I stand behind the counter. The ever-present, unnaturally bright flourcescent lights penetrate every cubic centimeter of space. It feels like late at night, because there are hardly any customers anywhere. Even the produce section, which usually features at least two or three stray customers wandering around, appears completely vacant. It's only 6:30pm, on a Sunday evening. Normally one of the busiest times of the week.

I generally endeavor to remain blissfully ignorant of whatever random sporting events other members of the population may use to entertain themselves.

Fast forward six hours.

12 midnight. I forego my usual trip to the Laser Fortress to check my email and read web content, mostly because I'm dead tired after the fest, followed by 5 hours of sleep, followed by 8 hours at work. Tonight, I crash at mom's place.

Forward seven hours.

I wake up and look at the clock. 7:00am. Light is starting to creep in between the blindsI hear the tv in the other room. Mom must be back from her trip to Illinois, and she's getting ready for work. (I did mention that here, didn't I? Nope, I guess I didn't. Short version: Grandma's sick again. She went to visit for a week.)

I contemplate getting out of bed to say "Hi" or something. But.... too tired... I put the blindfold on, roll over, and go back to sleep....

Gradually, my mind drifts back to reality. Remove blindfold. Look at the clock. 2pm?!?

Bleep. So much for my theory that I might make a visit Argo before going to work today. Over the period of the next 20 minutes, I eventually manage to drag my body out of bed and into the shower. The lithium and melatonin did exactly what it was supposed to. 14 hours unconsciousness, interrupted only once for a few brief minutes.

15:05. Rushing out the door, back to work. Didn't I just come from there?

Fast forward a few hours.

I stand behind the counter. The ever-present, unnaturally bright flourcescent lights penetrate every cubic centimeter of space. It feels like it's getting to be late at night, because it is. It's time to clean... something or other. There's always something that needs to be cleaned.

I get to work on it. But just as I'm getting started, suddenly, out of the nowhere, there appears....

Another bleeping customer. Damn. And another one behind them. What's wrong with these Boulderites? Don't they ever go to bed?

Wait on customers. Slice meat. Slice cheeses as requested. Then, return to working on...

"Now, what was I doing again? Oh right. Cleaning the chicken oven."

Fast forward to now.

Tonight, I got an email from a recruiter. This one looks like it might actually be from a real person. (Unlike the half a zillion automated replies I got shortly after posting my resume to a popular job site, which all basicly said "Come check our site for open positions", even though their open positions had absolutly nothing to do with anything that was on my resume.")

Apparently, they're seeking candidates for a "short term position" in a town that would be a semi-long drive from here, and I have no idea what the job even entails. No description has been given, beyond the job title. "Web/Business Analyst job." Hmmm. Doesn't exactly sound like my skill area, but I think I'll query for more info.

This, however, brings up an interesting quandry. Supposing a "short term" job does fall into my lap, do I take it if it conflicts with my current job? If a 3-month full-time programming job opens, do I quit my deli job to work on it? It might mean that I could get my foot in the door and/or get some good contacts. But the assignment ends, and then what?

Damn. At least right now, I have something that's mostly stable, even if the pay sucks. I can probably keep this job as long as I want it, as long as I don't go postal. Layoffs are unlikely.

Blah. I think I'll watch either a little B5 or a little Buffy now. (Jaeger was kind enough to present me with the rest of B5 season 2 on cd at the mountain fest. Feed the addiction.)

Goodday to ya'll.