I don't mind chatty store folks. They have a thankless and mind-numbing job. If they are being genuinely friendly, that's cool. If they are being friendly because their overlords force them to, well, I usually say something like "You must get tired of saying the same thing to people all day." which often gets a genuine response.

I assume the Trader Joe's checkout people are supposed to make conversation, but it's always different, since they generally comment on stuff I'm buying, and *that's* always different. Plus, I like to talk about food, and they're so damn enthusiastic about it.

Meant to say, Consuela, I would so be ready to cut a bitch. If they hadn't taken my box cutter, too. I get antsy when other people use my hammer.

Okay, so now I've got a flip phone. No email. Excuse me for being a diva, but I effing hate texting on a flip phone. So annoyed right now. I know we're a nonprofit, I know we're hard up right now, but I would really, *really* love to know how many of the office peeps have Blackberries. Grrr.

The clerks and baggers at Raley's have started asking me what I'm "doing today" as part of their conversation gambit, which I understand that's a natural chatty question to ask but it kind of flusters me because I'm generally not doing anything. I mean, I'm grocery shopping, but they know that.

I'm okay chatting at check out, because I'm about to escape. I hate shopping, so my nerves are always on edge. I don't need talking.

"Doing anything exciting this weekend?" is crossing a line. You are not my friend. Go away.

Ugh, tech support people seem to be doing that with us lately. Just fix my internet, please. I do not want to chat with you about what the weather is like where I live.

Ugh, Consuela!

I assume the Trader Joe's checkout people are supposed to make conversation, but it's always different, since they generally comment on stuff I'm buying, and *that's* always different. Plus, I like to talk about food, and they're so damn enthusiastic about it.

Yeah, at TJ's it always feels like they are taking the opportunity to make their own jobs less boring, not following corporate guidelines. Even if that is actually what they are doing!

I spent the morning with my parents, being taped for an Alzheimer's Association thing. I hope I look OK, but at least it's only for internal use. Although it occurs to me that I didn't sign a release of any kind, so... hmmm. Then I bought a coffee table, but it was late enough (and raining) that my mother didn't want to deliver it for me today. But someday! Someday I will have a new coffee table.

I generally chat with TJ people because (a) they always seem to welcome that they don't have to force the conversation and (b) I know they're instructed to be chatty.

So it's easier if I toss them a bone like "Why I love these pumpkin souffles so much."

I'm a talker. Big surprise. I try to read cues, though; I don't want to be rude. I'm just curious.

No one's punched me. Yet.

I finally added "Free-lance bio-exorcist" to my resume. I figure either people will get the reference and laugh, or they'll be confused and want me to explain it.

I am mad at you that I didn't get to put that on you res. I would have FRAMED that snippet!

OK. I am brain-dead. All I want to do it read a book, and go to Lowe's and get stuff to paint my hallway and start some seedlings, do some laundry and clean my office and file. I want to make some art collage thingies with some frames and mat and frame the art D got me for V Day.

And D got the new Resident Evil game with an AWESOME GUN AND KNIFE, and I want to kill some zombies.

Now, I know this doesn't perhaps SOUND relaxing, but it's what I WANT to do. And I have to finish a resume and cover letter, and perhaps work on another couple of things this weekend.

AND I DON WANNA.

Ok, I just needed to whine.

There's one tech support guy for our office who doesn't actually work for the company who's incredibly chatty and boring. He's incredibly ready with the overshare about drunken binges and shit like that. I wonder if he looks people up in the org chart before he starts going on.

We have a developer with a vendor who is also numbingly boring and talkative. He'll tell me in detail about the latest bug he found, what happens in this version of of the language if you declare an integer and then pass a float, and I have no idea what I ever said that made him think I care. However, sometimes he slips up and tells me information he probably shouldn't that we really do need to know, and I promptly rat him out to our business owner, because what the fuck were they thinking?

I'm sure he gets in trouble regularly, but it's not stopping him from going on and on and on. I'm terrified to meet him in person next week.

I explicitly do not like it when checkout people talk to me about what I'm buying. Talk about something else. I'd like to maintain a veneer of pretense that they're not reading my life story by my combination of tampons and vodka and ice cream.

OK, these are my choices, someone please pick one for me to start with, because I feel like doing exactly none of them.

Clean the: kitchen, dining room table, or living room.
Start laundry
Pack for tomorrow