So I'm doing a little better now. I've informed the supervisors that I'll be turning in my notice by the end of the week, so the end is in sight. I've started looking for apartments in the NYC area, too -- hoping to make the move in early Sept. (That is very soon!) Any advice from some of you already living there? (Or apartment hunting tips in general?) And what do you think of apartment search services with fees? There are some great listings on Rentwave.com, but to get at them one has to pay a $40 membership fee. What do you think?

Also, are there any particularly cost-effective areas that you'd care to recommend? (I'm looking to spend $800 max per month, although, naturally, less is more. 😉 1 bedroom preferred, but a nice studio would be cool too!) Brooklyn and Harlem don't seem to be too bad, and I could always commute from NJ.

Your suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated!

Still, this stuff is pretty damned discouraging.

Am I really almost 24? Amazing. And what have I accomplished? Nothing.

No, really, how does one not get a job one essentially already has? And with the same organization, at that?! I must be the biggest fucking loser on the face of the planet.

Okay, I'm finished now.

So I just found out -- I didn't get the job. Given my luck, I'm not all that surprised. However, it's still pretty disappointing, seeing as how I've basically been doing that job and more since last September, give or take a couple of months! I really feel like a failure right now -- but then, I always feel like a failure, probably because I am one -- and I don't think I'll stop feeling that way until I succeed at killing myself.