Probably the first to do this…
< 1 minute read
April 9, 2004, 9:46 PM
Okay, let’s talk about all-time dumb thing. I had to get a new box cutter today at work. Why did I have to get a new box cutter?
Promise not to laugh?
I dropped it in the toilet.
So that was embarrassing. I must be the first person in Wal-Mart history to have to get a new box cutter because their old one fell in the toilet. It literally fell out of my vest pocket while I was using the facilities.
Meanwhile, a customer cut me off as I was coming into the parking lot today. A coworker, who once nicknamed me “Reckless” after I inadvertently cut him off one time in the lot and also “Crash” after I managed to run one of the electric sit-and-shop carts into a wall while I was parking it after a customer finished with it, got a tremendous kick out of it because it was the whole idea of “what goes around comes around”. So I was amused.
Otherwise, I’m trying to figure out this new control panel that my host gave me. I think I’ll get it figured out eventually, but it’s going to be fun in the meantime figuring it out. Fun…
Categories: Walmart
What a busy day it was today…
2 minute read
April 8, 2004, 11:13 PM
Somehow, people can smell when there’s only one of us on the Service Desk, and so as soon as it’s only me on there while the other person goes to break or something, everyone and their mother decides to come to the Service Desk with a return, a list of a bazillion money orders, and a few MoneyGrams. And of course let’s not forget people cashing payroll checks, too. Lots of stuff.
Meanwhile, as plans currently stand, the van will be MINE by Monday! That’s right, MINE! No longer will it be my parents’ car that they let me use. Now I will own it outright.
I’m talking this car:
Continue reading…Categories: Toyota Previa, Walmart
An unexpected but fun evening
< 1 minute read
April 7, 2004, 12:43 AM
I had an interesting evening. After a Risk Control Team meeting and a cashier meeting at work that I had to attend on my day off, with three hours in between them, which basically shot my whole day, it was nice to have a change in evening activities.
Basically, after the cashier meeting, my friend Katie (who works with me) and I went over to her house and basically just visited for a while, and I also got to meet her mother, as well as a friend of theirs. Then Katie and I went out to this Chinese restaurant in Waynesboro on Main Street next to El Puerto. All in all, we had a good time. Then after that, we went back to her house, looked at some Strong Bad Emails (I made reference to the “Thnikkaman” at work once, and so we looked at that), and then noting the number of pop-ups on her computer, cleaned out some junk on her computer.
I don’t know what it is about me… a computer has an issue, it’s like something itching. I’ve got to fix it. So now all those evil pop-ups are gone. Especially when one of them said, “Decide who wears the handcuffs tonight!” That was a surprise, needless to say.
So all in all, it was a fun evening, with two friends hanging out for a few hours. And it’s always nice to be able to get away from work, too, since even after a day at work, I flip on Nick at Nite, and there’s a Wal-Mart commercial. So it was nice to have a change from the usual.
What a productive day!
< 1 minute read
April 6, 2004, 12:05 AM
This was a day where I let my organizational skills shine. That Service Desk was looking fine. Everything was arranged in shopping carts and ready to go when I left.
And I came up with the best term for the Service Desk area. It’s a cave. See, in Supercenters, recall that it’s a gymnasium-style ceiling. So the ceiling is very high. So then you go into my little cave, and it’s a lot lower ceiling. So it really does seem like a cave. And I’m the monster who lives inside that cave, hehehe.
Still, my bosses when I was an intern at the Office on Youth last summer said I had great organizational skills. Today, I proved them right beyond a shadow of a doubt.
And Tuesday I am off. Off is good. Means that I can do everything I always wanted to do but couldn’t because I have work.
Still, next week is when I next go to DC. This week is just whatever. And I don’t mind it, because I’m going to hit up the Chatter Bus tomorrow, among other things.
So that ought to be fun. I love coffee.
Categories: Food and drink, Myself, Walmart
I finally took the advice of a friend…
2 minute read
April 2, 2004, 11:41 PM
In taking the advice of a friend, I went and bought a six-pack of Mike’s Hard Lemonade after work. And it’s pretty good. It tastes like lemonade, but has a little kick. So far, so good.
Meanwhile, I’m in pursuit of some new pants. As you know, I’ve stayed the same size for about five years now. And so I don’t have to buy new pants because I outgrow them. Instead, I buy new pants because I wear out the old ones. And considering I have some pants I bought in 1999 and still use, plus replacements in between, they’ve done quite a job for me. And now I’ve worn out enough to make it where I need to get some new ones.
I went to Casual Male in Roanoke, and tried out a lot of pants. Different sizes, different styles. I don’t want jeans, but I also don’t want dress pants. I actually tried out some cargo pants that I really liked, but we had a slight problem when it came right down to it. If they were the right waist, they were the wrong length. If the length was right, the waist was wrong. We figured out what the magic combination would be, but of course they didn’t have it in stock. Quite frustrating. So now I’m trying to figure out what to do next. I want something that will be able to take some abuse, be comfortable, and look good. Probably will find another Casual Male location or find another store that has what I’m after.
Categories: DC trips, Food and drink, Retail
April 1!
2 minute read
April 1, 2004, 11:57 PM
Wow… I haven’t written to you all since Tuesday morning.
Anyway, I have to say that I was successful in my eradication of the virus on Sis’s computer, which was W32.Pinfi. With over 3,000 instances of it, someone really did a number on that machine. But we got it all cleaned up, and she’s back online. Thank goodness. As it is, I was working on her computer until 1:00 AM, and didn’t get home until almost 4:00. That was a LONG day.
And I found out that we missed something on Becky’s computer, which I fixed on Monday night in Harrisonburg, as the W32.Welchia.B virus reappeared. Seems we missed something. So we’re going to make another trip up to fix that. And meanwhile, I’m going to do a little research to find out why the blasted thing came back.
Meanwhile, pouring the candy from a broken bag of chocolates into the trash reminded me of an oft-repeated dream I’ve had. From time to time, I have dreams that I’m at work. Now in these dreams, I know I’m clocked out, because I don’t have to go into work for a while. So with that, I then think, “I’m working off the clock, how did I get into this?” and “I’m working off the clock! I’m going to be in so much trouble!” Etc. The dreams tend to revolve around the fact that I’m working at the Service Desk, and doing so off the clock, and how did I get into this.
Categories: Cell phone, Computer, Dreams, Family, Walmart
One computer down, and one more to go…
3 minute read
March 30, 2004, 8:39 AM
Well! Monday night at Becky’s (the person whose computer I was fixing) in Harrisonburg was productive and fun. It was determined to be the W32.Welchia.B worm, after a Norton Antivirus scan was run. We also did some general housekeeping, running my favorite “spyware” cleaner, Ad-Aware, as well as getting rid of some unused programs.
We also had a load of fun that evening. We went to Chili’s on East Market Street for dinner after running the system scan, and then while we were out, went to OfficeMax to see if we could cash in on the “STORE CLOSING EVERYTHING MUST GO” sale going on. I didn’t get anything, but Becky and her roommate both found something. At 50-70% off, it’s quite a deal. Becky’s roommate got a DVD-RW for like $75, which I thought was pretty darn good. Amusing product: A do-it-yourself divorce kit. It’s actually a little box that supposedly has everything you need for getting a divorce. No wonder it was marked 70% off. I’d love to hear testimonials of people who used it: “I got a divorce-in-a-box and look at me now!”
After OfficeMax, we went a little bit down the street and headed over to Wally World, a store that all of us are much more familiar with. We bought some stuff, and we had a blast, and I brought my cell phone with me, and so we have pictures. A sequel to the Wal-Mart photo set from 2000? I don’t know, but I definitely got enough to make a photo set out of it for Life and Times. That will also mark the first time that the cell phone gets some extensive use with the Web site. But we had a blast, buying up some junk food, some stuff you want to keep away from the “bad ol puddy tat” (you’ll see), as well as hamming it up with the “quintessential Wal-Mart item”, Spongebob Squarepants, etc., etc., etc.
And we said it, and it was.
< 1 minute read
March 28, 2004, 4:21 PM
No sooner did we say it, and another one said, “Here, smell this nasty meat!”
Pee-yoo. Gross.
Anyway… otherwise, I have two wonderful days off. Time enough to feel refreshed, and ready to come back to work and smell more nasty meat.
So there you go. And to Harrisonburg we go on Monday. I can’t wait. I get to see a friend and fix their computer, and I also get to run some errands while I’m up there. Generally just going to take care of a bunch of odds and ends while I’m around, and visit the old alma mater (that is also a frightening term to use, right along with “alumni”). I’m going to walk around campus and say, “Ah, this is just as I remember it!”
So fun.
And thus the first of the days off. And so there you go.
Categories: Walmart
Here, smell this nasty meat!
< 1 minute read
March 28, 2004, 4:28 AM
One of the things about working at the Service Desk is that customers sometimes want to show you exactly why they’re returning the products. This is usually the case when they’re returning food items, usually meat. Customer comes up, says politely that the meat was bad, and then insists that I smell it up close (despite it having a rather pungent aroma from a distance).
It’s for stinky, nasty meat, and other things like that which is why Wal-Mart should issue clothespins to the people on the Service Desk. Why clothespins? For our noses, duh… Though for attacking the customers would be amusing, too.
Meanwhile, I discovered that lifting up the center clip on a till looks surprisingly like a certain profane gesture, which got a couple of laughs.
Meanwhile, Sunday is my last day before a “weekend” off, which will be fun. Going to Harrisonburg and Blacksburg. All up and down I-81. So that ought to be fun. Visiting and fixing people’s computers.
So there you go.
Categories: Walmart
Whee, today was an interesting day.
5 minute read
March 26, 2004, 12:21 AM
I worked register! As in cashier. That was an interesting change after working Service Desk for weeks and weeks and weeks.
Though you can tell I still have Service Desk on the brain when I’m on register. My service desk greeting is usually “Can I help the next person?” or “How can I help you?” and so on. On register, it’s “Good morning/afternoon/evening. Did you find everything all right?” When I’m not thinking, I’ll say “Can I help you?” instead of “Good morning”. The problem is that on the Service Desk, it’s not immediately obvious what they’re there for. They could be there to make a complaint, return something, send money, and so on. On the register, we know what they’re there for, for the most part. They’re checking out those six cartloads of canned corn.
The other thing is where I get my ending goofed up. On Service Desk, I say, “[Amount] is your change, and if you would please sign on the dotted line. (They sign) Thank you very much, have a great day.” Since they have to sign for a refund. On register I say, “[Amount] is your change, and here’s your receipt, and have a great day!” I get some weird looks on the register when I ask them to sign on the dotted line (which I say out of habit).
Categories: Walmart
This proves that I can sing…
2 minute read
March 23, 2004, 11:52 PM
It was an associate’s birthday, and so I got to sing Happy Birthday over the loudspeaker for them, at the urging of one of our CSMs. So my rendition of “Happy Birthday” was the talk of the store today. So that was fun.
Otherwise, I had a little shopping disappointment after work. My order from Casual Male was waiting there on the porch for me. That was exciting. So then I took them in and opened them up. Now I wasn’t sure what “French Terry” meant exactly when I ordered the “French Terry Cargo Pants”, but I expected more along the lines of what you would think of as cargo pants. These were more like sweatpants. They were too much like sweatpants to use at work. So I never even took those out of their little bags.
I also got some Dockers corduroy pants. Those fit the program as far as appearance, but failed in the fit, being too small in the lower leg (that’s a new one – usually it’s quite loose around my calves, and I’m worrying about waist and thighs). So I neatly folded the pants back up and put them back in their little bag. How disappointing.
Categories: Clothing, Retail, Television, Walmart
“Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?”
< 1 minute read
March 23, 2004, 11:22 AM
I remember that phrase from the commercials in the 1990s. You have someone asking some totally random person at a random location, “Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?” It just strikes me as amusing.
I mean really, who is going to just randomly be carrying a bottle of Grey Poupon with them?
I usually mention that when I get the Dijon Mustard dipping sauce for the chicken at work. I say, “This is the kind of thing you just want to say, ‘Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?’ for.” And I’ve never even had Grey Poupon before, either. One of those things I need to do one of these days, I guess.
Especially if I’m going to say it, I might as well have at least eaten it, eh?
Categories: Television, Walmart
And if there was anyone who thought it was otherwise, let me restate it. I am not a cowboy.
< 1 minute read
March 19, 2004, 4:15 PM
Nope. No cowboy blood in me. No wild west spirit yearning to break loose within me.
And how do I know this?
Well, I decided, since I had a long lunch break, to ride the mechanical horse in the game room. It’s one of those things I’ve kind of wanted to do for a while, and so I seized the opportunity and did it. So I got on, fed the horse my quarters, and then went out to the wild west. I should have bought a hat in softlines first, and then gone riding. But no. Still, I was having a blast, really hamming it up pretending to swing a lasso and saying, “Hi-yo, Silver!”
Let’s put it this way: The Lone Ranger I am not. End of story, but it was fun, and funny.
Categories: Walmart
What a surprise to find as I was leaving for work…
2 minute read
March 17, 2004, 9:39 PM
Look at this:
This is our neighbors’ front yard. And it is covered with pink flamingoes. Yes, pink flamingoes. From what I understand, it has something to do with a church program, but I’m not sure what it is. Still, I was amused, and snapped a picture of it with my cell phone. I’ll take some higher-resolution ones with Big Mavica tomorrow before I go to work.
Categories: Amusing, Television, Walmart
“You retard!”
3 minute read
March 12, 2004, 2:14 AM
Yes, when I came back up to the Service Desk after my lunch break, before I could even say hello to anyone, I’m greeted with a familiar voice saying, “You retard!”
It was Sis.
And returning a printer cartridge that I bought two weeks ago. Seems I bought the wrong one. I just followed the list that Dad gave me. So it’s not my fault.
Still, it was amusing to see Sis and her friends (Matt and Ben, both of whom I also like) at the Service Desk as I came back. And amusing is what my coworker asked of Sis: “Is he as hyper at home as he is at work?” She answered, “Worse!” All in all, I was amused. Plus I got to find out about their trip to New York, which I couldn’t partake in due to work.
Plus this was the first time Sis got to see me in my vest, since the last time she was at our store while I was working, I was on lunch and carrying it in my hand as I was ringing up my food on the self-checkout.
Still, amusing.