and the bombing begins.

as does march madness, for which i have not done my research. thanks to tex, i actually have some reasonable picks, but i have not been very up-to-date on ncaa hoops this season. once it was evident that my team was waaaay out of contention, i stopped following ncaa basketball in general. now i have to be somewhat informed to make good picks, but i have not garnered the pertinent information. luckily for me, i can steal tex's brain drainings. thanks tex! :)

yet more frustrations about the job, living situation, money, etc. it never lets up, does it? i went to see an apartment last night that was advertised as a "luxury one bedroom one bath apartment with ocean views" for $600. too good to be true, right? of course. so i show up, and it turns out that it's a room for rent in a family house, shared with a couple, their 12-year-old daughter, and some other young adult who is renting from them. the bathroom is shared with two other people. the owner sat me down and launched into a diatribe about how he's been a real estate agent for 12 years, and it's so important to spend a few extra hundred dollars to not be living with the rats. he also indicated that he was christian, his family lives a christian lifestyle, and he expects his renters to be the same. no drinking, no smoking, no guests... uh, what? if i wanted to live in that kind of restricted environment, i'd move back home. in fact, that's MORE restrictive than it would be for me to live at home. (not that i smoke, but i'd want the freedom to do it if i wanted to!) jeez. stupid real estate agent should learn a thing or two about false advertising. i'm going to see another apartment tonight, but it's probably too expensive for my budget unless i can get them to lower the rent. no utilities are included, and that makes it out of my budget. i was hoping to get a *lower* bill each month, not a higher one. *sigh*

i'm starting to apply for new jobs, too. i'm nervous about doing it, but as my job here is pretty stable i'm not terribly concerned. i'm getting overwhelmed by the workload, the drama, the chaos, and the increasingly tight budget. i can't really survive in this area on my measly salary, and it doesn't look to be getting any better (despite me having a fabulous performance evaluation! augh!). oh well.

gillian is back from her travels to southeast asia/south america/canada! i'm excited that she's back, and hope there will be a place for her at nfwf again. i miss her energy around here. she also seems to mitigate for some of the bitchiness from other people, which is nice.