Hmm. And hmm again.

***

The restaurant went to new hours this week. 5am-3pm Sat thru Weds, and 5am-8pm Thurs and Fri. Mary and Linda both get 40 hours a week, and the other five waitresses get whatever is left, roughly 65 hours. Let us pause and reflect on that for a minute. Five people. Splitting 65 hours. Yeah, that's what I said.

In theory, we'll be back to normal in a month. However, apparently, Nick's uncle is going to be in charge while Nick is gone. I was a lot more convinced the shorter hours would be temporary before I knew that. If there wasn't any family around, Nick might have actually hurried back as soon as he could. Now, he doesn't have to hurry. He's been home a few times before. He's never back when he says he will be. One week turns into a month, a month turns into three.

I understand, I really do. He's got the opportunity to be Back in The Old Country, and this time all his family is there too, and he really does work himself into the ground and he needs some time off.

But. But but but. I feel poor. I got too used to always having cash on hand, and this whole living from paycheck to paycheck routine is wearing a little thin. I know that all the bills are paid, and really, I've been a lot poorer.

I had to buy kitty food with change yesterday. I hate that. There is no more Low Budget feeling than having to pay for something with three bucks of change, because it's all you have.

Granted, I've got a lot of change. If I was pure evil like Mary and turned it all in at the end of the day, I'd have a lot of money. Change isn't the same thing as money, though. It just isn't.

I told Bookstore Mary that I was looking for as many hours as she could give me. She started talking about the night shifts. The days aren't too bad, because D. can get a cab to work, and I can pick him up, but if he has to walk home every night, he'll start bugging me for a second car again, and that simply is not an option right now.

Two more years, and the car will be paid off. I think there's roughly four years of Brain Payments left. If I have to live like this for another two years, I will go insane.

***

Wait a minute. I'm probably overreacting again. My last bookstore check was small, because there were no hours on it. I will be getting hours. Oh, will I be getting hours. I'll just have to tell D. that there are millions of bluehaired people in India who have to walk home from work every single day. You don't hear them complaining, do you?

Well, you know what I mean. Just let it go, OK? Can't you ever just let one of them go?

***

Wow. What a total whining mess. I don't have money, but actually technically I do. I don't have enough hours, or maybe I do but they're kind of inconvenient ones. Maybe I shoud just try talking about something else entirely.

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