This Just In...

I am officially over working.

So on Friday I got a job request from my temping agency. It was a quick 4 hour shot on Sunday mid-day, at a hotel. Because I needed to rationalize a bit of spending that I was planning for Saturday -

Sidebar: On Saturday I went to Best Buy and doubled the RAM in my computer. It was possibly the most satisfying experience I've had in months. I don't smoke, but if I did, I would have needed an entire pack afterwards. Considering I haven't used any of my computer science skills in months now, I don't think it should have brought me as much joy as it did. It was just like the Dilbert strip, where he does the same thing and Dogbert asks "Does the church know about this?" Because, damn.

- I went ahead and took the job. And it helped me realize an important fact: Temping is horrible. As jobs go, this one was actually very easy, and yet the entire time I had to resist the urge to just get in my truck, drive off and never return, all the while yelling "See ya, suckers!" out the window.

It was four hours of basically standing around so that once every hour we could move things around for 5 minutes. I mean, that sounds like an awesome thing to get paid for doing, but it actually combined most everything I hate into one compressed ball of pain:

• wasting time (weekend time for that matter),
• being bored,
• making small talk with people you have nothing in common with,
• ridiculously overmanaging bosses,
• people who are loud, sexist, racist, laugh uncomfortably about everything, and use the word gay pejoratively,
• lifting heavy things,
• cold weather,
• car exhaust fumes,
• wearing uncomfortable clothes,
• and the intense feeling that you're wasting away the prime years of your life.

I thought long and hard about it (during one of the hour long breaks in which we would stand in the cold inhaling as much exhaust as we could) and really, there was no reason for me to be there. I would make approximately $50 for the entire thing. Which would indeed cover the cost of my awesome computer purchase, but really, the cost-benefit scenario was so lop-sided, had it been drawn out, it would have needed the symbol for infinity.

So I think I'm going to hang up my temping apron for good. Sure it provides wacky anecdotes about carnivals, serving the drunken rich of Dallas, and quotes that you can't even make up (i.e. from the job yesterday (and I do apologize in advance): "Man, God is like a dick that never stops coming.") but it's just not working for me anymore.

It brings something of I a tear to my eye to think that I can never be a carnie again. Of course, that might just be the residual car fumes irritating me, because hell yes, I never have to be a carnie again!