A Close Call

There was a rather close call today at work.

As I came into work to find that one of our guinea pigs that had been in our Isolation room for ringworm...was back on the floor. 

Which I only noticed because we haven't had any guinea pigs out for like a week.

But then when I went back into the Iso room to check on the animals there.

I noticed one of the charts was still on the wall.

But the cage was gone.

A closer look to the chart had me seeing "On The Floor" listed.

Which.

Was bad.

Because the chart had written on the bottom: "Customer Wants to Buy Back." 

….If the customer wants to buy the guinea pig back?

WHY WAS IT ON THE FLOOR?!!?!?

AHHHH!!!!

Like. If we've called the customers  multiple times to no response, or they say they no longer want the guinea pig, we'll then put them back on the floor to sell to someone else.

But before I'd left for my three day vacation,

I distinctly knew that that particular guinea pig HAD NOT had their pet parent contacted.

Because when I left the guinea pig was still recovering from ringworm. The fur had only begun to grow back.

*exhales* I shudder to think what would have happened if I'd come back just a day later. 

I mean. This particular guinea pig, the pet parents were extremely keen to get their pet back.

The kids had even dropped by a couple of times while we were treating him to check in and see how he was doing. 

So the thought that I'd have to tell them that their guinea pig accidentally got sold to someone else?

Gah.

So glad we avoided that.

Upon realizing that the guinea pig wasn't supposed to be on the floor.

I immediately reisolated it

Double checked that he WAS healthy.

And when it was a more reasonable hour to call people, I gave the customers a call and left a message. 

In the meantime. 

I went on the hunt to discover why the guinea pig had been placed back on the floor in the first place.

Apparently my new manager didn't realize that we actually WRITE when we CALL the customer down on the chart. *exhales* And so didn't know if the Customer had been contacted and didn't know when or if they had been contacted.

And so after talking with another manager they instructed my coworkers to put the guinea pig back on the floor.

Apparently coworker was supposed to put a "Reserved" sign up....but that didn't happen.

So if I hadn't been there.

If I hadn't noticed....

The guinea pig would have been gone. *shakes head*

Honestly.

It seemed like such a revelation that you make notes of what's done and who's called the customer if an animal is to be bought back. 

In any case.

After telling my new manager NOT to do that.

The customer actually came into the store a couple of hours later to pick up that guinea pig.

Proving me RIGHT in that they wanted it back. *shakes head*

And I had good timing too, 

As it was one of the daughter's birthdays today.

So she gets the happy surprise of having her guinea pig come home. ^^;;

Yay for happy moments.

So glad I was able to avoid a catastrophe. 

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Fresh Start

It's been something I've been meaning to do for a while now.

Clean my room.

I just....haven't had the energy to do so.

But I've had the past three days away from work. 
A time to relax.
A time to write.

And yah....time to finally get around to cleaning my room.

Which really...
It was a matter of doing laundry/putting it away, making my bed, and taking out the trash in my room.

And it's suddenly so much cleaner. 

*shakes head*

I mean, I still have odds and ends around.
Books that I need to shelf.
Knick-knacks that I need to put away. 

But at least I can see my floor again.
I can walk without having to pick my way through my room.

And that's a glorious feeling.

Note to self.
Keep my room cleaner. 

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Prepping

My roommate has been on a cooking binge the past couple of days.
Doing the meal prep thing.

Which I've never seen her go to this extreme before.
I mean it was two full days of making six different types of food that she could put in the freezer for later days.

Mostly in preparation for when school starts up again and she won't have as much freetime to cook meals.

I'm pretty sure that she's got at least a month if not two months full of freezer food now lol. 

And it was interesting.
Just to see her process.
Watch how she prepped each meal, cutting up things, cooking other things, rolling out yet other things. 

It was such an intense process lol.
I'm not quite sure I could ever do the same. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Please just...Shush

*Exhales*
I love my giant fish tank.
Truly I do.
But it's being a problem to me recently and it's really frustrating.

I mean.
I get it. Fish get sick. Illnesses beyond my control happen.

But it's when the mechanical pieces break down that it gets even more frustrating.

So a couple of days ago one of my over the back filters broke. 
Which after having it for nearly two years is rather impressive.

And I thought the simple solution would be to go to the store and just get the same brand filter.

Only stupid 'innovation'
Changed the design of said filter.
So it was a noisy little thing.

And considering I am rather noise sensitive.
I can't stand the sound of trickling water for long without it irritating me.

And the filter I'd gotten as a replacement.
Was irritating me.

So my goal yesterday was to find a different brand of filter that would be quieter. 

I already knew that Aqueon wouldn't help me.
As that filter was noisey despite being a "quiet flow" 
XP As it was the original filter I'd gotten in the very very beginning and HATED because of the trickling noise.

Which left me with three other options.
All of them more pricey.

Still.
After some thought.
I went with the marineland brand.
Mostly because it was on sale.
And pulling it out of the box it looked like it would sit lower in the tank, which would hopefully mean that the water would flow quieter.

….You'd think that when they rate filters as "quiet" they would take into account the trickling water flow.
But no when they think "quiet" they think the quiet of the motor running the filter. *exhales*

In any case. 
I got the new filter home.
Partially set it up (as in I didn't put the cartridges in and such) so that it would be easier to take down if it didn't work.

And I plugged in the filter.
And the water that came spewing over the side of the filter had enough power that it completely missed the gap to go back into the fish tank and instead spilled out on top of the glass lid. :S :S :S
Which luckily I'd been watching, so I was able to quickly react and pull the lid away so the water could fall into the tank before any of it spilled onto the ground below.

But if anything the filter was NOISIER than the one I'd bought the day before.

Which was heartbreaking as I didn't want to go back to the store to try ANOTHER filter. Gah. 

Still I unplugged it. 
Because I can't stand the noise.
And got it ready to put back in the box...when I saw the front lid to the filter...on the ground.
The lid I'd neglected to put on when I'd partially set up the tank in the first place. ^^;;

And looking at it. Putting it on.
I saw that it would trap the water so it wouldn't go bursting so far out.
So I thought.
Why not try it again?

So I reset it up and made sure that front lid was on to better control the flow of the water.
Plugged it in.

And amazingly it worked!!

AND THE WATER WAS QUIETER!!!

I mean it wasn't as quiet as the filter that died on me.
But it was much quieter than the one I had in the tank before this one.

So huzzah!
I fully set up the tank.
Grateful that it was quiet enough that it would hopefully not bother me.
And figured I would be good.

Only today....
Right now.
As I'm trying to watch TV.
I noticed that the water sound was much louder than it had been before.

And I have no idea why.
Like nothing has changed.
I even filled up the tank a bit more to see if that would help quiet the trickling noise. 
To no beneficial effect.
If anything the trickling water GOT LOUDER.

Gah.
I ended up unplugging it.
At least while I'm trying to watch tv in the same room.
Because the noise was distracting enough that I would get a headache if I had to listen to it as background noise.

So now I'm trying to decide if I should still stick with this filter.
Or when I go back to work I should try yet another brand and see if I can get it to be quieter than the Marineland….

*exhales*
I probably will end up buying one other brand to try. To see. 
Because who knows when that second filter is going to go out.
But I'll wait until Monday, and see if that brand will go on sale as our current sale doesn't include it and it ends Sunday.

For now though.
I hope the fish don't mind only half their tank flowing.
I'll be sure to plug the thing back in when I'm done in this room.

Still it's disappointing.
I want to get my quiet fishtank back.

Is that too much to ask??

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Stop. With. The. Questions.

It was a day of frustrations for me. (Beware Venting Post)

Not tasking wise. As overall that went really well. I managed to actually get things done enough that I could do the 'extra' tasks that I'd been meaning to do for weeks but never had the time to do.

No.
It was the customers being frustrating today.
Like it felt like nearly every one I talked to needed to be difficult.

My very first customer of the day was a gentleman who wanted mealworms and waxworms.
And as per habit, I open the containers to double check that the worms look good and are in there.

Well the mealworms were good, but the waxworms?
There were a few visible dead there.
Which isn't surprising, almost all the containers have at least a few dead in them.
But the customer wasn't happy about it.
He was paying for the thing you know.
Which I get. You don't want to pay for dead things when you want live.
But I told him "They usually put more than 50 in there to account for them dying."

But did the guy listen to me?
Nope. He proceeded to spend a good five or so minutes sifting through that one container of waxworms to pull out ALL the dead ones he could find (14) total to basically be like "You want me to pay for 14 of these DEAD ones? Like these are 10 cents each! I'm not paying for these!" 

Which I countered by pulling out a different container.
Dumping it out, and pulling out all the LIVE ones and going "Here look, see there's FIFTY here, but LOOK *gestures to the remaining pile* You can see there's at least 10 dead ones here. So you should still have 50 alive ones in the container.

Which seemed to mollify him a little.
But to make sure he got a 'good batch' I was like "Here you can have this container where you know you have fifty for sure."

But nope. Stubborn guy was like "I'll just take this one." -The one where he'd pulled out the 14 dead.

Which was confusing because like a) yay that you trust my word so much, but b) why not take the one that you KNOW has 50 alive ones in it??

*exhales* I don't know. 

Then there was a customer with birds. Where he's like "I want to get a bird."
"Okay,what kind?" I ask.
"Parakeets."
"Which one?"
"A blue one?"
"Okay which one?"
"A blue one on the bottom."

*exhales* But like He NEVER pointed out which one he wanted?
It took a bit to drag it out of him that he wanted a boy and a girl parakeet.
But not just blue ones. No he wanted one blue and one green.

And beyond specifying that he wanted one of each gender
-Which I really don't get why people are so obsessed with getting boy/girl pairings. Like I'm pretty sure the birds are young enough that they don't care who else they end up with.
Besides they're young enough we can't always tell the gender. *exhales* 
In any case. I ended up catching one blue and one green that were boy and girl because the dude didn't want to point one out. He had me pick them.
Which is still weird. Like....pick out your favorite birds? As you're the one going to be caring for it for the next decade. Not me. 

Then there was a customer calling who wanted to know if we had 'baby hamsters'
Which...you mean like actual 'baby' hamsters or 'baby' as in the 'tiny' hamsters like the Robos or the Dwarfs?
Never got a straight answer on that. I told the hamsters are about 3-4 months old in the store.
And the customer then asked if we had any Syrians. Which I still had like three from Christmas. But it was an odd choice as the Syrians are the largest hamsters....

Which I then had the manager ask me to go over to crickets to get some for a customer. 
To which I responded "We're out." 
"Out?'
"Yah I don't have any."
"Large or small?"
*exhales* "None."
"Not even the boxed ones?!" 
"OKay we may still have those, but I'm out of the bagged ones."
"HOW CAN WE BE OUT?!"
….Well considering we get our shipments on Tuesdays and Thursdays and TUESDAY was CHRISTMAS that means we haven't gotten a shipment in for a WEEK. Since Last Thursday. (And today's shipment never showed up...possibly due to the snow. So yah. No crickets at work. Oh goodie) 

I mean...these weren't all one after the other.
But they were pretty darn close to being one after the other.

I had a woman give me quite the lecture on Cat toys today because she mentioned that she couldn't find any felt ones.
...Which I wasn't aware that we had any.
I mean we could, but nothing came to mind.
And I told her so. We don't carry them.
And she went all lecture on me on how Felt is the only SAFE cat toys to play with and that ALL the other cat toys we have in the store are actually dangerous for cats and how we need to get the manufactures to make more felt toys and to stop making all the others because if the cat eats the toy it can be dangerous to them! Her cat nearly died because he ate a non-felt toy.
*exhales* …..But  most cats don't usually eat toys? They just play with them? 
But yah I had to listen to quite the ten minute rant on the subject. 

The frustrating customers also came in the fish section too.

Had some repeat frustrating customers from yesterday come back into the store today.
Mostly to a) show me the tank they'd set up last night.
-As they wanted my opinion on like every single decoration they put in their small tank and what my opinions on live plants are and cycling the tank and fish to put in with betta fish and the types of algae eaters etc.
But b) they'd done more online research 
-Which I don't get why they come to me with questions if they have online research under their belts as they basically ended up contradicting me with everything I said by saying "But our online research told us?" -__- *exhales* If you trust the ONLINE resources WHY are you ASKING me???
They wanted to get some Ghost Shrimp today to put in the tank first before they put their betta in the new tank. Which was a great idea.
Only I'd told them YESTERDAY I was out of ghost shrimp because we don't get in shipments until FRIDAY.
THe mom forgot.
But the son was like "But I came for shrimp! Do you have any other shrimp?"
….Not live ones no. I just carry the ghost shrimp.
"BUT I WANT SHRIMP!!"
Sorry to break it to you kiddo...but you gotta wait if you want them from my store. I don't have a secret stash in the back.

More customers were like that. "Do you not sell Male Bettas anymore?" "Do you have any more Male Bettas?" "Where are the Male Bettas? Do you have more in the back?"
*sighs* No. No. NO. 
I don't have them because we only get fish in on FRIDAY and since Christmas was on TUESDAY that means that any fish I had for Friday's shipment got sold in the prechristmas rush. So I won't be restocked until Friday.

And then there was a customer who wanted help with filters, but had very specific needs on the size and dimensions of the filters as he had limited space against the wall...and so after having me catch him fish, and go through a ton of different decorations for his tank and backgrounds and such...proceeded to dither over different brands and sizes of filters as to what he wanted to have on his tank. 
We pulled out like three different boxes so he could see the sizes of them and such.
And finally decided on a smaller one...despite it being more expensive than a bigger one. 

These people weren't the most frustrating customers though.
Oh no.
That honor goes to this couple that came into the store.
Which they had such the weird vibe to them. I'm not sure they were totally 'there.' really. They kinda gave off the vibe of being on drugs...
In any case it was the girl who needed help.
With turtles specifically.
And the guy just stood there, not blinking, staring at me with creepy eyes with this permanent smile on his face and it was just *shudders* A creepy creepy face to have staring at you for a good FORTY-FIVE FREAKING MINUTES. Because he barely contributed to the conversation at all. Just stared with that creepy stare with that creepy smile.
And the lady wasn't much better conversation wise.
As in the beginning I gathered that she was wanting to set up a tank for a turtle she'd gotten from a friend and wanted to make sure it was all the right set up.
So her saying Turtle I assumed it was aquatic and was going through all the needs.
As they asked "What do you need to decorate a turtle tank."
So going with the Aquatic I was telling her everything she needed.
But she kept having concerns that didn't quite...mesh with aquatic turtles.
And some worries were just plain odd. Like the worry that "The turtle will climb out because it has claws." 
….Sure turtles have feet...with longer nails. But I wouldn't call them claws. They can't use them to injure or climb. Mostly for digging really. 
But it got to the point where I was like "Is your turtle land or water?" 
She didn't understand. Wasn't sure.
So I showed her our aquatic turtles and land tortoises so I could figure out which one was similar to the one she'd gotten.
She had no idea. 
*exhales* I told her to get a picture or something because both have differing needs.
Which she too didn't understand. 
Like how could they have different needs?
Simple. 
One needs to be mostly in WATER the other one DOES NOT. 
Even looking at the cages that should have been obvious.
(It wasn't to her) 
The same with the food and such.
SO I got to where I could get with the turtles with them....
Only for them to then start asking questions about their Aquatic Frogs.
Like what do they eat, why did one we have die, is this substrate bad for them, if we feed this will they be okay?
And like "what is the difference between Tubifex worms and blood worms?" 
ummm...besides the name? And the shape? and the color? ….I have no idea.
 They're worms. It's probably like comparing Romane lettuce with Spinach or something. Both are greens but both have slightly different nutritional needs/values to them.

It didn't END there though.
No there was questions on frozen fish food, and cat fish, and shrimp, and goldfish and live plants and seriously I was about ready to scream because the woman kept asking Question after Question after Question after QUESTION.
Like I seriously must have answered like a 100 from this couple.
 And I don't even know if it was worth my time really. 

As I could tell that not all of it was computing even as I was talking to them.
And after venting to a coworker, they stated that that couple comes into the store a lot. 
And they do the same thing every single time.
Ask a million questions about a ton of different animals. *exhales*

So yah.
Very frustrating day.
I'm so glad it's over.
Because I had reached my 'helpful' limit an hour earlier when it came to dealing with customers.

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Silence Is Needed

It was only a matter of time really.
I mean I've had the same fishtank filters for my 125 since like the very beginning.
And that was basically two years ago.
Which is rather long for something that requires a plug.
As I feel like most plug in devices aren't made to last that long.
So like two years?
Yah that's a pretty good long time.
(Though some older customers would disagree with me.) 

So I wasn't too surprised when I got home from work today to find that one of my filters wasn't running.
After checking to make sure it was plugged in and everything.
I figured it had given up the ghost. 
*exhales*
Which like I said, I wasn't surprised.
But was disappointed.
I mean.
I just spent all this $$$ on Christmas gifts and NOW you want more $$ spent on you fish tank?
I mean I was already spending $$ on you to treat the fish inside. 
*exhales*

But!
Good news! 
The filter I'd bought 2 years ago was on sale at my work!
So at least I wouldn't be spending an arm and a leg on it.

Though I figured that I would wait until...you know. Tomorrow. When I was already at work so I could just buy the filter and go from there.

But like an hour and a half before the store closed.
I went to look at my fish.
And noticed like half of them were up at the surface gulping for air. 
*exhales*
Not a good sign.
Apparently only having one filter running wasn't doing quite the job my fish needed in order to be happy in the tank.

So I gathered up Kikay and we adventured out into the cold dark to go to work to buy a filter to save my fish!

But as my luck would have it...
When I got to the shelf holding the size of filter I needed....
The brand was out of stock. 
GAH!!!
Still.
I was like "Well I got a truck in at work today, maybe I can track down one elsewhere in the store!"

Which after a brief look in the midsteel overstock along the walls of the store,
I FOUND ONE!!

It involved a ladder and a bit of conversating with my coworkers/managers (since I was out of uniform I didn't feel comfortable climbing the ladder without them being aware of it. You know, don't want to be a bad example for customers) 

But we got my filter!!!

And I took it home!
And opening the box...noticed that the design was different from the first one. 
Which I had been aware of. That they'd redesigned the filter and such.
But I hadn't realized how much they'd redesigned it. 
XP
The filter now sits a lot higher up in the tank.
So the water has further to fall into the tank....

Which means. *exhales*
It's noisier. 
Gah.

I hate noise.
Which is bad when I have a fishtank as per rules....though are basically noisy creations lol. 
But with my last set of filters I'd managed to find ones that were quiet so long as I kept the water levels higher.

But filling up the tank as high as I could safely go....
Didn't allow me the luxury of my basically quiet tank.

No, that new filter is just chugging along happily trickling it's noisy waterfall and *shudders*
I can't stand it.

So.
I'm tolerating it for the night. (Since the store is closed now) 
And hoping that tomorrow when I go into work I can go track down a different brand of filter that will allow me to get the quiet I need to be happy with my 125. ^^;;

Wish me luck! :D

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Teary Moment

Christmas was different this year.

I mean...how can it not be? 

With Mother Dearest not there. 

I mean, she was there in spirit I'm sure.

But like...physically there.

There to watch us open presents.

There to give us gifts.

There to laugh and smile and see our reactions and have us see her reactions to opening gifts.

Still....

I managed to push away the thoughts.

To just focus on enjoying everyone opening their presents. 

Seeing their reactions.

Having a bit of fun and laughing and enjoying that my presents to the family were a success. 

And then after everything.

Kikay brought out some 'last' gifts from Mother Dearest.

And I just....lost it. 

Like how can you not? 

When you know it's kinda a 'last' present from her?

Though it's not as simple as that. 

You see... a few weeks before Mother Dearest passed away.

Kikay had had a dream.

Where she and Mother Dearest were shopping in a Temple Giftshop.

Looking for gifts for each family member. 

And it was just vivid enough of a dream that it kinda stuck in Kikay's mind.

How each gift was meant to symbolize something to us and what we should value/feel/remember etc.

And since Mother Dearest had passed away....before doing any Christmas Shopping as far as I'm aware.

After some consideration.

Kikay decided to go ahead and actually get us each the gift that she and Mother Dearest had decided on in the dream. 

For me it was a Pocketwatch necklace with a Rose on it.

As in the dream Mother Dearest had stated she wanted me to get a necklace.

And over the summer I'd written a novella length story. 

Involving a pocketwatch with a design on it.

It was basically the only story Mother Dearest had read of mine that I'd written.

Mostly because I hadn't shared my stories with her.

Because they're all fanfics lol. ^^;; So most of them you need a bit of background in the fandom in order to know what's going on.

But this fic involving the pocketwatch had been one where you didn't need a background on the characters/fandom in order to enjoy the story.

So while we had been on vacation in Arizona during September.

She'd taken the time to read it.

And told me it was one of the best stories she'd ever read.

Which aww.

Such a happy feel good moment for me. 

To have her read something I wrote and like it. Enjoy it. Compliment it. 

It's been a memory I've been holding rather close.

Knowing that she'd read at least one of my stories and liked it.

It's been a comfort.

So yah.

Totally cried when I opened 'Mom's' present and saw the pocketwatch.

Cried even more so when Kikay said it was so I could remember how much Mom loved me and such.

And yah.

It was just a tender moment.

Bittersweet for sure. 

Just...so grateful that Mother Dearest took the time to read my story.

And that Kikay went through the effort to make this Christmas meaningful.

To have a 'last' gift from Mother Dearest. 

It meant a lot. 

Until you next see these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

To Bake or Not to Bake

I got delayed.

Which I really shouldn't be surprised at.

I mean whenever I decide to do a 'timeline' of events...of like to a time frame? 

It never works out.

Because something unexpected shows up.

Which delays my time frames. 

Which either means something doesn't get done.

Or else shifted into a different order. 

Today was one such thing.

Where I had plans shifted so I could try and track down a specific flavor of crackers.

….Which were nowhere to be found.

Which meant I got home about an hour after I'd originally planned to be home. 

So I had the choice to make.

Forgo some of my plans and get up to my Family for Christmas Eve at the same timeframe.

Or continue on with my original plan and just get up late.

Considering my original plan was to bake my daddoo some cookies as he mentioned last time I saw him that he gave us food storage that included cookie ingredients in the hopes that we would make him cookies.

So I decided to follow through and do so.

And things were going pretty well....

Until the cookies didn't bake as expected.

>.<

When I pulled them out of the oven...the cookies still looked like they were dough.

Which...I couldn't understand it.

I tried a second batch, kept them in for longer, and the result was better. More cookie like.

So I put the first set back in the oven for a little longer.

And the result...was still dough.

And I was running out of time.

I was already an hour later.

I couldn't make another batch.

So I was feeling quite frustrated.

That I decided to stick with my original plan.....

Only to have it not work out. 

It was frustrating.

Irritating.

Just like....why did things have to go wrong when I was trying to do something good?

*shakes head*

In the end, after I finally got Home for Christmas.

It turns out the cookies just needed a bit longer to sit and cool down.

They ended up looking normal in the end. *shakes head*

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Laid Low

My life is a series of good intentions.....that don't always work out.
*exhales*

I had so many plans today.
You know.
Finish wrapping presents.
Bake some surprise cookies for Daddoo.
Finish a fic I've been working on.
And like start a different story....

Of which I only really accomplished the 'finishing fic' part. 
Barely.
I'll have to go through and edit it tomorrow if I'm up to it. 

Because today I've been suffering from one of those nuclear migraines.

The ones that make you feel nauseous. Where lights and sounds get to be too much. 
Where I end up curled up in bed with a heatpack in the dark trying to just....rest the thing away.

Such an annoying waste of time.

And like...I tried to work around it.
Which is how I managed to at least finish the story I was working on. 

But the headache won out.
Looking at the computer screen became too much.
I was feeling positively sick.

So to bed I went. 
*exhales*

Sometimes the best laid intentions....don't get fulfilled.

So I'll have to see if I can get everything else done tomorrow....
If my head decides to cooperate that is. 

*exhales*

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Surprise Delivery

It was gearing up to be a crazy Saturday.
Which wasn't unexpected because it's the Saturday before Christmas.
Which means that a ton of customers would be coming into the store to get animals and gifts for their pets both new and old. 

So I was rather distracted trying to get my department open and ready for the influx of customers.
And I hadn't really been able to check my phone in that time because I had been dealing with a bunch of customers. 

So I was rather confused when my coworker was like "Hey Sarnic, there's a pizza guy here for you."

O.o

Huh?
But yah. There was a pizza delivery guy who'd come in looking for "Sarnic" 

A glance at the receipt said that a T Dirchi had paid for it.

Which in my work focused brain....
Saw the T and was like "Oh it's the groomer!" As we had a groomer with a similar name.

But it was confusing as to why the groomer would have my last name.

That's when it clicked in my head.
As I'd seen a text from my AT who is like a second mom to me. 
But I hadn't had time to actually read what the text said.

So pulling out my phone.
I finally read the message.

That a 'surprise' was coming to me in the next half hour.

The surprise being Cheesy Breadsticks!!!

So the pizza guy WAS looking for me. ^^;;; Heh.

So I returned to him, much less confused, and signed for my cheesy breadsticks and sprite. 

And yah!
The food was delicious.

But it was...just crazy lol.

Because AT lives in a different State from me. 
So like....having her order a pizza? I hadn't even considered the possibility.

And was rather touched that she took the time and effort to order me a breadstick and send them to the store.
Totally.
Awesome!!

Which is funny that I was so surprised to have food delivered to me.
I mean....I'd done the same thing just a month earlier for Black Friday. Ordering pizza for the store because I wasn't going to be there. 
But to have someone do the favor back?

Ah. Yes. I definitely felt the love today. ^^;; 

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Right Priced Giftcard

Shopping is stressful.
Especially when it's the last weekend before Christmas.
Especially when you're trying to find 'the' gift for someone and every store you go to DOESN'T HAVE IT and it's FAR TOO LATE to order it online and GAH.

*deep breath*

In any case.

Part of my mission today in venturing out into the great Christmas shopping crazy that is like every single store today.
Was to find some specific giftcards.

Which.
I was like "Oh yah! That will be easy to find!"
I mean, I'd even seen the giftcards in question at Lowes of all places yesterday when I cautiously ventured into that place looking for manly gift ideas. :S 

I hadn't bought any yesterday though because a) I thought I could find them elsewhere and b) I was waiting to buy them until today as it was Payday and it's better to have more money around than less when you're out Christmas shopping lol.

SO yah.
Giftcards.
Easy to find right?

WRONG.

*shakes head*
I mean, I thought this particular one would be like....everywhere.
But Walmart, Target, The MALL....everywhere there were giftcards I looked...and could not find the particular one that I wanted.

So in a desperate attempt.
I went back to Lowes.
Because they HAD them Yesterday.

And when I got there?
Success!
I found the type of giftcard I wanted!

Only....
It was the wrong denominations. :S 
They only had like $50 or $100 giftcards on the rack. 
()_()
Which...ummm...that's a bit....much for a giftcard. :S Like.... :S :S :S Not at all how much I thought I would be spending.

But like....I couldn't find them anywhere else so like...…

I ended up grabbing one anyways....

And was waiting for a response from Kikay on whether or not this was a good idea.

When I happened to wander by Customer service.
And there were like four workers all standing there not really doing much.

So I took a leap of faith and was like "Hey. Do you happen to have any more of this type of giftcard….in the smaller denominations?" 

I expected them to say "No, what's out there is what we have."

But instead I was met with "Oh! I'm sure we do! We have this whole closet full of giftcard boxes so I'm sure we have that number back there, we'll go look!" 

"Cool!" Was my response. "And...you may want to bring out more if you do find them. Because you're out." 

It took a little bit of waiting.

But the result?

THEY HAD THE GIFTCARD I NEEDED!!

Woot!
Success!!!

^^;;

I'm so happy that I asked lol. Because I don't know if I would have actually gotten the $50 giftcard. :S

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Chart Check

So yesterday, I ended up shifting animals around in the store.
Carefully combining cages of hamsters together.
To make room for new animals coming in.
And I ended up moving a Guinea Pig into our ISO room.

I didn't think much of it.
After all the guinea pig was a customer return and needed to be placed in the ISO room for observation so we could do proper care for him as he was returned by customers who want him back once he's healthy.

I didn't think it was a big deal.

Until this morning when I came into that room.

To see a note left by a coworker.

Worrying that this guinea pig that I had placed in "Cage 8" 
Had been switched with the guinea pig in "Cage 11" 

I suppose there was slight confusion because both charts may have been labeled "Cage 11"
As I hadn't realized that they'd labeled the chart when the guinea pig was in a different room. 


*exhales*

In any case.

One glance at both cages told me....
They hadn't been switched.

I mean, we use the charts to mark down symptoms we see in the animals to say why they're not doing good or why they are doing good. 

So if my coworkers were actually Looking at the animals in question....
And compared them to the charts....

You would know immediately which one was which.

I mean, the coloration of both was similar.
Black/White. 
But the customer return is more creamy colored with some black and white.
While the other guinea pig in question lacks the cream color. 

So a short quick glance would possibly make them seem similar. 
*exhales*

But the CHARTS.

The customer return was returned because the customer was concerned about the guinea pig sneezing. 

While the other guinea pig....has an issue of hair loss on the chin that he's dealing with.

So like...if you looked at the guinea pigs. Actually looked at them and looked for the hairloss
And matched them to the charts....

It would have been clear which was which.

Plus....like you should only have one animal out of the cage at a time.
So the chance of them being switched....is rather low. 

*shakes head*

At least my coworker noticed that there could have been a switch.
So that's good. :) 

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Behind

Sometimes I really wonder what goes on inside my coworker's heads. 
*exhales*

So today.
I was working on the Reptile Bedding change.
But ended up getting roped into a different project.
Of trying to get hamsters to play nice with each other so I could combine multiple litters of hamsters together into one cage so I could make room in our backrooms for customer returns and new animals that will be arriving tomorrow.

Because I was caught up in that project.
I had my coworker work on the Reptile Bedding changes in my stead.
As I'd already gotten most of one side done, they just needed to finish the one side and then do the other side.

Easy peasy.
Quick work....

Except I forget just how long it takes new people to do things.
Especially when my coworker is afraid of snakes and reluctant to handle them. *exhales*

In any case.
While I was busy making sure the hamsters were playing nice.

My coworker comes over the mic and says: "Hey, there's this bearded dragon behind the cage."

Which Behind?
What do you mean behind?
Like it somehow GOT OUT and was BEHIND the actual cage?

Yeah. That was the situation.
Somehow one of our bearded dragons and wiggled his way out of the cage and had ended up behind everything.
Which thankfully we noticed him. *shakes head*

But my coworker.
Did they try and grab the bearded dragon?

No.

They were like "So is he okay back there? Should I just leave him?" 

.
..
…
….
…
..
.

*exhales*

Did you....actually...ask me that question?

*exhales*

Like.
Where's the common sense?
If the bearded dragon is BEHIND the cage.
And not IN the cage.
And you've NEVER seen him BEHIND the cage before....

One would think that he SHOULDN'T. BE. THERE.

Like...is it not obvious he's escape?
Is it not obvious that you should catch him and put him back into the cage?

*exhales*

Apparently not if you felt the need to ask that question. *shakes head*

Thankfully.
We caught him and put him back and he's hanging out just fine with his buddies.

But still.
"Should I just leave him?"
No.
NO.
Nooooo.

*shakes head* I'm not going to let that one leave my mind for a while.

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Fish Woes

*exhales*

I don't know what's going on with my tank.

And at this point I'm halfway expecting all my fish to die.

I mean, before I left for the two weeks in November, I'd noticed a small bacterial issue with one of my goldfish and had been treating him for that issue in a separate tank.

But somehow in that two week period...I managed to lose like half of my fish.

I had nearly 60.

Then I was down to like 30 when I got back.

Most of my mini fish like the neon tetras and danios were the ones to take the brunt of the 'disappearances.'

Which could point to an aggressive fish....which I think is unlikely.

Or something within the tank went wrong and either a chemical or disease has struck it.

Only.

I'm not sure what.

Like. I did water changes. I treated. I treated again.

And fish are still coming down with issues.

I have a goldfish that has some sort of infection going on.

It started as a red spot on the side. Which usually means baceterial.

But in treating that the red spot got wider and deeper...so like it's some sort of flesh eating issue now? It had whiteness to it too which is like...is it a fungus? Is it healing scales?

The redness is going away under the Melafix treatment but like....it's still a deep wound so is it healing or is it just going to be this hole in the side?

Another goldfish has flat white spots that are more like a fungus (it's not the ick spots) on it's tail. Like...is it a fungus? Is it a parasite? Is it another bacterial issue? Who knows, though I've seen a couple of my tetras with that same white fungus spot.

Of course there's a catfish that also has a white fungus wound on it's head. Which is semi similar to the one the first goldfish had, as a possible injury...but it's white. Not red. So fungus? Bacterial? Who knows.

An Angelfish is also sick with something. There's a white film on the eye and he's been lethargic and...

*exhales*

I've treated with fungal.

I've treated with bacterial.

I don't quite know what else to do and I don't get why all the fish are dying off now.

Like I tested the water, I've taken steps to fix the only thing (Nitrates) that were out of whack.

So like maybe I overdid treatment and stressed out the fish.

Maybe the water changes were too drastic.

In any case.

I'm just kinda expecting all the fish to die off at this point.

I don't know what more I can do to help.

Which is disappointing.

But like hey....maybe a brand new start to the 2019 year will be just what I need with a whole slew of fish to add in. 

Until you next read these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Complaints Galore

I don't know what it was about today.
But the customers were...rather.....idk. Unpleasant? Not in a mean way. But it seemed like every customer I encountered had something to complain about.

Some complaints more valid than others. 
But like...I couldn't figure out why they were coming to me to complain?
*exhales*

Because it's complaints over things that I can't control and don't really matter in the long run that got on my nerves.

Complaining about the lack of fish. -Like our shipment comes tomorrow I'm sorry we're low now.

Complaining about the state of the store/lack of products on the shelf the last time a customer came in. -Did you consider it's the holiday season and so more people are in the store and more products are being sold faster and that customers make messes wherever they go and when we're short handed it's harder to keep the store looking nice inbetween customers?

Complaining about the wording on our care guide pamphlets on animals how the gallon size recommended doesn't match the tank pictured in the guide and that it should be changed. -recommended is the key word there. And like...I don't make and/or write the guides I just make sure they're in stock. *exhales*

Yah.

It got on my nerves today.

I don't want to hear complaints.
Where are my happy customers?
I like helping the ones who aren't being purposely difficult when I try to help them....

And yah.

I don't get it.
Was it the overcast skies?
Was it the fact it was Monday?
Was there just something in the air that made people want to complain?
Was there just something about my aura/personality today where people just figured "You! You can fix this problem!"

*shakes head*
Who knows.

Hopefully tomorrow is better and not as difficult. 

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Sugar Cube Houses

One of the family traditions we had while growing up.
Was the building of Sugar Cube houses.

Which are similar to Gingerbread houses.
Only you use Sugar cubes to build the house, with a sugar frosting to stick all the cubes together.
Before decorating your creation with a ton of different candy.

It's one of my favorite traditions.

Some years my house would be better than others.
But it was just fun to see what each of us created every year.

Dad would always create a cathedral church of some kind.
While Mom would then go through and decorate it with candy.

But as we got older, and moved out.
The tradition of making Sugar Cube houses has taken a couple of hiatuses.
Just because we can't always get together each year to make the things.

Tonight we went to a Family Friend's house as they invited us to participate in making and creating Sugar Cubes.

It was fun.
It's been a few years since I've been able to come up to do it.
So it was nice to just relive childhood for a bit.

It was kinda soothing 'gluing' the sugar cubes together.
Creating the foundation. 
Building the walls.
Creating the windows and door.

It was fun and I enjoyed myself. 

My house even has managed to stay up! :D lol
Which is amazing considering our chocolate bar roofs were the most unstable as they were breaking and melting rather easily. :S 

Overall though. :D
It was fun. ^^;;

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Shop Shop Shop

Holiday Crazy.

Gotta love it when it gets crazy packed with customers in the store.

Overall, the past little bit of December it's been rather slow. 

But today?

Yah.

Got a taste of the Christmas Crazy. 

Which makes sense.

As we had Santa in the store today to take pictures with people's pets.

So that drew quite the crowd.

But then we had two people call out.

Our Mids.

The people who were supposed to be there during the Santa event to be on Register so that we could deal with the influx of customers.

Which meant we were short handed just at it's busiest.

So for a lot of the midday rush.

I ended up being the third cashier to try and help out with the lines forming at the registers. 

So crazy.

and then for a single hour.

There was just three of us in the store. The manager, me, and our cashier.

(Plus the person taking pictures for Santa) 

And the three of us all ended up on register.

Leaving the rest of the store devoid of help. *exhales*

Thankfully it was only for an hour.

As reinforcements came in to help. 

But I'd never been so relieved to be off and away from the customers.

Until you next see these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi