I’m packed. Tomorrow morning I fly from Raleigh to Las Vegas, with a pitstop in Newark, New Jersey. It’s business, not pleasure. The company holds an annual manager’s convention, one year in Orlando, the following year in Vegas. Last year was Orlando in the weeks after the hurricanes, this year is Vegas. Three solid daysContinue reading “On a Business Trip”
Tag Archives: Work
On Life as a Sine Wave
Life is a sine wave. When it goes up, it goes way up. When it goes down, it goes way down. And from one extreme to another. Take yesterday. I stopped at the post office before work. I walked across the parking lot, and as I stepped into the lane of traffic along the postContinue reading “On Life as a Sine Wave”
On VG Cats
I interviewed a very charming young woman at work about a month ago. An aside. A month ago, has it been that long? The calendar says so, so it must be true. So, a month ago, and in the segment of the interview where I open the interview to any questions the applicant may have,Continue reading “On VG Cats”
On Grand Theft Auto: The Less Naughty Version
I am asked almost daily, “When’s the cleaned-up version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas coming out?” Next week, as it turns out. It seems that we’re the only retailer still carrying the Adults-Only rated version of the game. Our competitors all pulled it, sometimes hypocritically, based on the merchandise they sell. But for thoseContinue reading “On Grand Theft Auto: The Less Naughty Version”
On Work and Scheduling
Nothing makes the year seem shorter than it is than doing a work schedule. Specifically, four weeks’ worth of schedules, taking us from Labor Day until the first of October. It’s not even the end of August, and I can tell you who will be working when on October 1st. Working the schedule that farContinue reading “On Work and Scheduling”
On the Things that Matter
I’ve been mulling this post since Friday. On Friday the company held a Town Hall meeting in Charlotte to provide the latest updates on the corporate merger. I won’t say much about the meeting–in terms of information provided we received little, yet the important aspect of the meeting, the boost in morale it provided, can’tContinue reading “On the Things that Matter”
On My Day
I felt as though I were spinning my wheels at work today. Friday’s I work a late shift, not coming in until 1. Not thirty seconds after I stepped through the door I received a phone call–today’s conference call is at 3, and call the other stores in the district to pass along the message.Continue reading “On My Day”
On Schedule Making
Today I wrote up the store schedule for the next two weeks. Good idea, no, considering I leave next Friday morning for vacation? There’s no magic to making the schedule. In a way it’s like building with LEGO bricks–this person goes here, that person goes there. But there are limits–payroll is this much, this personContinue reading “On Schedule Making”
On Memory
A man came in the store today. I was a bit on the harried side–one of my employees called out distraught, the other wasn’t due in for a few hours–and I had customers on all sides. He asked me a question, I told him I would be right with him, and he began to browse.Continue reading “On Memory”
On Language
Said I tonight at work, “The kittens are living behind my wheelie bin.” My assistant manager looked at me. “Your ‘wheelie bin’?” “You know,” I said, “my wheelie bin.” “Which is…?” “The garbage can I push out to the street every week?” “So, your garbage can.” “Right. My wheelie bin.” And then I realized that,Continue reading “On Language”