The Economy SUCKS

So, since I interviewed at IP, they have cut about 5 permanent staff members. Now they don't have enough staff to do all the work they need to get done, so everyone is always super busy and they've brought in interns to help make up the gap. However, everyone on staff is so busy all the time that it leads to an issue that I have been experiencing: they do not even have the time to put together projects for me to work on, because they have too much else to work on, and they're stuck doing all the work anyway. This frustrates me like crazy - I want to be of service to them, but it's tough when all I have to work on is the author database (oh, lovely, lovely database) which has been passed from intern to intern for months and really isn't anywhere near completion. Then, when the database I need to use to compile the names/affiliations/contact info for the new mailing list goes down, there isn't anything to do except work on getting that fixed (which I attempted for 2 hours to no avail until it was time for me to leave). Oh, and I also walked 3 blocks to Safeway to get soda for a lunch presentation they were having at the office on Tuesday. I've been using a lot of brain power this week...