When I was at my last job there was the story of Hjm (name unsubtly masked).

When Hjm was an MBA student, so tell some of the people involved, he was recruited by my company and flown from out of state to spend three days doing interviews with us and getting an introduction to the business.

Afterwards, he wrote a thank you letter. In which, beyond simply thanking us, he complained about the hotel where he was put up (the Hyatt Regency San Francisco), the fact that we didn't provide car service (the hotel was less than two blocks away (and not even a long block) and the fact that the flight back home left late.

Apparently this was viewed by the muckety mucks as a sign of moxie and he was not only hired but advanced quickly.

I wasn't there so the story could be apocryphal but I believe it? Why, because I had to work closely with him for two years and he was one of the biggest a-holes I've ever encountered in the corporate world (which, generally, is not nearly so bad as TV sitcoms make it seem) and it would entirely be within character.

So, it isn't shocking to me what people think they can do and get rewarded for.

I disagree. If something was supposed to be covered and wasn't then I don't think there is any problem with politely working to get reimbursed. Everybody involved understands (in my experience anyway).

Any chance that the reimbursement request was an honest mistake? (Not that this would be a good sign of his/her attention to detail.)

Actually, that was my thought as well. It is easy to lose track of such (relative) minutia when traveling.

Well that was short-lived.

In under 48 hours it has been determined that the minion who was to spend 60% of their time taking over some of my duties will be entirely too busy taking on other people's duties, so they won't be taking any of mine. So, I get to keep all my current work, only now I'm responsible for all this other work, too, because it will be a while before this person can be hired and trained and such. Because the other people need relief "now." Monday I was told that *I* would be getting the relief "now."

I'm the closest I've ever been to having myself committed and they're giving me a whole additional FTE to be responsible for? That does all the immediate need stuff like payroll and supplies so I can't put it off or fit it in when I have time?

I'm this close to walking out the door.

Not likely. It turns out that ALL of his expenses were already paid for, and he requested reimbursement. How do you forget that you didn't pay for anything?

Hmm.... Ms Marketing Professor, as much as I like her, buys into things a bit too much. She loved a car she bought 10+ years ago. Bought it at 30K. It's now down to 18-20K, and she said 'with inflation, blah blah blah... now that's a good deal!"

Manufacturers know the value of their product. Chances are, said car comes with less features and may be of lesser quality, as well as a number of other points (good and bad) that may have lowered the cost. Not so much that it's a "good deal." It's a deal. Take it or leave it.

Mind you, the same technology that was top-of-the-line 10 years ago could be hopelessly outdated by today's standards, so that could explain lower pricing, especially if features haven't been updates. Hey, some folks are in love with their dialup - there's all kinds in this world.

Or it was overpriced the first time, and she was dumb enough to buy it.

There is a lot of literature on how technological progress should be incorporated into inflation calculations (that is a big complaint about the Consumer Price Index, it assumes that a 1975 washing machine and a 2007 washing machine can simply have their price compared in neutral dollars when it wouldn't even be legal to sell a new 1975 washing machine in 2007.