Chilled Fall

Brrrr! The storm's passing yesterday left some nicely cold and blustery weather throughout the South Jersey area. I celebrated by running Rick Steve's European Christmas as I ate breakfast. It's a merry holiday everywhere on the continent as Steves goes from a quiet English country holiday to ice skating on the Eiffel Tower to children meeting the beautiful Christkind Angel in Germany to a traditional Swiss family celebration to a living nativity in Tuscany.

Headed out to the Acme after Rick Steves ended. I didn't have a really huge order. I was mostly restocking and taking advantage of a few sales. They're having a 40% off all Purdue meats sale; I ended up with ground chicken for $2.69. I also grabbed the dollar salmon and tilapia packs. Needed grapefruit, canned tomato sauce and blackeyed peas, tea (the Acme's generic organic green chai was on sale), crushed pineapple, and muffin papers. They also got this year's holiday bags in. I had a hard time choosing between a beautiful bluish winter landscape and a cute chickadee on a snow-covered holly branch. I went with the chickadee because I liked the red and tan colors better.

When I got home, I put on one of the Bowery Boys movies set in the Armed Services as I made a spinach and cheese omelet for lunch. Here Comes the Marines is the only Bowery Boys Armed Services comedy where the Boys join normally - they're all drafted. Sach becomes the favorite of the head of the base and lets the constant promotions go to his head, much to the annoyance of Slip and the others. Meanwhile, Slip is trying to figure out the mystery of a brutally beaten Marine who was found with a playing card nearby - a card that belongs to a local crooked gambling establishment.

Ran a quick cartoon before I headed to work. Though he became a star during World War II, Woody Woodpecker's only out-and-out war-oriented short was "Ace In the Hole." He wants to be a brave flyer, but the sergeant has him shaving horses. He gets stuck in a flight suit, then ends up on a plane! The sergeant may not be entirely happy with what he does when he gets up there.

Work actually wasn't bad, especially for the beginning of the holiday weekend. I actually had the time to do a nearly full basket of returns. It didn't really pick up until later, when people started to get off of work. I guess everyone's waiting for Sunday and Monday. I ended up picking up hours tomorrow, 12-6. I wasn't entirely happy with it, but the head manager asked, and I would have felt bad saying no.

Otherwise, I have a fairly normal schedule next week. I do work late two days early on, but I have Tuesday and Saturday off, and nothing as long as this week. Hopefully, things will settle down a little once we get away from the weekend.

I was frustrated when I got home. I want to appreciate the extra hours and the money I'm earning. I keep telling myself I should be happy that I'm earning money, especially given how broke I was at this time last year...so why aren't I? What's wrong with me? I was happier at home than I was working at the Acme. I haven't heard from Stockton. They probably lost interest in me.

After a quick dinner of leftovers, I went in the bath. I read over the job hunting book I took out. I wish there was a book or something that tells you how to move up from a menial job. Most job advice books and websites only mention how to go from one office job to another. They don't say how you move from a menial job to a more fulfilling one. And if Stockton won't help me, I have no idea who else to ask.