July 4, 2013
Happy Independence Day to all of you. If you have anyone in your family who is serving our country in the military, or has served, please thank them for me and my family for keeping us safe. I am so glad they are the troops as I would make the worst troops.
As for Independence Day, Martina McBride sings a song with the same name that is one of my all-time favorites. If you ever get the chance to hear it, you will find it has very little to do with the freedom of our county. However, she does a version live not long after 9/11 that is very moving.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sslFmCepE_0
There is the link if you want to have a look and have six minutes of free time.
As for the safety of my family, I am very lucky to be alive this morning. (No, not really) Last night was the night our local community celebrates the holiday. It is done with a mile-long race for adults and children and then a shorter fun race for the little kids. The kids are adorable. One adult ran the race backwards while his dog ran with him, but forwards. I am not sure what the significance of this was except to prove that dogs are smarter than humans. If you know who Bill Cunningham is, he interviewed people at the finish line. He is a local celeb who achieved fame as a radio DJ and has moved on to have a national television talk show. I haven't seen it since, ironically, it is not shown locally.
Anyway, the race is followed by a parade in which my son's high school marching band participates. This is his third year marching with the drum line and he has come a long way from the kid who had to have someone lift the quads off of him at the end of the route since he was too tired to do it himself. He is in such good shape now that he marched and then went to the fireworks afterwards with his GF. He looked great and they sounded great.
That leads to my concerns for our safety. I went to bed around 10:00. As you can tell from the number of times I have posted lately, I have been busy at work. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but I have been working a lot. Even when I am at home, I get texted a lot. I just had my monthly visit from my district manager on Tuesday and it went great. He was going to take the traveling trophy for the store with the best numbers with him when he left to hand out at the next meeting, but then saw my numbers and knew he should just leave it with me. I told him I didn't mind bringing it with me so the other managers could at least sit near it for a couple hours. but he didn't think they would be up for me trash-talking. I guess we will see.
So tired was I. When I sleep, I sleep like a mom. I hear everything that is going on whether it be a storm, Beth walking around when she can't sleep, or a baby crying. Our baby hasn't woken up crying for 14 years or so, but I still listen just in case. However, last night, Beth got a text from CJ to come pick him up around midnight and went to get him. Our house is not big enough that a person can enter the house and not be heard. Except by me last night. When I woke up at 7:00, I had to wonder if my peeps were here. I looked to my left and Beth was there. I was pretty sure that if she was still waiting for a text from CJ at 7am, that she would not be doing so calmly. So everyone survived the holiday intact.
So I have a couple days off, but our weather isn't going to be great. Rain in the forecast.
I just got a text that the 8am cashier hasn't shown up. Here goes the holiday.
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Soylent Green is people!
June 15, 2013
Good morning all. I have to work later today, so I have time to blog this morning. Yesterday was catch up day at The CVS. I have hired two new people, which turns out to be quite the adventure with our hiring software. The two new hires will bring much needed stability to my team. I finished last week under 60 hours on payroll and am nearing 90 hours to the good for the month. For you aspiring retail managers out there (God help you), this is not a good thing. If your sales are down, then you should cut your payroll. But if your sales are up like mine, and the company gives you X number of hours to use, do not use X-90. This causes people in the forecaster department to think that if you can accomplish an 8% sales increase on X-90 hours one year, you can do it again the following year. They do not assume that the missing payroll hours were made up by the salary guy that works there. Salary guy is tired.
So there is your retail tip for the day. Your welcome. So yes, I do currently hold the floating trophy for our district for numerical results for the month of May, but it was not without more effort than it should have taken. I am hoping that things level of for the rest of June and that July should be an easier month before August gears up for inventory. Knock on wood, here's hoping. Gotta keep forecaster person in front of their green screen predicting adequate payroll numbers. El Nino or not.
Currently, my son CJ is sleeping. This is significant because he has had an impressive summer thus far. For example, this week he has gotten up every day at 6am to go running. Summer in Cincinnati means humidity, so 6am is a much better time to go running than noon. He runs a couple miles and does a "hill drill" at the high school. This involves somewhere between 23 and 33 wind sprints up and down a hill at school. You do them in sets like 35753 or 57975. Not too easy. He looks good though. He is around 6' tall and 144 pounds. Pretty lean. I never looked like that since my height topped out at 5'10" Not a lot of workout DVDs that will help you increase your height. CJ even turned down pizza last night since it doesn't help you look better. Good for him.
CJ has also spent a couple days helping the middle school kids put on a Summer on Stage program by providing instructions to the tech team. At least that is what he thought he would be doing. However, since no one signed up for the tech team, he has actually been the tech team. This only involved three days of volunteering, but last night's show would have had no sound or lights had he not helped out. Good for him.
Later today he has to work at the pool. A lot of his coworkers were unavailable to work this weekend, so he is working a long day. We double-checked the minor laws to make sure no minors were getting violated. That is how long his shift is. Everything is both hunky and dory, so I am letting him sleep in to be ready for this shift.
CJ has awakened. He is dressed in workout clothes, so his dedication to the task is admirable. Sounds like weight-lifting is on the agenda. Good for him.
Finally, in this "all things CJ" update, he started his driving instruction classes this week. These are four hour classes that you sit through leading up to the actual road instruction. Class number one involved four hours of watching people wreck their cars, lie dead in the street, and interviews with their children saying things like, "I don't know why I will never see my parents again." Kind of a scared straight version of driving instruction. Sounds like the same videos they showed us 32 years ago. Perhaps they intend to show them all the After-school Special videos including Cipher in the Snow, and Soylent Green. Perhaps not.
Oh, one more thing. Did you hear the oldest living human died this past week? He was 117 years old and was the only person left who had lived in three decades. We have decided to make this our goal. Who is with us? CJ has a good chance since he was born in 1996. For Beth and myself, we would have to live to be 135 and 136 years old. Our "baby boy" will be 106. Beth has assumed her health will be good as she declared to me, "I will not be changing your diapers!" I prefer to assume some machine will be changing my diapers by the year 2100. I will have to keep my wits about me though so I choose the machine that changes my diapers instead of the one that turns me into food.
Good morning all. I have to work later today, so I have time to blog this morning. Yesterday was catch up day at The CVS. I have hired two new people, which turns out to be quite the adventure with our hiring software. The two new hires will bring much needed stability to my team. I finished last week under 60 hours on payroll and am nearing 90 hours to the good for the month. For you aspiring retail managers out there (God help you), this is not a good thing. If your sales are down, then you should cut your payroll. But if your sales are up like mine, and the company gives you X number of hours to use, do not use X-90. This causes people in the forecaster department to think that if you can accomplish an 8% sales increase on X-90 hours one year, you can do it again the following year. They do not assume that the missing payroll hours were made up by the salary guy that works there. Salary guy is tired.
So there is your retail tip for the day. Your welcome. So yes, I do currently hold the floating trophy for our district for numerical results for the month of May, but it was not without more effort than it should have taken. I am hoping that things level of for the rest of June and that July should be an easier month before August gears up for inventory. Knock on wood, here's hoping. Gotta keep forecaster person in front of their green screen predicting adequate payroll numbers. El Nino or not.
Currently, my son CJ is sleeping. This is significant because he has had an impressive summer thus far. For example, this week he has gotten up every day at 6am to go running. Summer in Cincinnati means humidity, so 6am is a much better time to go running than noon. He runs a couple miles and does a "hill drill" at the high school. This involves somewhere between 23 and 33 wind sprints up and down a hill at school. You do them in sets like 35753 or 57975. Not too easy. He looks good though. He is around 6' tall and 144 pounds. Pretty lean. I never looked like that since my height topped out at 5'10" Not a lot of workout DVDs that will help you increase your height. CJ even turned down pizza last night since it doesn't help you look better. Good for him.
CJ has also spent a couple days helping the middle school kids put on a Summer on Stage program by providing instructions to the tech team. At least that is what he thought he would be doing. However, since no one signed up for the tech team, he has actually been the tech team. This only involved three days of volunteering, but last night's show would have had no sound or lights had he not helped out. Good for him.
Later today he has to work at the pool. A lot of his coworkers were unavailable to work this weekend, so he is working a long day. We double-checked the minor laws to make sure no minors were getting violated. That is how long his shift is. Everything is both hunky and dory, so I am letting him sleep in to be ready for this shift.
CJ has awakened. He is dressed in workout clothes, so his dedication to the task is admirable. Sounds like weight-lifting is on the agenda. Good for him.
Finally, in this "all things CJ" update, he started his driving instruction classes this week. These are four hour classes that you sit through leading up to the actual road instruction. Class number one involved four hours of watching people wreck their cars, lie dead in the street, and interviews with their children saying things like, "I don't know why I will never see my parents again." Kind of a scared straight version of driving instruction. Sounds like the same videos they showed us 32 years ago. Perhaps they intend to show them all the After-school Special videos including Cipher in the Snow, and Soylent Green. Perhaps not.
Oh, one more thing. Did you hear the oldest living human died this past week? He was 117 years old and was the only person left who had lived in three decades. We have decided to make this our goal. Who is with us? CJ has a good chance since he was born in 1996. For Beth and myself, we would have to live to be 135 and 136 years old. Our "baby boy" will be 106. Beth has assumed her health will be good as she declared to me, "I will not be changing your diapers!" I prefer to assume some machine will be changing my diapers by the year 2100. I will have to keep my wits about me though so I choose the machine that changes my diapers instead of the one that turns me into food.
Monday, May 27, 2013
For one last night, I was a Young Volcano
May 27, 2013
I know, two posts in the same weekend. But I remembered that I need to tell you about our concert experience.
About a month ago, I came home from work and found CJ in the basement. That was not the surprising part. However, I was surprised to see that he was forlorn. Apparently, he sat and watched as the last two tickets were sold to the Fall Out Boy concert he had hoped to attend in Columbus, Ohio. Sad was he.
This huge desire to go to a concert with his GF was spawned during her road trip with her mom. They had taken a trip over Spring Break that toured some of the East coast due to GF having a soccer game with her select team. Exactly where, I cannot recall. I do remember that her mom turned the trip into a mother-daughter road trip that included some college visits to universities such as Georgetown and ended with a visit to friends of theirs in Pittsburgh. The end of the trip also included a couple of concert tickets for GF and her mom to see Green Day. The favorite band of CJ and GF. Jealous was he? Green Day green-eyed jealous he was? You betcha.
So he hashed a plan for he and GF to see a band together. Their other favorite bands included The Killers and Fall Out Boy. I am going to assume Fall Out Boy ranks ahead of The Killers for reasons I will explain later.
So there he was, in the basememt, Skyping with GF and watching the last two tickets drip from his concert canteen out onto a desert of sadness. Since I have rarely seen my son in this state of despair, I decided I needed to hero up and fix this situation. I promptly proceeded upstairs to my computer and searched for tickets. CJ had only looked for tickets on the venue's site, so I was able to find them elsewhere-Stub Hub I think. Then, I did the unthinkable. I ordered tickets without consulting Beth first. I KNOW! I am in the future also. Four of them I ordered for a concert in Columbus (two hours away) on a Friday nite that, rotationally, fell on my weekend to work. No issues, I thought, we can work it out. Even if I cannot attend, perhaps GF's mom can go with Beth and the kids. We get along very well with her and I assume she will be game. Less thrilling would be to include GF's dad as the driver. It's not that we do not get along with him, we just don't know him as well as mom. They are divorced and share custody. This does not typically create awkward situations except for when I went to pick up CJ at GF's house the other night and went to the wrong house. Oops. I am so glad that everyone else thought that was pretty funny.
Anyway, you may have noticed that none of the concert limo services involved Beth as the driver. She is not wild about driving and a trip such as this did not fit into her driving skill set.
I need to shorten this story, so here is the preconcert Reader's Digest version. GF's mom was going to be in Chicago that night-not available. I was able to get Friday night off but was going to have to work 7am-10pm at work on Saturday. CJ had a full weekend of activities upcoming and GF had a soccer game two hours away on Saturday. All adults involved in the situation were a bit anxsty that Steve bought tickets. Children-still way excitied. Adults-see definition of anxsty.
Determined to make it work, I soldiered on. We left Cincinnati around 3:30. We encountered the "everyone leaves work early on Friday" traffic, but made it out of Cincinnati in decent time. I had picked a resteraunt close to The Lifestyle Community Pavillion for us to eat prior to the 7:00 concert. We actually made it to the eatery around 5:45, so that was working out. The meal and the company were excellent.
Now some of you may have noticed, that in the name of the concert's venue, was the word "Pavillion". It had never dawned on me that this meant "outdoors". And that a 50% chance of rain was not ideal. Another potential issue was the fact that all the seats for the concert were general admission. "Even though my ticket has a seat number on it?" "Sorry, sir (old dude), but even though there is a ticket number, all our seats are general admission and the only people that will be under cover are the band." This was told to me over the phone by less than enthused guy at the venue switchboard.
No problem, I hoped. Oh, and the opening act? Hollywood Holt. Excuse me? I have heard of Fall Out Boy, but Hollywood Holt? Or Diamond Dan as Beth calls him. Oh, a rapper. Perfect. My favorite genre of music.
Real long story short...the concert was FANTASTIC! The weather was in the high 60s and not a drop of rain. We cut the really long line to get in and got great seats. Not in the pit. OMG! I have never witnessed a concert with a pit before and it was mesmerizing. Three hours of teenagers bodysurfing from the back of the pit to the front and nobody died. We split up from the kids, but we could see them the whole time since the place only seats 4000 and is a big grass hill. They loved the concert and Beth and I did also. I even recognized three of their songs. Quite the show. Diamond Dan only performed for 30 minutes, starting at 8pm, and then there was a 30 minute break before FOB came on to do a 90 minute set. For those of you keeping time at home, that placed us back in Cincinnati around 1am. Everyone was a bit tired on Saturday, but we all survived.
Beth has taken away my "credit card on the intenet services", but I am still glad I did it. I was there for my son's first concert and saw him behave perfectly. At no point did I have to worry about him trying to sneak anything even though alcohol flowed freely and wafts of weed found there way to those of us at the top of the hill. I was pretty hungry by the end of the concert for some reason.
So there is the short story of our concert. Were any of you guys at FOB in Columbus on May 17th? If so, please remember for next time that it is a non-smoking environment. Especially in the pit.
And by the way, The Killers were playing a concert in Cincinnati the same night. At an outdoor venue here. BUT IT RAINED HERE! Boo-yah.
I know, two posts in the same weekend. But I remembered that I need to tell you about our concert experience.
About a month ago, I came home from work and found CJ in the basement. That was not the surprising part. However, I was surprised to see that he was forlorn. Apparently, he sat and watched as the last two tickets were sold to the Fall Out Boy concert he had hoped to attend in Columbus, Ohio. Sad was he.
This huge desire to go to a concert with his GF was spawned during her road trip with her mom. They had taken a trip over Spring Break that toured some of the East coast due to GF having a soccer game with her select team. Exactly where, I cannot recall. I do remember that her mom turned the trip into a mother-daughter road trip that included some college visits to universities such as Georgetown and ended with a visit to friends of theirs in Pittsburgh. The end of the trip also included a couple of concert tickets for GF and her mom to see Green Day. The favorite band of CJ and GF. Jealous was he? Green Day green-eyed jealous he was? You betcha.
So he hashed a plan for he and GF to see a band together. Their other favorite bands included The Killers and Fall Out Boy. I am going to assume Fall Out Boy ranks ahead of The Killers for reasons I will explain later.
So there he was, in the basememt, Skyping with GF and watching the last two tickets drip from his concert canteen out onto a desert of sadness. Since I have rarely seen my son in this state of despair, I decided I needed to hero up and fix this situation. I promptly proceeded upstairs to my computer and searched for tickets. CJ had only looked for tickets on the venue's site, so I was able to find them elsewhere-Stub Hub I think. Then, I did the unthinkable. I ordered tickets without consulting Beth first. I KNOW! I am in the future also. Four of them I ordered for a concert in Columbus (two hours away) on a Friday nite that, rotationally, fell on my weekend to work. No issues, I thought, we can work it out. Even if I cannot attend, perhaps GF's mom can go with Beth and the kids. We get along very well with her and I assume she will be game. Less thrilling would be to include GF's dad as the driver. It's not that we do not get along with him, we just don't know him as well as mom. They are divorced and share custody. This does not typically create awkward situations except for when I went to pick up CJ at GF's house the other night and went to the wrong house. Oops. I am so glad that everyone else thought that was pretty funny.
Anyway, you may have noticed that none of the concert limo services involved Beth as the driver. She is not wild about driving and a trip such as this did not fit into her driving skill set.
I need to shorten this story, so here is the preconcert Reader's Digest version. GF's mom was going to be in Chicago that night-not available. I was able to get Friday night off but was going to have to work 7am-10pm at work on Saturday. CJ had a full weekend of activities upcoming and GF had a soccer game two hours away on Saturday. All adults involved in the situation were a bit anxsty that Steve bought tickets. Children-still way excitied. Adults-see definition of anxsty.
Determined to make it work, I soldiered on. We left Cincinnati around 3:30. We encountered the "everyone leaves work early on Friday" traffic, but made it out of Cincinnati in decent time. I had picked a resteraunt close to The Lifestyle Community Pavillion for us to eat prior to the 7:00 concert. We actually made it to the eatery around 5:45, so that was working out. The meal and the company were excellent.
Now some of you may have noticed, that in the name of the concert's venue, was the word "Pavillion". It had never dawned on me that this meant "outdoors". And that a 50% chance of rain was not ideal. Another potential issue was the fact that all the seats for the concert were general admission. "Even though my ticket has a seat number on it?" "Sorry, sir (old dude), but even though there is a ticket number, all our seats are general admission and the only people that will be under cover are the band." This was told to me over the phone by less than enthused guy at the venue switchboard.
No problem, I hoped. Oh, and the opening act? Hollywood Holt. Excuse me? I have heard of Fall Out Boy, but Hollywood Holt? Or Diamond Dan as Beth calls him. Oh, a rapper. Perfect. My favorite genre of music.
Real long story short...the concert was FANTASTIC! The weather was in the high 60s and not a drop of rain. We cut the really long line to get in and got great seats. Not in the pit. OMG! I have never witnessed a concert with a pit before and it was mesmerizing. Three hours of teenagers bodysurfing from the back of the pit to the front and nobody died. We split up from the kids, but we could see them the whole time since the place only seats 4000 and is a big grass hill. They loved the concert and Beth and I did also. I even recognized three of their songs. Quite the show. Diamond Dan only performed for 30 minutes, starting at 8pm, and then there was a 30 minute break before FOB came on to do a 90 minute set. For those of you keeping time at home, that placed us back in Cincinnati around 1am. Everyone was a bit tired on Saturday, but we all survived.
Beth has taken away my "credit card on the intenet services", but I am still glad I did it. I was there for my son's first concert and saw him behave perfectly. At no point did I have to worry about him trying to sneak anything even though alcohol flowed freely and wafts of weed found there way to those of us at the top of the hill. I was pretty hungry by the end of the concert for some reason.
So there is the short story of our concert. Were any of you guys at FOB in Columbus on May 17th? If so, please remember for next time that it is a non-smoking environment. Especially in the pit.
And by the way, The Killers were playing a concert in Cincinnati the same night. At an outdoor venue here. BUT IT RAINED HERE! Boo-yah.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
I think I'm back to being a human
May 25, 2013
I know many of you have started new jobs before, so you know what it can be like. You may have also encountered the challenge of starting a new job with something to prove. Therefore, you know the challenges of what I am going through right now.
I knew that there were many of my peers who were upset that they got passed over for the store manager gig I got. There are plenty of reasons that they thought they wanted this store, but most of them centered around the numbers it is pulling in. The previous store manager had done a lot of good things and saw the store through a transition to becoming a 24-hour store, so they knew it would not be a bad store to inherit.
I feel the same way. It is a great opportunity for me. Close to home, good volume, good people, excellent chance for bonus. Considering the pay cut I took to leave Target and join CVS, it has the potential to get me back to par by the end of my first year. I am blessed.
However, I have worked very hard my first three weeks for two reasons. First, that is who I am. Everywhere I go, I take me with me. Sometimes I leave parts of me behind and reinvent other parts, but my work ethic always tags along. I am not unhappy about this. My mother instilled this in me and I feel like I would be letting her down if I changed.
The second reason I have been busting it for three weeks refers back to my "something to prove" intro. I know there are people out there pulling up my numbers every week hoping to see them dip. "I knew I should have gotten that store." "Can you believe they let a new manager go in there and mess things up?"
Does anyone want to be inside my head? No, I thought not. Sometimes the voices get really loud. Needless to say, when you are hearing things like this in your head, you go about your business with something to prove. And I have. My numbers are great so far. Sales are up, payroll is down. Controllable profit is very good. The end result: Steve is burnt out after three weeks.
My best employee followed the old store manager to his new store. One of my shift managers was in Ghana on vacation when I started and his return was delayed 2 weeks when he contracted malaria. Even after taking anti-malaria medication. Is anyone grateful to be living with indoor plumbing right now? I am spoiled. Good reminder of how lucky we are. I am still haunted by the images in the movie, Slumdog Millionaire. It makes me hate myself for complaining when I have to clean the bathroom at work. Fortunately, this young man returns to work on Monday. (And yes, I do know that Ghana is not in India).
I have another employee who works third shift who has been working two full-time jobs. 80 hours a week will make anyone fatigued. Unfortunately, he has decided over the past few days that showing up to CVS is optional. Therefore, Steve has had to work all day, come home, go to bed, get woken up by a distress call, and go back to work all night. Unpleasant. Do you know anyone who wants to work third shift? Call me.
So here I am, Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I have scheduled myself off until Tuesday and my assistant has promised me he will try to keep the problems to a minimum. Here's praying that this happens. And here is also a prayer that each of you have a great holiday weekend as well.
CJ starts his new job today at 4pm. He working the front desk at the local pool. Great gig except for the hat they are supposed to wear. Not especially cool. The bosses have told the newbies they only have to wear the hat if they see the food inspector show up. I will not be eating the food at the local swim club.
CJ also got his temporary license yesterday. In Ohio, this is what you get so you can start to take driving lessons and so you can drive with a licensed driver before you take the actual driving test and get your license. You have to have your temps for 6 months, so CJ will be getting his license right before Thanksgiving. He only missed three out of forty on the temps test, so not too bad considering he barely read the book. And one of the ones he missed was because he thought everyone in the car had to wear a seat belt instead of just those in the front seat. I like his answer better.
The weather isn't supposed to be too bad this weekend, so we are going to Wang Chung. I hope it works out for you as well. (And you remember who Wang Chung is so everybody can have fun tonight). Beth and CJ are done with school for the summer, so they have already played some Pink Floyd and eaten their pudding.
Perhaps I do need some thought control. Gonna go get some coffee. Have a great weekend.
I know many of you have started new jobs before, so you know what it can be like. You may have also encountered the challenge of starting a new job with something to prove. Therefore, you know the challenges of what I am going through right now.
I knew that there were many of my peers who were upset that they got passed over for the store manager gig I got. There are plenty of reasons that they thought they wanted this store, but most of them centered around the numbers it is pulling in. The previous store manager had done a lot of good things and saw the store through a transition to becoming a 24-hour store, so they knew it would not be a bad store to inherit.
I feel the same way. It is a great opportunity for me. Close to home, good volume, good people, excellent chance for bonus. Considering the pay cut I took to leave Target and join CVS, it has the potential to get me back to par by the end of my first year. I am blessed.
However, I have worked very hard my first three weeks for two reasons. First, that is who I am. Everywhere I go, I take me with me. Sometimes I leave parts of me behind and reinvent other parts, but my work ethic always tags along. I am not unhappy about this. My mother instilled this in me and I feel like I would be letting her down if I changed.
The second reason I have been busting it for three weeks refers back to my "something to prove" intro. I know there are people out there pulling up my numbers every week hoping to see them dip. "I knew I should have gotten that store." "Can you believe they let a new manager go in there and mess things up?"
Does anyone want to be inside my head? No, I thought not. Sometimes the voices get really loud. Needless to say, when you are hearing things like this in your head, you go about your business with something to prove. And I have. My numbers are great so far. Sales are up, payroll is down. Controllable profit is very good. The end result: Steve is burnt out after three weeks.
My best employee followed the old store manager to his new store. One of my shift managers was in Ghana on vacation when I started and his return was delayed 2 weeks when he contracted malaria. Even after taking anti-malaria medication. Is anyone grateful to be living with indoor plumbing right now? I am spoiled. Good reminder of how lucky we are. I am still haunted by the images in the movie, Slumdog Millionaire. It makes me hate myself for complaining when I have to clean the bathroom at work. Fortunately, this young man returns to work on Monday. (And yes, I do know that Ghana is not in India).
I have another employee who works third shift who has been working two full-time jobs. 80 hours a week will make anyone fatigued. Unfortunately, he has decided over the past few days that showing up to CVS is optional. Therefore, Steve has had to work all day, come home, go to bed, get woken up by a distress call, and go back to work all night. Unpleasant. Do you know anyone who wants to work third shift? Call me.
So here I am, Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. I have scheduled myself off until Tuesday and my assistant has promised me he will try to keep the problems to a minimum. Here's praying that this happens. And here is also a prayer that each of you have a great holiday weekend as well.
CJ starts his new job today at 4pm. He working the front desk at the local pool. Great gig except for the hat they are supposed to wear. Not especially cool. The bosses have told the newbies they only have to wear the hat if they see the food inspector show up. I will not be eating the food at the local swim club.
CJ also got his temporary license yesterday. In Ohio, this is what you get so you can start to take driving lessons and so you can drive with a licensed driver before you take the actual driving test and get your license. You have to have your temps for 6 months, so CJ will be getting his license right before Thanksgiving. He only missed three out of forty on the temps test, so not too bad considering he barely read the book. And one of the ones he missed was because he thought everyone in the car had to wear a seat belt instead of just those in the front seat. I like his answer better.
The weather isn't supposed to be too bad this weekend, so we are going to Wang Chung. I hope it works out for you as well. (And you remember who Wang Chung is so everybody can have fun tonight). Beth and CJ are done with school for the summer, so they have already played some Pink Floyd and eaten their pudding.
Perhaps I do need some thought control. Gonna go get some coffee. Have a great weekend.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Quiet! Don't tell Beth!
April 27, 2013
Celebrate good times, come on! It is Beth's birthday weekend which is an event culminating Beth's birthday month, soon to be followed by Beth's actual birthday on Tuesday. Party, party, party. We have partied every day like it was her birthday.
However, as it turns out, other than the surprise birthday I have planned on Tuesday, CJ and I have done very little to make this month a celebration. Lame is what we are when it comes to party planning. Sure, Beth has gotten to go to work, do laundry, cut the grass, and fry up the dinner in a pan; you know, fun-filled activities worthy of a birthday celebration, but we never got around to letting her scrub down the kitchen walls.
Scrubbing down the kitchen walls was an expression Beth's dad used to say as something he would like to do. When given the choice to go Christmas shopping with Beth's mom or do something else, he would always choose to scrub down the kitchen walls instead of going shopping. I never understood it, but everyone likes to do different things.
So, on Thursday I attempted to come up with something HUGE for Beth's birthday weekend. I thought I nailed it and made tentative plans for Sunday. Church followed by brunch at a restaurant down by the river (not to be confused with a van down by the river), and then a musical over in Northern Kentucky. Apparently, there is a beautiful theater house over there that plays "off-Broadway" musicals. This one was called Schoolhouse Rock Live. It featured the songs from our childhood educational television show with the same name. Songs like "Just a Bill", "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here", and "Conjunction Junction" still echo through my brain even though I am not sure I actually learned anything more than the song. Couldn't tell you how a bill becomes a law. For all I know that poor guy is still sitting there on Capitol Hill.
However, credit card in hand, something stopped me from making the brunch reservations or reserving the tickets. Minutes later I heard Beth and CJ remember that CJ has an event to go to on Sunday from 4-7 and had picked up some soccer games to referee on Sunday between 1-3. Whew. That would have been aggravating to have gone to brunch and a show by myself. Or to have to find a date on such short notice. Crisis averted.
So if any of you are in town Tuesday and want to come to the surprise birthday party celebrating the beginning of Beth's 39th year on planet Earth, feel free to stop by. It is BYOB. I have arranged for Beth to scrub down the walls in the kitchen and then the rest of us are going to paint it. Bring Your Own Brush. I will supply the paint. Seemed like the right time to do it since the walls were going to be so clean. I hope the neighbors don't call the Po Po as it could get cray up in here on Tuesday. Woot!
Celebrate good times, come on! It is Beth's birthday weekend which is an event culminating Beth's birthday month, soon to be followed by Beth's actual birthday on Tuesday. Party, party, party. We have partied every day like it was her birthday.
However, as it turns out, other than the surprise birthday I have planned on Tuesday, CJ and I have done very little to make this month a celebration. Lame is what we are when it comes to party planning. Sure, Beth has gotten to go to work, do laundry, cut the grass, and fry up the dinner in a pan; you know, fun-filled activities worthy of a birthday celebration, but we never got around to letting her scrub down the kitchen walls.
Scrubbing down the kitchen walls was an expression Beth's dad used to say as something he would like to do. When given the choice to go Christmas shopping with Beth's mom or do something else, he would always choose to scrub down the kitchen walls instead of going shopping. I never understood it, but everyone likes to do different things.
So, on Thursday I attempted to come up with something HUGE for Beth's birthday weekend. I thought I nailed it and made tentative plans for Sunday. Church followed by brunch at a restaurant down by the river (not to be confused with a van down by the river), and then a musical over in Northern Kentucky. Apparently, there is a beautiful theater house over there that plays "off-Broadway" musicals. This one was called Schoolhouse Rock Live. It featured the songs from our childhood educational television show with the same name. Songs like "Just a Bill", "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here", and "Conjunction Junction" still echo through my brain even though I am not sure I actually learned anything more than the song. Couldn't tell you how a bill becomes a law. For all I know that poor guy is still sitting there on Capitol Hill.
However, credit card in hand, something stopped me from making the brunch reservations or reserving the tickets. Minutes later I heard Beth and CJ remember that CJ has an event to go to on Sunday from 4-7 and had picked up some soccer games to referee on Sunday between 1-3. Whew. That would have been aggravating to have gone to brunch and a show by myself. Or to have to find a date on such short notice. Crisis averted.
So if any of you are in town Tuesday and want to come to the surprise birthday party celebrating the beginning of Beth's 39th year on planet Earth, feel free to stop by. It is BYOB. I have arranged for Beth to scrub down the walls in the kitchen and then the rest of us are going to paint it. Bring Your Own Brush. I will supply the paint. Seemed like the right time to do it since the walls were going to be so clean. I hope the neighbors don't call the Po Po as it could get cray up in here on Tuesday. Woot!
Thursday, April 11, 2013
I got the call today, oh boy
April 11, 2013
It has finally happened. I use the word "finally", but in reality everything has happened just as it should. I have been promoted to be the store manager for a CVS 10 minutes from my house. It is a 24 hour store which means I will not have to deal with the large workload with only minimal payroll to spend. It also means I will not have to work until midnight (like I have to tonight) unless I choose to. It is a challenging store due to the clientele, the volume, and the fact that it never closes, but I will certainly never get bored there. I don't do boring very well. It is also a tremendous honor that the powers that be are trusting me with this store. New managers do not get put into 24 hour stores as their first assignment. However, due to my background and the work I have exhibited thus far, I am being given this opportunity.
So, who didn't sleep last night? Could it be this guy? Am I worried about living up to this billing? Maybe a little. However, I have always had the inner drive to live up to my own expectations, so it really is nothing new. I have my mother to thank for teaching me that there are two ways to do things-the right way or the wrong way. I try to choose the right way which means setting the bar high and doing everything in my power to get there.
I did not always handle this inner burden well in the past. My tenure at Old Navy as store manager did not end well. I took on all the challenges myself and did not hold my team accountable. Past coworkers at The target will tell you that during especially challenging times, I was not fun to work with. However, after a mere 25 years of retail, I have started to figure some things out. Yes, I am a slow learner. Gorillas have learned sign language more quickly than I learned how to be a successful store manager. Therefore, I want to thank any and all of you who have helped me see this over the years. Obviously Beth is a big part of that, but the team at the last Target I worked at were very instrumental as well. Thank you.
It was not until I started to make some realizations around my goals, my limitations, and how to build a strong team, that I was truly ready to jump back in this store manager boat. I think I am more ready to keep it afloat than I have been in the past. Rough seas should not cause me to go overboard anymore. Fingers crossed. Once again, thank you all.
For any of you struggling to find your way, please let me tell you that I am an example that there is a higher plan in place for all of us and we have to let it play out. Sure, we have to do our part and not coast through life, but we can't force things to happen and think they won't turn into a big ole monkey's paw. Monkey's paw? Google
W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw, and see how this short horror story shaped most of my early retail career.
Over the past year I have made a pointed attempt to follow the higher plan. It started when I did not get the promotion I wanted at Target and I tried to make sense of it. As I went through the process, I felt that there was a reason. Then a recruiter called from CVS Caremark, and the rest is history. Nothing I have done with CVS has been accomplished by me forcing my way into things. Examples:
It has finally happened. I use the word "finally", but in reality everything has happened just as it should. I have been promoted to be the store manager for a CVS 10 minutes from my house. It is a 24 hour store which means I will not have to deal with the large workload with only minimal payroll to spend. It also means I will not have to work until midnight (like I have to tonight) unless I choose to. It is a challenging store due to the clientele, the volume, and the fact that it never closes, but I will certainly never get bored there. I don't do boring very well. It is also a tremendous honor that the powers that be are trusting me with this store. New managers do not get put into 24 hour stores as their first assignment. However, due to my background and the work I have exhibited thus far, I am being given this opportunity.
So, who didn't sleep last night? Could it be this guy? Am I worried about living up to this billing? Maybe a little. However, I have always had the inner drive to live up to my own expectations, so it really is nothing new. I have my mother to thank for teaching me that there are two ways to do things-the right way or the wrong way. I try to choose the right way which means setting the bar high and doing everything in my power to get there.
I did not always handle this inner burden well in the past. My tenure at Old Navy as store manager did not end well. I took on all the challenges myself and did not hold my team accountable. Past coworkers at The target will tell you that during especially challenging times, I was not fun to work with. However, after a mere 25 years of retail, I have started to figure some things out. Yes, I am a slow learner. Gorillas have learned sign language more quickly than I learned how to be a successful store manager. Therefore, I want to thank any and all of you who have helped me see this over the years. Obviously Beth is a big part of that, but the team at the last Target I worked at were very instrumental as well. Thank you.
It was not until I started to make some realizations around my goals, my limitations, and how to build a strong team, that I was truly ready to jump back in this store manager boat. I think I am more ready to keep it afloat than I have been in the past. Rough seas should not cause me to go overboard anymore. Fingers crossed. Once again, thank you all.
For any of you struggling to find your way, please let me tell you that I am an example that there is a higher plan in place for all of us and we have to let it play out. Sure, we have to do our part and not coast through life, but we can't force things to happen and think they won't turn into a big ole monkey's paw. Monkey's paw? Google
W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw, and see how this short horror story shaped most of my early retail career.
Over the past year I have made a pointed attempt to follow the higher plan. It started when I did not get the promotion I wanted at Target and I tried to make sense of it. As I went through the process, I felt that there was a reason. Then a recruiter called from CVS Caremark, and the rest is history. Nothing I have done with CVS has been accomplished by me forcing my way into things. Examples:
- I went to a training store 45 minutes from my house even though other newbies were sent somewhere more convenient for them
- I performed every fill-in task without complaint even though all of them were not pleasant
- I got passed over at least twice for other stores for various reasons even though my district manager considered me the best choice to run a store at the time
- I spoke up when my pay was wrong even though it meant possibly losing money
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Not as good as Kargo Kids, but it'll do
April 2, 2013
I want to thank Lisa Pie for the advice for my caffeine consumption. You can see it in the previous post's comments if you too are looking for suggestions.
My mother-in-law also made a vitamin suggestion for me the other day. No, she does not read my blog. That would involve 21st century electronics and she is not ready. Beth still goes over and helps her with her cable box on occasion so she can watch old British detective shows. I think her 8-track of Streisand music is getting a bit worn. Not a blog reader, I am trying to say.
However, Beth had told her I was having illness issues (allergy/mucus/cough cough/Beth tried to smother me in the bed Thursday night issues), so she ran out and bought me some Turmeric Curcumin. What a nice gesture, you may be thinking. Well, here is what the bottle says its uses are: Immune Health and Brain Health.
Which one of these do you think I noticed first? Yes, my M-I-L has given me an herbal supplement to help my brain. Thank you.
Speaking of my lack of brain health, I was able to pull off one April Fool's Day prank yesterday. CJ was sleeping in, which was helpful. Beth and I went shopping for food for my brain yesterday, so by 10am I had thought of something. I called the house hoping to wake CJ. Cruel? No, it was 10:00. Even if he had stayed up until 2am (which he didn't), this would be 8 hours of sleep. Time to get up. I had counted on waking him since he would then not have realized the date. I had to let the phone go to machine the first time, then hang up and call again. The phone ringing twice meant that the incoming call was important. A groggy voice answered the second time. I apologized for waking him, but told him that we had just run into Grandma coming out of Trader Joe's as we were going in. She had told us that she was going to stop by our house to drop off some money she had meant to give CJ on Easter, and would he be able to come out to the car to retrieve it. Absolutely, he was willing to get dressed and go wait by the front door for Grandma's money delivery service.
15 minutes later I texted him (very brave of me) to deliver the real message, APRIL FOOLS! Pleased was he. His reply, uncensored, was simply "...ugg" . He kept it clean though I am thinking he filtered it. We found out later he was more upset about being gotten by dad than having to get out of bed. Outsmarted by this guy is rather insulting. Perhaps I should share my new vitamins.
I want to thank Lisa Pie for the advice for my caffeine consumption. You can see it in the previous post's comments if you too are looking for suggestions.
My mother-in-law also made a vitamin suggestion for me the other day. No, she does not read my blog. That would involve 21st century electronics and she is not ready. Beth still goes over and helps her with her cable box on occasion so she can watch old British detective shows. I think her 8-track of Streisand music is getting a bit worn. Not a blog reader, I am trying to say.
However, Beth had told her I was having illness issues (allergy/mucus/cough cough/Beth tried to smother me in the bed Thursday night issues), so she ran out and bought me some Turmeric Curcumin. What a nice gesture, you may be thinking. Well, here is what the bottle says its uses are: Immune Health and Brain Health.
Which one of these do you think I noticed first? Yes, my M-I-L has given me an herbal supplement to help my brain. Thank you.
Speaking of my lack of brain health, I was able to pull off one April Fool's Day prank yesterday. CJ was sleeping in, which was helpful. Beth and I went shopping for food for my brain yesterday, so by 10am I had thought of something. I called the house hoping to wake CJ. Cruel? No, it was 10:00. Even if he had stayed up until 2am (which he didn't), this would be 8 hours of sleep. Time to get up. I had counted on waking him since he would then not have realized the date. I had to let the phone go to machine the first time, then hang up and call again. The phone ringing twice meant that the incoming call was important. A groggy voice answered the second time. I apologized for waking him, but told him that we had just run into Grandma coming out of Trader Joe's as we were going in. She had told us that she was going to stop by our house to drop off some money she had meant to give CJ on Easter, and would he be able to come out to the car to retrieve it. Absolutely, he was willing to get dressed and go wait by the front door for Grandma's money delivery service.
15 minutes later I texted him (very brave of me) to deliver the real message, APRIL FOOLS! Pleased was he. His reply, uncensored, was simply "...ugg" . He kept it clean though I am thinking he filtered it. We found out later he was more upset about being gotten by dad than having to get out of bed. Outsmarted by this guy is rather insulting. Perhaps I should share my new vitamins.
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