I have a job.

The boss is on vacation.

I spent 15 hours at work yesterday. I was there 13 hours the day before. My life always becomes a living hell when she is gone. It seems she never takes a day off, but whenever she does, it's for an entire week. During these rare week vacations I have to absorb all of the punches that she normally takes. I have a large, disgusting project I have to do every month and it was due yesterday, plus I have people from four different continents calling about stuff.

Some guy in Europe: "There was a €2 billion variance in RWA credit risk last month."
Me: "Wow."
Some guy in Europe: "Do you know why?"
Me: "You guys use Euros over there, huh? We use dollars over here, so clearly, there is no way I can possibly help you, what with these goofy, ever-changing exchange rates and all."

Monday I had to meet with some guy from Mexico regarding the reporting structure of the Mexican entities (I don't know what that means either). He happened to be in town for a training seminar, and wanted to meet with me and the boss. Typically in these situations, I sit silently and nod. Her absence meant I would have to talk. It went something like this:

Mexican guy: "Can we re-align the business units to facilitate the reconciliation with global Hyperion?"
Me: "No hablo español."

Having do deal with these people on top of all of the net surfing and "work" I have to do completely blows. That, coupled with the fact that I couldn't possibly give a shit about global reporting for Hyperglobalmegacorp. And yet, I still show up everyday and they still pay me.

Last week a guy in my group got fired for not showing up and not calling. He is an alcoholic and I guess he has had issues before. I think this single incident was just their excuse to can him. I never saw any problems and wouldn't have known he was an alcoholic if someone hadn't told me. I thought he was decent at his job and we are stretched thin enough as it is, but that's the way it goes, I guess.

I feel bad for the guy, but part of me is jealous. He gets to move on to the next stage of his life. I feel stuck here. Sure, I could leave and do something else, but there is no way I could find something that pays me as much as Hyperglobalmegacorp does. At least not right away. So that's what keeps me here...the mortgage, car insurance, the need to eat, and the awesome "special assessment" we have to pay on our condo because some stairwells in the building need replacing.

I need money, so I will continue to come in and sit here every day.

It's lunchtime. I think I will go to Potbelly's.