September 23, 2007

• Just Some Stuff

  I’m sitting at my desk binge eating twizzlers.  This time of year, I eat continuously. Not because I’m hungry, but because my ears and throat itch and the only thing that helps is eating. The chewing helps the itching in my ears, and the swallowing helps scratch my throat. I can’t wait for the first frost to kill off all the ragweed. That’s probably the worst of the pollinators, though my allergies would still be obnoxious without that nasty weed. The allergy medicine can only block so much…

  But I put on so much weight this time of year. I was down to 185lbs at the beginning of the year, and now I’m back over 200lbs again. So I joined a gym.  I’ve never been a member of a gym before. It was a good deal, price-wise, and it’s virtually right next to where I work. The only thing is, as part of being a member, I get one free hour-long meeting with a “personal trainer”… if I can track one down. I went in on Wednesday morning and no one was even available to talk to about rates. I left my name and number for someone to call me. No one did. So I went back Thursday afternoon, and luckily someone was there and I ended up signing up. I should have signed up to talk to a trainer then, but silly me, I wanted to wait for my schedule. So I went back Friday, and the receptionist type person said I could leave my name and number and a trainer would get back to me. Having already tried that once I told her I’d rather just make an appointment since I now knew my schedule. But no, this is not how they do it. The trainers have no set schedule, and I basically have to wait on them to get back to me or actually catch one of them when they’re around. I told the receptionist that this was a really bass ackwards system, but since leaving my name and number seems not to be an option (since I’m not going to sit around waiting for a call), that I would just come back Monday morning when she said someone “should” be there. We’ll see. If I don’t talk to a trainer or set up an appointment, I’m just going to wing it in terms of what excercises I think will help my “problem areas.” It’s not like I don’t run around enough at work, so I already know I don’t need any of the leg-type machine thingies. It’s basically everything else, but my legs, that needs the work.

  I had my mid-year review at work yersterday. The General Manager went over it with me, though the review itself was the work of the evil Micro-manager (she’s on a two-day sick streak this week, maybe today too). Apparently I am doing well, BUT I have a communication issue? I don’t communicate enough, and sometimes I’m guilty of TMI in my emails….? Apparently, I said some things about how the other employees feel about Mr. Ignorant co-worker a couple weeks ago and that was a no-no…. But the thing is, the evil Micro-manager never said word one to me about what I said, and my General Manager was under the impression that she had or would. So basically, it comes out that I am Not the one who is Not communicating! It’s the evil Micro-Manager who is not interacting with me, or anyone else for that matter. My General Manager even let slip that one of my fellow supervisors has some issues with her as well (as in, they don’t/won’t talk to each other if they’re scheduled together). And as for the TMI issue, since only supers and mgrs see the emails, I felt that the they should all know if there’s a storewide issue brewing because of one coworker. My General Manager told me just to send her emails of that nature from now on. Additionally, my evil Micro-Manager feels that I do not look at the Monthly Merch packet enough and don’t keep track of tasks (even though I “consistently finish my tasks well ahead of schedule,” so which is it ). So I’m going to buy a calendar-planner and start writing things in there to keep better track of sales beginning and ending. Keeping track of the tasks is made much more difficult by the fact that she raids my weekly merch papers whenever I make the mistake of not hiding them and gives them to her “boy-friend.” Then when the papers have “mysteriously” disappeared, I’m left wondering what exactly got done and so is she. She also recently sent an email “yelling” at people about leaving merch papers at the Information desk, but the thing is, only supers and mgrs have access to emails, and we’re not the people doing it. Duh! It’s her “boy-friend” and people that She is giving the papers to, since I tell all of the people that I give the papers to, to put them in my mailbox when they’re finished with them. Not that I give many people papers at all. I do most of the Merch work myself, as she well knows.

  GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOMEONE NEEDS A REALITY CHECK!

  Anyway, all Borders stores will be having a Halloween party this year , which is extremely unusual. They don’t usually let us celebrate or acknowledge ANY holidays for fear they’ll offend someone. Personally I think selling items to do with holidays (books, foods, doodads, etc), but not in anyway acknowledging them, is tacky. I think ALL holidays should be acknowledged. It lets people know that you are taking the time to not only be aware of their needs, but also aware of the things they value. But I guess Halloween is secular enough that they’ve finally decided to yield on this holiday at least. Hah! Wouldn’t they freak if I used the “Halloween” party to educate people on Pagan traditions? Of course, then I’d probably be looking for a new job shortly thereafter.

  Supposedly it will be run like the Harry Potter night was. I’ve taken charge of it since the girl who usually organizes festivities in the store will be trekking to a new store in New Jersey to help them set up. They gave us a spreadsheet of suggested activities, which are mostly really lame, and they want us to hand out candy, but they only gave us a budget of $15?! Cheap! They even want us to give out a prize for best costume… well there goes the budget! But my General Manager has authorized $40, so later today I’m running over to the Dollar Tree to buy some cheapy candy for which I’ll be reimbursed. I also spent most of yesterday online, looking up better crafts and activities for the party.  I’m forming a committee at work to discuss and create decorations, but it won’t be paid time, and I don’t think I’m going to get many people aside from the Halloween fans like myself. But it’s going to be ooky spooky fun!  So basically, Borders has authorized a store-wide, nation-wide party which they don’t feel like paying for and don’t care enough about to put any effort into beyond telling us to do it. Nice. I love working for a corporate entity.

  

  yeth, mathsters……

   

  So………………..anyone planning on winning the lottery at any point in the near future or have a rich uncle who’s recently deceased and you’re looking to spend some money? I’d love to open my own bookstore if you want to help a girl out.

  • 11:53 am
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