Girl on the Brink: Surviving Desperate Times with Desperate Measures

Day 145 — Office Crush

When I am so lucky to do a bit of temping, I arrive, primed in appearance, and men check me out. Since my assignments take me to different places, I get to be the new girl in the cube. When you become part of a new group, everybody adjusts in some way. Being a woman, […]

Day 144 — Changing Your Name, Title

We change jobs. Why can’t we change our names and job titles to make them more attractive? For my next job, I want a star name and title. For me, a plain Jane name, such as Debbie Smith, won’t do. I find that staid, safe and forgettable. I’m bent on finding a vivacious vixen name […]

Day 143 — Trading Up

In your professional life, there’s going to be ups and downs. You should be moving forward, however, earning more money and more responsibility. In other words, every job should be better than the last. That’s the way it’s been with me, both professionally and romantically. I had a starter husband, and that was okay for […]

Day 141 — Summer Vacation

Viva Las Vegas! No, not for me. Yesterday, my 12- and 10-year-old sons flew—as unaccompanied minors—to Las Vegas to visit their aunt. Although the cost of the trip pushed me deeper into debt ($400 Delta fee to watch the kids), I felt my kids deserved a break from all of the craziness that has captured […]

Day 140 — Size Matters

Throughout my professional career, I’ve either worked for myself or small companies. But it’s often scary because small companies can go belly up any day. I’m tired of that. This time, I want a company that’s well endowed. I know people say size doesn’t matter. But it does. While a small, new company can be […]

Day 139 — The Sky’s the Limit

In hard times, imaginations blossom. Do-it-yourself has replaced do-it-for-me in remarkably diverse sectors of the economy, including home improvement, food gardening, financial services, automotive and beauty care, as American consumers search for new ways to cope with their diminished financial circumstances and empower themselves by taking more control of their lives in uncertain times. There […]

Day 138 — Obligation

I put my money in the jar when someone in the office is collecting money to buy a wedding gift for the HR girl, even though I’m totally broke, just a temp and don’t know her name. I’ll even go with rest of the staff for a lunchtime pizza party to celebrate the birthday of […]

Day 137 — The Little Things

As I stepped onto the elliptical machine and finagled with plugging in my headphones to watch the 5 o’clock news, my gym bud, Michael, or worded on his name tag as MIKEY, approached with a wide smile. Our eyes locked. He asked me about my marital status and the ages of my two children. We […]

Day 136 — Performance Goals

I’m beginning to view new relationships in terms of goals and deadlines, similar to the annual performance review. With a job, you’re forced to disclose—in writing—your goals to your supervisor and HR. The deadline for achieving them is your end-of-the-year review, which means you’ve got to set benchmarks throughout the year if you plan on […]

Day 135 — To Prune or Not to Prune

Yesterday I came home to find the garden in my front yard decimated. My ex and two young sons (all live together in a twisted Brady Bunch kind of way) had their own version of work week, which turned my Adam’s Family style garden into Wisteria Lane, sans the desperate housewives; only a desperate divorcée. […]