I have another waisty outfit on today, though let�s be fair, if you spent a weekend on my father�s meal clock your stomach would probably be looking flatter too. People keep saying "cute," in support of which claim the ponytail has also been cited. Little do they know the ponytail is really because I should have washed my hair like two days ago � if I do go out tonight, you bet I�m going home first for a shower. The hospital is conducting a workplace survey to determine our satisfaction level with various aspects of our employment experience. It is more professional than the survey I had to fill out after the orientation � it is conducted by an international firm, and you have an access code that you punch in once you�ve called a toll-free number and then a voice reads you statements and 1 to 5 on the keypad are Strongly Disagree to Strongly Disagree. I am treated fairly by the hospital. I have a best friend at work. (WTF?) Every day I have the opportunity to do what I do best. In the last seven days I have received praise or positive feedback about my work. I hit 1 all the way, baby, even when I might as realistically have chosen 2, because my goal is to drag down the departmental average. So did Alicia � way back on the day of the open-toed shoes, when I was going to return to my car and put on a pair that would have been consistent with the dress code, I made a deal with her that I would keep wearing verboten footwear, fighting alongside her in this fashion war, and in return she would do my bidding on the employment survey. I mean, not that anyone will care if Gastro scores at the bottom of the list, but I think they have to pretend to, if only for a little while. And everyone is so miserable and paranoid here. I like these ladies and it makes me sad how stuck they feel. They are all too young for that kind of resignation. I tried to win Deb over too, and she wouldn�t do it because she thinks that administration could match her with that string of touch-tone ones and that when they did they�d surely fire her. I disagree, but the point is that poor Deb has been so harried and so shafted by HR, administration, the Smithers I�ve mentioned before � by the way, my e-mail about her to Dr. Blahblah was some kind of final straw, and now she has to go to manager relations a/k/a How Not To Be Such A Raving Bitch classes, ha ha � and even the Gastro docs that I can understand why she�s worried and I know that no dose of logic from me would make her change her mind.

This is from an article in the Wash Post today about a new parental-consent law that affects girls in Virginia who want abortions: "The law allows minors to seek permission from judges if they fear that telling their parents would cause them undue harm, though in those cases the law permits judges to notify parents." So why even bother?

I got sidetracked for a few hours there � two spurts of work in one day, amazing � with some edits to a research grant application. It was time consuming but not difficult, because why? Because I am a very good editor. On that subject, I would very much like to receive a call from the people at a certain city agency letting me know whether or not I got the job. Scully said "early next week," and here it is Tuesday afternoon of a four-day week, and I haven�t been so anxious about the possibility of a phone call since November 23. I just want to know. I do not want to be left hanging � give it up or turn it loose. I keep checking my e-mail too in case that�s how they deliver the thanks-for-playing and only the winner gets a phone call, and it�s funny because Steve and Vanessa have been making plans for Thursday evening and I have seven or eight notes in there with the subject header "Demolition derby." Yes, that�s what we are doing. It is in Tacoma.

I bore myself today, or else I�m too anxious to pretend to concentrate on a substantive diary entry � I do want to write more about going book shopping on Sunday, and I�ll save that for another time. I had a sandwich for lunch. I think it�s fine to have humdrum entries sometimes, certainly it is better than not writing at all, and that is yet another thing about which I will not beat myself up. I have to get some keys made tonight so someone can come feed the cats while Steve and I are away on the weekend. I should call Jerry. I should call Catharine on my way home. I wish the phone would ring.