4 posts tagged “work”

My last day working at the shoe store was on Sunday.  Yes, that's right, my last day just had to be on tax-free weekend.  Actually, the tax-free weekend really wasn't that bad...it certainly wasn't as bad as it was at the Lakeline store the previous year (having one register certainly didn't help).  I am going to miss my coworkers (but not really the job itself).  Of course, it's definitely time to move on.

Anyway, most of this week was spent getting my things packed up so I could move into the dorms.  Yes, I'm finally back in school full-time after taking a two year break.  I arrived in Denton on Thursday afternoon around 3:30, got my parking permit, then finished unloading the car by 6pm.  It feels weird driving up on my own to the dorms...I've always had my parents drive me up in the past.  Hell, I wasn't even driving until earlier this year (no comment on how I didn't get my license until after my 22nd birthday...that's a whole post in itself).

So far I'm adapting to campus life pretty well...seem to get along with the roommate okay, I've gotten everything somewhat organized, I'm getting used to the chow halls, I now own a map of Denton (useful if I end up going around in circles like I did last night!), my father bought us a fridge today (he drove up to drop off a few things I forgot), and I even went to a party my first night in town (no, there wasn't booze...it was a civilized gathering of adults).  Now if only I can unloft my loft bed, I'll be set (this is the point where I make the shameful confession that I've been sleeping on the couch because I just can't cope with the loft bed).  Otherwise, life is pretty good right now.

Let's see if I still feel this way when classes start on Monday. ;)

My last post was about how I've had the last four days off from work and school.  So what did I do with my time the last four days?  Did I get anything done that I said I would?  Well, yes and no.

I did get my things sorted out in my room, although it's still a mess in here...no sense completely unpacking when I've got to move into the dorms in just two weeks!  I also got some nice CD crates from IKEA (and a matching LP box too...might have to go back to get another one), which solve the problem of how to store and transport my media collection.

On the knitting front, I did decide what to do in place of the too-small hood on my cardigan in green Tahki Baby (which was to eliminate the hood altogether since I don't have enough yarn left to make it longer), but I still haven't finished it.  I haven't sewn buttons on my burgundy cardigan (in Knit Picks Gloss) because I still haven't found buttons small enough that I like...that's the trouble with fingering weight garments!  And then I discovered that I didn't have enough yarn to finish the top with pleated ruffles I was making out of some old yarn (taupe Reynolds Tiara) from another sweater I had unraveled, but I knew I was running a risk anyway...I have no idea how many balls I originally had, and the unraveled balls are all different sizes from each other (I must have had several balls with bad spots--there's no other reason I can think of as to why there aren't more "whole balls" left than there are).  I suppose this would be a compelling argument for me to get a scale that could measure grams somewhat reliably.  It looks like I won't be getting around to unraveling that sweater out of purple Wildflower DK and doing anything with it by the time I have to go back to school...I was hoping that I'd finally get something wearable out of that stuff after all these years (it started life as that beautiful Anna Sui lace sweater with matching kerchief from VK Winter '99 [I think], but the yarn wasn't stretchy enough for the lace rib and it was a contortionist's contraption to pull it on and off [if you want to knit that sweater, think stretchy merino wool or perhaps something like Cascade Fixation...it needs to be stretchy], and then the second incarnation was a top that might have been okay if the bust was at least four inches smaller around...this yarn doesn't drape enough to look nice loose).  On the bright side, at least I've got some yarn sitting around for two pairs socks...perfect knitting for when classes are in session.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any work done on my drawing portfolio...I must do some work on it tomorrow after I get off work so I can be prepared to ask my instructor questions on Thursday if I need to (it's the last class day before our portfolios are due).  I should also remember to order a transcript to send to North Texas, even though I really don't need credit for this drawing class.  For that matter, I've got to call the College Board and have them send my AP scores because North Texas evaluates AP credit and foreign language in a different manner from Nebraska.

And now the sad bit...I have no idea how I'm going to get a loan to cover the part that the Federal Stafford loans don't cover.  So far I've been turned down twice, and I was applying with a cosigner.  I've got a bad feeling I'm screwed as far as private loans go.  The school did offer the Parent PLUS loans, but my parents do not want to go that route.  I fear we'll have to.  It'd be so nice if some money simply materialized on my doorstep right now.

Somehow I managed to get the next four days off...no work or school.  I'm off from work because my boss gave me the weekend off (very odd...I'm usually lucky if I get one day in a weekend off), and he usually doesn't schedule me for Mondays or Tuesdays.  I'm off from school because my drawing instructor has to go in for jury duty on Tuesday, so he canceled our class (I'm only taking the drawing class this summer).

The question is what do I do with these four days?  I could finish unpacking the boxes I brought back in from the garage, but that's a day job at most, and at this point it's probably better for me to start packing what I want to take to the dorms with me (which also won't take that long).  I could finish up the sweaters I'm working on, but there's not much work left there either.  Even the work I need to do for my drawing portfolio won't take that long.

It is times like these that make me wish I had bothered to save up some money...I could have actually gone on a proper vacation for once (haven't been on one in years).

Unless anyone has any better ideas on what a broke person can do, looks like I'm stuck around the house for the next few days.

(Yes, I know that's not what the line really is, but my motives will be clear soon enough.)

Today was one of those dreadful blurs at work...painfully slow until the last half hour, at which point the store was the busiest I've seen in a long time on a Sunday afternoon.  Of course, except for an elderly couple that came in early in the day, it wasn't so bad.  But man, that elderly couple...*shudders*

You see, elderly people can be some of the worst customers out there.  Don't give me all that "respect your elders" talk--I'll respect someone if they behave in a manner worthy of respect--being old in itself isn't a strong enough criterion for respect.  I don't know what it is, but it seems like the older ones are always the most belligerent, and they almost never pick up after themselves (and to think they whine about how irresponsible my generation is!)--once they find that shoe that they think won't rub their bunion the wrong way after leaving behind a pile of fifty scattered boxes, they're out of there.

Well, at least the couple that came in today did make a decent effort to pick up...I'll give them that, but they certainly picked up the slack as far as attitude goes!  First, the wife comes up to me and asks for a try-on sock for her hus and gets a little indignant when I hand her an athletic sock.  She obviously doesn't realize that no one gives out dress socks as try-ons, and very few stores provide anything other than those shrively little bits of nylon hosiery (it's a public health issue if they're not disposable).  Then the wife brings me over because her husband has a question about the shoes.  Basically, the husband's having a fit because the 9.5W doesn't fit, and "I've been wearing nine-and-a-half wide for the past fifteen years, and I've always bought my shoes from your store".  Then he holds up two left shoes and asks me if I can see any difference between the two of them, and I tell him the one on his right is bigger than the other.  He says the 10.5W is the exact same size as the other shoe, which I can clearly see isn't true at all...I line the shoes up and show him that the difference between the two is about the thickness of my index finger...roughly a half inch, or in other words, completely normal for a whole size difference.  He doesn't believe me, and I show him the Brannock device (yes, that's the proper name for the measurer) and indicate to him how much distance there is when you go up a whole size...it's not even a half inch.  The man is still just as cross with me as one can possibly be, and I continue to explain that because everyone has outsourced to China that there is no consistency in sizing these days--even within the same brand and sometimes even the same style (side note: it's amazing to think that a country with such horrible quality control standards and even worse standards for worker treatment is poised to take over the world in the next few decades).  I have to wonder what the man really wanted from me...did he expect me to say, "Oh, it's really just a joke, let me fetch the real 9.5W from the back" or perhaps conjure up a pair of 9.5W dress shoes that fit perfectly?

I have to wonder if the man has purchased a pair of shoes in the past fifteen years--inconsistency in sizing has been a problem for most of my life.  I mean, I wear anything from a US Women's 6 to 8 depending on the style and manufacturer (and if it's about a 7 or bigger, I'll need a narrow if comes in widths)...that's two whole sizes.  Clothing is even worse--my size can be anything from a 0 to 5 depending on the manufacturer.  I just don't understand why people get so fixed on the idea that they are this one shoe size and that's it...it's not like it is with clothing sizes where there's a stigma attached to larger sizes.  Amazingly enough, most wide-footed people are willing to admit they're wide, and will get very cross if they can't find wides in every style.  I say fuck the wide-footed people...the narrow-footed have it much worse...over half the styles in our store come in wide (not to mention many other brands just run wide), and yet there's only one style of shoe we have in narrow and it's only in the women's section.  Granted, Puma (IMHO the ultimate fashion sneakers) does run nice and narrow, and narrow feet look great in pretty much anything that fits correctly, whereas almost nothing flatters a wide foot.

Anyway, let's get to the bit that'll explain the title.  I noticed when I came into work the other day that the Muzak wasn't on (yes, it is a genuine Muzak brand unit).  Turns out that the receiver isn't getting any signal.  One of our assistant managers likes to hook up his portable CD player to the sound system (and I'm certain they'll try to blame him), but that involves unplugging the RCA cable running from the receiver to the amplifier...nothing that would interfere with the functioning of the receiver.  After doing some investigation to the unit, we concluded that everything was plugged in correctly.  About the only thing we can think of is that it's been raining heavily the past few days, and it's possible that the antenna (we think there's an external antenna--the coax cable runs up into the ceiling) got damaged on Friday.  Of course, I don't care too much that the Muzak is broken, since that just gives us more of an excuse to play our own music.  They did get rid of that horrible tropical-themed playlist that they experimented around with when we switched over to our summer promotions (I never thought the day would come when I would say I missed the original Muzak playlist, but that day came when they switched to the tropical stuff--I think Muzak must have gotten a lot of angry calls from our employees or something), but the normal playlist still sucks.  I have to wonder if paying ASCAP/BMI fees wouldn't be cheaper than this Muzak subscription--it'd certainly make everyone who works in the store happier.  Oh well, at least I got to play Fear of a Blank Planet (in its entirety) on the store's sound system today--that certainly makes up for most of the day.