I'm feeling much more mellow now - almost to the point of exhaustion.

I'm supposed to be going out with N tonight. It was her birthday on the 9th, and while she's having a party on Saturday, I won't be there for most of it as I'll be working until 8 - so we're going out tonight.

I would really prefer to go home and go to bed...

I'm sure i'll have fun with her, but I feel like I haven't had a day to myself in a long time. There's so much shit I gotta do at home.

H hasn't called me in a while - I wonder if she's got all her crap packed up yet...

I'm going to take this Sunday off and get shit done. Maybe i'll even turn my cell phone off and ignore the world.

I should make a plan of things I need to do on Sunday:

1) Get at least 8 hours of sleep...
2) Laundry (everything!!)
3) Tidy room
4) Go clothes shopping (buy new work clothes)
5) Have a bath and get squeaky clean.

I've also made a recent goal or New Year's Resolution, depending on how you put it. I need to start dressing more proffessional at work. While there is really no dress-code in the office (most of my superiors wear the uniform) and no one seems to scoff at the fact that I dress like a teenager (jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, hoodies, etc), I think that it would make me feel more proffessional if I at least look proffessional. So, that's the plan. I'm going to buy some pairs of dress pants, a couple more blouses, some more tank tops and a nice pair of reasonably comfortable shoes to wear in the office.

More &#@^!%$#

I'm back in the office today, feeling frustrated and angry at K. Yes, still. I hold onto things too long.

At the same time, I'm looking forward to her leaving. We've had some rough patches recently. See, we work seperate shifts. The day shift is from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and the night shift comes in at 12:00 p.m. and works until 7:30 p.m. We are technically allowed 1/2 hour lunch break each day. However, I explicitly said to her that it doesn't matter how long one takes for lunch. If she wants to take 1 hour lunch, that's fine. Usually once or twice a week I will take a 1 hour lunch, as I have friends that also work downtown.

However, anytime we get into arguments, she always brings it up - the fact that I take 1 hour lunches and she never does.

It's not my fault she doesn't have anyone to go to lunch with....

She has the opportunity every day to take a 1 hour lunch, but she doesn't take it. Yesterday, I was going to leave maybe 20 mins early, and she got all huffy, stating that I should stay because I took 1 hour lunch. I jokingly retorted that she was leaving early too, and she sarcastically retorted that she only does it once in a while and that "excuse her for taking time off to take care of her health".

It's just the tone of what she said. Bitch.

Fuck her. I'm going to take as many lunches as I want and leave when I want. It's not my problem if she whines all the time.

On another note, I'm pleased that I no longer have to teach her the stuff that I haven't yet. I'm going to finish editing and writing up the training manual, and I'm looking forward to doing things my way and training her replacement (if we find one) properly.

I was very productive at work yesterday, it felt really good. I need to find more things to be productive about today...

&%#@!&$!

So K quit. Well, she gave her notice. She's going back to her part-time gig full-time. I think it's a cop out. It doesn't mean that she's going to get out of debt.

I just don't think that she's really though this through. This job is a contract! She's supposed to stick it out until the end.

I'm actually very pissed at her. Very frustrated and pissed and anxious and hate-ridden.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Aaaaargh.

On the brighter side, I was very very productive today at lunch. And I found $2.36 on a chair during lunch. Plus I added another $110 to my "Move to London" account. Can't wait.

I'm still pissed off at her.

AAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh.

I'm really really really nervous about what K is going to talk to our boss about. You have no idea. So very very anxious. I know it's most likely nothing to do with me, I just want to know, you know? I don't want her to quit, and I think she needs to grow up instead of picking the easy way out. Ahhhhhh. Omg.

I feel like I need to shop. Or eat. A lot. Except there's no food in my office. Bah.

I don't want to be in the office anymore. I'm doing a shit job at work and I know it. K probably knows it, but she's a slacker too. The nice thing is that A/Sgt. S (boss-lady) thinks I'm doing an awesome job. She even asked me to stay another year in my Christmas card. At least I have someone fooled....

Fuck it. I'm leaving here and going grocery-shopping.

K's Budget Revisited...

So, okay, when I was taking a sneak peek at K's budget the other day, I realized that I mis-read some of the totals...

This is what I stated;

Telus Phone Bill: $40
Car Payment: $350
Telus Cell Phone Bill: $40
AMA Insurance: $202
BMO MasterCard: $200 (not sure if this is the minimum payment, but I'm guessing it is...)VISA: $500 (This was incorrect, it's actually only $50)
Rent: $300
Bus Pas: $75
Gym: $42.40

So, will that adjustment, and the fact that I over judged her income (I think she only makes around $1,400 from our shared job). Her other income is around $500 a month.

So.... income: $1,900
Expenses: $1,300
Difference: $600

I don't see why she complains that she's always broke!! It's because she's spending all that goddamn money. (excuse the swearing...).

I know when I first sat down and did some calculations I was shocked at how much cash I was blowing on mindless shit. And food. Especially food. Even now, I still allot $250 a month on food (groceries and dining out) which is huge, I know. The difference is, I don't have a car, insurance, two phones, rent, OR credit card debt. I justify my food budget, as I don't go see movies, go to concerts and, I put away $1250 a month in savings.

I wish she would let me go over her budget with her. I wish I wish I wish. But she doesn't want the help. She thinks that she's the only one in the world with debt and a crappy-paying job.

In fact, today, just as she was about to leave, she stated that if our boss comes in tonight (she runs two offices, ours being the smaller and requiring less supervision) to ask her if she'll be in tomorrow because K has something she really really needs to talk with her about. I asked if it was important and she said "yes" and left.

I have a distinct feeling that she's either going to tell our boss that she won't be able to continue her 1 year contract because she's dirt poor or asking for a raise. Now, I wouldn't mind a raise either, but we're a non-profit company that isn't exactly rolling in the dough. Plus, our salary is determined by a group of middle aged stuffly old men (our Board of Directors). I know our boss is always saying that she'd like to see us get paid more, but I just don't see that happening.

The thing is, she doesn't realize that no matter how much money she makes, she will never get out of debt if she is not careful with it. She keeps saying that if she was working full-time at her other job (a waitress), she could have bought a house by now.

Yeah....sure.... not with $14,000 in debt.

Back to the Budget

So, okay, remember how I was talking a couple days ago about K's budget? I pretty much guessed her budget and said that I couldn't see how she was still in debt. Well, I don't like making uneducated judgements about people, so on Friday, while she was in the bathroom, I snuck a peek at her budget book (yes, I'm sneaky!). So, here's her breakdown:

Telus Phone Bill: $40
Car Payment: $350
Telus Cell Phone Bill: $40
AMA Insurance: $202
BMO MasterCard: $200 (not sure if this is the minimum payment, but I'm guessing it is...)
VISA: $500
Rent: $300
Bus Pas: $75
Gym: $42.40

Total: $1750

Her income from our shared office job is around $1,600 and her income from her part-time job is $400 a month (which I find hard to believe, since she works both weekend days and states that she can pull in $100 in tips alone in one day). So that brings the total to $2000, leaving her with a spare $250 each month.

Now, as I stated earlier, she is eating out almost 5 days a week with me, which costs her an average of $150 a month. I'm not sure what gas costs, but probably $50 a month I think? So that leaves her with $100 a month to put on her debt (or, more likely, spend)...

Now I have a couple issues with her budget. She seems to think that she requires two phone lines, one land and one cell phone. I don't see why. I would cut the land line. I would also call both credit card companies to see if I could get the interest rate lowered. I would also cancel the membership to the gym. I don't think she's gone to the gym in months (if not years) and that is an extra $500 she is throwing away every month. But, of course, I can't tell her what to do. Anytime I try, she retorts with "But yes, I need those two phone lines..."

Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say.

Oh a side note, I am currently sitting in the office with one of our volunteers, A, and she has just moved into a new condo. She just gave me this story about how her and her bf just bought this new 42" tv and how they got such a great deal on it and ended up getting a great deal and saved something like $600 bucks. However, I am thinking that they still ended up paying $1500 or so, and worse, they put it on a payment plan! Siiiigh. Why do people think that they need such large televisions. She's going to be paying that $50 a month for a loooooong-ass time.

Where am I going to go for lunch with S today?

The Zoo

I recently purchased a new camera, a Nikon D80, to be exact. It's my new love. I have been toting it around as much as possible. K (my broke work friend) also bought a new camera, a Nikon D40x and we had planned to go to the Zoo in our city tomorrow to take some pictures and generally be goofs. Well, she text-messaged me to say that the Zoo would "take too much time" (read: $$$$ - fyi, it's $16 to get into the zoo, not a great deal, but not too bad imho) and suggested to we hit up a local park instead around dusk (dusk was my idea, park was hers).

Now, I admit, going to the park will be fun. It's a little snowy yet warm enough to be enjoyable, and completely free, but I was looking forward to going to the Zoo. Maybe I will go to the Zoo next weekend by myself...

Now all I have to do is find my damn battery charger and get all my gear ready...