Bah Humpug

It has been The Week From Hell - anyone in retail can relate, I'm sure.  Many hours prepping for The Sale, all for it to be over in a flash.  We all work hard, stay late, go the extra mile, all so our customers can get what they want to buy for their Holidays.  This is my 17th Season in retail, and I can honestly say I don't enjoy much of it any longer.  I may put on a brave face if family happens to come over, but they've learned over the years that I'm not at my best .....  Nothing takes the joy out of setting up a Christmas tree in your home when you've already been setting up trees in your store for more than 60 days.  Ugh.  Any more, I'd just rather have some kind of "destination gift" - a movie and treats for the whole family, a hike out in nature somewhere, just about anything to get away from the commercialism that the Holiday Season has become.

My gift to family each year is a calendar - one that I fill with custom photos that I've taken all year, or that I've dug up out of family archives.  As the family grows, it's impossible to have photos of everyone included but I do what I can.  At least on the first (or second) of every month, when they turn the page, it's something new to look at.  And if there's a photo that brings up a memory for them, all the better, in my book.  Yes.  I'm weird.  But I'm ok with that!

An update on the whole Elvis thing at my BigBoxStore.  I had a meeting with the area HR manager.  And basically her message was this:  "let the system work".  My comeback:  I've been letting it for six years now.  It doesn't.   He has this uncanny sense of timing and when he's coached, he overturns it as high as he can take it.  In the latest case, it took Upper Management six months to complete the hoop-jumping; and he knows that they a)  won't coach him for anything else while he's in the midst of this process (so he gets to literally skate his way through) and b)  that the coaching drops off after 12 months, basically buying himself those easy  months.  And while he was biding that time, he knew he could get away with extended breaks (on the clock, but not working) over and over again.  While me, I'm the one stuck with babysitting his mistakes, being the one who has to point out each of the issues and/or mistakes while management literally turns a blind eye - because *they* aren't the ones who have to work with it on a daily basis.  There are times when I have to talk to him about an issue, and management has sent in a witness, so that it won't be his word against mine -- the old "he said she said" defense. 

I also asked about his wanting a meeting to "clear the air" between us.  He was literally asking that I be told to "like him".  He was told I only have to treat him with respect.  That's my job.  And while it's OK that he gets to run around and bad-mouth me, spread rumors, I have to be respectful.  In the end, it seems that the reality of the situation is this:

::they aren't going to do anything and it's probably time for me to move on::

With that being said, it would be better to leave with my good name and the reputation I've built intact and find a store willing to transfer me in.  Of course, nothing will happen with the holiday season, so I have to bide my time until January.  As a sanity saving course of action, I have set an alarm on my phone for each day to remind me to go to the gym for my lunch hour, rather than be within the confines of my building, subjected to rumors, inuendos, and flat out ignorance.  

Work rant over.  

Thank you for reading!

Sometimes, You Just Laugh

In trying to forget about work woes and whatever is going to happen (it's out of my control), I'm taking it one day at a time and just doing things for me, mostly little things, but things!

After dinner this evening, it's time for our walk. 
I put Sadie on the leash and we start out. 

At the end of the driveway, she stops, refusing to move. 
So I stop, trying to wait her out. (she can be a stubborn little cuss!)

Sometimes this is a little game we play.
And other times, she does it because she has her own direction in mind.

But not today.
She refuses to take a step in any direction.
So I wait some more. 
Inspiration hits!

"Sadie ... let's go get the stroller!"

Sadie dashes back up the driveway to the front door.
We walk in and I grab the stroller, pushing it to the front door.
No sooner do I get it parked and set the brake
and Sadie is climbing right into it!

Which now means I'm committed to a longer walk!
So off we go, the sun has already set
Our twilight is a very short window, less than 20 minutes.
And then it's dark.
But we don't stop until I've reached at least 2500 steps!

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh!
What a crazy dog!

Whatta Week!

This week seemed to go on for.ev.er! 

I felt much better after last Friday and choosing not to let the Asshat win!  Wearing my "full dress uniform" really seemed to help, at least for my own mentality.  I was supposed to have a sit-down chat with some higher-ups, but as is always the case in retail, most folks are stretched too far, too thin, to have a lot of time for things like conversations. 

I spent my Saturday driving to pickup Sadie from my daughter's house.  She seemed glad to see me, but I'm wondering if she didn't enjoy being around more people than just me!  Which would be understandable.  As an "ol' lady", things can be quite boring around home!  I've remedied that with making our morning walk longer, and added an extra long evening walk as well, now that it's cooler.  It's been working -- sometimes, its ~me~ forcing the walk issue, but we go. 

The rest of this week was full of answering questions.  Now that corporate has decided to make some changes, they give us some general rules, change some of the options on the computer, but then never give us any guidance on how to handle individual questions.  While I can see their point on many of the things we try to return to vendors, there still needs to be someone making sound, logical decisions for each individual item.  In fact, I told Elvis that there needs to be some logical reasoning --- but it went right over his head.  All day long, question after question, and not understanding.  In truth, it would be much faster and more practical for me to do it all than to have to second guess his reasoning for whatever choice he makes.  I know that I will have a buggy full of a mess on Monday when I return.  Doesn't bother him to just toss things aside and wait for instruction instead of reasoning it out and trying to make a logical judgement call.


I'm sure you can tell that this individual is a source of much frustration and angst, and it's not only me.  He's been doing the same job for six years now, with no changes or adding to his duties.  He was told he needed to run a report today, and he told our manager that he didn't know how to do that.  She was so frustrated, she called me over and asked me to teach him ~again~ and this time to have a witness in the room.  Because she knows there will be a next time, and she'll have his ass, so to speak.   Yep.  We'll see.


Overall, it was a pretty good week, I kept myself busy.  All the extra walks has me focusing on some of my own creativity again, taking photos on our walks.   This caught my eye the other night .....

Happy Weekend, my friend!