Huge delay, apologies. My aforementioned fog lasted for pretty much the duration of that week (leaving me to believe that it was as much psyche induced as alcohol indced). The following week was my birthday (thus I worked like a dog to get out of as much work as possible), and then I was running myself ragged until Friday because management decided that one of my side projects neeed to be done NOW NOW RIGHT BLOODY NOW!!!!

This week, thus far, has been fairly uneventful. I continue to work on the project, tweaking here and fine tuning there. I got simulated, third-party kudos from the General Manager and VP. Ooo. Nothing says loving like fake cheesy gratitude. DEATH, WISDOM and I War Counciled on Wednesday night. We are contemplating allowing a fourth into our ranks. We're going to give it a test run next week, see how it goes. It will likely be some time before she knows the whole story, but she has thus far proven herself to be of the same mindset.

Yesterday also marked the first management meeting for the newly integrated department. It was hilarious. They spent the first half telling us, in so many words, that we have to work together as a team to build morale with ourselves and with the floor. And then turned around and started making more demands. One manager felt the need to point out that at a local job fair for 150 positions, over 4000 people turned up. "If they aren't willing to perform to our standards, there are a thousand people out there who would love to."

Yay. Go Team.

You know, I think I feel like Helena Bonham Carter's character in the Planet of the Apes remake, continually advocating for the rights of the oppressed, while her peers see no harm in deriving pleasure from ripping and arm off here and there or crushing what little spark of life remains.

Yesterday was a terrible day, so I did what anybody would do in my situation -- Went out and drank heavily. This resulted in me moving in a fog all day today. Great fun.

The company has chosen to combat the latest string of unhappiness with a carrot. A financial carrot, in the form of bonuses. The amounts offered aren't necessarily insignificant, however I just can't bring myself to be excited about it. Rather, I feel cheapened by the entire venture. Like a $2 whore who is sick of taking it up the ass... So she's offered an extra dollar to shut the hell up and bend over. Is it so wrong to ask to be treated like a human being?

Apparently so. I was privvy to the revised New Worker Request form from HR today. I bet that if I could go back in time, I would find a similar form at slave auctions. I suppose it's telling enough that financial management for the contingent work force falls under "Purchasing."

Would you like fries with your new pseudo-employee?

Yes please, and I'd like to super-size it.

Contractor Dirt: The Saga Continues.

Today one of the managers (the one in charge of myself and DEATH) began to act like his old self. I think it's only because he so desperately wants to see his enemies fall. It was strange, though, for things to return for a moment, at least on the surface, to how they used to be. And to top it all off, his picture ID was his old one. Back when he was the Contractor Dirt. Was it an attempt to fit in more? Was he making a statement against his peers? The problem with our manager is that he's so devious that you can't just second guess everything he does, you have to third and fourth guess it. Oh well, at least it keeps things interesting.

The Wall o' Pain continued today. There's something to be said for making $18/hour to play with expensive high-tech toys. That something usually being "Screw all of you."

Had Friday off for my first wedding anniversary. It's amazing how refreshing just one day off can be. It was easily one of the best weekend's I've had in months.

Today, being Labor Day, was nice and slow. I was able to play catch up a bit, but mostly just played with Bear Share and created some new playlists. All the actual employees had the day off. Paid, of course. So what the heck.

I have a new idea for a screenplay. Or, rather, I have given my old idea some substance. It shall be based upon my experiences in Corporate America. I look forward to working on it.

We are creating a new "Wall of Fame." It consists of color print-outs of photographs. This is essentially an excuse for DEATH to publically humiliate his enemies and abuse company resources, but it's disguised in Happy Fun Goodness, so none shall suspect. Revenge is a dish best served petty.

Now Playing: KMFDM - Juke Joint Jezebel. My new playlists are neat.

Corporate came up for a visit today. With them they brought news of conditional bonuses and no further promises of being picked up. Oh, but wait, they're having a barbeque, so that makes it all better that nobody in the center can afford health insurance...except the employees who already have it, of course.

Along with this news, they gave away sunglasses, pens and badge-holder-thingies. As I accepted my piece of plastic (proudly bearing the company logo), I thought to myself: This is how the white man took over America -- with cheap, shiny trinkets. The irony was not lost on me.

We are aware of the new supervisors, but they have not been officially announced. Our victory (previous entry) remained, however we will still be burdened with incompetance. Of course, we're starting to get used to it by now.

You know, I think there's still some prime sections of my soul that you haven't tried to rape yet. If you give me a pair of sunglasses too, I can show you where it is...

The drama continues to unfold. Those who seemed shoe-ins for supervisor madness have been ousted. Due in no small part to us. We feel mighty.

Tonight is War Council night. DEATH is vegetarian, so whenever we all go out to dinner, it's an experience just to find somewhere we can all enjoy. I'm all for House o' Meat, but alas, no.

I was busy today. Very busy. I think that was good. On the other hand, however, I have a headache. Nothing is ever perfect when you are contractor dirt.

Raises were issued. An additional 95 cents an hour.

Now I'm not going to scoff at more money. Especially not when you consider that I already make a darned good wage. But 95 cents? What's up with that? It's like leaving a nickel tip. Enough to show you didn't forget, but managing to make your rememberance a slap in the face.

Hell, I'm offended just on my base level of needing things to be in round, logical increments. I would've rathered 50 cents than 95.

The search continues for more supervisors to share the pain of being middle-level contractor dirt. With luck, I will gain more allies.

But the law of Corporate Decision Making is never in my favor.