Tip of the Tongue

 It's rather frustrating when you injure yourself somewhere that like....bugs you all the time...because you use that area all the time for various tasks.

Most of the time it's my hands in some fashion. Mostly cuts on the fingers where they're constantly being brushed or pressed against things. 

Other areas is like your elbows your legs where you just somehow keep hitting the same spot.

Well...the other day...yesterday?? day before yesterday? Recently. I managed to cut my tongue.

Not quite sure how I did it...but I think I cut my tongue on my own teeth? Or something sharp that was among my teeth. Because I do remember running my tongue over my teeth after eating something....

But yah. It's a slight cut...towards the tip of my tongue...that literally brushes against everything in my mouth. Like I feel like I keep zinging myself because everytime I move my tongue around it feels like I'm either brushing the cut against my teeth, or eating something that irritates it, or drinking something that irritates it.

Needless to say.

I'm annoyed.

So annoyed at this stupid little injury in my mouth.

Like WHY?

It's making me wish I had super healing. Because I feel like it should heal so quickly and yet I'm probably going to be stuck zinging myself constantly for the next week.

After all, if you keep irritating something...it's less likely to heal.

So joy. Got that to look forward to. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Wait To Return It?

I'll never understand the customers who come into the store wanting to return items.....more specifically items that they bought forever ago.

Like, my store has a 60 day return policy. You have TWO MONTHS to bring back something. 

We're even nice and will accept back returns that have been opened or half used.

Like as long as we have the receipt, it's within 60 days, and if the product has a quantity to it...so long as that quantity is half unused we'll return it and either replace the item, give you your money back, or put the cost of that item towards other items you're buying in store.

Like it's not a bad policy.

And yet I routinely have customers, specifically older customers, come into the store wanting to return items that quit working, broke, or they just never used it....like forever ago.

It often makes me wonder if customers are just trying to find ways to 'get money' and so try to return items to get that money back. 

Today, it was an older couple that had bought a dog seat -for a car- back in JUNE of 2023. And during their 'second vacation' the strap that holds the dog into the seat broke. The part where the strap connects to the main seat just...pulled away. 

And the customers were upset about it. Because they said it broke in like...Octoberish? And the strap should have been 'more sturdy' and 'everyone online is complaining about it' and "they should have the strap wrap all the way down around the seat." etc etc etc.

And like....they bought it in JUNE. the 60 days was up in AUGUST.

And maybe...MAYBE if they had brought the seat in when it broke in October. I would have made an exception. Okay. I would have returned it.

But it's been SEVEN MONTHS. 

And you're only NOW trying to return it? Like....if you wanted it so badly why didn't you get a replacement sooner? Why do you only care NOW? 

And the dude was like "It said on the instructions "if you're not satisfied bring this back to the store." and I'm like "Well, we only have a 60 day guarantee. So you'd have to take it up with the manufacture. Because we only accept returns within 60 days." 

And like. I did offer to discount their purchase if they wanted to get a replacement. But the dude was like "What's the point! It's just going to break in the same way!" 

..... *exhales*

So yah. He decided he'd try and fix it himself. 

But I do have to wonder why they only care now in JANUARY and not back in OCTOBER when it broke. If it was THAT important I would have been right back at the store THEN. Not waiting another THREE MONTHS to try and return it for money. 

I don't get people. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Oh Look. More Stress

 It's been....kinda a rough week in most areas of my life.

And it kinda felt like it all came to a head yesterday.

Which isn't surprising when you consider yesterday was the full moon.

But it just felt like...nothing was really going my way yesterday.

First of all, I was still worrying about next week's plans. Trying to figure out arrangements with work and family to see if I could make it to the funeral. 

And like...I literally slept until my alarm went off...which considering I worked a mid shift yesterday...was rather impressive. I think I slept like a good 10 hours. Which yah, I get that oversleeping can happen when you're stressed. But ugh. 

Didn't think much on it....

Until I was trying to head out the door.

And I could not find my keys.

As I usually always keep them in my jacket pocket or by my purse so I know where they are.

They weren't there.

And like. I knew that I had them recently. Because I drove home from the dentist the day before.

So like. Obviously my keys would be SOMEWHERE in the house.

Though paranoid me wondered if I had somehow dropped them outside...and like maybe someone picked them up? What if someone was going to ROB my house because I lost my keys?!?!

Plus like...HOW could I get to work if I didn't have my keys?!

That was easy. Because I had an extra car key I could use. 

And after like a quick search of my yesterday clothes and my normal spots to leave keys...I had to call it because like...I'd recently been reprimanded for being "over 5 minutes late 6 days in January" 

And wasn't really in the mood to make it a 7th. 

So I left and sent a message to my roomies to keep an eye for my keys.

....

They didn't see them.

So the entire time I'm at work there's this niggling worry in the back of my head. Wondering WHERE those keys are. Like WHERE would I have set them down? I didn't see them outside. But who knows if someone picked them up. But maybe it's like my card the other day and I left it in a bag? I know I dropped them at least once...but was that at the house? It had to be at the house as I moved my car right before heading inside for the night. So like WHERE were they?

This added to the already stessful stress of trying to figure out if I could get my coworker to cover my Tuesday shift. But said coworker was out on vacation. So while I texted to see if they'd be willing to switch shifts....

They didn't respond right away.

Plus. I hadn't heard back yet from my Daddoo. So I was worrying over how he'd take the news knowing we'd lost another family member. and wondering just WHEN he would see my messages. (The answer was midmorning today) and WHAT plans I could make. Because like I couldn't schedule a hotel room until I knew if I would be able to drive up Tuesday or not. Because if my coworker couldn't switch shifts than I might have to same day drive it so I wouldn't need a hotel. And if my Dad decided to join me... would he drive or would I drive? But he's just getting back from a long vacation so would he really want to turn right around and head back out after being home like less than 24 hours? And if he decides not to go would he let me borrow his car for the multi-hour drive? Would he be okay with trading cars so he'd have my car for the 36ish hours I'd need the car? 

So yah.... most of this stress was just things out of my control.

I had to WAIT on others. Which was stressing me out. Because I wanted to have a PLAN. And like I was also making soft plans with an Uncle who was trying to figure out his own plans for getting to the funeral...but would those plans change if my dad said yes? If he said no?

So yah. Mentally I was working myself up to a frenzy.

And then we got the 'lovely' (NOT) news that our closing petcare had called out sick.

Which is....So. Very. Frustrating. Because we had a different closing petcare call out Tuesday meaning I had to close Petcare then. And like....literally NO ONE could come in to help cover the evening shift. 

Two of them had tests they were taking. Two were out of town. Two were at other jobs. 

Like...I just kinda wanted to call it quits right there. 

Because I'd managed to trigger myself a migraine at work. And with Every. Single. Person. Saying. NO. that meant that I would be the only one available to stay later. As I was supposed to get off two hours before the store closed. But if I left early then that would just leave my other manager and the cashier in the store.

And like...it's been known to get busy around the point the mid manager leaves.

PLUS we had the fish shipment expected and with the rainy weather we weren't certain if it would arrive early or not (it did thankfully) 

So yah. I was suffering.

Mostly from the Migraine. But also from just stressing myself out. 

But also being soooo done with my coworkers. Like what even is the point of having people working if they can't come in and help out when others call out. WHY Do they keep calling out?!!?!? I don't get it....like I understand I tend to stay healthier than everyone else....besides my constant migraines. Like I literally only call out sick like maybe thrice a year? And half the time I end up leaving early instead after working a half shift and calling it quits. 

Like my Head Manager today was telling me that we already have a couple of workers who've basically already used up their sick time and vacation time for the ENTIRE YEAR and JANUARY isn't OVER YET.

I. Do. Not. Get. It. 

And I'm so freaking tired of having to take on the burden of covering everything because no one can come in. 

Like I really just want to take an entire month off and leave the store to burn because I need a break. I'm so over it.

In any case.

Migraine. And I ended up working an hour and a half over my end time. Leaving only half an hour before close. 

But minor good news is that I did get confirmation from my coworker that we could switch shifts. Which allowed me to at least book a hotel room for the night. So I had one stressor off my plate. 

But the rest of the day?

Yah....no.....I did find my keys once I got home -They were buried under some pillows on the couch-

And I did manage to get the migraine to go away after a bit of sleep.

But like....it just felt like all the stresses came crashing down on me yesterday.

I'm hoping since I now have firmer plans for the week in mind that things will be calmer.

But we'll see.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Off To The Dentist

  I had a dentist appointment this morning.

Which thankfully, was only for a cleaning this time. 

Because it felt like I went to the dentist far too much last year for root canals and crowns and fillings and such.

So it was nice to go in just to get the teeth cleaned and looked at.

Which of course means that you have that little worry in the back of your mind of "What problems are they going to find this time?" Like How many Cavities do I have now?

Because like...2023 was a rather stressful year for me. And stress is well known to play havoc on the body. So I was expecting that to show up in my teeth this visit.

But surprisingly. Not so much.

Like...my main issue was that my gums were still bleeding a lot. But considering my fraught relationship with flossing...that's not too surprising. Though maybe if I actually make more of an effort to be consistent with that I can get my gums to stop bleeding every time. 

Time will tell with that.

But otherwise?

Nothing wrong with my teeth.

Sure there's a handful of 'watches' on my back molars where there's spots that have 'potential' to become cavities. 

But overall. Good visit. The hygienist was like "Keep doing what you're doing!" So yay! 

So that was one less stress off my shoulders. Knowing that I don't necessarily need to worry about having to go to the dentist until my next cleaning in six months. Woot!

lol and of course, having such a good experience at the dentist means I should reward myself right?

So what better than going to the grocery story and buying a ton of soda and candy!?!?

XD XD XD Lol don't worry I bought other things as well. But they had good sales on my favorite treats and drinks this time. So I couldn't resist. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Reaching the Threshold

I've been thinking about "maximum capacity" today. At least for the last couple of hours since I found out that another family member on my Mom's side has passed away.

Which means since...June of last year...I've lost 5 family members on her side. 

And considering the last funeral before 2023 on that side of the family was for my Mother Dearest....it's kinda crazy that so many deaths have happened in such a short time frame.

On the other hand...it's kinda expected? Like my Aunts and Uncles are all getting up there age wise. Old enough to have great grandkids if not great great grandkids. 

Though of the 5. 3 of those family members were my age or younger. So like....yah....

In any case.

I was thinking about maximum capacity because it seemed like my Mom's side of the family was only getting bigger as time passed. 

Like, we have well over 100 family members on that side from my grandparents (who are both passed) and on down. 

And like we had 5 births in the last year....but also lost 5 family members....

So has my Mom's side of the family reached the 'maximum' size it can get?

Like. Will deaths start outnumbering the births?

Or are we in a lull period where deaths and births will be equal to each and basically cancel it out?

Like I already know that we're expecting at least 3 more family members on that side this year.

But yah...

I'm just wondering...if there's like a threshold that we've reached. And while the family will still continue to grow....will the amount of those passed soon outnumber the ones still alive? Especially with the trend of the younger generations having smaller families?

It will be interesting to see in the next few years.

Though at the same time. I would much prefer to have more time pass before the next funeral.

Only time will tell though.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Misplaced

 I had a moment of panic the other day while I was out running errands.

As I was making my last 'shopping' stop in that I was filling up my borrowed car with gas before returning it to my sibling.

And as I pulled out my wallet to grab my card to pay for gas.

I noticed a different card I'd used earlier was missing from its slot.

And the last place I remembered using that card was 45 minutes away where I had picked up food.

And I had a moment of panic. Wondering if I'd dropped it there.

As I knew the cashier had returned the card to me. But I'd dropped my phone as I was grabbing my food and while I hadn't noticed anything fly out...maybe it had? Was my card now STOLEN!? Did it end up on the ground and someone else picked it up?! 

And like...was there anyway I could check? Would I be able to call the place and have them look for it? Would it still be there? Would it be long gone?

Still.

Before I fully panicked. I finished getting the gas.

And then went to check the bags I had in the car from all the errands.

And thankfully. Mixed in with the receipt from the food place...was my card.

Woot!!! It wasn't lost!! 

I guess in my hurry to grab everything I'd just stuck both receipt and card in the bag with my food and left.

So I'm grateful that the card was still with me.

But oof. That did not help my stress levels at all.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Starving

 There are days where I just end up ... ... ... hungry.

Like. I'm eating food and such. But nothing I eat seems to fill me up.

I'm constantly snacking, constantly going to the kitchen, searching the fridge and pantry trying to figure out what the 'key' is to finally filling full.

It probably doesn't help that I tend to 'eat like a bird' so I eat a bunch of little foods throughout the day.

But there are those days where it feels like I could eat a whole buffet and still be hungry. 

Today has been one of those days.

And it's annoying because like...I've fed myself so many different things today.

Like actual real food too!

I had steak and potatoes. I had pancakes. I had candy. I had cheese. I had granola bars and crackers.

And yet....I'm still hungry.

*exhales*

And like....it would probably help if I made something but like....I don't have the energy to actually make food. Not beyond warming things up.

Still makes me wonder some days....what my body is craving that causes it to be so hungry. What food group am I missing that it wants? 

Who knows.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Please Research First

 You know... ... ... in this day and age ... where the internet is literally at your fingertips. Easily accessible via your phone.....

It's amazing how many people DO NOT USE IT. 

Like yes, I know that the internet isn't always accurate. You can get multiple different opinions on whatever subject you're looking up.

But at least I feel like people should ATTEMPT to LOOK things up first.

I literally do not understand it.

When customers come into the store and they're like "We just got (pet) and we have no idea what we're doing. What do we need for it?" 

Like...Did you not GOOGLE it? Did you not go onto the interwebs and type in "What does a (animal) need?" 

Honestly, it's probably because customers don't bother to LEARN anything BEFORE getting a new pet that so many animals end up returned, rehomed, or given to the shelter.

*exhales*

It's so annoying.

Like...impulse buying an animal just....doesn't seem like a good idea if you have no idea what you're doing.

And I've had multiple people this week come in and do that.

Mostly it's been the "We just got this puppy! What do we need for it?" situations.

But today I had a customer come into the store and was like "Hey, are Chameleon's poisonous? Will it hurt if they bite me?"

... ... ... like.....if you have to ask THAT question....it's literally a big neon sign of "I DO NOT KNOW WHAT I'M DOING"

First off. Chameleons are not poisonous. They're also not venomous either. BUT they can BITE you. Chameleons can be quite the grumpy creatures. Especially as they get older. And they are NOT A BEGINNER PET.

If you don't know that chameleons aren't poisonous then you obviously don't know what they eat, what set up cage they need, what temperatures or humidity they need. What SIZE they get.

No. Customer is like "My child wants this pet." and just....goes for it. No research done whatsoever.

It's just....frustrating.

Again. I get it that the internet has a ton of different answers.

but at least TRY to research the BASICS first? PLEASE.

*exhales*

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

All The Youngins

It's not unusual for us to get field trips at work.

Like going to go see animals at a pet store is far less expensive than like....traveling all the way up to the next valley over and paying the park fee to go see the animals in the zoo.

Really, all it takes is a bus ride and people willing to watch over everyone for it to work out.

And usually these field trips revolve into to types.

Either they're a bunch of young elementary students.

Or they're people -of varying ages- with special needs. 

So it was rather confusing today to look outside the window and see a school bus stopped outside our doors...with high school students getting out.

But I'm guessing the high school students were helping out in some sort of 'big brother/sister' sort of way??

Because there were also a bunch of younger kids with them too. Either preschool or like maybe 1st grade age.

So we had a good 15-20 kids come streaming into the store, with basically as many teenagers to watch them.

And overall. It wasn't too bad.

The kids ran all over looking at things. The high schoolers kept an eye on them....

I stayed far far far away from them all, circling around them but not sticking around too long.

Because, while I still had animals I needed to feed...I knew the moment I opened any of the cages I would be bombarded by kids wanting to see the animal or hold it or pet it.

And I wasn't in the mood to be mobbed by like 30 kids.

So I just let them look at them through the glass.

And waited patiently for them to leave twenty minutes later after they were done looking before I continued on with my tasks.

But yah.

It was different. Having the high schoolers there. Like you don't really see them come into the store for field trip related reasons.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Over Did It

 There's probably a lesson here somewhere about over extending myself....

But I do get rather tired of getting headaches on my day off. Like...it's my day off. I should be able to relax and enjoy it in peace. 

Yesterday....yesterday I was trying to be stubborn and push through the migraine I ended up with in the morning because I was woken up a bit too suddenly with text from a friend after not enough sleep.

And like....I probably should have gone back to bed for a little bit longer. Try to rest the headache away.

But I was...anxious. 

Because I've been wanting to return my borrowed car to my family for days now. And while yesterday was supposed to have been quite stormy...the weather wasn't actually that bad in college town. 

And radar was showing that the storms would be fading in the afternoon with mostly just like...light drizzles expected if anything. The major snow was gone for now.

And since I don't quite trust the borrowed car in the snow...and since my roomie was available after she got off work to come grab me from my family's house....I figured yesterday was the opportune moment to go and do that. To go see Family and at the same time. Succeed in getting their car dropped off without getting caught in storms.

Except...I tried to push myself too hard. Do too many things.

Like...I often have said that like I have 'one social activity' in me. So trying to do multiple social things in one day? Heh...yah it was a recipe for disaster. 

I can admit that. 

As I had the soft plan to go by the mall before heading over to family to check out a specific store for their sales. And since I was there I thought I would drop by the food court and get food from a couple places there that I've been craving.

It was also instigated with my sibling being like "Yes, I can have you come over, but could you bring me Fresh Squeezed OJ from Jamba?" Because that's a 'hey this helps me feel better' drink for my sibling.

And since that was near the mall I was like "Sure!"

So first I grabbed that drink and one for myself. Then dropped by the mall to look at the store -didn't buy anything- before grabbing food for myself, my sibling, and for my roomie...and then drove all the way over to sibling's house...

And the entire time I'd been fighting a headache. One that would come and go and come and go.

And it....just kept getting worse.

To the point where by the time me and the roomie got home....I was feeling quite nauseous from the migraine pain. To the point where I actually was impressed I managed to make it home without throwing up because the car lights were agonizing and the sounds were agonizing and the motion of driving was agonizing.

So yah...I basically died last night after I got home. Took a shower to try and relax the muscles and then spent the night tossing and turning as the migraine off and on woke me back up throughout the night.

So yah....fun times. So much...fun times.

And honestly....I probably shouldn't have pushed myself so much.

Delayed my leaving the house so I could take a nap.

Maybe gone less places. 

Stopped trying to do too much all at once.

Because it's sooooo so miserable to end up with a major migraine that will not go away no matter what you do so you kinda just have to suffer until it's grip leaves you.

Which makes going to work the next day (today) even more 'fun'

Thankfully I had a mid shift so I could sleep in a bit and I did manage to make the headache go away during my shift. So yay.

But work itself had it's own trials today.

Mostly in the I felt rather weak and shaky from the migraine as my stomach was unsettled enough that I haven't eaten much most of the day. So that left me feeling less confident in my 'do things' abilities.

And when a stupid ship from store order comes in with EIGHT 50lb bags that have to be pulled off the shelf and then put into boxes to ship to the customer....yah no. 400lbs lifted multiple times? Yah. I could only manage it once. 

And beyond that minor hiccup the day was actually pretty mellow. Until like the last hour or so of my shift...when a good 20 orders dropped that needed to be picked and packed before the end of the day.

And unfortunately we ran out of one of box sizes within easy reach.

Which meant that I would need to grab the forklift to get the pallet down from the steel....

Only the pallets of boxes weren't labeled. So I had no idea which size was on which pallet.

So I delayed grabbing them down as long as possible, working on orders that required other sized boxes first.

But then right as I was supposed to be off....our Fish Truck finally showed up. So I had to unload that.

And then I still needed to grab the boxes down because my other closing manager hasn't really been trained on the fork lift yet. So they wouldn't be able to finish the pack orders unless I grabbed down the boxes.

*exhales*

And of course the size that I needed....was on the LAST pallet I checked.

And by this point I'm tired. I'm ready to go home. I've been still recovering from the migraine. And I'm getting irritated that I'm not off yet. And that means I'm getting sloppy.

Which is rather stressful to be at that point of "I don't care anymore" while you're trying to work heavy machinery and lift heavy product off steel that's squished between other pallets....

Like I nearly knocked one pallet off the steel because I misjudged the distance of the pallet I was trying to put back and pushed the other pallet so it was crooked.

Which made it it's own trial to get that down without it falling off the steel but also get it onto the prongs of the forklift....

And it was soooo soooo SOOO frustrating to do all that work to bring the crooked pallet down to have it be the WRONG SIZE. UGH.

ANd of course. OF COURSE It's the LAST pallet that I needed to check.

*exhales*

In any case. Because of everything....I clocked out 45 minutes late.

Which was even more frustrating because my other manager had offered to have us start lunches early so that I could leave early though I declined the need to leave early as my headache was better by that point.

But I just couldn't help but think. "I could have been off 45 minutes ago."

*exhales*

Oh well....I was 10 minutes late today because of my migraine. So it will probably even up a bit over the rest of the week.

Still...I'm glad to be home. Not looking forward to the morning shift tomorrow...but at least I'm home for now. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Cut and Cut Again

 So. Yesterday, while working on Pack orders for our Ship from Store stuff, my fellow manager ended up with a cardboard cut while trying to get an item in a box.

And cardboard cuts are not fun. Like in some ways they're worse than paper cuts.

And I know....because I ended up getting a cardboard cut myself only like an hour or so later.

Though my cut came from trying to put together one of our cardboard boxes for our cat adoptions.

And my cut, managed to get at the base of my thumb like right at the joint.

Which meant that bending the area would cause the cut to bleed. Like actual droplets of blood bleed because it got me slightly deeper than a regular papercut.

But I ended up slapping a bandaid on it for a bit before calling it good and removing it after I got home last night.

And I didn't think anything more on it....

Until I was once again packing more orders at work today.

And I'd noted that the area where I got the cut was feeling rather sore. But I was trying to push through it and get the last of the ship from stores finished for the day.

Only for me to finish placing the packing paper into a box...and have my hand come away bloody with blood on the packing paper.

A glance at my hand and yep...I'd manage to break open the cardboard cut again and it was once again bleeding.

*exhales*

So I first, quickly removed the bloody packing paper from the box and tossed it because no way did I want a customer to encounter that when they opened their box.

And then I went and tracked down another bandaid to once again cover the bleeding spot.

And it bled rather heavily. Like you could see a dark spot on the bandaid pretty quickly.

And it made the rest of my shift rather annoying....because of course I had to cut myself on my dominate hand. And of course my remaining tasks after doing the ship from stores was to put away product onto the shelves as well as face the store...all which required grabbing things...which had things pressing constantly against the bandaid and yah....my hand is rather sore now from all that.

I'm glad I have tomorrow off. To give my hand a chance heal a bit before I probably have to go do more pack orders on Thursday.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Finally Back

 I have to say. It does feel sooooo nice to have my car back.

Like. There was that moment of "how do I drive this thing?!" paranoia because like....it's easy to get used to driving other cars....and then when you go back to your old one it's like...having to relearn all the quirks again.

Which is so disjointing because like...back in October I ended up not driving my car around for like half the month because my godparents were in town and they rented a car and I ended up driving that car for most of the time to get them places because they really do not like driving the highway corridor between College Town and Home Town. ^^;; 

In any case.

It's always the brakes that gets me when I start driving my car again.

Because like.........i honestly don't know how to explain it. But there's a different amount of reaction to pressing the brake in my car compared to other cars.

So that first moment of driving from the shop to get back home...yah I was a bit more tense. Hyper aware of every little jerk and noise and movement the car made. Because like. I just got it fixed! I DO NOT want it breaking again. So I have to be like "Is this normal for my ancient car? Is THIS normal? What about THIS?!"

But thankfully it was only that first drive back that had me reacting that way lol.

The last few days of driving my car about?

It's felt so good. So nice to have my car back. To be back in familiar territory and be able to 'relax' a bit more about driving around in the snowy weather.

So yay.

Yay that I have my car back. So happy. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

An Overreaction

 So. My store has a policy of not placing holds on animals. Mostly because there's always the chance of the person not coming back, or a miscommunication happening and the animal gets sold to someone else, or it dies before the customer comes back....

And like. The most we'll do is if a customer is like "You have this animals? I'm on my way! Don't sell it to anyone else!" Because usually they're there within the hour so it's fine. 

The exception to this particular policy has been with our cat adoption area.

Because we aren't selling those animals. We're adopting them out on behalf of the adoption group.

And while the adoption group doesn't do holds. We've placed cats on hold before.

We mostly try to keep it to a 'three hour window' or at most 'the next morning' if it happens after the adoptions close.

But today.

Today my Head Manager decided. Enough is enough. We're no longer placing holds on the cats. It's first come first serve. 

What was the deciding moment?

Well.

Apparently there was a cat that had been placed on hold today.

And it's unknown if the worker who placed the hold actually put a note behind the 'hold sign' to say who was adopting the cat.

But regardless. The note, if it was there, was no longer there when another customer came in.

And said customer claimed that they were there to adopt the cat.

Again, it was unknown if there was a note in the first place. Or if the customer removed the note so that they could adopt the cat.

But regardless. The cat was adopted out to this second customer.

Which mistakes happen. It's happened before where the cats get adopted to the wrong person due to miscommunication. It's rare. But it's happened.

In any case.

It's rather needless to say that the first customer was upset when they came back to adopt the cat....and it wasn't there.

But it went beyond the normal amount of upset.

No. Apparently this customer has been calling the store constantly all day long. Has been in contact with the adoption group. And is threatening to take both the adoption group and the other customer who adopted the cat to 'small claims court' because of the situation.

Which is beyond stupid of the dude to do so. If he's actually planning to do so.

Because like. He has no legal right to the cat. None.

When we place cats on hold. That's it. We put a hold sign on the cat and most of the time the name of the person adopting the cat.

No paperwork is filled out. No money is given. Nothing is signed.

Because we recognize that when a cat is placed on hold...sometimes the customer has second thoughts and decides to not get the cat and never comes back. 

So to prevent any mishaps. We don't fill out anything until the customer is actually ready to adopt the ca.

So I honestly don't see it going the customer's way if he does actually end up trying to go to small claims court. Because the cat was never his. 

But because he's throwing such a big stink about the whole situation, Head Manager has decided enough is enough and that we will no longer place cats on hold.

If the customer wants the cat. They have to adopt the cat then. They can't put it on hold and come back later. 

So that's going to be...a change. For sure.

In any case. I'm really hoping the customer doesn't contact the store after today. As I do not want to have to deal with them on the phone or in person. Not after hearing about it from my other managers. 

Guess we'll see what happens.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Too Much All At Once

I honestly don't know how customers keep managing it.

But I really do hate it when it seems like everyone descends upon us at once at work. Especially when this customer rush happens right when we're low on staff and it feels like we need at least three more people and yet we don't have anyone else available to help.

Today....it happened around 1pm. Lunch time. Which yes, there's typically rushes during the lunch hour. Especially on Saturdays. But with the expected incoming heavy snow storm tonight...I do have to wonder if people were trying to get out and get all their errands done before the storm hit.

In any case.

I'd been trying to work on our stupid ship from store orders because we've been getting like 50 orders a day and when a god third to half of those orders contain multiple items over 50lbs...well needless to say...we end up boxing up a good 70-90 orders at a time it feels like.

And it's frustrating. Time consuming. Especially because we can only pick 10 orders at a time. And there's no way to hire someone to just focus on picking the stupid orders -because it is like a 3-4 hour endeavor at this point to get them all done....because the orders don't drop at the same time every day. Sometimes we get 20 in the mornings. Other times they don't start dropping until dinner time. 

It's frustrating that we can't just have someone solely focus on said orders. No it usually ends up being a manager. And me and VP Manager were tag teaming it today. Where I'd go pick 10 while VP Manager packed their 10 and by the time I got back to the back with my set, they'd be done with theirs and would go pick another set.

Downside to the ship from store stuff...is it's all located at the back of the store.

The complete opposite direction from where the Registers are.

And the second most common place you'll find a manager is backing up the register...especially when our second cashier has gone on lunch.

*exhales* We need to plan cashiering lunches better...though honestly there's never a good time as the timing seems to usually work out that it always gets busy whenever one cashier goes on lunch.

In any case.

We had 1 cashier on the register. 1 at lunch. And just me and the VP Manager in the store.

Technically I was supposed to be just Petcare today. But since I'd finished my tasks and petcare was being rather quiet customer wise I was helping out with the ship from store stuff. 

But it wasn't long before VP manager was called up front to back up cashier.

It wasn't long before a third cashier was needed....which would be me as the lines were getting long --because both cashier and VP managers take a bit longer. 

But at the same time we were dealing with the rush of customers at the registers.

We were also getting a slew of Curbside orders dinging our phones. 

--as we do both ship from store orders which we pick orders, box them up and then have Fedex pick them up to deliver to people's houses. But we also have curbsides where we pick the order, put it in a cabinet and then either the customer comes in for the order, or we take the order out to their car when they arrive. 

So those curbsides were dinging like crazy.

BUT THEN it also seemed to be the hour where EVERYONE AND THEIR MOM decided they needed to CALL the store RIGHT NOW. 

And it was just....frustrating. Like people calling for stock checks (why don't you check online?), people calling trying to reach the vet (different phone line now. Here's their number), and then of course the typical questions about trying to return product or animals. And it felt like we had 20 phone calls in a row in like a 15 minute period. The phones WOULD NOT stop RINGING.

So needless to say.

The 1-2pm hour I got a bit overstimulated from all the constant noise and having to be at the register, trying to do stuff in the receiving area, and also getting called up to petcare too.

It was....a bit much.

Definitely enjoyed the quiet time when I finally got home away from the chaos.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Delayed

 It's been a long while, I feel like, since our Fish Truck has been delayed.

I mean. We've had delays where the Truck has broken down or gotten stuck.

But it's been ages since the truck hasn't arrived the same day they said it would arrive.

Mostly because we've switched in the last year or so from having our supply truck and fish truck be the same truck. 

To All the stores in our state having all our fish on one truck. And the truck starts at the north part of the state and works it's way down to us.

Which is frustrating in some ways...being the last store. Because that means we don't get our truck until later in the day...often when it's busy.

On good days it shows up around 3 or 4 pm. On other days...it won't arrive until 6 or 7. 

And yesterday....it was a rather stormy day for the state.

As it's been snowing off and on for like the past week.

But yah, yesterday was still pretty stormy. 

In any case.

We were still pretty hopeful that the truck would arrive last night. Despite the storms.

Yet, around 4pm I checked our tracking map...and it showed that the truck still had 4 other stores to go to before reaching ours. But the estimated time was around 7pm for arrival.

Not ideal. As I was off about that time. So that would mean one less person to help with the fish shipment.

But still. It would be before we closed.

However. 

A couple of hours later, I check again.

And the tracking has only shown that the truck has moved to one more store in that time frame. Meaning there were still 3 more stores to go before reaching us.

And the estimated arrival time had jumped another hour to being closer to 8.

But judging by the timeframes of where the other stores were located and the amount of time it takes to unload...yes...in normal conditions the truck would have probably gotten to us by 8.

But with the storms and all the snow and the fact the truck had barely made progress...made me think that the time to get to our store would be doubled or tripled the expected timeframe.

Not to mention that I know the truck drivers can only 'drive' a limited amount of hours each shift. So if they took too long...they'd have to stop for a mandatory rest period before they could move further.

And the dude had been going since the morning.

So yah. I was estimating that the truck may not come to our store at all last night. Or if it did it would arrive after we had closed. 

Which I was right.

The truck arrived about 20 minutes after we closed last night.

Which meant I had the fun task this morning -since the fish remained on the truck overnight- of unloading all our fish.

And the shipment was a lot larger than I expected.

Mostly because I didn't do as deep as a fish count this week having done a deeper fish count last week.

But last week's fish shipment was like barely a layer and a couple of boxes.

Which didn't match at all the deep fish count I'd done last week.

So I'm guessing that the holidays messed with the supplier's ability to replenish our fish wall.

Because today we had a nice hefty 3 layers of boxes that I got to go through this morning.

But considering that the fish spent like a good 12 hours longer on the truck than they should have...they overall did pretty good. 

So that's good.

Still kinda weird that the truck got delayed that much.

But at the same time, with all the snow?? Not surprising at all.

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

Sarnic Dirchi

Drive Thru??

 It's been different driving a car car around the last couple of weeks.

Mostly because car cars are lower to the ground compared to my own mini suv. And it's taken a little bit of getting used to (and a couple bumped heads when I forget to duck low enough to get into the car).

But like...driving wise...I thought I'd notice a more...noticeable difference in driving a car that's lower to the ground compared to my own. 

And yet...I hadn't really noticed anything.

Which is weird.

Because part of me feels like I should be sitting on the ground and everything will be 'too high' compared to my car.

Which is part of the reason why I haven't gone out to eat the last couple of weeks I've been borrowing my family's car.

Because I didn't want to deal with the drive thru.

Because despite knowing that car cars go through drive thrus all the time.

I just...didn't want to have to deal with pulling up to the window and being like....lower than the drive thru window.

As I'm used to being pretty even with it....

Though I honestly haven't paid attention before now. Maybe I sit slightly below the window anyways? Who knows.

In any case.

I didn't want to have to deal with 'reaching up' to get things from the drive thru so....I just haven't gone through any drive thrus.

It hasn't been that big of a deal. I've been low enough on energy after work that I haven't wanted to deal with more people. So I tend to head straight home to eat food there.

But the past couple of days...I just haven't had the energy to make anything. And nothing sounded good enough to make either. 

Which ...surviving off of toast, granola bars, and candy/chocolate/cookies is not a good recipe for long term health. 

As I have noticed that my body seems to get more achy the less healthy I eat for longer periods of time. 

So I am trying to make a conscious effort to eat more 'real food'

But ugh. It's difficult. Especially when I don't have the spoons to cook.

And since I'm borrowing a car....I haven't really wanted to drive it more than I have to. Mostly it's been "go to and from work." and the occasional stop at the grocery store. 

Especially with it snowing near constantly for the past week....I definitely haven't wanted to drive in my borrow car more than I needed to because I wanted to minimize my risks of somehow getting into an accident. Because I don't know this car in bad weather and if the roads are covered in snow I'm not detouring anywhere if I can help it.

But today...today I reached my limit of "I can eat at home." because I honestly couldn't think of anything I wanted to eat at home. 

But it had been snowing like....all day. Which with snow sticking in parking lots and such...I really didn't want to drive anywhere I didn't have to.

But thankfully. 

The storm cleared up for long enough for the roads to be mostly clear and the parking lots to not be too nasty.

To the point where I felt like "Yes, I can go get myself food before I go home."

So I went to a place I actually haven't actively gone to on my own before.

I went to Noodles & Co. 

Which, my roomies tend to get it all the time and I have ordered from there through them enough to know what I wanted.

And what I wanted was a meal that I could have for longer than a meal.

And the Noodles food is often good for 2 or 3 meals depending on how hungry I am.

So I dropped by the one nearby my work.

-No drive thru there so I didn't have to worry about 'reaching up' to get things from the drive thru window. Nope. I just needed to worry about parking in a spot where I wouldn't get stuck in the snow.

So yay success.

I got food for multiple meals and got to drive home safely without worrying about running into problems in the snow.

Still. 

I'm looking forward to getting my actual car back.

I'll probably celebrate by going through a drive thru lol.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Nearly There

So I mentioned a few days ago that my car needed to be fixed after it started acting weird Christmas Night right? Right.

Well. I've been waiting patiently for word from the Mechanic that my car was fixed.

I'd been hoping that they'd get to it much quicker than their original 8th-12th time frame. Especially because winter decided to finally hit this week with constant snow storms. 

Which made me miss my car even more because I have the option of 4WD in my car while the current car I'm borrowing doesn't. Which made driving home last night on icy roads....fun.

In any case. I wasn't surprised that they didn't get it fixed before this week.

But the past couple of days I've been fighting down the paranoia. 

Like. I dropped off my car after hours. Did they even get my car? Was it stolen?! Could they not read the phone number I left on their little 'after hours form' and therefore couldn't contact me?! 

And like...on their paper I said "by the 12th" since that was the last day of their deadline...but like...would they be able to meet it?

So I'd been debating the last couple of days whether or not I should call the mechanic today -on my day off- just to....you know....check in. See what progress they'd made on my car. See if they'd even started working on it. Or if they would actually get it done by Friday.

I didn't have to call them today though.

No.

Because they called me.

Which was great!

Great to hear that they were working on my car today and that it should be done by the end of the day.

Which YAY!!

I could finally after like TWO WEEKS get my car back.

I mean there was a minor hiccup to their first call. 

In that the receptionist said that the mechanic who was replacing my CV Axels discovered that the lugnuts to my tires were all rusted. 

And they were concerned about that. Because if I got a flat tire or something...it would make fixing the tire much more difficult if the bolts were rusted out. 

And the receptionist said that they had lugnuts for the front tires, though the back tires they'd have to order those in.

I'm more concerned about the front tires and want my car back ASAP. So I told them just to do the front tires. 

Will it come back to bite me that I didn't get the lugnuts changed for the back tires? Probably. But I just want my car that I'm used to driving in the snow with back.

So yah. Getting new CV Axels. Getting new lugnuts on the front tires. I should have my car by the end of the day! Right?!

Wrong.

*exhales*

I was called again with another issue.

Which the receptionist was rather apologetic about it. And honestly I'm not surprised. We both know my car is OLD. Like. It's not ancient. But it's turning 24 years old this year. So it's getting old and pieces are rusting out and breaking and such.

So I wasn't surprised, but definitely disappointed, to hear more issues popping up while they're trying to fix my car. 

But still. The cost of fixing everything they're finding is still lower than the original cost the other mechanic place told me. So I'm taking the win here.

In any case, the second call was to tell me that one of the seals...I honestly can't remember at this point. But it's one near the tires involving differential fluid. And the mechanic found that this seal was cracked and...I think they said the fluid within it was gone. Or "had been empty at one point" which is why they think it broke.

But. The receptionist -I don't know their official title, but they do all the research in finding parts for cars and such- was able to track down that particular seal for my car. Which again because it's an old car...is becoming a bit more...difficult to do.

The only downside? Was that the part was in the next valley over. 

And I'm assuming they're having it shipped to their shop. 

And the receptionist was like "It should arrive this afternoon. I'm still hopeful that we'll get your car finished by the end of the day."

Heh.

I wasn't. 

Because it's been snowing ALL DAY. 

Sure there's been periods of calm where the snow has lightened up or stopped entirely for a moment. But overall. It's been snowing all day. And snow falling means snow on the roads means slower travel means that the odds were low that I would get my car back before they closed for the day since they closed around dinner time.

I tried to keep my hopes up.

But yah no.

I didn't receive another call today before they closed.

Which means my car won't be ready until tomorrow....

No idea if they finished fixing my car today and it was just too late to come pick it up...or if the part hasn't arrived yet and they'll need to finish fixing it tomorrow.

But at this point. I'm not expecting to get my car back until Friday.

Mostly because I work a midshift tomorrow which means I don't get done with work until after the mechanic place has closed for the day. And odds aren't high that they'll call me in time for me to go get the car before I have to go to work.

Though they could surprise me. I could get a call at 9 in the morning that it's ready and I'll have time to race down and grab my car.

We'll see.

But it's soooo hard. Having that near victory in your grasp only for it to slip through your fingers.

Still.

At least I know they're finally working on my car. I know the end is in sight.

Just have to wait a little bit longer.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Unreliable

 So...the last few months.....the last semester's worth of months...has been a trial at work when it comes to Tuesdays.

Because literally NO ONE could work Tuesday Nights due to how everyone's school schedules worked out.

It would basically just be me and two other managers closing the store.

Because none of our regular workers could work Tuesday nights. 

Which, I've been holding out for the new year because it means a new semester. And that hopefully means that people's work schedules will change enough that we'll be able to get someone able to close Tuesday nights.

Because it's stressful knowing how screwed you are if one of your other managers ends up calling out sick because there's literally NO ONE else who can come in.

*exhales*

And we'd thought we'd found the solution to this problem when we hired our Newest Cashier for the holidays.

As They were able to work Tuesday nights.

Which was great!

Even better was that they had a bunch of Cashiering experience which we figured would mean that they'd excel at the register. Right?

...

...

...

Right???

...

...

...

Wrong. 

No...

This particular Cashier has been rather...unreliable. 

Like. They've shown up late. They've left early. They've called out literally right as their shift is supposed to be starting and not giving us any advanced notice whatsoever that they couldn't make it in.

And it happens like at least every other shift it feels like.

And really, the only reason why they're still working with us is because we've needed them for the Tuesday Night shift. 

But like...even with all their cashiering experience...this cashier struggles with anything semi-complicated. And it feels like they forget how to do half the stuff we've taught them if they end up having a day or two in between shifts.

It's...frustrating. So frustrating.

And this Cashier didn't even grace us with a call tonight. They just...never showed up. We called them but they didn't answer. Texted. They didn't answer.

And because it's a freaking Tuesday....we couldn't get anyone else to come in either.

My mid manager ended up staying an hour later and thankfully our Dog Trainer was willing to be at the register the last hour we were open, else my mid manager would have had to stay until we closed just so that we had coverage in the store.

And like....

I don't get it.

If you need MONEY then WHY are you NOT COMING IN for YOUR SHIFTS?!?! 

If we Can't Rely on a person....we're not going to schedule them or keep them.

And at this point. It's all but confirmed that we're not keeping this Cashier. 

But at the same time...we're still trying to get Tuesday Night coverage because school schedules didn't shift enough to allow us an evening Cashier...we may be able to make it work with petcare and such...but the rest?? Not likely.

So more than likely we'll be searching for another Cashier that can work Tuesday Nights and letting go of the current one.

Because if you don't show up to 80% of your shifts for a variety of reasons....there's no point in keeping someone we can't depend on.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Accidentally Taken

 It was probably a bad idea to go food shopping today.

Like. Besides the fact today is a Monday and it almost always feels like there's less product on the shelves after a weekend...this is also the First Monday after the holiday break. 

And being in a college town....the roads were definitely much much busier as everyone who went home for Christmas is coming back in.

And all those college students will need to get food after like two weeks away. 

So yah.

Shopping today was probably a bad idea.

But with snow in the forecast for like the entire week....and with it actually being pretty clear if cloudy when I got off work.

I decided it'd be best to go shopping today rather than risking having to go in the middle of an actual snowstorm or something.

Especially since I'm still borrowing a car. I definitely don't want to drive in bad weather more than I have to. 

In any case.

I tend to get...tense when there's a bunch of people around. 

A leftover from the social distancing we had to do through the main COVID pandemic. Where if there are too many people around me it...stresses me out.

In any case.

I was trying to get in and out as quickly as possible. 

....

And as I was putting groceries into my car...noticed a box of snacks that wasn't in a bag.

Which I usually put those in bags.

So to have it not in the bag....

Made me think I hadn't paid for it.

Part of me thought about just letting it alone. 

I mean no one stopped me on my way outside for 'stealing' this $5 box of fruit snacks. 

So therefore. Mine!!

Like the big old corporate won't miss $5 especially in an honest mistake sort of fashion.

But at the same time...I didn't want to feel guilty for taking something I didn't pay for. Even if it was an accident.

And despite my misgivings about having to go back into a crowded grocery store....

I went back in --after checking my receipt to make sure I had actually not paid for the snacks- and went in and paid for them. 

So yay me being honest I suppose.

lol. 

Though the part of me who's watched too many crime shows wonders what the cameras would think of me if they ever look at that. See me leave, come back in, go straight to the check out, pay again, and then leave again. *shakes head*

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Resting?

 Sometimes I wonder if rest days are detrimental to my health.

Like...it shouldn't be a thing where one gets a headache when they finally get a moment to relax.

And yet it seems to happen to me all too frequently.

Day Off?

Headache.

Like 9/10 times it feels like.

Part of me thinks this particular one may just be because of how much I was lifting and moving things at work this past week.

Like I had to go pick and lift and pack and move a good 60 boxes for the stupid ship from store thing work does on Thursday. And then did like another 15 on Friday. And then had Petcare related cleaning tasks on both Friday and Saturday so like....if I didn't properly relax those muscles....I could see myself growing tense and stiff and the muscles getting all sore and achy and of course traveling up to my head and causing the stupid headache.

Perhaps it's also caused from trying to sleep a bit longer than normal.

Perhaps it's also caused by me reading all day long on the computer.

It could be all three. Who knows.

But yah. Kinda frustrating that the migraine just kinda....hangs out you know? Like i should be resting because I want to and not like locked in a dark room with a headache trying to get it to go away.

*exhales*

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

In This Weather?

 It's been snowing off and on this past week. 

Which I'm rather mixed feelings about.

Usually I love the snow. And with the absolutely winterless winter we've been having here. (No white Christmas, how disappointing) I've been looking forward to finally having snow on the ground even if it's falling after December. 

However.

That was before my car broke down. 

Which I suppose it's good that we didn't have a wintery winter because who knows if that would have...well made things more problematic on my end driving in the snow.

In any case. My car ended up having weird steering issues Christmas Night. On the literal home stretch before I got home from spending the day from family.

And what should have just been a weird alignment issue turned into both CV Axels needing to be replaced. 

Which ouch.

Glad those didn't fully break apart on the freeway or something but oof. I feel like I dodged a bullet there by near centimeters. I was afraid one of the wheels was going to fall off moving it from one mechanic place (that was $$$ to fix my car) to a different mechanic place (that's $$ to fix my car) 

In any case.

Thankfully, I have wonderful family who were willing to let me borrow their car until mine can get fixed. (Sometime next week is the timeline.) 

But that means I'm driving a car that I...well I'd only driven once before a couple of years ago.

And that was in GOOD weather.

And thankfully for the first little while of borrowing this car, we've had good weather here. It's been cold. But no storms to worry about driving in.

Of course that changed this week with actual snow falling here in the valley. 

And that....that was concerning.

Because I'm used to a car that can switch into 4WD if needed. But the car I'm borrowing? Doesn't have that. It's just front wheel drive.

So understandably I've been nervous this entire week about getting stuck on snow/ice slick roads.

Hasn't happened yet *knock on wood* But the past couple of days of snow have had the roads turning...rather icy.

But it's definitely made me miss my car. Like I'm cautious in bad weather regardless. But I do miss that extra insurance of 4WD helping me out if the roads get worse. 

*fingers crossed* that the snow fall remains light enough here in the valley until I can get my car back.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Don't Answer

 People have the weirdest ideas of managers.

Like you get those people who just assume that managers are the ones who 'know everything' and therefore if they 'want all the answers' they just need to speak to the manager.

Like I've had multiple people demand a manager for tasks that could have easily been solved by one of my fellow associates.

Like when they have questions about pets. Or want help picking out a pet. Or want to know if there's a certain time frame for returns. Like...all these questions can be answered by anyone in the store. You don't need a manager to get the answers. 

And like, before I became a manager, I was the "Go to person" for my managers because I had twice the experience working in the petstore than the rest of them did. So I knew the most answers about animal care. 

In any case. 

Today I got an ... odd phone call.

Where when I answered the call the customer on the other end said that they needed to speak to a manager.

Which. Lookie there. I am a manager. 

So I was like "I'm a manager, how can I help you?" 

And the lady legit was like "oh no, don't give me that. Managers don't answer phones! Let me talk to a manager." 

Like she did not believe that I was a manager...simply because I answered the phone.

Like yes. In many places its the 'grunt' workers that will answer the phones and take calls.

But at my job it's the opposite. Most of the time its ONLY the managers who have phones. With the exception of our PetCare department. The worker there usually has a phone as well since we get a lot of pet care questions. 

In any case I had to be like "I am a manager, ma'am. How can I help you?" 

Though I did have that brief moment of being like "Oh, no, you're right. I lied to you, I'm not a manager hold on let me go get the real manager." 

*shakes head* But no. I took offense to it. Like lady. "I AM a MANAGER. What can I help you with?"

And wouldn't you know it?

It was a stupid question that could have been answered by ANYONE.

And of course the lady had to do a stupid long explanation story of how she has a service dog and her son wanted to get the dog a toy for her birthday which was just a couple of days ago but we bought this toy that was recommended by the service dog agency back around Thanksgiving, but the toy was only given a couple of days ago and the dog has already DESTROYED it despite it being recommended as a good brand for chewing dogs. 

-The brand she mentioned wasn't the brand the brand she said she was getting. Like Playology is a much different brand than the KONG brand you said you were wanting. But whatever. 

In any case, I knew as soon as she mentioned that the toy was broken that she would be wanting to return it and was seeing if she still could but this lady kept talking and talking and talking and TALKING and like LADY SHUT UP so I can TELL YOU THE ANSWER.

Because she was like "And I know it's only a 30 day return policy"

and I had to be like "No, we have a 60 day return policy. You still have time to return the toy to us."

Which ANY worker in the store could have told you that.

And I didn't need to know the whole background. Just be like "Hey I bought this toy around Thanksgiving and it broke. Can I return it?" 

YES.

YES.

You have 60 days. Bring it in and we'll exchange it out or get you or money back.

*exhales*

Customers are weird.

Especially when it comes to managers.

Like...I get if it were a call center or something, you wouldn't expect the manager to be answering the phone. But like...it's a RETAIL store. Most of the time the managers are working just as hard as the main associates and are OUT ON THE FLOOR doing things instead of sitting in a back office waiting for Karens to demand their attention.

*shakes head*

I don't get people some days.

"Managers don't answer the phones." Ha. HA. WRONGO.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Cash Only

 The fun of the new year continues with work related shenanigans...stressors??? Whatever.

So. Like...idk 30ish minutes after I got into work this morning my cashier comes over the radio and is like "Hey, Transactions with Cards aren't working currently."

To which my Head Manager responds going "Oh, I just got an email asking if we were struggling with our Card Transactions. Huh." 

Well.

Turns out...the inability to accept any Card Transactions. Whether they be Debit or Credit....ended up being a NATIONWIDE issue for all our stores.

Do we know why the system went down? Nope. 

But there was a good hourish where we had to turn away customers and be like "Hey, we're only accepting Cash right now because our Card Payments are down."

That...was fun. Like luckily it actually was rather quiet when they went down. Barely any customers in the store and such.

But we had to post signs all over the doors being like "CASH ONLY!! CARDS NOT WORKING" and I gotta tell you. Customers were NOT happy about that. 

"How am I supposed to pay for my Dog!?!!?" 

Because of course it's the grooming customers who all decided to come in at the same time. *shakes head*

"...you either pay in cash or you go to the bank and grab cash and still pay in cash."

Thankfully, again, the system was only down for like an hour and a halfish? Somewhere in there.

But it continued to be glitchy for like...another hour or two afterwards.

Where sometimes the card transactions STILL wouldn't go through. And the system was being SUPER SLOW in reading the cards so the lines kept getting long because it was taking an age....

And it was also stupid things like "Oh, cards won't work if they're purchases over $75" or "If you pay with a credit card you'll be fine but if it's a Debit card who knows." 

Buying something that costs more than $75?? (like half the giant bags of Dog Food cost?) Yah no...we would have to split the payment into smaller payments so the customer would have to use their card twice to spend like $50 and then spend another $40 to get their $90 purchase to go through.

It was a nightmare honestly. So. So. So. Frustrating.

But at least the system finally kicked itself back into high gear and we were able to eventually process all transactions normally. 

But still.

It was a rather stressful couple of hours.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

It's Only Been Three Days

 You know....how I mentioned...oh it seems like I get into the groove of starting to write and blog again and then something happens....and it all vanishes?

Yah.

Guess what just happened?

But this time, I'm aiming to not let it get to me. Because I'm really tired of just like....letting the bad things get me down.

Am I ready to process things yet? Who knows.

But I don't want to have Bad News keep me silent anymore. I don't want stress to keep me from attempting to rekindle joy in the things I used to enjoy doing. 

But ugh.

It's so frustrating that it feels like I'm not getting an emotional break.

Like we're only THREE days into 2024. 

Could I not have gotten like a FULL MONTH of stressfree 2024 first?

But noooooo

I hope this is just a one off. That Stress won't continue in my life.

Because I honestly don't know how I'll cope if January ends up being like my last October or December. 

In any case.

I received some concerning news today about a Family member.

Medically concerning news.

In the "This could be a Tumor or it could be Cancer" sort of news though the actual diagnoses is still pending until Doctors can get a better look at the issue.

And like...I honestly don't know how to feel about it.

Like I am sad. I'm worried. But I'm also just....feeling so apathetic about how much stressful information I've been having to take in the past couple of months and I just honestly need an emotional break.

I hope the news turns out more benign and treatable. I hope it turns out well.

Because I'm also worried about the future. The mental and emotional health of my other family members because of this news. 

I'm worried about how current plans for life to change...are...well....going to change. Because with this unknown it's unknown if plans are going to stay as they are or will shift to account for potential treatments for this medical thing.

....The main thing I do know...Is I'm going to try to be better this year about not bottling things up. To express them. To not let things get me down and to push through it.

Today I've managed it. Writing this out. Continuing blogging despite past stressful situations causing me to stop.

We'll see if I can keep it up. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi