2001-11-15 - 11:55 p.m.

Howdy, I'm back.

Boring and slow, boring and slow. I'm not broke right this minute, but I'm destined to be by the end of the week, despite my best efforts. Don't like that. I gotta buy lots and lots of Christmas presents, and it's making me nervous. It's been a November of working to save up rent money, and I work over 40 hours a week. No fun. Just rent, beer, smokes, food, and Christmas presents. 'Till Christmas.

And I LOVE Christmas. I love the holiday season! Snow. Memories. But nothing is very much fun for me when I'm broke. I may as well be at work.

The thing that sucks is that I was ahead of the Christmas present game for a while. I was shopping for friends in September! Ah, September... Payday is on Wednesday. There were five Wednesdays that month--amazing... But something came up each week--needed a new coat. Shoes. Computer monitor. A belt. Bounced checks. Bought an 8-track. And I'm glad I have these things, but the feast is over and it's famine a go-go. I did a survey in a Quincy Market office about Miller Genuine Draft yesterday for five bucks!

I've been thinking about presents for others since September, which means that I've had far too long to think about presents for others. Now I have all this crap I want to get people. All I'm saying is that others better get some pretty goddamn Christmas presents for ME! Yeah!

It's been almost a year since the Girlfriend got laid off from Atlantic. It's been almost a year since the phone room got stripped down and I could count our interviewers on one and a half hands. Now, we have almost 60 interviewers. I'm glad about that--I can take much of the credit for the fact that we're giving quite a few people pretty decent jobs (when it all comes down to it). I saved the Data Collection department, and the interviewers are getting paid more, too. My motives weren't entirely selfless, but it did feel good helping people.

But it's sad. I'm just a year older, and I'm still working in some wacky job. And I've basically done all the good that I can there. Everyone tells me that I can do better, but I don't know if I can. Or if I want to. I dunno...

I keep waiting for something to happen.