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.
Continue reading…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.
Today I got majorly confuzzelated.
2 minute read
March 7, 2004, 1:45 AM
Call it confused, confuzzled, or confuzzelated, but let me tell you… I was going in so many different directions today I probably couldn’t have told you which way was up.
New experience of the day: I got to spend an hour out in the parking lot doing carts. We have a machine that pushes, and is controlled remotely by the associate. Then the associate stands in front and steers. And it sure beats the heck out of pushing them by hand, which I also did some. It was also nice to spend some time outside, which was a nice change from the Service Desk, since we’re in what could almost be described as a well-lit cave.
And I learned that I can control a machine pushing a pile of carts that is about 50 feet long (at least) better than I can control one of the electric carts that people ride around the store. One time when I was greetering, I had to park one of those things after someone was done with it, and promptly backed into a wall. That, by the way, earned me the affectionate nickname “Crash”.
Categories: Television, Walmart
We had a slight change to my Wal-Mart appearance today…
< 1 minute read
February 27, 2004, 11:53 PM
I got a new vest! Finally, one that fits properly. It’s BIG. I can button it up and still have room to spare.
It’s also technically a women’s vest, since it’s a little bit longer than the men’s vests. This works out well for me, since now my vest’s pockets are actually at a level where I can actually make good use of them. They were too high on the other vest. Only weird thing is that it buttons the other way. But that’s women’s fashions for you, I guess.
And the bit of humor I injected into it is my comment about why I have the women’s vest: “Hey, I’m a big girl.”
Meanwhile, the latest adventure of “Fools With Tools” was putting together that bookshelf. I managed to scrape against a half-assembled shelf, and cut the top of my foot for an inch’s length. It doesn’t hurt too much, and didn’t bleed too much, either. So there you go.
Now tonight we put the shelf in its right place and then start loading it. And I got the right size shelf for the printer.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Walmart
There’s a reason I’m not a carpenter…
2 minute read
February 27, 2004, 3:17 AM
…and that bookshelf is reason enough. No, I didn’t manage to screw it up. It actually stands up, and it actually looks half decent. It is currently standing in the middle of the room, but that will hopefully only be the case until tomorrow after work, when I move all my clothes out of the way and then get that shelf settled into place against the side wall.
And then let the firestorm begin. All my stuff comes back. All remaining books return. All my video tapes return. And whatever other miscellaneous stuff I have comes back. And then once I can reach it, the couch shall return in its new home. And then the wall décor goes up.
Things will change, though. My load of books will be much lighter now, with my having gotten rid of a LOT of books I’ve outgrown. A lot will go to Mom’s sixth grade classroom, much to her delight. I believe Mom’s also giving a lot of my old books to our church. As you can see, I’ve entrusted the distribution of my discard books to Mom. She’s good at this and will do well in finding them new homes. Meanwhile, a dilemma… since I got rid of the video tape wall, and spackled and painted over the remains after the hardware was removed, the question remains… where in the heck am I going to put all my videos?!? True, I have those two new cabinets that are next to the computer, but I know they’ll be full.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Walmart
If I wanted a mullet, this would be a good time to start.
< 1 minute read
February 26, 2004, 10:20 AM
But I don’t, so I need to get a haircut already, since a mullet is the one hairdo I just simply can’t stand. If you can believe it, the last time I got a haircut was on January 5. So I think you’ll agree, with it getting close to two months since I last got a trim, that it’s time.
I figure I’m probably going to go to SmartStyle this time, which is in my own Waynesboro Wal-Mart. I figure that way I can just do it after work, plus Wal-Mart associates get 20% off at SmartStyle.
All the more reason I’m glad I work in a Supercenter, and not a regular Wal-Mart. Regular Wal-Marts don’t have haircut places, among other things. Though not all Supercenter hair places are SmartStyle, mind you. When I lived in Arkansas, the Wal-Mart Supercenters in Springdale and Bentonville (the latter being laid out just like Staunton) had a place called “Fantastic Sam’s” as the in-store barber shop.
Two days off really leaves a person refreshed!
< 1 minute read
February 25, 2004, 2:47 PM
And I broke my promise to myself not to go into a Wal-Mart on this “weekend” (it’s two consecutive days off – that’s just as good as Saturday and Sunday in my book), as I had to go out to get some odds and ends that were running out. Note, though, that I went to Staunton instead of my own store.
Otherwise, I got the desk back into position against the wall. That was good. The Merry Maids (a company we employ that comes every other Wednesday to clean) commented that the place will look really nice when it’s finished. I agree. It’s going to look SO nice when it’s done.
So by tonight, I should have the computer set back up. This whole thing about using Dad’s computer is really a pain. Especially after starting up his computer, discovering a program called “Spybot – Search & Destroy” that takes ten minutes to check your computer for spyware when you start up. I terminated that program prematurely, since I believe that the best spyware deterrent is to actually (God forbid) know and pay attention to what you’re putting on your computer. That’s what I do. I do have Ad-Aware on my computer, but that I only use if I think I may have spyware. Then it goes and finds it and does away with it.
Of course, we still ask the question of why his computer was off to begin with, but that’s not as important.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Computer, Walmart