Mayor Thomas Menino says he still has an appetite for another four year term.

“No, my appetite is not less,” Menino told WBZ-TV’s Jon Keller in a sit-down at the city-owned Parkman House on Beacon Hill, where Menino is recuperating after lengthy hospital stays. “Just that I was – I can’t raise money from a hospital bed. I was in the hospital from October to January, so I wasn’t able to raise any money.”

Menino raised $3,350 in the first half of January, bringing his war chest to $650,145.24, according to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

He added: “I don’t want to be an elected official like some who just sit there and take the glory. I want to make a difference in the city.”

Asked how he will make the decision to make another run, Menino said, “I just want to make sure that I just have the drive to do it. I mean, you know, I’ve been through a lot in the last eight weeks and I just want to be out there. I’m dying to get back out in the streets.”

In the taped interview, which aired on Sunday, Keller asked if he needs to be mobile and keep an “intense schedule” in order to be an effective mayor. “I don’t have to be that, you know -- my schedule is backbreaking, really,” Menino said. “And everybody recognizes that. Do I have to do that still? You know, I would think it’s an obligation. I made a commitment to the people of Boston that I’d be out there working hard every day and that’s why I do it. I enjoy it. It’s not work to me. It’s enjoyment. I’m there ‘cause people are there. They depend on their government. You know, some elected officials, they get elected, you never see them again. Me, I want to be there every day, shaking their hands.”

Keller chatted with Menino about his Jan. 29 state of the city and and playing phone tag with Steve Wynn, who is hoping to build a gaming palace in nearby Everett. Menino has heavily lobbied for a casino at Suffolk Downs in East Boston.

Keller also pressed him on the upcoming special Senate election after Sen. John Kerry’s likely confirmation as U.S. Secretary of State, and a potential match-up between Congressmen Ed Markey (D-Malden) and Stephen Lynch (D-South Boston).

“You’re a cutie, you’re trying to get me sucked into this thing,” Menino told Keller. "I just want to say, it's early on."