Work was aware that I would be traveling from Columbus, and yet they requested that I book nonrefundable travel to save money. If I had not done so, I would have been able to switch my flight and be in the office Monday regardless of the game.

Say I had to book my own hotel for a conference. Work says "you need to go through Hotwire and book nonrefundable hotel". I do so. I then get sick or have an emergency and can't attend the conference. Shouldn't work pay for the hotel, even though I wasn't there? Since if I hadn't gone nonrefundable at their request, I'm not out anything?

I also think that some people have only ever worked for *******s.

I will make one more try at this. Your logic seems to be. They made you buy nonrefundable travel. If you had the refundable travel this time, you would be out less money. They should be responsible for the extra expense and time you were cost due to being forced to buy nonrefundable travel.

I believe that the situation is your fault. Your company makes the decision to book nonrefundable travel, because they are willing to eat the loss of the tickets occasionally and lose the flights (as witnessed by the other employees getting reimbursed). However, you were not willing to just lose both of the flights, because you need to get home. Therefore, you should have realized the need for one of the legs to/from the conference needed to be more flexible, so you should have paid extra for that leg knowing that you would only be reimbursed the nonrefundable amount. Your failure to realize this and act accordingly is what cost you the extra time and money.

It is the company's responsibility to make you whole in that you should be reimbursed for purchases you made directly related to the conference (the 2 tickets). However, since you got the credit/refund from the airline, the company's job is done. They aren't responsible to make it as though all best decisions were made retroactively.

It is your responsibility to be at work. If some personal thing happens (like problems with travel), that is what personal days are for. I do think it is somewhat nitty of them, but if I was happy at the job, I would overlook this.

This is all fair enough, Cooker. I should point out that it isn't the "rule" that you get nonrefundable travel. We are asked to do so. I could have purchased refundable and they would be on the hook for the costs, and didn't do so to be a responsible employee and comply with their wishes.

Do you think they should reimburse me the cost of the ticket that I got an expiring SWA voucher for, or do you think that makes me whole?

I also think it is a bit results-oriented to say that in July I should have paid an extra couple hundred dollars for my travel for the 0.001% chance that the conference gets hit by a hurricane in the 4 day window of the conference/Charleston gets nuked/etc.

BA,

Think of this as a learning experience. Even though you are out about $200, I think you made the best move based on the situation you were in.

Have you discussed this with your supervisor again, more recently? You could always give it one more shot...

"look i'm out a lot of money here and a vacation day. Could you reimburse me for just the car rental?" Worst that can happen is she says no again.

And then leave it alone. So what if you lose a vacation day. Sounds to me like there will be opportunity to snag some comp time in the future.

Also, it seems like you play poker pretty frequently. What percent is tourney and cash? You've been on a long downswing and just wondering which is the culprit.

I think the main thing in question is the voucher. I think they should reimburse you for that ticket, but then you should use the voucher if possible for a work trip later. You should be open with them about it. Say you want to be reimbursed, but you have this voucher you will only use for a work related trip. If the time ever came to use that voucher, you should only expect them to pay any fees or whatever is associated with using it. Basically, they should assume the risk associated with the voucher not you. If they refused to reimburse that ticket you should be very mad and push it pretty hard.

About the other thing, I said it too harshly. I didn't mean you should have bought the more expensive ticket. I meant that the company is never going to be responsible for anything other than reimbursing the cost directly associated with the conference. In this case, they have even made it clear that they prefer the risk to reimbursing worthless tickets as opposed to the more expensive refundable options. There is additional risk involved in your case than a normal business trip, because you require the return ticket even if the business trip gets cancelled. I am saying that you are 100% responsible for that risk.

I discussed the PTO with the director today (had previously discussed with different individual.) No joy.

It's hard to say so what on a vacation day when I'm a single parent, and also try to play tournaments, which are all 4 hours+ away from me. Also I know "hey stop playing tournaments" is coming. Playing poker tournaments is one of my favorite activities, at least when not running absurdly awfully. It has also been a good source of profit in the Before Time, in the Long Long Ago, when I didn't have to get ****ed over at every single turn of everything in life.

I now lose at basically everything I try in life, including tourney and cash. I am actually a good tourney player and average cash player but in horrendous downswing on each. I played 8 hands of poker on my way home on this trip and got stacked twice. First had to fold trips on the river, then next hand lose when guy calls $25 of $140 effective stacks pre with T8 to my JJ and outflops me, then get 5 outed on the river, then run JJ into same guy's AA. 8 hands.

Fair post and decent idea.

IMO This is a more expensive issue than your expense reimbursement and something you should dedicate some time to working on.

1.) Stop playing cash for the moment.
2.) re: bold #1, what changed? You or everything else?
3.) re: bold #2, just that line..."folding trips on the river" yuck. If you're going to play cash, you need to be the one acting, not reacting. You've got trips so why the **** did it get to the river? I don't want to get in the weeds of this but in cash, the aggressor is usually the winner and I wonder if you're playing cash with more of a tourney type strategy.

Regardless, you need a new strategy...a new plan. This shiat ain't working so it's time to shake it up.

1) I don't play much cash. There was no available tournament to play. Also, you have previously advised me I should play cash instead of tourney heh.

2) Chicken or the egg? I think everything else is changing me, but who knows?

3) I'm BB and have Q5o, 4 limps to me. Flop Q82hhc, checks through. Turn Qc I bet $15, two calls. River Tc, I bet $30, guy raises to $125, I fold. I think donking flop into 4 people is probably optimistic. Turn bet, I'm almost certainly good, and lots of draws for people to call with much worse. River, I have to value bet, but when average 1/3 guy raises that river there, I don't have the best hand, so fold.

Far be it from me to give anyone life advice, but let me suggest that poker run as is unrelated to travel runbad, and both are unrelated to romance runbad. When they all happen to pile together, it feel horrible -- but things usually change in one way or another. Best of luck to you.

1.) Ha, did I? Adjustments are needed here - keep on adjusting. In 2015 I played tourneys almost exclusively and in the past 2 years I've changed that to cash, but I've also changed up my play a lot. What I wouldn't do is ssdd. FWIW I enjoy tournaments more but cash is where the cash is. I'm a big believer in continually working on one's game, playing the optimal game etc.

2.) It's you. You need to work on your game.

3.) Yuck. a.) You flop top pair, there are 4 opponents who need to be weeded out and you check. b.) What's the point of betting $15 on the turn? Do you think that's enough with 2 flush draws on the board? Then again you looked weak by checking the flop, which doesn't help. c.) On the river guy could've easily had a busted heart flush draw that he turned into a bluff. Wicked common as we say in Bahston, and made more common by the weak $30 river bet. I mean MAYBE if the riv was a heart I'd believe it more. Maybe if this were a tourney, I'd believe it more. Obv you know this hand should be played completely differently depending on whether it's a cash game or tourney, right?

Poker run bad is def unrelated to the travel run bad, however it's a much more costly issue.

Yeah but you have to keep in mind you can normally get a significantly reduced room rate by staying over the weekend.

My brother used to travel a ton for his job but if he stayed over the weekend (so no extra set of flights and reduced room rates) they would pay to fly his family out and to stay the weekend.

I’m still confused by op not having a return flight scheduled before leaving unless I’m misunderstanding something. Certainly seems like it can be worked out but I would advise you drop this mindset that grant money is magical and free and why they shouldn’t care. It’s money they have to spend and they can spend it on other things. I just would drop that from your argument with your employer entirely.

I’m also confused about the drive back. The game was on a Saturday. Why would it require you to still be driving back on Monday. Why could you not have made it back from the game in time for work Monday?

He didn't leave until Sunday, and it was a 20 hour drive.

We can take it elsewhere if we want to get too much into poker strat, but (a) I think leading TPNK into 4 players OOP is not good. What am I hoping for? I would bet this hand on the button if I were there and it was checked to me.

(b). I bet the size of the pot, I don't think that's a "small" bet. I think betting over the size of the pot just gets folds from the hands that I want to be calling. I think if I posted a hand where I bet $30 into $15 with trips and everyone folded, people would say WTF are you doing.

(c). I don't think betting $30 into $60 again constitutes a "weak" bet. I also don't think most 1/3 players are just raising the river with an airball with another live hand behind them into a player that has just bet two streets. Without reads, they have it here. Again, I think if I posted a hand where I said I bet/called river with trips no kicker when the flush came home and he showed me the nut flush, everyone would say "easy fold on the river when he raises."

Also he's more likely to have clubs than hearts, since he might bet hearts on the flop.

Just in complete life runbad right now and it won't stop. Only one way I can think of to make it stop, and it's not an option.

I had a return flight from Charleston to home booked two months prior. That's the flight that I currently have an expiring SWA voucher for. I didn't have a flight from Columbus home booked because I wasn't going home from Columbus. Also, I certainly never said to the employer "oh hey what does the grant care, it's $200 into $2M". And yeah, they have to spend it on other things like covering other employee's personal expenses, and not the only employee who tried to save the grant money.

This, and it was a 730p kickoff on Saturday.

Information.

Not sure if serious, but if so, I often get the same information for free by checking. If it goes bet/raise behind me, I can happily just fold.

Betting/raising to "see where I'm at" is generally frowned upon.

Yet you folded bc you didn't know where you were at.

You're right tho, my bad. You played it well.

Sugar, if you bet your top pair, say $10, do u think there would still be 5 peeps (and 4 hands to beat) at the turn? Nah and that alone effects everything. I'm sorry to have mind-****ed this to death. I'm done other than to say I hope things look up for you soon.

Thanks for the laughs, OP. You deserve nothing.

1. You're a bureaucrat employed in some useless make-work agency, but then you get surprised when your 200 bucks gets tied up in all the red tape

2. You spent 250 bucks to go to some bread and circus football game

3. You donked off money on the way home because you're a donk

4. The game probably ended around 10:30pm Saturday, if you left after the game you could have easily made it back and be fresh for Monday morning. Instead you probably got drunk and reminisced about your pathetic college days.

You lose, you get nothing.

Black - what are some good things going on in your life these days?

You sound miserable and somebody I would hope to never encounter

A wild multi-accounting troll appears!