Hello shoppers.  I am your friendly neighborhood cashier.  The day after Christmas is like a day at the races.  Everyone’s moving a mile a minute except for me.  They’re all headed in my direction.  I like it busy, though.  It makes the time go by quickly and keeps my mind off of the stress of packing and the panic over leaving my husband behind when I leave on Tuesday.  It’s already here.  Wow.  I find myself hugging Ruby (my cat) a little tighter than usual.  Luckily she enjoys this, although I suspect she knows something’s up.  I’ve been letting her do that kneading thing all over my favorite blanket which I would usually be yelling at her for, but hey…I’m already having guilt that I’ll be gone so long so it’s cool.  I haven’t pulled out the big suitcase yet which may be panicking me more than anything else.

I’ve been making the rounds of telephone calls to friends and family so that in the case of any slim chance disaster situation I can have had those last memorable conversations.  More so it’s the fact that I won’t have the use of a phone for a month.  My mother and I have made a pact to speak everyday and though I know that sounds silly you’d have to know us to understand how crazy close we are.  It’s not exactly to Gilmore Girls level of joined-at-the-hip-edness but ironically similar.

Frankly, I’m also a little worried about Matthew.  I know he’s an adult and all, but when  I changed the sheets last night I had the eery feeling that they may not get changed again prior to my return.  These kinds of thoughts alarm me.  I have to put them out of my head before Matthew starts reading my thoughts and getting offended.  I know this isn’t likely, but if it happened it would be very unfortunate. (Oh, whoops.  I think he subscribed already.  Hi Puppy-face.)

I had plans to go to the movies, but those were cancelled by my husband who was a little worried about my level of stress and the length of my to-do list.  Hopefully tonight we’ll finish up my packing so we can enjoy our last day and a half together before my flight.

Adieu.  I mean Zaijian…(I think).

Today’s run…16 miles. I should have done it yesterday but I covered that in yesterday’s post so we won’t revisit that. Of course because I had to run today I missed the Panthers game. I didn’t think that was much of a sacrifice…I didn’t think we wouldn’t win. Fortunately, no one pays me to think…   I was wrong… They clobbered the Giants. And I missed it…again. What the freak?!?

Oh well, such is life. I’m a runner. Sacrifices must be made. Today it was 3+ hours of my time and a little blood. Yeah…blood. And if you’re going to be a runner get ready to shed sweat, tears…and occasionally blood.

But let’s get to the run. 16 miles…I’ve never ran that far before. And after Kiawah (my last long run) I wasn’t sure I could.  Okay, I knew I could…but could I?  You know what I mean.  So, I had two options.  Sit on the sofa and wonder…could I? Or get out there and find out. Well, sitting on the sofa is NOT going to get me to the finish line of a marathon.  So, I headed out to get the answer. 

I got started and was really stiff. Critical Cybil loved that.  She kept trying to get me to quit. She tried every excuse in the book…your left leg hurts. You won’t make it 16 miles.  Your right leg is cramping. You’ll never make 16 miles like this. Better to stop today and run later…don’t risk injury. And on and on and on she went…for the first 4 miles.

I tried to ignore her.  And I’ll admit that the first mile was pretty painful.  My left leg was hurting. And I found myself watching my watch and waiting for that first walk break.  Not good… One mile came…took a two-minute walk break.  Then back to running.  At mile 2 my right leg had started cramp. I took my 2-minute walk break but paused for about 20 seconds to stretch the leg muscles…14 more miles to go.  And that is a long way with a cramp. 

Fortunately, the stretching solved the problem. Run a mile, walk 2 minutes.  I just kept going.  By mile four I was hitting my stride.  Starting to feel good. Had started to think about Myrtle Beach in February. Visualizing myself crossing that marathon finish line.  Then I saw somebody waving at me. I was like who the hell is that? Now keep in mind that when I run…and I hit that zone…music going, feeling good I don’t really notice anybody around me.  I just run…and have often ran right past people I know…waving at me and trying to get my attention. But today it did catch my attention.   

As I got right on them I realized the crazy waving man was my CEO.  We greeted each other and he asked something about how far I was going.  We tried to have a conversation as we ran backwards going in opposite directions.  Didn’t work too well.  But he runs much faster than me and I figured he would catch me.  I just kept going (btw, I stopped running backwards… ).

At mile 5 I realized that Critical Cybil wasn’t making any more noise.  I pictured her sitting in the corner (the very far back corner…pouting…poor Critical Cybil, nobody listens to her lies anymore…so sad. NOT… Bye, bye.) The picture made me smile. And I was still feeling good.  Frankly, I was starting to think that 2-minute walk breaks may be too much.  A one minute walk break may be a better.  Thought I would give that a try at mile 6. 

Shortly after I started my second lap around (or more like up and down) the CanalWalk my CEO caught up with me.  Now, again he is a faster runner than I so I didn’t think he would hang with me for long.  He pulled up and I took out my headphones so that I could actually carry on a conversation. I asked how far he was going…14 miles.  That means he’s training for something.  So I asked. Yep…he’s doing Goofy’s Challenge at Disney in two weeks.  I’m envious…but I’ll get there.

We talked about Disney’s marathon, Goofy’s Challenge…running in general.  And I kept expecting him to run off and leave me.  He didn’t.  At this point I have no idea what mile I’m at…my headphone are out of my ears so I’ve lost track.  I’m pretty sure that it must be time (probably past time) for a walk break.  But I’m feeling good…we have a good pace set…we keep going.  And I think how long will he hang out at arthritic snail pace?  He’ll get bored…well, remember that no one pays me to think.  He didn’t.

We reach the end, made the turn and head back.  Chatting about politics (he’s running for office in 2010), holiday plans, etc.  Just very basic conversation.  The important point of this is that I’m running…maybe a wee bit faster than I had intended…and maintaining a conversation.  That’s cool.  We took 2 walk breaks…in the 5 mile loop.  So, a little less than I had planned but it worked out.

We got back to start…I was going straight over the other side and he was heading up to the car for water.  We passed each other again as I was heading back down on my final lap and he was heading back to the car at the end of his 14 miles… It was unexpected but rather cool that the CEO ran about 5 miles with me. He even said I had a great pace…and coming from somebody that runs 8-9 minute miles I was impressed with myself. 

Now, he’s a member of my running family. Welcome CEO…Welcome… (And hey, could you give your running “cousin” a raise…LOL!) I’m just kidding of course but wish you luck at Disney.  I’ll be thinking about you…I’ll be green with envy but will wish you well.  And hey, I look good in green…

But when we split up I could tell that I hadn’t taken my planned breaks…and I still had 6 miles to go.  I took a 5-minute walk break to give the muscles a chance to recover and then got back to running.  When I hit 14 miles I was feeling the burn…slowing down a little bit but knew I could finish.  I was too close to give-up anyway…I kept pushing it.  I took my planned walk breaks at that point so in the end it was still probably about 32 minutes of walking as expected.

At about mile 14…14.5 I ran out of water. But this was not a major problem.  I kept going…truly at arthritic snail pace but not giving up.  The last mile was tough. But I refused to walk.  I was almost done and I was going to finish strong…well, maybe not strong but finish. I started my internal cheerleading. You can do it.  Almost there.  Just a little farther. Keep putting one foot in front of another.  Don’t give up.  You can do it.

And I did…16 miles. 3:10:53. It was a good feeling.  Now it is a sore feeling.  But worth every ache.  I will probably take a rest day and not try to run tomorrow.  I’m going to spend the day organizing and cleaning my house.  Want to go into the New Year…with everything clean, fresh and in its proper place.  So, not “resting” but not running. Tuesday will be spin class…speed work on Wednesday…make-up run on Thursday (and spin class if the gym is closed on Friday…they still haven’t posted the class schedule for this week). Then Saturday will be a long run of 8 miles.  Another Staples run…LOL!

Of course Saturday is the only day I’m scheduled to work at the grocery store this week…7 am – 2 pm. Assuming the hours aren’t cut…I’ll have to go run in the afternoon. But the Carolina Gamecocks Bowl game is on at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday…may push the run to Sunday again but want to start going to church on Sunday and my neighbor wants to go to the movies Sunday afternoon.  So, the long run will happen.  I’m just not sure when exactly…

But I will figure it out as the week goes along.  I’m looking forward to this week. Going to be a little bit busy BUT hopefully productive and will leave me rested, relaxed and prepared for the New Year. Until next time, challenge yourself and you’ll find out exactly what you can achieve – ANYTHING you set your mind on.

Were any of us born auctioneers? Well – maybe close – in that our father or mother was an auctioneer and we were bid-calling at age 2. Or, we had family in the business, and grew up around the auctioneer, clerk and cashier. However, for most of us, it was much later in life that we decided to join this exciting profession.

I can still hear my grandmother telling me that I should, “finish my studies,” before I played in her back yard. Finish my studies? What child wants to do that? For that matter, does anyone want to do that? Am I ever glad I did finish those studies my grandmother was referring to, because I sure didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Want to be a doctor or lawyer? Count on years of college, and thereafter graduate school. What to become a dentist, architect, accountant, teacher, astronaut, nurse … the list goes on; they all require extensive schooling – no matter that your father or mother is currently practicing in the profession that you hope to join. Yet, many people wanting to become auctioneers, even today, question the need to go to auction school. I can hear them saying, “I know all I need to know to be an auctioneer …”

Why else go to auction school? We think there are seven auction school benefits:

• Develop good habits, before learning bad habits. Yes, habits are hard to break, and so they are much more beneficial if they are good habits, versus bad habits. “Dad always said to open the bid up if there is a tie bid.” Dad evidently didn’t know that tie bids don’t exist. “My mom always said to say the buyer number, and then the price.” Here again, mom wasn’t teaching standard bid-calling practices used all over the world. Learn the right way and be able to teach your staff and others working with you good habits too.
• Experience many different points of view, and a more complete perspective. Many students come to auction school, or otherwise enter the auction business with only one business plan or model. What auction school can do, and has done for thousands of students over time is expose them to other auction business models, and types of auctions. Come to school thinking only about selling cars at auction, and become the foremost real estate auctioneer? It can happen, and has happened.
• Discover the auction business from people who are passionate about it. Auction school instructors are generally passionate about the auction method of marketing. Auctioneers like to talk, and love the business they are in, and therefore love to talk to students about it. Too, auction school instructors are motivated, in that the more auctioneers out in the business world – doing it right – the more the auction profession benefits and the more business there is for all of us.
• Share your learning experience with others much like you. How was that very first day of school when you were 5 years old? Did it help that there were other 5-year-olds there with you? Of course. The auction school learning experience allows students to learn from instructors, guest speakers, and each other. Sometimes the best person to ask about a topic or technique is a fellow student, who wants you to succeed just like you want him to succeed.
• Expand your knowledge of all aspects of the auction industry. Auction schools cover much more than bid-calling. How do I draft an auction contract? What ethical challenges do auctioneers face? How are liens researched prior to auction? How do I learn to clerk, register buyers and settle auctions? What other business relationships will I need to develop? And, of course, how will I setup my own business and make money at it? Some say the auction itself is only about 10% of the entire job of putting on a successful auction; auction schools teach that 10% — and the other 90% too.
• Find lifetime friendships and possible business partners. Need some help on your first auction? It’s a good chance you can call an auction school classmate and get some help. Some of the best friends and possible business partners result from relationships made at auction school. By spending time in class, and time before and after class, auction school students typically become very close and it’s not unusual that these relationships sustain for years.
• Learn what you didn’t know you didn’t know. Auction school instructors often have decades of experience in the exact field aspiring auctioneers want to practice. Wouldn’t it be likely that instructor experience would save those students from making some of the same mistakes they made in their careers? The cost of attending auction school is probably less than one unhappy client, a few unhappy buyers, certainly less than that first lawsuit alleging your breach of fiduciary duty.

Wouldn’t you advise anyone wanting to become a professional to get the necessary training? Don’t you encourage your children or grandchildren to “finish their studies?” We think that alone is sufficient reason to attend auction school. But, even without that treatise, attending auction school can be one of the best investments you can make in your auction career.

Well, I survived. I made it to 12/26. Whew, Christmas is now just another memory from this year. Another memory I don’t plan to take with me into 2010… I have more of those than I care to think about. Leave the bad and take the good.  And that means I will be leaving far more memories behind then I will be taking with me. That’s for sure.

2009…what a year. I certainly learned valuable lessons this year.  Lessons about myself…what I can achieve…who I am…who my true friends are.  I’ve learned lessons about people in general. Some good…some not so good.  I have lost some of my faith in humanity this year. I think most people look out for number 1…and only number 1.

And maybe that is why I had a cranky Christmas. Maybe it’s for other reasons all together.  Hard to say for sure. But whatever the reason I know that I am so glad that Christmas is over. It was not a very Merry Christmas. Of course it hasn’t been a very merry year. But I’ve never spent Christmas day by myself before. NEVER! And that was certainly different. Not necessarily bad…but definitely not good. I hope I don’t ever need to repeat it…

But I was determined to make the best of it. I made my own turkey for dinner. It was my first turkey and it turned out delicious. I made some homemade cranberry relish (another first and also yummy), macaroni and cheese, and a sweet potato. Dinner was very good.  Weird to eat alone but of course not that different than every other day if I didn’t think about the fact that it was Christmas.  I watched my favorite Christmas movie – A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott. The best Scrooge EVER. Hands down. Talk about cranky…LOL!! After dinner, I watched a little TV and tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

I was planning to get up early and run 16 miles this morning…before going to work at the grocery store.  But when the alarm went off this morning I must have hit the off button instead of the snooze button. Apparently, I fell back asleep because I woke up over 2 hours later.  Guess I needed the sleep but that meant no time to run 16 miles before going to work. But I can get my run in tomorrow.  Definitely don’t want to miss this run.  And after getting over the initial disappointment (and frustration) I realized that it may work out better to run tomorrow anyway. No harm, no foul so not going to beat myself up over it. 

I may have to modify the training plan for next week…like take a rest day on Monday instead of Thursday but I’ll take that day-by-day. Since I’m off all week (from my full-time job – don’t have my part-time job schedule yet…will get that today) I will have a little more flexibility in my schedule.  Which may or may not be a good thing…   Will just have to remain focused and make sure I stay on track with my training.  It’s easy when you have ALL DAY to put working out off until later and later never comes. 

But I do plan to stay busy next week so I’ll have to schedule my training which should help.  While I’m off I’m going to wrap up some projects, get my house in order, and do a little R & R.  And I’m looking forward to saying good-bye to what has been the worst year of my life (thus far anyway). Yes, even worse than the year I got divorced. Think I would have rather gone through that again… So, now this will become the standard measurement of “bad”…LOL!

I’m looking forward to the start of a new year.  New opportunities, new dreams, new plans…a new beginning.  Don’t get me wrong, I know that next year will bring its own challenges, obstacles, failures and disappointments. It will have its own heartaches…but I will face those with a new attitude…stronger…secure in the knowledge of who I truly am because of the lessons I learned this year.  And I know that I can survive anything 2010 can throw at me. I am strong.  I am a survivor…

I have several resolutions for 2010 (which will be a post for next week) but I hope I can finish undoing the damage done this year and return to my true self.  I hope to be happy next year. And I hope when I reach the end of next year that I have more happy memories than unpleasant ones.

And I wish the same for you in 2010. I think it is going to be off the hook. Until next time, give wings to your dreams…believe in yourself…  Make 2010 YOUR year…it is going to be mine.

Smart people in all fields add some frosting to the cake they sell. Putting frosting on the cake means giving people more than they expect to receive, and it begins with simple things. A smart business manager never places negative people in upfront jobs, such as telephone operator, receptionist, check-out stand cashier, and ticket seller the customers and clients a business serves rarely, if ever,  see the firm president or a key manager. They judge the business rightly or wrongly by the way they are treated by the ‘unimportant’ people.

Experienced travelers stay at hotels where the reservations are polite and positive; people choose restaurants based on the attitudes of people who seat them, serve them, and take their money. How good the food tastes is always less important than the service in building repeat patronage. And the companies that deliver packages know courteous, friendly service is their best competitive weapon in beating the Postal Service where, generally, counter-personnel are negative in attitude.

Words and phrases as ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘you look good today’ are free frosting that make sales and build businesses. Call your business or office. If you don’t hear a wonderful, “I am really glad you called” voice, train or replace the person. Have a friend stop in at your business. If he doesn’t get great service, take corrective action.

Success-oriented people ask, “How can I give others more than they expect? What kind of frosting can I put on the cake I’m selling?”

A cake—the product or service you offer—is just baked dough. But when you put some frosting on it and give it a little post-sale service, you’ve made the dough delicious. Try it, and enjoy the rewards.

My Consultancy–Asif J. Mir - Management Consultant–transforms organizations where people have the freedom to be creative, a place that brings out the best in everybody–an open, fair place where people have a sense that what they do matters. For details please visit www.asifjmir.com, and my Lectures.

No, I’m not talking about my Christmas presents…which I haven’t even finished shopping for yet. Can’t seem to find the desire or the motivation. In fact, I have to say that I am quite probably making Scrooge look like Santa Claus with my attitude this year. I could honestly care less if Christmas comes or not. Truly…I am counting down for 12/26/09 when all this madness, stress, frustration, and family drama are over with. Anybody see any peace, joy or love in any of that?  Nope.  Me neither.

But hey, it’s just once a year. Thank heavens for that. Maybe next year I’ll have a bit more of the Christmas spirit. Way too early to tell… No, since I haven’t posted since Monday (YIKES!) thought I’d better get a post up and will just wrap up the entire week.

Brace yourselves…this could be a long post depending on how many tangents I take. Might want to grab a snack…LOL! So, let’s see…Monday I came down with a vicious stress migraine. I can’t imagine why…me stressed? Never… I think that the combination of stress from the half-marathon last Saturday and my on-going, everyday, current stress level (which is still hitting about 11 on a scale of 1 – 10) triggered it. I just didn’t see it coming.

Actually, I didn’t realize I had been so stressed about Kiawah until the migraine hit. But I had put a lot of internal pressure on myself to perform and do well at the race. And I did…but I could have done that without the internal pressure.  In fact, that may have even played a part in that the wall I hit. I’ve heard of the Great Wall of China.  Didn’t know there was a Great Wall of Stress…right here in South Carolina… :) Obviously, I need to be more aware of that as I approach the race in January.  On a side note, I’ve planned a race schedule for 2010 and updated my Race Schedule page if you wan to check that out. 

But I’ve digressed slightly. All of that to say…I didn’t run on Monday. If you don’t ever have migraines…count your blessings. But if you do then you understand why I didn’t run. Yeah, if just standing up makes you so dizzy you want to toss your cookies…running is out of the question. The best thing for migraines is to get still and quiet (preferably in a dark room). So, I did that Monday afternoon…hoping to keep it from lasting days on end.

No dice. I was up and down most of Monday night and the headache was worse on Tuesday morning. Although how it got worse is beyond me… So, I called in on Tuesday. Finally after several doses of medicine and barely moving all day the migraine eased up. Head still hurts even now but I can function. Just an annoying stress headache at this point. 12/26…8 days away…LOL!! Maybe it will get better then. It may take some changes with a few other factors before it gets better but I’m working on those too…

Anywho, no run or cross-training on Tuesday. Which kind of sucked…but the training plan only called for 3 runs this week so I thought I could probably still get all three runs in. Wednesday was speed work. Had to work at the grocery store Wednesday night so I got up early Wednesday morning and got it done. 4 miles…in under 50 minutes including warm-up so making progress. Still not quite where I’d like to be but getting there…

Monday should have been a 60-minute run so I shifted that to Thursday. Had hoped to run Thursday morning and then grab a spin class in the afternoon BUT with working Wednesday night that just didn’t happen. But I got in my 60-minute run Thursday after work…in the freaking cold…but I stuck it out – outside and didn’t wimp out and head indoors. Gotta work on acclimating my body to the cold.

And before I tell you about the 60-minute run I hit a stroke of good luck this week. I wear mostly Champion USA (http://www.championusa.com/champion/Default.aspx) clothes for running. They’re reasonable cost wise, comfortable, and I like them. Well, they had a 3-day sale of 30% off your entire order and free shipping. I took advantage of the deal and saved a bundle on some actual winter running gear. It should be here next week…we’ll see if that helps.

But anyway, last night-60 minutes…outside…5.5 miles…10:54 pace. And no walk break. I couldn’t believe the mileage when I finished. Definitely making progress. I didn’t take a walk break at the halfway mark because frankly I had a good pace, felt good…and didn’t want to lose momentum. Later, I felt like I could take one but didn’t. Of course, I wondered if my graph on Nikeplus.com would do a nose-dive when I uploaded my workout – which I did as soon as I hit the door at home.

Result…a slight nose dive but not as significant as in the past. More progress. However, next time I’m out for a 60-minute run I think I’ll take a quick 2-minute walk break around the 45-minute mark and see if that helps me hold that pace a little more steady at the end.

Today was of course cross-training day. My 4:30 am wake-up call day. My 5:30 am spin class day. And yes, I made it. Great class today. I pushed the resistance a little bit…I think I may have climbed Mt. Everest on one of the climbs… I’m really looking forward to adding a third class to my weekly routine after the holidays.

So, overall this week I’ve only missed one cross-training workout. That’s not sooo bad. Tomorrow is of course my long run day…8 miles. What’s so long about that…LOL!! I’m looking forward to it. And up until a few hours ago I was scheduled to work at the grocery store from 7:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and was going to run after that. But my hours for tomorrow have been cut…entirely.

Which is too bad because I sure could use the hours (help eliminate one of those major stress factors right now) but this will be the first Saturday I’ve been off when I haven’t had a race since I started this part-time job at the end of September. Which means no early wake-up call for me tomorrow. Sleeping in on a Saturday…WOW.  Bet I’ll be awake before 7:00 a.m….Murphy’s Law or something…LOL!!

And in some ways it works out because I’ve got a ton of cooking to do this weekend. I’m making a variety of goodies to give as Christmas gifts. And if you’re looking for any really scrumptious goodies to make for the holidays try this recipe for Holiday Bon Bons:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/holiday-cake-bon-bons/dcfe09ed-0cde-4236-8bb8-186280b442e6. Based on the opinions from my trial run last week this will probably become an annual treat.  So tomorrow I’ll sleep in a little bit (but only a little bit – got a long to-do list)…go run…finish my shopping, come home and start cooking. And instead of trying to cram all the cooking into one day I can spread it out over Saturday and Sunday. Frustrating to lose the hours…but will give me more time to do what I have to do (and who couldn’t use more time)…so we’ll look at the positive. 

Well, there’s the wrap on my week. Next week…well, I’m just going to try and keep it as normal as possible. Survive Christmas with as few emotional scars as possible…come out on the other side on 12/26 ready to coast into the New Year…2010…MY YEAR!! We’ll see how that plan works out for me…

I’m sure I’ll post over the weekend.  If nothing else I’ll try to report on my 8-mile run and baking accomplishments. Also, need to give a quick review on some new products I found designed for athletes by athletes. I’m loving them… So more to come (like you didn’t know that) but posting will be sporadic as I hit this last wave of holiday frenzy…yeah, still not seeing the love, peace or joy…   Until next time, I hope you ARE truly enjoying the love, peace and joy of the season!

Just another day. Grey day. Tin day. I wake up in my cheap, horrible flat in the middle of New York City. I look out of the window and watch the world wake up. We all live an annoyingly boring and miserable life: get up, coffee, work, home, cook, shower, sleep. And we do this every single day. I used to look with disgust on the world because of this as I believe there is more to life than this.

( http://unit.bjork.com/specials/albums/debut/lyrics.htm, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5colt3C5PLo )

Anyway, I know that I, Madonna London, alias Lona, am going to change this… I am going to live an amazingly, unbelievably astonishing life, no matter what. I have seen people get depressed, divorce, leave homes, settle for less… settle for less. I consider this the worst thing that can ever happen to a person. However, I have to admit, that right now, I am doing the same thing. I live a life no one wants to have but you know, it takes time to change…

So, I head to work. I ain’t too proud of it: I am a cashier at a grocer’s. Horrible, demeaning job for a person who always wanted to be in the spotlight as a dancer and singer. I sit in my 21-year-old car and drive to work. It’s 5am and the roads are dead (if it is possible in New York).

( http://www.madonna.com/discography/index/album/albumId/25/#, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqYR-fYj6vo&feature=related )

I’m the first to arrive but just when I open the door a truck comes with the bakery. I love the smell of warm bread… I sign the papers and start putting the bread on the shelves. Slowly my colleagues arrive accompanied with the boss. We put some music on and discuss who’s doing what. Today I will be behind the meat counter. I hate it, but it’s okay.

The day passes slowly, my legs hurt so I try to dance and sing behind the counter. Suddenly my boss comes (I bet she realised I was having a good time) and tells me to clean the fridge. I take out the meat and start cleaning…and just when I was going real deep in it, and by this, I mean almost leaning totally in the fridge, costumers come. I say, ‘whey, typical’, but I won’t get out now ‘coz I’ll bruise my head. Then one of them says: ‘We didn’t buy this here, okay?’ ‘Sure okay’, I say. Then I finally get my head out of this ugly, smelly frigo and look up. Oh my… I can’t believe what I see. He’s here. HE. IS. HERE.

He also stops and starts to laugh. ‘I can’t believe it’s you. What are you doing here?’ he says. ‘Well, I’ve been working here for months now’, I answer. ‘Incredible, I’ve been working here for months as well. On a construction site’, he says. And with this, the conversation is almost over. He leaves, we say goodbye with huge smiles and that’s that. Of course, I know that’s not the end. We both know. We always meet anywhere, everywhere… He’s been part of my life so long, I can’t even remember. Actually, I can recall our story but it takes a while. It certainly goes beck to high school and to my best friend, Bree…

( http://www.madonna.com/discography/index/album/albumId/25/#, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXOogW8B5EE&feature=related )

Lets see i woke up at 5am this morning then i just laid in my bed till 6am and then went back to sleep for 20mins when i had to get up and get ready for work.  I work as a cashier at a gas station. its not all that bad there.  So then after work me and my mom went to go do some car stuff and i fill out a form to get money for the car so i am hoping to goes through because i need a car.  I never had a car before so i am not sure what to ask. So i am sorta nervous that the guy is going to take advantage of me. so i guess i will have to wait and see. But then this morning i forgot to say i got a text from adam saying good morning its like omg i cant believe he texted me its like he is thinking of me.  It made me happy but i was thinking all day should i take him back if he wants me back. Like he cheated on me so its like how can i trust him if he cheated on me. So its killing me that ik i shouldnt take him back but idk what to do. To add more on to my life is that my ex jason wants me back so i pretended to take him back but then it reminded me why i never wanted him back. He was to controling i know i can be controling sometimes but thats who i am but this guy jason is like on and on and on and on and thinks of stuff and takes it really far. its like omg stop please kid.  Speaking of kids there is this one guy steve and he is my friends ashtons bf and he keeps txting me he is ok but then sometimes its like fucking crazy. He asked me today to txt his gf to get her horny. ummm its like thats ur job. so  then i just stop talking to him and he hasnt txted back yet.  Well people i am getting off my computer and going to bed. goodnight world!!! p.s i hope someone is reading me

“Ting!”

Nine o’clock. An hour to go until I finish my shift. One, two, three, four customers – still here on Christmas Eve – I count off from behind the cashier. Working this dead-end job, have to pay the bill somehow; I start to regret dropping out of college, but I remember what happened and the feeling flees. Impatience rises as the customers search the deli, picking up stuff before Christmas. The radio behind me plays some songs, low volume. An old lady comes to pay; time has traced valleys across her face, she’s dressed like a typical southern granny.

“Merry Christmas girl!” She puts her stuff on the counter and I start ringing them up. “What’s a young’n like you working this eve? You should be at home with your family!”

“Don’t have any family here ma’am.”

“What? You should be home celebrating with your family celebrating the our Lord Jesus’ birth!”

“Ahem.” A grad student, late twenties, dressed in a Polo dumps his stuff on the counter. “Do you really believe that old fairy tale, Grandma?”

“Listen here, it’s true, read the Bible. I don’t know what’s going wrong with today’s generation.”

Not wanting to repeat an argument I’ve already had long ago, I finish the old lady’s sale quickly and bid her farewell. I start on the student’s items.

“Amazing right? People can still believe that stuff. Christmas is nothing more than an old pagan holiday.”

I hold up part of his sale, condoms. “Gonna have some fun tonight, eh?”

“Haha! Yes, this is a time to love your dearest, you know?”

“Nope, this day doesn’t even deserve being called a holy day. Commercialized the hell out of. Ain’t surprised you haven’t seen it, you being so stuck up.” An older man drops a six-pack on the counter.

“Excuse me? I’ll tell you-”

“Please, I’ve heard it all before. Young college upstarts think they can argue. Mind you, I know I’m arrogant, you still need someone to tan your hide.”

“Please stop,” I tell the student before he opens his mouth. I finish his sale, and he leaves. I ring up the older man’s beer.

“You know, it’s illegal for you to sell that, right?”

“I know. 8 bucks, be glad it’s Christmas.”

“Haha! Well, time to get piss-drunk. Glad I have no family to bother me this year.” He shuffles out the door.

“Interesting conversations.” A man slightly older than I puts his stuff on the counter. “It’s always this time of year, you know.”

“What?”

“Brings out the people. The believers, the scientists, the cynics. They all have their different opinions and are always arguing. Laughable, really. So, how do you bode this evening?”

I smile at him. “I’m fine my kind sir,” I say in my most medieval tone.

He laughs. “Nice one. I assure, I’m not a knight. Though I consider myself a master debater.”

I stifle my giggle halfway.

“Ah, afraid to laugh I see. You shouldn’t be, especially this time of year, and at a low-brow joke like that. Take this day and celebrate it for yourself.” He puts two hundreds on my counter.

I’m speechless.

“Take them. I know you need them. You remind me of my late wife, when we also ran away. I know she would want to do this. Turn up the radio, that’s a song she liked.

I turn it up.

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”

Once upon at time I could go to my local grocery store, VG’s, and I was greeted by folks who had worked there for years and local teenagers (good kids!). Even though the place was busy, there was almost never a line at the checkout because it was so well staffed. The cashiers chatted with their customers. The teenagers wheeled my cart out to the car for me and loaded all my groceries into my car while we talked about the weather or an upcoming high school football game. “That’s the way it was and I liked it that way!” (I stole that quote from Grumpy Old Man on Saturday Night Live.)

A while ago–a year maybe– *some big grocery chain* bought out VG’s. I kept an open mind about this–maybe they’d somehow make improvements to the already-almost-perfect VG’s. Nope. Gradually the cashiers left, the regular stock people left, the teenage baggers left and were replaced by newcomers. They’re nice people, and probably local Davison folks, so that’s cool, but when staff leaves en mass, there’s likely a management problem going on behind the scenes. I held my head up–I could deal with the change–but then they (gasp!!) took down the 10 items or less lanes and REPLACED them with self-checkout lanes. ARRRRGGGHHH! The horror!

I love technology and I understand the logic behind those self-checkout lanes, but they are riddled with problems. They take away someone’s job. The darn things almost never let me scan my whole basket of groceries without some kind of error requiring me to wait for a worker to notice and enter some secret code. Sometimes I even have to bag my own loot and take it out to my car. There is little positive interaction between me and the staff. No customer service = no customer loyalty. I’m trying REALLY hard to keep an open mind about the new VG’s but it’s tough. The only thing keeping me coming back at this point are the few smiling cashiers who still chat with me when I manage to get into their checkout lanes. They’re good people.

Why yes, I do in fact smile at grocery store line ups. Maybe I should clarify, I smile at both long AND short line ups.

When I grocery shop I tend to go flying around the store getting everything I need. So I find it nice to just stand in the line up and observe the people around me.

A few minor exceptions would be if I am extremely tired or really hungry. Other than that I am good to go.

As a child growing up I loved the long line ups. Mainly because the longer we stood there the more time I had to convince my mom to let me have a chocolate bar. I guess it never went away.

Sometimes it can be hard to stay patient when the line is long, the cashier seems to be taking forever, and you have places to be. Next time you find yourself in a situation like this, look at the people in front of you. Do they have any unique behaviours about them?

I like to make up stories for people that I see. I imagine what their lives may be like.

So go ahead, take a breath and relax. It is just a line up, not the end of the world. So, smile. : )

Veembur Mana

To return to our narrative.

Maternal grandmother (lady in white) had three brothers. Marriage of the eldest brother was fixed; he was to marry the sister of my maternal grandfather. Before marriage he died.

 Undeterred by this tragedy, the elders decided that the next in line marry her. God’s ways are strange. The would-be bridegroom too died. The elders were unmoved. The third son, Bhavadasan  married my mother’s aunt. VBS is her grandson, Bhavadasan (junior) being elder and Krishnan, only one year elder to me, being the third. Like the brothers Karamazovs, the threesome are dissimilar to each other. They had two living sisters, Sreedevi and Savitry (both no more).

Being closely related, they took care of our monetary needs like school fees; from a loan interest we got our monthly budget of Rs.10. The compound surrounding the mud hut was full of areca nut trees. The fallen leaves were collected by ma and used as fuel. She would carry water from the faraway well (normally the well is attached to the kitchen and we draw water from the well, standing inside the kitchen).I have nonchalantly watched it, but never offered help. Now I see my wife working in the kitchen and her daughter watching TV. Is this a rule of nature?

We got a meagre quantity of rice from tenants. I would go to the farmers, enjoying the scenery en route, collect rice and bring it home in a country canoe. My elder brother being unconcerned, I became the father figure at the age of thirteen.

One day uncle (VBS’s father) told me we were entitled for ration card being below poverty line;as instructed, I went to the Tehsildar office some ten miles way, handed over the application, waited patiently till 4.50 pm, when, pitying my innocence and helplessness, the peon told the clerk to do the needful and I returned with the ration card !

 Naraphan-short for Narayanaphan.

 I don’t remember him. He was VBS’s grandfathr’s son by his second wife who was half mad. The whole property of Veembur Kadalayil became a matter of litigation with a Tamil Brahmin from whom heavy sums were borrowed for construction of the tile factory, the first in our area,which still stands near level crossing at Ollur railway station, and, for maintaining luxurious living (every time maternal grand mother came home, she was given a gold sovereign-a coin prevalent then).  At one stage, the vakil of the opponent secretly visited our ancestor and advised him to deny in the court that he borrowed money; a Nambudiri’s word was taken as true even by a court in those days. A Nambudiri may never lie. True to tradition, the honest ancestor refused to lie and the whole property came into Tamil Brahmin’s hands.

Litigation continued. As he was educated, Naraphan shouldered the responsibility. By 6am train, he would leave for Ernakulam where the High Court is located. We can only guess the number of times the poor fellow travelled to Ernakulam, sometimes without pocket money, in the hope of ultimate success!

At long last, the gods smiled-he won the case but lost his life. To celebrate the victory, he ate sumptuously at a restaurant. It was cholera epidemic time. As soon as he returned home, he started vomiting. He died, his mad mother died and even VBS’s sister Gauri, still a girl, died……Triumph of Death over Life…

I have vague memories of attending pindam ceremony. (Why don’t we leave the dead alone?)

 VBS’s father worked hard to keep the family going. He even worked as poojari at Pisharikal temple where tradition forbade us Kadalayil family members to do pooja.

And yet he was always cheerful and full of humour and wit. VBS was studying in college. His elder brother was in army (he was discharged for being sympathetic to the left-Britain ruled by proxy) and Krishnettan was in Ooty (as cashier in some restaurant-he became fair as a white man when he returned) Uncle and I were together. One day he was so upset that he told me “your mother is mad”.

I had learned to stoically suffer almost anything in this life. I must have looked like an idiot which I actually am.

Well… my thoughts on whether my vision was going bad was correct. It wasn’t really bad but I will need a pair of glasses for when I drive. I am nearsighted and it has been hard for me to drive but I couldn’t quite tell why. Something seemed just a bit off but I wasn’t sure about the glasses. I finally made an appointment and I was very nervous. It was kinda cool to see my eyes dilated though.

It was kind of expensive altogether but I think it is worth it. It was 45 for the exam and 132 for the glasses. (I was lucky to have a discount for the glasses otherwise it would have been 168). I’m still not sure how I feel about the glasses. It looks odd to me but I guess I’ll get used to them. I will make sure to send pictures when I get my new specks. I hope my vision stays at this though… if my eyes get anything worse I think I’ll vomit.

In other news… being a cashier sucks…

I’m sorry to report that this is all for now. Next time I’ll bring you a “people who piss me off” episode…

Werewolfchibichan

Hello Out There! I hope you’ve had a good Thanksgiving weekend…shopping, turkey leftovers…relaxing, enjoying time with family – whatever you were doing. I have not been as productive as I would have liked.  Still not at 100% from the CRUD but do finally have the congestion draining which is a good sign (but impacted today’s run – read on). Anyway, I just kind of took it as I could stand it.  If I felt like I need to rest…I rested. 

I didn’t get the house completely cleaned on Friday and didn’t make the spin class either. But did get started on the house and hope to get it finished this week (or at least by this time next week). Then Friday night had a little family drama. Ended up having to make a trip to the Emergency Room to bring my Dad and Grandmother home for the night.  We had brought my Grandmother home for the holiday weekend.  My Mom had a cat bite that got infected and she had ended up in the ER for IV antibiotics and was being kept overnight as she may need surgery.  YIKES!! 

After getting my Dad and Grandmother settled I headed home but did not get in bed as early as planned and didn’t sleep well.  But did make it to the grocery store on time Saturday morning.  Some kind of miracle that was… After getting off work I came home to take a short nap…and see if Mom was going to need surgery.  Thankfully she didn’t and was going to be discharged but I wasn’t sure if she would need me to take my grandmother back to the assisted living facility early or not so I kind of hung loose around the house.  No long run…but I knew I could go today.

And I got up this morning and headed out.  Was dragging a little bit but knew I could put in 12 miles.  No problem. Today I was going to Riverfront Park because it is not quite as boring on those really long runs as the dam. I get ready to set up the iPod for the run…What the FREAK? The battery is dead. DEAD! OMG!! I can’t run 12 miles without my iPod for music, mileage tracking, music, encouragement…music. Oh DANG! Now what…think, think, think.

Well, I had two options…come home, charge the iPod and come back later or run the 12 miles without the iPod.  Of course if I go home there is always the chance that something will come up and keep me from coming back.  I can not afford to miss this run.  I simply can’t…but 12 miles without my iPod just sounded like torture to me.  So, I headed home…knowing that NOT coming back was NOT an option.  And learning my first lesson of the day…check the iPod the night before a long run and make sure it is charged. HELLO!!

Came home, grabbed a short nap (told you I wasn’t at 100%…I only nap this much when I’m sick – or depressed and that may be compounding the sickness but the depression is better so I think it has more to do with the CRUD.) For lunch I decided to eat the leftovers from dinner last night. I had a craving for pigs in a blanket and had made them.  Now, they’re not really appropriate on my glycemic index diet. Okay, they’re totally not GI at all but I had a craving and figured it probably couldn’t hurt. 

Not like I’ve been completely GI this past week anyway…which may affect the scale on Tuesday… but I’m not too, too worried.  Clothes are looser…have another pair of jeans I’ve been able to fit into…and I checked the goal pants today…I’m closer.  Not close enough but closer. So I know I’m losing…inches, pounds – something.  But I’ve digressed…severely.

Anyway, I made the pigs in a blanket for dinner last night. Decided I’d just eat the leftovers for lunch today. Didn’t think about if this was proper fuel for a run or not…and I realized too late that it most certainly isn’t.  Of course, I already know this.  You don’t eat anything heavy like that before a run. And I paid for that on my run.  Lesson 2: Fuel the body properly before heading out the door.  Actually I know this lesson but got a HARSH reminder today.

Mid-afternoon I headed back to Riverfront Park for my 2nd attempt of the day. When I pulled in I was feeling good and ready to run. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day and the park was pretty crowded.  And there was a Rescue Truck and two Police cars in the parking lot.  I thought great if I collapse they’re prepared…LOL! And I still don’t know what was going on but part of the park was closed off with yellow tape and there were officials keeping people out. But I figured they were letting people enter so it ouldn’t be a dangerous situation.  I pressed on.

My plan for today was to walk 2 minutes after each two miles through the first 8-10 and then after that every mile if necessary. I started out at an easy to maintain pace. Reminding myself that I had a long way to go. And I no more than got started and Critical Cybil started chattering away. (Critical Cybil is what I’ve decided to call my internal chatterbox for now. Writing a little poem about her and will post that when it is done.)

But anyway Critical Cybil who never has anything good to say started chattering away about how far it was, how hard it would be, how I couldn’t do it…blah, blah, blah. Whatever.  I just tuned her out and pressed on.  Two miles…walk break but my stomach is starting to feel weird. The running has really got my sinuses draining which is good but that is not helping the stomach issue. I press on… Four miles…walk break and stomach is definitely not right.  Not feeling well at all…but am headed in the direction of the bathroom.  I can take a bathroom break if necessary.

With roughly a mile to go to the bathroom (and the halfway mark) I was in trouble…had to stop running but kept a brisk pace and started praying I would make it to the bathroom.  Did not want to get sick on the path.  That would be embarrassing.  But running was out. I made it to the bathroom…but barely. Got ill…and felt a little better.  Now I have a choice. Call it a day with only 6 miles completed…or try again.

Well, quitting is never really an option. And I knew I wasn’t ill because I was sick.  I was ill because I didn’t fuel my body properly and my sinuses are draining like crazy. I decided to press on… And at first I was okay. Still a little queasy but nothing I couldn’t handle.  Made it down to the end…have to go back now and a little further to finish the twelve. I headed back…but the stomach really started being uncooperative – queasy and cramping. I had to take walk breaks more than I would have liked…but I made it back. I had a mile left to go…but just didn’t have it in me.  I really didn’t…

But I figured 11 miles…was far better than 6 miles. And I felt confident that had I been at 100% I could have finished the twelve no problem.  My legs felt good…the rest of my body felt fine…just the stomach issues were slowing me down today. So I ended the run. And when I did Lance Armstrong came on the iPod and said Congratulations! That’s your longest run ever. Now that was cool!  Hope I hear from him again after my half-marathon… That would be really cool!!

This week I have a 60 minute run tomorrow.  It will have to be in the morning because I’m actually scheduled to work at the grocery store tomorrow night (shocking I know). Cross-training on Tuesday so I’ll hit the 5:45 pm spin class (yeah, won’t be getting up at 4:30 after working tomorrow night). Speed work on Wednesday…rest day on Thursday (which is good because I don’t want to have another 7 days in a row), cross-training on Friday so I’ll be at that 5:30 am class…then my long run on Saturday morning – a long 6 miles…yeah, I can handle that.  I’ll get that done before I go to work at the grocery store at 12:30 pm.  I know working 2 days this week…what in the world…LOL!  But that is a good because maybe I can get a decent paycheck…

So, there you have it.  Learning more lessons, running more miles…pressing on…making progress.  Until next time, press on.  Dreams really do come true…as long as you keep moving towards them.

November 25, 2009

It’s not even thanksgiving yet and people are pissed.

so today was my first day back for the holiday season.  it was crazy, who knew that the day before thanksgiving would be so busy!  and people so pissy! oh my jesus.

so this guy, thank god he went to my manager’s register cuz i think i would have choked him if he talked to me like this.  He insisted that he should be able to use two coupons on one jacket.  (first of all let me say that if you want a North Face Denali jacket, act fast, cuz i rung up about 10 of them today so they are going fast).  but those jackets are rather expensive, $160.  well this guy wanted to use both the $10 and the $25 coupon on the same jacket, and that my dears, is fraud, and it is literally impossible to ring up in the register.  but this guy could not take no for an answer.  my manager calmly told him that there was no way she or anyone could do what he wanted.  he called her names and said she was stupid and couldnt do her job, he’s like “im just gonna go to another cashier, they’ll do it for me.” but of course we all talk and we were warned that he was up to, so he was rejected at each register.  score one for store.

later that day there was this really cute old couple that came in a bought something, idk what i wasnt paying attention because they were just so cute! you could tell that they were still madly in love, and he put his arm on her back to lead her out, it was so cute.  so score one for customers cuz that was nice.

but back to ranting.  well this story isnt as much a rant as posing a question, i guess. this older lady came in and insisted that she only sign a paper reciept instead of the electronic screen, “i never sign electronically.”  okay, on a good day that would have been no problem, but since it was crazy that day, and the company likes to randomly change the way the registers work without telling us, we could not figure out how to print the reciept to sign. since there was a line, it was lunch time, and it was such an unusual request, this lady really annoyed me.  finally she just decided to pay in cash.  she was really nice about it though, which helped, and idk maybe she had problems in the past with the way her signiture showed up so she refuses electronic signitures?  it took the manager calling the company help desk to figure out how to actually do it.  so i pose this question to my fans, the two of you, (ha ha ha cliche), what would make you forgo electronic signitures?

so finally, this man. oh my god. talk about bitter.  you know there are those people who can never be wrong, he was one of them.  we have an ad in the paper for a thanksgiving day sale. if you buy something or other on thanksgiving you get $15 or so bucks in SA cash. cool deal.  that ad was put in the paper today, because well not everyone reads the paper on thanksgiving, idk if we even get the paper on thursdays. nonetheless, he brings the ad up to me and asks me something like what he could get for that.  i said that the deal is for thanksgiving day and if he wanted the deal he would have to go to another SA tomorrow.

so he’s like “well when i read it i didnt read the dates! i shouldnt have to read the fricken fine print on every ad.” first of all “thanksgiving day sale” was not fine print, it was the gigantic headline. if it was “thanksgiving sale” okay i could see the confusion. but there was a nice big sentence that said “buy so and so on thanksgiving day nov 26th and recieve blah blah blah, redeemable between november something and christmas.”  he requested a manager, he didnt even want the deal anymore, he just wanted to rant to someone, (dont try to waste our time telling us the problems you think we have when we cant do anything about them, you arent gonna get what you want and you are wasting our time) he proceeded to blame us for retail sales being so low, and the bad economy in general.  he’s like “these ads are insulting and misleading, your company is shit” andso on. then he said “dont think im giving you a hard time,” yes he actually said that. like what else are you doing? talking to “the man” vicariously through me? how is that not giving me a hard time? all my manager could say is “i’m sorry you feel that way” because of all that “customer is always right” shit.  which is not true. if a customer disrespects employee’s, they are not right, and they get kicked out. we are a “take no shit” company. but anyway, finally he left, grumbling to himself. i think he was mad that we would put an ad in the paper for a day that we werent even open.  he must have missed the part when i said that every other store is open.  and we would be open, except that we are a mall store and we have to follow mall hours.  and we are the ONLY mall store. ever. anywhere. of the thousands of SA’s, we are the ONE store that is closed. i kind of had a feeling that he misread the ad, got to the store, reread it and figured out that he came for nothing and got pissed that he didnt figure it out until he already got there.

you know what else i hate? sports center.  im so tired of watching the same news all day long.  and i cant escape it cuz i cant change the channels.  just thought i would point that out.  but i did enjoy all the news guys dressed as pilgrims.

finally i had to deal with no boxes.  IT IS NOT THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON YET.  THAT STARTS FRIDAY. i dont care what society says, the big boys dont send us wrapping boxes until black friday.  we have a few they sent just in case, but of course they dont tell me that upstairs.  one lady in particular was just completely lost on how to proceed with present wrapping without me giving her a box.  this is how it went down.

“do you have any boxes?

“no sorry, not until friday” (since at this time i didnt know they were downstairs)

“what kind of store doesnt have boxes?” (actually lots of them, ive never gotten a box from the dollar tree)

“I’m sorry they havent sent them yet, i dont even know if we are going to get them because of the economy”

“Well what am i supposed to do? i buy gifts and i can’t even wrap them!” (you can go to penny’s and buy a box, reuse one from last year, buy a bag, wrap it as is, wrap it in something else, etc)

This went on all day, until i figured out all i needed to say was “go downstairs” and i was free.

oh the cashier life.  i basically get paid to tap a screen and get yelled at.  but anyway, there were a lot of nice people today, dont think that im a bitter person, im actually really nice, i hope lol.  but venting about these people helps me go to work and be able to stand the whole day because i know that the two of you are listening

so what do you guys think of adam lambert’s ama performance? i love him to death but that was awkward for me.  it seemed like being controvercial for controversy’s sake. but thats just me.  still deciding on whether i should buy *cough* his cd, and write what i think about it.  but according to some people im not allowed to have an opinion, so ill sit on that one.

chao

(song played when i posted: Let’s Hang On by the Four Seasons <— woot going old school)

Heh.  In yesterday’s pre-W(aL)D Wendy’s repost, it linked to a thread on PittsburghBeat.com which in turn linked to another old thread about Kmart which eventually came to a nice conclusion.  These weren’t listed in my older pre-W(aL)D post… so I thought I’d share them individually.

I filled out the survey noted on their receipts, at www.kmartfeedback.com. Apparently someone actually reads ‘em!

Quote:

From: “SM3616, Store Manager” sm3616@searshc.com To: XXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, November 29, 2008 6:12:41 AM Subject: InquiryEric,I am the store manager of the below mentioned Kmart store. I would like to have an opportunity to speak with you directly. I do take pride in the store and would appreciate any and all feedback you can provide me to make your next shopping experience a pleasant one. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.JODIE M. STROTHER Store Manager #3616 Greentree, PA 15220 (412)922-3803 store (412)922-9268 fax ________________________________Store Number: 3616 Customer Name: Eric XXXXXXX Customer Phone: contact by email Customer Phone (alternate): n/a Customer Email Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com Department: Customer Service Desk Category Code: Customer Service Experience Reason Code: General Frontend Service Issue Situation: SC# 0361611250800352385 The electronics department looks like someone knocked everything off the shelves, then had a dog put it all back. Pretty difficult without opposable thumbs, eh? Yes. Yes indeed. And, the dog didn’t know the alphabet in order to arrange CD’s & DVD’s either. The cashier did not say one word to me. ONE WORD. After waiting through the ridiculous line (no other registers were open, as I was being checked out another employee lazily sauntered over to her register), the woman rang me up did not say “hello”, “hi”, “good evening”, “credit or debt”, or even “Go #*%$ yourself!”. After all my items had gone through, and I paid. I even said “Thanks” and smiled… and got absolutely no indication that I had even been heard. My wife looked at me like we were in the Twilight Zone. Holy cow, this is ridiculous. Sadly, it’s indicative of what happens pretty much every time I go to that store. There are some other great area Kmarts, like the one in Robinson, and even the one in Bridgeville… but this one is closest to my house… What the heck is wrong with everyone who works there? Don’t they take any sort of pride in the store? Don’t the managers see what’s going on, how the store looks, how the employees behave… and why don’t they care??? I just can’t even fathom being a cashier, and not greeting people… or even acknowledging their presence. And, I can’t fathom a shift, store, or regional manager that would a. hire someone like that (let alone dozens like that); and b. let that kind of behavior slide. ***I was unable to call the customer no phone number, I did sent notification.**

So, I wrote these…

I wrote:

From: Eric _______ XXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com To: “SM3616, Store Manager” sm3616@searshc.com Sent: Monday, December 1, 2008 9:10:52 AM Subject: Re: InquiryHello Jodie,Thank you for taking the time to contact me. I’m not sure if there’s anything further to discuss. I pretty much expressed my issues below.I can’t imagine how stressful it must be to run a store… but it seems that your Kmart is slipping in comparison to stores like the aforementioned Robinson & Bridgeville locations. Back when we were just dating, my wife used to work at the Kmart on Route 8 just outside of Shaler (not sure of the actual neighborhood there), and the managers were on them all the time to have multiple registers open, to have the shelves stocked neatly & orderly, and they always had a lot of registers open at the front. I just see a general lack of “give a damn” in Parkway Center. Hopefully the trend is reversing though, as this e-mail has shown me that you do indeed care about your store. Thank you for your time, -Eric

I wrote:

From: Eric _______ XXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com To: Customer Service Kmart.com help@customerservice.kmart.com Sent: Monday, December 1, 2008 10:07:05 AM Subject: Re: Store Manager SM3616 / JODIE M. STROTHERHello,I’d like to just pass on the e-mail below, & show my appreciation for this store manager taking the time to contact me regarding my comments made via kmartfeedback.com as noted on my store receipt. Can someone let her superiors know that her time and effort did not go unnoticed?Hopefully she can pass the message of store pride on to the employees. Thank you, -Eric

Hmm, I got a response…

JODIE M. STROTHER wrote:

From: “SM3616, Store Manager” sm3616@searshc.com To: Eric _______ XXXXXXXXXXXXX@yahoo.com Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2008 7:05:00 AM Subject: RE: InquiryEric,Stressful is a word that doesn’t even describe what retail is nowadays. However, I do take pride in the store and at times it does get out of control. I appreciate feedback any way it comes. We strive to do our best with the personnel in the store. It does fall apart at times and we are working hard at correcting those problems. Just keep us on your shopping list this year and let us try to show you we are looking at alternative ways to improve your shopping experience.Happy holidays and I look forward to hearing from you in the future. JODIE M. STROTHER Store Manager #3616 Greentree, PA 15220 (412)922-3803 store (412)922-9268 fax ________________________________

I found this to be a fairly positive response.  I can’t imagine trying to manage a group of people who generally do not care.

This is the icing on the cake though…

AiXeLsyD13 wrote: Remember my Kmart rant? Bethany was in there not too long ago, walked by the electronics section and said it’s all neat & orderly…..and the cashier greeted her.

I’m amazed at how often I use my card to buy stuff. I seem to never have cash on me.

As ridiculous as it makes me feel, I pay for soda refills with a card:
CASHIER: Ok that’s 87 cents.
ME: Put it on the Platinum…and I need a receipt too!

I’m strange when it comes to refills. I’ll walk in Circle K with a cup from 7/11. I feel like they get upset when they see that:
ME: Their cups are better, sorry.
CASHIER: (runs away crying)

I love standing in line to get a refill. 9 times out of 10 I end up finishing my refill waiting (Circle K lines are insane) and need another refill.

I drink too much soda.

Make me question my goal of running a marathon. Hell, after yesterday’s run I was questioning my goal of running that half-marathon in a few weeks. Good grief it hurt…and I struggled to finish the 6 miles. It was just frustrating.

Not that I was expecting my best run ever. Let’s be real here. This was my 7th day in a row to workout. I added a second spin class this week. And I spent almost all day Friday stuck in the car. I was stiff and sore – all over.

I went into it knowing I would take more walk breaks than usual and was trying to prepare myself for the fact that my legs may give out early. But they held up to the end. Of course after standing at the cash register for over 6 hours last night they are in serious protest today. But today we’re taking a much deserved rest. Hopefully, the protest will end peacefully before my run tomorrow…

And I suppose in many respects it wasn’t that bad. I finished the 6 miles in 1:17:07 which is an 11:39/minute mile pace.  And truly considering all that I accomplished this past week I should be proud.  Even if the last mile was a real struggle…I made it through the 6 miles.  And even though I was hoping to make it 7-8 miles (since last Sunday was a bust) finishing 6 miles is nothing to be ashamed of. 

Now I head into another week…with new goals to achieve. The training schedule is similar to last week.  I’ll run tomorrow, cross-train Tuesday, speed work on Wednesday, cross-train Friday, and run 10 miles on Saturday/Sunday. Thursday can be either a run or rest day.  I’ll decide which is the best course of action based on how I’m feeling when I get there. 

And the long run may end up being on Sunday this week.  I’m scheduled to work at the grocery store from 8:00 am – 2:00 pm next Saturday.  So, no way I’ll get in 10 miles before my shift.  Depending on how I feel after 6 hours on my feet will determine if I knock out 10 miles or take it easy Saturday afternoon and bust a move on Sunday. But either way I’m hoping for another successful week of training and to continue to make progress and move forward…one millimeter at a time.  

Progress is progress and I’ll take it. And right now I seem to be making progress in all areas.  Some of it is a slow-go but I’m still going and that is what matters.  Until next time, remember that slow and steady wins the race – just keep moving towards the finish line.

Happy Friday Eve (well, guess it is almost Friday now)! Hope your week has gone well. Progressing along here. Been a bit slack on my blog posting this week… Sorry about that but I’ve been working hard. Let me bring you up to date.

Tuesday night I went to the 5:45 pm spin class at the gym. I am so in love with spinning. It is such an awesome workout and great for those lower body muscles that don’t get worked when I’m running. I could easily see myself reaching a point where I try to spin 4 or 5 times a week. Shooting for 2 this week already…

Wednesday was speed work. The training plan called for 5 minutes at tempo pace and 1 minute of brisk walking repeated 3 times. So, I started out with my 5-minute warm up (as usual)…then 5 minute run and hit it at a 12:00 minute mile pace…hoping I wouldn’t pay for that before the speed work was over. The I ran 5 minutes at a 10:45 minute pace…walk 1 at 15:00 minute mile…no problem. Repeated it…was starting to feel it at the very end but not that bad. And then again…by the end I could feel it but made it to the end. Then I went back down to a 12:00 minute mile pace and banged out another 30 minutes…total was 5.2 miles in 62 minutes…the total overall pace – 10:52/mile. This is a small improvement…we’ll take it. It felt really good!!

Today was just a normal run day. I had hoped to run outside since I was on the treadmill yesterday but the weather was not cooperating. Rainy and cold all day. So, I banged out an easy 45-minute run on the treadmill. Started out at a 12:00 minute mile pace but after 10 minutes I was feeling that. So, backed off to about 12:30 and that was manageable. Walked 2 minutes just a little over halfway and ended strong able to maintain the 12:30 pace the rest of the way. Pretty cool!!

Also today I registered for two more races…both this month and both the week of Thanksgiving.  One is a 5k on that Tuesday and then the second is an 8k Turkey Trot on Turkey Day.  Looking forward to both runs.  I’ve done both before and they’re a lot of fun and then I won’t have to feel so bad about indulging on Turkey Day.  I’m going to EARN my Thanksgiving day dinner…

Tomorrow is cross-training.  I’m scheduled to drive to the beach and back tomorrow for work.  I have to go over some things with one of the hotels I’m working with.  This means I’ll spend the bulk of my day in the car.  Sounds like fun doesn’t it?  Wish I could stay one night…but not in my schedule right now.  So, I’m going to have to get up and get my workout done in the morning.  And yes, the alarm is set for 4:30 am…going to try and make that 5:30 am spin class.  If at first you don’t succeed…try, try again.  I’ll try again…

But since I’ll be traveling all day tomorrow…and Saturday is a long run (6 miles) followed by my one-shift this week at the grocery store it may be Sunday before I get to post again.  I may try to post sooner…would hate for my Roadies to go into withdrawals…LOL!!  I know you’re just hold your breath and wait my next intelligent, wildly amusing commentary…   But should that be the case I wish you a FABULOUS Friday and a WONDERFUL weekend! Until next time, keep trying and you will succeed.

Well if that title doesn’t catch your attention, I don’t know what will!
My good friend and neighbor recently took her dog out for a run in the local park (off leash) and unfortunately the stupid animal got sprayed by a skunk….right in the snout too! It reminded me of a funny story so I thought that I would share it with you.

About 8 years ago I had a German Sheppard. Lexi was a sweet dog and rarely got into things however she managed at least 3 times to get close enough to a skunk’s ass and got sprayed.
On one such occasion it was a cold dark evening and I was too lazy to let her out of the back door. I decided instead to let her take a quick pee in the front yard and I opened the door just enough for her to run out quickly, do her business and run back inside. She was a bit faster than usual and as she slinked quickly back into the house it hit me like a ton of bricks…SKUNK!
It’s usually bad enough that you discover your dog has been skunked however that was far from the worst part of this story. Our home had just been listed for sale and we were having an open house the next day. Before I could stop her, Lexi ran into the den and began vigorously rubbing her nose right into the carpet. As you might imagine, I panicked. No wait, that’s not the right word, I FREAKED! I began chasing my dog throughout the house with the intention of grabbing her and throw her into the garage. She did everything in her power to evade capture. She ran under beds, hid under the dining room table, and at one point she was so scared that she had peed on the carpet, which only fueled my hysteria.
When I finally did get her out of the house, was able to get myself together and wrap my brain around the events of the last 60 seconds I began to realize that the open house would have to be postponed but more importantly….how was I going to get rid of that smell?
The carpet cleaning was easy, and immediate! The dog on the other hand was going to be a bigger challenge. I had heard about all of the usual remedies including tomato juice and specialty dog wash shampoo but I wanted to be thorough and get the job done so I called my dog groomer Jeannie for her expert advice.
My goal was to pay her to do the job; she politely declined. So I was on my own but not without her “ancient Chinese secret” recipe; and here it is: Feminine Douches. You read this right, the groomers remedy was a douche….and not just one but she thought that it would take several, given the size of my dog and the close range of the spray.
At that point I was willing to try just about anything and Jeannie sounded like she knew what she was talking about so I put on my baseball hat and sunglasses and off to the local grocery store I went.
Since it was early in the day I was very hopeful that the store would be empty. I all but sprinted to the “feminine hygiene” aisle and grabbed 6 boxes of the best douches money could buy…..because they must be the best right? AND God knew, I was not doing it again. When I arrived at the checkout (there wasn’t self-checkout 8 years ago unfortunately), I placed my products on the checkout belt and watched them inch closer and closer to the cashier who waited for them with shear disinterest.
Now I know that these cashiers don’t give a damn about what customers are buying, they’re just doing their job. But since this was a store that I frequented often and since a man had just pulled his cart up behind me I couldn’t help but think that my purchase warranted some kind of an explanation, whether anyone wanted to hear it or not.

So I said to the cashier “I know what you’re thinking.”
Obviously thrown off by my mind reading abilities she replied “You do?”
At which point I responded “These aren’t for me. They’re for my dog.”

You could have heard a pin drop in that instant while both the cashier and the man behind me were trying to figure out what I was going to do to my dog….it was a moment I wish I could have framed!
Naturally I went on to explain that the dog had been skunked, this was the groomers remedy and so on and so forth. Of course both of them had to put in their two cents about how tomato juice and a specialty shampoo were their remedies of choice but agreed that whatever gets the job done was all that mattered.
So I left the store with my purchase quadrouple bagged so as not to have to explain my problem to another living soul and went about the daunting task of de-skunking my dog.

Long story short, it didn’t work. She smelled for months after that. Lexi passed away about 5 years ago and I have fond memories of her, she was a good and loyal dog. This memory is not so fond, but it’s funny as hell!

Cashier
Cashier

Cashier Game
Cashier Game Description : A funny match-two game in Japanese language! Help the cashier to make enough cash, and get to the next round!
How to Play Cashier Game? Use mouse to interact.