I wish I had the discipline I did in the past. I used to be great at updating my blog almost daily. Occasionally, I'd skip a day or two, but I wrote regularly.

A new chapter began with my going back to school and starting yet another job. I got busy and my blog was the first casualty.

Although I am on Twitter and can vent instantaneously to those following me, microblogging doesn't truly allow me to express myself and my feelings in the depth that I'd like. So, here I am, trying to document as much as I can before I head back to school in a month.

As a Canadian attending an American university, I am not used to starting the fall term in late August. It just seems odd. The great benefit, though, is ending the fall term by the first week of December, which gives me more time to shop for Christmas presents and write out my Christmas cards.

Last year, I took five graduate courses. I had a two-week break between the end of the spring term and the beginning of the summer one. I had three weeks to recuperate after the end of the fall term before I hit the books in January of this year.

This summer is my first long period away from studying. I am already feeling a bit sad that my summer is nearly over.

I've travelled quite a bit, visiting Atlanta and Hershey. In a week's time, I'll be in Waterloo, IA for an Irish festival. It has been enjoyable. I've also managed to spend more time with friends and family.

I suppose I knew that graduate school would be time-consuming. The good news is that I'm nearly done. After the fall semester, I will have one course to take before I graduate. I'll be thrilled when I complete my master's. It will be a huge accomplishment. I will also be happy to have a life again!

It's funny, but what I wanted to write about wasn't supposed to go down the school path. It's more of a series of annoyances that have been building up for quite some time.

On Wednesday, I had dinner at a Thai restaurant with contract woman. I don't hang out with her as much as I used to. I see more positives about not seeing her as often the more I analyze everything.

I don't expect folks to remember my birthday. I tend to remember birthdates. There is little prompting required. With my friend, she kind of remembered, but said that it was "close to" soccer mom's birthday," also someone I used to work with.

So, at this point, she knows when my birthday is. We have been friends for at least four years now. She has both my home and mobile numbers, but prefers to send me text-based messages. Apparently, she wished me a happy birthday on MSN a week after the fact -- When I wasn't logged on at work. Thirteen days later, when I'm actually on MSN at my desk, she wishes me a belated birthday. How difficult would it have been to have sent me a text from her phone or, heaven forbid, to pick up the phone and call me?

We were actually supposed to meet last Sunday for brunch. Another thing that annoys me is her need to "confirm" when we're going out after we have already confirmed the details. Really, it's a constant reminder that we're meeting. With another friend, we establish the date, time, and location, and we're set. It's not the same with contract woman.

Last Friday, I left work at 15:00. Summer hours at work are great. I work 8.5 hours the first four days of the work week and then leave early on Friday. Contract woman tends to send me MSN messages towards the end of the day for some reason. Well, I obviously wasn't there to confirm. She sent me a text message (wow!) late Saturday night, saying that she "couldn't remember if we had confirmed" and that she "had to cancel." I replied to her text message, saying, "Ya, we were supposed to meet for brunch on Sunday at 09:30."

Contract woman has a number of oddities about her. When we're about to be seated at a restaurant, she will make sure that she is ahead of me and selects her seat first, which is normally the padded or what looks to be the more comfortable seat. I have seen her make this dash, which is annoying to me.

It takes her forever to confirm whether she is free to see a concert. I actually had to wait to hear from her two months later. I gave up on asking her, to the point where I said to her (text, because that's her preferred method of communication), that I've been waiting for her decision, but I've heard nothing. She had the nerve to tell me, "You don't seem like you want to go." Um, I really don't care about going if you're not going to let me know whether you are free that day. You are keeping me hanging. It should have been obvious that going to this concert didn't matter to me. I hadn't purchased the tickets, which is rare for me to not do.

Contract woman also asks a number of probing questions that I don't exactly want to answer. They drop on me like a series of bombs. For example, she typed on MSN to me, "How was your birthday? What did you do? Shopping?" I diverted the conversation to, "Wow, your font size is really small." It was!

I find that she does a series of litmus tests on me. She'll mention the president's son, such as, "Remember the restaurant that you, me, and the president's son went to?" Sure, the friendship I once had with him ended under stupid circumstances with which she is familiar. However, it still doesn't stop her from saying, "I went to Costco with the president's son." I really don't care. Should I react or tell her point-blank? I don't, because I'm too polite and it doesn't bother me. However, it's the occurrence that I can't help but notice.

If I could sum up what annoys me about contract woman, it's venting about work, but hypocritically "playing the game" without doing anything to change her situation.

For years now, I have heard her complain about how she hates work and some folks she works with. She has valid reasons, too. She used to constantly complain to me. I have noticed the last time a number of ex-employees got together that her venting has died down considerably. I have a feeling that one of them told her that I don't care much about the scoop from my old workplace. She has stopped doing that now. She has also stopped venting about every little work-related thing to me on MSN, as I end up either ignoring her or changing the topic.

She frequently says that she wants a new job. She doesn't make the effort to look for one. She'd rather get an agency to do it. When I used to work for the bank (my last job), she basically asked me how I was doing looking for a job for her. I told her that she needs to go on the Web site and look for a job that is suitable for her. I'd then refer her. I'm not doing her job searches.

What has sparked my rather large rant? On Wednesday night, she advised me that she has this physical file containing evidence of all the screw-ups her colleague has made. She then said that "when" she leaves the company, that she'll "give the file to HR." I basically said that HR won't read it. HR didn't do anything about the president blurting out the world that I was about to leave the company when I hadn't sent out my letter of resignation. HR doesn't believe in proper practices. HR takes forever to let an employee go for obvious reasons. What is the whole point of giving this file to HR, other than a personal release when you leave? Dream on.

Frankly, I don't see her leaving the company. She has been there for over six years. She constantly complaints about folks there and wants to leave, but would rather download movies at home than search for a new career. I think she's comfortable there and isn't exactly a driven person. She is a lifer.

And yes, I will occasionally get MSN messages from her that say, "Are you still at work?" I don't answer them. She even managed to ask me whether I still keep my computer unlocked at work. Is she keeping tabs on me? She asked me on Wednesday when I was leaving work. We're meeting at 19:00. Does it really matter? She told me that she was going to leave at 18:00. Well, it typically takes me an hour to get home from work. The restaurant isn't far from where I live. I got to the restaurant by 18:30 and got a booth for us. It should only take fifteen minutes from where she works to drive to the restaurant. She got there considerably later than I did. So much for her comment about "not wanting to hang out at work." She did.

It takes her forever to get her act together. I have only been on a road trip with her once. Never again. She wants to do another one, but I don't. She wasted 1.5 hours trying to get her crap into my car, which made us get to our destination at 01:00 the following day. We left her driveway at nearly 19:00 and I was adamant about leaving work at 17:00.

Anyway, I am finding that perhaps it is better that I don't hang out with her as much as I used to. When we do hang out, she doesn't tell me much about work these days, other than venting about folks she doesn't like. I do like the disassociation. I think it's healthier for me.

I am wondering whether it's worth holding on to this friendship. I feel that, on the whole, she has a good heart. However, there is always something I'm annoyed with when I spend time with her. I am far from perfect. Maybe I'm not as patience as I used to be? That I think I am?

Thanks for reading along. I'm off to see Depeche Mode tonight. Yay!

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Song that's stuck in my head: Depeche Mode's "Jezebel"
Yummy food eaten today: Wasabi-flavoured soy beans
What I crave: Lunch

Recent thoughts:
Farewell to my Grand Am - 2009-08-13
Travelling home, visiting four airports in a day - 2009-08-03
School, venting, and more! - 2009-07-24
Sad news on a former classmate - 2009-07-15
Last Friday with this Friday - 2009-05-22