Paid

We did it! We finally got paid this morning. I got a call from my secretary at 9:30 a.m. telling me that my check was at the financial office and ready to be picked up. I'm still in a bit of shock, really. I had kind of forgotten was it was like to get a paycheck and have some money. Instead of getting a check for two months worth of work, I got one for $1,400, so I have to assume that it includes March also, even though the other professors haven't been paid for March yet. And the $20 that has been short on every other check, will be included in April's paycheck.

So the first thing I'm going to do now is figure out how to deposit or cash this check so there is as little delay as possible. I need to pay for three months worth of rent. After that, I need to pick up some things I've been going without. I'd like to get some floss and Listerine. But I might have to go without the Listerine if it's too expensive, since it's kind of a luxury anyway. I've needed a pair of black shoes for work for a long time. I have brown loafers that I wear with my khaki's, but when I wear black pants I need to wear my black sneakers, and I always feel like an idiot in them.

I also only have one pair of pajama-like pants that I can wear around the house, so I'd like to get some cheapo depot pants to wear around the house. I'm a pretty simple person, and outside of those things, there isn't much else that I want. The only other expense would be a movie or two a week and a drink or meal outside of the house. It just feels so good to finally have the paycheck in my hands, even though it's a bit nerve racking to have it all at once. But now it feels like I can actually do stuff and not feel badly about it.

Luckily it didn't come down to a strike in the end. I'm sure my students will be ever-so happy to have class on Monday (yeah right). But just avoiding that whole issue will make things a lot better for everyone else. And hopefully in the future this kind of thing won't happen again.

*And to clarify, $600 are going towards paying for rent and food.

And the best part of it all? Today is Friday.