andrew61

Confessions of a Slacker
2006-05-02 00:00:00 (UTC)

Money for nothing…..

Got myself scheduled for a focus group for tonight… this time a study for heartburn/acid reflux sufferers using only over-the-counter medications.

Well, as it turned out, they booked more participants than they needed (they typically do, as there’s usually someone who fails to show up without calling and cancelling), so I ended up sitting this one out and leaving early (the group was supposed to last two hours).

They still paid me, though. So basically, I showed up, signed in, completed a brief questionnaire (why, I don’t know — they were the exact same questions the screener had already asked me over the phone a couple weeks ago), sat down, ate some free food (a ham sandwich and some popcorn), and walked out of there with an envelope containing $85 cash.

Not bad for not really doing anything.

So I left, deciding not to catch the bus, but to take a long, leisurely walk home instead (from downtown Chicago… about five or six miles). It was still light out, so I enjoyed the splashes of color from the tulips all along Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile), as well as along Lake Shore Drive on the Gold Coast. Arrived home just as night fell.

Called Todd after arriving home, hoping to stop by his condo upstairs… he had e-mailed me earlier today saying he’d be free tonight… he answered the phone, but said his stomach’s been feeling queasy so he’d have to postpone… so no BJ for me tonight, I guess. It’s OK, though, as right now I’m feeling indifferent about it one way or another… I could take it or leave it.




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