... and really are you kidding me, I was late, my employees were late, and all of this because some stupid promotional campaign for a late night comedy show. I mean really after 9/11 what stupid ass company would think that putting electronic devices randomly throughout a city without permission would be a good idea. Trains and roads were shut down and peoples lives were disrupted. Most importantly bomb squads and police and firefighters were called out to remove these devices and I am pretty sure they had other things to do.
People really need to grow up and realize the consequences of their actions! WTF!!!
6 Kick Ass Employees
I will preface this post with the fact that I still love all of my employees from my last store you guys still rock and I miss you all still.
However, I made my first round of hires that impacted my new store last week and I seem to have hit the jackpot. This is very rare! I interviewed 11 people for the open positions that I had and 10 of them were strong applicants. I had a bunch of positions opened and I was hoping to fill 3 or 4, however, the hiring gods were with me and I had applicants who had Masters Degrees from Harvard, teachers, book lovers, energetic community college graduates and just plain old great people.
I decided to hire six of them with high hopes that most of them would work out at least through our Back to School period. I usually have high hopes and I usually have a good retention percentage, but no matter how good the interviews go, in the back of your mind you expect to have at least one nutjob sneak through. So far, I have been incredibly lucky. I have 6 great new employees who are working hard and making sure we are ready for back to school. They are all self motivated hard workers I love it.
It makes for such a great day, and hopefully a manageable Rush!
SO EXCITING!!!!
However, I made my first round of hires that impacted my new store last week and I seem to have hit the jackpot. This is very rare! I interviewed 11 people for the open positions that I had and 10 of them were strong applicants. I had a bunch of positions opened and I was hoping to fill 3 or 4, however, the hiring gods were with me and I had applicants who had Masters Degrees from Harvard, teachers, book lovers, energetic community college graduates and just plain old great people.
I decided to hire six of them with high hopes that most of them would work out at least through our Back to School period. I usually have high hopes and I usually have a good retention percentage, but no matter how good the interviews go, in the back of your mind you expect to have at least one nutjob sneak through. So far, I have been incredibly lucky. I have 6 great new employees who are working hard and making sure we are ready for back to school. They are all self motivated hard workers I love it.
It makes for such a great day, and hopefully a manageable Rush!
SO EXCITING!!!!
Squandering Weekends
So, I woke up yesterday morning at 6:30am and I was very cranky. I barely slept the night before because I pretty much slept all weekend (great idea at the time not so much on Monday morning). For the past four years I have worked at least two full weekends a month and now I am in a position where I have a majority of weekends off. Now if I were smart I would use these weekends to my advantage, maybe go to a museum, clean my house, read a book, do other things around the house. The problem is I have not been doing these things, instead I sleep until noon (or later) and then I bum around my house, watch some TV and maybe sleep some more.
All of this laziness gets my week off to a bad start on Monday because I can never fall asleep on Sunday night, instead I lay in bed with my mind racing. Then I am exhausted, I want to go to bed all day Monday and when I finally get home I am too tired to do anything but sleep.
Now, with three whole weekends off this month, I have to work on Saturday which means I won't squander this weekend but I need to start finding some reasonably priced things to do starting around 10am on Saturday mornings from now on. Any suggestions?
All of this laziness gets my week off to a bad start on Monday because I can never fall asleep on Sunday night, instead I lay in bed with my mind racing. Then I am exhausted, I want to go to bed all day Monday and when I finally get home I am too tired to do anything but sleep.
Now, with three whole weekends off this month, I have to work on Saturday which means I won't squander this weekend but I need to start finding some reasonably priced things to do starting around 10am on Saturday mornings from now on. Any suggestions?
Note to Self...
when in a meeting, even if it is people in your office, do not look at text messages on your phone! This is a very important rule because sometimes your friends (S) will send you an inappropriate text message (S) and you will giggle or chortle at an inopportune time and the people in the meeting in your office think that you are crazy. They may even ask what is so funny and you can't really answer because the text message is not for sharing. Also, if for some reason you can't resist looking, control your laughter!
I Was A Mess
I am a creature of habit, I always have been and I always will be! I try to live my life by schedules and sometimes even the smallest thing can throw me off of my schedule and wreak havoc during my day. My normal morning schedule revolves around my commute with my new job and I have fallen into certain habits that seem to work for me.
I usually walk out my door and lock the locks, then walk down the stairs, lock the bottom door and drop my keys into the center pouch of my bag. I then put my headphones on and put my gloves on and walk out my front door. I proceed to walk to the train through the Stop and Shop parking lot and arrive at the J. Square T station where I remove my Charlie card from my pocket and walk down to the platform. Once on the platform I put my I-pod and gloves in my bag and remove my book and begin reading. I read from J. Square through my train switch all the way to K. Square. When i get to work I hang my bag on the back of my door with my jacket and put the book I am reading on my desk so I can continue reading during my lunch.
Somehow things went wrong today from the moment I left my house until the moment I returned this evening, and it all stems from me having to bring the garbage down, which means my hands were extra full and I somehow managed to drop my keys into the puddle next to the garbage can. Once I fished them out I made my way towards the road and had to untangle the wires on my headphones and finally got them set up and in my ears and when I got to the S&S parking lot I finally had my gloves on, which was good considering it was snowing. I get to the station and the dropping continues as I proceed to drop my Charlie Card not once but twice and the train is coming so I have to run down the stairs and jump into the closing doors of the packed train. Now, I am all sorts of a mess because I haven't been able to switch to my book and my gloves and Ipod are all dangling from me. I try to do this but on a packed moving train that is swaying back and forth on a Monday morning I am having tons of difficulty. Two stops in I am finally reading my book and I have all of my stuff in the proper location. I seem to have everything under control when I get off the train in K. Square, and I am even early for work!
But just when I thought I had recovered my rhythm, I noticed that I didn't have a book to put on my desk to read during lunch. SHIT! I put it down on the train because somehow I got a signal and my cell phone was vibrating in my bag and I must have forgotten it on the seat next to me. I had to buy another copy of it and now somebody who was judging me for reading, "Getting Stoned with Savages" has a free copy.
It was not a pretty day and I blame the garbage, that was the only difference so it has to be the garbage, it couldn't possibly be me.
I usually walk out my door and lock the locks, then walk down the stairs, lock the bottom door and drop my keys into the center pouch of my bag. I then put my headphones on and put my gloves on and walk out my front door. I proceed to walk to the train through the Stop and Shop parking lot and arrive at the J. Square T station where I remove my Charlie card from my pocket and walk down to the platform. Once on the platform I put my I-pod and gloves in my bag and remove my book and begin reading. I read from J. Square through my train switch all the way to K. Square. When i get to work I hang my bag on the back of my door with my jacket and put the book I am reading on my desk so I can continue reading during my lunch.
Somehow things went wrong today from the moment I left my house until the moment I returned this evening, and it all stems from me having to bring the garbage down, which means my hands were extra full and I somehow managed to drop my keys into the puddle next to the garbage can. Once I fished them out I made my way towards the road and had to untangle the wires on my headphones and finally got them set up and in my ears and when I got to the S&S parking lot I finally had my gloves on, which was good considering it was snowing. I get to the station and the dropping continues as I proceed to drop my Charlie Card not once but twice and the train is coming so I have to run down the stairs and jump into the closing doors of the packed train. Now, I am all sorts of a mess because I haven't been able to switch to my book and my gloves and Ipod are all dangling from me. I try to do this but on a packed moving train that is swaying back and forth on a Monday morning I am having tons of difficulty. Two stops in I am finally reading my book and I have all of my stuff in the proper location. I seem to have everything under control when I get off the train in K. Square, and I am even early for work!
But just when I thought I had recovered my rhythm, I noticed that I didn't have a book to put on my desk to read during lunch. SHIT! I put it down on the train because somehow I got a signal and my cell phone was vibrating in my bag and I must have forgotten it on the seat next to me. I had to buy another copy of it and now somebody who was judging me for reading, "Getting Stoned with Savages" has a free copy.
It was not a pretty day and I blame the garbage, that was the only difference so it has to be the garbage, it couldn't possibly be me.
Pasta, Cream Cheese, Razors, Laundry Detergent
I was supposed to do a lot of things yesterday, like laundry and going grocery shopping, however, it was really cold and the thought of going outside was not really making me very happy. Instead I slept until close to noon and then only partially woke up and sat on my couch watching a variety of television made for lazy people like me on Saturdays. Since I live alone and I had nobody here to tell me to stop being a slob I pretty much wasted an entire day until I got up and went to the gym around five in the afternoon.
Now because I was such a sloth yesterday I had to do all of those things today, and it was not much warmer out so I am not sure if I really won out today or not. I started my day by putting a load of laundry in the washer. For those of you who are not familiar with the washing machine in my condo, if you put one towel and one pair of jeans in it then you are overloading the machine. Each wash takes 35 minutes and if you are drying a pair of jeans or a towel then it take two hours. So I finished on load and put another one in the washer to claim the washer. I then moved on to cleaning out my fridge, which wasn't that hard because I haven't actually gone food shopping in a couple months, so I threw out some Chinese food containers and pizza boxes and took them down and was off to the Stop and Shop.
Now, I hate food shopping! I get so aggravated because I always go and spend over a hundred dollars and return with less than a single coherent meal. I didn't go with a list, but I was determined to make the best use of my money today at the store. Of course I didn't but the supermarket is set up for people like me who have ADD, they know how to make us scatterbrained people buy lots of stuff. I walked up and down all of the aisles and picked up stuff and then put stuff back, i filled my cart and then walked back down the aisles and threw stuff back onto the shelves. As usual I left with some stuff that was necessary, some stuff I will use and other things (well who knows)! The one thing that I did need and purchased today were razor blades for my Gillette Razor the one with all five blades (you know the new shiny model). This purchase almost sent me over the edge right in the store. Do you know that a pack of 4 cartridges costs $15.99? Seriously? And you only get like 3 good shaves out of each blade but you stretch it to five because they cost so much. Where do they get off charging that much money for razors? Ugh, makes me so crazy!
Anyway, at least I have food in the house so I can save some money and eat some stuff I cook. Hmmm, what should I make tonight? Or maybe I'll just order Chinese food!
Now because I was such a sloth yesterday I had to do all of those things today, and it was not much warmer out so I am not sure if I really won out today or not. I started my day by putting a load of laundry in the washer. For those of you who are not familiar with the washing machine in my condo, if you put one towel and one pair of jeans in it then you are overloading the machine. Each wash takes 35 minutes and if you are drying a pair of jeans or a towel then it take two hours. So I finished on load and put another one in the washer to claim the washer. I then moved on to cleaning out my fridge, which wasn't that hard because I haven't actually gone food shopping in a couple months, so I threw out some Chinese food containers and pizza boxes and took them down and was off to the Stop and Shop.
Now, I hate food shopping! I get so aggravated because I always go and spend over a hundred dollars and return with less than a single coherent meal. I didn't go with a list, but I was determined to make the best use of my money today at the store. Of course I didn't but the supermarket is set up for people like me who have ADD, they know how to make us scatterbrained people buy lots of stuff. I walked up and down all of the aisles and picked up stuff and then put stuff back, i filled my cart and then walked back down the aisles and threw stuff back onto the shelves. As usual I left with some stuff that was necessary, some stuff I will use and other things (well who knows)! The one thing that I did need and purchased today were razor blades for my Gillette Razor the one with all five blades (you know the new shiny model). This purchase almost sent me over the edge right in the store. Do you know that a pack of 4 cartridges costs $15.99? Seriously? And you only get like 3 good shaves out of each blade but you stretch it to five because they cost so much. Where do they get off charging that much money for razors? Ugh, makes me so crazy!
Anyway, at least I have food in the house so I can save some money and eat some stuff I cook. Hmmm, what should I make tonight? Or maybe I'll just order Chinese food!
Savages and Cannibals
When I left my house this morning to get on the train it was 7 degrees out. It was really really cold. I had on about five layers but i was still frozen when I go to the train this morning. When I walked back from work this evening the wind was blowing in my face and I am pretty sure that my eyeballs froze.
Anyway, I started reading Getting Stoned With Savages today by J. Maarten Troost, he is also the author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals. He is a travel writer and the book I am reading is not about smoking it is about the time he spent in an island nation in the South Pacific called Vanuata as well as some time he spends in Fiji after his wife gets pregnant. This is a humorous light hearted piece of travel writing but the looks I got on the train today were quite amusing.
Seriously people, just because the title says "getting stoned" doesn't mean that I am a hippie who may light up on the train. I know it is a brightly colored cover and its an interesting title but I don't look at you funny when you are reading crappy romance books. I don't judge the guy reading the Da Vinci Code 10 years after it came out.
I decided that I would read an entertaining book about a culture that is not my own, don't judge me and look at me funny. That is what I am supposed to do to you weirdos!
Anyway, I started reading Getting Stoned With Savages today by J. Maarten Troost, he is also the author of The Sex Lives of Cannibals. He is a travel writer and the book I am reading is not about smoking it is about the time he spent in an island nation in the South Pacific called Vanuata as well as some time he spends in Fiji after his wife gets pregnant. This is a humorous light hearted piece of travel writing but the looks I got on the train today were quite amusing.
Seriously people, just because the title says "getting stoned" doesn't mean that I am a hippie who may light up on the train. I know it is a brightly colored cover and its an interesting title but I don't look at you funny when you are reading crappy romance books. I don't judge the guy reading the Da Vinci Code 10 years after it came out.
I decided that I would read an entertaining book about a culture that is not my own, don't judge me and look at me funny. That is what I am supposed to do to you weirdos!
Not Up to Date
During my busiest time at work I was posting about three times a week, maybe it was because I had more to talk about and needed to vent. Or maybe it was because it was before I went on my 24 marathon. Or maybe it was because I wasn't riding the train everyday. I am not really sure all I do know is that I am always thinking about things I should post but I am never making the time to post them. So here I am at 1:30 in the am thinking about all the things I have thought would be appropriate to post.
1) 24 started this weekend (Sunday and Monday) and it was awesome. I won't spoil it for those of you who live under a rock and haven't seen it. All I can say is that season 6 looks like it is going to be Soooooooooooooooo Good.
2) American Idol started today, I love the auditions they are one of my favorite parts but I do get totally caught up in the whole thing, my whole family does so I accept it as bonding.
3) Riding the train is a very interesting experience, there is this guy on the orange line who rides with a "boom box" blaring music, wears headphones, dances around and sings to the blaring music, and has stuffed animals strapped to his backpack. Apparently he rides the train a lot because I have spoken to others who have spotted him.
4) I have also discovered that the T is like a wild safari, there are all sorts of sightings that you would normally only see in the wild (i guess that's how I can describe it).
5) Friday night I spent 7 (yes 7) hours at CW's with some friends from my old store, it was fun to talk and have a few (a lot) of beers but 7 hours might have been a bit excessive.
6) Saturday I went to the MFA with H and R. We had a great time and then we went to BBW and had fried pickles. For those of you who are reading this and think they are gross, you have no idea what you are missing. YUMMY!
7) Saturday night I also went out and got hit in the face and chipped my tooth, its a long story and no major damage but it makes me mad. No I wasn't even drunk when this occurred, even though the person who hit me in the face was clearly drunk and on something.
8) Why do people walk so slow when it is cold out, I mean really why block the whole side walk lumbering slowly towards your destination when I am freezing and on my way to the train. If you hear me practically running behind you on the street, get the hell out of my way.
9) I have learned to not lift my eyes from my book when I am reading on the train, if i do not obey this rule I end up stuck in a conversation with a 128 year old woman about the purpose of mittens.
10) I must remember to charge my Ipod every night and switch it from my gym bag to my work bag. This is a very difficult task for me.
11) The gym is driving me nuts, I wish people wouldn't make New Year's Resolutions to get back into shape because all they do is get in my way. No you do not loose weight just by going to the gym and sitting on the equipment, you actually have to do something. Oh yeah, and if you want to talk on your cell phone get your fat ass off my elliptical I want to use it to run.
I think this covers a majority of the posts that I was thinking about over the past week. I am going to try to post more often. I know S needs some more reading material, he has moved on to reading K's blog as well. I am going to try to post again in a couple days, I need to get back on a good schedule... maybe!
By the way 24 is on again next Monday, I so can't wait!!!!!!
1) 24 started this weekend (Sunday and Monday) and it was awesome. I won't spoil it for those of you who live under a rock and haven't seen it. All I can say is that season 6 looks like it is going to be Soooooooooooooooo Good.
2) American Idol started today, I love the auditions they are one of my favorite parts but I do get totally caught up in the whole thing, my whole family does so I accept it as bonding.
3) Riding the train is a very interesting experience, there is this guy on the orange line who rides with a "boom box" blaring music, wears headphones, dances around and sings to the blaring music, and has stuffed animals strapped to his backpack. Apparently he rides the train a lot because I have spoken to others who have spotted him.
4) I have also discovered that the T is like a wild safari, there are all sorts of sightings that you would normally only see in the wild (i guess that's how I can describe it).
5) Friday night I spent 7 (yes 7) hours at CW's with some friends from my old store, it was fun to talk and have a few (a lot) of beers but 7 hours might have been a bit excessive.
6) Saturday I went to the MFA with H and R. We had a great time and then we went to BBW and had fried pickles. For those of you who are reading this and think they are gross, you have no idea what you are missing. YUMMY!
7) Saturday night I also went out and got hit in the face and chipped my tooth, its a long story and no major damage but it makes me mad. No I wasn't even drunk when this occurred, even though the person who hit me in the face was clearly drunk and on something.
8) Why do people walk so slow when it is cold out, I mean really why block the whole side walk lumbering slowly towards your destination when I am freezing and on my way to the train. If you hear me practically running behind you on the street, get the hell out of my way.
9) I have learned to not lift my eyes from my book when I am reading on the train, if i do not obey this rule I end up stuck in a conversation with a 128 year old woman about the purpose of mittens.
10) I must remember to charge my Ipod every night and switch it from my gym bag to my work bag. This is a very difficult task for me.
11) The gym is driving me nuts, I wish people wouldn't make New Year's Resolutions to get back into shape because all they do is get in my way. No you do not loose weight just by going to the gym and sitting on the equipment, you actually have to do something. Oh yeah, and if you want to talk on your cell phone get your fat ass off my elliptical I want to use it to run.
I think this covers a majority of the posts that I was thinking about over the past week. I am going to try to post more often. I know S needs some more reading material, he has moved on to reading K's blog as well. I am going to try to post again in a couple days, I need to get back on a good schedule... maybe!
By the way 24 is on again next Monday, I so can't wait!!!!!!
New Things
So I have not posted in a long time because I am trying to get adjusted to my new schedule, it hasn't been that hard and the hours are much better. The hardest thing that I have needed to get used to is riding the train to work every morning and home at night. It is hard to get used to because as I like to put it the "dregs of humanity" tend to ride the train line I have to ride into work. My first morning the T man yelled at me because I didn't know how to use their new technology that to me makes no sense. Apparently you can't put your monthly pass on the plastic card at the station i get on at. Whatever! So, once I get on the train I run into the spitting man, yes he stands at the door and spits on the floor over and over again. I have also run into "talk on your cellphone even though your signal gives out" and a few sleepers. The four train rides are very interesting everyday but at least the commute only takes 30-40 minutes not the 50-60 minutes I expected it to take. I have also gotten much more reading done as well, I can recommend Confessions of an Economic Hit Man- thanks for that recommendation K.
Today started week 2 at the new job and the train ride wasn't that bad- but today I realized the difference between a huge store like my previous store and a normal size store like my current store. This morning we had three people call out and one person "no show/ no call." Now in every store that's a bad day, but in a normal store that is half of your staff for the day. At my old store we would be a little light on staff for the day, today at the new store all the managers were ringing on registers. Today is the day I officially became the bad cop, I don't have a problem being the bad cop but I was hoping to get to know people before I became the bad cop but these people needed to be written up and I was more then willing to do it because these people made my Monday not so much fun.
Let me tell you the new customers at my store are also going to yield some interesting stories, as I get to know them better I will pass them along.
Finally, my company which I have never mentioned by name (and I won't) has instituted a new blogging policy. Technically as a manager I am not supposed to blog (I still will) and if I do blog I must make sure to not use names and not discuss anybody who does not wish to be discussed. I am also not supposed to reveal any information about the company (again I won't do that). And I am also supposed to include the following statement:
The opinions in this blog do not reflect the opinions of (unnamed company)... etc etc etc.
Now I am off to my bookshelf to see what I should read next!
Today started week 2 at the new job and the train ride wasn't that bad- but today I realized the difference between a huge store like my previous store and a normal size store like my current store. This morning we had three people call out and one person "no show/ no call." Now in every store that's a bad day, but in a normal store that is half of your staff for the day. At my old store we would be a little light on staff for the day, today at the new store all the managers were ringing on registers. Today is the day I officially became the bad cop, I don't have a problem being the bad cop but I was hoping to get to know people before I became the bad cop but these people needed to be written up and I was more then willing to do it because these people made my Monday not so much fun.
Let me tell you the new customers at my store are also going to yield some interesting stories, as I get to know them better I will pass them along.
Finally, my company which I have never mentioned by name (and I won't) has instituted a new blogging policy. Technically as a manager I am not supposed to blog (I still will) and if I do blog I must make sure to not use names and not discuss anybody who does not wish to be discussed. I am also not supposed to reveal any information about the company (again I won't do that). And I am also supposed to include the following statement:
The opinions in this blog do not reflect the opinions of (unnamed company)... etc etc etc.
Now I am off to my bookshelf to see what I should read next!
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