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!