Trashed elbow

"Sign of the times" is a new catchphrase I'm mystifying the students with. A good example of such would be the fact that I was in a job interview for a kindergarten on Friday morning. Another would be the fact that I had a raging hangover.

Mutton-dressed-up-as-mutton across the desk asked me how life with the Evil Empire. I shrugged and gave my nth flippant answer of the entire debacle:

"Gimme a minute, I'll run down to the ATM, then I'll come back and tell you."

Friday, you see, was the scheduled date for our (already delayed) paycheck (sic). I jogged down to the cash machine afterwards and, sure enough, my remaining balance was not a single yen different from the previous day.

Depressingly low, in other words.

I crossed out the option marked "curry for lunch" on my mental roster for the day and ticked the box marked "cash penny jar."

Apparently, later in the day, another fax purporting to be from the company (non-headed note paper, illegible scrawl masquerading as president's signature at the bottom) informing instructors that they hadn't been paid (duh, you reckon?) and announcing that attempts would be made to pay us "by the end of the month."

An e-mail arrived from Adam, offering free eats at his place: an offer I couldn't refuse, given the circumstances.

The last bomb of Black Friday dropped when I was on my way home from Adam's- a mail from the man himself:

"Aah! Your stalker just found me on facebook!"

You have to laugh.

***


So, the next dilemma: what to do about AVON's latest betrayal. Job hunting isn't going to be easy with the amount of gaijin jumping ship from AVON at the mo, and I'm not eligible to quit and claim benefits for at least another month. Plus, I don't want to cause any supplementary headaches for my colleagues, so I decided to tough it out and keep going in for the time being. The best part of this is that my train pass became invalid over the weekend and I don't have the funds for another, so I'm now commuting to work on "The Greyhound Bike", an epic feat of pedaling which accounts for about 90 minutes each way. However, I'm riding along the river front and, for the time being, enjoying a new experience.

That said, tomorrow I have the early start, so I asked The Man In The High Castle if I could claim a night's grace on his floor. He assented, in return for which I promised to cook dinner. Who should waylay me in the shopping centre after work, but his stalker?

Giving up on English she burbled out a load about what a terrible situation we're all in and dumped 20-odd kg of perishable foods that she'd bought on me, which goes to show that, whilst her heart may be in the right place, her brain is somewhere else entirely. I did the bowing and thanking and wondered how on earth I was going to cope with biking the whole lot up to the High Castle.

Suffice it to say I managed, and tonight we ate like kings. Tomorrow: who knows?

If and when the pay check finally comes, I'm going to be in great shape from my new commuting arrangement at least.

Labels: MAMMON