Dispatches from the sunburned wastelands

Whoosh! That's the sound of time flying past...I have a contract report to deliver this week, and am still nowhere near finished, having been laid low by a nasty cold for most of the first part of November. Oh well, if I don't deliver, we don't eat - guess that's motivation enough. Got my first Employment Insurance payment today - what a rip-off! They don't pay you for the first two weeks that you're unemployed (the so-called waiting period), and when they do start your payments, there's all kinds of subtractions, leaving you with about 1/10th of your previous earnings (yes, you pay taxes on your unemployment check)...I don't know how they expect people to survive on this. But, in comparison with the unemployment pension back in South Africa, I guess it's better than a lot of other countries.

Posted by HannesB at 10:11 AM Comments