So while I was doing some book research the other day for titles that I thought we should sell at my store, or put on tables etc, I came across three books that I am very excited about. They are no huge works of literature but they are fun summer reads from two of my favorite crazy authors and one book from one of my favorite blogs....
On April 29, 2008 Augusten Burroughs new book A Wolf at the Table comes out, you all know Augusten from Running with Scissors and Dry and also his uproariously funny stories in Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects. I love all of his books and I am looking forward to another fun trip with this one.
Another favorite, David Sedaris, has his new book coming out on June 3, the title has changed a couple of times in Bn.com and amazon.com but it is currently listed as Indefinite Leave to Remain. His last collection of stories, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was hilarious and help me deal with my move back to Boston by providing me with a fun escape.
A blogging favorite, the Waiter from Waiterrant.com has his new book coming out on July 29. I hope his book is incredibly successful, I know I look forward to reading this one and hand selling it in my store.
Also, out now, for those of you who are huge fans of Zafon's Shadow of the Wind, a new book by C.J Sansom, Winter in Madrid is supposed to be excellent. I still haven't read it but it is on my list simply because a number of reviewers have compared it to Shadow of the Wind.
Brunch with the Governor
So today we showed up to brunch at Stella, one of our usual Sunday brunch spots, and as we walked in we were told that we picked a good day to stop in for brunch because Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Kerry were holding a fundraiser at the restaurant. It was kinda cool to not only share brunch with friends but with the leading lawmakers in our state.
Okay, well not exactly with them but in the same restaurant.
Okay, well not exactly with them but in the same restaurant.
Heartless?
Three weeks ago I was waiting for the train at Downtown Crossing in Boston, when a woman comes onto the platform and starts telling all of the passengers about how she cant buy a bus ticket because a man who was much larger than her had stolen her backpack and she had a diabetic child at home in New Hampshire and all she needed was 30 dollars. She was stranded and she wanted the nice people of Boston to help her get home. She had gone to the police and Amtrak (clearly a bus company) and nobody offered to replace her ticket. She was wearing pajamas and had makeup running down her face. She plead and plead and a number of other passengers offered her some of the spare change that they had in their pockets. I however, did not make eye contact, I felt bad and this was a sad story but for some reason something just didn't seem right. I had heard the story before and felt bad for them, but had living in the city for 9 years made me heartless? Was it possible that I just didn't care about the people around me. I kept thinking about this poor woman and wondering what had become of her... until yesterday!
Yesterday I was running late for work and the red line was running so insanely slow I was getting frustrated. I was standing on the platform trying to read Blood Meridian which is a gut wrenching book and ignore the people around me. I get to a point where the violence in the chapter is peaking and because the book is so well written my adrenaline is rising as well... all of a sudden I hear an all too familiar voice, "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I NEED YOUR HELP!"
You have got to be fucking kidding me, same station three weeks apart, must have gotten stranded again, damn this bitch has bad luck! Unless it was the same big black man that had stolen her backpack. But this time she was the one that was diabetic all she had was her insulin and she was 3 months pregnant now (but no child). Well first of all if she is three months pregnant she needs to lay off the meth, and second its amazing that the diabetes transferred to her and her child with diabetes has yet to have been born. She begs and pleads, but this time I feel nothing, I just don't care. I keep my head down and keep reading my book as people fork over their hard earned money to this scam artist. When I look up she is right in from of me, and she looks at me and asks if I could spare some cash to get her home.
I look her straight in the eye and say, "Three weeks ago you almost got me to feel bad, but now that you are stranded in Boston again you are either an idiot or a scam artist," and I walk away. A few people start giggling, she doesn't know what to say, and one bold woman asks for her five dollars back!
Now, am I heartless or is it just living in the city?
Yesterday I was running late for work and the red line was running so insanely slow I was getting frustrated. I was standing on the platform trying to read Blood Meridian which is a gut wrenching book and ignore the people around me. I get to a point where the violence in the chapter is peaking and because the book is so well written my adrenaline is rising as well... all of a sudden I hear an all too familiar voice, "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I NEED YOUR HELP!"
You have got to be fucking kidding me, same station three weeks apart, must have gotten stranded again, damn this bitch has bad luck! Unless it was the same big black man that had stolen her backpack. But this time she was the one that was diabetic all she had was her insulin and she was 3 months pregnant now (but no child). Well first of all if she is three months pregnant she needs to lay off the meth, and second its amazing that the diabetes transferred to her and her child with diabetes has yet to have been born. She begs and pleads, but this time I feel nothing, I just don't care. I keep my head down and keep reading my book as people fork over their hard earned money to this scam artist. When I look up she is right in from of me, and she looks at me and asks if I could spare some cash to get her home.
I look her straight in the eye and say, "Three weeks ago you almost got me to feel bad, but now that you are stranded in Boston again you are either an idiot or a scam artist," and I walk away. A few people start giggling, she doesn't know what to say, and one bold woman asks for her five dollars back!
Now, am I heartless or is it just living in the city?
My Big Fat Gay Weekend Part 2
Well this weekend was so big fat and gay that I had to write about it in two separate posts! So I left off mentioning that Raf throws another party at ESTATE on Sundays. Usually, I don't go out on Sunday because as a responsible young manager, it would not make sense to be out until 2:00am when you have to work at 9:00am. But this Sunday was different. At 10:30 I drove to go pick up DJ.R at his house and then swung by to pick up SC. JCH was going to meet us at the club because he was taking the train in.
We got to ESTATE at 11:00 walked in to a pretty crowded night that just got more crowded, apparently they were at capacity a little after midnight and you could tell because you could barely move from one spot to the next, this is always good for Raf, but it sucks for me because I am short and get pushed out of the way. Now in Raf true style the party has to be the best in the city and he always does this with lights, music and shows, and for some additional fun this weekend he made sure that Kira was working the snow machine, so it was "snowing" inside for two hours, a very cool effect with the lights. We hung out had a few beers danced and talked to people. I even met the bartender from Saturday night who was really nice to me and we talked for a bit. Of course we were there until 2:00 in the morning, and had to wait outside in the bitter cold for SC to come out of the club. I was cursing because it was so f-ing cold!
Because it was a holiday weekend, and nobody had school or work on Monday there was no parking on the street, so we had to park at the Radisson hotel, usually its not that big of a deal to get out of there but Sunday night it was a nightmare. We finally got back to the car around 2:20 and it took a while to even be able to back out of my spot on the first floor because the traffic coming out of the garage was bumper to bumper and two cars wide. Once we got out of the spot and were in the queue to pay and leave all hell broke loose as two cars tried to cut people off in a very limited space. I didn't have much room to move out of the way so I just kept moving forward, but this much bigger Lexus kept getting closer to my car until I let him move forward so that I wouldn't get hit. As I did this a large man gets out of the passenger side door, clearly intoxicated and begins hitting the cars around him with his fist. At this point I decide to back off a bit and let him move forward but the traffic is not allowing me to do this. He starts giving people the finger bouncing around and cursing at people. I have not patience and I want to run the ass over but I figure that would not look good on my driving record. My passengers are pissed too and JCH even call to report them as aggressive drivers, and I take a picture of their plate with my camera phone. This turns out to be a good idea because about five minutes later they get to the front of the line right in front of me the passenger jumps in the car and they run through the bar at the booth without paying for parking. I provide the parking attendant with the plate number and tell him that JCH is on the phone reporting them as we speak. We pay and escape the drama and I am off to drop the boys off and then go home to sleep.
Monday is usually a back to work day, and I am normally up by 8:00 and at work by 9:00. However, with the Holiday I didn't have to work but I couldn't sleep in, I agreed to pick up the doctor at the airport in the morning since he was coming back from sunny Florida. Usually when I pick up the doctor from the airport he is late and I have to circle the airport a few times until he lands. This drives me nuts so I decided to cut it close and get there right before he landed, but of course I hit every red light, traffic, and his flight landed early. Once I got there and picked him up I accidentally took the wrong tunnel back into the city! I suck with directions and I do things like this very often! So instead of taking him home we decided that since we were closer to the Trader Joe's in Cambridge we would go wine shopping since he was out of red wine in his apartment. (The doctor and I get together on Tuesdays and watch all sorts of fun reality television and share a bottle of red wine). We bought a case of wine which should last us a good time and headed back to the doctors house. I helped unpack the car and then went to grab some food because I was starving and I had other errands to run before I finally made it to the gym at 5:00 that evening.
I was at the gym from 5:00- 6:45 and then had a friends birthday party to go to at 7:00. I went over to D's house for the party, stayed until 9:30 and then I had to go home because it was time to get ready to rejoin the real world on Tuesday!
Every once in a while it is good to have a crazy weekend and blow off some steam, but man was I exhausted from this weekend. I think I am going to need a vacation to recover!
We got to ESTATE at 11:00 walked in to a pretty crowded night that just got more crowded, apparently they were at capacity a little after midnight and you could tell because you could barely move from one spot to the next, this is always good for Raf, but it sucks for me because I am short and get pushed out of the way. Now in Raf true style the party has to be the best in the city and he always does this with lights, music and shows, and for some additional fun this weekend he made sure that Kira was working the snow machine, so it was "snowing" inside for two hours, a very cool effect with the lights. We hung out had a few beers danced and talked to people. I even met the bartender from Saturday night who was really nice to me and we talked for a bit. Of course we were there until 2:00 in the morning, and had to wait outside in the bitter cold for SC to come out of the club. I was cursing because it was so f-ing cold!
Because it was a holiday weekend, and nobody had school or work on Monday there was no parking on the street, so we had to park at the Radisson hotel, usually its not that big of a deal to get out of there but Sunday night it was a nightmare. We finally got back to the car around 2:20 and it took a while to even be able to back out of my spot on the first floor because the traffic coming out of the garage was bumper to bumper and two cars wide. Once we got out of the spot and were in the queue to pay and leave all hell broke loose as two cars tried to cut people off in a very limited space. I didn't have much room to move out of the way so I just kept moving forward, but this much bigger Lexus kept getting closer to my car until I let him move forward so that I wouldn't get hit. As I did this a large man gets out of the passenger side door, clearly intoxicated and begins hitting the cars around him with his fist. At this point I decide to back off a bit and let him move forward but the traffic is not allowing me to do this. He starts giving people the finger bouncing around and cursing at people. I have not patience and I want to run the ass over but I figure that would not look good on my driving record. My passengers are pissed too and JCH even call to report them as aggressive drivers, and I take a picture of their plate with my camera phone. This turns out to be a good idea because about five minutes later they get to the front of the line right in front of me the passenger jumps in the car and they run through the bar at the booth without paying for parking. I provide the parking attendant with the plate number and tell him that JCH is on the phone reporting them as we speak. We pay and escape the drama and I am off to drop the boys off and then go home to sleep.
Monday is usually a back to work day, and I am normally up by 8:00 and at work by 9:00. However, with the Holiday I didn't have to work but I couldn't sleep in, I agreed to pick up the doctor at the airport in the morning since he was coming back from sunny Florida. Usually when I pick up the doctor from the airport he is late and I have to circle the airport a few times until he lands. This drives me nuts so I decided to cut it close and get there right before he landed, but of course I hit every red light, traffic, and his flight landed early. Once I got there and picked him up I accidentally took the wrong tunnel back into the city! I suck with directions and I do things like this very often! So instead of taking him home we decided that since we were closer to the Trader Joe's in Cambridge we would go wine shopping since he was out of red wine in his apartment. (The doctor and I get together on Tuesdays and watch all sorts of fun reality television and share a bottle of red wine). We bought a case of wine which should last us a good time and headed back to the doctors house. I helped unpack the car and then went to grab some food because I was starving and I had other errands to run before I finally made it to the gym at 5:00 that evening.
I was at the gym from 5:00- 6:45 and then had a friends birthday party to go to at 7:00. I went over to D's house for the party, stayed until 9:30 and then I had to go home because it was time to get ready to rejoin the real world on Tuesday!
Every once in a while it is good to have a crazy weekend and blow off some steam, but man was I exhausted from this weekend. I think I am going to need a vacation to recover!
My Big Fat Gay Weekend
Every once in a while you have a weekend that is out of the ordinary. It may contain things you do every weekend. It may include those regular tasks that need to be completed but there are just so many other things. This weekend was one of those big fat gay weekends in the life of a 27 year old gay man.
Friday night is usually a low key night, lots of the boys go to Machine here in Boston, but I am not a big fan so Friday gives me the opportunity to lay low and relax. This Friday I actually don't remember so much. I didn't do anything that nuts I am pretty sure i went to the gym and then had dinner at D's house, probably watched TV and then came home.
Saturday is always a fun day, generally what you do on Saturday is get ready to go out on Saturday night! That involves the gym, getting your haircut, tanning blah blah all those things that gay men do. So on Saturday I woke up and ran some errands and did some things around the house. I have some work that is going to be started in my house this week so I had to empty my bedroom. I moved all of my furniture and bed out of the way of the contractors and I will be living in my spare rooms and living room for the next ten days. After that I was off to the gym. At the gym I ran for 45 minutes to burn some fat, lifted arms and chest, just so they looked better in the tight t-shirt I was planning on wearing. After the gym I went to have dinner and with a friend and then I was home to nap, shower, and shave. After getting ready I was off to pick up friends (I almost always drive) and I was off to EPIC Saturdays.
EPIC Saturdays take place at the Roxy and my friend Raf is the promoter. EPIC is one big dance party with a new DJ every week and where most of the gays go on Saturday night. I am there most Saturday nights with the boys supporting my friend and having a good time. This weekend wasn't any different, I was there with the boys and we danced and had a great time. Usually after EPIC we all head home for the night and crash. This weekend was not a normal weekend, I am not sure why, maybe it was because the Doctor wasn't around (the sane friend) or because we all wanted to dance some more but as we were walking out the door of EPIC we were handed a pass to go to Rise, we looked at it and decided, well why the hell not.
RISE is an after hours club that is opened until 6:30am. They don't serve alcohol but a lot of people go there to dance after the club is closed. A lot of the people there are using some sort of illegal substance but even for those of us like me and the friends who just drank you can still have a great time. JCH had never been to RISE before so he was very shy and standing up against the wall but SC, DJ R, C1, and myself all went to the middle of the floor with a red bull in one hand, our shirts in the other, and danced our butts off. Because it was a holiday weekend RISE was even packed but it was a great time! We danced until 5am and then I dropped off all the boys and went home. I got home and sat on my couch and was sleeping by 5:30am. I got a few hours of sleep and was up on Sunday morning at 10:30 for gay brunch.
Gay brunch is one of the most important parts of any Big Gay Weekend, it is when you get together with the boys, nurse a hangover, and talk about the night before. It is the bitchiest you will be all weekend as you spill the dirt from Saturday. This week a few of the boys slept through brunch, and since the Doctor was away (and he usually cooks) we went to Stella for brunch. After brunch I went to D's house, ran some errands with him, then came home and napped and watched TV including the Pats game and the Giants game (yeah some gays like football). After that D took some pictures for me. Then it was off to get ready for another one of Raf's nights.
Sunday night Raf hosts the party at ESTATE... this is going to be the end of part one of my big gay weekend because I am far too tired to write the rest of this post! That is one of the side effects of being out all night!
Friday night is usually a low key night, lots of the boys go to Machine here in Boston, but I am not a big fan so Friday gives me the opportunity to lay low and relax. This Friday I actually don't remember so much. I didn't do anything that nuts I am pretty sure i went to the gym and then had dinner at D's house, probably watched TV and then came home.
Saturday is always a fun day, generally what you do on Saturday is get ready to go out on Saturday night! That involves the gym, getting your haircut, tanning blah blah all those things that gay men do. So on Saturday I woke up and ran some errands and did some things around the house. I have some work that is going to be started in my house this week so I had to empty my bedroom. I moved all of my furniture and bed out of the way of the contractors and I will be living in my spare rooms and living room for the next ten days. After that I was off to the gym. At the gym I ran for 45 minutes to burn some fat, lifted arms and chest, just so they looked better in the tight t-shirt I was planning on wearing. After the gym I went to have dinner and with a friend and then I was home to nap, shower, and shave. After getting ready I was off to pick up friends (I almost always drive) and I was off to EPIC Saturdays.
EPIC Saturdays take place at the Roxy and my friend Raf is the promoter. EPIC is one big dance party with a new DJ every week and where most of the gays go on Saturday night. I am there most Saturday nights with the boys supporting my friend and having a good time. This weekend wasn't any different, I was there with the boys and we danced and had a great time. Usually after EPIC we all head home for the night and crash. This weekend was not a normal weekend, I am not sure why, maybe it was because the Doctor wasn't around (the sane friend) or because we all wanted to dance some more but as we were walking out the door of EPIC we were handed a pass to go to Rise, we looked at it and decided, well why the hell not.
RISE is an after hours club that is opened until 6:30am. They don't serve alcohol but a lot of people go there to dance after the club is closed. A lot of the people there are using some sort of illegal substance but even for those of us like me and the friends who just drank you can still have a great time. JCH had never been to RISE before so he was very shy and standing up against the wall but SC, DJ R, C1, and myself all went to the middle of the floor with a red bull in one hand, our shirts in the other, and danced our butts off. Because it was a holiday weekend RISE was even packed but it was a great time! We danced until 5am and then I dropped off all the boys and went home. I got home and sat on my couch and was sleeping by 5:30am. I got a few hours of sleep and was up on Sunday morning at 10:30 for gay brunch.
Gay brunch is one of the most important parts of any Big Gay Weekend, it is when you get together with the boys, nurse a hangover, and talk about the night before. It is the bitchiest you will be all weekend as you spill the dirt from Saturday. This week a few of the boys slept through brunch, and since the Doctor was away (and he usually cooks) we went to Stella for brunch. After brunch I went to D's house, ran some errands with him, then came home and napped and watched TV including the Pats game and the Giants game (yeah some gays like football). After that D took some pictures for me. Then it was off to get ready for another one of Raf's nights.
Sunday night Raf hosts the party at ESTATE... this is going to be the end of part one of my big gay weekend because I am far too tired to write the rest of this post! That is one of the side effects of being out all night!
I Think My Cat Has A Problem
I think that my cat has a problem. She keeps trying to drink my wine.
It is different if she is curious and tries to stick her nose in it once, but she keeps coming back to the glass and trying to lap it up like it is milk. I think I may have to enroll her in ACA (Alcoholic Cats Anonymous).
Bad Tipsy (err wait I guess her name is appropriate again)!
It is different if she is curious and tries to stick her nose in it once, but she keeps coming back to the glass and trying to lap it up like it is milk. I think I may have to enroll her in ACA (Alcoholic Cats Anonymous).
Bad Tipsy (err wait I guess her name is appropriate again)!
Monsoon
I woke up extra early this morning because we had to do a system upgrade at the store, which means I had to run the store open before I dialed into a conference call at 8:25 (yes 8:25 I have no idea why not 8:30). So, I woke up hopped in a shower, and ironed my clothing while watching the news. The weather on the news kept calling for heavy downpours this morning as a front moved in. Once I finished ironing I went to my bedroom window, opened the blinds and looked out. The pavement was wet but it wasn't more than drizzling out at the moment. I finished getting dressed, brushing my teeth, feeding the cats and then gathered my stuff to leave. I made sure I had an umbrella and a plastic bag to put it in after it was used. I zipped up my jacket stepped outside my door, looked up at the skylight when a bolt of lightening streaks across the sky, and immediately following the clouds upon up releasing a torrential downpour.
I walk down the stairs to the front of the building and try to figure out how I am going to make the ten minute walk to the train, and even though I woke up early I am still feeling the time crunch. First thing I do is transfer all of the contents in my pockets into my bag and place the plastic bag over all of my stuff in my bag, I press the release button on my umbrella and it pops open, I step out into the driving rain and begin walking in the direction of the train. Nobody is on the road or sidewalk, I am the lone fool out in this mess. My feet are getting soaked and the wind is blowing the umbrella in every direction. I am so glad that my mother bought me a waterproof winter jacket this Christmas but unfortunately it did not come with waterproof work pants and shoes.
The lightening is flashing around me and the thunder booms and the only two things I can think of as I try to stay remotely dry is that 1) I am going to be stuck by lightening and the upgrade won't be completed and my boss will be pissed and 2) It's January right, in the year I have been working at my new store I have never faced a thunderstorm either on my to or from the train station and now in January this is happening. I have now made it three quarters of the way to the station and I look down and notice that not only are my feet soaked, but my pants are dripping water from my knee downward. I decide to cut my losses and run the rest of the way in my dress shoes and sopping wet wool pants as I am being buffeted by the wind and my umbrella is trying to take flight. I realize that if there was anybody else on the street they would point and laugh at me. However, all the sane, non-retail working people are indoors and protected from this weather.
I finally make it to the T stop and luckily the train is right there. I am soaked and have hair product dripping into my eyes. The few people on the train all look like drowned rats, and we are all cursing this damn New England weather, I am sure it is going to snow tomorrow!
I walk down the stairs to the front of the building and try to figure out how I am going to make the ten minute walk to the train, and even though I woke up early I am still feeling the time crunch. First thing I do is transfer all of the contents in my pockets into my bag and place the plastic bag over all of my stuff in my bag, I press the release button on my umbrella and it pops open, I step out into the driving rain and begin walking in the direction of the train. Nobody is on the road or sidewalk, I am the lone fool out in this mess. My feet are getting soaked and the wind is blowing the umbrella in every direction. I am so glad that my mother bought me a waterproof winter jacket this Christmas but unfortunately it did not come with waterproof work pants and shoes.
The lightening is flashing around me and the thunder booms and the only two things I can think of as I try to stay remotely dry is that 1) I am going to be stuck by lightening and the upgrade won't be completed and my boss will be pissed and 2) It's January right, in the year I have been working at my new store I have never faced a thunderstorm either on my to or from the train station and now in January this is happening. I have now made it three quarters of the way to the station and I look down and notice that not only are my feet soaked, but my pants are dripping water from my knee downward. I decide to cut my losses and run the rest of the way in my dress shoes and sopping wet wool pants as I am being buffeted by the wind and my umbrella is trying to take flight. I realize that if there was anybody else on the street they would point and laugh at me. However, all the sane, non-retail working people are indoors and protected from this weather.
I finally make it to the T stop and luckily the train is right there. I am soaked and have hair product dripping into my eyes. The few people on the train all look like drowned rats, and we are all cursing this damn New England weather, I am sure it is going to snow tomorrow!
Where Have I Been
Once again, I went MIA for a couple weeks. The way the Holidays fell this year was very odd for the retail minded folk like myself and the weeks came and went and before I knew it I was writing week ending 1/05/08 on a sales email today. Which triggered the "Holy Crap its actually 2008!
Considering how snowy the Holiday season was this year we ended up making out OK in the sales department, no not great, but it really could have been worse. I also had Christmas Eve off this year for the first time in close to six years. So, my last Friday of work I awoke early and wrangled the cats into their carriers and brought them to work with me. Everybody always loves when there are animals (or small children) in a place of employment because that is pretty much a guarantee that the owner of these animals will let you goof off with them longer then normal. This was the case as each and every one of my employees wanted to come in and bother my cats. Bob loved it because he is an attention whore, Tipsy hid most of the day in my filing cabinet. Unfortunately I could not get her to sit appropriately in the C folder or the T folder!
While home for the Holidays we baked cookies got together for numerous dinners exchanged gifts, some played guitar hero (I did not) and had a great time. I even got to go to the bar with a few friends who live in NY. It was good to be home with the family, and I was disappointed that my trip had to be so short. As a matter of fact, I ended up leaving on Christmas day around 9 at night so that I could be back to open the store on the 26. This began my utter confusion on what day was what and where I was supposed to be.
I worked the 26- 29, I was off on the 30, worked on the 31 until 4, off on the 1st, worked on the 2- 4 and off on the 5, but on the 3rd I had a water pipe break in the basement so I ended up not coming in until 1:00pm. It was a very confusing schedule especially since half the managers were off on some of these days and the employees were in and out.
I didn't do anything major for New Years (mainly because I hate the holiday) and also because I was home in Boston and worked on New Years Eve. I ended up hanging out at G&S's house with some other friends and drinking wine and champagne until all hours of the morning until it began to snow. It was actually a nice relaxed and low key New Years and no surprising news the day after like last year (H told me she was pregnant as I was driving back from RI).
It was back to work on Wednesday for three days and then off this weekend. I was planning on blogging this weekend but on Saturday night after the gym I got really sick. I think I ate something that disagreed with my stomach because it all came and went very fast, but I was laid up incapacitated for several hours that night.
And now it is Monday evening, I am trying to get back into a normal schedule. My goal is to get to the gym five days a week, so far I have been successful with that at least at the end of last week. I also want to be in bed and sleeping by 12:30 at least three nights a week. I know that sounds late to people but I am rarely in bed before 2am and it has been getting later and it has been affecting my performance. I have not however, been successful at changing my sleep pattern, at least not yet.
Other things:
1) Finished The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
2) Spent three hours with the contractor designing my new closet
3) Another long brunch on Sunday
4) Changed some things on the blog
5) Survived Buyback
6) Rush is right around the corner
7) Survived the cold days last week- although my eyeballs froze
8) Didn't kill all the amateurs at the gym on cell phones
8) Have returned to blogging
Hope everybody has a safe and happy 2008, and many more!
Considering how snowy the Holiday season was this year we ended up making out OK in the sales department, no not great, but it really could have been worse. I also had Christmas Eve off this year for the first time in close to six years. So, my last Friday of work I awoke early and wrangled the cats into their carriers and brought them to work with me. Everybody always loves when there are animals (or small children) in a place of employment because that is pretty much a guarantee that the owner of these animals will let you goof off with them longer then normal. This was the case as each and every one of my employees wanted to come in and bother my cats. Bob loved it because he is an attention whore, Tipsy hid most of the day in my filing cabinet. Unfortunately I could not get her to sit appropriately in the C folder or the T folder!
While home for the Holidays we baked cookies got together for numerous dinners exchanged gifts, some played guitar hero (I did not) and had a great time. I even got to go to the bar with a few friends who live in NY. It was good to be home with the family, and I was disappointed that my trip had to be so short. As a matter of fact, I ended up leaving on Christmas day around 9 at night so that I could be back to open the store on the 26. This began my utter confusion on what day was what and where I was supposed to be.
I worked the 26- 29, I was off on the 30, worked on the 31 until 4, off on the 1st, worked on the 2- 4 and off on the 5, but on the 3rd I had a water pipe break in the basement so I ended up not coming in until 1:00pm. It was a very confusing schedule especially since half the managers were off on some of these days and the employees were in and out.
I didn't do anything major for New Years (mainly because I hate the holiday) and also because I was home in Boston and worked on New Years Eve. I ended up hanging out at G&S's house with some other friends and drinking wine and champagne until all hours of the morning until it began to snow. It was actually a nice relaxed and low key New Years and no surprising news the day after like last year (H told me she was pregnant as I was driving back from RI).
It was back to work on Wednesday for three days and then off this weekend. I was planning on blogging this weekend but on Saturday night after the gym I got really sick. I think I ate something that disagreed with my stomach because it all came and went very fast, but I was laid up incapacitated for several hours that night.
And now it is Monday evening, I am trying to get back into a normal schedule. My goal is to get to the gym five days a week, so far I have been successful with that at least at the end of last week. I also want to be in bed and sleeping by 12:30 at least three nights a week. I know that sounds late to people but I am rarely in bed before 2am and it has been getting later and it has been affecting my performance. I have not however, been successful at changing my sleep pattern, at least not yet.
Other things:
1) Finished The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
2) Spent three hours with the contractor designing my new closet
3) Another long brunch on Sunday
4) Changed some things on the blog
5) Survived Buyback
6) Rush is right around the corner
7) Survived the cold days last week- although my eyeballs froze
8) Didn't kill all the amateurs at the gym on cell phones
8) Have returned to blogging
Hope everybody has a safe and happy 2008, and many more!
Reading All Over
On the bottom of the column on the left hand side of the page is a map of the world (a ClustrMap) and it shows me where people are reading my blog and you all can see it as well.
I think it is really cool that people all over the world are reading my blog, not only all over the US but in Canada and way up in Alaska, all over Europe including Portugal, England, France (hi Sarah) and in Japan and a bunch in Australia! I even get excited when a dot pops up in an area where one has not previously been!
So since I think it is so cool I just figured I would say hello to all of you all over the world and please feel free to say hello to me as well in the comments section!
I think it is really cool that people all over the world are reading my blog, not only all over the US but in Canada and way up in Alaska, all over Europe including Portugal, England, France (hi Sarah) and in Japan and a bunch in Australia! I even get excited when a dot pops up in an area where one has not previously been!
So since I think it is so cool I just figured I would say hello to all of you all over the world and please feel free to say hello to me as well in the comments section!
On Global Warming
Just a quick note, I now officially throw my support behind the candidate that SUPPORTS global warming, because quite honestly three snow storms in a seven day period and way below normal temperatures are not enjoyable. I think that global warming sounds like a great idea, at least in New England.
On Not Judging A Book By Its Cover
In the book business it is easy to forget the old adage our mothers told us, "Don't judge a book by it's cover." After all if people didn't judge books by there covers then Chip Kidd wouldn't have a job. (Chip Kidd is one of the most famous book cover designers and graphic artists in the book business). In the bookstore business we put out books that catch peoples attention, not only by the content but also by the cover. A bad cover can mean that a book doesn't get prominently displayed, if a book does poorly in hardcover, be sure that the cover will be reinvented in the paperback edition. I can tell you that in the bookstore business we are even a little bit stuck up when it comes to covers, because we always- ALWAYS hate the MTI (movie tie in) cover, it is always cheesy looking I promise you.
Now this little rant brings me to the point of this post, the second book post in a row which is very odd for me. I just finished (yes in one day) reading The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a book written by and about the 53 year old editor of french Elle, who suffers a stroke and is stuck in a locked in state. He is not in a coma and is aware of his surroundings but he is completely paralyzed, his only mode of communication with the outside world is done by blinking his left eye. And while in this state he wrote a book! This is an uplifting story about a man who refused to die, even though his body was essentially dead.. It is a very short book but it is well written and moving.
Now how does these two connect? When I picked up the book out of the biography section at my store, the only edition we had available was the MTI cover, it looked cheesy! As a matter of fact there is a young girl on the cover who I later learned really has no role in the book. I almost immediately put the book down and moved on to L's next suggestion. I am not sure what pushed me to give the book a second chance, but I flipped it over and read the back cover and I decided that it could make the first cut. The book seemed like it could be interesting, but how could a good book have such a crappy cover, then again Atonement is really good, and it has an awful MTI cover now. The book finally made it through all the cuts based on the story and not on the cover, and after finishing Kavalier and Clay I was looking for a short piece of non-fiction to read this week, and it was the one I picked up. I have to say I was a bit embarrassed reading it on the train (cheesy cover again) but I am glad that I read it. It definitely was an interesting and uplifting book.
See, mom was right, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover... however, if I were to ever put this book out on a table, it would be with the regular cover not the MTI one!
Now this little rant brings me to the point of this post, the second book post in a row which is very odd for me. I just finished (yes in one day) reading The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a book written by and about the 53 year old editor of french Elle, who suffers a stroke and is stuck in a locked in state. He is not in a coma and is aware of his surroundings but he is completely paralyzed, his only mode of communication with the outside world is done by blinking his left eye. And while in this state he wrote a book! This is an uplifting story about a man who refused to die, even though his body was essentially dead.. It is a very short book but it is well written and moving.
Now how does these two connect? When I picked up the book out of the biography section at my store, the only edition we had available was the MTI cover, it looked cheesy! As a matter of fact there is a young girl on the cover who I later learned really has no role in the book. I almost immediately put the book down and moved on to L's next suggestion. I am not sure what pushed me to give the book a second chance, but I flipped it over and read the back cover and I decided that it could make the first cut. The book seemed like it could be interesting, but how could a good book have such a crappy cover, then again Atonement is really good, and it has an awful MTI cover now. The book finally made it through all the cuts based on the story and not on the cover, and after finishing Kavalier and Clay I was looking for a short piece of non-fiction to read this week, and it was the one I picked up. I have to say I was a bit embarrassed reading it on the train (cheesy cover again) but I am glad that I read it. It definitely was an interesting and uplifting book.
See, mom was right, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover... however, if I were to ever put this book out on a table, it would be with the regular cover not the MTI one!
So Worth It
I finally finished the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay... yes it took me a little over a month to finish it, but it is 650 pages long. It is one of those books that people either love or they hate, and I loved it. There was so much more than the comics in this book.
This is possibly one of the most intriguing books I have ever read, who would have thought a book involving comic books would be so interesting! (I guess L, who recommended it to me knew though) Joe Kavalier is a fascinating character, who is not able to see all that he has, and Sam Clay longs for the time when he can be accepted for who he is. The reader follows the ups and downs in their lives not knowing what to expect thanks to Chabon's vivid imagination. I was entranced with his writing and words, and enthralled with his clever imagination. There are many touching and poignant scenes and phrases that I feel I can see when I close my eyes. All in all, one of my most satisfying reads. It ranks up there with my long term favorite Shadow of the Wind, mainly because the characters are so real, and after 650 pages you are still wanting more!
It was definitely worth the time I put in, and a great way to spend a snowy Boston day (after I shoveled out my car)!
This is possibly one of the most intriguing books I have ever read, who would have thought a book involving comic books would be so interesting! (I guess L, who recommended it to me knew though) Joe Kavalier is a fascinating character, who is not able to see all that he has, and Sam Clay longs for the time when he can be accepted for who he is. The reader follows the ups and downs in their lives not knowing what to expect thanks to Chabon's vivid imagination. I was entranced with his writing and words, and enthralled with his clever imagination. There are many touching and poignant scenes and phrases that I feel I can see when I close my eyes. All in all, one of my most satisfying reads. It ranks up there with my long term favorite Shadow of the Wind, mainly because the characters are so real, and after 650 pages you are still wanting more!
It was definitely worth the time I put in, and a great way to spend a snowy Boston day (after I shoveled out my car)!
Snow = Death to Sales
Ten years ago if you got a one day snow storm and everybody around you closed, it was OK because people still had to go to the stores and shop at some point. Now, when it snows and people get sent home from work and can't go shopping you will not recover those sales. Why? Well, because of the Internet. All of these people that still need to do their Christmas shopping will have the chance to shop online without the silly interruption of the workday. All they need to do is pop onto a website, pick out gifts for their loved ones, enter some credit card information and bam... Christmas shopping is complete!
Needless to say, I am slightly panicked~ it is obviously the Christmas season, and everything around me is closing at 2:00pm, it is snowing heavily and while we have some customers now, I am going to lose about half of my sales for the day, and I have no ability to regain these sales. I am pretty much screwed, up shits creek without a paddle and all of that.
I hate snow, a little flurry during the Holiday season puts shoppers in the mood, it reminds customers that Christmas is around the corner, but a major snow storm is not what we need to drive people into the store.
Snow definitely does equal death to strong holiday sales! Damn!
Needless to say, I am slightly panicked~ it is obviously the Christmas season, and everything around me is closing at 2:00pm, it is snowing heavily and while we have some customers now, I am going to lose about half of my sales for the day, and I have no ability to regain these sales. I am pretty much screwed, up shits creek without a paddle and all of that.
I hate snow, a little flurry during the Holiday season puts shoppers in the mood, it reminds customers that Christmas is around the corner, but a major snow storm is not what we need to drive people into the store.
Snow definitely does equal death to strong holiday sales! Damn!
When Worlds Collide
Yesterday I had to mail some additional Christmas Cards that I hadn't sent with my first batch. I was in a rush because I wanted to get them out so people would actually have them before the Holiday, plus I was on my short lunch break and I wanted to have time to eat.
I left the store at like 2:00 and was waiting in line at the Post Office by 2:05 and I only had to wait for about 10 minutes to get to the front of the line, get my stamps, and drop the cards in the mail. I was actually in a pretty good mood, something that is rare this time of year and I walked next door to the ABP. I was gently ladling my Tomato Bisque into a cup when I heard the whiny grating voice of the "Snapple Lady."
The "Snapple Lady" is a clearly disturbed woman, who shops at my store on a fairly regular basis. She is one of the few crazy customers that I simply can't tolerate. I generally duck and run for cover when she appears because she is just that annoying. She always buys approximately four Snapples and then needs to put them in her bag. But our counter is never big enough for her to place her multiple bags on the counter and maneuver the four bottles of Snapple in there. She always complains (once again in her whiny strained voice) that we need to build bigger counters because we are discriminating against women. Other whiny complaints also include needing wider aisles because we are discriminating against fat people and that our escalators move to fast.
But back to the worlds colliding... so when I hear "Snapple Lady's" voice I abruptly drop the ladle into the soup, splashing it all over the counter and try to plan my escape without her seeing me. Unfortunately, the sound of the dropping ladle has caught her attention and I am spotted, I decide to pretend not to notice her as she harasses the poor cashier. I finish getting my soup and bread bowl and gently walk towards the line. It appears that "Snapple Lady" can't find her card anywhere in one of her bags... this is apparently a new bag, and the counters at ABP are too small for her to find anything. She continues to whine and curse and sputter looking for her card for at least five minutes where I seem to go undetected. As I slowly sneak up to the cash register directly behind where she is throwing her fit she notices who I am and exclaims... "YOU ARE THAT GUY AT THAT STORE, YOU ARE BAD PEOPLE."
The cashier looks at me with that level of understanding that is only possible when you work with the public. She finally find her card, mutters more to herself and then finally leaves. I pay for my soup, put myself together and head out the door. On my way out I say to the poor cashier who had to handle "Snapple Lady."
"She is one of my favorites"
She replies, "Yeah, no kidding she is one in a million."
It is weird when your work life collides with your non-working life, but I guess it is part of the deal, and it does make me feel better knowing that I am not the only person that "Snapple Lady" drives crazy!
I left the store at like 2:00 and was waiting in line at the Post Office by 2:05 and I only had to wait for about 10 minutes to get to the front of the line, get my stamps, and drop the cards in the mail. I was actually in a pretty good mood, something that is rare this time of year and I walked next door to the ABP. I was gently ladling my Tomato Bisque into a cup when I heard the whiny grating voice of the "Snapple Lady."
The "Snapple Lady" is a clearly disturbed woman, who shops at my store on a fairly regular basis. She is one of the few crazy customers that I simply can't tolerate. I generally duck and run for cover when she appears because she is just that annoying. She always buys approximately four Snapples and then needs to put them in her bag. But our counter is never big enough for her to place her multiple bags on the counter and maneuver the four bottles of Snapple in there. She always complains (once again in her whiny strained voice) that we need to build bigger counters because we are discriminating against women. Other whiny complaints also include needing wider aisles because we are discriminating against fat people and that our escalators move to fast.
But back to the worlds colliding... so when I hear "Snapple Lady's" voice I abruptly drop the ladle into the soup, splashing it all over the counter and try to plan my escape without her seeing me. Unfortunately, the sound of the dropping ladle has caught her attention and I am spotted, I decide to pretend not to notice her as she harasses the poor cashier. I finish getting my soup and bread bowl and gently walk towards the line. It appears that "Snapple Lady" can't find her card anywhere in one of her bags... this is apparently a new bag, and the counters at ABP are too small for her to find anything. She continues to whine and curse and sputter looking for her card for at least five minutes where I seem to go undetected. As I slowly sneak up to the cash register directly behind where she is throwing her fit she notices who I am and exclaims... "YOU ARE THAT GUY AT THAT STORE, YOU ARE BAD PEOPLE."
The cashier looks at me with that level of understanding that is only possible when you work with the public. She finally find her card, mutters more to herself and then finally leaves. I pay for my soup, put myself together and head out the door. On my way out I say to the poor cashier who had to handle "Snapple Lady."
"She is one of my favorites"
She replies, "Yeah, no kidding she is one in a million."
It is weird when your work life collides with your non-working life, but I guess it is part of the deal, and it does make me feel better knowing that I am not the only person that "Snapple Lady" drives crazy!
Not So Lucky Strike
I hate bad service, it makes me crazy when I get bad service, when I see people getting bad service or most of all when any of my employees deliver bad service. Therefore, when I was bowling on Thursday with H and a few other people from another store (as in 14 people total) and had to deal bitchy attendants and waitstaff I was not at all amused.
I actually told this story at my pre-opening meeting on Friday because it shows that when you deliver bad service it is very quick to spread and can negatively impact your business. As the old retail adage goes, an unhappy customer always tells 10 people about a negative experience, but they never tell people about a positive one. I would have never told my employees about a night out bowling if I had a good time and received good service.
Anyway, back to the story! On Thursday night I went out with H to go bowling at a place on Landsdowne called Lucky Strike (part of Jillians). We had been there a few times before and received decent service and had a good time. H and the other12 people got there a bit before me because I was closing my store and didn't get there until 7. Once I got there and found them they told me to go downstairs and add myself to lane 22. I went downstairs and waited in line to add myself and when I got to the front and mentioned this to the woman she grunted at me and told me that we all better hurry up because she had a party coming in at 8:30 and we needed to be done by then. I was kind of taken aback by her bluntness but figured maybe she was having a bad day, and she was very busy. As I was leaving I asked her where I could get my ever so stylish bowling shoes and she rolled her eyes and pointed upstairs. I got my shoes and went back and joined the party. It was my turn to bowl already since everybody was hurrying to get through the games (after all there was a party coming in at 8:30).
Things were going well, until it was time to order food from the ditsy waitress, who could not keep things straight and brought us more of some things and none of others. Then when we asked for our food tab we were all charged for items we did not receive. It took 20 minutes for all of us to settle up.
And while we were settling up the bitch from downstairs arrived. She wanted to tell us that we only had 20 minutes left until the other party arrived so we would need to hurry up or she would have to kick us off of the lane. I look up at her and tell her that we are well aware of this fact because she told us 6 times each, another woman chimed in and said, "plus we only have two frames remaining."
At 8:20, the lanes are turned off, we have not finished bowling because of all the drama with the tabs and we were told that we had until 8:30, I was quite upset because we have been respectful of this places wishes even though they have negatively impacted us and we have not been treated with respect. I go to take my shoes of and return them as I am not ever planning on returning to this establishment again, and another associate from the other store goes down to figure out what was going on. It appears that the woman felt we were going to take to long so she shut down the lanes. I didn't have the energy to go down there and argue with her and get our $140 bucks back (10 a piece) so I just decided to tell everybody I know that they shouldn't ever go to Lucky Strike!
By the way, I am an awful bowler I came in 13th out of 14.
I actually told this story at my pre-opening meeting on Friday because it shows that when you deliver bad service it is very quick to spread and can negatively impact your business. As the old retail adage goes, an unhappy customer always tells 10 people about a negative experience, but they never tell people about a positive one. I would have never told my employees about a night out bowling if I had a good time and received good service.
Anyway, back to the story! On Thursday night I went out with H to go bowling at a place on Landsdowne called Lucky Strike (part of Jillians). We had been there a few times before and received decent service and had a good time. H and the other12 people got there a bit before me because I was closing my store and didn't get there until 7. Once I got there and found them they told me to go downstairs and add myself to lane 22. I went downstairs and waited in line to add myself and when I got to the front and mentioned this to the woman she grunted at me and told me that we all better hurry up because she had a party coming in at 8:30 and we needed to be done by then. I was kind of taken aback by her bluntness but figured maybe she was having a bad day, and she was very busy. As I was leaving I asked her where I could get my ever so stylish bowling shoes and she rolled her eyes and pointed upstairs. I got my shoes and went back and joined the party. It was my turn to bowl already since everybody was hurrying to get through the games (after all there was a party coming in at 8:30).
Things were going well, until it was time to order food from the ditsy waitress, who could not keep things straight and brought us more of some things and none of others. Then when we asked for our food tab we were all charged for items we did not receive. It took 20 minutes for all of us to settle up.
And while we were settling up the bitch from downstairs arrived. She wanted to tell us that we only had 20 minutes left until the other party arrived so we would need to hurry up or she would have to kick us off of the lane. I look up at her and tell her that we are well aware of this fact because she told us 6 times each, another woman chimed in and said, "plus we only have two frames remaining."
At 8:20, the lanes are turned off, we have not finished bowling because of all the drama with the tabs and we were told that we had until 8:30, I was quite upset because we have been respectful of this places wishes even though they have negatively impacted us and we have not been treated with respect. I go to take my shoes of and return them as I am not ever planning on returning to this establishment again, and another associate from the other store goes down to figure out what was going on. It appears that the woman felt we were going to take to long so she shut down the lanes. I didn't have the energy to go down there and argue with her and get our $140 bucks back (10 a piece) so I just decided to tell everybody I know that they shouldn't ever go to Lucky Strike!
By the way, I am an awful bowler I came in 13th out of 14.
Launch Codes??
After killing three of the same style phones in a six month period (I have no idea how) I got a new phone this week. Well, not exactly a phone, I got the new Verizon Wireless Blackberry Pearl. This means that in the palm of my hands I can access the Internet, check my emails, make a phone call, type in the address I am going to and get directions, send a text message, access instant messenger and a number of other things I have yet to figure out.
I love that my email pops up as soon as I receive it, I love that I was lost last night and all I had to do was pull over and type in the address and I got a map and turn by turn directions. I am constantly in touch, and it is not much bigger than my previous phone. I love technology and I think it is the greatest thing that I can do all of these cool things on my little device. My problem is that no matter how much I love technology, I am not very good when it comes to using it. Even the simplest things on my old phone can confuse me on my new phone (called S's wrong number the other night). And while I am getting better and learning how to use all of the features I am afraid that while I am learning I will accidentally type in the nuclear launch codes and start WWIII... if this happens I am very sorry!
I love that my email pops up as soon as I receive it, I love that I was lost last night and all I had to do was pull over and type in the address and I got a map and turn by turn directions. I am constantly in touch, and it is not much bigger than my previous phone. I love technology and I think it is the greatest thing that I can do all of these cool things on my little device. My problem is that no matter how much I love technology, I am not very good when it comes to using it. Even the simplest things on my old phone can confuse me on my new phone (called S's wrong number the other night). And while I am getting better and learning how to use all of the features I am afraid that while I am learning I will accidentally type in the nuclear launch codes and start WWIII... if this happens I am very sorry!
It's That Time Again
Every six months we get an extra discount on books at my store. Usually once during the summer and once during the Holiday season. This year because Hanukkah falls early, the extra discount is slightly earlier. As usual, I bought a bunch of books for myself, because I need to treat myself to books for Christmas because nobody in their right mind would buy me them.
As usual I consulted Lisa on the books that I should purchase, and with a little of my own input I purchased 13 books for $100.40 (I saved 82.19)! I got some fiction and some non-fiction, some classics and some new stuff, of course some travel writing and biographies, and even a title that is technically teen fiction but has won tons of awards and is supposed to be excellent. So here is the list of some of the books I bought...
Fiction
Book Thief (teen fiction one)
Death in the Andes
Unbearable Lightness of Being
If You Liked School You'll Love Work
White Noise
Non-Fiction
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky
Heat
Into the Wild
Looming Tower
A Year in the Merde
Notes from a Small Island
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
I know I went a little heavy on the non-fiction this time when I usually try to keep it even, but there were so many books that I wanted to read that I had to hold off somewhere. If I allowed myself unlimited books I would have been poor (er) and very sad.
Ah, and an update on my progress in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay... I am 400 pages in and I am enjoying it, it has been slow going with the Holiday and stuff but I only have 223 pages left and I am definitely going to finish it. I will even have a sense of accomplishment when it is done. And just in case you were wondering, I am really enjoying it.
As usual I consulted Lisa on the books that I should purchase, and with a little of my own input I purchased 13 books for $100.40 (I saved 82.19)! I got some fiction and some non-fiction, some classics and some new stuff, of course some travel writing and biographies, and even a title that is technically teen fiction but has won tons of awards and is supposed to be excellent. So here is the list of some of the books I bought...
Fiction
Book Thief (teen fiction one)
Death in the Andes
Unbearable Lightness of Being
If You Liked School You'll Love Work
White Noise
Non-Fiction
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky
Heat
Into the Wild
Looming Tower
A Year in the Merde
Notes from a Small Island
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
I know I went a little heavy on the non-fiction this time when I usually try to keep it even, but there were so many books that I wanted to read that I had to hold off somewhere. If I allowed myself unlimited books I would have been poor (er) and very sad.
Ah, and an update on my progress in The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay... I am 400 pages in and I am enjoying it, it has been slow going with the Holiday and stuff but I only have 223 pages left and I am definitely going to finish it. I will even have a sense of accomplishment when it is done. And just in case you were wondering, I am really enjoying it.
Tis The Season for "Hey Santa"
The Holidays are here in full force in the retail world which means that it is time for the stores to have all of the holiday displays and decorations up. I have already even done some of my Christmas shopping. As hard as the Holidays can be in retail I also love this time of year, the influx of customers and overall Holiday cheer is great to see. I love making book recommendations and assisting customers purchase presents for loved ones.
One of the ways to put customers in the happy Holiday spirit is through playing Holiday music in the store. After a while the same five Cd's will drive the employees nuts but chances are a customer will not be in for five straight hours so they will hear some of their favorite holiday songs and want to shop. It lifts the spirits of even some of the most stressed shoppers. This year however, my music is not under lock and key as it was last year, and some employees and other managers keep changing my Cd's. Today when I came into work I didn't feel like I was in a winter wonderland, I felt like I was in Southern Italy (or a bad Italian restaurant). I immediately went to the CD player and changed all of the Cd's to Holiday themed songs. I also put a sign on the CD Player telling people that I would remove their fingers if I found non-holiday music in the player.
Thirty minutes later I hear Eric Clapton's new CD playing, this is not Christmas music! I immediately return to the player and change the Cd's and then hunt down the culprit. I was so pissed because my sign had even disappeared and I had to find who took my sign and changed the music. I found my sign ripped up in the trash receptacle of one of my managers who was not in today. It was a well played move, however, I knew I would still find the person who had done this (and I did). I calmly explained to them the reasoning behind this and they looked at me like I was crazy, but seemed to respect that it was my decision and I am ALWAYS RIGHT.
So the motto of this story is that even if Hey Santa drives you crazy, not hearing Hey Santa or something of the sort will drive me crazier.
(If you know nothing about the song "Hey Santa," please refer to last holidays posts!)
One of the ways to put customers in the happy Holiday spirit is through playing Holiday music in the store. After a while the same five Cd's will drive the employees nuts but chances are a customer will not be in for five straight hours so they will hear some of their favorite holiday songs and want to shop. It lifts the spirits of even some of the most stressed shoppers. This year however, my music is not under lock and key as it was last year, and some employees and other managers keep changing my Cd's. Today when I came into work I didn't feel like I was in a winter wonderland, I felt like I was in Southern Italy (or a bad Italian restaurant). I immediately went to the CD player and changed all of the Cd's to Holiday themed songs. I also put a sign on the CD Player telling people that I would remove their fingers if I found non-holiday music in the player.
Thirty minutes later I hear Eric Clapton's new CD playing, this is not Christmas music! I immediately return to the player and change the Cd's and then hunt down the culprit. I was so pissed because my sign had even disappeared and I had to find who took my sign and changed the music. I found my sign ripped up in the trash receptacle of one of my managers who was not in today. It was a well played move, however, I knew I would still find the person who had done this (and I did). I calmly explained to them the reasoning behind this and they looked at me like I was crazy, but seemed to respect that it was my decision and I am ALWAYS RIGHT.
So the motto of this story is that even if Hey Santa drives you crazy, not hearing Hey Santa or something of the sort will drive me crazier.
(If you know nothing about the song "Hey Santa," please refer to last holidays posts!)
Bad Driving
First off, I know I have been MIA almost all month, no I did not die at my birthday party, I even managed to make it to brunch the following morning at a reasonable hour. Work has been nuts (I have hired and fired about 6 people in the last 3 weeks) and of course it is the Holiday season. This year will not be as crazy as last year was (at least for me) when it comes to the Holidays but there is still a lot to do. I hope that I can get back on a usual blogging schedule as well because as I have said it helps me de-stress and deal with all of the crazy days.
I am back in Boston now, and back to work today after a few days off in New York with the family. It is always good to go home even if it is for a short period of time. I love my family even if they drive me nuts and I love being home for the holidays. When and if that day comes when I am not in New York with the family on the holidays it will be weird. I drove down to New York on Thursday morning, and I think that was one of my biggest mistakes.
I haven't driven my car in close to two months for a number of reasons. I started it every once in a while, but didn't even drive it around the block. But it is getting cold now, and I needed to drive to New York for the holiday so it was time to put the car back on the road. I am however, a notoriously bad driver, my friends hate when I am the driver. Not because I do things horribly wrong behind the wheel but because my vision is bad, I don't know my left from my right and some people think I drive to fast while others think I drive to slow. Also, I am always on the phone and even when I am not I never have both hands on the wheel. So add to these weaknesses some heavy traffic and for the first time driving for a long distance with my contacts in and we are pretty much waiting for a disaster.
I left at 10:15 in the morning and the first 30 minutes was smooth sailing until I got to 495 and the traffic began. Now I have admitted that I am a bad driver but the people on the road on Thursday morning were ridiculous. People were flying up the shoulder of the road, forcing themselves into already packed lanes, cutting people off and stomping on their breaks inches from the car in front of them. I was making a valiant effort to avoid impending catastrophes by calmly listening to my music and remaining off of my phone, but as the hours passed and traffic wasn't moving I became more and more frustrated and ever so bored. So I began dancing to my I-Pod (the new once since my bag at work was stolen) and making phone calls to wish people a happy turkey day (gobble gobble). At this point I ma three hours into a trip that normally takes three hours and I am at least 90 minutes from my destination.
Through Hartford I am traveling at about 85 miles an hour in the center lane and I still have people up my ass and passing me all over. Trucks are flying down the right lane an barrelling practically into the trunks of compact cars. Older couples are merging into the highway at 30 miles per hour and accelerating to 40. I am exhausted, my knee hurts and I fear for the lives of some of these people on the road, especially since I have witnessed at least 4 close calls.
When I finally make it all the way through to Waterbury, traffic stops, like a dead stop that you see in the cartoons where all the cars pile up onto one another. we sit and don't move. I am stressed because I am missing so much time with my family, and I have to pee so bad. We are not moving and all I see ahead of me is bright red tail lights, all of the drivers seen as frustrated as I am and are doing very stupid things. My blood boils for over an hour as I sit in traffic, my stomach is churning because I haven't eaten. I am saving myself for Thanksgiving dinner after all. It looks like traffic is about to break, I can see flashing lights from police cars, and bright spotlights on the road, as I drive closer I notice that there are trees all over the road, nice trees not branches, as a matter of fact, it appears a Christmas Tree truck has lost its entire load of trees all over 84. Tis the season!
It is close to 5:00pm when myself and my car stagger into my aunt's house for dinner. I am exhausted but it is good to see family, and I am glad that I made it home, I can only hope that all the other bad drivers on the road that day made it home as well.
I am back in Boston now, and back to work today after a few days off in New York with the family. It is always good to go home even if it is for a short period of time. I love my family even if they drive me nuts and I love being home for the holidays. When and if that day comes when I am not in New York with the family on the holidays it will be weird. I drove down to New York on Thursday morning, and I think that was one of my biggest mistakes.
I haven't driven my car in close to two months for a number of reasons. I started it every once in a while, but didn't even drive it around the block. But it is getting cold now, and I needed to drive to New York for the holiday so it was time to put the car back on the road. I am however, a notoriously bad driver, my friends hate when I am the driver. Not because I do things horribly wrong behind the wheel but because my vision is bad, I don't know my left from my right and some people think I drive to fast while others think I drive to slow. Also, I am always on the phone and even when I am not I never have both hands on the wheel. So add to these weaknesses some heavy traffic and for the first time driving for a long distance with my contacts in and we are pretty much waiting for a disaster.
I left at 10:15 in the morning and the first 30 minutes was smooth sailing until I got to 495 and the traffic began. Now I have admitted that I am a bad driver but the people on the road on Thursday morning were ridiculous. People were flying up the shoulder of the road, forcing themselves into already packed lanes, cutting people off and stomping on their breaks inches from the car in front of them. I was making a valiant effort to avoid impending catastrophes by calmly listening to my music and remaining off of my phone, but as the hours passed and traffic wasn't moving I became more and more frustrated and ever so bored. So I began dancing to my I-Pod (the new once since my bag at work was stolen) and making phone calls to wish people a happy turkey day (gobble gobble). At this point I ma three hours into a trip that normally takes three hours and I am at least 90 minutes from my destination.
Through Hartford I am traveling at about 85 miles an hour in the center lane and I still have people up my ass and passing me all over. Trucks are flying down the right lane an barrelling practically into the trunks of compact cars. Older couples are merging into the highway at 30 miles per hour and accelerating to 40. I am exhausted, my knee hurts and I fear for the lives of some of these people on the road, especially since I have witnessed at least 4 close calls.
When I finally make it all the way through to Waterbury, traffic stops, like a dead stop that you see in the cartoons where all the cars pile up onto one another. we sit and don't move. I am stressed because I am missing so much time with my family, and I have to pee so bad. We are not moving and all I see ahead of me is bright red tail lights, all of the drivers seen as frustrated as I am and are doing very stupid things. My blood boils for over an hour as I sit in traffic, my stomach is churning because I haven't eaten. I am saving myself for Thanksgiving dinner after all. It looks like traffic is about to break, I can see flashing lights from police cars, and bright spotlights on the road, as I drive closer I notice that there are trees all over the road, nice trees not branches, as a matter of fact, it appears a Christmas Tree truck has lost its entire load of trees all over 84. Tis the season!
It is close to 5:00pm when myself and my car stagger into my aunt's house for dinner. I am exhausted but it is good to see family, and I am glad that I made it home, I can only hope that all the other bad drivers on the road that day made it home as well.
Shakespeare: The World As Stage
So, I didn't hate Shakespeare: The World As Stage. I finished the last few pages this morning and enjoyed learning a few random facts, like the agree upon spelling of his name is actually not one of the spellings that he ever used, but he did spell his name at least six different ways. I also learned that there is no agreed upon order for his plays, and some people don't even think he actually existed. Ah yes, and you know that picture you have in your mind of what William Shakespeare looks like, well that may not be what he looks like because it is based on an artist sketch that was done well after his death.
Now I agree none of these are groundbreaking, and I probably should have learned all this in high school when studying Shakespeare but I really didn't care for any of his plays, and never really paid that much attention to what was going on in class when we were studying him. I find that I would probably appreciate Macbeth or Hamlet more if I read them today, I would have a better understanding, much like I actually appreciate The Great Gatsby and The Stranger now, when I didn't when I first read them. However, I don't think I can go back and read any Shakespeare but we will see.
I am now off to my next challenge, I started reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I was going to start reading it a few months ago, but I opted out because it is close to 600 pages. This scared me because I am a slow reader and I was worried that I would get bogged down and not be able to finish. I guess we will see how things go, I am already 40 pages in so it is going pretty fast.
Now I agree none of these are groundbreaking, and I probably should have learned all this in high school when studying Shakespeare but I really didn't care for any of his plays, and never really paid that much attention to what was going on in class when we were studying him. I find that I would probably appreciate Macbeth or Hamlet more if I read them today, I would have a better understanding, much like I actually appreciate The Great Gatsby and The Stranger now, when I didn't when I first read them. However, I don't think I can go back and read any Shakespeare but we will see.
I am now off to my next challenge, I started reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I was going to start reading it a few months ago, but I opted out because it is close to 600 pages. This scared me because I am a slow reader and I was worried that I would get bogged down and not be able to finish. I guess we will see how things go, I am already 40 pages in so it is going pretty fast.
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