Happy Singles Awareness Day
2 minute read
February 14, 2005, 10:23 PM
Today was a day that I could have easily pulled my hair out. Today was Singles Awareness Day, more commonly known as “Valentine’s Day”. And I could have pulled my hair out not only because this is the holiday for lovers – and with me being totally single.
First of all, about being single – I don’t mind it. See, I saved money by not having to buy any of the Valentine’s crap we’ve been selling. The only thing I bought was a heart-shaped box of chocolates for the box design. For ME. I thought it was cute because it says “Choo Choo Choose Me” and there’s a picture of a train. I bought it because it reminds me of the classic Simpsons episode where Lisa Simpson gives Ralph Wiggum a Valentine that says, “I choo choo choose you”.
Now, about today. I was ready to pull my hair out because it seemed that everyone and their mother was buying flowers and cards for their significant others. And flowers don’t like to scan. Seriously, they don’t. I was surprised when I could get a flower to scan. This is when we wish flowers were sold a different way, like by weight or something like produce. Just toss ’em on the scale and put in a number and voila – flowers.
Continue reading…“You mean they want to wear your clothes?”
2 minute read
January 29, 2005, 9:51 PM
First of all, ladies and gentlemen, WE HAVE CABLE! WE HAVE CABLE! All interested parties are now officially connected to what I have dubbed the “Schumin Wireless Network”. That means we have my computer, Dad’s computer, Mom’s laptop, and Dad’s laptop all in place on our little network. Now I don’t have to leave my room for anything. I can just IM the rest of the family.
Otherwise, today was interesting at work. They were calling for winter weather for our area, which came in the form of sleet, sleet, and more sleet. But before the sleet showed up, it was like Christmas in January in our Waynesboro Wal-Mart. Seriously. Like Christmas, with all the registers open and all the lines backed up to the clothes. Everyone was buying the usual winter weather staples – bread, milk, and eggs. One can assume that everyone makes french toast when it snows.
I also ran into a friend at work who had two women at his side – one on each arm. His comment was, “They want to get into my pants.”
It’s nice to just kind of go out on the town for a bit… the local town, that is.
2 minute read
January 14, 2005, 5:25 PM
It’s nice to go out on the town a bit. That’s what I did today. I had some errands to run, and went to both Staunton and Waynesboro in the process.
Note I say “local town”. You may recall that I go to Washington DC a lot, and spend a lot of time in that town, which hopefully will be my local town before too long. So I draw that distinction.
But anyway, I went out and about, which was fun. Went to Staunton Mall. I had lunch at “Hot Wok”, a Chinese restaurant in the mall. I’d never eaten a meal at Hot Wok before. It was good.
Categories: Personal health, Staunton, Staunton Mall
Pentagon City… explored!
5 minute read
January 5, 2005, 4:13 PM
Well, I went to Washington as planned on Tuesday. And I had fun! First of all, I accomplished my official goals for the trip. Those were to pay a visit to the Infoshop at 9th and P Streets NW, and explore Pentagon City. And those went well.
Now for the story.
I overslept this time! I’m just like, aw, crap! when I looked at the clock. True, I had no definite schedule, but still, parking can be tricky. But I still managed to snag a parking space in the North Garage at Vienna, on the top level like I like it. And I was somehow able to turn 90 minutes late into 60 minutes late. That takes talent.
Once I got onto the Metro, I rode in to Rosslyn, and caught my read of the Express. And then I caught Breda 4058 at Rosslyn, to head into Washington.
Darkness envelops the Wal-Mart Supercenter…
2 minute read
January 2, 2005, 12:29 AM
Well, today was interesting! Six months to the day of the “microburst” (really powerful thunderstorm that came out of nowhere) last July 1 that knocked out power to our store, we had a power outage at Wal-Mart today. And unlike with the microburst, where at least it was bad weather that knocked down power lines all over Waynesboro, this time it was a beautiful, unseasonably warm day. And at 4:30 PM, as I’m checking out a long line of customers, all of a sudden the store goes dark.
It’s weird. Everything’s going along just fine. The register is going “boop, boop, boop” as I’m scanning stuff. Then all of a sudden the lights all go out. The air handling units also stopped running, which made for an eerie, unfamiliar quiet. The lights going out also silenced the crowd for a moment. Everyone’s just like, “Eh?” Especially since it was a gorgeous day. Just gorgeous outside. No apparent reason for the power outage. Just one moment, light, and then the next, dark.
So we had to get everyone checked out before the registers died, which we did. And then after the customers, we had to make hay while the sun was shining in getting things together before we could reopen. Everyone also realized that it was starting to get dark, and that soon it would be pitch black inside, save for the emergency lighting. That was a weird feeling. But it was almost a party atmosphere in the store. It was weird. We were productive, but still, it was a certain party atmosphere. In asking where this Disney Princess dress-up dress went, I held it up to my leg and said, “Do you think this dress goes with these shoes?” When all the front-end associates gathered up front later, it was still very party-like.
Categories: Walmart
New Year’s Eve…
2 minute read
December 31, 2004, 9:56 PM
As I write this, it’s less than 30 minutes until 2005 arrives. And people were ready at Wal-Mart. Practically every customer the entire bloody day bought all sorts of alcohol, usually multiple items. Beer, wine, you name it. Virginia has state-operated liquor stores, so we don’t sell liquor at Wal-Mart – just beer and wine, and other stuff that falls into those two categories, like that malt liquor stuff.
And it was hopping at Wally World. Lines all day. People want to get loaded full of food and alcohol, and they bought it in large quantities. Whee!
Meanwhile, the Deli got some new mashed potatoes and gravy. I think that’s going to be a hit, particularly with the associates. I had some of it with my lunch. Good stuff indeed.
Categories: New Year's, Schumin Web meta, Walmart
All in all, we had fun on our not-a-date.
5 minute read
December 31, 2004, 2:08 AM
After work today, my friend Katie and I went up to Harrisonburg to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. I’d been there lots of times before with other people, but this was Katie’s first time at “BW-3’s” or “B-Dubs”, as it’s been called at times.
This whole outing was what we called our not-a-date, after a number of coworkers, three in particular (and you know who you are), kept commenting about how cute a couple we were and how it was so cute we were going on a “date”. For the record, Katie and I are not dating, nor do we ever intend to “date”. We are just friends. Strictly platonic. But that of course doesn’t mean we don’t have fun.
And to back up the fact that this wasn’t a date, we had also originally intended to have some others come with us. We were to have my sister come along, and also Teri from candy. Teri ended up having to cancel, and then Sis got sick and ended up having to leave work early.
At Buffalo Wild Wings, we ordered the boneless wings, and an order of mozzarella sticks. Why boneless? Bones are a bother to eat around, and make it quite messy. We had four of the twelve signature sauces on our wings. We had “Sweet BBQ”, “Mild”, “Spicy Garlic”, and “Caribbean Jerk”. So we had a third of the flavors. Still mighty good, though. Caribbean Jerk is about the upper limit of my tolerance of spicy sauces. That stuff is spicy. I’ve had the top of the scale, “Blazin”, before, and that’s just… whoo boy. I dipped a few wings in that when I went there on New Year’s Day 2002 with friends from Telegate. That sauce is potent, let me tell you. At first, it was like, this isn’t too bad, but then all of a sudden it hits you. Flames were shooting out of my mouth on that one, let me tell you.
Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after
4 minute read
December 26, 2004, 9:45 PM
My, what an interesting three days.
First there’s Christmas Eve. The crowds at Wally World were just amazing. Practically all of Waynesboro crammed into our store and cleaned it out. And then at 6:00, just like last year in the Staunton Wal-Mart, all became quiet, as the store closed, and the customers went home. All of us as associates finally wished each other a Merry Christmas, and went on home. Hey, the store was closed, and we were going to enjoy every minute of it. Though I think I caught Evelyn off guard with a Christmas hug.
Speaking of Christmas Eve, I’m still sore from that day. For one, my arms are sore from all the scanning I did. Let me tell you something. I was scanning far more items than a regular day, and was scanning at warp speed. So I’m still sore from that. We’ll recover. I also got a bruise on my front. I noticed it this morning while I was getting dressed. Then at work today, remembering where the bruise was, I realized how I got it. I must have accidentally jabbed myself with the arms on the bag spinner at some point, since it was at the right height to be the spinner.
Then there’s Christmas itself. Mom was the star of the show in the morning, overacting for everything. Sure, it was a bit bad acting, but it was cute. Meanwhile, you know you’re getting mature when you realize that the Christmas presents will still be there in the afternoon, and you don’t have to open them at the crack of dawn. I had no problem sleeping until noon or later. But the family woke me up at 9:00, and so I kind of lumbered down the stairs to open presents.
Categories: Christmas, Clothing, Food and drink, Schumin Web meta, Shoes, Walmart
A day of cart patrol… all day…
< 1 minute read
December 18, 2004, 11:21 PM
Goodness! Let me tell you… a day of clearing the parking lot is quite a day. Especially when you consider a few things. First of all, it’s a weekend. Busy. In December. Busier. The last Saturday before Christmas. BUSY AS HELL.
Needless to say, as soon as I would put some carts in the cart bay on one entrance, they would disappear. Just remember what I said earlier this month about doing carts being like a video game. Goal is to completely clear the lot. All the while, more carts are coming back out. And hit anything and you die. I think the best video game analogy is Pac-Man, with a touch of something else in there, since I use the automatic cart machine, and thus my consist gets longer as I keep going.
Also interesting that I drove off a fellow cashier doing carts because I wasn’t interested in some of the socializing that they were doing instead of doing carts. Since I’m efficient. Go to a corral. Round ’em up. Go to the next one. Round ’em up. Bring it in. Go back out. And so on. Now I’m all for socializing. But you’ve got to still get it done. I got a different fellow cashier out there later on, and we had a great time, and still got the job done.
Needless to say, though, I’m tired. And so I’m going to bed now.
Categories: Walmart
11 days until Christmas… let it all be over soon…
2 minute read
December 14, 2004, 9:06 PM
Goodness… let it be over soon! December 14 means ten more shopping days until Christmas, and please let these ten days go by quickly. Then maybe things can get back to normal.
Today, since we were short-handed, I ended up doing cart patrol for the last part of my shift. Let me tell you, too… there’s nothing like running around the lot with the QuicKart 2000, which is our automated cart machine, in the dark and in sub-freezing conditions. I’ve used the cart machine before, but this is the first time I’ve used it at night, and in this cold of weather. But let me tell you… that thing ran like a pro. And it sure beats the heck out of pushing carts manually. Then you can only do like five at a time, and plus requires pushing. Now, I can move thirty at a time, and all I have to do is steer.
Still, it’s very satisfying to see a clear lot after coming out to a full one. Though it was quite a cold time out there.
Otherwise, I’m off tomorrow, and I’m still job hunting in Washington DC. The Internet is a wonderful thing, as I’ve placed resumes on a few different job-hunting sites. Tomorrow will hopefully be productive, though before I do some serious work on stuff, I plan on getting some serious Zs.
Categories: Schumin Web meta, Walmart
Cart patrol!
< 1 minute read
December 7, 2004, 9:04 PM
Today was an interesting day at work. I didn’t run a regular register all day.
Why, you may ask?
We were short-handed, and so for the first half of the day, I was a stand-in cart pusher, or as I refer to it, “cart patrol”. I did quite a job, too, running the cart machine all around the lot, picking up the carts, and dropping them in the proper cart bays for customers to use.
It’s really like a video game. The object of the game is to clear the lot of all unattended shopping carts both in the cart corrals and just floating around loose. Meanwhile, customers will drop carts in the corrals all the time. However, if you hit a parked car, a customer, or a moving car, you’re dead.
The rest of the day, I worked the Fastlanes. In other words, the particular model of self checkouts that we have. Not bad. I like running those compared to a regular register, because I feel like I’m running my own little empire.
Categories: Walmart
Roanoke and Lynchburg…
6 minute read
December 5, 2004, 1:43 AM
I just have to say what a trip it was… on my off day I traveled in a big loop. Traveled from Stuarts Draft over to Charlottesville, then down to Lynchburg, across to Roanoke, and back up to Stuarts Draft.
I started out taking a bit of a back way to I-64, which meant I took Route 610 from its origin about a mile or so away from my house to Mount Torrey Road in Sherando. This took me through Lyndhurst and on into Waynesboro (where it becomes Delphine Avenue), where I met up with I-64. So I took I-64 eastbound, to Exit 118A. This took me over the mountain, and to the first Charlottesville exit, which landed me on US 29 southbound. As you can see, Charlottesville was just a hub for me. The place where I changed direction.
Actually, I went too far east to be most efficient. The most direct route would have been to get off I-64 at Exit 99, which is Afton, at the top of Afton Mountain. Travel eastbound a few miles on US 250, and then take VA 6 down the mountain into Nelson County and meet US 29 at the end of VA 6. But this was a road trip, with the drive being half the fun.
So I took US 29 from I-64 near Charlottesville. Boy, that’s a lot of undeveloped space around there going south. Very scenic, though. Rode US 29 through Albemarle County, into Nelson County, and into Amherst County. I got to experience a traffic circle in Amherst. Funny thing about the Charlottesville-to-Amherst (as in Town of Amherst) leg of the trip was that you’d have lots of empty space, then all of a sudden, boom. A store. Then more open space. Then boom, a Food Lion in a full strip mall in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.
Categories: Charlottesville, Driving, Lynchburg, Retail, Roanoke, Toyota Previa
A mall trip with Katie…
4 minute read
December 2, 2004, 10:50 AM
It’s very amusing what happens when two friends go to the mall sometimes. Take for instance, Katie and I, who are also coworkers at Wal-Mart. We went to the Staunton Mall, and basically had a blast.
One thing we did was have our pictures taken with Santa Claus:
Categories: Katie, Retail, Staunton Mall
Black Friday…
2 minute read
November 27, 2004, 11:29 PM
Let me tell you about Black Friday, that term for the day after Thanksgiving.
First of all, don’t you just love it when work changes your schedule and doesn’t tell you? I got dragged out of bed for a phone call from work at 5:30 or so, with them asking when I was intending on coming to work, because I was supposed to be there at 5:30. I’m just like, “I’m coming in at 8:00, like I’m supposed to.” They had changed me to 5:30 AM and didn’t bother to tell me. Not good. They ended up getting me at 7:00.
Otherwise, aside from that rough start, work went well. A number of us decided to take “Black Friday” literally and wore all black. I did, as did a few other cashiers, and also a few department managers. We looked so cute in our all-black, and our blue vests.
The day was hopping really early on, but then slowed down later. Still, it was good.
Categories: Walmart
Guess who’s home…
< 1 minute read
November 21, 2004, 8:28 PM
Sis is home! Yay! She’s home for about a week, too. So while I toil away at Wally World, including on the infamous “Black Friday” day after Thanksgiving, she’ll be at home doing like whatever. Fun.
Meanwhile, this is a phrase that turned a few heads at Wally World: “This is why they give us guns around here.”
You’re thinking: What in the heck?
I’m referring to our handheld scanner guns, which are handy for ringing stuff up (oh, by the way, I got off the Service Desk recently, having had more than my fill of it – I’m now a cashier). Those things are handy for items that are impractical to put on the belt.
Meanwhile, speaking of Black Friday, I’ve officially promised to wear all-black on that day, like I did last year in Staunton.
And then on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, guess where I’m going. You guessed it. Washington DC. Metro’s newest in-fill station, New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U opened yesterday for the first time. I’m going there, since it’s the first of what I would consider Metro’s “second generation” stations. This is quite a bit different than your typical Metro station. Four escalators (up from two), two elevators (up from one), a redesigned canopy… it’s neat.
I’m also watching CNN. There’s a thing about an NBA player going totally off in the stands. I’m just like, wow. How violent.