March 07, 2002 - 9:15 p.m.

i've been temping at an engineering lab for the past four days, with people who have names like roy and walt and roscoe and val and look like chrissy's dad (an engineer). they all wear jeans and sometimes sneakers and sometimes overalls (the women who stay in the office and do administrative stuff, too!)

i make photocopies all day long for the company to provide to its lawyers for an ongoing lawsuit. i'm not sure exactly which party was sued, but the company i work for got subpoenaed, which means i encounter ridiculous amounts of paperwork and "dust" each day. i say dust in quotes because it's a little on the yellow side and has something to do with the engineering test chemicals, i'm sure. all i know is that it makes my coughing worse.

on my first day at work, i walked into the break room to find a guy named warren (who seems fittingly "warren"-like) being quizzed by some other dork about old star trek episodes. he was being quizzed on plots and then exact episode titles. then they took turns quizzing each other and yelling, "that's too easy, you fool! of course, it's called episode blah blah. don't waste my time..."

one more day left, and then the big packing sessions will begin.

i received my letter from the consulate yesterday and found out that i should have waited to buy my plane ticket (against the advice in the phone message i received on friday). apparently, there's something called the international organization for migration (IOM) that gives CHEAP plane fare and an extra checked baggage allowance (4!) for people in my situation. well, it was too late to change tickets, so i'm out a suitcase and about $250. i cried a little bit last night, more because i felt like it was my fault (that i should have waited to buy my ticket) than because of the actual money lost. i'm a bit emotional, too, lately, what with leaving the country and all.

lastly, can anyone tell me why pavement's album "wowee zowee" is so subpar? since i gave all of my good car tapes to my brother's roommate, i've been listening to radio or leftovers in my car. unlike the pixies' "surfer rosa," which i like much more now than i did in high school, i still don't appreciate "wowee zowee." in fact, it gives me heartburn. "grave architecture" is good, but the ending third sucks. am i missing something?