More of the Usual

Just Finished Reading: Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex: The Lost Memory by Junichi Fujisaku

So here we are, full ahead into summer. Starting to get a little hotter out there. Not as much rain. When it DOES rain, it's usually a thunder storm, not the lighter, softer rains from spring. Allergies are starting to creep back. Things are starting to slow down.

I've been working quite a bit lately. Because a couple of people in my department are over 40 hours for the week (and remember, in retail, going over 40 hours is a BAD thing if you're not on salary) I have to cover some of the gaps. We're only budgeted so much money/hours you see so if some people go over one week, that has to be made up so the next week their hours are cut back. And you know me, Captain America over here. I always keep track of my hours and make sure I'm well within the proper range. As a result, I was working a full 40 hour week.

Things at the store were getting pretty tense there for a while. We got a new general manager 6 weeks ago. Over the past 2 weeks we've gotten two new assistant managers as well. We're short-handed in most departments and the people we do have need to go through more training. This is what happens when you have a steady wave of people quitting or getting fired. It just keeps on coming until you reach the point where most or all of the core group is gone.

So what do you do? You hold a meeting!

Actually it was a lot more helpful than it sounds :-) We just had a store meeting last night. They called in everyone and we sat around for 2 hours eating and discussing the things that need to be done. A lot of what we covered doesn't really pertain to us in the grooming salon but they want us to know what's going on too because right now everyone needs to pitch in. We've gotten permission to hire several more people and they've increased our budget so we can finally get some of the supplies we've been needing.

Of course, actually following the rules set down by the corporate office doesn't make EVERYONE happy. There are some rules we've been bending lately. Basically they told us it's ok to be a little flexible for the moment. It's the only way we can keep everything covered. But we're going to start easing back, little by little, and start following those rules.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest to be honest. Even if they totally enforce 100% of all the rules we discussed at the meeting, it's still a hell of a lot more relaxed than the way things were when I worked at KMart all those years ago. Besides, the rules make sense if you have enough people. So as we hire more employees, as more of them get trained and become "experts" in the various departments, we won't have to be as flexible. Everyone will know what they're responsible for and things should run a whole lot more smoothly.

Over in grooming, we're looking to increase our profits. We've only got the two groomers right now which limits how many dogs we can take in a given day and how late we can take them. We're going to try and hire a third groomer so we can increase our sales. The general idea is that with a third groomer, working afternoons into early evening, we don't have to squeeze all our dogs into the early half of the schedule. We can stretch things out and take in more dogs. Of course, this assumes we can actually FIND another groomer. There seems to be a shortage of them in the area right now.

Did a bit of shopping with CC on Sunday. Time for spring/summer clothes. We do this a few times a year now. We go out and hit the mall and pick up some new outfits for her. Ideally, we get pieces that will also go with what she has in the closet now so she can mix and match and have even more choices.

So that's Sunday. Just shopping and meeting. Not too bad :-)

Today I'm catching up on the OTHER stuff. For example, last week the hose coming out of the radiator sprung a leak and blew water all over the engine. I had clouds of steam coming out from under the hood. The truck also over-heated. Very nasty. I bought a new hose, got that all taken care of, but the oil in the truck, well that was pretty bad. It was due to be changed soon anyway and all that heat just didn't help matters any. So today I took the truck in for service. It's all better now.

I also did some shopping of my own. I read the last of the "unread books" on the desk here and had planned LAST week to get a few more when the busted radiator hose changed all that. So I went out today. Hit the book stores and picked up a few things. I also browsed the online book stores for things that will be coming out later in the summer so I have an idea of what I'll be reading for the next few months.

Haven't seen any movies lately. There are a few out now that CC and I want to see but we just haven't had the time to go. Maybe next week.

If you've read CC's blog then you know she's going back to Manila in July. Still don't know when that's going to happen. Her boss leaves tomorrow and is staying there for the rest of the summer. Once she's checked things out, she'll know when she needs CC and for how long. Hopefully CC will only be there for a week or two. Get's pretty damn lonely and boring here when she's on the road and unlike her Dallas trip, she can't come home on the weekends. Worse, we won't be able to call much either. International calls are EXPENSIVE so we'll have to go back to the old ways, using online chat and e-mail.

You know, there's probably been a whole lot of little things that have happened along the way and I was meaning to talk about them. Can't remember what they are of course, but I'm sure I had a lot. The only things I can remember at the moment are the ones I CAN'T blog about. Maybe I'm tired. I did do quite a few things today. Still have a few more left for tomorrow. Yeah, I think I'll just shut it down now and go watch some TV or play some video games. I think my brain needs a little R&R :-)

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