stupefaction

Hi all. This is a real spur-of-the-moment thing, as I thought it was high time I actually wrote something engaging.

How the hell is it February already? Seems that January has roared on by, in my usual alcohol/work/sleep combination. I'm in perfect sync with the rest of the nation's workforce - chained to a job by the need to meet rent and the usual multitude of bills. Pay something off and something else will undoubtedly spring up in its place.

I'm on 58 hours this week, as the manageress is on holiday and I have to cover. There's this inescapable feeling that I should be doing something better, something altogether more purposeful with my life. Unfortunately, this is the worst possible time to try and find alternative employment, because the
unemployment count is nearing 3 million. Nobody is recruiting new blood.

Money is the perennial problem; I know it's tricky for everyone to manage at the moment. It just seems that if I'm not working, I'm probably (a) sleeping, (b) staying at home, (c) watching tv or (d) on the computer. I don't have nearly as much spare money as I would need to go out and enjoy myself a bit more. I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year so I suppose that would be the first one.

When you get into the vicious retail cycle, you end up praying that there's some light at the end of the tunnel - because all those long hours combined with low disposable income ultimately mean there's hardly any time to go out even for a social drink. Sometimes I finish work at..10pm..- by the
time I get home, shower, change, and head back out it will be almost..11pm...This makes it almost impossible to socialise or dare I say find female company.

I guess I should be grateful that, unlike an increasing number of the population, I still have a full time job. Yes, it may be below average earnings, but it's still something. The obvious depressing counterpoint is that it will take months, if not years, to find something I would actually enjoying
doing that simultaneously pays well. Truth be known, I've had enough of retail. Nobody should ever have to do it for more than 5 years, and I've already done it for 7, albeit on and off.

In an effort to be more positive and end these posts in a more upbeat manner, I'm going to try identify some silver linings:

1. Holding a managerial job for this length of time will probably look good on a CV when the right job does come along.
2. House is soon going to be syndicated on Channel 5.
3. This month's paycheck will be very good, because of all the hours I've worked. (Shame it will still go on bills!)
4. I am free to move out of my current houseshare at the end of June - this will probably be the subject of a later post.
5. If this government ever get back in at the next election, I'm emigrating.

Parting advice: wrap up warm, the forecast is for more snow over the weekend.