Crazy Employee Makes Me Crazy. Again.

I had a migraine yesterday and I feel the onset of another one any minute now. Must write now or never.

Wednesday morning, I spent about an hour closeted with Owner in his office with the door closed. Seems Crazy Employee managed to get me involved in another one of her schemes.

When we rescued Crazy's puppy, we took her to the vet our company uses so puppy could have the required vaccinations. I had given them my corporate credit card when we took the other rescued dogs in, so I knew these charges would be applied, too. Crazy took the dog home and, about two weeks later, brought her back to the vet to be spayed. Late that same afternoon, Crazy came into my office looking meek.

"Could I ask you something? I don't really want to talk to Owner about it. He makes me nervous."

That's good. She should be afraid. She should be afraid of me, too, though.

She'd spoken with the vet who informed her that, when they performed the surgery, they also discovered that the puppy had a dental problem that was best resolved early. The vet tried to get in touch with Crazy, but failing to do so, had fixed the problem. The surgery bill was $500.

Crazy wanted to know if I thought it was Owner's intention to continue to pay all the puppy bills. Absolutely not, I told her. I suggested that she speak with Owner herself, but I had no reason to believe that would be even remotely okay. Once again, she didn't want to speak with Owner. Crazy said she understood and that she'd make arrangements to establish a payment plan with the vet. That conversation took place at the end of March.

When Information Superhighway looked at the statement we received from the vet, there was that charge. She brought it to Owner's attention, knowing it had to be related to Crazy's dog. Owner then called me in to discuss what I might know about it. I recounted our conversation and went to my office to get my credit card so we could ensure that it was, indeed, a Crazy Land card. Of course it was mine.

Owner trusts me without hesitation. When I was in charge of things for around a decade, I could have robbed the company blind had I been so inclined. We've been friends for over 3 decades. He knows he need never question my ethics. Nonetheless, I could feel my face assuming the expression of icy rage that scares the hell out of people. I couldn't wait to get out of the office and discuss the situation with Crazy Employee.

Owner called the vet's office to clarify exactly what had happened. We were told that they called Crazy just that morning and made her set up a payment plan. The charges will be taken off my card. Owner told the vet to always get direct approval from him or me for any future charges of any kind.

He was greatly relieved to not have to talk with Crazy. If Owner had a nickname for Crazy, it would be Loathsome. He has a list in his head of the numerous examples of her bad behavior based on her profound sense of personal entitlement. There are even some things he doesn't know about. I finally staggered out of his office, still furious.

Technically, Crazy had indeed lived up to the assurance she gave me that she'd take care of the charges. However, she didn't do that until the bill came due here. I should point out that Crazy actually sees the bills before they get to the Superhighway. She knew disaster was imminent.

I decided to take a walk and calm down. On the way back, who should I run into but Lillian and another of her gentlemen callers. One of the neighbors had called Animal Control the day we were trying to help the old dog and I was terrified she'd think I'd made the call. I just kept looking at the sidewalk and hurried into the office.

By then, I'd decided to let the Crazy thing go. Owner has his list and I have mine. I'm not sure which one of us she should fear the most.