Another day, another dollar

I have a 6pm appointment today with some nice people from McMaster University who are apparently conducting a study about various employment situations. A few months ago, I responded to a postcard they placed in our mailbox which pointed to an online survey asking things like, "Have you had full-time employment in the past year?" The participants were promised $10 for responding. At the end of the survey, I was asked if I would be available to answer further questions. As I often found myself doing short-term contract work (with breaks of indeterminate length in between), I figured I might as well help out. I don't mind time-suckage while I'm effectively unemployed. Last week, a representative from the study contacted me and said they'd pay me another $25 if I agreed to come in for an hour-long interview session. Knowing my main means of distraction was going to be out of town, I consented. With any luck whatsoever, it'll be interesting enough that I won't even notice the hour going by.

Incidentally, Caty finally got around to posting a new entry. I was beginning to wonder if she had severely inconvenient internet access, or something. I'm really curious about the thought processes she's experiencing while she's in France, but maybe that's the sort of thing she'll only notice years after her return...

I tried the other $3.50/5 item Chinese food place in the Chinatown Centre for lunch today (update: it's called Cantonese Seafood Stir Fry, and it's the place on the right-hand side of the picture I've just posted) and can safely say you get what you pay for. I won't be returning there. Blech. Seriously, blech. I went to Furama afterwards to get the ick out of my face.

I've been feeling listless and unfocused at work and exhausted when I get home in the evenings. Methinks I really ought to start getting more variety in my workout "schedule" (or lack thereof). I've been losing weight lately, but I think that's because my walk to and from work gives me the daily minimum of cardio, plus the fact that I'm usually taking an hour-long stroll over lunch. Still, I'm not building on my strength or flexibility. Maybe I should make a plan of hitting the pool twice a week. Of course, it's been so unpredictably rainy that I've been able to justify my non-attendance at the pool. Bad me.

I just realized today that the (I think) editor I'm paired up with at work reminds me an awful lot of Miriam. As is usually the case when I meet someone who reminds me of a good friend, 'though, she's just not as awesome as the real Mir. I really am very lucky to have found such a great bunch of people to be friends with.