Saturday, November 29, 2008

Working on "Black Friday"...

Or Blitz Friday, as Wal Mart likes to call it. Interesting. Let me just begin by saying that I was scheduled to work at 5. I had to get gas, so I left home early. Ended up getting to work around 4:30 am. The parking lot was PACKED. and we don't exactly have a small parking lot. So I parked, grabbed my water and cough drops (i'm fighting off a cold) and headed inside. I walk in the doors, and all I see is wall to wall people. Easily, 400 people crowded in just for electronics and toys. I mean, I saw little old ladies hanging on to a pallet of Dora dolls for dear life! Now, I've never been one to even go CLOSE to a retail store on this day. I mean, I've worked on Black Friday. But let me tell you that working at a drug store does NOT even compare. It took me 10 minutes to get from the front of the store to the back, where I could clock in. And people are VISCIOUS!! I kept having to flash my nametag because people were getting mad and accusing me of trying to get ahead in line. I get to the back and I hear a supervisor calling out that all cashiers must clock in IMMEDIATELY and report to the registers. Apparently, they weren't expecting a crowd this big. However, my store prepared and hired about 70 extra people for the holidays. The moment 5 am hit, and the sales started, the volume in the store raised considerably. You could HEAR people running for the registers. I looked up and had 50 people in my line within minutes. However, we were all moving fairly quickly. Really, the wait wasn't bad for people waiting. I think we had every register open. All 30 of them. There was a wait, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I was told repeatedly that I had a great attitude. I had to though. If I'd shown up really cranky and ready to have a bad day, it would have been horrible. But I showed up, determined to have fun with it. I told several people that I was grateful for the crowds. As long as people shop, I have a job! =] And the day passed really quickly. =]

We did have a couple of incidents: one lady was pushed into another ladies cart. Pushed lady turned around and sincerely apologized, and Cart Lady reeled back and punched her in the face! Goodness!! Around 10 am, we got the terrifying page: Code Adam. Missing child. Doors are sealed off and no one is allowed in or out of the building. And all available associates search. I happened to be at lunch, so I didn't join, at first. (Wal Mart considers it working off the clock). But when they couldn't find him, EVERYONE joined in the search. Strangely, the mother wasn't that concerned. About 45 heartbreaking minutes later, she suddenly remembered that she'd left the boy at home with his father. Ugh. Apparently, she wasn't "all there". I'm just glad the boy is safe.

When I got off at two, Laural and I went to the swap meet and she bought me an early christmas present: a pair of Crocs. My poor feet hurt so badly at the end of my shift that I often leave fighting tears. I don't have appropriate shoes, first of all. And I do need to get used to standing again. But I immediately changed into my Crocs and felt a little better. I'm curious to see if wearing them at work will aleviate my feet pain at all. I've talked to people who've said it will, and some who've said it won't. After the swap meet, we stopped by the house so that I could change into comfy clothes and drop off the car. We then went to Chandler mall. I got one of Clint's christmas gifts there, one at Wal Mart. I can't say what they are, because even though he teases me for "blogging", he checks this thing every once in a while =P

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. And if you were brave enough to take on the "black friday" crowds, I hope you had luck! =]

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Back to work...

After nearly a month of unemployment, I'm back to work tomorrow. Its bittersweet. I've enjoyed this "vacation", but we're desperately in need of the money! I've been hired by Wal Mart to be a seasonal cashier. If I do a stellar job, and they have the hours available, it may become a permanent position. Unfortunately, there's no guarantee that I'll have 30-40 hours a week. Oh well. I took about a $4 pay cut. But right now, any money is good money! =] My stepmom played a huge part in helping me get this job. I've applied everywhere, and I just wasn't getting any calls back. It was really frustrating. Shar hassled her manager and he finally called me. Within two days, I had the job. Yesterday, I put a LOT of applications in all over: grocery stores, retail stores, etc. Hopefully, something with better pay and closer to home will come along. Right now, I'll be travelling about 15-20 miles for work. Its gonna be a lot of money in gas. The bottom line is: Thank Goodness for work! We're incredibly blessed that this came along for me. I hadn't seen any money from the state. Last week, 36,000 people in the state applied for unemployment benefits. Yikes. What used to be a 7-10 day process, is now a 4-6 week process. So, I'm back to work tomorrow. No doubt I'll be exhausted =P

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Random Christmas Survey...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Paper! I'm such a dork, I love to wrap gifts. I like to use ribbons and fancy tags to make the gift extra special. =P

2. Real tree or Artificial? I prefer real ones, but they're so expensive!! My parents finally broke down years ago and bought an artificial one. My stepmom goes to home depot though and asks if she could have some of the branches from the trees that they have trimmed. she puts them behind the artificial christmas tree so that we still have the great smell! =]

3. When do you put up the tree? sometime after thanksgiving, usually

4. When do you take the tree down? after New Year's, I want to make the season last as long as possable! :)

5. Do you like eggnog? LOVE it! BUT you can't have it until Thanksgiving night with ice cold pumpkin pie. =] Its a little tradition that my family has to kick off the season. I cannot drink it before...its just not the same.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? oh wow. IDK! um...this is so horrible. because i know there was plenty, i just can't really think of one right now!!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad, and Clint!!

8. Easiest person to buy for? my neice and nephew. They're so young that they love anything you give them! =]

9. Do you have a nativity scene? my family does.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I guess mail?? I don't send them out though, and I rarely receive any.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Barbies!! ugh!!! i hated the stupid things. I used to steal my brother's tonka trucks and run over my barbies. hahahaha! =P

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story =]

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I always say that I'm going to start "early". and I have bought a few things here and there as I've come across them, but not nearly like I'd wanted. I usually wait till just a couple weeks before LOL

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? its this really yummy raisin bread. its a christmas bread from Denmark, I think. I'm not even going to try to type the name, because I'll just get made fun of =P My dad makes it every year though-homemade! no bread machines here!

16. Lights on the tree? on my last tree, it was red and white =]

17. Favorite Christmas song? don't really have just one

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? dasher, dancer, prancer, vixen, comet, cupid, donner, blitzen, rudolph

20. Angel on the tree-top or a star? star

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve, or on Christmas morning? Christmas morning. Clint's mom always gets us all pajama pants though, and we open those on Christmas Eve =] and on the Jensen side (my dad's family), everyone draws a name on Thanksgiving day. you buy an inexpensive gift for that person, and we all open them on Christmas Eve. They're referred to as "Dollar Gifts"

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The fact that people lose sight of the real reason for the holiday

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My tree when I lived on my own (before marriage) was red and gold. Oh, how I loved that tree! it was beautiful!! =]

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? its always ham and scalloped potatoes! i love it! =]

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? IDK. I haven't really thought about it. I'd like to be employed, that's for sure! =]

I tag:: Whomever wants to have a little fun and do the survey!! =]