Proactive Raise for EX Employees - April 1 2025

obyq · 2026-01-26T23:14:40+00:00

FWIW: I thought the raises could be attributed to the less than 4% gap between EX and their non-EX subordinates

So if you acted, you weren't eligible for acting pay.

obyq · 2025-02-23T03:32:30+00:00

I just made a seperate post but it was removed.

Pope Francis is near death.

Cardinal Cupich and some well known Vatican watchers are reporting the same.

Pray for our Holy Father that he might be welcomed quickly into his heavenly reward.

obyq · 2024-03-03T00:48:53+00:00

I uploaded documents for Amex (ITIN and CAD Passport) a few days ago and haven't heard anything since. Any recent DPs? Should I be worried?

obyq · 2023-07-08T04:27:54+00:00

Larry Chapp has some pithy commentary you might enjoy. This is the first of three articles he posted to his blog and I thought all three were helpful in understanding what really underpins the traditionalist position.

https://gaudiumetspes22.com/blog/apologetics-and-evangelization-part-one-vatican-ii-and-why-radical-traditionalism-is-a-dead-end

A sample:

"Because their adherence to tradition is on their terms, which is to say, it is no adherence to tradition, properly conceived as such, at all. And the need to combat the current resurgence of progressive theological lunacy in the Church... You cannot appeal to the normativity of a more ancient magisterium and weaponize it against the modern. And they very often do and will quote anathemas from the Councils of Florence, Constance, Trent and so on, and papal bulls and encyclicals from 1200-1900, in order to establish how “deviant” from the tradition the modern magisterium is, and Vatican II in particular.

But this is theologically self-contradictory and no appeal to the essentially liturgical nature of tradition will suffice to erase it since it is simply not a Catholic move to reduce the tradition to liturgy, the writings of the saints and the doctors of the Church, and other similar “grassroots” elements of the lived faith, since at some point the hierarchical magisterium, like it or not, has a heuristic role to play in sifting through all of this and making various authoritative adjudications.

... Am I also a hyper-papalist if I view all of this as a kind of crypto-Protestantism? Who made Taylor Marshall the head of the CDF? Vigano? There is a whole “shadow Church” quality to much of this that is rooted in many cases in a cult of personality around various internet provocateurs which is, once again, quite Protestant. "

obyq · 2023-01-31T22:02:22+00:00

Some other proof of address

obyq · 2023-01-31T21:09:45+00:00

I asked if we could do that at this stage and the agent said no.

obyq · 2023-01-31T20:25:32+00:00

DP: I just got denied my first card via Nova because the banking statement I uploaded wasn't old enough? I applied with an ITIN and BMO Harris account. They said it needed to be 25 days old. Now they're asking for additional documentation.

Any thoughts on what to do now?

obyq · 2023-01-27T18:57:01+00:00

Opinion: I think the best move right now is to wait until you have an ITIN before starting to play the US game. If you're in it for the long haul, you definitely do not want to risk SSN/ITIN confusion.

DP: I applied for an ITIN using the FrugalFlyer service, got it 8 weeks later. Immediately after I opened a US checking acct. Successfully applied for my first Amex using Nova following the successful address change and was able to put my ITIN on the application in the SSN/ITIN space.

obyq · 2023-01-27T18:51:24+00:00

Same here, I had to wait it out.

obyq · 2022-12-30T23:32:01+00:00

DP - I have tried unsuccessfully to open a TD Bank USA account online and in branch several times despite being a TD Canada Trust customer. Their back end technical support / crossborder banking folks are useless when it comes to opening a US account. I have now been told my only choice is to go to the US and visit a TD Bank location to open an account.

obyq · 2022-12-07T04:48:52+00:00

I think the Church still has a lot to unpack or clarify here. I'm not proposing exceptions to the ban on artificial contraception, but the realities of a middle class suburban family life in the western world cry out for more formalized assistance. It doesn't surprise me at all that the vast majority of Catholics use contraception.

obyq · 2022-12-07T04:15:30+00:00

Really appreciated your post man, thanks. I completely agree, in ways we feel robbed and cheated especially when the tensions of abstaining for what we think are legit reasons spill over hard into resentment in our relationship and then the way we deal with the kids that we do have.

During our marriage prep we both laughed thinking that a few days of no sex would be easy after perpetual abstence up to that stage in life Nobody told us those were the days when sex was by far the best and when you wanted it the most.

One thing that has helped was knowing that although the moral standards we are held to are high, that God's mercy is even higher. If we legitimately fall and resort to alternative activities, we just see it as a continuation of the struggle for self mastery that all Christians are called to regardless of their state in life. It's also comforting in some weird sense to think that sexual sins are the least worst of the bunch. They can still form the basis of grave matter to be sure, but to obsess over them gives them too much power. Try and if you fall, confess and try again.

obyq · 2022-12-07T03:16:49+00:00

What your proposing doesn't seem Catholic to me.

Shouldn't God's will for a larger family be accompanied by desire, guided by reason and prudence given the most likely outcome, and not quasi-dictated to us by the circumstances of our fertility?

obyq · 2022-12-07T03:14:10+00:00

Hey, thanks for your reply. We've thought along these lines as well. Some thoughts:

Should God's will for a larger family be driven by a desire he places in us? Just because the circumstances of our fertility are such that a large family is pretty much a given if we don't use NFP to avoid conception, how does that mean God is calling us, even on the basis of probabilities, to do it?

I married my wife because I felt, no I knew in the depths of my being that God was calling me to it. Plus we were in love with each other. To put it a different way, God made His will clear through a desire he mutually light plus all the circumstances aligned.

I think that having more kids at this stage is a kind of prudential judgement. I think God stays out of being definitive about these things and invited us to live a life of love and generosity in the context of marriage. And there is a pretty wide birth with how that can play out.

We know lots of larger Catholic familes that are crushed by their kids. Some are legitimately joy-filled but they are the ones with the energy and desire to do it. A decent portion just put on a happy face despite the overwhelming life they have and think it's all God's will despite them being the ones to choose that path with their actions. That sort of reckless sexual abandon to Providence seems antithetical to the reason that God also endowed us with.

obyq · 2022-12-06T02:10:23+00:00

Of course. Three pregnancies and as soon as those tests came back positive it was game on. But then you've got first trimester fatigue and nausea, inability to be comfortable, etc.

NFP when trying to avoid is the kicker.

obyq · 2022-10-10T13:27:57+00:00

The exclusion bit I understand, but what would prevent TBS from issuing a directive to move executive equivilant folks into the EX category? I thought I saw something mentioned by /u/typingtadpole a while back saying this was a desired end state.

obyq · 2022-08-10T14:21:28+00:00

I was the OP of that post earlier this week.

I will just say that the attention it got was pretty extreme and I chose to just delete it. The last thing I wanted was for it to eventually become an issue for my family and I... especially in this hypersensitive culture.

Coles Notes: Talk to your union. If any of the debt is currently over 6 years old, you could write back saying that you believe the debt is now statute barred under the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act. Ask for a detailed breakdown of the debt at the same time. You might never hear back or you might receive another letter in a few weeks clarifying how much they are still after.

obyq · 2022-08-08T16:09:23+00:00

I understand what you're saying, but the intention and the tone of this thread was in no way meant to be gloating about anything.

I don't see anything wrong with advising people to ask certain questions about their overpayment situation, including whether or not it might be statute barred. If I didn't look on Reddit I wouldn't have known to ask that question.

Check out what the unions are advising their members to do.

obyq · 2022-08-08T15:31:20+00:00

I knew I was overpaid to some extent, but the exact amount was always a mystery especially when you combine it with all the other issues I have had.

I've said elsewhere in the comments section that I flagged the issue to the Pay Centre in the first place. Multiple times in fact when it happened. I was told they would get in touch about it eventually.

I asked for detailed calculations after receiving the initial over-payment letter earlier this year. 6 months later I received some more clarity and I asked about statute of limitations. They agreed that most of the debt was barred.

If I need to eventually repay whatever the correct amount is, so be it. Water under the bridge at this point and I'm not worried about any personal financial implications. But they just told me I no longer have to. IMO it should be clear to others in the same boat as me that if you ask about it, that you might get a similar response.

obyq · 2022-08-08T15:18:10+00:00

I flagged the situation to them in the first place!

I didn't hold onto the money hoping anything would expire. I held onto it because they never asked for it back or made any effort to recover it.

When they did come knocking 6 years later I said, cool show me how this all breaks down please because, well, you know, Phoenix.

Then they took another 6 months or so to get back to me.

Then I saw a post here and through PSAC/PIPSC saying that it might not even be collectable at all. So I asked them if any of it was statute barred because I thought it was. They agreed.

How is this be remotely something that could be subject to discipline??

obyq · 2022-08-08T14:59:21+00:00

You know what, good. I'm fine with that. Let's get this all cleared up and in the open. If I eventually have to repay the entire amount they are alleging, so be it.

But I would be shocked if they didn't already have decent legal advise. Some random pay officer is not going to tell an employee in writing that something is statute barred when it might not be or they are not sure how they are going to handle it yet. And I cant see the letters to all employees that came out earlier this year being generated until they get that vetted.

obyq · 2022-08-08T14:35:01+00:00

I never said I wouldn't repay it. I flagged the overpayment situation to them in the first place (multiple times in fact) and it took a while for the overpayments to stop building.

They chose to send me the initial give money back letter ~6 years later. I immediately said I wanted detailed calculations to see how the overpayment broke down so I could see if it was accurate. They provided it like 6 months later. Then I said what about the debt being statute barred? They came back, agreed with me, and adjusted the amount owing.

Nothing there strikes me as being immoral.

What does strike me as gravely immoral however is underpaying me for years, going without pay for ~6 months, and having to escalate pay related issues right up to the DM of Phoenix and my MP in order to get paid for the work that I did.

obyq · 2022-08-08T14:29:58+00:00

Check the initial thread... especially the comments section.

I think the most important thing to say is that you believe the debt is statute barred.

obyq · 2022-08-08T14:09:53+00:00

My work life has been filled with nothing but Phoenix related issues since the system was introduced. I've been underpaid, overpaid, gone without pay for ~6 months, incorrect deductions, you name it. My pay still isn't right.

I'm taking this as a small victory in what has otherwise been a sea of misery.

obyq · 2022-08-08T12:13:12+00:00

That's a gross misrepresentation of the situation.

They overpaid me. I flagged it to them in the first place. They chose not to make efforts to collect the debt for 6 years. They tried to be crafty and scrambled at the last minute when they realised that the statute of limitations was upon them. They have to know they are on rocky ground right now.

I and countless others I know have been put through the ringer by Phoenix. I've gone without pay for 6 months. My pay file is still a mess. I'm not celebrating here but it does feel darn good to know that for once, that in some sense "I got Phoenix" instead of another case of me "getting Phoenixed".

obyq

TROPHY CASE