If enthusiasm were currency

[illusionofjoy]

I got a call from the temp agency today. I have a new assignment, which starts on Monday. Interestingly enough, it's for the same company in a different department (one that hasn't closed). This time around I'll be working daylight hours.

Apparently they've placed about 20 temps for this position, which is a data-entry gig. From my understanding, in the weeks to follow they will be weeding people out based on how quick their keystrokes are. It sounds pretty cutthroat to me. I'm not very optimistic about the whole situation.

Still, even if only for a little while, a paycheque is a paycheque. I just wish that I could feel slightly more secure, rather than like a show horse competing to stay out of the glue factory.

At the moment, my ambition is running at an all-time low. I think that perhaps I have just a little too much time on my hands. Given that this new assignment doesn't start until next week, the time spilling across my palms shows no signs of drying out just yet. I could be calling up masochistmonkey and working on my recordings. That would be something useful. Instead I spent my day watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's a good show and a fun diversion, but not exactly a productive way to spend my free time.

In fact, I am loathing my free time right now. I had wanted to travel to Boston after my stint at my last assignment was over. I had wanted to finally meet czerach in person after having known her online for nearly a year at this point. Circumstances beyond my control (money) prevented that though. Now I'm left thinking to myself, "if only I'd been more thrifty" and "if only I hadn't gotten that speeding ticket." If only I could stop thinking about the "if only's."

Meanwhile, encased in my trenchcoat's misery is the fact that I'll be dragging my ass to Texas for Thanksgiving. This is honestly something I can't be thankful for. It's my mother's side of the family having their annual reunion and there will be I: the only god damn, pinko, commie liberal in the bunch. I received my plane tickets for this gala of misery in the mail just yesterday.

Of course, I couldn't be satisfied that the codes on the tickets actually translated into "From: Pittsburgh" and "To: Houston." How was I to know that city names on tickets have been replaced by codes when I haven't flown for six years? Thus, thinking something was wrong with the tickets, I called my mother up. She, in turn, got in touch with the travel agent and then called me back, saying that there was nothing wrong with the tickets. She then followed this up by saying something that made me feel like a complete loser. It was the type of phrase that parents use when they're trying to make a joke or be witty, but ultimately only makes them look like assholes. I told my mother that the conversation was over soon after she poured salt into one of my many wounds.

So, I missed Boston, but the booby prize is a trip to Texas. In the interim, I get to sweat it out in the land of data entry to find out if my upcoming assignment will be long-term. If enthusiasm were currency, I would be bankrupt.