Rang the lenders, who said, "No, we said Thursday week, not Thursday." I said, "No, you said Thursday. I wrote it down and you said Thursday." Blah blah. Rang H to convey the news. He suggested I find some kind of financial Ombudsman to help me out.

Spent the morning traipsing the length of K street, going to all the hock shops and second-hand clothing places, trying to find just one which would take the leather jacket and give me $50 for it. No go. The 2nd-hand places wouldn't take something unsolicited and the hock shops only take men's biker jackets. Fuck.

Rang Alice, saying I was in a tight spot and needed to borrow $50. We arranged to meet at a pub in the arvo, although she said she wouldn't be able to stay. Went home in the meantimes and ran a full diagnostic on the puter and defragged. Pretty sure it's okay now, but still fuming... coz my puter is precious, y'know?

Met with Alice, remembering too late that I wasn't wearing my watch, and remembered this as I was holding out her birthday prezzie and card. My sleeve had ridden up and of course she noticed I wasn't wearing my watch. (Damn! Damn!! Damn!!!) "Where's the watch?" she asked. "In for maintenance." I said, trying so hard to be casual about it. "Hope you got a receipt," she said, and I said I had (oh, yeah, I have a receipt all right - a have a receipt saying I hocked it for $100). And then she didn't refer to it again. Thank goodness for that.

She bought me a beer and a lemonade for herself and we talked about family stuff for ten minutes until she had to get back to work. I stayed to finish my beer, annoyed that I hadn't brought a book. Played Dope Wars on the Palm for 15 minutes instead.

Then H rang. He was, he said, afraid to go home because James "would beat his head in" because he was so behind in the rent. I said that it would be so much better if he'd just tell James that the lack of funds was due to circumstances well beyond H's control, that I'd put my house up as security for a $5k loan and I was also severely inconvenienced by the delay... No no no, said H, sounding completely off the rails, "It's none of his business."

Which just makes me think H has told James something which is nothing like the truth.

I said I had been seriously entertaining the notion of turning up at their house and telling James what was going on. He said I should stay out of it. I agreed not to turn up unexpectedly to talk to James (their phone is still off coz James hasn't paid the phone bill - or at least, this is what H has told me).

I had about an inch of beer left and was intending to go home once it was finished. Then a guy suddenly asked if I play pool. I said yeah... and he asked would I play a game with him. Oh, sure. Why not.

His name was Wayne. He'd been in Australia five years. He asked where I lived. "Oh, down the road," I said, wary of ulterior intent. "Me too." he said. Right, whatever.

I played very badly. I don't play well as a rule but this was one of my worst games. He played quite well. He won. Great, whatever. Ta for the distraction.

Because of his Kiwi accent I could hardly hear a word he was saying (also, he talked very fast). I said I was half-deaf and if he wanted me to be able to follow what he was saying he'd have to speak up. Which he didn't. Blah blah blah, whatever.

We played a second game. I played slightly better. He still won, but it didn't bother me (I rarely win).

Then he started invading my personal space. I spun away and said, "Look, a game of pool is fine, but I'm not here to get picked up. Keep your distance."

He babbled something else that I didn't understand and I decided it was time to go.

"Let me buy you another drink!" he said, all smiles.

"No thanks. I'm going home now. Leave me alone."

Walked out, saw a homebound bus approaching and trotted over to the stop. Kept an eye peeled over my shoulder for Wayne. I don't think he followed me. I don't think he saw which bus I took. I certainly hope not.

(Oh, why me? Why do all the fuckwits gravitate towards me? Do I still have 'easy'/'loser' tattooed on my forehead???)

Came home and poured myself a large rum-on-the-rocks (don't know what to give me for Xmas? Alcohol is fine). Did some reviews. Gonna do some more now.