Today is Benjamin’s last day at Compass Bank, and what a roller coaster ride it has been. My overall rating of Compass Bank as an employer would be a D- based on how they have treated Benjamin in his 2.5 years there. That isn’t to say that most of the people he worked with weren’t good people, but overall the company does not treat their employees well and regional management is a joke.
Tomorrow I’ll be adding Benjamin to my health, vision, and dental insurance. IBM is great in that they offer domestic partner benefits but since it isn’t recognized as a legal marriage by the federal government, the money IBM contributes to cover Benjamin’s insurance is taxable income for me. Not sure how much of an impact that will be, guess we’ll find out next January.
Digital Ramblings 
I just recently found your journal (and at about the same time, Jenny and John). I know we didn’t get along at TAMS, and I gather you’re leaving Austin soon, but I still thought I’d say ‘hi.’
And comment. NCsoft provides gender-blind domestic partner benefits, so I’ve been taking advantage of them to provide with benefits while she’s in school and until we’re married. The extra taxable income works out to about $1,300 more tax each year (about $50 less each paycheck).
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Greetings – glad you posted. I can honesty say that I’ve changed quite a bit since TAMS — and I’d like to think for the better :) Yes, we’re headed to Denver in mid-may for 3-4 years but we’ll be keeping our house and have tons of friends still in Austin. Hopefully we’ll be back some day.
NCsoft has a better benefits package than IBM does then – IBM only offers domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples and only in those states where same-sex marriage isn’t legal (their logic, or so they say, is to only provide domestic partner benefits to those people who can’t get them through an alternate method like marriage or civil unions). $1.3k/year isn’t that bad; I expected worse. I’ll report back in a month when I’ve seen the impact in a couple of paychecks.
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The IBM approach makes sense: the whole point of domestic partner benefits is to provide a more level benefits package, and I feel a bit guilty for having the option of marriage to get those benefits, but not yet taking it.
I’m not happy about getting married in Texas either, but I’ll be doing that, too: showing just how far I will (or won’t go) for principles, I’m afraid.
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