250 I have already spent on this endeavor. My living expenses for the past several months are not included in this request, as it was my choice to remain in this area and rely on your assurances of employment. However, I would not have made the initial expenditure of time, effort, and money to become a certified notary public had it not been for the agreement made in March that you would both hire me and give me assignments upon my completion of notary certification.

In the past three months I have subsisted off of my savings, which are almost depleted. Because I was given constant assurances as to my imminent employment by you throughout the period between May and July, I did not relocate to Northern California, as had been my original intention upon graduating from college. In consideration of the time and money I have expended on this project, and the inconvenience to which it has put me, I ask that you reply to this missive as soon as possible. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Chris Reaves


If I don't hear back soon, he gets to pay for my legal fees as well, and his company gets a Better Business Bureau visit. It's been nice NOT doing business with you, SIR. >:(

In other news...

We go to a Norms in Costa Mesa after anime club meetings (which I'll likely have to skip from now on for financial reasons; see above entry). It's the only place open that late that's worth eating at. Anyway, I've driven there and back multiple times, but I must have been extra sleepy or something tonight, because I took the wrong exit off the 73 and wound up lost in San Joaquin Hills for about 40 minutes. Past midnight.

At this point I became glad I was a guy, for two reasons:

1) To hear ren_narf talk, it can be very unnerving to be a female in unfamiliar territory at night.
2) It's nearly impossible to find an open business in a largely residential area at that hour. Which translates to "an open bathroom."

After finding a secluded dark area and watering some bushes (*cough*), I found some guys making a late-night delivery or something and one of them was able to point me in the direction of the campus. Thankfully, my sense of direction hadn't failed me completely, and I was actually within a block of a street that went straight through to the right area. But I probably would have missed it if I hadn't asked, so thanks, nameless dude!