Thursday, September 13, 2012

TRUE OR FALSE


I thought it would be fun to do a weekly 
"TRUE OR FALSE"
Post.

Look at this photo... ew!
Then read the article below...
and tell me if you think it is true or false.
Simple enough.
Both the photo and the story came from FB.
OH... no fair checking on Snopes!

***


NEW POISONOUS SPIDER IN THE UNITED STATES

A spider bite...please read............ And you thought the brown recluse was bad!

Three women in North Florida, turned up at hospitals over a 5-day period, all with the same symptoms. Fever, chills, and vomiting, followed by muscular collapse, paralysis, and finally, death. There were no outward signs of trauma.

Autopsy results showed toxicity in the blood. These women did not know each other, and seemed to have nothing in common. It was discovered, however, that they had all visited the same Restaurant (Olive Garden) within days of their deaths.
The health department descended on the restaurant, shutting it down. The food, water, and air conditioning were all inspected and tested, to no avail.

The big break came when a waitress at the restaurant was rushed to the hospital with similar symptoms. She told doctors that she had been on vacation, and had only went to the restaurant to pick up her check. She did not eat or drink while she was there, but had used the restroom.

That is when one toxicologist, remembering an article he had read, drove out to the restaurant, went into the restroom, and lifted the toilet seat.
Under the seat, out of normal view, was a small spider.

The spider was captured and brought back to the lab, where it was determined to be the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata), so named because of its reddened flesh color. This spider's venom is extremely toxic, but can take several days to take effect. They live in cold, dark, damp climates, and toilet rims provide just the right atmosphere.
Several days later a lawyer from Jacksonville showed up at a hospital emergency room. Before his death, he told the doctor, that he had been away on business, had taken a flight from Indonesia, changing planes in Singapore, before returning home.
He did not visit (Olive Garden), while there. He did, as did all of the other victims, have what was determined to be a puncture wound, on his right buttock.
Investigators discovered that the flight he was on had originated in India.
The Civilian Aeronautics Board (CAB) ordered an immediate inspection of the toilets of all flights from India, and discovered the Two-Striped Telamonia (Telamonia dimidiata) spider's nests on 4 different planes!
It is now believed that these spiders can be anywhere in the country. So please, before you use a public toilet, lift the seat to check for spiders. It can save your life!
And please pass this on to everyone you care about.
  
 ***
 
 Now... True or False?
I'll give the answer later in the comments.
 

Monday, September 10, 2012

THE BUZZ

( Credit to utterlycute.com)

Picture a pyramid shaped hive. 
At the top is the store queen bee.  
Just below her are two co-queen bees, below them are a dozen hive division manager bees and below them are hive area manager bees... who have hive co-area manager bees.  
The nectar runs down hill as they say.

When the queen bee warns the hive co-queen bees and they shove whatever threat they think will improve things in the hive on down through the ranks until we little worker bees get steamrolled.  Work is stress.  Expectations are set so high that one can not accomplish what is assigned...
to management satisfaction.

Here's a good example.  Today in one hour, I fielded 52 phone calls. I also had to respond to the walkie-talkie whenever a manager bee wanted something done. They don't page... I page.  I also had to let people into the fitting room... count and search what they were taking in to try on without offending them and recount when they came out again.  Somewhere in the middle of that... management railed at me for not answering the walkie-talkie fast enough.  I explained that I had all 5 lines ringing one after the other and a customer with a question in person. 
(A customer waiting to get into a fitting room was watching and listening to me getting into trouble on the walkie-talkie, which is very loud.)  
I apologized. 
I detest groveling over an unfair expectation.  I feel bad about getting raked over the coals in public and I feel worse about allowing that to happen to me.

Our hive area manager bee got into trouble because not enough stuff was being put back on the racks fast enough for the queen bee... who has been away on vacation.  Hummm... let's see, back to school shopping time, with multiples of returned items, under staffed and badly scheduled.  Of course it must be the bottom of the hive worker bees at fault!  It can't have anything to do with management choices, actions or the lack thereof.  So our area and co-area manager bees have been stinging everyone verbally.

You know what happens when manager bees go bad?  All the worker bees go into a frenzy.  Frenzy actually causes mistakes to happen but worse than that, they begin to sting each other.  There is so much back stinging going on right now that I don't want to talk to any of my co-worker bees. All the little bees blame each other when the other is not around.  They whisper it in conspirator conversations to each other and to the manager bees.  
Our little hive has become a hornet's nest.

Ugh.  I dread the next two days at work.  I can't wait for my day off.  Meanwhile... I will continue to come home every day and search for a different job.  My last retail job was a piece of cake compared to this insanity.  Its exhausting and drains me of my will to do anything more than 
sit in a stupor when I get home.  
Hence the failure to post. 
Thanks for checking in on me and thanks for hanging in there.  
I can't promise a lot.  
But I will do at least a post a week.  
Christmas is coming and if "back to school" was bad... 
well... 
I don't even want to think about it. 

 

Thursday, August 16, 2012

IT SHRUNK

A barn in the middle of nowhere.


The man drove me to pick up my first check today.
Yay!
That I was finally getting paid...
Yay!
That I was not the one driving down the beltline.
Yay! Yay!
I trotted inside.
I'd done my homework on getting paid.
The first check is always paper.
Then its auto deposit.
I could pick it up "anytime"
between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.
We arrived at 10:15 a.m.
I passed the manager in her office
on my way to the HR office.
No one was there.
Quick as a bunny I was off
to the manager's office.
Only she had managed to leave and lock up.
Eventually I found a manager
(this place has more titles than Carters has little pills!)
and he agreed to get the keys to unlock
the safe that held my check.
He hands it to me with a big smile.
"Enjoy!"
he says.
I look at my check.
It is sad, sickly and pale.
One quarter of the checks that I am used to bringing home.
Heavy sigh.
I knew this would be the case.
I knew what my wage is.
Not a surprise,
but still a wisp of a black cloud.
But it is my day off!
I had money in hand... 
that I handed over to the man for deposit into our account.
The sun was shining
and birds might have been singing if it wasn't so
humid and hot.
Still,
my hand rode the air waves out the tuck window
and my grin was tickled by
stray crazy hair.
The man chuckled and asked me not to grow up.
No danger there.
=:]
I have been absent of late.
Mostly exhausted by heat and getting used
to standing for 8 hours on concrete floors...
and the stress of that damned phone ringing.
Constantly!
I come home from work.
The house is hot.
I grab Roxy and head for my bedroom.
We barricade ourselves inside.
The air conditioner hums.
An additional fan whirs.
I pick up my book
(Odd Hours)
and before I know it...
zzzzzzzz.
 

Friday, August 3, 2012

HI HO

What's that do?
Take a guess...

I am busy being a worker bee these days,
learning my new job.
Well, actually learning all the propaganda...
I mean...
philosophy of the company I now work
for.
Let me say that Herman Hesse would never work there...
or if  he did,
there's a good book in it.

Seriously,
I have had over 20 years of retail experience...almost
all the experience I have under my belt before
working at the school was retail.

I have never had to do workbooks
and  classes on computer
plus watch many short videos
and signed so many documents saying
that I have been given information and understand it.


They would simplify things if they
asked us to sign a form that says we promise not to sue
if we are harmed at work
and that our actions are our actions alone...
and not a reflection of the company policies
if we piss someone off.

So today I look forward to 
6 hours of online classes.
6 hours!
Good lord almighty!
What have I got to learn that I can't get through
without 6 hours more of classes ?

This is NOT brain surgery.


Want to know what my job will be?

"Good morning, thank you for calling BlahBlahBlah.
How may I direct your call?" 
I push a lit up button on a normal looking phone
to put them on hold
while I look on a chart to see what extension they need
and then push two more buttons.

Sometimes I let people into the dressing room.
I count how many things go in...
and how many come out.
You only need to be able to count up to six!

I put things on a rack to be put away later.
If I see something damaged...
I put it into a box.

And of course...
I am nice and helpful to all customers.




Hi ho!


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

BREATHE

Just a nice photo of the falls where I used to live.
This is my happy place.
I'm hoping that  gazing at this photo
will help me to relax the spasm in my back.
Breathe... in...out...in...


Well this is it...
the day our life together changes will be here tomorrow.
In the morning I will make the 35 minute drive
(if not longer depending on traffic)
to my new job.

=:/

 
I will leave before the man gets home...
and he will be in bed by the time I get home.
I will be in bed when he gets up to leave...
and then it will begin again.

So it goes.

in...out...in...out

Sunday, July 29, 2012


Saturday began with weeding.
But it became too hot and I sunburned the top of my head
where I parted my hair!

I was grumbling about it.
The man turns to Roxy and says
"So do you want to go for a drive?"
They let me go along too.


Randy says
"I hope you've got quarters."
Quarters?
I laughed and made a joke.
"Why? Are you taking me to feed the fish?"

He gives me a weird look.
"Well its the only thing that I can think of that still costs only a quarter."
"Are we going to the dog wash?"
He shakes his head and changes the subject.
I give up.


The truck winds along a lazy path...
we are in no hurry.
We leave town and pass a cemetery.
Then we are out "in the country" proper.


Happy little country towns dot the stretch of road
we travel.
I liked the one in the photo up there.
A metal sculptor has a studio
and his work is pretty popular with his neighbors.
You can't tell by the photo
but there are wonderful things on those 
metal creations...
like a rhino roof topper!


Each little town has its version of a farmer's market.
Everyone is smiling.
The feeling is both homey and serene.
I eat it all up with my eyes.
Roxy tries to push her nose out the wing window.
She's drinking it in with her nose. 


Eventually we come to what looks like a driveway.
The man turns in and parks.
I think that I should have been paying attention.
Then I see.

 I can't help but laugh.
I really was only joking about  feeding the fish with my quarters.
The only place I've done that was up near where
I used to live.
We walk past the fry ponds with the littlest guys
swimming in a swarm
and individually flipping up out of the water...
to catch some bug.

A couple of ducks were enjoying the pond too...
and they began to follow us around.
I wished that I had something to feed them.


There were no fish food dispensers!
Crap!
We got back into the car.
As hatcheries go, this one was small.
I am used to the one at Bonneville Dam
where the great sturgeon, Herman lives.
Randy says I like Herman because he is older than me...
then reminds me that he, Randy, is not as old as me.


We drive awhile longer and again turn off the road.
I can see that it is another hatchery once we cross the weird
little bridge with the funny houses on it.

This one is bigger
and more suited to tourist visitors.
I was excited because it had a lot of the equipment 
that is required to tag and clip fish...
one of my favorite jobs that I have had in the past.
I got to show them to Randy and explain how they are used.


In the distance I saw it...
a big square box thing.
Next to a lovely pond that reminded me of the crock
pond at the zoo where I grew up.
Cool because it had a bridge in the middle.
I couldn't wait to put my quarter in...
and get a handful of fish pellets.

 
These big handsome trout liked me...
well they liked the pellets.
There were sturgeon too,
but none near as large as Herman.


Randy was very patient.
He had Roxy and they sort of stood back...
Roxy does not like the water or the fish!
But she loved the other visitors.
She made lots of friends.


I could have sat there for a very long time.
Watching fish is so relaxing and soothing.
I used to enjoy sitting after clipping and just unwinding.


On the way home we made a quick stop at a mom and pop
market.
Randy showed me where the "Monster Burgers" are made.
So named because Bill Bigsby used to come to eat there.
He lived near by.
Neither of us were hungry.
Monster burgers are very big, so we need a time
when we can split a fresh cooked one.
We will go back soon.

Which is very cool.
I can hardly wait to go back and spend time with the fish!
One of these days I want a Koi pond.


<*)))>< 

Then I can watch the fish whenever I want.

 
 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

GRUMBLE

Carrot love.
=:]


 I got a job.

Damn it!

I know... with so many people out of work...
I should be very grateful.

Don't get me wrong.
I am going to accept the job because it is a job...
and I needed a job.

Its not a job that I would have picked for myself.
And the rules are that I cannot turn down a job.

My unemployment checks would go away if I did.
I may as well accept the job then.


"Orientation" is next Weds.
That means that I have 
5 days
to find a job that is less upsetting to my life.

Honest work is honest work.

So what's my problem?

My problem is that my new "master" informed me that
I will work every single holiday or I will be fired.
Also...
I will work nights and weekends...

Which happens to be the only time that I can see Randy...
because of his graveyard hours.

Did I move here from a good paying, great job
to spend all my time alone or working for a pittance?
NO.


So I am pounding on doors the next 5 days...
and hoping for something else that won't be as 
destructive to my life.


Failing that saving me...
I'll be looking for other work in every spare hour I've got
until I can quit.

I'll I've got left to say is
CRAP!