the phoenix

yesterday was my first day on the job.

i wore my new pants ($39.99 at Club Monaco outlet)
and my new tie (DKNY - $24.99 at Winner's)
my new shirt ($49.99 at Club Monaco outlet)
and my old boots (prada knockoffs from 6 years ago for my birthday - thanks mom :). i

i own no clothing that I paid full price for. none. scarf, mitts, hats, pants, socks, underwear, shoes, basketball shoes (ebay), or whatever. never pay retail. yes. you can look this good (see above) with that attitude. (i await your frothy and evil responses below)

so my job.

it's great actually. i'm an editor at desjardin securities. i make good coin. my office mates are really friendly and the atmosphere is very chill. it's not an entry level position, so i'm not jockeying with 23 year olds who want to move up the chain. for this type of job, this is as high as you go.

fortunately, the editors are a little artier than the analysts (an editor edits what the ANALyst unearths about various companies and sectors regarding the stock markets - we are the last defense before it goes to reuters and bloomberg etc - we're actually paid to be the anal ones - figuratively).

my office mate is a good dude. he reminds me of Pat Russel, actually. he has his master's in english, was obtaining his PhD before running out of money, and was hiding in Korea teaching at a university there before realizing that he had to put a foot down in canada somewhere or he'd never be able to work in the country: "so, you're 34, and you've never worked in canada?". so he's been at the company for a year. he's the newest guy there. he says the turnover is insanely low. the job i have is a maternity leave. these are good signs.

everyone seems to be generally nice. it's only day two, but i'm hopeful.

so here's the deal.

i work from 7am until 3pm.

i'm in heaven.

i get to still have some life. 3 oclock is pretty early. i was told i would be working until 5:30 every day.

it turns out that that was a way to find out if i'd be okay with the job. she said there will be nights when you stay that late. the guy in my office, daniel, works from 6 in the morning until 6 at night a lot of times. but then, we're paid by the hour, so, i guess it adds up and he's fine with it.

i work 40 hours a week, and when i go over 45, i get time and a half. she said that when i learn the ropes, i will be working lots of overtime. right now, i'm kind of useless so there's no point in paying me overtime to learn the ropes.

i'll keep you posted. today i danced home listening to wolf parade.

i got two hours of sleep last night.

too much coffee. a sleeping pill couldn't even keep me down. stacey was annoyed because i kept moving, getting up, taking some pepto for heartburn at 12:20, drinking water, peeing, taking a prevacid pill for the heartburn at 12:40. finally the sleeping pill at 1:15. stacey got up and put the fan on the chair at 1:45. it was too hot. she left for the couch at 2:30. she came back to bed at 5. my alarm was about to go off 40 minutes later, but i was up.

i'm about to take a nap. i wasn't sure sleep would come, but it has crept up on me like a thief. i play basketball tonight. rest i must.