Help support Brierpatch Cats!

Help support Brierpatch Cats (the non-profit my mom and I are starting - http://www.brierpatchcats.org) by purchasing a 2010 calendar!Just click here or on the photo above!

Do you use flickr?

Because I do! I know I haven't been much of a blogger of late... and I know not everyone wants to sign up for facebook. I've been trying to make sure that I upload the same photos to both facebook and flickr, since you don't have to sign up for anything to view my photos over there. Enjoy! http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekeeler

My puppy, Twitter, plays with Teardrop the kitten

Okefenokee Humane Society News Update:

Below is the entire text quoted from this article in the Georgia Times Union:

Okefenokee Humane Society asks sheriff to investigate fired director
By Carole Hawkins

WAYCROSS - The Okefenokee Humane Society board wants the Ware County sheriff to investigate former shelter director Lori Hartmann's use of shelter funds.

Since firing Hartmann three weeks ago, the board has discovered past due bills totaling $8,500, treasurer Sirena Cady said Thursday at a specially called meeting. Cady said it appears Hartmann also made personal purchases on the shelter's Lowe's account and wrote herself and family members checks that the board had not authorized.

Board members voted unanimously to ask the county sheriff to conduct a criminal investigation.
During a telephone interview Friday, Hartmann called the assertions ridiculous. She said she has not hidden purchases or paychecks and had already informed the board that shelter finances were falling behind.

She said she believed she was fired for personal reasons and was being discredited.
In an Oct. 10 termination notice, Hartmann was told she was being discharged for failing to perform her duties in a manner acceptable to the board.

Cady said over the last three weeks she has uncovered multiple unpaid bills, which were unknown to the board.

She also detailed the following financial issues:

- Internet services were discontinued for non-payment.

- Hartmann had purchased a more expensive cell phone service a few months ago.

- Late payments to the IRS and Georgia Department of Labor for payroll taxes had incurred penalties.

- The county paid an overdue fuel bill for Humane Society vehicles and docked its monthly check to the shelter.

- A worker's compensation insurance payment of $754 is past due.

- Hartmann had opened a Lowe's account for the corporation in December that the board, which was seated in January, knew nothing about. Monthly bills were being sent to Hartmann's home address. The account balance is $3,194.

"There are purchases here that don't appear to be items that were used at the Humane Society," Cady said.

That includes two charges for carpet installation, which were made in December at a total cost of around $2,000.

"There is no carpet at the shelter," Cady said.

Numerous payments had been made to Hartmann's husband and daughter, Cady said. Hartmann also wrote herself checks for bookkeeping services and paid herself overtime, even though she was a salaried employee, Cady said.

Hartmann admitted she made some personal purchases on the Humane Society's account but said she paid for them when she did so. She admitted part of the outstanding balance was hers and said she would pay it.

Hartmann said the first time she made a personal purchase on the Lowe's account, it was a mistake and former board president Millie Hopkins had told her to "just work it out."
Hopkins couldn't be reached for comment.

As for overdue bills, Hartmann said she had kept the board informed. She said she had told the board about the overdue second- and third-quarter payroll taxes and submitted regular financial reports to the board.

"I didn't do anything wrong. They knew about everything," she said. "They've been in financial despair. I've been telling them that for months," Hartmann said the board knew both her husband and daughter had worked there and said she paid them as contractors when they did.

She said over a year ago Hopkins suggested she hire her daughter.

Her husband performed maintenance work for the shelter on an as-needed basis.

"Millie knew he was there. And [board member] Jim Morton talked to him last June about building decks for the dogs and fixing fences," said Hartmann. "He was doing it in front of them and they knew he was getting paid to do it."

Hartmann agreed she had written herself checks for bookkeeping services but said former shelter director Kaye Thompson had also done so.

Rather than paying a more expensive accountant, the Humane Society paid the director to prepare the agency's tax documents, Hartmann said.

Hartmann acknowledged charging the Humane Society overtime, but only as an accounting technique to increase her tax withholding. Her take-home pay, including both regular and overtime hours, totaled her agreed-upon salary.

The Humane Society board voted to reaffirm Hartmann's dismissal Thursday.

The organization has been working to negotiate terms of payment with its creditors.

Just a reminder....

...I still update facebook more often than I do blogger. Join me there! Also, I am sick. Boo!

Alas, no house.

Well, my mom decided that in the end she didn't want to spend the money it would take to get the house moved out to the land. She had decided to go for it based on an estimate that turned out to be a 50% less than what it turned out to actually be, so it's certainly an understandable decision. Disappointing, though :-(

Purchase the best of my Kyrgyzstan photos!

I finally finished my coffee-table book of photographs from Kyrgyzstan. You can get it in either soft-cover ($39.95) or hard-cover ($49.95) - and believe me, the hardcover is a MUCH better deal. Simply click here or on the picture above. You can see the first fifteen pages of the book on the website... but that doesn't even get you out of the capital city! The book is 114 pages long and contains 188 color photographs, each with a detailed description and/or explanation. Enjoy!

House-Moving Woes

Mom just spoke to the other house mover in the area. His price is all-inclusive (roof removal, foundation pouring, permit/escort acquiring, etc) but it would come to $25,000! He seems to be a lot more competent than the other guy as well. (The other guy didn't think that we would need to pour any sort of foundation under the pilings, whereas this guy says that would be a definite requirement, which was what I had thought.) While that's a hell of a house for $25k (there's no way we could get something like that built out there for that price), we don't have that kind of cash on hand. And while normal people would just go get a loan, my mom is very Ayn Randish in a paying cash for items kind of way. Mom is going to think on it for a day or two before making her final decision. What do you guys think?