The worst job I ever had was working for a big book store downtown.  It was horrible because I was literally at the bottom of the totem pole.  I worked in the sort room, which was in the basement.  When shipments of books came, I sorted them into different bins.  I put a Lincoln Park Chicago neighborhood directory into the geography books section, political autobiographies into politics and news, fantasy novels into fantasy and scifi, and so on and on.  There were no windows and the sort room was like a cavern beneath the surface of the earth.  It was always dank and dim and there was no clock.  Time slowed massively down.  I’d take breaks and a lunch, but they always seemed so far off in the future when I started at the beginning of the day.  By the time I took the train to and from there, it’d be pitch black out and I’d just throw myself down on my parents’ couch and lie there, not thinking.  I barely lasted two weeks at that job.  They were only paying minimum wage, which back then was 5.45 an hour.  I was a college student and getting financial aid and didn’t have a car or any bills I had to take care of so I quit.  It just wasn’t worth it to carry on. 

I couldn’t wait to tell Grandma about my idea.  I think she will help me present it to our family to see if we can all come up with how to launch a new business for me.  Grandma thinks it is a grand idea.  She is willing to let the rest of the family know that she thinks its a grand idea, but not until I have laid out the plan.  She says I am going to have to come up with a business plan first of all.  But the idea is there and a good one.  She did says that she is not the only one who knows the tricks that data backup services use to keep important business information safe.  It’s a big part of a successful business.  She wants me to present my idea after dinner Sunday.  She is not going to say anything to anyone until I have given out my idea.  Grandma is excited though.  I can tell she is.  Her eyes just lit up when I said I would like her help and guidance, since we would be using her recipes and her ideas to start up this business.  We will use her name.

Okay, I am at work right now and oh so bored!  It has been quiet around the office for the past couple of weeks, and I wish things would pick up.  There is only so much nail filing that a person can do, and so many crossword puzzles that you want to do in a day.  I was working on a Sudoko puzzle, and they can be addictive.  I hate to get so far then have to start over because of a misplaced number.  Uuuugh!!  I guess I could try to figure out what they are talking about with this online data storage idea that’s been floating around the office.  I wonder how safe that will be.  I might do that for my emails or some letters or something like that that I want to be able to put my hands at any time, but I hope they are not talking about taking really sensitive information and storing it online.  But I guess they have a way of encrypting it so it is only accessible for the person who puts it there.  I am just sitting her waiting for my vacation time to accumulate so I can go back to visit my sister.

I got off the train and was walking to the office and I saw that some company was doing a pressure wash Illinois Colorado on a couple of office fronts up ahead of me.  I watched them spray down the fronts of the buildings for a few minutes and then I marched on when I thought they were done.  Puddles had spread all over both sidewalks and I couldn’t help trampling through them and splashing up all the filthy water.  Naturally, I ruined the suit I was wearing to work, but the people I worked for were cool.  They’d understand it, so long as I showed dry and dripping dirty water down onto their carpeting everywhere.  They also probably wouldn’t like me dragging muck after him and leaving muddy footprints everywhere, but I could walk all that off by the time I got to the office.  What I couldn’t help was when they started pressure washing again and I got hit with the spray.  I was completely drenched and had no idea how I got nailed.  It must be have some offshoot from the big hose they were using that looked more like a cannon than anything else.  I just should have walked down another street, but what can I say?  I’m a creature of habit. 

Lately I have been seriously thinking about what to do for a career choice. I feel like I am stuck yet again in a dead end job and that it is time to make another change. I usually get this way after being at job for a while that I am not happy with or do not get paid enough to do. I have been trying to think of what to do, aside from acting, at least in a field where my degree would come in handy. I was talking with one of the girls at work and she suggested I try doing work in Washington DC Bankruptcy or something because given the state of the economy I could probably make quite a bit of money. Definitely more than I make now. I however know nothing about that so I am not looking to get into it. I am  however thinking about writing again, I think I may give just writing anything and getting it published a start, but even then I would want something where I can write, Maybe proofreading and or writing some sort of article for a paper. I just never want to hear about shoes again.

For a few years, I worked a recruiter or a headhunter.  Basically, I found jobs for people or found people for jobs.  I worked for a temp staffing agency and then moved into a creative staffing position.  It wasn’t the easiest job.  I had to deal with people all the time in person and on the time and neither of those are ever really pleasant experiences.  Then I had to try and sell these job candidates to different companies.  A lot of the time I would have to cold call companies and ask them if they had any openings.  If they did, I’d have to convince them that going through a staffing firm was better than just hiring someone themselves.  Networking was a big deal and I had to force a smile on my face and act like everyone I met was the most impressive and important person in the world.  But I made good money doing it, but, in the end, I had to change up jobs.  I was going insane from all the pressure and the extra hours and everything.  I even got a couple of ulcers from working too much.  I wasn’t sleeping well and too many times I had to skip lunch to finish an assignment or make more headway with it. 

I'm sitting at the coffee shop right now. I don't see him anywhere. I called up my friend to see if she was interested in meeting here so we could review some documents about bankruptcy laws. It's something she needs to get done for her parents. I thought it would make things a little bit more interesting and help the time pass more quickly. I told her to come here because I thought it would be a good change of environment for both of us to work and that it would be an easier commute, but I have to confess the real reason I wanted to come was to see if one of the regulars was here today. Sometimes when I've come by myself I see him sitting in a chair alone. He's not really reading a magazine or engaged in any activity. He just looks really lost in thought. I'm intrigued by it all. I wouldn't doubt that there's someone he's thinking about. An old girlfriend, maybe? A recent breakup, perhaps? I've found myself wondering what's going on in that head of his. I know he's caught me staring at him on more than one occasion. I can't help it! He's returned my glance with a curious, interested look. It's almost like a special game we have between us now when we see each other. I'm disappointed that I don't see him today, but I bet he'll be back tomorrow!