It's January!

I haven't posted in a while. Here I am, blogging from my new laptop.  Nothing fancy about it, just another way to get things done, with a little mobility.

The holi-daze is behind us all, and I'm certainly glad for it.  It becomes more of a chore than a pleasure at times because in retail, we've been looking at holiday "gear" for months now. Finally it's over!  The last of it will be cleared out of my store in a week, and I couldn't be happier!! Back to some normal work flow again *fingers crossed*

An update on my "Elvis saga" :  He's back at my store, but my understanding was he would be working as an associate until his papers for pharmacy tech comes through, then he would be transferring stores.  Doesn't look like that's gonna happen, since we're still stuck with him.  But he's an amazing piece of work.  I walked into the lounge for my lunch break around 2:30pm and there he was, taking his afternoon break.  I sat there for my entire 30 minute lunch period, and he was still there when I left.  So, still up to his old tricks. 

The next day, I was in the lounge again for another meal, and he waltzed in, grabbed the remote to the TV and proceeded to change the channel to his liking.  A woman at a ping pong table was prancing around wearing shorty shorts and a bikini top.  She turned this way and that, dropping a shoulder strap, turned her back to the screen, untied her top and spun toward the camera again, using the ping pong paddles to block the view of her bare breasts.  She turned and spun again, bending over with her butt facing the camera.  Of course, with shorty shorts, not much was covered, and proceeded to use the paddles to spank herself in a seductive way. I slammed my book closed and walked out, going to find a member of management, but didn't find one in time.

Today, he did it again in a room full of other women.  One was upset, came down the hall and I was able to flag down a member of management to go in and see what was going on.  The manager asked what he was watching and why?  That it was offensive to women.  Of course, in his Elvis way, he chuckles as if he's a teenager being caught red handed with a Penthouse and that he didn't see anything wrong with it.

Now, mind you, I'm not offended by soft porn; but there's a time and place ..... and I certainly do NOT want to know how a 65+ year old co-worker gets his jollies.  It gives me the willies!!   Personally, I think it was inappropriate for the workplace.  And I'm crossing my fingers that people who were offended today will write a statement.  From what I gathered, this wasn't the first time he's played this particular channel in front of other co-workers.

Why is it one thing after another with some people?  I know the real answer has to do with the other person more than it does with me, but when I'm pulled into his orbit, it really bothers me, and I do everything I can to stay away.

A Lousy Start

I knew it wouldn't take long.  Day 3, and Elvis sauntered over into my work area and started nosing around.  I was away making a delivery.  I wasn't told what happened, or who said what, but when I arrived back to finish up paperwork for the day, a member of management came rushing in, thinking someone needed some assistance.  Me, I felt a little blindsided.  I knew in my gut that it was something said, or done (or both) by Elvis ... to the gal who works for me now (yes, taking his old position).  

Whatever it was, the manager pulled my gal into a closed door meeting.  A few minutes later, the store manager came and pulled her into another closed door meeting.  When she came back in, all she said was "I was told not to talk about it".  

Yeah.  That really makes for lousy start to my weekend.  

I now am left wondering if my time is up at this BigBox Store 

and should I be looking for a transfer?  

Or a whole new job? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Monday, again??

 Isn't it amazing how you can head out for work with the best intentions, and then *wham* out of nowhere you're hit with some sort of idiocy and the rest of the day is slammed.

I'm not a very social person, and I'll speak when spoken to.  It's not very often that I will initiate a conversation with just anyone.  There needs to be a reason.  Otherwise, I'm there to work, to fulfill my duties. 

I have a new helper and I've noticed that she's very social, quite the opposite of me.  She does an amazing job when it comes to the job part of it, but she's that much more on a social aspect.  Should I be worried that someone will say "Hey, she's better than the one we've had for 10 years, time for a change"????   Yes, I think about those things. 

I try to be .... friendlier.  But how do you maintain the supervisory role I'm supposed to have and still be friends??  Add to that my own issues with having empath tendencies.  I've found that if I'm friendly once or twice, I become a target for that person to seek me out, tell me their life story, or their latest list of problems.  I'm too old for that kind of drama and it brings me down very low and I feel burdened by it all.

Added to my list of "miseries", they've rehired Elvis and he's working in my BigBoxStore for the time being.  As per his usual .... he has no censor on what he says to other associates in the break room, and to hear him run down other people while making it sound as if he's the "victim who's triumphed over evil" just makes me want to throw up.

Even though it was a Wednesday, it sure felt like a Monday!
I think I need a good nights' sleep.

Outta Whack

Something's not right.  We've all felt that way from time to time. 
I hate that feeling like there's ... another shoe about to drop.

Maybe I find myself feeling that way when too many things are going on.  Or maybe not enough things are going on!  Back in the day, I was raising six kids, and every day had plenty of things that needed doing on a regular basis.  Now that it's just me at home, I often feel .... bored.  Or that I'm waiting for "the next thing".  In the meantime, I use my days off to recuperate and rest.  But is that truly living?  I find myself wondering that often.  I'll admit, there are some days off where I feel like all I'm doing is prepping my life - ie doing laundry and clean up chores - so that I can make it through the next week of work.  Definitely not living.

Added to these feelings of being off, I've been plagued by dreams.  I've taken to writing down what I feel are key words when a dream wakes me up.  The latest I can recall is in the first dream image there's a male figure in my life, and I'm looking at my phone.  It's telling me "I don't have time to train you today."   The three words I wrote down for this is "train, bbq, and cement".   I don't have any recall on a bbq or any cement, other than a vague image of lots of cement in the backyard, with a built in bbq.  Was there a feeling a party or event was going to happen?  Does that explain why there's "no time to train"?    The second image I had was much more vivid.  There were two white horses who had just walked up a dirt road.  As I looked down the dirt road, I could see it curved to the right.  On the right side of the dirt road was grasses or meadow, on the left side, a small strip of meadow and then trees.  Not deep dark forest type, but more narrow trunks, leafy, letting a lot of sunlight through.   The two white horses stopped off to the left of me, one munching on grass, the other looking backward where it came from, watching a white buffalo coming up the road at a slow leisurely walk.  Behind it, another white horse.  As they came up the road, I began swimming down the road, toward the curve.  I was swimming with the current of the water, it felt like a river, but there were no rocks, only a clear tunnel of water. 

Of course, being me and trying to find meaning where maybe there truly isn't one, I checked out some dream interpretation sites, and chose these few sentences from them:

• White Horse – White horses in a dream indicates your spiritual awareness but you are down to earth in your outlook. They symbolize prosperity, good luck, and purity.
• 
  
• To dream of the sacred White Buffalo is the most coveted of dreams, as the appearance of the creature connotes abundance, prosperity and serves as a good omen for the dreamer.
• 
  
• Dirt road: following your instinct or your gut or repeating old patterns – can indicate the rekindling of an old relationship or someone from your past coming back into your life.
• 
  
• Water in dreams is a symbol of subconscious feelings and emotions. Maybe your dream about swimming is a sign of trying to manage some emotions and feelings, which are not comfortable for you.  Swimming in a river generally means that it is time for a new start in life. If the river current was flowing fast and pushing you along then this is a positive omen.

Most times, dreams leave me with a feeling of ... comfort.  I deal with it in my mind as if a good friend came to tell me things I need to know, using imagery instead of words.  Sometimes, I wish it was just words, so that I could read instead of trying to interpret!

The latest in the saga of Elvis, he has decided that it would be better for him if he worked in another store.  All of us totally agreed!   We shall see what happens, but I think the worst of it (for me) is over with for good.  HooRay!

Doe, A Deer

When Deer jumps in as your Spirit Animal,

She acts as a reminder of the

power of love and compassion.

Perhaps there is a situation in your life

to which you've become apathetic or

perceive in a negative light. ...

Deer spirit also teaches us that

peace is a powerful healer.







To get myself geared up for what's coming, I headed to the Superstition Mountains this morning.  I felt like I needed a break from routine, to take a few minutes to pause, ground myself, refresh my energy.  I drove up to a favorite spot where you can park and walk close to the mountain. 

As I stood there, I was aware that I couldn't hear any of the sounds of the city, only the breeze softly blowing and the beat of my own heart.  I could feel the tension beginning to drain when I heard some hoof beats.  Assuming it was someone on a horse (lots of horse trails in this area), I poised my camera and started skimming the area, and found myself looking at three deer - two female and one male.  This one paused just long enough to look at me.  *click*click*click* I started taking photos as they ran off the other side of the hill. 

When I looked up the deer as a spirit animal, it made me wonder if this has to do with the ongoing saga with Elvis at work.  I went to the mountain to re-energize to make it through the first week that I know will be filled with anxiety.  And this is a good reminder that I need to be strong, and maintain my peace.  To not let this person's negative energy invade my own space.  Or mind, for that matter!

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. 

Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. 

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, 

and the storms their energy, 

while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.”

Done, So Done

They told me today that Elvis
will be back in the building.
Again.

O. M. G.

How many times can a company terminate an employee, only to have it overturned yet again?
This is the third time he's had a termination overturned.

I know that there are always issues between management and employees; that how one person interprets what they're being told isn't always how management meant for it to be said.  But when you follow a company protocol in having all your "ducks lined up", when your policy states that after you receive a certain number of corrections, you're terminated.  They could be for job performance, disrespect for an individual (management or fellow employee), attendance.

People need to be held accountable.  When you're being told that the rules are A, B and C, then you follow those rules;  if you choose not to follow those rules, something must be done to change your course of action.

Elvis has broken performance rules; he has been disrespectful to both management and fellow employees; he has harassed some of the other females in the building - but is lucky enough that there's no one else around to corroborate the story.  And, because of his intimidation factors, most of the other females are reluctant to make a statement because they are afraid of him.

Personally, I want nothing to do with him ever again. 
I will be doing a 'duck and cover' to avoid crossing paths with him. 
Should he attempt a conversation with me, you can bet my phone will be recording it!

"Mama always told me that I should play nice

but she didn't know you when she gave me that advice........"

Work.Work.Work.

Work seems to be all I know lately.  Things have shifted, and more has fallen in my lap, so to speak, when it comes to getting things done.

First, the helper I called Elvis was terminated.  Management told him his position wasn't a "sit down job" and that the chair he was using had to be put away.  He took it upon himself to assume that on weekends (when i wasn't there) he was free to use the rolling stool and park his ass while he did his job.  I figured he would try it, and when management called him on it, he first said that he knew he couldn't use the chair, but the stool would be OK.  The second time they had a chat with him about it, he told them he was doing some "filing" when they saw him using the stool.  Uh huh.  Made me chuckle, because he never filed a lick of paperwork.  When the boss says you can't have something, I don't think you can interpret it to suit your own point of view ......

In the meantime, because Elvis was trying to have the decision overturned, they had to hold his position open for a while.  Which meant that I did my job and his by myself for three weeks.  Sure, I am good at setting priorities and got the majority of the work done.  I'm still behind in the finer points of some of the paperwork that needs to be handled.   They got a replacement, and I've been in the throes of training a new person.  As much as they think it looks easy to do what I do, there are a lot of minor decisions to be made when it comes to determining a product is defective or damaged.  Most of the time it's a judgement call, and teaching someone how to make that call isn't always easy.

In the midst of all of this, I'm working six hour days, six-plus days a week.  When the work piles up, yep, I get to stay and finish what I can.  There are some days when I reach the 9 hour mark and just have to call it a day, and resume the next.  To make matters worse --- can they really be worse??? --- corporate is changing how we do things by eliminating the hand held computers and moving to doing these tasks using apps they've developed.  Sadly, the person(s) developing the apps have never done the actual job and there are many undiagnosed issues that crop up on a daily basis.  Not only am I the first one being trained on this, I am also expected to teach and train my staff of four.  And then to spread the training out to the other folks in the store who need to know how to use these particular apps.  My supervisory position of having one other person report directly to me, I will now have four!  YIKES!   It has never been my goal to be that much of a supervisor -- I like to just go in, do my job and then be able to leave it at the end of the day.

And for those of you who know me, I'm busy counting the days! 
Day 35 and I've had only 3 days off.  My next day off isn't for another four days!
It's nice they let me work as needed, and to leave when needed as well.
Some days, I'm home by 1:30pm and can relax for a few extra hours!

But it's hard to relax, never knowing what the next day will hold.  I'm often doing all the laundry and cleaning ... just in case I don't have another day off for a few days again.  lol 
It's fun because I know it's temporary,
and it's not fun because I would REALLY love a day to sleep in.
Anyone willing to keep Sadie overnight so I can actually DO that??? lol

... Or am I just lucky???

Life sure has been busy lately.  With some key people missing at work, I've had to do a lot of filling in.  Which means I'm not taking my Plexus as regular as I should, and can't when my "post" is on the other end of the building from the bathroom, and I can't just walk away when I feel the need because I'm helping vendors ..... yeah, not a good combination. 

Over the weekend, I got back on track with my Pink Drink, and taking the BioCleanse and even the ProBiotic.  Along with that, I was able to take some time to sit in my lawn chair and soak up some sun while catching up on some reading!   Yes, I had other things that needed doing, but taking care of me is being put closer to the top of the list these days.

And so the week goes on, business as usual at my BigBox Store.  Until today.  They pulled Elvis into the office for a talk.  Because he's at the limit of coachings, his next one would be termination.  So management gave in - yet again! - and let him off with a warning.  As usual, when being pinned down, this narcissistic sociopath started pointing all kinds of fingers, especially at me -- that I'm not friendly toward him.  Last time I checked "the rules", I have to be respectful, not friendly. 

Management pulled me in for a quick convo as well, told me to "suck it up, buttercup" and put on a poker face, smile and be friendly.  Uh, sorry, not this girl.  I've had it up to HERE with Elvis and his shenanigans for six long years, and if that's the way it's going to be, then it's time for me to do what I gotta do that's best for me.   When I mentioned the particulars about having little respect for someone who doesn't respect the rules, and steals time on a daily basis -- they made it sound like this is the first they're hearing about it.  But I said I would be glad to forward my emails concerning this matter to them as soon as our meeting is done.  *smh*   Does anyone else who works in the retail industry have to deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis?????  Or am I just "lucky" ???




Ok.  this one describes it to a Tee.  An over-inflated ego (that's him) and I'm the supervisor who's doing the correcting and disagreeing (related to job performance) and to him, I'm disrespecting him.   Well, that makes me feel a little bit better, but does nothing to help with the work situation that I'm in.  It's easy to see that no matter what I do, there's no way to show him as much respect as he is thinking he deserves. 

After a little more research, I found a bit of evidence that bosses have a hard time spotting the narcissism because they don't work in a direct line with these individuals.  Everything else points how to deal with a narcissistic boss .... I don't know, just trying to reach out and find some answers.  And not finding much.

The most obvious answer is finding another position within the company, preferably at another location.  But the position I currently hold is specialized, and doesn't become available often.  So it would mean stepping down a level, taking a pay cut. 

And why should I let this bully push me out of a job I enjoy doing, and am very good at??

My thoughts will be churning for the next few days .....

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!

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!

Battle Armor

Friday arrived, and I debated back and forth:  to call out sick? or go to work?

I pondered it long and hard, and in the end, decided that I wasn't going to let Asshat Elvis win.  So I had an idea: because I work in the back, not on the floor, I usually wear jeans and said required polo shirt.  So I decided to put on black dress pants, my white embroidered polo and the vest required when working on the floor.  It was like wearing armor!  and I felt ready for battle.

It didn't take 15 minutes before he's asking if I'm expecting visitors because I'm in full dress.  "Nope" I said with a smile, and walked out.  I made lots of errands during my workday, just to stay out of harm's way.  And because I'd logged 40 hours by 12:30, I left then.  Luckily I had turned in keys without him being able to see me, so maybe he thought I went to lunch.  Frankly, I don't give a sh*t what he thought, I don't report to him.  Maybe he'll start thinking I had an interview elsewhere!?!

Turns out, he went running his mouth at lunchtime again - to the same gal - and told her that I was the reason another male coworker didn't get a manager level promotion.  Luckily, I know this guy didn't want to be a manager, still doesn't.  But hearing someone speaking these lies about me -- people who don't know me might believe him!  He says things with such authority.

Where does an A$$ get all this BS?  I swear he makes things up, just to stir up trouble.  And now that I'm on the receiving end of it all, I'm beginning to wonder if this type of gossip has been going on a long time and it's been coloring how upper management has been seeing me?  And this time around, maybe people are tired of his same BS and are speaking out.  Because they're coming up and telling me things ......


And here we're at another Monday,
and the beginning of another week of ....
who knows what.

For me, I think my headphones are coming with me,
play a few tunes so I can ignore some of the gossip
that is running rampant -
sort of the what I don't know, doesn't hurt as much??

Him. Or Me.

I.  Am.  So.  Mad!

Yes, it's work related.

I have a co-worker.  Technically I am the supervisor.  But I've been fighting an unseen battle with this person for six years now.  There is always something .... Maybe he's one of those who always has to stir the pot, keep things agitated.  But he's also the one who just sits back after stirring the pot and sympathizes with whomever comes crying about the issue.

It looks like I'm the new current target.

Two summers ago he targeted two co-workers, one a part time female cashier and another male co-worker.  He was convinced these two (who didn't know each other) came to his apartment building and killed his tomato plants.  He went so far as to call the police on them!  The female was so distraught she changed her days off so she would work fewer days when he was on the schedule.  The male worker left the company shortly after all of this.  He harassed this cashier in such a sneaky way that there would be no witnesses (he said, she said) and she refused to write up a complaint because she was scared to death he would retaliate.

Today, he told one of the girls who I supervise that three years ago, I called her a bitch.  Three years ago?????  **smfh**    He was coached back in March for violating company standards, and he's been fighting it ever since.  Which means that because he's taken things to higher management, anything he does, he cannot be coached for in the meantime.  He steals time, and I log it with management so they can catch him on camera.  He's even been caught sleeping at his 'desk'.  And yes, he still has a job.

My job is to supervise him.  He's been performing the same routines, the same job functions for six years now.  Just how much supervision does he need for these daily routines????  And yet, he has gone to management, and now to higher ups complaining about me, saying he needs someone who is a real supervisor.  It is my job to audit his work, and when I find errors, in the past, I would just have a discussion with him, teach and train how to do the job correctly, and leave it at that.  But after 6 years, he is still making the same kinds of errors.   I still leave him notes and the product that has the error, but I also put it in an email to him and to our management team re: his mistakes.  Because if he tries to refute the errors I have found, it becomes another he said, she said.




I'm very frustrated.

I think I've reached my breaking point.

Him or me.

Workin' Whoa's

I've been finding lately that my dreams coincide with lengthy bouts of sleep time.  Normally, I sleep 90 minutes then my FitBit logs a "restless" frame of time.  I'm hoping that just means rolling over, but sometimes it's staring at the TV for a while.  But the last few days with heavy dreams I've been sleeping for 3-hour stretches.  Weird for me, but I'm liking this pattern, because I need that quality down time to recharge for whatever tomorrow will hold!

And it's all about loads of changes at my BigBox Store.  Most of them have to do with changing over from their hardwired computer system to new little APPs.  And like everything else, there's an app for that!!   Looks like they're making that come true.  But being the "back office team leader" on all things changing it's up to me to keep up, to learn and then teach.  By the end of every day, my brain is on overload.  (Which probably has resulted in the deep sleep and heavy dreams!)  

On top of all that, if you're following along on my Elvis saga - this guy just keeps burying himself.  When you're told something has changed at your job, it's up to you to care enough to remember the change.  Elvis doesn't.  I'm not sure if somewhere along the line, he started to believe himself invincible and that he can keep on doing his own thing?  Management must be making some decisions - I was called back to work yesterday afternoon to forward emails concerning all of the incidents and run-ins that I've had with him.  What they do with that info is up to them.  *smh* 

So in the overall scheme of things, I'm at this crossroad again.  With an all new management team that so far has turned out to be all strong, vocal (read: bossy) women, and that doesn't work well with me.  The latest for my own job performance has been removing the tool that sets the work schedule for the 5 of us on our team.  Since I won't be doing the schedules, I won't be covering missing shifts.  Guess the new "strong, vocal (read: bossy) manager can fill in when someone's missing!   *smh*  (yes, that sounds kind of snarky on my part but this is the fourth time "new management" has taken over in the past 6 years; they do this same thing: take away the scheduling tool - until they're missing a few shifts, then it's "oh please can you do this again for us?"  ugh)  

The Co-Worker

Sociopathic behavior, I read in Inc., affects 1 in 25 people.  Odds are we've all come across this type of person in the workplace before.  But if you've ever had to work with one, you'd know it.  I have that issue with my co-worker and over many months I've come to realize that no matter what I do, it doesn't change him.  Not that I feel it's my job to change him, but in a supervisory role, it's my job to guide and instruct on proper company procedures and rules.  But dealing with someone who doesn't care about the rules makes it that much more difficult.

Over time, I've given up, I just do what needs doing.  And frankly, letting him make his own mistakes, I use that opportunity to instruct, but I no longer follow through to make sure he understands.  Because one of his traits is to ask questions about something he's been instructed on.  And I can never determine if he really "forgot" or if he's playing me in some kind of game.  And I'm not going that route at all.  

Here's the list from Inc. that gives the top traits of someone with sociopathic behavior:

1. Sociopaths are superficially charming and intelligent.
2. They are coldly rational.
3. They are rarely, if ever, overly nervous. Sociopaths are not afraid of risk.
4. Sociopaths are not reliable.
5. They often tell lies or say insincere things.
6. They never feel remorse or shame.
7. Their behavior turns anti-social for no good reason.
8. They have poor judgment and do not learn from experience, as they believe they are smarter than everyone else.
9. Sociopaths are pathologically egocentric, and incapable of love.
10. They generally lack the ability to react emotionally with sincerity. They have a general lack of emotion.
11. They lack insight and are not self-reflective.
12. Sociopaths appear responsive socially, often faking it to avoid being “found out.”
13. They are likely to be the life of the party.
14. Sociopaths may make false suicide threats.
15. Their sex life is impersonal, trivial, and/or poorly integrated.
16. They will consistently fail to follow a life plan.

One piece of given advice:  "Do not participate in intrigue. Don't play the game you're being invited to play. Don't compete with, or try to outsmart, or psychoanalyze, or even banter with a sociopath. Your No. 1 goal is to protect yourself."

And that's been my bottom line.  

I gotta look out for me.

the Power of Positivity advises:  

"There are all types of people in the world. You don’t have to participate in every argument and toxic experience. You get to decide how you act, react and teach others."

Bright Blessings and a

Positive Outlook, 

for tomorrow is Friday!

Under the Bus

Every now and then, something happens in a workplace, and there's someone who tries to throw a co-worker "under the bus" to make themselves look good.  I realize that in a workplace world, everyone wants to look good in their performance, but what does it say when you're the person who gets thrown under the bus because someone else did something wrong?

I've chatted about my co-worker off and on again, and he's ... something.  Recently reprimanded for something he did incorrectly, he appealed to upper management to get the reprimand overturned.  And for some reason, dragged my name into the whole mess, even though I wasn't working at the time of the incident.

Every corporation has some sort of written guide for job performance.  Sometimes it seems the bigger the corporation, the more guides there are!  And that's certainly true for my own BigBox.  There are detailed guides for dealing with situations that include working with items that may contain hazardous chemicals (pool chlorine, gasoline, nail polish remover), and employees are expected to follow those rules.  We are given information then tested on that information yearly, making sure our knowledge is up to date.  Especially if it's a part of your daily routines.

There's nothing worse than having upper management pull you into a closed door interview, being asked questions.  (For me, personally, situations like this tend to aggravate my BAM and I end up in the bathroom!)  Answering honestly is always the best policy, and of course, citing the fact that when in doubt, it's our job to check the guide and make sure we're following procedure.  With no clue what my co-worker told upper management, I just answered honestly to what was asked.  I gave my opinion at the end of the interview, and now it's in someone else's hands.

I've been working in my same position for nearly 9 years now, and most times, enjoy the work that I do.  I just don't deal well with the people.  As you get older, you realize certain things.  Many years ago, I thought that most people were brought up (like me) and thought (like me) that there was only one way to do things:  the right way.  Much to my shock! and amazement! there are some who get by in life doing as little as possible, in as many shortcut ways as possible, and thinking that it's OK.

That's not me.
Never will be.

Work Woes -- or is it Whoahs???

My job can be complicated.  And simple at the same time.  Simplistically, items that are returned to my BigBox store are scanned and put into boxes to send back to vendors.  Conversely, there are special rules for shipping this, that and the other thing, and my job is to remember those rules without violating company policy, or creating a hazardous package to violate DOT regulations.  That's it in a nutshell.

Because there are so many returns, I can't work 7 days a week, so I have someone who helps me.  I call him Elvis.  But Elvis isn't a Company Man.  He's out to get what he can get for himself.  When he finds himself boxed into some kind of corner, he finds another way around it.

The biggest controllable expense in a BigBox store is payroll, so there are certain rules and schedules, and everyone must follow their schedule.  If not, there are consequences.  However, Elvis has figured out that if he clocks in 15 minutes early each day, by Friday he can leave early (so as not to go over his scheduled number of hours).  Leaving early before the end of shift causes a flag and he's violated this one for the past 6 weeks.  But I was having the hardest time trying to figure out why he can't get his entire work load done in the hours allotted him.  I know I can do his part of the job in about 6 hours total.  Today I figured it out.

Turns out, he clocks in early but heads into the employee break room until starting time.  So there was 20 minutes of lost productivity.  He then took a 30 minute break when he's allowed 15.  I've been observing this since last fall, and trying to report it to management, but ... well, I guess there are other things more important.  Today, I think they finally got tired of me reporting him and pulled video. Yep.  They concurred and gave him a written warning for not following schedule.

That isn't the entire story, however.  Two weeks ago, he came into work oddly gleeful.  He said someone had killed his tomato plants, and he has witnesses that it was two different employees from the store.  I'm sure I had a WTF face on -- who would assume it's a fellow employee?  and why would they give a rat's ass about his tomato plants??   I let it go at that, because I didn't want to hear any of his drama.   That won't be the case, because he's not shy about spreading the rumor throughout the store.  Of the two accused, one is a part time cashier who barely makes ends meet.  I can't see her spending $$$ on something to kill his plants!  She's also one of the nicest, meekest women I know.

When she heard about his accusations, I found her in tears in the bathroom, and then discovered Elvis has been quietly harassing her.  I reported it.  She refused to write up a statement, saying she didn't want to make waves, the whole thing would blow over.  Today, there was another incident.  As she was clocking in, he leaned in over the back of her, took a big sniff and announced "You Stink".  She walked away from him and asked me if I thought she smelled, I said no, and advised her again to report this, as this is more harassment.  She finally reported it, and I'm glad for that.

The tomato story doesn't end there.  (And I'm sure there's more that I refuse to listen to!) But he and I work in close confines on days we're both scheduled; it seems as if he's had many conversations with some Police Officer, and he was explaining some kind of "complicity" charge that could be brought up if only one had killed the plants, but the other was knowing about it, or bragging about it at work.  He then proceeded to give me an example about him coming to my house, dropping tainted meat over the fence to hurt my dog, then telling someone else about it.  He then emphasized that this is "purely hypothetical".   Um.  Another example wouldn't have worked well enough?  You have to use a veiled threat like that?   I put it out of my mind.  But today, he asked what I was doing next week .... I'm on vacation, I replied.  He said Isn't it your daughter's wedding?  mmm hmmm (and keep my head down, keep on working, trying to ignore him) He kept on talking about how he knows someone who could watch my dog for me while I'm gone.   No thanks, she goes with me everywhere.  

In the years that we've worked together, he's never asked or mentioned my dog.
Then after his coaching today, the first thing he says to me is "You make Marcy look like a cub scout..."  (Marcy being a manager from the past who was notorious for being a bitch).

Mmm hmm... keep talking, Elvis.
Talk yourself right out of a job.

Love to Read

More than three years ago, my kids bought me a Kindle for Christmas.  And yes, I've loved using it, although I go to the library every week to check out books because I love books.  It's certainly much easier to carry my Kindle to work to read during lunch.


Buying Kindle books can be pricey, because I read them so fast.  I know that my library lends Kindle books, but I was never able to figure it out.  Mostly because I didn't take the time to learn.  I just assumed it would be easy-peasy -- it wasn't, and I just didn't take it any further.

Until today.

I finally got out my Kindle and sat at my desktop and tried to figure out just what was wrong.  And I discovered it within 15 minutes:  My wi-fi had never been set up.   *laughs*  Yes, I'm shaking my head, thinking what a goof I am in not figuring that out before.   but NOW!  I can borrow library books, and read to my heart's content!!

With that said, I'm off to sit in the sun, and read my latest book.  I'm working on the series of books by Robert Crais with the characters Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

The King! 1956

I peruse SHORPY pictures all the time, and found this one... totally arresting! 

Veterans Memorial Auditorium,  May 26, 1956, in Columbus, Ohio.

Can't you just hear him crooning???

One commenter wrote: 

Single guitar amp plopped on top of a folding chair.
Drum kit that could fit into his suitcase.
No lasers
No strobes
No stack of Fender amps.
Pure, so very pure.
I'm not much of an Elvis fan but this guy had more stage presence
than 3,000 American Idol finalists put together.

Amen!  I wasn't a big Elvis fan, being born in 1959, I was a little behind the times. 
But his music is classic, and I still enjoy it, even to this day.
Back then, they really knew how to rock, without all the extras!