So there was this one time that I used to blog every day. It was amazing and I always had something to say. Remember this one time? Yea, I can't either. Because I have only blogged once in A MONTH!! That is almost enough to put me in jail or something. I don't understand. I guess it's just that at the end of the day [when I end up doing most of my blogging], whether it be a boring-on-autopilot day or one full of crazy stories and definitely blog worthy, I get home and just kick back and doze off. Please explain this to me. I don't even know where I last left off on my previous blog! [*Opens in a new tab; thanks IE7!*]
Alright so here's updating on the last blog and I'll do a real blog after.
As far as the returning-drinks-for-free-ones goes, we haven't had much more of a problem since my last blog [13 days ago; shame shame shame]. About a week ago I had a woman bring back two 12oz hot drinks a few hours after getting them saying that instead of one shot in each, there was two in one and none in the other. They were obviously only missing the initial "Whaaaaat the..?!" drinks and we remade them for free. And yesterday I had a man bring back a 12oz eggnog latte, say "Can I trade this for a new one?" and claim that it was "too thick." I suggested cutting it with milk to make it not so thick and he agreed to give it a shot. I brought the finished drink to him, he gave me the money for it and drove off. Apparently he just didn't want his old one anymore. But those are the only two semi-remotely "want a free drink" post-blog scenarios.
Our work party went pretty well! Only three people didn't show up [which apparently was a great turnout compared to previous years] but it was due to the weather [which I will get to in a minute]. We ate our appetizers, played bingo for prizes [everyone got a prize, but we played to see who would get prizes in what order and such] and then drew numbers to see who would get the extra three prizes [sorry to those who didn't go, but that was part of the party!]. My bingo prize was a make-up utensil set with different brushes for liners, blush, shadows, and lashes, a mirror, a cute utensil cup to put them in, and a little traveler bag for them all. Mind you, I wrapped all the presents and remembered which most of them were and I spotted that one when it was my turn. Cheating? I don't think so. Plus, I needed a brush for my eyebrows. I'm sorry; I am NOT going back to the pre-sixth-grade bushy caterpillars perched above my eyes, and I needed a brush for trimming and making them look pretty. I was doing the world a favour by picking out a gift I knew. And I was also one of the three that won prizes out of the second round of prizes [NOT cheating to win!] and of the three left, I knew what two of them were and I already had two in the house [a 20 Questions handheld game--lost in the tree room-- and a Hangman handheld game--on the back of the toilet with Yahtzee!] so I picked the third one and it ended up being a set of massager tools [the wooden ones with wheels and such]. Kailey wanted one so I gave her one I already had, a reflexology roller bar that came with a reflexology kit I got at a bargain price at Borders. After games and gifts, we had spaghetti [delish!] and Secret Santa exchange. The girl who had me couldn't make it, and the girl I had couldn't make it either; par! So I watched everyone else open their gifts and I brought mine back to the stand for the recipient to pick up when she worked next [still there, Miss Caitlin! Get your butt to work PRONTO!]. We left shortly after the gift exchange and called it a night. Pretty fun little get together! I got my gift from my Secret Santa [Jeena!]: a delicious candy cane, cream colored slippers, and green plaid pajama bottom! A-MAZING! Have been wearing them every night!
I haven't been drinking my Americanos lately because I'm feeling more of a juice / water [I know!] / non-espresso thirst. I've been drinking Cranberry-Grape XS Energy Drinks on ice and they are pretty fricken good. Well, the first half of the drink is; the second half is all watered down and non-carbonated. Nasty! And I did try a new drink: an Italian Cream Soda made with our fruit smoothie mix instead of syrup, at the suggestion of our manager. Verdict: amazing!
Andrew and I opened our main Christmas presents early, as you already know, but we thought about it and all three of our schedules [his, Sam's, and mine] would conflict on Christmas Eve Eve, Eve, and Day, so we opened our presents and stockings last night [I KNOW!!]. I got lots of fun goodies including lots of socks, FIVE... count 'em... FIVE seasons of TV on DVD [Lost 1-3, The Office 4, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia 3], tons of one of my favourite candies [Rafaello--a coconut and almond treat!], lots of knick-knacks, TONS of colored Sharpees [both thick AND thin tips], a sweet centerpiece vase with candle holders going around it, a dual paper cutter [a slider cutter as well as a guillotine side], and a sweet hat! With my Elliptical Machine in my room and Chi Straightener on it's way here, I'd say it was a pretty successful Christmas!!
Moses and Murphy got treats and toys in their stockings and they have been tearing up everything ever since! Murphy got a winter jacket that should have fit him but doesn't velcro like it should [my baby's growing up so fast!] but he wears it like a vest and love-love-LOVES it! And I'm not just saying that like the owners of those silly toy dogs that dress up in tutus and such; he actually enjoys being in coats and sweaters [as long as they aren't too big].
I rebooted my computer system the destructive way [don't know why it sounded so scary before, but it really seemed to help out everything! No more viruses, thank you!] and everything is smooth again. But when I tried to comment someone on MySpace TWICE and started to blog on here but couldn't unless it was on the HTML setting on my phone, I got kinda ticked. Which is why I am on my computer doing this [I also wouldn't want to be using that tiny little keyboard to type all of this... no thanks!].
I almost had a chance to blog a huge blog while I was waiting in my car at a red light tonight. Let's get into why this was almost possible. A week and a half ago on a Saturday, it started snowing. I can't remember the last time it truly snowed in our area, but it was so long ago that everyone was freaking out and calling it a "BLIZZARD!" I worked a 4am-10am and a 4pm-10pm that day, allowing for the morning customers to say, "Nah, it won't snow!" and allowing for the evening customers to literally throw snowballs into the stand while I make their hot cocoas. It was an odd day. I drove home on the boulevard, providing for a basically straight shot with no scary turns in the fresh snow. The next morning, I had Andrew drive me with his truck because it had snowed about eight inches and none of the roads were plowed. I think our town needs to get its act together and get prepared for these kind of weather changes. It was forcasted as a snow storm and when it came, no one was ready. Then all of a sudden, all stores in the three surrounding towns are sold out of snow shovels, ice scrapers, and snow toys. There are chains on every other car, people sliding around on the slush in the intersections, and me in my low-clearance 2001 Nissan Sentra scraping the middle pile of waste in the lanes where the tires don't ride and barely making it into the work parking lot because of the nasty "sidewalks"; thanks construction workers for conveniently working to tear up everything and cancel all work a few days before the storm was even predicted. Thanks.
So anyway, my big thing was having to go to stores for everyday things like groceries or batteries or what not because A.) Christmas shoppers are nut jobs on crack, B.) apparently this town is the shopping hub of the county and everyone in the world decides to start driving all at once to go to the exact spot I need to go to, taking the exact back roads and everything, and C.) the extreme weather provides for idiots who think they can either drive like it's completely sunny and snow-free or drive like there is five feet of ICE everywhere and go one mile-per-hour on a busy street, blocking all traffic because he or she is a pansy. I went to get a regular customer a gift today and was going to go to GoodWill to get some books [because I've been into reading more and more lately] and I had to go to GoodWill first because the line to turn into the place I was going to get the gift at was the same line to turn to get to... guess where? ...WalMart.
WalMart. Now there's a blog of it's own. Did you know that out of the top ten richest people in the entire world, numbers five through ten are all Sam Walton's grandchildren, who didn't do ANYTHING BUT GET BORN?!?!?!? They are worth BILLIONS of dollars because of their grandfather, make up HALF of the top ten richest people in the world, and they didn't do diddly squat. I can hardly afford my bills and my outrageous Christmas shopping, and they can wipe their asses with gold-plated toilet paper. Not fair to those who actually have to make a living. Whatever though. I wouldn't complain if I was a Walton. But then again, I would have a live-in masseuse who would be massaging my lower back because the left side is hurting so incredibly fiercely that yesterday during my 12-hour shift, every 20 minutes I had to stop what I was doing, hold my back, and breathe deeply.
Anyway, so I went to GoodWill and got a ton of books! Of these is a cook book, Alive [the book before the movie], The Lovely Bones [which I've heard nothing but good things about], and basically a bunch of either murder mysteries or comedic romances. I'm reading The Lonely Girls Club right now about a group of girls who know a secret about their murdered headmistress and 20 years later it risks exposure. I am about 3/4 of the way done and I still don't have a clue who killed her, but there is a little bit of sexual tension, and if I had a period of time where I had no other obligations or tendencies to fall asleep [not due to the book], I wouldn't be able to put it down!
After here I was going to swing by and get pizza and go home, no big deal, right? Yea, everyone on the roads is still stupid. I saw at least four different heavy duty SUVs and trucks with old and rickety people driving and an adult in his or her late twenties to late thirties in the passenger seat. This is not okay with me. There is an age where you should stop driving and OLD is where it's at. Get someone else to drive you, ESPECIALLY if that someone else that could be driving is sitting in the passenger seat!
Ahhh! Oh, and the main point about me grumbling about weather and traffic was to explain that I had to go to Haggen to get some parsley for my Salmon Bites that I was going to make for my family's Christmas Eve get together [and I just realized I might not have enough tortillas... go me for being prepared!] and on the way TO the store, I passed a row of 15 vehicles waiting for a green light to leave Haggen. When I went to LEAVE the store, I ended up in that same line waiting for ten minutes for the light to change. The line ended up going around the curve and back up into the Haggen parking lot by the time the light changed to green. And only seven cars were allowed through at that light change. Stupid idiots with the traffic controls.
Ugh! Well, I'm about burnt out on blogging right now. I didn't blog about going sledding / tubing and I didn't blog about Christmas bonuses or the fact that we now own Twins and I am super excited to watch it all the time, but maybe I'll get into it next time.
But probably not. I need to go make some Salmon Bites and if I don't have enough tortillas, venture out into the world yet again. Cross your fingers and wish me luck!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
A Listy Blog
This is a little unacceptable; not blogging in over two weeks?! Let's see if anything new and exciting has happened.
Work:
Work has been pretty alright. I have been working so much and covering so many shifts that two weeks ago, I finally got three days off in a row [like I'm scheduled to have every week] and it was pretty amazing. I am in the middle of another three days off in a row and it is filled with errands and fun things to do.
We did, however, run into a little bit of a problem scenario with customers trying to rip us off. At PacSun, the policy was to always make sure the customer was happy. If he or she threw a bitch fit because we wouldn't return their dirty and worn sneakers without a receipt or a box, we would end up giving them some kind of credit for it and they would get their way. Last Sunday around 7:00 in the morning, a man walked up to Jackie's window and his wife pulled up beside him in the car. He shouted, "We made it!" which doesn't really make any kind of logical sense to shout out to complete strangers. He ordered himself and his wife two 24oz hot mochas. Jackie rang them up because they were at her window and I made the drinks at my station. Note, I made them exactly how I make any of my 24oz hot mochas. I have constantly been trying to produce the best tasting coffee drinks and compared to how I was doing it in the past, I have definitely found a way to combat the bitter taste of the weirdly-timed and un-fixable espresso shots. By not leaving a whole lot of space between the time you pour your shots in and the time you pour at least a little bit of steamed milk in, the shots will not lose their rich flavour. With 24oz coffee drinks, three shots go into each one. With two heads on each machine, you can only pull four shots at a time. The two drinks required a total of six shots, meaning there was going to be another time gap between the time I put the four shots in until the time the last two shots were added to the cups. I stirred the two shots in each drink to melt the chocolate, added a splash of milk to each to prevent the bitter taste from arriving, and pulled two more shots. I finished the drink like normal and handed them to Jackie to give to the customer. I started cleaning my utensils so that everything would be ready for the next customer and I saw the customers drive away. Jackie asked me, "Did you see that?" "What?" "They started making out through the window." Mind you, this couple was in their 40s and extremely unattractive. To each his own, I guess, but PDA is something I am not really all about and it grosses me out to see people going at it. "Good thing I didn't see it," I say back and we went about our business.
About a half an hour later, the man backed his car up to my window [odd enough as it is] and said to me, "I need to talk to you about those mochas you made about a half hour ago." "Alright..." "They were completely undrinkable!" "...I'm sorry, what?" "The coffee tasted bitter, the milk was completely burnt, it was absolutely disgusting, and I want my money back." Knowing that this man's claim was completely false, I offered [like we always do] to remake the mochas for him. "I don't want another disgusting drink, I want my money back!" I tried to calm him down and explained, "I'm not sure exactly how to do something like that but I will give my manager a call and see if she can walk me through it." I walked to the back, picked up the phone, called Honora, and explained the situation. She said to just pull the correct amount of cash out of the drawer and give it to him, writing down on my shift report AND the complaint log what happened with the dollar amount logged. So this is what I do. I pulled out the $9.07, handed it to him, and said, "I'm sorry about that," to which he replied, "Call it a learning experience," and sped off. Jackie asked me what was going on and I told her what happened. She said, "Are you kidding? He handed his wife the drink through the window and she started chugging it. Then he got in the car and she chugged it as they pulled away."
The thing that bothered me the most was his final comment, "Call it a learning experience." Because, apparently, I don't know how to make coffee or something.
Honora called back a couple hours later to find out what ended up happening. I told her everything, including what Jackie said about his wife drinking the drink as she sped away, and she asked if I had taken the drinks back. "I didn't know I was supposed to!" She said that if it were more than 1/4 gone to never give a refund and that we're not supposed to do refunds anyway. I told her what he said before he sped off and she said, "WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!" So I was upset over the whole situation all day and about eight hours later or so, I got a call from Jackie, who was doing a double, saying that another man wanted a refund. Turns out, he got a drink for his wife, brought it home to her, and she didn't like the way it tasted, so they came back and demanded a refund. A few days earlier, something happened to Kailey when a customer ordered a blended mocha and after drinking a lot of it, came back for a refund because they didn't like the ice cream base.
So we are going to seriously crack down on these refunders and kick 'em in the nuts. "In the nuuuuuuuuts!"
And my drink of choice right now has been an Iced Americano with white chocolate powder, hardly any ice--just enough to make it cold, and about 3/4 of an inch or so of cream. Oh, and Toddy shots. Heaven.
Our work Christmas Party is going down in a little over a week. I wrapped all the gifts last night and it's looking like it's going to be a splendid time! I can't wait to see what happens!
Home:
So Andrew and I both got our big Christmas presents early. I have been trying to use the elliptical every day but knowing how HARD it works my body out even on the easiest level makes it hard to keep getting back on it! I love love LOVE using it and I am so so so super thankful that I have it, I just need to MAKE myself get on it every day. It is such a wonderful thing to have and I am so lucky to have one!
Andrew's plasma cutter has provided for some extreme motivation to work on his car projects more and more. He cut up an old tool box that he blew up on the 4th of July and is making a decorative mantle piece with trees, a snowman, and a sleigh. It is looking really good! I love that he is so crafty. He also started up again with his glass etching and he etched a picture of Murphy onto a glass cup for me. What a craftster!
My computer has been experiencing some extremely annoying things, like my virus protection claiming it's out-of-date, pop up windows for virus protection that I did NOT click on, slow loading speeds, the keyboard not reading up correctly to the monitor [typing this blog has been a real trial this time...], and many many many instances of frozen programs. I don't get it! Looks like it's time to reboot the system YET AGAIN! Good LORD! If I have to keep doing this, the motherboard is going to be fried and I won't have a system LEFT to reboot! Ahhh! Someone who knows a LOT about computers and this kind of thing should seriously come help me out. I'll hemp them a cool necklace in return. Or make them pizza bites.
I have been trying to read more and more and with the huge book selection at my folks' place, I will grab a random book and start reading it. The one I was first trying to read was the one I started on my flight back home from California, the book with Jennifer Crusie and some other guy writing together. I still couldn't get into it and I just KNOW it's because it's not just her writing. Ahhh! So then I picked up a book at my folks' place called Carrie Pilby and it has been a slow read so far. It's about a girl who is completely anti-social and her therapist has been trying to get her to change her ways, so it's a book I can relate to, without the therapist part. There was a part in it where he has her make a list of things that she loves and after she does, he tells her to pick at least one thing a week and make it happen. Last night, I made my own little list but didn't include family, friends, Andrew, or animals, because those would be on there without a doubt and I make these things happen almost every day! So far I have the following things:
-Floating in water
-Taking backroads and listening to soft music
-Spaghetti
-Pink clouds
-Blankets
-Reading a book I can't put down
-Giving someone something they really wanted
-The moment that I'm done cleaning
-A freshly rebooted computer system
My list is so odd compared to hers:
-Cherry soda
-Street sounds
-My bed
-The green-blue hue of an indoor pool
-Starfish
-The Victorians
-Rainbow sprinkles
-Rain during the day (makes it easier to sleep)
The therapist also says something about always having five things that you are looking forward to. I've heard something like this before, but more like "having one thing in the next week that you are looking forward to." Either way, I am looking forward to:
-Christmas and giving everyone their presents
-The work Christmas party and all of it's food and fun
-Seeing a movie with Jeena!
-Working on Christmas Eve and Christmas
-Going to the casino for my birthday this year
But most importantly, I am looking forward to eating something because I am STARVED and am in need of sustenance. Plus, I can't stand this keyboard any longer, I want to put all my files onto discs and reboot my system, and I want to finish the book I'm reading and start another one.
...and I want an Iced White Chocolate Americano, STAT!
Work:
Work has been pretty alright. I have been working so much and covering so many shifts that two weeks ago, I finally got three days off in a row [like I'm scheduled to have every week] and it was pretty amazing. I am in the middle of another three days off in a row and it is filled with errands and fun things to do.
We did, however, run into a little bit of a problem scenario with customers trying to rip us off. At PacSun, the policy was to always make sure the customer was happy. If he or she threw a bitch fit because we wouldn't return their dirty and worn sneakers without a receipt or a box, we would end up giving them some kind of credit for it and they would get their way. Last Sunday around 7:00 in the morning, a man walked up to Jackie's window and his wife pulled up beside him in the car. He shouted, "We made it!" which doesn't really make any kind of logical sense to shout out to complete strangers. He ordered himself and his wife two 24oz hot mochas. Jackie rang them up because they were at her window and I made the drinks at my station. Note, I made them exactly how I make any of my 24oz hot mochas. I have constantly been trying to produce the best tasting coffee drinks and compared to how I was doing it in the past, I have definitely found a way to combat the bitter taste of the weirdly-timed and un-fixable espresso shots. By not leaving a whole lot of space between the time you pour your shots in and the time you pour at least a little bit of steamed milk in, the shots will not lose their rich flavour. With 24oz coffee drinks, three shots go into each one. With two heads on each machine, you can only pull four shots at a time. The two drinks required a total of six shots, meaning there was going to be another time gap between the time I put the four shots in until the time the last two shots were added to the cups. I stirred the two shots in each drink to melt the chocolate, added a splash of milk to each to prevent the bitter taste from arriving, and pulled two more shots. I finished the drink like normal and handed them to Jackie to give to the customer. I started cleaning my utensils so that everything would be ready for the next customer and I saw the customers drive away. Jackie asked me, "Did you see that?" "What?" "They started making out through the window." Mind you, this couple was in their 40s and extremely unattractive. To each his own, I guess, but PDA is something I am not really all about and it grosses me out to see people going at it. "Good thing I didn't see it," I say back and we went about our business.
About a half an hour later, the man backed his car up to my window [odd enough as it is] and said to me, "I need to talk to you about those mochas you made about a half hour ago." "Alright..." "They were completely undrinkable!" "...I'm sorry, what?" "The coffee tasted bitter, the milk was completely burnt, it was absolutely disgusting, and I want my money back." Knowing that this man's claim was completely false, I offered [like we always do] to remake the mochas for him. "I don't want another disgusting drink, I want my money back!" I tried to calm him down and explained, "I'm not sure exactly how to do something like that but I will give my manager a call and see if she can walk me through it." I walked to the back, picked up the phone, called Honora, and explained the situation. She said to just pull the correct amount of cash out of the drawer and give it to him, writing down on my shift report AND the complaint log what happened with the dollar amount logged. So this is what I do. I pulled out the $9.07, handed it to him, and said, "I'm sorry about that," to which he replied, "Call it a learning experience," and sped off. Jackie asked me what was going on and I told her what happened. She said, "Are you kidding? He handed his wife the drink through the window and she started chugging it. Then he got in the car and she chugged it as they pulled away."
The thing that bothered me the most was his final comment, "Call it a learning experience." Because, apparently, I don't know how to make coffee or something.
Honora called back a couple hours later to find out what ended up happening. I told her everything, including what Jackie said about his wife drinking the drink as she sped away, and she asked if I had taken the drinks back. "I didn't know I was supposed to!" She said that if it were more than 1/4 gone to never give a refund and that we're not supposed to do refunds anyway. I told her what he said before he sped off and she said, "WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!" So I was upset over the whole situation all day and about eight hours later or so, I got a call from Jackie, who was doing a double, saying that another man wanted a refund. Turns out, he got a drink for his wife, brought it home to her, and she didn't like the way it tasted, so they came back and demanded a refund. A few days earlier, something happened to Kailey when a customer ordered a blended mocha and after drinking a lot of it, came back for a refund because they didn't like the ice cream base.
So we are going to seriously crack down on these refunders and kick 'em in the nuts. "In the nuuuuuuuuts!"
And my drink of choice right now has been an Iced Americano with white chocolate powder, hardly any ice--just enough to make it cold, and about 3/4 of an inch or so of cream. Oh, and Toddy shots. Heaven.
Our work Christmas Party is going down in a little over a week. I wrapped all the gifts last night and it's looking like it's going to be a splendid time! I can't wait to see what happens!
Home:
So Andrew and I both got our big Christmas presents early. I have been trying to use the elliptical every day but knowing how HARD it works my body out even on the easiest level makes it hard to keep getting back on it! I love love LOVE using it and I am so so so super thankful that I have it, I just need to MAKE myself get on it every day. It is such a wonderful thing to have and I am so lucky to have one!
Andrew's plasma cutter has provided for some extreme motivation to work on his car projects more and more. He cut up an old tool box that he blew up on the 4th of July and is making a decorative mantle piece with trees, a snowman, and a sleigh. It is looking really good! I love that he is so crafty. He also started up again with his glass etching and he etched a picture of Murphy onto a glass cup for me. What a craftster!
My computer has been experiencing some extremely annoying things, like my virus protection claiming it's out-of-date, pop up windows for virus protection that I did NOT click on, slow loading speeds, the keyboard not reading up correctly to the monitor [typing this blog has been a real trial this time...], and many many many instances of frozen programs. I don't get it! Looks like it's time to reboot the system YET AGAIN! Good LORD! If I have to keep doing this, the motherboard is going to be fried and I won't have a system LEFT to reboot! Ahhh! Someone who knows a LOT about computers and this kind of thing should seriously come help me out. I'll hemp them a cool necklace in return. Or make them pizza bites.
I have been trying to read more and more and with the huge book selection at my folks' place, I will grab a random book and start reading it. The one I was first trying to read was the one I started on my flight back home from California, the book with Jennifer Crusie and some other guy writing together. I still couldn't get into it and I just KNOW it's because it's not just her writing. Ahhh! So then I picked up a book at my folks' place called Carrie Pilby and it has been a slow read so far. It's about a girl who is completely anti-social and her therapist has been trying to get her to change her ways, so it's a book I can relate to, without the therapist part. There was a part in it where he has her make a list of things that she loves and after she does, he tells her to pick at least one thing a week and make it happen. Last night, I made my own little list but didn't include family, friends, Andrew, or animals, because those would be on there without a doubt and I make these things happen almost every day! So far I have the following things:
-Floating in water
-Taking backroads and listening to soft music
-Spaghetti
-Pink clouds
-Blankets
-Reading a book I can't put down
-Giving someone something they really wanted
-The moment that I'm done cleaning
-A freshly rebooted computer system
My list is so odd compared to hers:
-Cherry soda
-Street sounds
-My bed
-The green-blue hue of an indoor pool
-Starfish
-The Victorians
-Rainbow sprinkles
-Rain during the day (makes it easier to sleep)
The therapist also says something about always having five things that you are looking forward to. I've heard something like this before, but more like "having one thing in the next week that you are looking forward to." Either way, I am looking forward to:
-Christmas and giving everyone their presents
-The work Christmas party and all of it's food and fun
-Seeing a movie with Jeena!
-Working on Christmas Eve and Christmas
-Going to the casino for my birthday this year
But most importantly, I am looking forward to eating something because I am STARVED and am in need of sustenance. Plus, I can't stand this keyboard any longer, I want to put all my files onto discs and reboot my system, and I want to finish the book I'm reading and start another one.
...and I want an Iced White Chocolate Americano, STAT!
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