I love my job...heh...rrrright. So it's not what I would have chosen to with my life, but it pays the bills. In fact, the more I think about it, it's not that great at all, but it definitely keeps me on my toes.
FOR INSTANCE...
Last Friday we had a guy come in who looked a little shady, (which I feel a little bad about judging him so early on, but it was justified by the time he left.) He bought some books with a temporary check, but I didn't think anything of it until he came in to return them. We have a check clearing machine that approved it so I gave him cash back. Well, come to find out when I was in the back he came again and wrote ANOTHER check and then returned a book on that receipt. DEFINITELY SHADY! So, we decided we wouldn't be accepting his checks anymore if he came in again.
SOOOO, today he strolls in and a few of us recognized him and came up with our plan to refuse his checks and the next thing I know he's leaving the store with a larger stomach than when he came in...(and a little pointy too!) He had put a book under his jacket and left!
NOT ON MY WATCH!!!
We've had theives before, so I'm a seasoned veteren when it comes to confronting loonatics. I chased him down and said, "GIVE ME THAT BOOK BACK NOW!!" He was around the corner by then and trying to get on his bike when I saw him reach under his sweater. At this point I thought, "great, he's gonna pull out some sort of weapon and I'm gonna die for a stupid calculus book." Not the blazy of glory I was hoping for. Well, lucky for me he pulled out the book and threw in on the ground and I said, "You just stole that book!" And do you know what he said, "uh, yeah, sorry."
Oh, sir, thanks for the apology, you know what, you keep that. You almost got away anyway. PSH! Was that supposed to make me feel better?? So, I yelled at him a little, told him I'm calling the cops, and to never come back again. I hate having to deal with these situations. And worse, I just felt violated.
Sadly, the story continues. HE CAME BACK!!! Didn't I tell him I'd be calling the police!?!? I guess it's true what they say that crooks are stupid. He came to sell back some books and the employee I had doing them called me over to deal with it. Yeah, and I dealt with him for good!!! You could tell he was a little shocked to see me again. :) ha! That's right, I may be a woman, but I could have taken him!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tragedy Strikes
Well, tragedy struck 3 weeks ago, but I haven't been able to think about it without losing my composure and crying my guts out, but I need to document the bummer stuff too I guess.
SOOO, Brian works for a work comp. company and the account he's on is switching companies. He's been to a ton of interviews, had a couple offers but sadly none close to home. (With gas over $4 now you'd think that's the tragedy I speak of but it gets worse!) He'll end up commuting 45 min each way to work everyday which sounds fun.
The problem we're faced with is our puppy. We don't have a yard so we kept our Scouty inside while we were gone to work and Brian would come home for lunch and take him for a walk so the longest he was ever alone was 4 hours. Well, commuting a farther distance he can't come home, and I'm a ways out too. We explored every avenue for the dog: dog walker, doggy day care, leaving him in the yard, another dog, etc... The only problem is everything we read and researched said dogs aren't solitary creatures, and as it was our poor puppy was getting a little big of separation anxiety.
We had to give him away. Now, to you people who aren't dog lovers you won't understand, but even just typing that makes the pit in my stomach churn. Luckily, there's a gal that works with Brian who has a beagle and desperately wanted another so it was perfect, and even though Brian's job won't switch till July, we decided it would be better to cut the cords now rather than have it looming over our heads for the next two months. So, a few Fridays ago, Brian took him up to his co-workers. I've never been more devastated in my whole life. I'm have my fair share of heart breaks and upsets, but NOTHING COMPARES TO THIS!
Sadly, that's not the end of the saga. So, Saturday rolls around after no sleep and with so many tears I'm sure I dehydrated myself we decided to de-dog our house and get rid of as much evidence as possible. Our plan of action then became to stay out of the house as much as we could to keep our minds off him. By Saturday night we were both dying...it was pretty pathetic, but worse yet is the phone call we got saying the gal couldn't keep Scout, that her dog wasn't getting along with him.
So, thank you for chopping my heart into a million pieces and serving it up on the blue plate special. We didn't know what to do.
Well, we pulled up our big girl panties and drove out to our dog who was very happy to see us. It made the whole thing unbearable.
The worst part is that after grieving over him terribly, I didn't know how to feel. Do I get attached again knowing I'll have to re-break my heart? The next couple of days were hard even though we had him back...it became a losing battle.
The story does have a happy ending...for Scout at least. That next week we got in touch with a beagle rescue Brian had heard about from his dog park friends and the guy in charge liked Scout so much he ended up keeping him! So we know he's in good hands, but we sure aren't. We've been in shambles ever since. I've decided to keep myself VERY busy to keep my mind off him, but I miss him too much: The baying at the garage door if I took to long to come in the house, his happy wagging tail that made his whole back end wiggle, the pitter patter of his feet up and down the stairs, his warm tummy on my lap after a long day, the dryer sheets he'd steal and shred when I'd fold the laundry, even trash day reminds me of him! (when we'd walk on trash day, he'd hunt down every piece of shrapnel left behind from the wind)
Anyway, I'm hoping writing this all down will help. Hopefully it will ease this constant heart ache, but so far only ice cream seems to do the trick.
SOOO, Brian works for a work comp. company and the account he's on is switching companies. He's been to a ton of interviews, had a couple offers but sadly none close to home. (With gas over $4 now you'd think that's the tragedy I speak of but it gets worse!) He'll end up commuting 45 min each way to work everyday which sounds fun.
The problem we're faced with is our puppy. We don't have a yard so we kept our Scouty inside while we were gone to work and Brian would come home for lunch and take him for a walk so the longest he was ever alone was 4 hours. Well, commuting a farther distance he can't come home, and I'm a ways out too. We explored every avenue for the dog: dog walker, doggy day care, leaving him in the yard, another dog, etc... The only problem is everything we read and researched said dogs aren't solitary creatures, and as it was our poor puppy was getting a little big of separation anxiety.
We had to give him away. Now, to you people who aren't dog lovers you won't understand, but even just typing that makes the pit in my stomach churn. Luckily, there's a gal that works with Brian who has a beagle and desperately wanted another so it was perfect, and even though Brian's job won't switch till July, we decided it would be better to cut the cords now rather than have it looming over our heads for the next two months. So, a few Fridays ago, Brian took him up to his co-workers. I've never been more devastated in my whole life. I'm have my fair share of heart breaks and upsets, but NOTHING COMPARES TO THIS!
Sadly, that's not the end of the saga. So, Saturday rolls around after no sleep and with so many tears I'm sure I dehydrated myself we decided to de-dog our house and get rid of as much evidence as possible. Our plan of action then became to stay out of the house as much as we could to keep our minds off him. By Saturday night we were both dying...it was pretty pathetic, but worse yet is the phone call we got saying the gal couldn't keep Scout, that her dog wasn't getting along with him.
So, thank you for chopping my heart into a million pieces and serving it up on the blue plate special. We didn't know what to do.
Well, we pulled up our big girl panties and drove out to our dog who was very happy to see us. It made the whole thing unbearable.
The worst part is that after grieving over him terribly, I didn't know how to feel. Do I get attached again knowing I'll have to re-break my heart? The next couple of days were hard even though we had him back...it became a losing battle.
The story does have a happy ending...for Scout at least. That next week we got in touch with a beagle rescue Brian had heard about from his dog park friends and the guy in charge liked Scout so much he ended up keeping him! So we know he's in good hands, but we sure aren't. We've been in shambles ever since. I've decided to keep myself VERY busy to keep my mind off him, but I miss him too much: The baying at the garage door if I took to long to come in the house, his happy wagging tail that made his whole back end wiggle, the pitter patter of his feet up and down the stairs, his warm tummy on my lap after a long day, the dryer sheets he'd steal and shred when I'd fold the laundry, even trash day reminds me of him! (when we'd walk on trash day, he'd hunt down every piece of shrapnel left behind from the wind)
Anyway, I'm hoping writing this all down will help. Hopefully it will ease this constant heart ache, but so far only ice cream seems to do the trick.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Laundry Room Update
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Alright, so the paper products up top are still an eye sore (can you tell we're costco shoppers?), but MUCH better than it was! Now I just need some help spicing it up. I thought it would be kinda fun to randomly put quotes up on the cabinets with vinyl lettering and then paint the walls a really fun color. In AG next to that yummy deli they had the cutest purple house with white trim...it's tempting. ANYWAY, project #1 DONE!
AFTER:
Alright, so the paper products up top are still an eye sore (can you tell we're costco shoppers?), but MUCH better than it was! Now I just need some help spicing it up. I thought it would be kinda fun to randomly put quotes up on the cabinets with vinyl lettering and then paint the walls a really fun color. In AG next to that yummy deli they had the cutest purple house with white trim...it's tempting. ANYWAY, project #1 DONE!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Never a dull moment
Business has been S...L...O...W to say the least, so I've found myself dreaming up all kinds of projects to do: food storage, crown moulding, new backyard...you get the idea. Sitting in front of a computer all day I have loads of time to browse the "information highway." I've investigated a few of those projects thoroughly enough to know that most can't be done in the next two weeks before we get busy again at the store. I've settled on our laundry room. I'll take a before and after for you, but let's just say the "before" is sad. Right now all the stuff we use just sits on top of the washer and dryer because the one shelf that's in the laundry room is like 7 feet tall. No place for the daily detergent to reside. So, I have been surfing the web trying to find the best deal on a set of shelves or cabinets that would fit in the room and give me lots of extra storage for all my cleaning supplies. They're a little scattered right now--hall closet and under the kitchen and bathroom sinks--I want to consolidate it all, and have it look nice too. (Ambitious, I know.)
ANYWAY, Ikea seemed to be the best deal around, and lucky for me I work not far from one. So today I was able to sneak away for a quick jaunt to the super store and pick up a selection of cabinets to fit perfectly above my washer & dryer. It made me so excited! I can see the clean room now! I must have been envisioning the sparkling room because I loaded everything in my car, closed the trunk all set to go, and even tucked my purse securely in the rear with MY KEYS IN IT!! AHHH!!
It was a slow motion panic as I pushed the trunk door down and saw the glimmer of my keys. Then the dreadful "beep!" My car's reassuring sound to tell me we're locked and loaded. UGH! I stood there for a minute not knowing what to do...I checked the sun roof...(side note, the first time I locked my keys in the car was about a year ago at a gas station when my card wouldn't work at the pump so I had to go in--I was in a hurry so I locked the car and ran in forgetting the keys and was lucky enough to have left the sun roof open. I couldn't jump high enough myself so I asked the guy filling up behind me to give me a boost into the car. Embarrassing I know, but better than waiting around.) SO, today I checked the sun roof first, no such luck. The car was sealed shut from every angle. The good news is that Ikea has a courtesy phone, for which I am eternally grateful.
I called Brian in a bit of a panic and the phone call went something like this--
"Claims, this is Brian"
"Hey Bri, I'm at Ikea and my keys are locked in the trunk!"
"OK, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"HURRY! I'm parked in the 15 minute loading zone!"
"Alright, I'm on my way."
So, I went back out to guard my car to put up a fight against the parking police since I would definitely be there longer than the 15 minutes allotted to me. I found myself a catalog and sat on those oh so comfy poles outside. Luckily it's not too hot here yet, or it would have been a bigger nightmare than it already was. So, about 45 minutes later my knight in shining armor appeared in jeans and a polo; a definite sight for sore eyes. He came and rescued me from the parking lot of pain. Thanks again Brian. You can put it on my HUGE 'I owe you' tab along with the millions of other things you do for me.
ANYWAY, Ikea seemed to be the best deal around, and lucky for me I work not far from one. So today I was able to sneak away for a quick jaunt to the super store and pick up a selection of cabinets to fit perfectly above my washer & dryer. It made me so excited! I can see the clean room now! I must have been envisioning the sparkling room because I loaded everything in my car, closed the trunk all set to go, and even tucked my purse securely in the rear with MY KEYS IN IT!! AHHH!!
It was a slow motion panic as I pushed the trunk door down and saw the glimmer of my keys. Then the dreadful "beep!" My car's reassuring sound to tell me we're locked and loaded. UGH! I stood there for a minute not knowing what to do...I checked the sun roof...(side note, the first time I locked my keys in the car was about a year ago at a gas station when my card wouldn't work at the pump so I had to go in--I was in a hurry so I locked the car and ran in forgetting the keys and was lucky enough to have left the sun roof open. I couldn't jump high enough myself so I asked the guy filling up behind me to give me a boost into the car. Embarrassing I know, but better than waiting around.) SO, today I checked the sun roof first, no such luck. The car was sealed shut from every angle. The good news is that Ikea has a courtesy phone, for which I am eternally grateful.
I called Brian in a bit of a panic and the phone call went something like this--
"Claims, this is Brian"
"Hey Bri, I'm at Ikea and my keys are locked in the trunk!"
"OK, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"HURRY! I'm parked in the 15 minute loading zone!"
"Alright, I'm on my way."
So, I went back out to guard my car to put up a fight against the parking police since I would definitely be there longer than the 15 minutes allotted to me. I found myself a catalog and sat on those oh so comfy poles outside. Luckily it's not too hot here yet, or it would have been a bigger nightmare than it already was. So, about 45 minutes later my knight in shining armor appeared in jeans and a polo; a definite sight for sore eyes. He came and rescued me from the parking lot of pain. Thanks again Brian. You can put it on my HUGE 'I owe you' tab along with the millions of other things you do for me.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Mad Math Minute
Soooo...I've got a confession to make.
I can't do subtraction.
Now, this might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but in middle school I was the reigning "Mad Math Minute" champ in my class 3 years running. Every morning after the daily bulliten was read, our home room teacher would pass out a half-sheet of paper with 30 math problems on it. Every day was something different: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages...etc. We had one minute to do the problems and we were to raise our hand as soon as we were finished. My heart would race looking at the blank side of the paper (so we didn't cheat before time started). Then, our teacher would give a countdown...5..4..3..2..1..GO! I would take a deep breath and jam through the problems almost always being the first to fling my hand into the air and smile at the approval on my teacher's face. (i have issues I know..) On occasion a boy in my 7th grade class tried to challenge my title. In a good week, he would beat me twice...I still remember his name...JayDee.
Well, I don't share this to brag, but I did always pride myself in doing well at math. It has just always clicked for me. It wasn't until a few days ago that I realized my skills were in need of some repair. Working in a retail shop, I'm left closing the store at night after we've locked up. I run reports, count the register money and do a simple equation to show how the day went. Doing this daily involves adding and subtracting. I've used an adding machine for quite awhile now because my fingers are MUCH quicker than my brain. Well, in an effort to save additional time, I have started doing the reports right next to the machine that prints them and the adding machine is on the other side of the store. No big deal right? I'll just do the simple math in my head...yeah...right....
Last night I hit rock bottom.
Usually I write down the numbers, and have no problem...but last night I was just pennies off so I subtracted 39 from 51. I just stared at it, knowing the number was small, but I had to physically write down 51-39 and cross out the 5, put a 4 and carry the 1 to subtract the 9. 12! Was that so hard!? It's pathetic I know.
That said, I think it's time to relinquish my title of "Mad Math Minute Champ." Sad, I know, but it was a good ride. :)
I can't do subtraction.
Now, this might not seem like a big deal to some of you, but in middle school I was the reigning "Mad Math Minute" champ in my class 3 years running. Every morning after the daily bulliten was read, our home room teacher would pass out a half-sheet of paper with 30 math problems on it. Every day was something different: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages...etc. We had one minute to do the problems and we were to raise our hand as soon as we were finished. My heart would race looking at the blank side of the paper (so we didn't cheat before time started). Then, our teacher would give a countdown...5..4..3..2..1..GO! I would take a deep breath and jam through the problems almost always being the first to fling my hand into the air and smile at the approval on my teacher's face. (i have issues I know..) On occasion a boy in my 7th grade class tried to challenge my title. In a good week, he would beat me twice...I still remember his name...JayDee.
Well, I don't share this to brag, but I did always pride myself in doing well at math. It has just always clicked for me. It wasn't until a few days ago that I realized my skills were in need of some repair. Working in a retail shop, I'm left closing the store at night after we've locked up. I run reports, count the register money and do a simple equation to show how the day went. Doing this daily involves adding and subtracting. I've used an adding machine for quite awhile now because my fingers are MUCH quicker than my brain. Well, in an effort to save additional time, I have started doing the reports right next to the machine that prints them and the adding machine is on the other side of the store. No big deal right? I'll just do the simple math in my head...yeah...right....
Last night I hit rock bottom.
Usually I write down the numbers, and have no problem...but last night I was just pennies off so I subtracted 39 from 51. I just stared at it, knowing the number was small, but I had to physically write down 51-39 and cross out the 5, put a 4 and carry the 1 to subtract the 9. 12! Was that so hard!? It's pathetic I know.
That said, I think it's time to relinquish my title of "Mad Math Minute Champ." Sad, I know, but it was a good ride. :)
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