Can't get this damn Jessica Simpson song out of my head:

With nothing but a T-shirt on
I never felt so beautiful
Baby as I do now
Now that I'm with you
With you, with you, with you
Now that I'm with you

Grrr...

February 25th will mark my one-year anniversary at this job and, like clockwork, I'm starting to get a little bored. It doesn't help that my boss is ah...still a bit challenged 6 months into the job. It's the general tedium of a desk job that kills me, and it doesn't matter whether it's the relatively hectic pace of a Poets & Writers or the random ups-and-downs of this place. Boooooooooooring.

I've always been much more blue-collar than white. The problem with that is the good blue-collar jobs - ie: with good pay and benefits - are all skilled labor-based and that's not my specialty. I don't have the "credentials," nor the time to get them, to write for a steady living and bohemia's no longer an option, if it ever was.

I'm unhappy with my job because it sucks; and my job sucks because I'm unhappy with it. Catch-22.

My favorite jobs have always been people-oriented: bartender, waiter - even the nightmare that was financial planning was good because it dealt with people. Different people everyday. Different circumstances everyday. (It's why running a weekly poetry series was so much fun for me, despite the many headaches.) On your feet and active and, to varying degrees, your pay reflected how hard you worked and how good you were at your job. I was a great bartender and waiter; not so much so with financial plannning. The selling aspect of it, at least. Unfortunately, none of those jobs are really suited for married fathers of two that need health insurance, slightly-better-than decent pay and nights off.

So the one-year funk is upon me once again and, as I tentatively consider my options, the only bright side is that I work for a pretty big company and there may be some opportunities for me in other departments. Because despite the fact that it's a Canadian company (which I was surprised to find out after being here for six months!), it's been a nice place to work so far and the pay and benefits are solid.

My review is in a couple of weeks and that will play a huge factor in how things play out.