At 19:00, my 6-hour shift ended. But it hadn't felt like six hours. More like 8 or 10. When I reached my room, I allowed exhaustion to overtake me, and I collapsed on the floor. I didn't feel like doing anything.

All afternoon, I had been beset by a mild headache, which gradually intensified with time. My feet also hurt. Flat on the floor, I lay. I summoned enough energy to get up and grab a blanket. Then, slowly, I drifted into a light sleep.

Two hours later, I awoke, slightly revitalized. But as soon as I cast the blanket aside, the chill of winter swept over my skin. Fever, mild.

Of course. Over the course of the past week, I've given my physical health a one-two knockout punch. Immune-destroying, chemically laden food, combined with probable exposure to all sorts of exciting new pathogens that inhabit this part of the country.

My pattern of behavior yesterday and the day before: Ring up a customer or three. During a lull, nibble a bite or two of popcorn. (Flavored with a wild array of unknown substances, as well as a few known toxins.) Repeat without rinsing or washing a few hundred times. Then, to top it off, eat a hotdog or two off the grill before they get thrown away. (Bright red, which just screams, "I'm not only filled with the discarded parts of a thousand slaughter house animals, but I'm also coated with a thick layer of artifical coloring.")

So now, we have consequences. Imagine that.

I love this latest tidbit from the net's wise philosopher sage:

We are terrified of mental/internal change, of changing our perspective, our beliefs, our habits, our identity. And we are insatiably addicted to physical/external change, changing our appearance and our surroundings. We would rather devote many hours and dollars, year after year, to killing dandelions, than make the internal change of thinking dandelions are good. We would rather spend our lives at hellish jobs seeking wealth and status, than make the internal change of no longer valuing wealth and status. This is sick, sick, sick. And this sickness has built, and been built by, a societal toolkit that is extremely powerful for physical/external change. If we don't run out of energy soon, we're all going to be as batty as Kim Jong Il.

Also: I now have my regular work schedule. My three big workdays are going to be Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I have full shifts, or even slightly longer, on each of them. These were the days the boss really needs me to work. (Yes, I'm obviously at the bottom of the seniority totem poll.)

Optionally, he said I could also work shorter 3-4 hour shifts on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. (Wednesday is my official day off.) I chose to take the short shifts on Monday and Tuesday, but have Thursday nights off every week. This will leave open the possibility of joining Yanthor for Jewel Heart meetings, and also gives me two days in a row off, kind of like a "weekend".

That makes my workweek 33 hours, which should give me enough money to keep the rent paid, pay off some debt, and still have enough to indulge the occassional asparagus craving. I like it.