Vanessa returned to the office today, and she read my email asking when I'd be receiving the other half of my book advance as well as my grant, since I'd completed my payment-dependent tasks well over a month ago. 

Instead of replying to me, she copied me on an email asking my (idiot) editor for approval. Said editor included me on her one-word reply that said "Approved."  So yeah, now I'll have a nice chunk of change coming my way.

Why do we have contracts and automated systems if I still need to manually babysit someone else's process?