the wonderful world of des

irritating customers

2009-11-08T18:40:00.002-05:00

Christmas and the whole holiday season stress me out. Not because I won't get all the presents I want, or be able to buy everything I want for everyone else, or because I don't see my family. No, I'm stressed out because I work in retail. As the store gets busier, people seem to get more inconsiderate. Some examples:

When I'm pushing an obviously heavy cart full of merchandise, 4 out of 5 people don't get out of my way. Only when I manage to somehow manuever around them and I say "excuse me" then 1 out of those 4 people will move over an inch and grunt something that I can only assume is supposed to be "Oh, excuse me! I'm so sorry to get in your way!" The rest of the people either completely ignore me, or give me a dirty look for disturbing their shopping. I actually had someone the other day give me a dirty look, then got in my way not once, but twice. (She went around the aisle s she could do it again.) Then had the gall to ask me for help. Maybe I wasn't as nice to her as I am to other customers. Oopsie.

People treat the store like it's their house. I realize that it is part of my job to follow people around and clean up after them, but why do they leave their empty coffee cups on the shelves? We do provide trash cans like every 20 feet or so. Or if they drop some merchandise or somehow else make a mess (hey, that stuff happens) why do they not tell a worker?

-Example: The other day I spent a good half an hour cleaning up a bottle of baby oil. I thnk someone opened it to smell it or something, and then it slipped out of their hands because it was baby oil. I ust happened to walk by and see a mess on the floor. Have you ever tried cleaning up a liter or so of oil with paper towels on tile flooring? Not as easy as it sounds.

Related, I can understand taking stuff of the shelves to look at it, like shoes or rug. But why would you leave them on the floor afterwards?

-Example 1: I was working in a certain rug aisle with my cart, putting stuff away. I left for a minute to help a customer, and came back to find two large rugs splayed out on the floor. Seriously, I was gone like 30 seconds and when I left, nobody else was on the aisle.

-Example 2: I was tidying up the shoe section. This woman (well, late teens - early 20s) was taking out shoes and leaving them on the floor. My passive agressive "cleaning up the same aisle she was on, right in front of her" wasn't working, so I said "Oh, are you still looking at all of these?" Her boyfriend was embarrassed, but she was like "oh no, I'm done." I gave her a minute to clean up after herself and went to another aisle. When I came back, the part of the aisle that I had just cleaned right in front of her, was a mess again. Apparently she ddn't find what she was looking for the first time, so she had to go through them all again. Honestly, that's when I gave up and went home a few minutes early.

Ok, that's enough bitching for now. I was more riled up earlier, but videogames fixed that. :D

driving miss des

2009-11-05T17:12:00.002-05:00

Right now, my friend from work is on vacation. What does this mean for me? Well for one I don't get to hang out with her at work for a while, but the more notable thing is: I have a car to drive! That's right she's letting me borrow her car. She wouldn't accept any money for me to "rent" it, but I will have it filled with gas and washed by the time she gets home. (For the record, I've never gotten as much as a speeding ticket, so it wasn't a risky gamble on her part.)

I'm only driving it to & from work, but boy does it make me miss having a car of my own - especially a little sporty one with a bit of zip to it. (But just about anything is sportier than the Olds.) There's nothing I can do about it just now, but someday I will have another mini cooper (or until then, at least a Chevy Cobalt). But for the next week I'll be zipping around all by myself. :)

almost new kitty

2009-11-03T11:18:00.003-05:00

Last night we had our weekly date at Wild Wings* and on the way there we saw a tiny black kitten with white toes. He had run off the sidewalk because some people going the other direction from us were being loud and bitchy, so who can blame him. When we passed where he was, we called to him a little bit. He looked like he wanted to come to us, but yet he didn't. And it seems he had a little friend still hiding in the bushes, shaking the leaves and trying to make us think he was a bush monster and not a kitten. We never actually saw the friend.
On the way back, we looked for him but he was long gone. Shame, that, because we would have brought home a cute little friend (or friends) for Mecrutio. But we'll keep our eyes open for him.

(And don't worry - we wouldn't have been stealing someone's kitty. It was a non-residental area, so he was most likely a stray.)

*Mondays it's buy 8 get 8, so Jay gets 16 hot wings. My boneless ones do not count towards free ones, sadly. But it's the price I pay for being super picky about the meat I eat.

fall fun!

2009-10-27T12:06:00.004-04:00

Picture overload! (As always, click to enlarge.)

Halloween is my favorite time of the year for lots of reasons, and today I will focus on two of them: holiday socks and pumpkin carving.

I have a thing for socks, and I happen to work at one of the best stores for awesome socks. So yesterday I went on a sock shopping spree. I held back on the Halloween socks because I'm hoping that n a few days when all the Halloween stuff goes on clearance the other ones I like will still be there. It was between candy corn, ghosts, and spiders. I held them behind my back and had Jay choose a hand, and we walked out with candy corn.

When I saw these next socks, I literally yelled out "PENGUIN SOCKS!" So you know I had to have them.

And bunnies wearing scarves and earmuffs? Of course I had to have them. For the record, I initially thought the earmuffs were headphones, and I thought DJ bunnies were hilarious. I still love the socks though.

There are also a few plain colored ones (black / orange and gray) and black & white polka dotted ones, but those didn't require photos.

Since I'm off today, Jay and I decided to carve pumpkins last night. For some reason (probably fiscal) we didn't carve any last year, and I didn't carve any while I lived in NYC. I don't actually remember the last time I carved a pumpkin, which is stupid because I LOVE carving pumpkins. I love the smell. I love the family time it leads to. I love eating pumpkin seeds. And even though I don't like slimy things, I for some reason love putting my hands in the gooey mess that is pumpkin guts.

See me concentrating?

That made these pumpkins

into these jack o'lanterns

Closeup of Jay's flaming face:

Closeup of my spider skull:

ps - i'm really pissed off at blogger right now. It sucks balls for uploading photos, and apparently breaks people's computers. So I may be changing formats.

it's the tiny things

2009-10-24T17:07:00.003-04:00

Today started out to be one of those days. I made myself look nice & pretty for work, but then I was running late. I forgot my lunch, and couldn't go back & get it without being even later. But then I saw a tiny frog while I was waiting to get into work and I smiled.

Thanks to some clever highway speeding, I was only 2 minutes late and I'm convinced that if they had unlocked the door when I first arrived, I would have been on time. But then I would have missed the frog.

You see my dilemna.

fall photoshoot

2009-10-20T17:03:00.003-04:00

Today I headed slightly out of Asheville to do a photoshoot. The original plan was to go out on the Blue Ridge Parkway and capture some of the leaves changing colors (which incidentally, match my hair color right now) but sadly most of the Parkway was closed. We did end up in the NC Arboretum though.

I was wearing a formal red gown in black high heels, but the old people there were looking at me like this was my normal everyday arboretum attire and the photographer needed that giant fancy camera just to take pictures of the trees. Yes some people DO use a fancy camera to shoot trees, but when walking alongside a girl who's all made up like a Hollywood glamour star, one would think the connection would be made. One volunteer tour guide in the Bonsai section even followed us around "giving a tour" of the grounds, until the photographer took a random picture of a tree just to make her leave us alone. (She wasn't trying to interfere with us shooting, I think she was just lonely and bored and it didn't occur to her that we walked by her without wanting to know the history of the bonsai tree.)

Since today was the first nice day we've had in a while (which was fabulous for photos), the arboretum and Parkway were pretty crowded. We got several good shots in the red dress, then we moved on down the parkway and I changed my outfit because walking around the woods in heels is not the smartest idea I've ever had. We found a few spots right off the road to shoot, but there were still a lot of people. In fact, we were doing some artful nudes (I was covered in leaves) when some joggers ran by. There was some very hurried throwing on of clothes by me and blocking me from view by the photographer and Jay. The joggers (2 men) lingered for a minute, but they didn't get the full show they were hoping for. A female jogger also ran by with her dog, but she didn't even bat an eyelash. However I'm pretty sure that if I had indicated that I was in distress, her dog woulda been a'biting.

Sadly most of the day was spent driving around looking for locations, and we only did about an hour of actual shooting. He did buy us McDonald's breakfast (just a parfait for me, thanks) and offered to buy McD lunch too, as we had met up there. The pictures looked great and I can't wait to share them. We will most likely shoot again, but this time with a better plan for locations that includes backup scenarios.

earrings

2009-10-18T20:06:00.005-04:00

I don't have anything interesting to post, so I'm writing about my earrings. I have 13 total, and I never ever take them out or change them. It's just too much of a pain in the booty with some of these rings and whatnot. But recently I felt it was time for a change. I had taken out my earrings to give them their ~~annual~~ cleanings, and I got to looking. I wanted to buy myself a present for working so hard lately (like 7 days a week a few times) and I found a killer deal on ebay.

So I left my earrings out until my new ones came. I thought I'd take advantage by wearing some of those fancy things I make, but apparently the tiny bit of hole-stretching I've done was enough to make me paranoid I was going to lose the danglys. I finally gave up and put my old earrings back in, which was good because apparently the holes had started to close. I knew this because they needed to be re-stretched, which led to a sore lobe. But of course the day after I put them back in, my new ones arrived. The good news is, the gauges I bought (14 and 16) were smaller than my pre-stretched hole size, so no more sore ears.

The new ones are the multicolored rings at the very bottom (one in the left ear and two in the right). Here's an explanation for the rest of them:

-the fishbone, star, and skull I got in Mexico many years ago

-the amethysts are the last bday present I got from my xbf , which I admit is a little weird, but dang it, they're pretty. (And they're only filler until Jay buys me some mystic topaz to match my ring & necklace that I already have!)

-the penguin is a gift from my good friend Megan that she bought at the Monterey Bay aquarium for me a few years ago. I have that thing with penguins, you know.

-two of the rings I bought while in Argentina

- the rest of them I've just picked up in stores when I needed replacements

So now you're caught up. Also: do you know how hard it is to take a non-blurry picture of your own ear?

weekend fun!

2009-10-12T21:16:00.005-04:00

So this weekend we hopped in the car and drove for 2 hours to meet up with the some friends in Charlotte. Well it was more than 2 hours because we stopped on the way to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, which is one of those places we used to go all the time in Michigan but Asheville is without. I got to meet a few new folks and reconnect with some folks I already knew. Everyone was great, and we were all dressed up. Of course, I forgot my camera so I have to wait til everyone else uploads their pictures so I can steal them.

Besides the Halloween party, I also got to pet lots of horses and go to the Carolina RenFest. Jay and I did bring our RenFest costumes, but something about going to bed at 5am that morning left us too lazy to wear them, so we went in normal clothes. There we saw some shows, ate some food... and pet more horses. The highlight of that part was meeting the giant Clydesdale in the petting zoo, who was completely blind. See? (thanks to Jay for the picture!)

He had a helper dog with him. Not only was the dog "on guard" while people were petting the horse, but we got to see the coolest thing happen: The horse tapped his giant foot against the fence, and the dog mmediately bounded over the fence and ran to the horse's handler. The handler then went and got some food for the horse, and the dog went off duty for a bit.

I'll post pictures from the party as soon as I get some, so stay tuned!

flu shot!

2009-10-01T16:33:00.003-04:00

My arm hurts, and I was duped. Next thing you know, I'll be sick.

Why the pessimism? I got a flu shot. Willingly. It was free through work, but I've never gotten one or needed one before. They made it sound like I would get a $10 gift certificate for being a new pharmacy patient. But that's not the way it worked. I got a coupon for a gift certificate if I transfer a prescription. Since I haven't had health insurance in years, I have no prescriptions to transfer. And I already picked out the super cute bra I was going to get myself with the gift certificate as a reward.

While I was waiting for the pharmacist to come back from lunch, I was talking to the store manager & HR assistant, who had both gotten their shots already. The HR chick said the shot wasn't bad, and the pharmacist was very gentle. Meanwhile, the store manager was telling me "how the needle broke off in his arm, and it took 3 or 4 tries" and other blatant lies. They were so blatant that even *I* - who can't even hear needles discussed - was fine with it. I told the pharmacist what the store manager said, and the pharmacist called him an ass, not jokingly. That might have something to do with why the pharmacist recently accepted a job offer somewhere else.

So I didn't get paid for my pain, but it wasn't so bad. The pharmacist did a very good job of hiding the syringe from my sight and keeping me distracted with talk of tattoos while doing the deed. I did feel a little poke, but no fainting, so that's a step up for me. However, my arm is sore now, and I did have a bit of lightheadedness while waiting for Jay to get off work. If I get sick though, I will be pissed.

(I *was* injected with a tiny tiny bit of active flu virus, so whenceforth comes my fear.)

in case we forgot that people can be dumb and inconsiderate

2009-09-28T17:51:00.003-04:00

So while I'm at work, I inevitably have to deal with customers. We have to ask everyone we see "Can I help you find something?" Most people say "no thanks, I'm just looking" and that's fine. Some people jump and yell NO! like I caught them doing something wrong. Whatever, I smile at them and we never see each other again. But here are some examples of how that didn't work.

me: Hi, can I help you find something?
lady: No thank you, but I wish they would organize the store while it was closed. This way is incredibly rude.

Keep in mind, there are people that arrive in the store at 4am to unload the truck and get the merchandise on the floor. Then there are people there ALL DAY that are continually pushing merchandise out so the customer can buy what he or she wants. And, as one of these people, I know it is a priority to make the customer happy first. This means that even if we are pushing a heavy unmanuveable cart full of stuff, it is our job to get out of the customer's way. So I'm sorry lady if you think we're rude. Also: maybe you shouldn't be waiting at the door when we open if you don't want to be "inconvenienced."

Of course I didn't say any of that to her. I just frowned at her and walked away.

Then I was moving a rando ironing board off the floor and bringing it back to its home. While I was holding and flipping / turning a 6-ft tall ironing board so it could stand on its feet, a lady decides to walk up my aisle with her 2 year old son. I almost beaned the son because I was flipping around a 6 foot tall ironing board. No "excuse me" no "oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Nothing. She wasn't even buying anything on this aisle, she was just passing through. Now maybe it's just me, but when I see a tiny person manuevering a giant object, I try to stay out of their way. Apparently that's just crazy around here.

Speaking of children, then I saw a small child, probably 4-5 years old, wandering around by himself. Of course he was in the toy section, but I didn't see anyone that looked like they were his parent. So I asked the little boy:

me: Hey buddy, who are you here with?
boy: my dad
me: and where's your dad right now?
boy: I dunno. But he knows where I am so its ok.
me: Are you sure he knows where you are, because I don't see him anywhere.
boy: yeah, its ok.

So I hung out with the boy for a bt while my friend went to go find the dad. About 5 (five!) minutes later, this guy walks up on his cell phone.

me: Sir, is this your son?
guy: Yeah ("hold on" sign, he;s on the phone!)

I see that it would be of no use to lecture the guy because he is obviously too busy to, oh I don't know, look after his son, so we just walk away. But what if something had happened? Guess who that guy would have blamed? The store. Because I'm sure it would be our fault if we were on the phone not paying attention to his sone and he got snatched or something.

So whatever. It irks me, but there's nothing I can do. So I continue putting out my merchandise. This old guy with 2 teeth (yeah I counted) asks me for help. I show him what he's looking for, then he grabs my arm. I resist the urge t punch him in the face, and say

You're not actually allowed to touch me.
guy: Oh, I just wanted to get a good look at your tattoo.
me: that's fine, you can look, but you are ABSOLUTELY not allowed to touch me. Ever.

he continued making excuses, but I seriously almost decked him. I mean seriously, who touches strangers?

So, the last few days I've had a few trying customers. But you know what? I've worked in retail all my life, so I expect people to be asshats. I'm definitely not complaining about my job. I think that maybe since its time for my day off I might just be a wee bit cranky. ;)

scam fail

2009-09-25T20:22:00.002-04:00

So someone contacted me on Model Mayhem about doing a job. It was going to be a high paying job, almost too good to be true. I had my suspicions, but I went along with it. I was supposed to get paid about 1/3 of my fee in advance, and then show up for one day of (fully clothed!) shooting and get paid the rest. Still sounded too good to be true.

They asked for my name & address to send the payment. It still sounded too good to be true, but they weren't asking for my social security number, or any payment from ME, so I went ahead and gave them my info (which, honestly, if someone wanted I'm sure they could get by some means or another after all and doesn't cause any harm if they do have it). I received an email last night saying I was getting an overnight delivery via UPS with my check, and the check was to be MORE than I was originally told. This definitely sounded WAY too be good to be true. I still had my doubts, but I could really really use the money. I was being taunted with enough money to pay several months' rent, or buy myself a used car on craigslist (which is what I was going to do). But still, the doubts.

Jay was home today when the delivery came, and texted me at work. He said inside the package were 3 postal money orders. At first I was like "sweet! I don't have to wait for a check to clear!" but then he did a bunch of research and found all sorts of scams involving money orders. Conveniently enough, the 800-number to verify money orders through the USPS was down, so when I got off work, we went to the post office so they could verify it in person. I still really really wanted that money, but my scam sense that had been tingling since the beginning was getting stronger and stronger. As soon as we showed the post office employees what he had, every single one of them screamed fraud. They showed me a REAL money order, and how the "security marks" in the fake ones were obviously fake. It was sooooo obvious once I saw the real money orders! And, they pointed out that the money orders were delivered via UPS instead of via post office, even though the person had obviously GONE to the post office to "buy" them, and they were even packaged in a USPS envelope. Hmmm.... trying to avoid the postal inspectors, are we?

So they confiscated the money orders, and made me a copy for my records. Federal authorities will be involved soon. I was bummed that I wasn't a few thousand dollars richer, but not surprised. When I got home I checked my email, and lo and behold there was an email from the guy who sent the money orders. He wanted to make sure I got them, and I deposited them in the bank as soon as possible. Oh, and I'm supposed to forward along the rest of the money (after my initial fee) to some other person also as soon as possible. AND am I still on for shooting on Sunday? Well not only do I have to work Sunday because this is the first I've heard of an actual date, but YEAH RIGHT am I showing up. I mean if the feds wanted me for some sort of sting or something, I would go. But other than that, this guy has been blocked & reported on MM (his profile has since been removed).

I feel like I should've gotten into the scamming industry. I'm sure that a greedier / stupider person would have rushed off to deposit their new money before the banks closed for the weekend, and the sender would be loving life, while the "model" would be fucked. Luckily, I am not used to people paying me thousands of dollars for ANYTHING, so I was wary.

Oh well. Back to making money the old fashioned way. That, by the way, is actually working out pretty awesomely. The store manager has made it a habit of coming to me personally and asking if I can work more hours. Obviously I've proven that not only am I willing to put in the extra work, but that paying me a bit more is worth it because the work gets done! So no get rich quick modeling jobs for me... just good old fashioned chutzpah. It will take longer, but the results will be more permanent.

actual new friend

2009-09-21T17:34:00.002-04:00

So I'm in love with my coworker. Not in a "she's so hawt, I want to maul her!" type of way. More like a "she's so super awesome and nice and I want to hang out with her" kind of way.

On my team of 4 people, she's the other girl besides me. She's also closest to my age. So we've got that going for us. Also, she just moved here from Michigan. And her husband works for the same company that Jay works for (different branch though). We're totally twinsies.

Last week I was complaining that my coffee pot had broken. She mentioned she might have an extra one because one birthday she got one from her husband AND one from her mom. She went on a short vacation back to Michigan, and saw the extra coffee pot at her parents' house, still unopened. So she brought it to me. She didn't even want any money or anything for it.

Then today I mentioned that I would be sitting in the break room for 2 hours after work because Jay didn't get off work til then, and it was raining so I couldn't do my normal walk to the mall to kill time. She offered to hang out with me and of course I accepted. We wandered around our store for a bit because sometimes there are things we want to take a closer look at, but can't because we are working. I ended up splurging and buying a pair of $8 pajama pants. My old ones were literally worn until they fell apart, and I miss them. Plus these were on clearance.

Then we went to the mall (she drove) and wandered around there. As is apt to happen when 2 girls wander around together, we got to talking and bonded a bit. At one point we were in an accessory store and she bought some bobby pins. The guy told her that anything else would be half off with that purchase, so she told me to pick out something. I had been fancying these sparkly barrettes, s she grabbed them and bought them for me. I didn't ask her to, and I offered to split the package with her, but she said no.

We still had a bit of time to kill, so we wandered over to the bookstore to look at bridal magazines (for her). We sat in comfy chairs, looked at pretty pictures of dresses, and gabbed like freinds do. She waited with me until Jay was done with work, and I thanked her for everything profusely.

I think I'm going to make her a little bracelet to give her when I go back to work on Wednesday. You might even call it a - friendship bracelet? :D :D :D

ps - speaking of me making stuff, you can still buy pretty things from me to help with those pesky bills.

funk (not the George Clinton kind)

2009-09-17T20:02:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned in my last blog, work is going pretty well. However, it's not going so well that I don't worry about money. My plan from the beginning was to get a second job. However, in sharing a car between 2 people with part time retail jobs, I realize that a second job would be impossible. In theory I'm still waiting to hear back from that high paying office job, but even if I get hired I would have no way to get there. It's further away than my current job, and since Jay works odd hours, one of us would be suffering to get to & from work.

I just need a lump sum of money - like winning the lottery or something. In fact, it doesn't even have to be a large amount. Just enough to get us caught up on our bills (I haven't paid my phone bill in 2 months, for example) and maybe get me a car. Though I would absolutely love to have another mini cooper, I don't see the $20,000+ price tag happening anytime soon. I would just need something off of craigslist, as long as it runs.

It's really hard working in a store that sells awesome things, too. Every day I find more things that I want and or / need, but I can't buy. I don't even remember the last time I bought myself something, including makeup, clothes, dvds, etc. (Ok I did buy a few things at a thrift store, but they were required for work.) Wait, that's not true. I did buy some hair dye because I was very unhappy looking at myself in the mirror and seeing my very long roots. I did not splurge on the haircut I so desperately need, though.

So if anyone has any quick moneymaking tips that don't require a car or initial funding, let me know. Also, you know I'm still selling jewelry. I know times are tough for everyone, so if there's something in my store (or you want something custom), let me know and we can negotiate. I'll take a small amount over nothing. Every bit helps.

work is grrrrrrreat!

2009-09-15T21:52:00.002-04:00

I haven't updated in a while, so here goes.

I really like my job. Still getting used to being at work at 7am, but being home around 2ish certainly has its perks. Around 4-4:30, I take a nap, and then I'm good til about 11 or so for bed. Rinse and repeat.
Jay has a job too, and it's about a mile away from mine. This is especially nice since we still share a car. Generally I get off before him and take my time walking down to his store, maybe meandering into other stores on the way. Then we go home together. Sometimes we work opposite shifts though, so we see each other only briefly all day.

My coworkers are pretty awesome. My "team leader" is an English / Literature professor, and gets all my obscure references. The other chick on the team is about my age, also just moved here from MI, and her husband works at the same store as Jay (different branch though). We're twins. Plus she gave me a coffee pot when I told her mine broke. She had an extra one, never opened, and it works super. The other guy on the team is the type that over explains things, but other than that he's fine. So out of us 4, it's a good team.

Other people I work with all seem pretty cool too. One of the managers (the one who actually gave the thumbs up to hire me on the spot) plays a lot of the same videogames I do and is into other nerdy stuff I am, so we also have decent conversations. In fact, sometimes I clock back in from lunch, but then get caught up in discussions with 2 managers, and don't necessarily get back to work on time. But I can't get in trouble because I'm talking to the people that would be doing the disciplining me.

People there like me, too. I've had a few of the higher ups have told me that they've "been hearing good things about me." The store manager even knew my name before we were actually introduced. The only problem with the job is that I don't get paid enough, but I'm sure that as soon as I'm eligible for raises, I will begin receiving them. One cool option at the store is that you can pick up other people's shifts easily. So I'm working 13 hours on Friday. I'll be tired as a monkey, but at least I'll have a few more bucks.

new friend

2009-09-08T17:46:00.004-04:00

Last night I got word that the International Space Station was visible, so I went outside to see. I couldn't see through the cloud cover, so that was a bust. However, I did see something much more interesting: a kitty hiding in the bushes, meowing.

Jay and I stayed outside for a while, trying to coax it to us. We even went and got a small bowl of food to offer her, but she wouldn't come. We left the food on our porch and went back inside, and eventually, we heard a tiny munch-munch-munch, and saw a pretty tortoiseshell kitty eating our food. I went out, and after a bit more of me being patient and the cat being skittish, she finally came to me and let me pet her. Once she realized I wasn't going to hurt her, she started rubbing my legs and headbutting me like crazy. I called Jay out to take pictures.

Isn't she cute? Problem is, she's needy. And noisy. After going inside to post the pictures on craigsl*st, she sat under the window meowing. And meowing. And meowing. And meowing. When we went to bed, she kept meowing. And meowing. And meowing. And meowing. I had dreams where my own cat was meowing. And meowing. And meowing. And meowing.

When we woke up this morning, she was gone. But I did have 3 emails from someone thinking that we had her cat, even though the place the cat would be coming from is a half-hour's drive away, and she kept talking about the "white stripe" on the cat's face and tail. Clearly this was not the cat, but I wanted to be sure. When the chick realized this, I thought we were done. Wrong. So far today, I've had 3 more emails from her - all from different email addresses, but all with the exact same copied & pasted text. I ignored them all.

Well, if we hear from the real owner, we can at least tell them which area of town to look in. And maybe we'll but some (inexpensive) food outside so we have someone to chase away the neighborhood rodents living in the bushes in our backyard.

moved in!

2009-09-04T12:20:00.003-04:00

What's this? I'm sitting on my own couch, watching my own tv, using my newly installed cable & internet? That's right folks, after exactly 2 months of living in North Carolina, we have finally moved into our new place. I am so over all of the following:

-fleas and other bugs
-living out of a suitcase in a tiny bedroom shared with a cat and a boy
-worrying about roommates eating my food
-being lectured on how much the water & electricity bills have risen because of us
-having to watch crappy reality shows because its not my tv
-bratty dogs that eat everything from the cat's toys to the cat poop to the frozen chicken that was supposed to be our dinner
-a bathroom with no electrical outlets
-not having full access to all my shoes & purses
-Direct TV (I prefer my tivo, thankyouverymuch)

There were some good things too, but I would have much rather been able to move into this house July 1 like we were originally supposed to.

The move itself wasn't so bad. Our stuff had been stored in the garage, and somehow the couches and a few things got moldy / musty / dusty. I cleaned them as best I could (read: lots of febreeze and vacuuming) but the main couch still stinks. We have a blanket over it, periodically febreeze it, and have all the windows near it open, so hopefully that helps.

Do you know how comfortable my bed was after sleeping in Jessica's spare bed? That other bed was too small, noisy, and just plain uncomfortable. My bed is like a dream of pillows and marshmellows. Not to mention it was the hottest room in the house, so even with fans I was unhappy. New room = heaven.

Mecrutio is a real champ at moving. He was of course the last "thing" we brought over. I held the carrier up t the dogs so they could say goodbye, and we headed out. I put him down, opened the carrier, and let him do his thing. His thing, incidentally, involved slinking in circles around the house. The bedroom has 2 doors, so he could go living room - kitchen - laundry room - kitchen - bedroom - living room. He seemed to enjoy it. We've since closed off the door from the bedroom to the living room due to space issues, but he's still fine. For a cat, he adapts extremely well to change. Within an hour he was curled up on our bed. I think he missed our bed too.

I had this week off from work (scheduling issues - all 4 of us hired at the same time were off this week) but I did need the time to move. Incidentally, I never heard back from the higher paying job. That sucks, but oh well. I've already used my discount at the store that did hire me when we needed to replace the stuff we left in MI (such as a trash can, toaster, etc.).

life stuff

2009-08-29T11:18:00.002-04:00

I've worked a few days at the store now. I really like it. My "team members" are all pretty cool, and they were appreciative of my skillz. Yesterday I did my cashier training. Not like I haven't been a cashier before, but this store's system is soooooooo easy. When someone pays in cash, it actually gives you buttons to press for how much they gave you, so you don't type it in like I'm used to. Say a person owes $21.10. The options are a) $21.20 b)$22 c)25 d) $30 etc. listing the most common payment amounts. The register literally walks you through every little step. It requires no brains at all to be a cashier at this particular store. No offense to my coworkers, but really.

However, I was told by the HR lady that I "need to stop being such a good cashier or they won't let me go back to my actual job." I thought that was funny. I am, however, going to pick up lots of cashier shifts so I can earn more money by doing very little work. My normal work schedule is 7am to 2pm (ish) so that leaves me lots of time to cover for others. Also it will show my bosses how awesome I am and how willing I am to take on more responsibility. And hopefully that will lead to them giving me promotions and raises.

I haven't heard back from the boring-but-well-paying-job yet.I stil have mixed feelings. I do need the money soooooooo badly, but I really like the store job. Maybe I can talk to them and have them switch my hours or something. But we'll see.

We haven't moved into the new place yet either. It's up to 3 bombings, powderings, and 3 exterminator visits. These fleas will. not. die. The exterminator is even bending the rules a little and giving us 2 and 3 times the legal limit of chemicals. (And that's part of the reason we don't live there yet.) I also learned that the neighbors of that house were under investigation by a task force, and yesterday they were busted for something involving lots of meth. I really hope it wasn't a meth lab. I don't want no neighbors blowing up my house. But now they're gone, and hopefully the fleas will be too.

Life may be coming back to order.

so sick of interviews

2009-08-24T19:01:00.002-04:00

I had an interview with the mystery company today. Apparently it's such a secret because they are doing a buyout but their employees don't know yet, and they don't want to cause a stir. Whatever. Also they made it clear that it's a temp-to-hire job, so hopefully I wouldn't have to do this job searching thing again, well, ever. The people were really hard for me to use my people-reading super powers on, so I'm not sure how it went. Here's a rundown:

The first lady spoke a little bit about the job. I was able to find out why they were so secretive, and where the place is located (15 minute drive). She also said that the first week of training will be generalized, and then they will separate people into the niche that they fit into best. I like that idea because it means I probably won't be on the phones all day, which I hate. But then she saw my experience with the animal shelter on my resume so we talked about dogs. Then she asked if I had a dog. So I got to say I did have a dog until we moved to Asheville. And she made me go into detail about poor Midnight. Then she actually had the gall to say "gee, thanks for bumming me out!" I was like, bitch, thank you for bumming ME out! Shouldn't we be talking about how you're going to give me a job? But then she wanted to talk about her dog, and where they got it and blah blah blah. She's the type of person that can't finish a story unless she knows all the details, so when she couldn't remember the name of the restaurant that they ate lunch at that day, she had to stop talking until she could recall it, even though I knew which one she was talking about and it wasn't pivotal to her story.

It was at this point that the chick from the staffing agency came in to tell me the 2nd interviewer was ready for me. What she actually meant is that it was time for me to sit in another room by myself for 15 minutes. Though to the girl's credit, she did come hang out with me for a few minutes. I liked her better than the 2 interviewers by far. But eventually it was time to go talk to the other guy.

The thing that struck me most about him is that he never smiled. I'm used to people smiling in my presence (especially if I am being my own smiley self), so it was a little disconcerting. He made it sound like I would be on the phone all day no matter what, and seemed to imply that I wasn't qualified to work in a call center because he was concentrating on my last office job, which was 3 jobs ago, and didn't involve being on the phone. Nevermind my 10+ years of retail experience. Whatever.

So we'll see if I even get that job. It wouldn't start til September 8 anyway, so I would still be working at the funner, lower paying "bullseye" store I mentioned last blog until then. But I guess that would give the bullseye store a chance to see how awesome I am, and then maybe change the set hours for me or give me a raise if they wanted to keep me.

dilemna

2009-08-20T21:06:00.003-04:00

So... the other day I had a job interview for a certain unnamed department store with a bullseye logo. Poor Jay didn't realize I would be there for 2+ hours and was stuck walking around the store while I talked to one guy, waited in the break room, talked to a chick, waited in the break room, then talked to the last guy and signed the paperwork to become an employee. That's right, I got a job.

However, the problem is that it's not a 40 hour week, and I'm making less money than I was in MI, and that wasn't that much to begin with. So I need a night job too, preferably waiting tables or something that would give me the cash flow.

But this morning I had one of those lame-o "interviews" at a temp agency. The job would pay a lot more, but it would be one of those mind-numbingly boring cubicle/ data entry / phone jobs. So I'm torn. Have a fun job where I get to interact with people and be active (and not cover my tattoos) but can't pay my bills, or have a super boring job that will at least make me some money. But the temp agency totally pissed me off about this one - they wouldn't tell me what exactly I would be doing, or where the job is, or what the company does, or anything. I was like how do I know this isn't a waste of my time then?

I'm supposed to hear back tomorrow from the temp agency if I need to come back down to their office for an interview (because the real job is so super secret, I don't even interview at the place I'd be working!), and then I need to make a decision. Boring, slow death job that pays pretty well, or fun, active job that pays like poop (BUT I get a discount!)?

I'm actually leaning towards the higher paying job. We'll see if I even get the call back from that though. What would y'all do?

so many annoyances, so little time

2009-08-17T12:04:00.003-04:00

This morning I woke up for a job interview. I showered and made myself all pretty and professional looking. I got in the car for a drive that was to last less than 10 minutes. I noticed that people were driving more retarded than usual, but it wasn't a big deal until an old man in a Buick decided that there probably wasn't in the lane that he wanted to be in. Me: BRAKE! HONK! Flip the old man the bird, which went unnoticed of course.

Ok, near accident, brush it off. I get to the interview at a children's store, and the person isn't ready for me yet. I wander around for a few minutes, and then we go next door to the bakery to sit down. Now, "interview" isn't really the applicable word here. It was just this person talking to me, and me trying to interject here and there. About 10 minutes later, we were done. Gee good think I put effort into that. I don't think it went badly, but it was definitely the shortest interview I've ever had.

On the way home, I was planning on stopping at the bank to open an account. I have a check for a bracelet I'm making, and some cash from a photo shoot I did yesterday (more on that later), so I figured I needed to use that to start a new account. I'd done my research - not only did I know which bank I wanted, but I knew which account I wanted and what I needed for it. I thought. The lady talked to me like I was a retarded 5 year old. (Hmmmm, sounds familiar....)

-Hi, I need to open a new checking account.
-Ok, do you know what kind of account you want?
-Yes, "the best" checking.
-Yes, that's our most popular.
(At this point, she folds her hands on the desk, like she's very concerned.)
-Do you know the requirements to open an account?
-Yes I do.
-Well let me just get you a brochure. (circles the account info) Here are the requirements.
-Yes, I looked at it on the website.
-Where did you move from?
-Michigan, about a month ago.
(folds her hands again)
-Do you have an updated driver's license? Or something that shows your current address?
-Oh, no. The website didn't say anythng about that, and I've never needed it before.
(continues to be concerned because a retarded 5 year old is trying to be a grownup)
-Yeah, they really need to put that on there.
-Well let me see if I do have anything. (I pull out some mail that I have in my backpack and flip through it.) No, these are all my boyfriend's.
-Well will he be on the account with you?

I say no he won't and that I'll have to come back. She gives me her best concerned nod. But even if he was going to be on the account with me, wouldn't he have to be there? I mean we have different names, and one of the requirements (that I did meet) was 2 forms of ID. I am clearly not a Jason, and my check is not made out to Jason either. But obvioiusly I'm just a scared little girl, and I don't know how to take that big step of handling my own finances. She didn't even ask if I had a job or anything. Yay for condescending bank tellers!

On the way home, I watched the car behind me suddenly decide it needed to be in the far right lane. We were in the far left lane on a 3 lane street. Somehow a tiny car managed to block 3 lanes of traffic. His buddy decided to follow him. The truck in the middle lane decided to go around the first car, between that and the second car. I was waiting for the inevitable smashing sound, but it never came. Either way, I was glad I was in front of this mess instead of behind it.

And I arrived home, less than an hour after I left, and about 10 times as annoyed.

good news

2009-08-13T18:17:00.005-04:00

Today was potentially a good day on the job front. A local beer pub was having open interviews, so Jay and I headed down there. We walk in and there are a few people with paperwork and a few doing interviews. We're handed the applications and take a seat. Normal stuff: work history, education, etc, but on the back there is a quiz about beer. I realized that I know nothing about Belgian beers, which is the cornerstone of this pub. But I do the best I can.

When we finished the applications, we had a few minutes to sit around. A girl near us was doing her interview, so we sort of listened in. Now, the last question on the quiz was "how did Michael Jackson influence you?" Obviously a joke question, but I had an answer for it. (When I was 5 I broke my arm, and was moonwalking in the ER.) The guy doing the interview asked this girl "so how did you like the quiz?" She says it was fine, but what was with that last question? The guy laughed it off but she was serious. He was like "well you've heard of Michael Jackson, right?" And she said no. She was serious. There is a person in this world who - even after all the recent hubbub - had never heard of Michael Jackson. Jay and I exchanged shocked looks. I didn't think that was even possible, but there she was.

Our interview time came up, and we were separated. There were 3 different interviewers: I talked to Man A and Man B, and Jay talked to Man B and Woman. Man A was a lot more serious and business minded, but apparently I was entertaining enough that we talked for a long time. Jay kind of got brushed off it seems, so he was done way before me and was able to listen in on mine. Then I got Man B, and we spent more time joking and laughing, but still talked for a while. So hopefully one (or both) of us hears something from that. Sure, I'm the people person, but Jay is the one that knows beer. We would be a good team.

Then I had a "casual interview" about being a promo model for an energy drink. The guy mentioned he needed a sales rep as well, and Jay was there, so we are both now representatives of Cocaine Energy Drink. We go to bars and anywhere else we can, I wear a sexy schoolgirl outfit, we give away samples, and then when bar owners, etc. realize that this product can be sold, they talk to Jay. It's not a bad rap - right now it's not enough to pay the bills, but it's a nice coupla bucks. (To be honest, the drink is pretty tasty.)

So when we got home from all that, I once again hopped on craigslist. I applied to a retail position at a children's store, and a few minutes got a call for an interview. That happens on Monday. Since the energy drink thing is only a coupla hours a week, I can definitely hold a day job as well. So wish me luck with all my endeavors!

RARG

2009-08-11T15:07:00.004-04:00

I am so sick of looking for a job. And it's not like I'm not trying, either. I search all the internet job postings at least twice a day and apply to everything that I'm even remotely qualified for: everything from retail to receptionists to unnamed office jobs to food service to healthcare. I've only had 2 callbacks, and nothing came out of either one. This boggles my mind. I mean, I'm smart, professional, and the hardest worker they'll ever find, but nothing. We've gone out to pound the pavement for the downtown business that don't have websites, and none of them are hiring until "maybe next month."

I really hate jobs that require me to pay for a credit check. Maybe I have no money & bad credit BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE A JOB! Ever think of that?

We finished painting our house, but that doesn't matter if we can't pay the rent there anyway.

Frustrated.
Poor.
Hungry.

That about sums it up.

Big bucket o' crazy

2009-08-07T22:15:00.003-04:00

Like most unemployed folks, I've taken to perusing craigslist. I saw an ad for "female tv spokesperson wanted" so I was like damn, I can do that. I replied to the email and got a response that they would be holding auditions / screen tests on Friday. (This was Wednesday.) I got another email on Thursday asking if we could chat on the phone sometime between 7-8pm Thursday night. However, I was painting all day, so didn't get the email until like 11pm. I responded, sorry I missed you, blah blah blah. Then he responded today (Friday) saying "I'd like to do that phone call if you call me within the next hour." Of course I didn't get the email in time. I called & left a message saying sorry I missed you blah blah blah. I still had hope for this opportunity.

Then I got this email:
************************
Everyone,
Ok, still pounding away on pre-production, if you need to call me call after 6:30 please, so, here's the skinny:
1. Try and be there around 7:40 p.m. (here are a mock interview sides and an overview for the MUSE - see attached)
2. We will do the interview with the same questions with each person in an avante gard fashion - lighting etc.
3. there are 3 songs each with a different twist - each will have a slide show happening on the green-screen behind me playing (see sample on YouTube channel - itsCARma1 - it's called Mermaid Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsIuY9uEp4
4. We see some pose type slow modern dance form and some syncopated foreground shapes - here is a song sample: SING

ATTIRE:
1. interview < edgy androginous punk to masculine sheik, glasses, props etc. are a goody
2. Mermaid < anything flowing (white or solid) that can be carried with a fan
3. MUSE < interviewer outfits
4. Sing < more librarian vamp + euro-tramp
5. MEND < surprise us
*********************************************

And that's it. The email in its entirety, cut & pasted. It made as much sense to me as it does to you. Just to be sure I hadn't blown a gasket, Jay read it too. Now we were both confused about what was expected of me. What the hell kind of outfits am I supposed to bring? I emailed back basically WTF? He called me and I answered. Before even saying "Is this Des? This is Tim." He said "This is the Asheville Zoning Commission. We understand you've been painting without a painter's cap."" Yes, I did tell him I was painting my new house, but that's still an odd way to start a conversation with someone you've never talked to before. We had this conversation: "You don't know I wasn't wearing a painter's cap."
"I've been watching you from afar."
"Hey, that's really creepy."

The conversation turned to some state of normalcy and I got some of my questions kind of answered. As for the outfits, he said "bring something that shows off your character." So I changed into my long flowy skirt & brown peasant blouse (you know, what I would - and do - wear for a regular day). I brought the outfit I interview for real jobs in, and a fun purple polka dotted dress. Remember, most of my clothes are still packed. Cut to around 7:30pm tonight, we head out. He had said initially be there around 7:30, then 7:40, so we figured this was good.

We arrive and out front there's a guy taking photos of a girl on a picnic table. This is him. I introduce myself, and he gestures to the girl, who has 2 fully tattooed sleeves. "This is Meredith, she's helping me out a bit." This makes it seem like she's his assistant or something. But no, apparently she is another auditioner. I get a few pictures taken on the picnic table and we head inside.

We're at the studio for Asheville public tv. The guy goes into whatever room to do whatever he needs to do. Jay and I make small talk with Meredith, and she seems ok. Then this other chick walks in, and is immediately stupid and bitchy. She speaks loudly to the room about how she got lost and her car is in another parking lot really far away and she doesn't even know who she's supposed to be meeting or why. I wanted to tell her that I've lived in this town a month and was able to fnd the place ok (I mean it's downtown!) but decide to just look at her confusedly instead. Then she says to the random guys who actually work at the studio "Hey friend, where can I get some water?" But she said it not like they were friends at all, but her servants.

So we're all hanging around, making small talk with each other and some of the studio guys. Actually that's a lie - Meredith is talking about how the brain stops producing lithium and that's why she's bi-polar and that's why she did cocaine for 9 years. She no longer seems like an ok person. The other girl is chiming in with her stupidity. I actually felt myself getting dumber just by sitting near her. I don't have any specific examples, but you all know people like that.

It is now about 9pm, and we haven't heard anything from the guy that's supposed to be auditioning us or whatever, except when he asked what other kinds of outfits I had. Apparently he didn't like what I was wearing. He told me to wear the businessy thing, so I changed. And sat around some more. When Meredith said "well my IQ is 178, so..." I decided that it was time for us to leave. I could have handled chatting with my "competition" if any progress had been made in the actual audition department, but there were 3 girls there and we'd been there for over an hour and a half with nothing happening.

So me and Jay went and got Chinese food, and I apologized for making him sit through that.

new house

2009-08-04T20:35:00.002-04:00

No word on the job front yet. However, it has given us a chance to check out our new house and begin preparations to move into our actual home. It is a bit roomier than we thought it would be (still not huge of course), but there are some issues.

-It needs paint on both the inside and outside. Before the outside can be repainted, it needs to be resided and some wood needs to be replaced.
-There is termite damage in what will be our den. Part of the floor has aready been replaced, making it uneven. They are supposedly going to spray for termites and we will cover the offending area with a thick rug, and hopefully that helps.
-The front door doesn't close all the way unless it's deadbolted.
-The ceiling fan in the living room doesn't work.
-There is large overgrowth in the backyard, which we've already seen houses rodents and possibly snakes and other unfriendlies.
-Within minutes of going in the (still empty) house, both Jay and I were covered in fleas. I've gotten in the habit of using a bug spray every day, so I didn't get bitten by them. But Jay has 19 separate bites on his ankles & legs.

There are a few other, more minor things that need to be fixed but they are not as high priority. There's enough wrong with the place that under normal circumstances, I wouldn't rent it. The reason we are taking it now is because Jay's sister will be our landlord. We need to rebuild our credit (I'm in debt consolidation and Jay just claimed bankruptcy), and we still get to act like we own the place: any changes we make will just add to the value when we move out & Jessica sells it. Conversely, if we decide we like it enough, we can buy it and sell it later ourselves.

I mean, there's some good to it too. It's a HOUSE. It's cheaper than our apartment in Michigan was. There are brand new appliances, including a washer & dryer. It has a yard, which has garden space (both vegetable and flower!). We're only a hundred yards away from Jessica's place (where we currently live). And you know what, the house is darn cute!

Today was spent scrubbing the walls and floors. Apparently they were smokers and had a cat, so the place was FILTHY! I was kind of annoyed that we had to clean someone else's dirty house, but I guess it's our comeuppance for leaving our last place such a wreck. (oops) We went and bought some insect bombs to set off tonight so hopefully there will be less bugs. Tomorrow we'll be putting the primer in the living room & bedroom, and Thursday we paint! We don't have the money to do all the rooms right now, so we're doing the main ones - the others can wait. So in theory, we move all of our stuff out of Jessica's garage (and our tiny temporary bedroom - lodgings) on Friday. Normal life can resume.

But we stll need jobs for a *completely* normal life.

movin along

2009-08-01T21:25:00.005-04:00

I had a job interview on Friday, at a clothing store in the mall. I think it went well, so hopefully I get the full time Assistant Manager position - though I would settle for part time cashier. I would have to get another job too, but I'm kind of expecting to do that anyway. I would get a 40% discount on super cute (and cheap) clothes. Their dress code is pretty casual (jeans with "appropriate" holes are ok, for example), but this is what I wore to the interview (notice the lack of tattoos!):

Yes, that is Star Trek Generations on the tv.

Luckily I could leave my tattoos uncovered if I got the job.

So when I uploaded the above photo to facebook, it matched me with an ad. I took a screenshot.

Notice the colors, posing, and jewelry location. I thought it was hilarious.

We saw our new place today. It wasn't as small as we thought it would be, which is good. However, it does need to be sprayed for termites, an all-over scrub, and a paint job before we move in, and then some ongoing work after we actually get our crap over there. But it will be nice to have a place of our own again (and be able to unpack!). 2 people & a cat living out of a tiny bedroom is not what I woud call an ideal living situation.

I finished the bracelet I was working on. Go check it out and let me know if you have a design I should make for you.

Ok, that's all for now. TTFN.