Tuesday, November 30, 2004  

Have you seen that TV show "Ambush Makeover?" Yesterday I sat in what i can only call an "Ambush Leadership Meeting" at work...

We have a new operations supervisor... she's new to the company and has only worked here about 2 weeks. (An Ops Sup runs the front end of the store - the cash office and oversees the cashiers etc.) She knows just enough to be dangerous and she came to the mtng with a list of things she wanted to change and the block of the rest of us 5 TOTALLY CRUSHED HER! LOL I don't even feel all that bad: she needs to learn her place in the scheme of things. Without even discussing it, every one of us were shooting down her ideas left and right. I kept telling her to wait until after she's sent out for training (next week, to other stores) because she doesn't have the perspective she needs yet to make all these changes. After the meeting, she left bc she wasn't scheduled to work yet and i had a good laugh with Dwight about how we totally didn't even have to look at each other and how we were all thinking the same things. Such politics. But i know she is going to do such a great job once she gets the training she needs because even when she's REALLY WRONG she at least is really stern about being REALLY WRONG and sticks to her guns. That is what you need in a situation like retail. She and i will probably need to steer clear of each other bc we're two stubborn people and she's already tried to veto some of my decisions and i just walk away.

Sunday, I could not wait to get to work. If i had been on salary, i would have just gone in and done it. But i wasn't scheduled till Monday morning. I wanted to get all the jump/thumb/pen drives out of lock-up and put them in-line so customers can just help themselves. We have these new security boxes that seem to work really well, but they are too small to house some of the drive's packaging like Micro Advantage and Lexar. But i put even the ones that are 1 Gig out there on peg hooks and yesterday our sales just SHOT UP in that category. Plus there were about 3 that were clearance and we didn't even know about that so i got those all signed correctly. That was cool to see us selling so much more of it. Before we only had paper pull-tags customers had to present to the cashier, and that's a sale-stopper for several reasons. Even tho we might get a few stolen this way, if we are really paying attention to every customer like we are supposed to, then we should be O.K.

Today i plan to re-organize the cd-r & dvd planogram (electronics side is mine, and i don't follow corporate's plano's because it never reflects actual store stock.) So it will be a fun day. Really.

Goodbye November - no one will miss you. Bring on the SNOW!

   [ posted  @ 7:25 AM | ]

Freaky. See for yourself.

   [ posted  @ 2:35 PM | ]

Flash on or off, i can't seem to get a decent picture of the tree. Don't the lights look like they are going to REACH OUT AND GRAB YA? Well, abracadabra and merry Christmas. 

   [ posted  @ 1:36 PM | ]

I think i'm all decorated out for the day. I have some prep work to do for tomorrow's Bible study for the band, so I need to get to work on that since i'll be at the store during the day. At least the tree is done. I have not decided when i'll put up my Coke village. Maybe Thursday when i have another day off. I don't know if i'll hang my christmas cards this year. As my mom always says, "I'm cutting way back this year." lol. 

   [ posted  @ 1:35 PM | ]

Here's the tree skirt i was telling you about. Someday i might be able to knit this well. Those are little wreaths on the top going around the circle. Isn't it coooool??! Joanie Beise, who gave me the tree in the first place, also gave me the skirt, which i believe was knitted (or is it crochet?) by her mom Emily who is still kickin'! In 2000, she heard that i wanted to go to K-Mart and pick out a big fake tree but they are expensive if you get a nice one. So she went in her basement and got her mom's tree that had only been used one year and insisted i take it (since Joanie's mom now lives with Joanie and Gary.) I still love it even 4 years later i think it looks terrific! 

   [ posted  @ 12:07 PM | ]

My friend Toni gave me this Rudolph set a few years ago and every year i just put it under the tree. I also have a set of Rudolph ornaments my sis Terri gave me and i have those on the tree now. I think at night these guys get out of the box and party on the tree. 

   [ posted  @ 12:04 PM | ]

Most of the ornaments are on it now. I may add a few more. The last thing i will do is cover it with real lead tinsel (i got it off someone on ebay a few years ago - the real stuff that could kill you). The tree skirt is a gift from a family i used to go to church with. I love this tree skirt. I should take a better picture of it for you. It's so charming. Also, it helps hide the white trash cable running the length of the carpet. Can you see the very ominous and threatening STAR OF BETHLEHEM on the top? I desperately need a new tree-topper. Danni and i got this one as a fluke (har har) when we were in college for our little tree, which is only 3x bigger than the star itself. And i've yet to ever get something different!!!  

   [ posted  @ 11:55 AM | ]

All the lights are now on it. Notice the white trash coaxial cable running the length of my floor. OMG. It's my (earth)link to internet that runs to my couch. Con't... 

   [ posted  @ 11:52 AM | ]

My camera is sucky, so you can't really tell how cool these lights are. They are also... HUGE. Last year i used the smaller ones but those are on the tree i put up at work at the service desk this time. So this year here in the apt., i'm using 4 strands (25 bulbs each) of the big (or you may say "bing" as in crosby) honkers. Nothing says CHRISTMAS to me as much as the first time i plug the first strand in, and hear the thick glass of the bulbs knock together as i try to wind them around the tree. This is one of my favorite sights! Con't.... 

   [ posted  @ 11:50 AM | ]

Started putting up the xmas decs today... Here i am with the tree map, trying to get 'er all put together. First layer has little black paint on the wire thing that goes into the stem, then red layer, then green, etc. Each year, the paint chips off a little more until you can't tell at all which color the little branch is. And, i suck at shaping the tree. There is also one rebellious branch towards the backside that keeps popping out of the base. I only cursed ummm, like 3x at it. Con't....

   [ posted  @ 11:45 AM | ]

Did you know
this is my 801st post on this site!?

Cool!

Well, i fear i may be about to be dooced, because Matt is showing everyone at his store my blog. I haven't talked about work much on here lately (don't "even" get me started) but i hope word don't get around. In case it does, here's what i have to say.

I think i work at the best store in the company. We have our problems but i think my district manager is a woman to be feared. Seriously. She does a very good job. Our market trainer is very on top of things and she is also very good at what she does. My store manager knows that i think he's still "an outsider" since he came from Best Buy, and i tell him to his face i'm that i'm the REAL STORE MANAGER and he just puts up with it. I'm the go-to-girl and that's just the way it is. Most the associates i work with wake up in the morning and take their good dose of STUPID PILLS but i still like them and i have to take credit for even hiring some of the dumb ones. The ones that are truly dumber than a rock, but i still enjoy my job. Customers ask for me by name, and they ask when i'm working next so they can buy their stuff from me. It's just a job and it's not forever, but please don't fire me. Please.

No where else has a cool ad campaign like the rubberband man. I mean come on. The best Staples could do was a washed out Alice Cooper. PUHHlease!

OK. Now for today. We ended up doing an insane amt. of business yesterday. It was our highest sales day ever in the history of the store. However, by the time i left the store at 4 p.m. today (i got there at 7 a.m.), we had done a few thou$and in returns because people buy on impulse and then rethink it when they get home. They have people like me pressuring them on Friday that "there's only two left. If you're going to buy it, get it NOW." haha. (I don't lie, much.) So one guy i spent quite a bit of time with yesterday returned his laptop. What irritates me about that is that people who were seriously wanting to buy this stuff yesterday and who weren't buying on impulse and who weren't planning to return it would have bought that stuff if we had it to sell yesterday. Instead, the greedy dorks get it first. Hmph.

Plus some of the stuff just wasn't ringing up right and we weren't noticing it until the people got home and checked their receipts. Turns out that my boss never even bothered to check if there were coupon scan sheets for this sales event (OK i could have checked for that but i tried to trust other people this time. Ouch.). So we lost a ton of money by doing over-rides. Oh well.

I've started my martyr speech lately with "If i want something done right i guess i'll just have to do it myself..." and it's the truth. I can't rely on anyone but me to get the jorb done right.

In other news,

I set up a little christmas tree on the customer service counter at work. I brought in the one Danni and i had in our apt. in college with the multi colored bulbs and some ornaments. Also we need some little icicles (tinsel, cheap) for it but we'll just see. It looks adorable. I'll have to take pictures.

Lastly, i brought up the xmas decs from the garage tonight and will probably decorate tomorrow because i have a day off. IT SNOWED TODAY!!!!!!!!! ALL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yay!

p.s. i mean it. Please don't fire me. I 'm the one who came up with the song (sung to the tune of I Love Rock And Roll by Joan Jett.)

I LOVE OFFICE MAX
PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE CHECK OUT BABY
I LOVE OFFICE MAX
SO COME AND TAKE YOUR TIME AND SHOP WITH ME! YEAH!

SAW HIM STANDIN' THERE BY THE COPY MACHINE!
KNEW HE MUSTA BEEN MAKIN' ABOUT SEVENTEEN
SAID CAN I HELP YOU OUT
HE SAID WITHOUT A DOUUUUUUUUBT
NEXT HE BOUGHT SOME INK AND PAPER FROM ME
YEAH ME
I DON'T GET COMMISSION BUT I MADE A NICE SALE TODAY
HEY HEY

SINGIN'
I LOVE OFFICE MAX
PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE CHECKOUT BABY
I LOVE OFFICE MAX
COME AND TAKE YOUR TIME AND SHOP WITH ME!

HE WAS READY TO CHECK OUT SO I ASKED FOR I.D.
HE WAS PAYING WITH A CHECK AND THAT'S FINE WITH ME
SAID, "DO YOU WANT THIS PHONE?
WITH A REBATE IT'S YOURS ALOOOOOONE"
AND NEXT HE BOUGHT SOME MAX ASSURANCE FROM ME
YEAH ME
AND THEN I RANG HIM UP AND SENT HIM ON HIS WAY
HEY HEY

SINGIN'
I LOVE OFFICE MAX
PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE CHECKOUT BABY
I LOVE OFFICE MAX
SO COME AND TAKE YOUR TIME AND SHOP WITH ME

HEY!

   [ posted  @ 3:33 PM | ]

Mad Dash. This story, ironically PROVES it is a WAR PLAN! I was prophetic, and CORRECT!

... "It's like a war plan," Clouser said. "She runs in ahead of me, and I get the cart. She picks out all the good bargains and carries as much as she can, then throws it in the cart and moves to the next station."

The Plano couple had good reason to be organized. They arrived at 4 a.m., only to find several hundred people already in a line that would snake around the store and down the block.

   [ posted  @ 2:32 PM | ]

Previously this week, I tried to prepare my crew at work for what we were in for. When we were setting up the store late Wed. night, I asked them to remember the Iraqis.

I said, "Remember Iraq? Remember when America invaded their country and swooped down and took over every hill and valley? That's what's about to happen to us. We're Iraq, and we're about to be pillaged. Outsiders will be here to take our goods and everything we've got. They may have no manners. What we have to do is beat them at their own game and get more of their money than they get of our stuff. We have to set up our camp so we're ready for the onslaught."

My pseudo-military speech worked.

We sold more in the first 3 hours than we did the WHOLE DAY last black friday. And my managers gave ME THE CREDIT FOR IT! When we started running out of stuff on the ad tables, i refused to take the tables down. I just started filling them with more stuff that wasn't in the black friday ad. It was just from the normal ad. As long as it had a sign on it, PEOPLE WERE BUYING IT! haha! It was actually one of the funnest days I've ever had working there.

We have a new girl on the leadership team and she is really good and really strict too. We were singing christmas carols as the "Americans" pillaged our tables.

I liked to hold up the spring-coil santa doll we $ell, it makes a bouncy noise when you spring him. And as i do that, I talk about baby Jesus the Lord of Glory being born in a manger in a feed trough with the donkey poo and cow dung around his bed. I talk about how Jesus Christ the saviour of all humanity came and left his heavenly throne to save our wretched souls AND THIS IS HOW WE THANK HIM! Then i hold up one of the carolling mice we sell, that when you push their belly, they "meow meow meow" the song Deck the Halls and remind them this is what He came for and this is what it's all about. So i was telling her as well about "Just remember the KING IN THE MANGER" and she would crack up. People would come in asking for the free after rebate label printer. I'd tell them we were out, and then i'd remember little baby in the feed trough. LOL!!!!!!!

There were even people outside of the store an hour before we opened with LAWN CHAIRS. In the rain. OMG. One of my associates called from the parking lot before work wondering how she was supposed to make it thru the mob.

"Katie, this is Ashley. What, am I supposed to just push thru the people to get in?"

I said, "Yeah and hurry up! Jason is at the door to let you in!" So then when we tried to let associates in thru the mob, the people were right by the door opening, trying to peer in to see if they could get a look at things. The AppleValley OMX said that their line wrapped around the building! Ours was not quite that bad.

   [ posted  @ 2:10 PM | ]

No snow here yet. But some people are getting it. Maybe i should move to Kansas?

Click.

I've been watching Christmas movies for the past month, but today you know the Feeling is really starting up when i put in A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS. Omg. Pass the cheese. I don't know why i watch that movie every year but i just do. I love the music they play when Alice is picking up the kidz at the airport.

   [ posted  @ 11:08 AM | ]

They got the ABC schedule up for the family channel christmas specials. yay!  

   [ posted  @ 9:33 AM | ]

No one will ever need to ask me again why I work at OfficeMax. We have great commercials. You gotta watch all of them!! 

   [ posted  @ 9:12 AM | ]

well, my sales manager had to do an open-to-close shift today bc one of our cashiers nocallednoshowed, and she'll be written up (by me... because i'm so sick of this) but also because of his poor planning to not have anyone else come in. I came in today, yes on my day off, to work a 4 hour shift just to close up the store and get the heck out of there. After work, i went to CUB FOODS (a.k.a. "I hate my cub and when will rainbow open???") and it was a mad house. Yes at 10 p.m. all the losers are out buying their thanksgiving stuff.

Stupid store. I hate that store! Their bakery was out of their yummy pumpkin pies so i had to buy a stupid frozen one. (Stupid.) I thought about trying to make some cornish hens for thursday but then i bought a stupid stuffed chicken instead from the meat dept. Stupid. I am sure it won't turn out right. I don't even own a meat thermometer. How will my customers find their FREEAFTERREBATETRASHJUNK on Friday morning if i am sick in the emergency room bc i didn't cook my chicken long enough? I also grabbed one of the last 2 containers of cool whip (the normal kind. I don't like the Light version or the store version either.) 3 of the dairy cases were out of pumpkin pie there too. I happened to find one that had some left. For awhile, i walked around with the last one i found in a box in the back of their freezer, but it looked like a 400 lb woman sat on it a few times and was also rattling around like a baby toy so it sounded like it was really broken.

I also got some acorn squash bc i have this great recipe i made last thanksgiving and i can't wait to make it again. so simple and so yummy. I'll have to post it here if i take a picture of it.

I was so glad to be out of there when i was done shopping.

I think this is a link to my amazon.com wish list. If my brother could post his, I'll post mine too. Just stick to the list people. Everything i want is on there. The only thing i didn't on there are some ghetto car speakers with super subs and a new TV bc the one in my bedroom does not shut off so i sleep with the tv on all night. If you want it off, you have to unplug it. And let's not kid ourselves. I'm THAT lazy that i won't do it.

Other than that, in no particular order, i wish for world peace, a remedy for the AIDS crisis in Africa, Osama to find the love of Jesus, TiVo, and like that other kid, i'd like my two front teeth. See, my two front teeth. Also, i dig candles a lot. Not tropical spices but like your cookie ones or apples or ya know stuff homey stuff. Always need more candles. I think i'm easiest to shop for because i'd be thrilled if you just bought me some cocacola stuff. Love it.

Pass the pumpkin pie.

   [ posted  @ 9:28 PM | ]

I can die happier now. Could it get any better?

click.

   [ posted  @ 9:07 PM | ]

Are you watching it?

Tonight is the conclusion of the 25 Million Dollar Hoax. I have to tape it bc i'll be at church and then off to work an overnight to put our stupid truck away. Actually i'll try to avoid using the word "stupid" as much bc the truck is not as stupid as the stupid people who shop at my stupid store on Black Friday.

So when you wake up in the middle of the night from another dream of being best buds with Osama (something is wrong with me, but we already knew that), think of me. I'll be stocking freight and such at 6 a.m. still.

Hey i finished my first knitting project. Actually, the yarn finished it for me because i realized i would not have enough to make a scarf, so it i decided it is either going to be a baby doll blanket or if i can figure out how, some type of a little purse/bag thing. Remember, i'm making these for the 2005 Operation Christmas Child peoples. Some little girl is going to flip her freak. (That statement will only make sense if you also watch Ellen.)

Anyways, i thought it was cool bc i figured out how to "bind off" when i was done with the little blanket/purse thing. I'll have to post a picture for ya.

Ok then.

   [ posted  @ 2:05 PM | ]

Where'd all the money go?

Found this website very interesting.

It lists compaign contributions for many different political organizations (presidential candidates, MoveOn.org, contributions by zip code, etc.). It's interesting to see who put big bucks on the line for their favorite candidate. You might be suprised.

   [ posted  @ 4:26 PM | ]

I was sick for a few days.

There were a few days i had to go without coffee (was afraid of what it might do to my upset digestive response team, meaning my stomach etc.), and there were also a few days i spent madder than a hadder. Hatter.

I only got about an hour of sleep last night bc after got off of work i was so upset and so frustrated with things and i could not sleep and had to be there to open at 7 a.m. this morning. (Waiting for 45 min. in the parking lot bc the floor cleaner was absent, so i played my mandolin to the car cd player!)

Getting ready for what we in retail call BLACK FRIDAY (the day after thanksgiving) has fallen completely on my shoulders for some reason. Mostly because everyone else seems too busy putting out other fires. Unless you've done it, you have NO IDEA the prep work that goes into setting up for that stupid 4-page flier and getting the store ready for the mob of people hungry like the wolf for their free-after-rebate-CRAP. I remember one lady last year, with terror and greed in her eyes, grabbing at everything on the tables. She picked up a 64mb Lexar Jump Drive, not knowing what it was. She looked at me. She asked, "What does this do?" I explained to her that it's a portable storage device that holds a lot more memory than a small floppy disk. She had no need for it. But she had to have it, bc it was free after about 2 rebates. I HATE ALL HUMANITY!!!!!!!!

THERE I SAID IT!

I'M A SALES SUPERVISOR,
AND
I HATE ALL HUMANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And on the weekends, pretty much every loser with feet on the ends of their legs crawls out of their cubicles and runs their errands. And they bring in their stupid returns, without their receipts. Without their packaging. They expect their money back. Cash. Not gift cards. They want me to make the impossible happen with things that don't exist. Did i ever tell you about the guy that cussed one of my associates out because we didn't carry CAR BATTERIES AND MOTOR OIL?????????

AT AN OFFICE SUPPLY STORE????

So by the time my sales manager got in at noon, i was so furious and the blue/red/yellow flames on the top of my head were so plainly visible that i didn't even let him walk in the door before i sat him down in the office and read him THE RIOT ACT OF 2004 IN PLAIN ENGLISH ("For Dummies") from THE CRABBY GIRL for a half hour before i took him on a tour of the store to show him everything that was wrong. I walked him back to receiving and demanded to know what he planned to do about all of these problems. I have ALL THE ANSWERS but i'm just a pee-on. And i told him this stupid new "QUALITY OF LIFE" guarantee/policy the company put into effect (allowing managers 4-day work weeks thru the holiday season, which excludes supervisors like myself) was total bull-crap and i was sick of running around caring about all these things while he and my store manager do absolutely nothing to help.

After he had a mini-freakout session with seeing how messy the warehouse was, and seeing my points (and acknowledging it is not our department, but that everything the sales dept. does is directly affected by logistics and their lack of talent right now) what does he do? Takes an hour long lunch and hints that i should stay late.

I left on time. Didn't even say goodbye.

I do feel better after complaining to him (tho i'll admit i was whining to the wrong guy.) I asked when is there going to start to be accountability for the poor performance of our Logistics Manager? Unfortunately, the way he had to admit the cookie crumbles is that the supervisors get the axe and managers skate on by. If the managers are failing, they blame it on their supervisors, who are really doing (or not doing) all the work.

Well, i'm off until Monday. I'll see you all at 7 a.m. on Friday, they day after Thanksgiving, trampling over little children and elderly people to get your stupid 19.99$ leather managers chair.

   [ posted  @ 3:06 PM | ]

I only THOUGHT about blogging this week.
Here's what i did instead.

Knit.

Went to Ruby Tuesdays with Marks (who is now in Europe; i cry i cry).

Christmas shopped on-line.

Ate salads.

Worked two over-nights for logistics, who are so far behind i can't even find the words to blog about it. It's like watching a creature-monster eat your baby right in front of you and then ask what you might supply for dessert.

Watched Guiding Light.

Watched "How to Make an American Quilt".

Worked on music for church kiddies.

Knit.

Signed up for Dental insurance (but not health insurance) because i have this one wisdom tooth that is causing me to bite my cheek a lot and i am dying in pain and decided i better have some type of plan for getting it removed. OMax only lets you sign up for benefits once a year. I decided to sign up.

It is cold. I'm going to go now.

   [ posted  @ 7:04 PM | ]

You gotta check this one out. Man 1, Bank 0. I found the link on Greg's blog and then spent an hour or more reading it last night. I still have not finished the story (it is captivating, and it goes on and on, you just can't believe what truth you are reading, so you keep READING.) Guy deposited a junk mail ad check for over $95,000 and it CLEARED! LOL What would you do?

I am reading it because i truly don't know what i'd do. I'd probably say it was the bank's error. If they are that stupid that they didn't catch it, i'd probably keep the money too.

Speaking of money, when you start biting your cheek ALL THE TIME, does that mean it's time to get the wisdom teeth removed? Yup. I don't have insurance and can't afford it and i'm biting my cheek, as i said two lines up there, ALL THE TIME. LOL Ridiculous. Oh well, there are worse things in life, like, umm, like today when i spilled Honey Bunches of Oats all over my coffee table ten minutes before i needed to leave for band practice.

   [ posted  @ 7:40 PM | ]

"But I think He Got Away"
My participation in the War on Terror
by KT Rocks.

We all have our part to play.
Mine occured last night in a dream.
There i was at work (again, this is a dream, recalled for those who cannot face reality ahem...) working. Working at work. Over the walkie talkies Michael (an associate) announces to me, the manager on duty, that Osama Bin Laden is in disguise, over by the case paper on the wall.

I, being the brave and patriotic person i am (also fearless, and God-fearing), do not hesitate but go over to get a look at Mr. Laden and check the situation out.

(OMG i can HEAR some of you saying "It would be "Mr. Bin Laden, get it right!!!" So just shut up and read the rest of the story. I know it would be "Mr. Bin Laden," but this is my blog and i'll call him whatever i feel like. It's not as if he deserves my respect.)

There is Osama! He's dressed in a yellow house-dress like the house-wives in the 1950's wore. It has little blue and green flowers on it. He, in his beard, is selecting what kind of case of paper he would like to buy. I radio back to Michael that i have spotted him, and am "going in."

Meanwhile, my boss is attempting to dial the FBI to alert them that we have found Osama. I decide to be the Distractor, to keep Osama in the store long enough for the authorities to get here. However, a tunnel opens up behind the case paper, and Osama escapes before i can reach him. I follow him down into the dark tunnel, and when i get to him, he has changed into a very nice suit and tie.

My boss has trouble reaching the FBI or something, and i realize that our store is the target of a major WMD plot. So now we all know what happened to the WMDs: they were routed to Minnesota to bomb office supply stores. I start to panic, and altho i'm doing okay with making small talk with Mr. Laden, i realize that if i don't get out of this tunnel, he's going to blow me up. (If it makes any difference, in the dream, Osama knows that i know who he is. We are both calm.) So i start to run. (What dream would be complete without running?) I'm running for my life trying to alert people thru the streets to get away from the city because Osama is in there (minus the yellow house-dress) and people are mass-evacuating (this is one of the first times i ever remember people actually heeding my end-of-the-world round ups) and i'm on some university campus where there are debates going on about the war on terror. Now everyone believes it's real, bc the press has found out OSAMA is at OfficeMax.

Not long after that i woke up and had to watch QVC in order to go back to sleep bc i was so rattled by it. Don't worry, i've already called the shrink.

   [ posted  @ 1:12 PM | ]

I would like to congratuate someone very important to me for an accomplishment like no other. This occured today, and she did one heck of a job. The self-control exhibited by the following is something that should be not only applauded, but rewarded.

Who am i talking about you wonder? Me. Myself.

My tiny bladder waited HOURS (this is rare) before being emptied because i was at work and the store was very busy and i could not even steal away for a minute to use the restroom. Add this to the two big cups of coffee i had for breakfast (oh yeah and a bagel) and lots of gum chewing going on. By 11 a.m. i had to go. It was time to pee. But no. Too busy. Only manager on duty, too many issues on the floor. By 1:00 my new hire came in and i spent two hours with him, giving him a tour of the store, explaining some programs we are running, answering questions, doing his loss-prevention walk-thru and then it's 3:30 and i was supposed to leave a half hour ago, still have not got to pee, and have to finish up stuff for my boss before i can go home. Man alive.

What control. I rock.

Well, the end of the story is that after all that i finally went. :)

   [ posted  @ 3:06 PM | ]

I found it. In regards to my last post, here is a great example (one of many) to show why i say that it irritates me when evangelicals claim to have voted for Bush bc he's a "believer like them" or because he's "saved" or because he's "born again" or because he's a Christian. Here in his own words is why i could never have voted for him. Follow this link to a very good article as well.

GOOD MORNING AMERICA New York, New York October 26, 2004

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW CHARLES GIBSON, ABC NEWS

All right. Thanks, Tony. We're gonna turn again now to our exclusive interview with President George W. Bush. Everybody knows it's now one of the tightest presidential races ever. And over the weekend, I had some time to spend with the president and the first lady at their ranch down in Crawford, Texas. And we covered a wide range of personal, sensitive subjects, including religion and their views of homosexuality.

CHARLES GIBSON: I want to ask you about one social issue, 'cause you gave an answer that I thought was really interesting in the third debate. Bob Schieffer asked you if you thought homosexuals were born that way ...

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: Yeah.

CHARLES GIBSON: ... or became that way. And you said you didn't know.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Right. I don't.

CHARLES GIBSON: So, the possibility, it's a nature-nurture argument. So, the possibility exists in your mind that it could be nature.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Sure.

CHARLES GIBSON: They could be born that way. If that's the case, just for sake of argument, that's an unalterable characteristic for them. That's like being black or being a woman. So, how can we deny them rights in any way to a civil union that would allow, give them the same economic rights or health rights or other things?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I don't think we should deny people rights to a civil union, a legal arrangement, if that's when a state chooses to do so.

CHARLES GIBSON: But the (Republican Party) platform opposes it.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, I don't. I view the definition of marriage different from legal arrangements that enable people to have rights. And I strongly believe that marriage ought to be defined as between, a union between a man and a woman.

CHARLES GIBSON: So, the Republican platform on that point, as far as you're concerned, is wrong?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Right.

CHARLES GIBSON: How about the constitutional amendment on marriage?

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY: Well, I think it gives the United States a chance to debate the issue. I think it's an issue that people want to talk about. But with respect to everyone involved, and with respect to people.

CHARLES GIBSON: Do you agree with him on the constitutional amendment?

LAURA BUSH: I'm not really sure about it. I think it's important to have the debate.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Look, if, if you're, if you're interested in preserving marriage as a union between a man and a woman, there is one way to do so without the courts making the decisions, that's through the constitutional process.

CHARLES GIBSON: Do we all worship the same God, Christian and Muslim?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I think we do.

CHARLES GIBSON: Do Christians and non-Christians and Muslims go to heaven in your mind?

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, they do. We have different routes of getting there. But I will, I, I want you to understand, I want your listeners to understand, I don't get to decide who goes to heaven. The almighty God decides who goes to heaven. And I am on my personal walk.

OK that's all i wanted to point out there. Here's Mr. Christian Bush saying Jesus Christ=same God as Allah (if you don't realize that's blasephemy, calling Christ as equal to satan, then you are one sorry excuse for an evangelical) and when given the opportunity to call sin "sin" as far as a gay lifestyle, then you're also a very sorry excuse for an evangelical. I don't care if a person is born gay or chooses to be gay. That is not the issue. A person can be born with the tendency to be a glutton or a drunk or a sodomite or a Vikings fan (sorry couldn't help that one), but it doesn't mean sin is any less sin. We are all born sinners. I just wish people would stop making excuses for the Pres. in regards to this.

   [ posted  @ 8:36 AM | ]

Dearie World. Well I finally figured out what my beef was regarding the election and i'll try to sum it up here if i can without being too clickityclack on the keys.

I didn't care if anyone voted for anyone, as long as they voted, and unlike most people, i don't think the country would suffer for the bad in four years no matter who was elected president. I didn't think it would get a lot better with either guy, and i also didn't think it would take a nose dive with either guy. The one thing i hated more than anything else was evangelical Christians saying that Bush was the "only choice" because of his "moral issues" such as abortion etc. First of all, he failed evangelicals on stem cells, and 2ndly, we should not even talk about abortion bc he's done nothing at all to halt it, but has approved extra funding for planned parenthood. I just want evangelicals to tell the truth and call a spade a spade. They cannot see they are being dooped and targeted for votes with promises that will not be upheld. Mostly it just made me mad to hear christians use the God-excuse as to why they were voting for Bush. Any other reason would be fine. It's just that one makes me want to gagpukebarf because it's so hollow and so blind. You can be pro-war and vote Bush: that's cool. You can be pro-tax cuts and vote Bush: that's cool. You can be pro-gov't-invading our privacy & vote Bush, that's cool. Just please don't tell me he's anti-abortion bc of what comes out of his mouth. He could have done so much more and he didn't -- and he won't.

Wait, before you say it's not in his "power" to end abortion, please get your facts straight. It was not in his "power" to declare war either. That is the job of the congress, and he side-stepped them. He side-stepped the congress to go to war (which we all know now was unfounded as well) to avenge the lives of 3,000 'Mericans who were killed on 9-11. All i'm saying is that if he has that kind of power to avenge the lives of 3000 living breathing adults who already got a chance to make their mark on the world, what about the tens of millions of babies murdered pre-birth who ever even got to make their mark? If He REALLY believed that was murder, then i believe he has no choice but to do SOMETHING. Stand up and call it murder. Stand up and call unborn babies a "person." Pass the Right to Life Act. Something. But he's not even tried to do any of that. Yet people still make excuses for him. "He's pro-life." No he's not. Two words: Arlen Specter: a preview of coming attractions. Three more words: Justice Roy Moore. Wow, the church gets real quiet when you bring that one up. Ouch.

I just can't wait for the day if it comes when one of the Supremes retires in the next four years (again, something i don't think will happen) and Bush keeps his promise of "not having any litmus test" and he appoints a pro-choice judge and that guy gets confirmed to the bench. I just can't wait. Because even then, evangelicals will keep making excuses for the Republican party, as they are stringed along, enticed to the ballot booth with little incentives like gay marriage amendments and such bladeeblah. They don't realize how they are being manipulated and used to keep the powerful in office, while no change is being made on the big issues.

Again, i have no beef with anyone who voted for Bush as long as their reasoning was not about God or pro-life issues. If someone really wanted to restore a constitutional republic to our country, the GOP will never provide that candidate. But i'll be around in 4 years to hear more excuses, i'm sure.

   [ posted  @ 7:30 AM | ]

Went to vote earlier this morning at the Calvary United Methodist church. I don't quite understand all these "long lines" stories i read about and hear about. Why don't states just make smaller precincts? I walked right in there, gave my name, grabbed my ballot and there was no waiting.

And then you should see how far i am on my orphan scarf/rug/table runner/place mat/table cloth i am making. (I told my mom that it's so ridiculously wide that whichever little orphan gets this thing may not be able to understand it's to wrap around their shoulders and the stupid thing will probably end up as a door mat or wall hanging.) I'll possibly post a picture later tonight as the election results turn in/up. knit knit knit. The shooting pains are numbed down now.

   [ posted  @ 4:28 PM | ]

my prediction for vote '04

Keep in mind that i've never called a race wrong...
My prediction is as follows:
Initially, it will appear as tho Kerry will win the popular vote, and Bush will get the electoral college. However, it will be too close to call and we will not know until later on Wednesday who for sure wins. But we will know by the end of Wednesday. It will end up a Kerry victory after some more precincts finish up. Bush will be reduced to weeping, because i truly don't think he has any idea right now that he could lose this and be out of a job in a few months. I can't imagine his let down. His entire life "a charge to keep zzzz" revolves around this campaign in Iraq and when he loses this election it will be all OVER.

Even tho this is my prediction, this is not necessarily how i WANT it to end. We all know my pieinthesky crap about voting off the wagon and how disgusted i am with Kerry, and how i don't care much for Bush either. The only way i think it would not go the way i predict is if younger voters who would have voted for Kerry back out at the last minute and don't end up voting, and if the undecideds go for Bush at a panic moment in the voting booth, too scared to risk change.

What is your prediction?

   [ posted  @ 9:19 PM | ]

Just one question tonight...

Why does someone like me
knowing the pain that will be involved
knowing my propensity for carpel tunnel syndrome
knowing that i've already experienced numb limbs 65% of nights while sleeping
with shooting pains in my arms and hands
take up a new hobby
such as knitting
that will certainly only contribue to the
pain; the shooting pain
started typing 80 words a minute in 5th grade
starting playing guitar in 6th grade
started cross-stitching in 6th grade
started flossing sometime ago
and other things that require fingers
that lead to carpel tunnel
and i don't have health insurance
(don't forget to vote)
so if one day i reach on the store shelf
to grab someone's pens
or file folders
or wireless netorking adapter
or ethernet cable
or twin pack of inkjet cartridges
and my arms
FREEZE UP
and quit working

it will only be my fault.
The shooting pains in my arms, back and shoulders
is really bad right now.
I am booking along on a new scarf (chucked the one
you saw in the bottom pic)
while watching The Factor
and the SNL presedential special
thinking of how stupid i really am.

Yet, i am good at it,
so i will keep doing it.

In other news, I spent some time today trying to be informed as to what i will be facing in the voting booth in Minnesota tomorrow. I decided i wasn't going to be Ms. Ignorant when walking in there, and researched if there were any referrendums or special things on my ballot for tomorrow.

You know, you get in the booth and forget that they don't put party officiliation on the state supreme court people or whatever and i always end up picking the person whose name sounds the COOLEST! So i went on this stupid website that all the evangelicals around here brag about. It is first of all stupid bc it doesn't list the umpteen million people running for president. Then it's stupid because i'm pretty sure whoever set this up ONLY ASKED THE QUESTIONS OF THE PEOPLE THEY LIKED TO BEGIN WITH - the republicans. So there are no answers registered for any DFL'ers (that's our democratic party here) and no one else on the issues. Very disappointing. I know they will probably say they sent questionaires out and no one responded, but PUHHLEASE. So i will bring my cheat-sheet into the booth with me with all my little names written down who i want to make sure to fill in the arrows by their name.

And it appears as tho no referrendums are on the ballot this time for me and the choices are pretty clear for the local guyz.

   [ posted  @ 8:54 PM | ]

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