I don't know why I am completely unable to think these days. Maybe waking up at the unholy hour of four in the morning the other day threw my entire system out of whack. Remind me never to volunteer to work an opening shift ever, ever again. I ended up waking up with a sore throat and it has stayed with me ever since. Complete with swollen glands and lack of energy, and, as a bonus, snot!

Speaking of illness, I went to the doctor today. This is a new doctor through my Starbucks insurance, and she's extremely nice. She gave me drugs for the UTI that I've had since October (yeah, I know, I know) and scheduled me for a physical. It's nice to have finally figured out my new insurance. Medical insurance is very frightening. The whole process of selecting a physician and hoping that you're doing everything right-- is this just me? It seems designed to intimidate and frustrate you at every turn, and I'm a fairly savvy person.

Also, since today was my "day off," I ran a bunch of errands. I sent my thesis manuscript off to a couple of contests. Right now I am working on a submission wave. (Using, by the way, my new laser printer. My old printer broke yesterday and I desperately needed to print out my manuscript, so I went to Best Buy right before they closed and in a fit of anti-inkjet pique, hurriedly bought this one. I can't afford it of course, but it is nifty.) It feels good to be doing something productive with my writing, especially my thesis, which I am happy with.

I also had lunch with Gg (aka Checkers) and we talked about our upcoming reading. It's on February 13 at my school in the city, and if you want to come, remind me to give you the particulars. Gg is completely mad, as I may have mentioned, and I will be very drunk. If that's not entertainment, I don't know what is.

The Useless Shagging Bastard has even said that he will be there. Which I seriously doubt, but in case you ever wanted to meet him and, oh, I don't know, "accidentally" spill a beer on his head-- now's your chance!

Speaking of the USB, I mentioned that he helped me get my degree, but I never explained the story. You see, he's in charge of the transcripts and stuff like that, and I went into his office to find out if Professor President had changed my Thesis Prep grade to "Pass" so I could get my degree. Well, Professor P apparently had (and by the way, I still have not heard from him, despite numerous e-mails and phone calls) but there was a Thesis Prep grade from two semesters ago still listed as "In Progress."

The USB saw that this was clearly an error and rather than making me go through the hassle of trying to track down Professor Incommunicado, he changed it right on the spot and then, right there, my degree was awarded. Thank you, Not Entirely Useless Shagging Bastard.

While I was on campus, I photocopied my thesis. One of my other professors happened to wander by at that moment, and I gave him a copy. Mickey asked to read it, so I gave him a copy too. I left a copy in the new professor's mailbox (and she has been incredibly gracious and has agreed to meet with me about it). I also had dinner with my old professor (who left under very unfortunate circumstances last year) and she's said that she will read it too.

At this point, I'm surprised I'm not handing the thesis out to everyone I come into contact with. Before long, every customer at Starbucks will be getting a copy with their lattes.

My goal right now is to get feedback on the manuscript from someone who has not been along for the ride, like Professor President has. I'd love to know how it holds together as a manuscript upon first reading. I am pretty happy with it but I still consider it a work in progress.

Of course, my ulterior motive here is that if these people read my thesis, they have something to talk about in the recommendation letters they will write for me! That's the next step in my whole "getting a job" plan. It's a horrible, awkward thing, to ask for letters of reference. I feel like I'm imposing, but what the hell can I do? I need them! In looking at job postings, I need at least three letters. So far I'm going to ask Professor President, my old professor, and god knows who. (Any professors out there who'd care to read a thesis?)

In the meantime, I have been tossing around the wacky idea of moving back to Los Angeles for a while and working for my little sister. She's been moving up the ladder of success and is now in a position where she is able to hire a staff-- I'm so proud. Anyway, if I was making that kind of money (easily twice what I am making now-- at all three of my jobs combined) I could save up some money, pay off some debt, and gain some interesting new experience.

At first I resisted this idea because it felt like a step backwards. But you know what? It's a lot smarter than spinning my wheels here, working all the time and being poor. I can send out job applications just as easily from Los Angeles as I can from here. And I miss my friends there, too. Yet another item in the "pro" column. Along with "so very very tired of being poor" and "need to live like a grownup."

I don't know if it is the Saturn return (I am 27 after all) or the end of school or what, but I am so antsy right now. I want to get to the next thing. I am looking forward to packing and purging, organizing and sorting. And also taking a vacation or two. I love San Francisco, I really do. But you know? My work here is done.