A change in the weather

It was a beautiful day here yesterday, sunny and warm… and today when I got home from work about 4, it was 57 degrees and cloudy.. and it’s been raining on and off all day. Nasty weather, although it’s still a zillion times better than snow.

I worked out in the Christmas tree lot for a short time this morning, to give Rolly his break. That was one part of the day that the weather wasn’t too bad. It was only drizzling for part of the time and I only had two customers. I went back in and ran the front end until Missy came in. When I gave her the phone before I went to lunch, that was the end of me running the front end. Like I said before, I will be glad when I’m running the front end and there is no one there who is supposed to be “training” me, because Missy isn’t around enough to be training me.

Besides, I learn best by doing, and I need to DO. Once hours are cut, I have the feeling I will be DOING a lot more.

Red called in sick this morning, 7 minutes before his shift started. I’m sure Norma will be talking to him about that, because we are supposed to give a couple of hours notice. If he was sick all night, he could have called in at 6 this morning, instead of 8:53. I sure was glad Norma was there to take the call. Norma said he sounded sick, but that was just after I told her that he was either hung over or tired last night. He closed last night, so he was there until 10:30, and then had to be back at 9. I really wonder if he just needed more sleep and decided not to come in.

This afternoon one of the cashiers asked if I would accept a credit card from a guy who forgot his ID. He had over $400 worth of stuff, and when I looked at the credit card, it said “Karen Lastname”. I looked at him and said, “Your name is KAREN?” and he said, “It’s my mother’s card”. I just looked at him and said, “No”.

He was angry, and said, “Not even a sorry?” So I said, “Sorry, but you can’t use someone else’s credit card.” And of course, as I expected, he took off out the door and said, “Fuck you, bitch!” I said the only thing I could, “Have a GREAT day, sir!!!” Hah!

The customer who had been behind him was just laughing at him, wondering how he could be so stupid as to try to pass off that card. I wondered the same thing myself, although I suppose he figured we would never look at the name on the card. Guess again!

That really just made my day. I laughed about it for the rest of the afternoon. It still makes me chuckle to think about it.

Not much else happening. My hummingbirds aren’t doing much flying in this crappy weather, so I can’t even watch them out the window. Time to curl up in bed with a good book…. one more day of work, and then two off!

Working on Black Friday

I sure am glad I don’t work in an electronics store! Black Friday at the Depot is bad enough. We had small poinsettias on sale for 99¢ and Shop Vacs for $20. Both were gone by the time I got to work this morning, which was 10AM. But all day people were asking for them and I know we had a LOT of them. And the Depot does not give rainchecks, although one man was being a jerk about not getting any poinsettias for the sale price, so May just gave him the price on the ones he wanted, to get rid of him.

The effort it takes to bitch loud and long enough to do that just doesn’t seem worth it. Yes, he saved himself $20, but he made himself look like a butthead in the process, and probably raised his blood pressure a couple of points. So you missed the sale.. big deal.

It was busy, but not overly so. It wasn’t even as busy as a normal Friday, mostly because the contractors weren’t coming in like they normally would. It was just shoppers, trying to get the deals.. like the LED flashlights that were six for $10… the multi packs of tools, drill bits and Christmas ornaments and lights, which sold like mad today.

One of our newest cashiers was not physically able to work today. I think he was hungover overserved yesterday, and was sleeping on his breaks and lunch. He looked like hell, and was crabby to boot. I can understand this happening the day after  a holiday, but he didn’t even come to work unti 2PM. Must have been some party. Had I been the closing HC and it was my decision, I would likely have sent him home. The way he was working, it wouldn’t have been that big of a loss, and he would have lost his hours. This is Red, the one I don’t trust. He is not starting off on a good note, as the closing HC said that he’s “mouthy” and disrespectful of her. He doesn’t do that to me… at least he hasn’t yet. I  will squash that when it happens.

The high point of my work day today was seeing Mr D come in a half hour before I left. I had gone to the back office to get tubes for our pneumatic system (so they can send money to the vault tonight) and he was back there getting a radio. We were actually back there for about 30 seconds by ourselves, but then another manager came in. I did manage to pat Mr D on the butt without anyone seeing, which made both of us smile. Heh.

But anyway… I am really tired today, and since I work at 7 tomorrow, I am going to bed soon. I’m just too tired to think of anything more to write!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is a day to give thanks. I am thankful for….

A full-time job with great benefits and health insurance.

Good health.

Online friends who are like family… Especially my little sister!

Mr D.

Living in a beautiful city, where I can have the windows open and wear shorts on Thanksgiving Day.

No snow!!!!!

Family who loves me, even though I am many miles away.

Tequila. Heh.

A clean kitchen and lots of leftovers.

Freedom, in all respects.

And not necessarily in that order!

A trip to Seaport Village

I love going to Seaport Village! It’s so pretty down there, and you can walk along the water and look at all the Navy ships and the Coronado bridge, and all the little shops. It’s one of my favorite places to go.

Seaport Village

So after I got my laundry done, and played all the Pogo I was going to play for the morning, it was about time for all the shops to open. I rolled down there looking for a specific item: an ornament in a Christmas store that actually said “Mr. D” on it. Sis, DSis and I found that while we were down there.

BUT it wasn’t there any more. The girl in the shop had no clue what I was looking for, and it wasn’t hanging where it had been, which was right by the door. I know it was the Christmas shop. Bummer. So instead, I got him this:

Airplane ornament

A cute little airplane ornament for his birthday. I know he won’t be here, but I think he’ll like it anyway.

I walked around for a while, and saw this amazing tree, made out of poinsettia plants. It was just stunning in the bright sunlight! I wonder how many plants it took to make it.

Poinsettia tree

I wore one of my new pairs of jeans, and realized that for the pair I had on, I need a belt. The pants fit my hips and legs great, but because they are low-rise, the waist is huge on them, and they keep sliding down when I walk. I know the “style” is to let them slide, but I like keeping my underwear UNDER my jeans.

My next stop was Ross, for a belt. I didn’t look around for much else, since I’d just been there, and I had other things to do today, too. So after getting belted, I came home and got my Bob Newhart videos and took them back to the library, stopped at Henry’s to see what was on sale, and then came back home.

I got a phone call today from Sprint. Obviously, they were trying to sell me something, but it made no sense to me at all. They started out by telling me that I am only using about 150 anytime minutes per month, which is way under what I’m paying for. So they wanted to give me another phone for my house phone, for free, and up my monthly minutes to 700! Of course, that new plan isn’t free, it would only be about $35 more than what I’m paying now.

But my question to them was, if I’m only using 150 minutes NOW, why would it be a good idea to get another phone, another line, and more minutes, when I’m not even using the ones I pay for now? Duh!

And for only another $65 a month, I can get Sprint WiFi, which would be a good idea if I wanted to haul my laptop everywhere I go, although it could also be used for my desktop. But I pay less for cable and that includes TV service, although it doesn’t include a whole lot of channels. And WiFi for my laptop is easily available at any library or coffee shop, of which there are about a zillion in the city of San Diego.Yeah, if I traveled a lot, it might be worth it, but I don’t.

So Sprint got nothing extra out of me. Too bad.

I just hung around the rest of the day, and watched A Fish Called Wanda and I have a few other movies that I picked up today to watch while my turkey is cooking tomorrow. I got a big turkey so I’ll have plenty of leftovers for lunches and for turkey and gravy. Yum!

More goo to go

The first order of business today was getting an oil change, and tire rotation. That turned into an oil change, air filter, and two new tires. I knew that one of the front ones was wearing down, but after seeing what the tires actually looked like, I decided it was worth spending the money on two new tires. Besides, changing tires on the freeway is absolutely no fun. Even though I have AAA, just the safety aspect of it is enough to make me spend the money on it. Sure glad I agreed to work today!

I was planning on doing a little shopping after that, but it took long enough that I didn’t have time. Not that I needed to spend more money today, but I hate having to rush. I still have tomorrow off, and can get what I need then.

Then it was off to work. I was scheduled as a cashier, and Rolly was the HC, but since I was there he wasn’t sure which of us should be the HC. I spoke up, and told him that it was his choice, since I was scheduled as a cashier, and had no problem working as one. So he did the HC stuff and I was a cashier.. although I did some HC things anyway, but Rolly didn’t mind, and I didn’t either.

The night went pretty smoothly, and when I got home I watched my all-time favorite episode of Bob Newhart.. Over the River and Through the Woods, which is a Thanksgiving show. Kind of appropriate..  and one of the funniest ones. It’s the source of today’s title.

All in all, a great day.

Moving around

Today I opened with Missy. I am SO waiting for when I can open alone, and just take care of everything myself. Yes, some of the paperwork stuff might not get done, but at least I’ll be the one in charge. It got busy, and when I asked Missy to cashier, she instead took the phone from me and I ended up cashiering. This won’t happen again, and I don’t think I will have a problem with anyone but Missy, going by some of the comments I got from other HCs.

So I spent the rest of the day going from register to returns, lather, rinse, repeat. I ended my day in returns, but I know Norma was grateful that I did what she wanted me to.

And this is the time of year when hours start getting cut. Thankfully, it won’t be ME who gets cut, but I could see the panic in some of the cashiers whose hours had been cut for next week. However, this week hours had been cut, but they were cut too much. I managed to pick up another day! Woot! That means I will actually work 40 hours, and still get a day’s pay for Thanksgiving. I’m never one to turn down extra hours!

My extra day is tomorrow. I have an appointment to get my oil changed early tomorrow, so then I still have the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon to get some of my errands done.

AND we have a new manager. Our former manager is now the regional merchandising manager. I met the new manager, Al, this morning while I was out opening up the garden registers. I’m not sure many people other than the department heads met him. Heh.

I made a stop at the library after work to get the last season of Bob Newhart. At least it’s the last season the library has. There were six seasons of Bob, but the library  only has four. Oh well, there are other things there to watch.. but right now, it’s about bedtime for me.

 

 

A lazy day with Bob and Barney

I spent my day off today just hanging out in the house, with the single exception of a short trip to the grocery store.

Mr D stopped over last night, and I didn’t get to bed until very late. Those of you who’ve met Mr D knows that he loves to talk, and since he didn’t get here until about 11, it was fairly late when he left. Good thing I didn’t have to work today.

One thing we talked about was that his youngest daughter (who lives in Missouri) bought him a ticket for Christmas to come out and visit her. He is leaving on the 16th of December, which means he won’t even be here for his birthday (the 21st). I’m bummed. Guess I will have to give him his birthday present early… I already have something in mind, I just have to pick it up. It’s the perfect thing for him.

As for Thanksgiving, he’s not sure what he’s doing. I invited him over here, but he’s not really sure if he will be spending the day working on planes, or up in Oside with his daughter. He might just be here. One never knows with him.

I spent the rest of the day watching the rest of the Bob Newhart episodes that I borrowed from the library, and then when those were over, there were several episodes of Newhart on TV.  Now Barney Miller is on. It’s been ages since I’ve seen that show.

I work at 5:30 tomorrow morning, so it will be an early night for me. Then I’ll have three whole days off! But never fear, I have plenty of things to do during my three days.

Busy at work

I opened this morning with Missy, and I pretty much did everything by myself, so that was a good thing. I only made one mistake, and it’s something I will never do again. We keep enough change on the front end to supply the cashiers.  The back office lady went to lunch and I told her it was ok, that we didn’t need any more money in the change drawer, but it never occurred to me that we might need complete tills. So while she was at lunch, and three cashiers came on duty, they had no tills. It was busy, so there were three people standing around with no money, others who needed breaks but couldn’t go because no one could take over for them, and I was also at lunch. I guess it wasn’t very pretty and like I said, it’s nothing I will be doing again. Heh. I’m kind of glad I was at lunch during that time.

Other than that, the day went pretty fast because it was so busy. Ms I”m… got paged a couple of times to go back to her register, and once when she had been paged (twice, because she didn’t appear) I wandered over to returns to see where she was. One of the ASMs found her outside greeting and made her go in. I could hear him tell her she had to stay inside the store. So now the ASM knows about her wandering.. not to say he didn’t hear about it before, but I am not sure he believed it. He does now.

Red worked out in garden today, only out of necessity. I ended up working out there for about an hour at the end of the day and watched Red texting on his cell phone. I told him that he needed to keep his phone in his locker, and he said “Yeah, I’ve heard that already” so obviously it doesn’t sound like he actually WILL keep his phone in his locker, just that others have told him about it. Word is out among the HCs not to let the new cashiers get away with stuff like that, just so that they don’t get the idea that it’s ok. The problem is that most of the HCs are new, and I’m not feeling like I can discipline yet, although Red is quickly pushing me to that point. The next time I see him with his phone, it will  be a verbal warning. I can practice on him. Heh.

Not much else is happening, except I’m looking forward to next week. I work Monday, Friday and then the rest of the weekend. Three days off in a row! Woot! And I’m off tomorrow. What a week…

I am still watching Bob Newhart, and seeing episodes that are not real familiar. I thought I’d seen them all, but some have not been rerun as often as others. Like the one where Emily is getting her Master’s degree, and moves into the dorms, which makes everyone at Bob’s office think they are getting a divorce. Or the one where all the doctors form a co-op. Anyone else remember those?

Self check out

Today I spent mostly on self checkout, either running my till and the other four computers, or just my till. I went in this morning at 10:30, and put my till there, and went to work. It was pretty busy, and since there were three other HCs there, I just concentrated on getting the lines down.

Imagine my surprise when I called to tell *whoever* had the HC phone that we needed breaks, and who did they want me to move where, when I was told that I was running the front end, and I needed to make the decisions. Hell. I didn’t have the phone, and I was working, and I hadn’t made any of those decisions yet today, but suddenly I was running the front end? I may need to have a chat with Norma about this, but then again, sometimes the off hand comments do more than full-blown discussions. Besides, when we are done with training, there will only be three HCs there all day, instead of the six that are there now. And those who are not where they should be, and not doing what they should be, will find that they aren’t prepared the way they should be. So it might be the path of least irritation to just let nature take its course.

Anyway, while I was at self checkout I realized that it takes a certain kind of customer to be able to handle the SCO area. The impatient bossy kind of person who doesn’t handle direction well gets frustrated very quickly at SCO when the weights don’t match and we have to reset the security sensors. It’s not that big a deal, but it’s enough to really piss off some people, who will just take their stuff and go to another register, leaving us to wonder what happened to the person who started the transaction.

Then there are the customers who can’t find the barcode, no matter how hard they look. Where is the barcode? Not to mention the barcodes that don’t scan, especially the ones on the little plumbing parts. Frustration abounds.

There are payment issues. Yes, you have to press finish and pay before the computer will accept your credit card. And don’t blame us if your card won’t scan, or it’s declined. We have nothing to do with it. And when you put in $10, and it says you owe $10.32, don’t expect it to do anything until  you put in the extra 32 cents. Store credits are pictured on the payment method screen, so don’t press “credit card” and try to scan it because it doesn’t have a magnetic strip.

There are people who just whiz through it; scan their stuff, bag it, pay and all without help. They pay attention to what they are doing. They don’t get impatient and understand when the machine makes them wait. Sometimes it’s quite entertaining to watch customers. And sometimes they just expect too much.

But I am really enjoying self checkout. It’s so easy to fix the things that go wrong, and make the customer happy. And it’s busy enough to keep me entertained and it keeps me learning. That’s a good thing!

Working the mid shift

I worked again today at 10:30, and I’m working the same again tomorrow. It seems I’m the only one who likes this shift, because the people who have it keep asking me to trade. 10:30 to 7 isn’t all that bad, and I can sleep a bit later in the mornings if I need to, or I can get things done before work.

Today I went to the library to get some more Bob Newhart DVDs before work, so now I’ve got something to watch for a few days. There was an episode I saw today that I am not sure if I’ve seen before. There are supposed to be eight episodes on each disc, but there are only four. I’ll have to ask them about that.

Anyway, I got to work and it was fairly busy, so I got a till and started cashiering. One of my first customers was bitching that I didn’t have change for his $100 bill. Sorry, but I explained that I just got there and the tills don’t start with that much, unless he wanted $40 in five dollar bills, and the other $35 in ones. So instead of his hundred, he pulled out a $20 and a $10.  Home Depot and bank, at your service.

I spent the rest of the day running around the store, and trying to keep control over the front end. I think I’m doing a pretty good job, and it’s actually fun. I kind of branched out today, and learned how to make copies of keys. It’s one of the things there aren’t always people enough to do, and one of the things I wanted to learn. I know the hardware people appreciate it!

I even replaced a roll of paper in one of the self checkout machines, and fixed an error message on another. Things are definitely getting easier. But since I am in training, along with Rolly and Mary (the other two new HCs) we are extra.. so there won’t be as many of us HCs there at once as there are now… so things will be a bit more hectic when we don’t have trainers to go to when it’s busy. I’m just wondering how that will go, but I’m sure I’ll be able to deal with it. I hope.

About time for bed here…