On the threshold

After spending a lot of time thinking that Friday, I decided I can't afford to quit my job. I'm still considered unskilled labor, even though I have a degree and a prepress certificate. There's no guarantee I'll be able to get a job to replace this one if I do quit.
My brother got into an argument with my dad about staying up late and I got brought into it. "At least Chris has an excuse because he works nights." And my brother said something about how he's "worthless" and "no one wants to hire him." I realize I am one step away from ending up just like him. Honestly I don't know how to get jobs and I was lucky to get the one I got. And if it's screwed up and I end up naked in a tank of slime, I guess I just have to put up with it, because I have nowhere else to go. My brother thinks he's a nobody, but I'd be just as "worthless" and in the same exact predicament if someone decided to fire me.
I didn't touch that device Sigma gave me, or mess with the program from the CD, because frankly I really didn't want to think about what just happened and wanted to put some distance between myself and her.
Today I learned that a wireless router can work without the "main" computer you set the router up on, because my dad's computer is trash due to a virus.
I used the time off work to get some more comics done, and did the laundry.
At 2 in the morning, the "compact" started making noises. I opened it up quickly to avoid disturbing my dad's sleep.
It was Sigma, of course. After poking around for a minute, I managed to open the thing and saw her face on a screen inside the lid. She asked me if I were still going on that trip to space.
It took me a long time to answer that.
I asked her if it were necessary for the job, and she gave me this apologetic smile and said it kinda was and I sorta needed to go there if I didn't want to stay in Target and BBL. So I told her I "might" go and asked her when I had to leave.
She told me 1:00 PM, so I still had time to pack and sleep. I said fine, and then asked how long I'd be gone. She said a week.
I told her my dad's birthday is coming up this Wednesday, but she just said sorry and I really needed to do this.
I knew what I had to do. The last time I skipped work for someone's birthday the company closed its door on me forever.
I skipped on a temp job to go to my grandpa's birthday one time, and Allied Staffing refused to give me any work after that, saying they "still had egg on their faces" from the incident. My life has taught me to suck it up or be unemployable.
And so I just decided to see what I could do to make it up to my dad.
Now I must go pack.