...because God has a sense of humor. So last week I spent half the post complaining and making excuses for the lack of things happening in my life...so naturally this week has been packed with craziness.
After last Saturday's tie confusion, Sunday was pretty quiet (aside from nearly being run off the road by a crazy motorcyclist). I mostly just relaxed at home and hung out with my family. And worked. That too. Oh...and a thunderstorm hit which my mother thought was the storm of the century because she was driving the same speed and direction as it for the greater part of her trip home from the grocery store. While watching the storm from the garage, I noticed some kids across the street partaking in a sport that I loved as a child: abject futility. Specifically they were golfing into the wind (which was bending trees over) in blinding rain (with metal golf clubs) and kickballs that had even less ability to go forward in the wind than a regular golf club.
Monday was when the real excitement began. After work I hung around the mall since my accounting class is an hour after my job shift ends most of the time. I got dinner at the Potbelly Sandwich shop my sister works at and then drove to class. On the way there I got caught in a backup caused by workman repairing damage caused by a storm caused by the foolishness of humankind in attempting mad science in Baltimore city. (or maybe just weather patterns, I dunno) Whilst in said backup, I accidentally bumped into the trailer hitch of the person in front of me, resulting in my first time swapping insurance info. Nothing came of it though, and no damage was done, so I think I lucked out.
Tuesday I blitzed a bunch of accounting assignments that I needed to get done and then attempted to stay cool as the heat which has been oppressing our area returned and made even air conditioning feel less comfortable.
Wednesday...was interesting. I started the comedy of errors off by leaving an hour early for work by accident...which would turn out to be a very good thing. As I pulled into the post office to mail a package for my mom, I noticed that the front right wheel was really dragging. I parked and took a peek, which confirmed my fears that the tire had been slashed, and judging by the marks I think my car was attacked by Wolverine. I do not know how the tire managed to slice so big a gash in itself without my noticing. Anyway, I got out to change the tire. I jacked the car up, put it in park, put the parking brake on, and set to work. I got the blown tire off and started to put the new one on...when the jack slipped. The car apparently rolled backwards a bit (despite the parking brake) and the whole minivan came down on top of my right thumb. I think it hit a nerve or something because the whole digit went numb for about 20 minutes except for right at the base. I didn't think it was broken so I went inside and just got an ice pack from the post office staff (who were very nice). By this time a handyman happened to drive by and, noticing my plight, came and changed the tire for me. (Thank you very much, mystery mechanic!)
Now that I was mobile again, my thumb was really starting to hurt. My mom told me that I needed to get it x-rayed, so I drove to the Sears car repair station at the mall and dropped the car off, while my mom came and picked me up. (she had been there when the car fell and afterward). We then drove across the chesapeake bay to my doctor, who told me he wanted my thumb x-rayed. TO THE DIAGNOSTICS CENTER! Once there I told another doctor my story (this one was very surprised that I had ever considered not coming for an x-ray.) She then scanned my hand with a very star-trek looking ceiling mounted x-ray cannon and said that the thumb was fortunately not broken. Back to the doctor we went, and he put me on a course of advil to keep the swelling down and a thumb splint for at least a week to keep it from being further injured.
After all of this I finally got to work.
When I arrived my boss (whom I'd called) checked up on me and then let me get to work. Several coworkers and customers asked about the terminator-hand I had and I told my story about a dozen times that day. Reactions ranged from "Oh my lord!" to "That's why you drink, milk, Geoffry." (directed at the reactor's five year old.)
Thursday my sister and a couple of friends we hadn't seen in a while went to watch a movie, which might have been a dream, or else a movie in disguise as a dream. If you don't know what I'm talking about...then shame on you. If you do, then you'll also know that I thought it was epic, amazing, and totally mind blowing, although the ending didn't bother me as much as most people. I was oddly at peace with not knowing the outcome of the circulating object. If you wonder why I am being so cryptic, I just don't want to spoil anything for you...because you must go and see Inception, or I will be very unhappy with you. :)
So that brings us to today. I began the day by saying goodbye to my family for the weekend. (literally, I woke up and said goodbye. That's what I get for sleeping too much.) They're off to New York to visit my Uncle, and if it wasn't for work I'd be going too. I'm getting paid for that, though, so I'm not complaining. Most of the day I did various house chores, put some work in on a take home accounting test, watched an episode of White Collar on tv, banged my thumb into everything since I'm a klutz, and mailed more packages for my entrepreneurial mother who sold books on amazon after leaving home (and thus the ability to deliver them.)
At Pottery Barn tonight I received, for the first time ever, a "guy question" from a seven year old boy. I had no idea what he meant when he said he needed to ask me a "guy question" but he wouldn't ask his mom and she figured it'd be better to just answer whatever it was. He leaned in really close and whispered, with mild urgency "How on earth do you get out of this place!?"
I nearly fell over laughing.
Other than that it was a pretty normal evening. I did get stuck behind a rear-end collision on the way home, but that was only mildly exciting. Now I'm going to go to bed. And never again will I complain about a lack of excitement in one week. Adios, goodbye, and enjoy August. It's my birth month and therefore blessed above all others.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
The Doldrums of Routine
I fear this is destined to be a short update, as my life of late has been less than noteworthy. Go to work, come home, do homework, sleep, go back to work, then take a class. At any rate I'll do my best to find enough happenings to make it a decent post. Here we go.
I don't think I talked any about my accounting class in any of my previous updates, so I'll start there. I decided to take a six-week accounting class at the local community college to help boost my GPA and free up some room in my schedule so I don't have 18 credit semesters down the road. My previous experience with Anne Arundel Community College had prepared me for a thoroughly wacky, yet ultimately positive experience I took Spanish and Math there during my senior year of high school. During those classes, I met among others: A bubbly goth girl, an architect who I think might have been Israeli, or at least of Israeli descent, a crazy spanish professor, and a substitute math professor who wrote "Klaatu Barata Nikto" on the board during a final exam, with no explanation (I later googled it and found out that it was what the alien in "The Day The Earth Stood Still" said which saved the world, apparently.
So needless to say I expected some wackiness, and I got it. The class is great, and only at a community college will you have such a diverse mix of people in a class. An Arab man, a Ukranian girl, a dude who already has his MBA but for some reason is taking Accounting 212, a guy who has left both his wallet and a pair of Oakley's sunglasses behind on succeeding Wednesdays, and a guy who spends class playing what I suspect is illegal online poker. Maybe he counts his losses as "accounts payable". (Did I just make an accounting joke? Yeesh.) We're already almost at the second test, and moving at a good clip towards the end of the class. Kinda weird considering we've only had 5 classes. Overall I'm liking it, so I guess that's good.
In addition to classes, I'm working more and more as time goes on. My bosses have been giving me more hours, which is good. However, depending on how slow/busy we are, time can move pretty dang slowly. If we're empty, and I've got nothing to do to occupy my mind, no matter how long my shift is it feels like an eternity. On the other hand, if we're busy, and I have plenty to do, an eight and a half hour shift can feel like ten minutes. It's hit-or-miss I guess. I'm especially glad to just have something to do during the days. Back when I didn't have a job I was unbelievably BORED. Now that I'm at Pottery Barn, my life feels much more balanced.
If you're reading this post for the first time then congratulations! Everything from here until the last paragraph is material which was not in the original blog post since it happened the night after I wrote it. Consider yourself as reading the "Special Extended Edition" of WDJP.
Well, since originally writing this entry, I realized that it was sorely lacking in the sort of semi-amusing life incidents I normally try to stock this thing with. Fortunately, life decided to heap such things upon my head during the shift I just finished working. Strangely enough, for the first time, I heard comments about my wearing a tie to work every day, and not just one or two, but about six different incidents centered around my tie today, and I have never before even had one person mention it before now, and I've worked at Pottery Barn for about a month.
First off, about ten minutes after I got there, my coworker Mary asked "Why do you always wear a tie? Nobody else does, they all just wear collared shirts." I replied that I actually preferred having a tie on if I had to wear a collared shirt, just because that's what I'm used to, since I spent my high school years as a debate nerd. Next, a coworker who had never worked with me before started acting kinda weird and showing me around the story like I didn't work there. About ten minutes later I discovered that, because of my tie, she had assumed that I was an inspector sent by corporate headquarters to check up on performance.
As if this wasn't enough notice of my neck adornment for one day, two hours later some employees from other companies in the mall owned by Williams-Sonoma Corp. (which owns Pottery Barn) were shopping, and they kept asking me design questions, "in my professional opinion." Finally they realized that, contrary to what my tie had apparently led them to believe, I was not the new visual coordinator but was in fact just a dude who had a tie on. Even this was not the end of my adventures in confusing people with a striped piece of silk. On my dinner break no less, I was approached in Borders by a man who wanted to know where he could find the biography of Nelson Mandela, only for him to realize that I was not an employee of Borders, but was, in fact, just an overdressed browser. Finally, after we closed, the final tie incident occured. I had been teasing Katherine, one of my coworkers, while I was stuffing some pillows, and she decided to retaliate by announcing loudly to the entire remaining workforce over her walkie-talkie that I wore a tie "because I was a proud member of the Williams-Sonoma Workforce." Fortunately, no one else heard because unbeknownst to her (and I somehow forgot to mention to her) that her battery light was flashing and the walkie wasn't transmitting.
Other than that I've not really been doing a whole lot of any interest. Once I save up enough to get my new computer I hope to make a video out of the "Real History of the Roman Empire" notes I wrote on Facebook, but writing about what I plan to do is sorta cheating, so I'll go ahead and end here. Until next time, sayonara!
I don't think I talked any about my accounting class in any of my previous updates, so I'll start there. I decided to take a six-week accounting class at the local community college to help boost my GPA and free up some room in my schedule so I don't have 18 credit semesters down the road. My previous experience with Anne Arundel Community College had prepared me for a thoroughly wacky, yet ultimately positive experience I took Spanish and Math there during my senior year of high school. During those classes, I met among others: A bubbly goth girl, an architect who I think might have been Israeli, or at least of Israeli descent, a crazy spanish professor, and a substitute math professor who wrote "Klaatu Barata Nikto" on the board during a final exam, with no explanation (I later googled it and found out that it was what the alien in "The Day The Earth Stood Still" said which saved the world, apparently.
So needless to say I expected some wackiness, and I got it. The class is great, and only at a community college will you have such a diverse mix of people in a class. An Arab man, a Ukranian girl, a dude who already has his MBA but for some reason is taking Accounting 212, a guy who has left both his wallet and a pair of Oakley's sunglasses behind on succeeding Wednesdays, and a guy who spends class playing what I suspect is illegal online poker. Maybe he counts his losses as "accounts payable". (Did I just make an accounting joke? Yeesh.) We're already almost at the second test, and moving at a good clip towards the end of the class. Kinda weird considering we've only had 5 classes. Overall I'm liking it, so I guess that's good.
In addition to classes, I'm working more and more as time goes on. My bosses have been giving me more hours, which is good. However, depending on how slow/busy we are, time can move pretty dang slowly. If we're empty, and I've got nothing to do to occupy my mind, no matter how long my shift is it feels like an eternity. On the other hand, if we're busy, and I have plenty to do, an eight and a half hour shift can feel like ten minutes. It's hit-or-miss I guess. I'm especially glad to just have something to do during the days. Back when I didn't have a job I was unbelievably BORED. Now that I'm at Pottery Barn, my life feels much more balanced.
If you're reading this post for the first time then congratulations! Everything from here until the last paragraph is material which was not in the original blog post since it happened the night after I wrote it. Consider yourself as reading the "Special Extended Edition" of WDJP.
Well, since originally writing this entry, I realized that it was sorely lacking in the sort of semi-amusing life incidents I normally try to stock this thing with. Fortunately, life decided to heap such things upon my head during the shift I just finished working. Strangely enough, for the first time, I heard comments about my wearing a tie to work every day, and not just one or two, but about six different incidents centered around my tie today, and I have never before even had one person mention it before now, and I've worked at Pottery Barn for about a month.
First off, about ten minutes after I got there, my coworker Mary asked "Why do you always wear a tie? Nobody else does, they all just wear collared shirts." I replied that I actually preferred having a tie on if I had to wear a collared shirt, just because that's what I'm used to, since I spent my high school years as a debate nerd. Next, a coworker who had never worked with me before started acting kinda weird and showing me around the story like I didn't work there. About ten minutes later I discovered that, because of my tie, she had assumed that I was an inspector sent by corporate headquarters to check up on performance.
As if this wasn't enough notice of my neck adornment for one day, two hours later some employees from other companies in the mall owned by Williams-Sonoma Corp. (which owns Pottery Barn) were shopping, and they kept asking me design questions, "in my professional opinion." Finally they realized that, contrary to what my tie had apparently led them to believe, I was not the new visual coordinator but was in fact just a dude who had a tie on. Even this was not the end of my adventures in confusing people with a striped piece of silk. On my dinner break no less, I was approached in Borders by a man who wanted to know where he could find the biography of Nelson Mandela, only for him to realize that I was not an employee of Borders, but was, in fact, just an overdressed browser. Finally, after we closed, the final tie incident occured. I had been teasing Katherine, one of my coworkers, while I was stuffing some pillows, and she decided to retaliate by announcing loudly to the entire remaining workforce over her walkie-talkie that I wore a tie "because I was a proud member of the Williams-Sonoma Workforce." Fortunately, no one else heard because unbeknownst to her (and I somehow forgot to mention to her) that her battery light was flashing and the walkie wasn't transmitting.
Other than that I've not really been doing a whole lot of any interest. Once I save up enough to get my new computer I hope to make a video out of the "Real History of the Roman Empire" notes I wrote on Facebook, but writing about what I plan to do is sorta cheating, so I'll go ahead and end here. Until next time, sayonara!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Outdoor Pillows, Box Cutters, and Neil Patrick Harris
Whew! It's been a long time since I updated and for that I sincerely apologize. There just...hasn't been a whole lot worth writing about going on. Last time I updated was right after Nats, and since then I've pretty much just been job hunting, though I'm glad to say I was finally successful (more on that later). Unless you wanted an entire blog post devoted to my adventures in job hunting (I applied at X...and they didn't need me. So I applied at Y...and they didn't need me. So I applied at z...and they didn't need me. Then out of desperation I tried to apply at the solution to the equation...but since X,Y, and Z were all undefined they were stumped and couldn't hire me.) I suppose this is the best option after all (deft rear-end covering maneuver, yes?).
So...let's see. Last Tuesday I got a phone call following up an interview following several phone calls following up an application and was hired as a sales associate at Pottery Barn in the Annapolis Mall. Basically my job is to greet "guests" as we're supposed to call customers, see if they need help, then ring them up when I'm done. Also, if I'm closing I have some basic re-stocking work to do as well. All and all it's not a bad gig, and once I figure out where/what everything is (seriously, half of the things we sell I swear we just made up names for. "Yes, the Sienna Paisley Cross-Stitched Gromet-Socketed Duvet Flatware Set is just over here ma'am, next to the glass thingies.")
My awesome coworkers/bosses are a real benefit of working at PB. Since the store is kinda starting from scratch (new managers, new sales staff, new stockroom workers) there really aren't many people who've been there more than a few months to a year. In addition to the extremely friendly attitudes of my coworkers and employee-focused policies that the company has, this relative freshness has made starting the job much less intimidating (since most of the stuff I'm figuring out, they're still figuring out to, and rather than them telling me how to do it, we just figure it out together.)
In between shifts at Pottery Barn, I've noticed an alarming trend this past two weeks. Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris are invading my life. At first I didn't think much of it, but they KEEP SHOWING UP everywhere I turn around. It's like being stalked by famous people. Last week I went to a friends house, where I was introduced to a show called "How I Met Your Mother," with Neil Patrick Harris playing one of the main characters. I then returned home and two days later all the commercials on Hulu are for Castle, a show where Nathan Fillion is one of the main characters. This seemed innocuous, but then later that day I recognized Fillion's voice in a voice acting role, looked it up, and sure enough...there he was. Creepy, but not a trend, I hear you say. Just wait. This week I was trying to ignore the sounds of Regis and Kelly, which my mom had accidentally left playing on the TV while I was checking my e-mail, and who should be hosting a commercial but Neil Patrick Harris. As if that wasn't bad enough, my sister told I should watch a short film called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and when the title screens rolled I realized that the two main roles are played by NATHAN FILLION AND NEIL PATRICK HARRIS!!! Coincidence? I think not!
Aside from being stalked by celebrity actors, today I was schedules to work a 9 hour shift in the stockroom (with an hour for lunch, which I guess makes it an 8 hour shift with an hour for lunch tacked on at the end.) Normally I work sales, (hence "sales associate") but for some reason there was a gap in the stockroom schedule and some shifts needed covering. Since I haven't finished training for sales, my boss asked if I would mind putting it on hold for a week, covering two shifts in the stockroom, and then picking up sales again. "Sure," I said "no problem." And it wasn't. I'm really tired and my feet hurt, but otherwise it wasn't bad. The morning was hectic because we got a massive shipment and had to unload it, but my two coworkers for the day (the disco/showtunes-loving Richard and Jay the helium-breathing, normally deep-voiced black dude (who was a riot) showed me what to do and we got it done. The rest of the day was spent slicing open boxes with a box cutter and putting the items where they go on the shelves.
So now I'm home and am tired, however, I felt I could not justify going another day without publishing at least something to WDJP here. I need to stick to my schedule better. My bad. :)
See ya next week! (feel free to put the spurs to me if I'm lazy about it.)
So...let's see. Last Tuesday I got a phone call following up an interview following several phone calls following up an application and was hired as a sales associate at Pottery Barn in the Annapolis Mall. Basically my job is to greet "guests" as we're supposed to call customers, see if they need help, then ring them up when I'm done. Also, if I'm closing I have some basic re-stocking work to do as well. All and all it's not a bad gig, and once I figure out where/what everything is (seriously, half of the things we sell I swear we just made up names for. "Yes, the Sienna Paisley Cross-Stitched Gromet-Socketed Duvet Flatware Set is just over here ma'am, next to the glass thingies.")
My awesome coworkers/bosses are a real benefit of working at PB. Since the store is kinda starting from scratch (new managers, new sales staff, new stockroom workers) there really aren't many people who've been there more than a few months to a year. In addition to the extremely friendly attitudes of my coworkers and employee-focused policies that the company has, this relative freshness has made starting the job much less intimidating (since most of the stuff I'm figuring out, they're still figuring out to, and rather than them telling me how to do it, we just figure it out together.)
In between shifts at Pottery Barn, I've noticed an alarming trend this past two weeks. Nathan Fillion and Neil Patrick Harris are invading my life. At first I didn't think much of it, but they KEEP SHOWING UP everywhere I turn around. It's like being stalked by famous people. Last week I went to a friends house, where I was introduced to a show called "How I Met Your Mother," with Neil Patrick Harris playing one of the main characters. I then returned home and two days later all the commercials on Hulu are for Castle, a show where Nathan Fillion is one of the main characters. This seemed innocuous, but then later that day I recognized Fillion's voice in a voice acting role, looked it up, and sure enough...there he was. Creepy, but not a trend, I hear you say. Just wait. This week I was trying to ignore the sounds of Regis and Kelly, which my mom had accidentally left playing on the TV while I was checking my e-mail, and who should be hosting a commercial but Neil Patrick Harris. As if that wasn't bad enough, my sister told I should watch a short film called Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, and when the title screens rolled I realized that the two main roles are played by NATHAN FILLION AND NEIL PATRICK HARRIS!!! Coincidence? I think not!
Aside from being stalked by celebrity actors, today I was schedules to work a 9 hour shift in the stockroom (with an hour for lunch, which I guess makes it an 8 hour shift with an hour for lunch tacked on at the end.) Normally I work sales, (hence "sales associate") but for some reason there was a gap in the stockroom schedule and some shifts needed covering. Since I haven't finished training for sales, my boss asked if I would mind putting it on hold for a week, covering two shifts in the stockroom, and then picking up sales again. "Sure," I said "no problem." And it wasn't. I'm really tired and my feet hurt, but otherwise it wasn't bad. The morning was hectic because we got a massive shipment and had to unload it, but my two coworkers for the day (the disco/showtunes-loving Richard and Jay the helium-breathing, normally deep-voiced black dude (who was a riot) showed me what to do and we got it done. The rest of the day was spent slicing open boxes with a box cutter and putting the items where they go on the shelves.
So now I'm home and am tired, however, I felt I could not justify going another day without publishing at least something to WDJP here. I need to stick to my schedule better. My bad. :)
See ya next week! (feel free to put the spurs to me if I'm lazy about it.)
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