Add “Boyd’s Hairdressers” to my crap-list
< 1 minute read
January 6, 2004, 3:19 AM
Fresh from my first day at the new Wal-Mart in Waynesboro (which in itself was a great experience, and I’m pumped up for the January 21 grand opening once I get a vest that fits), I went down to Staunton Mall to Boyd’s Hairdressers to get a much-needed trim.
Now on a Monday night, the mall was SLOW. I think you could probably count the number of people in any one area of the mall on one hand. Seriously. Boyd’s was no exception. I was, in fact, their only customer.
Soooooooo… there are two employees, both idle, one reading a magazine. Seeing this, I jumped on the opportunity to get a quick haircut.
Continue reading…And that’s the end of my time in Staunton…
2 minute read
January 3, 2004, 12:22 AM
Yeah, today was my last day as an associate in the Staunton Wal-Mart. It was a happy and sad day.
On one hand, it was a happy day. All of us who were hired for Waynesboro and were placed in the Staunton Wal-Mart (Store #1344) will finally be “coming home” to the Waynesboro store as of Monday the 5th. For that, I am excited, as I get to help open and work in a brand new store. Not an existing store that’s moving to a new facility. A totally brand new store. I am SO excited. Plus it’s closer to me than Staunton. Interestingly enough, the Waynesboro Wal-Mart is actually right around the corner from where I used to work. From the new Wal-Mart in Waynesboro, you just have to take about a mile and some change of a drive, and a right and a left, and you’re at CFW (later Telegate) building where I used to work.
Now the sad part was saying goodbye to all the wonderful people in Staunton who aren’t transferring to Waynesboro. I still intend to shop in the Staunton Wal-Mart, so it’s not like I’m going away forever and will never see them again. Still, a lot of well wishes and big hugs were exchanged today. I will so miss everyone… so many great times together, so many wonderful conversations, and also such helpful people as all of us who were hired for Waynesboro got our sea legs on the register and with Wal-Mart in general in Staunton for Christmas.
Categories: Walmart
Today is Katherine Watts’s birthday
< 1 minute read
January 2, 2004, 10:32 AM
Just one of those random things you remember about people… today is the 23rd birthday of Katherine Watts, a friend and classmate from elementary school in Rogers, Arkansas. I haven’t seen her since we moved to Virginia back in 1992, and so in June it will be 12 years since I saw her. We still have an apple-shaped ornament that she did for me in preschool that we still put on the tree every year. Still, happy birthday to Katherine Watts.
Otherwise, today is my last day in the Staunton Wal-Mart as an associate. Monday all of us Waynesboro associates will be starting down there for the big January 21 grand opening. I’m excited. And I get this weekend off. So I’m going to Washington DC on Saturday (as in tomorrow) to ride Metro and take photos of stuff.
Categories: Elementary school, Walmart
And a “Happy New Year” to you, too.
2 minute read
January 1, 2004, 1:06 AM
It’s 2004! That’s a frightening thought.
I spent my New Year’s up on the Blue Ridge Parkway, taking an hour or so to myself in the quiet. This is the first time in at least twelve years that I did NOT do like most people do – sitting and watching the TV, watching the ball drop at Times Square. Instead, I spent the time deep in thought, allowing my mind to completely release itself with a view of the Shenandoah Valley below.
And you could tell exactly when the ball dropped anyway, based on what happened in the valley below. From my vantage point on an overlook in the mountains, I saw a bunch of fireworks going off all across the valley. All kinds of illegal (in Virginia) fireworks blasting high up in the air, to ring in the new year. And that’s another thing – they really did appear small from my vantage point. Sure, they probably seemed huge from below, but since I was above the people’s fireworks looking down on them, they really seemed kind of diminutive.
Categories: Blue Ridge Parkway, New Year's
You do not know what two days off will do for you…
< 1 minute read
December 30, 2003, 11:03 AM
After having two days off from Wal-Mart, I am now officially ready to go once again, ready to take whatever the customers are willing to throw at me. Especially since Monday was basically a sleep day, where I basically slept for most of the day. A much-needed day of R&R, especially after a great photo day in Roanoke on my other off-day.
My car’s also ready to go, too, as we replaced a burned-out headlight that was discovered on the way home from Sunday’s Roanoke trip. Quite the longevity, too, when you think about it. My father and I discussed it while replacing it, and realized that on this 1991 Toyota Previa, which we bought in July 1990, we were actually replacing the original bulb. That’s thirteen years with that same bulb, believe it or not. The other headlight’s bulb was not original, having been put in during repairs after we hit a deer in 1994.
Categories: Myself, Toyota Previa
This time, I met all my goals without any problems…
< 1 minute read
December 29, 2003, 3:46 AM
I went down to Roanoke on Sunday to take the new tripod out for a spin and get accustomed to how it operates. I consider the mission a success.
I also didn’t have anyone call the police on me this time thinking I was a peeper or something. Of course, my location was different. Still all public places, but this time, the park was different, being up on top of a mountain (I visited Mill Mountain Park again). I also photographed some of downtown Roanoke at night after the park.
I also was recognized from the Web site by a Taco Bell employee at a combination Taco Bell/Pizza Hut restaurant on US 220 in the same shopping center as a Wal-Mart. I thought that was rather interesting, if I do say so myself.
So all in all, that went well. Will I make a photo set out of it? I don’t know yet. I’ll have to let the images “cook” in my mind before I’ll know for sure.
I also lost a headlight on my trip, as my drivers-side headlight bulb burned out at some point. This is when we’re glad that my father is a “car guy”, as he knows what he’s doing. And a bulb is probably cheap. Compare this to me, where I can stare at it like an idiot all day, and then get bored and more likely break it before ever doing anything like fixing it.
And so that’s my day… all told, I’d mark it off as a success.
Categories: Roanoke
“That’s not a telescope!”
3 minute read
December 28, 2003, 1:40 AM
It’s amusing what happens when you try to take photos sometimes. Let me explain what I mean…
For Christmas, I got a new, heavy-duty tripod, that is MUCH better than my old one. It’s taller, has more features, and a lot of other things that I haven’t figured out how to best use yet.
So on Christmas night (the night of December 25), I took the tripod for a spin to try it out. I went over the mountain to Charlottesville, where I headed to McIntire Park (where I’ve previously photographed on a few other occasions). I chose McIntire Park because it was relatively safe, open until 10 PM based on signage, and a public park (meaning public property).
So I have Big Mavica hooked up to the tripod and I’m doing my thing. A Jeep comes into the park, parks in the lot, powers off, sits for a few minutes, then starts up again and leaves.
Categories: Cameras, Charlottesville, Christmas
Well, that was fun!
< 1 minute read
December 25, 2003, 11:04 AM
Christmas morning has come and gone, and it went well. First of all, I got a brand new tripod for Big Mavica, which is bigger and more heavy duty than my old one. I shall enjoy this, indeed. I’m going to go out and take it for a spin later today once it gets dark.
And Wal-Mart is CLOSED today! So as a result, I didn’t have to go to work today. Good. I needed the rest. Wal-Mart closed at 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve (with management hitting some of the lights to encourage customers to get finished – a strange sight, seeing Wal-Mart with half the lights out), and will reopen at 6:00 AM on December 26 for the after-Christmas shoppers. And it’s amusing how giddy we all got once we finished, logged off our registers, and turned in the money in our tills. If you can imagine, there was singing (including “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”), and we were dancing in the aisles to an extent. We made it. Christmas Eve was over. We get a day off. And boy, do we deserve it. And so we wasted no time getting back to the breakroom to clock out and leave, needless to say.
So there you go. Now for the rest of the day, we’re going to eat, and then I’m going to play around with this new tripod, and figure out all of what it can do for me.
This is going to be like Trading Spaces without the other family. We have a horrid-looking sloppy room about to be remade into a totally new look.
< 1 minute read
December 24, 2003, 12:20 AM
I said this to my friend Chris today as I discussed how I’m redecorating around here. It’s kind of like bringing a little Potomac Hall to my room at home, as I’m reviving the color scheme from my Junior Year room.
I’m also going to do a Life and Times photo set about the whole thing, since it really will be quite a change. It will probably take a few weeks to do (the job, not the photo set), but it will look great when it’s done.
And my sister’s room will be used for swing space in the interim. This means I have time to get everything ready like plans and such, plus making the requisite purchases of paint, carpet shampoo (we have the shampooer), and the new lighting, since I have to wait until she goes back to Tech before I can begin using her room for swing space.
Still, there you go. My room is the perfect “before” room like Trading Spaces would have. Ugly paint, weird decorative elements, and altogether looking like a well-intentioned-but-well-past-its-time decor job. This room SO needs a makeover.
Categories: Bedroom remodel
“Your little interviews make me want to shove my purse so far down your throat that it can only be retrieved with a really long hook.”
< 1 minute read
December 23, 2003, 12:50 AM
That’s what my sister says about those little “interviews” I do with Big Mavica. And all this time I thought that they were fun. It turns out that they think that it’s more like pulling teeth sans anesthesia.
And all this time I thought that they enjoyed them. After all, Mom enjoyed seeing herself say, “People will think you just got out of the home” on one from November 2002.
Meanwhile, remember how I said that Wal-Mart was a full-contact sport? Yeah, it still is, and it drove the point home when I accidentally hit myself in the head with the stick end of one of those horsie sticks. Thankfully, it was a plastic stick.
Giving the gift of cash…
2 minute read
December 22, 2003, 1:36 AM
And another thing… what has Christmas come to in our house? For me, at least, Christmas is really all about cash. Actually, reverse gifts to be more specific. I’m going shopping for my own gifts this year, getting them wrapped, and then getting reimbursed for them by the gift-giver. My parents don’t know specifically what they ended up getting me for Christmas, but I’ve taken it upon myself to act surprised nonetheless when I unwrap the gift that they bought me (by way of me).
Then my sister already knew what I wanted, that being a long-sleeved shirt from Wal-Mart. So since I work there, she said I can go get my gift and provide a receipt. I went and bought the shirt. And I’m still getting it gift-wrapped, though more on principle than anything else.
Speaking of gift-wrapping, when I bought my gift from Mom and Dad in Roanoke on Thursday and then had it gift wrapped at Valley View Mall and asked for a receipt, I got some very strange looks from the people working the gift-wrap station when I said I needed a receipt for the wrapping. The girl who was taking care of me said, “It’s cash-only,” to which I replied, “I still need a receipt.” They produced a receipt.
Categories: Bedroom remodel, Christmas, Family, Retail
No one said in orientation that Wal-Mart was a full contact sport!
3 minute read
December 22, 2003, 12:38 AM
Yeah, Wal-Mart is a full-contact sport, it seems. Of course, the day after Thanksgiving, known as “Black Friday” (a day where I wore all black to be silly) is very much full-contact, with the customers practically killing each other for great deals.
Then there’s me – I’ve managed to hit myself in the face a few times with oddly-shaped-but-light items. Mostly wrapping paper. I’m trying to manage the wrapping paper, getting it from the belt to the bag, and in the process manage to hit myself in the head. Really smooth. There was another time when I accidentally hit the checkout light (you know, the red thing with the number on it) with a roll of wrapping paper. A small flurry of dust fell off of the number and onto me.
All in all, though, I like my job, and so that’s always a good thing.
Categories: Food and drink, Schumin Web meta, Walmart
Let’s talk hat hair here…
< 1 minute read
December 20, 2003, 12:37 AM
Ladies and gentlemen, I have severe hat hair! This is what happens when you wear a Santa hat for nine hours straight. We’ve been wearing these little Santa hats on the registers, and I have a big head, and so my hair gets crushed. So say hello to hat hair. I figure it must be Wal-Mart’s method of getting us to wear the hats all day. Once you wear the hat for a little bit, there goes your good hair day. So you keep the hat on all day and only remove it once you’re safely out of the store and somewhere where people won’t comment on your hat hair.
Meanwhile, I’ve finished sorting images for The Schumin Web Transit Center, my new transit-oriented site, and now I’m combing through those images, and prepping images for the site. Basically, I’m clearing out obviously bad images (blurry, not properly framed, etc.), and bringing out the good qualities in the ones that are left. Most of them are of DC Metro (as in Metrorail), and so be prepared to see a lot of trains…
Categories: Christmas, Schumin Web meta, Walmart
eBay auction: Quite amusing
< 1 minute read
December 17, 2003, 8:07 PM
Just look at the link below… it’s amusing as hell.
Categories: Netculture
It took me an hour to get home!
< 1 minute read
December 14, 2003, 2:16 AM
Yay for snow AND sleet. I didn’t run off the road this time (thank God), but still, it took me a full bloody hour to get home from work today. Normally, this is a quick 20-minute drive to get from my house in Stuarts Draft to Wal-Mart in Staunton, going at least 55 most of the way.
Change that to snowy weather, and my top speed was 25, and I’m taking a different route than I usually do. Normally, when I go to and from work, I take Route 608 to I-64 to I-81 to US 250 to Wal-Mart. This is basically the direct route to Staunton via Fishersville from Stuarts Draft.
Tonight, you could say I took a more scenic route home, going from Wal-Mart taking US 250 to Waynesboro, using Lew Dewitt Boulevard to cut across to US 340, and then taking 340 to Stuarts Draft, picking up 608 at its intersection with 340. Why the different route? This different route has practically no curves, and is primary roads almost the entire way. No interstates (which make me nervous in the snow due to truck traffic), and no back roads. Sure it’s much longer, but in the snow, curves are the enemy, and could cause me to slide off the road into God-knows-what. Quite unpleasant either way.
But, hey, I made it. And I get to do it again going back to work again tomorrow, though I may very well see if I can get out of driving it and get Dad to take me. After all, when I parked, I blocked in Dad’s VW Golf, leaving a clear path for the truck to get out, and the truck has four-wheel-drive, and I don’t believe that the Golf has that.
Categories: Driving, Winter weather