Where Did You Stop Listening?

 The problem I have with delegating tasks to people....is that when I do delegate...odds are that no matter how much or how little I explain the task....the person I delegated the task to is going to mess it up somehow and I'll have to redo the task anyways.

Which is why I struggle to have people help me. Why I struggle to delegate. Like what's the point of giving anyone a task if I'm going to have to end up doing it myself anyways in the end?

Like...there was a thing that came down through the higher ups that they want us to make the store shelves look fuller. So we're looking for clearance skus or skus that aren't yet clearance but haven't had any inventory sold within the last couple of weeks are have 0s across the board in our system.

And like...the problem with delegating a task to multiple people...is that I don't always say the same thing to each person. And I don't always remember what I said to who. 

Which makes it difficult to remember sometimes what I actually did and did not tell people. 

Like I remember talking to my other three underlying managers about covering up SKUs that weren't going to be used. 

I don't remember if I talked about flexing product over the empty spaces to everyone. I know I brought it up. I don't know if I brought it up to everyone.

I remember mentioning to at least one of them that we didn't need to worry about Dog really because we'd just reset most of dog food so cat food was going to be the main focus there. 

And like I thought I'd given enough information.

Cover skus that aren't getting in product. Fill them with other product. Call it good. I thought we were all fine and dandy.

Until head manager sent a "i'm holding back my temper" sort of text because they were pissed off...and honestly I was annoyed myself.

Because one of the three or maybe more than one of the three underling managers had gone through our recently reset dog food sections....and covered the BRAND NEW pricing there with cover ups because most of the product wasn't live yet as we set everything early....so there were still some empty holes in some of the areas.

And head manager discovered that this had been done and the cover ups used were sticky so tearing off the strip ruined the pricing underneath....

Which means we now have to go through the various resets and look at the original plans for the new resets and print out new pricing and make sure everything is where it should be. 

And by we I mean that I will be doing this because ... well ... I doubt my coworkers will get it right so I might as well skip delegation and do it myself. 

But it's frustrating because ALL of them knew that we had reset dog recently. We'd all had projects working on it. 

So like why didn't they THINK about the fact that we'd just RESET the section and therefore there would be NO CLEARANCE or HOLES we'd have to cover up.

It's so frustrating.

Like if I give them too little information like a generic "Here's what you're looking for cover them up" Then they don't stop to think that "hey we just reset this we should be good here." they just go "COVER UP EVERYTHING!" And then there were sections where they didn't even flex new product over it so you just have these huge empty shelves where there's no pricing and no product....

Or if I go into more detail "Cover these up, don't worry about Dog, flex product." They lose some of the steps in the deluge of information and forget things and therefore MESS IT UP anyways.

Like it's lucky that we're in an in-between stage where we're finished with our current resets and waiting on the new resets papers to show up that there's literally not much to do in the store right now so I have TIME to go figure out if everything is correct or not. 

But it's still annoying. So annoying.

Like I just want competent coworkers who can follow directions, think for themselves, be fast at their tasks, and like....give me LESS work instead of MORE work to do in the long run.

*exhales*

So frustrated.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Did I Get This Service?

So.

I'm not quite sure the full conversation as I only got pieces of it from another manager.

But the basic gist of the phone conversation that my other Manager had to take was this.

A customer called. Concerned.

She'd been trying to put the matter behind her, but it's bugged her enough that she finally called us.

You see.

She had brought in her cat to us to get groomed back in JANUARY.

But she was concerned that she paid for a groom that wasn't actually done. 

Because the cat didn't look great at all when it came back. 

And she wanted to put the matter behind her, chalk it up to like a bad day or whatever....but she really wanted to know if she'd actually been charged for the service because she....apparently couldn't find any indication her cat had been groomed that day. She didn't see any charges and such.

My manager who took the call was a bit frazzled...because she'd already been dealing with another grooming situation the past couple of hours.

But trying to look up the customer's phone number for receipts in the system didn't pull up anything.

But the customer also mentioned that she'd had a friend pick up her cat. So therefore she didn't know if the customer had used her own phone number or the customer's phone number or any phone number at all.

In any case. The other Manager was like "Let me research this a bit and I'll get back to you within the next hour." 

What really happened was that she needed to go on lunch, so she looped me into the situation to see if I could figure out anything while she was getting energy and a break from the crazy.

So I went the more logical route.

The customer wasn't sure if the cat had been groomed on the day in January it was scheduled to come in and wasn't sure if she'd paid for the groom or not.

Which I wasn't sure what the customer wanted the resolution to be since we only guarantee grooms for FORTY EIGHT HOURS and it had been nearly TWO MONTHS since the groom. 

But looking in the grooming system I found that the customer had had two cats go into the salon the day she mentioned. One early in the morning, the other right before lunch. 

The information I had had indicated that it was the early morning cat that she was concerned didn't get groomed properly. 

And you know what I found when I looked at that early morning appointment?

It had been CANCELED.

Meaning that we'd never seen the cat. Never touched the cat. We did not Groom that cat 

Why? The most likely cause was because there was no records of vaccination in the system. So unless we see physical proof that the cat had it's rabies shot...we can't do the service. 

So IF the cat the customer was concerned about was the early morning one....We Never Saw The Cat. 

If it was her second cat that came in later in the day then our records show that she DID get that cat groomed and did pay for the service. 

I left the phone call for my other Manager since she'd talked to the customer already.

But basically the gist was to figure out if the early morning cat was the cat the customer was concerned about or not.

And turns out it was.

So the customer had been needlessly worrying that we didn't do a good groom on a cat that HAD NEVER BEEN GROOMED because the appointment got cancelled.

Like....lesson in procrastination much?

Did she ever ask the friend "Hey did this one cat get groomed?" because that could have solved a lot of issues.

But also like... CALL SOONER if you DON'T LIKE SOMETHING. Because 48 hours is the limit for any potential refunds and such. 

At least we solved it painlessly with the customer happy with the outcome.  

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Paper Jam?

 There's some rather cool things that technology can do now that you wouldn't have considered possible even a couple years ago. 

Today's amazement deals with our Salon Printer...

And the fact that it hasn't been working the last couple of days.

I had no idea what was wrong myself, had only heard it from others that it wasn't working and that Head Manager wasn't able to get it fixed after messing with it. 

And I'd thought a work order had been put in before this point...but it apparently hasn't been....

So deciding to help grooming out so they didn't have to constantly make the trek to our office printer for their invoices. 

I got on the phone with our service center to see if I could get a work order placed so that we could get someone out here to look at the printer. 

And understandably telling the dude on the other end that "we've tried everything to fix it." isn't really believable. 

I know. I've dealt with customers who haven't actually 'tried' everything. 

And it was cool because the IT dude was able to pull up the Salon Printer to see what all the fuss was about and he's like "Oh it looks like you're experiencing a paper jam" which I was pretty sure wasn't the case because like....that would have been an easy fix. "and your imageing is at 0% and it's not recognizing the toner or that the tray is in the printer..." 

So basically the printer has gone "RED ALERT" all over nothing is working. 

Then the IT dude was like "Do you have a work phone on you?"

And I was like ?? What does that have to do with the printer?

Well, he can access our work phones remotely too. 

Which I was aware of because they've had to do that to fix problems with the phones before.

But he was like "I'm going to access your phone so I can get into your camera so I can see what's going on."

Which is exactly what he did. He was able to remotely access the work phone get into the camera app and actually see what I was showing him without ever stepping into the store.

Though that did mean I had to be his hands and eyes.

Because first he had me take out the toner to examine it and make sure that was in good shape and free from like hair build up -because in the salon hair gets EVERYWHERE.- and the remove the imaging device to examine it...and then remove the tray and examine it. And then look at the top of the printer and the back of the printer...basically looked everywhere that could potentially cause a 'paper jam' 

And there was nothing.

Literally nothing. 

No paper, no hair clogs, all the items I pulled out for him to look at through the camera looked in fine condition....

But the printer wasn't recognizing any of it. 

It couldn't recognize the tray being installed. Couldn't recognize that there was no paper jam.

So the IT dude was like 'Yah...looks like I'll have to escalate this and get a tech out to you." 

Which HA.

I was right that we'd need a tech to come out and look at it. 

Though I am sad that I won't be able to see the resolution to this issue in person since the tech will most likely come in tomorrow and I have the day off.

Because I am curious as to why the printer isn't recognizing anything being where it's supposed to be. 

Like will the end result be a whole new printer? Or just new parts? The IT dude was talking new parts...but like...I could see it having to be a new printer as well....

Guess I'll have to wait and see if I get an answer next time I come into work.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

They're the Same! (Not)

There's multiple reasons why I chose to go more into the Product side instead of the Customer Service side when choosing what manager position I wanted to go into when corporate revamped their leadership tiers last year.

And that main reason was?

Grooming. The Salon. 

Because the Salon is nonstop drama in one way or another. Whether it's the associates themselves stirring up trouble or Karen customers...Grooming usually is a headache that won't go away. There's always something going wrong there.

And I wanted nothing to do with it. 

I already have enough stress in my life that I don't need to add the constant Salon problems on top of it.

That being said....

with our EL on LOA for the foreseeable future, that means that those tasks that go to he EL now fall to other people.

Most the time it's the head manager who deals with the major crisis and the el (little el not big EL) that deals with the day to day things. 

Unfortunately....Head Manager wasn't in today or tomorrow.

So as being the next highest manager ranking in the store with the EL gone....it got left to me to deal with a Karen that called yesterday and terrorized my closing manager. 

Who told me today that they'd never come close to crying before last night. 

So what happened?

Apparently this Karen shares a grooming account with their child.

And for the past little while they've been getting their dogs groomed and both of them have paid the same price for their dogs.

However, that changed this most recent groom -two weeks ago- where Karen was charged more because the price of grooming changes as the puppy becomes an adult and Karen's puppy had reached the age where they no longer get Puppy Grooms but Adult Grooms. 

Karen was fine with paying for it at the time of service....

Until last night, when her child took in their dog to get groomed at a different location....and paid the same amount they always paid. 

So she apparently called freaking out that she was charged more while the adult child was charged the same for their dog. 

And she would not listen to reason.

That 

1. The breeds weren't the same.n -which influences the price-

2. The dog was old enough that the puppy groom no longer applied and therefore the adult groom would cost more. 

But Karen wasn't having it. She claimed the two dogs were the exact same breed. Poodles.

And while the adult child's dog was listed as a Poodle...Karen's dog was listed as a Labradoodle.

Which are two different breeds of dogs and therefore the pricing for those dogs would differ. 

My manager last night couldn't get that through to her...and manager wasn't actually sure what she wanted in the end. 

So it ended up being my job to call the customer today to either a) tell her "yes that's the price you will have to pay" or b) if the breeds were actually the same as she claimed then give her a refund for putting the wrong breed in the system. 

And it's one of those stupid things where it shouldn't stress me out, but I hate talking to confrontational customers and Grooming Karen customers are the WORST to talk to. And this lady sounded like a beast because she was yelling and screaming over the phone to my closing manager. 

So I didn't really sleep well knowing that I'd have to call her in the morning. And potentially get an ear full of yelling. 

Lucky me though...the customer didn't yell at me. 

I think she did mute me at one point but I stayed on the line until the 'connection cleared up'

In any case.

The first priority was to clear up what breed the dog was. If it was a Poodle or Labradoodle. 

And the lady legit never gave me a straight answer.

"They're the same breed."

And what breed was that?

She never said directly. I couldn't get her to tell me if both dogs were poodles or labradoodles. She just kept saying that they were the same breed. 

The closest I got to her admitting anything was when she said "They both have the same hair why does it matter?" 

Because Labradoodles DO NOT always have the same hair as a Poodle because sometimes the Labradoodle's hair ends up more Labrador instead of Poodle. So they have different needs. 

Which I explained to the customer and also explained that the price increased in the first place because the dog is no longer considered a puppy in the salon and therefore it costs more to get the adult groom.

The final bit of conversation was her asking "So will I always have to pay $$ now?"

To which I said "IF the dog is a Labradoodle then Yes." 

Because again she hadn't said if the dog was a Poodle or Labradoodle yet.

Her response?

She hung up on me.

Which kinda proves the point that the two dogs WERE NOT the same breed. She was just hopping to try and pay her original price by acting like her dog was the same as the other one when it's not.

And this is why I hate grooming customers because a lot of them try so hard to get free grooms or get discounts and such.

Like yes it's expensive to get your dog groomed. I get it. But if you don't want to pay the money then don't come get your dog groomed.

At least I didn't get yelled at by this customer. So yay. 

But yah.

I hate dealing with Salon. So. Much. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Can't Deny the Shiny

I may have made a slight mistake.

But like....if I'm having fun and finding joy is it really a mistake?

Probably lol. 

You see....I like rocks. I like collecting rocks.  

Mostly I like unique carvings, but if something catches my interest and is a good price I'll go for it.

And like. With how stressful life has been in the last few months. 

I'm trying to find little bits of joy wherever I can.

And currently that's finding rocks. 

So I'm fully looking forward to next month when the Gem Faire comes back into town and I can see rocks in person and go buy them....hopefully for a good price though I expect a lot of things will be slightly more pricey because of the....you know, various economic factors. 

But a while ago, while following a Pokemon guy on Youtube....

-I'm not quite into Pokemon myself, but I have a friend who is and so it kinda is like a secondary obsession. 

In any case this dude gives away cards...and a while ago said he was going to be on Whatnot giving away cards.

I checked it out that day....

Didn't buy anything because WOW people are quick to purchase things and I have no idea what sort of cards are...good. I had the vague idea to get cards for a less expensive price for my friend.

But that hasn't panned out yet.

In any case.

I checked out WhatNot for like two days....and then forgot about it. 

Until the same Pokemon dude said he would be giving away more cards there back on Pokemon day.

So the night before I went onto the site once again, to refresh myself on it's layout and make sure I knew what I was doing in case I could get a chance to win some cards for my friend. (I did not win) 

And what did I discover?

So. Many. Rocks. 

It's so crazy how many people there are on the site that are selling crystals and rocks of all shapes and sizes.  

And ....needless to say....my bank account is a bit lighter this past week.

Because I got caught up in the fun of bidding and getting rocks for less than I can currently find in the local shops in the area. Plus being able to see carvings I haven't seen before and styles of rock that I wasn't as familiar with, plus my favorite types of rocks....

Yah.

No surprise that I caught the bug. To buy rocks. 

So yah...I'm having fun, but oof. I may be in trouble. If I'm not careful I'll probably be able to set up my own rock shop because soooo many rocks. lol

Will definitely need to be careful...and like....save some of my paycheck so that I can buy stuff when the Gem Faire comes to town next month. 

But yah. It's been fun getting 'presents' in the mail and opening them to find stones. 

So much fun.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Did You Do That?

 I tend to watch various crime shows while I work on my craft projects....until they get to be a bit too much and then I switch to something different to have as background noise.

But there's just this morbid fascination with seeing just how many different ways and reasons that people just....kill each other. 

It is rather disconcerting though, when an episode I'm watching covers a crime in my own state. Most of them take place elsewhere in the various episodes....

But it's weird when they name a town and I'm like "Wait! I've been there." 

Of course the shows I watch most of the crimes have happened before I was born or when I was a kid....so it's not like there was anything active to be worried about.

...

...

...

But today at work, while I was on my break I happened to see an article about 3 murders that happened in the southern part of my state.

And I'm just kinda mindboggled.

Because like....the story just is crazy itself.

And I feel so bad for the victims because like...there was literally no reason why any of them had to die. 

As right now the motive for killing them was "I needed a car and money" 

Like. The suspect didn't know the victims...he just picked them out randomly. 

And just going over what details of the crimes have been done...

I do wonder if this particular murder spree will eventually end up in one of those crime show episodes that I watch.

Like I want to see the surveillance footage, get more details on how the victims died, see how they narrowed it down to this dude as the main suspect.

But I'm also like.....

Are there other murders that this dude has committed that we don't know about yet?

Because like...he's from Iowa which is on the other side of the country from here....and he'd been to Alaska in the recent past....like how did you end up down here? WHY did you end up down here?

Like the dude hit an Elk with his truck that I guess basically totaled it......

And then decided "Well I need a new car, guess I need to kill someone to get it. But wait! I don't like this car let me go find someone else with a car I do like and kill them." 

It's just....so weird. So convoluted. And so senseless. 

And like he's had other minor crimes charged to him....so why escalate? What triggered him to kill now? 

Has he killed before and no one connected him to those crimes? 

Was the Truck even his like he claimed?

It's just crazy. 

And I keep checking to see if there's new details new motive, new analysis on why and how and what and everything.....

Like I think it's the uniqueness of the crime that has my attention because again....it's just so random and senseless. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Migraine Galore

 One of the things that has been causing me stress the last little bit, which kinda is like a cyclical stress....is the fact that my migraines have been returning more frequently.

Which is a pattern I have noticed in the last almost year since I first went to see a doctor about the migraines....is that the more stressed I am...the more headaches I get....which getting headaches also stresses me out especially if I can get rid of them. 

So like....get stressed out get a headache that won't go away get even more stressed out and get more headaches.....it's a vicious cycle really.

Which the main solution is....stop getting stressed out. 

But kinda hard for me to not be stressed when life kinda imploded in all directions.

In any case.

I had a check in appointment back in January to see how I was doing with my migraines. 

And we decided to up my dose of Topirimate to see if that would help me fully get rid of my migraines. 

As it's great that they have decreased....but the goal is kinda to not get any at all.

So I tried increasing my dose throughout January. First jumping up to 50mg and then a week later up to 75 mg when I was still getting migraines.....

Only to find that I was STILL getting migraines and that was kinda the highest safe dosage to take...so I went back to the doctor.....

And I asked to double check my vitamin B12 levels because the last time we checked those in July they were stupid high. Like broke the chart high.

And despite being told that high B12s won't cause headaches....a Google search (which yah who knows how believable those are) state that high B12s can also cause headaches. So too high of B12 or too low of B12 and I could get more migraines.

It was also decided that I would go off of the Topirimate because like...it's not helping the migraines go away so why continue them?

But I wanted to wait and see what my b12s were before making any decisions, though we did talk through a few other options of meds to take. 

And my B12s?

They're still high. Up in the 1000 number range. 

So instead of taking B12 daily I've decided on my own to decrease the amount of that vitamin I'm taking to only twice a week in the hopes that lowering the B12s into a more 'normal' range will mean a decrease in headaches.....

Again with the state of stress I've been in the last couple of months there's other mitigating factors to destress myself that I need to look into as well.

But at least decreasing the B12 intake is something tangible I can do.

Especially when I was told to "stay the course" so to speak and not change anything because otherwise my lab results looked normal so there was no concern. 

So I weaned myself off the Topirimate fully a few days ago. And for now I'm just keeping an eye on my vitamins and my stress and  you know.....ensuring that I have Nurtec on hand to take for those migraines that Advil and Tylenol don't help. 

My next check in is in May so we'll see how everything looks then I suppose and get an idea of maybe potential meds to take if my migraines are still being a pain by that point. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Change in the Store

 There's a lot of change happening in the store this year. 

The first of which occurred today, being that our Salon got brand new computers.

Why the brand new computers? Because the system was updated to FINALLY allow grooming customers to check out and pay (if they're paying with a card) in the salon. 

That is if they're only paying for grooming. If they want to buy other stuff in the store they still have to go through the regular register to do that.

But we finally can save the grooming customers time by having them do everything right there in the salon. 

Before they would have to walk into the salon, grab the invoice, go back out into the store and pay for their service, and then go back into the salon to pick up their dog/cat. 

Now they can just walk into the salon and pay for the service there and pick up their dog their and save everyone some time. 

Which is great! 

....Though of course not all the groomers are on board with the change. Since like....none of them have ever worked the register before. So it was a fun learning curve for them today with that.

Can't imagine how they're going to react next month....

Because our store has been slated for a "Store Refresh" 

Which means like...a completely new fish wall, a new register area...though I'm not sure if the registers themselves are changing or just how things are arranged up there, the breakroom is getting a refresh, the bathrooms are being updated and getting things replaced....and the salon too is getting a refresh. Which includes them moving where the door is to enter the Salon. 

They're planning on moving it away from the entrance and further into the store. Which makes sense it helps to keep customers for the salon waiting to go into the room from blocking customers trying to come in and out of the store. 

So yah... a lot of change happening next month.

And now included in that change is our truck shipments as well.

Though that's happening closer towards mid spring/early summer time.

As currently we're getting in trucks to restock the store just once a week.

Which is annoying when we're doing online orders and the online orders wipe us out of product and then our shelves sit empty for a week.....

But it sounds like we're returning to either the holiday schedule...or Corporate finally rediscovered that it's actually better to have trucks twice a week instead of once a week to better keep the store in stock.

In any case. We'll be moving to having truck in twice a week, which hopefully means we have smaller truck loads as having to work 30+ pallets in one day is EXHAUSTING. 

But it's also .... a bit annoying because it's like...will they give us the HOURS to be able to work truck both days? Because right now the single day is like an all hands on deck day where we half a dozen people in all at the same time to work the truck so we can get it done in the day....but idk if they'll give us that capability to do that if it's coming twice a week.

We'll have to see. 

Regardless....lots of change happening in the near future in the store. 

I'm most excited/nervous for the new fish wall. Because our fish wall is ancient, but like....it's what I know. So it will be weird to have all brand new tanks....but so nice. So very nice I hope.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Short Staffed

 So it's pretty safe to say that work has been an ongoing stresser in my life the last little while. 

And really it all pretty much started last Fall when:

1. A manager announced they were leaving the store. 

and 2. A different manager announced that they were pregnant. 

The first manager leaving wasn't unexpected in that I'd been made aware that they had been considering leaving to go back to school. So I wasn't surprised when they did leave....though we were left up in the air for a monthish or so on whether they were sticking with the store (stepping down from manager and working part time) or if they were actually quitting.

Which with that position opening up, I decided to shoot my shot and apply for that manager position. As I'd originally taken a lesser manager position below this manager position with the intention to learn how to do that job under the other manager's wing so I could confidentially step up into the position when the time came.

It was ... slightly difficult because this manager wasn't the best at....guiding...teaching....so it was a lot like pulling teeth trying to figure out what I would need to know to do the job well. 

Which is kinda mind boggling that this manager didn't take the time to mentor anyone and teach them knowing that they were leaving.... 

And there was so much I would have done different if I was in their position, though I do have a bit more experience in teaching in the store as I've taught practically every single person who's worked in Petcare how to do their job. 

In any case. They left, I applied for the job and with the new management positions came new processes on how to actually get 'hired' for the job. 

Which dragged out something that probably could have been done within the week....to like a three month long process.

Like the manager left right before school started for the fall. I didn't get the job until right before Thanksgiving. 

So we were a manager short for multiple months during the busiest time of the year. 

As we're a six manager crew. 

And with one manager down...that left us with 5 managers.

Which is still doable.......

Only the 2nd manager who announced they were expecting....has had quite the difficult pregnancy. Constant call outs for various medical related things. Which added onto the stress of the store because we never knew for sure if this manager would be calling out and leaving us short that day or not. And it eventually accumulated to the manager having to take an LOA because the medical issues were getting life threatening enough that it wasn't safe for them to work anymore. 

But we're still in the dark as to when they're coming back. As this LOA happened at the beginning of 2026. And was supposed to last like 5 weeks....but the manager is pretty close to the due date now...only a couple of months away so we're like....are they going to bring the manager back from LOA for maybe a month only to turn around and put them straight back on Maternity leave?

Which with that manager out that took us down to 4 managers. Which...still doable....but it's like...don't get sick and don't take vacations because we do not have the coverage to make everything work...sort of feel to the store.

While we did get approved to take on a temporary manager who will only be a manager so long as our one manager is out on LOA....it is temporary. So right now we have 5 managers....but that could go away at any moment if the one manager comes back from their LOA because we can only have a temporary manager while they're out. Once they come back the temp goes back to being a regular worker. 

And we're still in the dark.

No idea when they're coming back. So it's kinda like being in a rock and a hard place because like...we can't really make any long term plans until we know what this manager is doing. Like vacations? How can we plan a vacation if we're not sure what they're doing??? 

I mean, Head Manager and I are probably the only ones concerned about taking vacations and leaving the store short staffed manager wise. 

But like...with all the stress going on in my life I really could use like a week away from the store, and with all the uncertainty on who's going to be there or not....it seems like playing with fire.

Especially because at the beginning of 2026 we were informed that because we didn't meet a certain quota of sales last year (because our Vet Clinic closed and all those customers left) we no longer qualified to have 6 managers.

We can only have 5 managers.

Which...was a bit of a blow. As we'd just been prepping to finally get all the positions filled in the store now that the holiday crazy was over.....and then we had to be like "Oh guess we're not hiring for an empty manager position anymore" because it's going away. 

So like we were down a manager since last Fall, then down another manager since they went on LOA. And now we're permanently stuck with 5....

Just in time for the third manager to "hurt" themselves (a story for a different post because I'm still very bitter about this) where they had to go on a weight limit. 

Which when 99% of their particular manager job is LIFTING THINGS....it basically meant that we were down to three managers. Like this manager was still present and working in the store, but I had to take on a lot more of the work because they couldn't lift as much anymore.

So I'm dealing with being short a manager permanently, one on LOA, one injured, and the last manager moving at a snail's pace for any and all tasks given.....

It's kinda no wonder I was stressed out the last couple of months.

Like Head Manager already has alot on their plate so it often felt like I was the only one who actually was working in the store. Because I could do tasks 4x faster than the other two managers. 

And it still feels that way because like injured manager just barely got approval to go back to full weights. 

And it's just.....

Yah. The manager scene at work has been on fire. 

And will still be on fire for a bit longer until we hear for certain when LOA manager is coming back.....

We're hoping it's after their maternity leave....

but that also means that that manager wouldn't be back until the Summer at some point. 

And also means that my nice long week vacation that I desperately crave...probably won't happen until the summer either. Probably for my birthday. 

Which considering I try to take longer vacations every 3-4 months because I get grumpy....the fact that it will be difficult to take a longer vacations until halfway through the year....has got me really grumpy.

I do have a couple of weekends requested off. 

But vanishing for a week?

Yah no go quite yet. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Shut Down

 It's a common phenomena with me, that I write to process things...and when I don't want to process things...I don't write.

And can I saw that there's been a lot....like a lot going on since I last posted. 

Like it felt like every aspect of my life imploded all at once.

Which left me in a high stress state for far too long.

Especially because like most of it was out of my control. So like there was nothing really actionable that I could do to lessen my stress load besides waiting and riding it out. 

I had roommate stressors, family in the hospital with near death experiences, work has imploded on itself on multiple levels, and my migraines once fully manageable had fully returned to like occurring basically every day because increased stress brings those back full force.

So yah.

I was highly stressed. 

And while a lot of it has been mitigated.....

2026 is not doing that great of a job of being a relaxing year. 

So currently my goal is to try and find ways to mitigate my stressors where I can.

Which honestly half of the would probably be solved if I took a nice long vacation away from everything. 

But that's part of the work related stressors in that I can't really escape on a long vacation right now because there's too much up in the air with other managers and other factors out of my control until we get a more firm plan on what others are up to.

So yah....

Mitigation is the goal.

And perhaps I should  work more on trying to not fully shut down when things get too hectic and actually use this blog to post my thoughts so that I can just....vent and get everything out there and not hold onto it as much.

We'll see.....it's a work in progress.

But at least I took the first step tonight with posting this post. So baby steps!

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Exhaustion

One of the many things that I dislike about work is those moments where it feels like I'm the only one running around with my head cut off. 

Like it's the sort of situations where it feels like I'm the only one doing anything in the store while everyone else is doing nothing.

Well.... not nothing. But like no one else is volunteering to do extra stuff. They're all doing their own thing and not making the effort to breakaway and do the extra steps.

Or else it feels like I'm the only one people call on for assistance when there's other managers in the stores that could also be helping as well. 

And that latter one is probably because I've proven myself to be the more reliable manager, but also since I have over a decade of experience in the store I tend to be the one who knows the answers.

But it is frustrating to be the one always dashing to the rescue when there's other people in the store who could be dashing to the rescue as well. 

Especially on days like today where it was a busy Saturday and we had that midday rush in the store where every department needs back up and there's at least three different complicated customer situations happening at the same time as well. 

Today probably felt a bit rougher as well because I had two managers in the store with me for a time...but it didn't feel like I had other managers with me.

My morning manager was being their typical nonhelpful self where they stop acting like a manager as soon as another manager shows up and do their best hide in the back and avoid all customer interactions via phone calls, helping in the store, or back up cashiering. Which meant that unless I specifically called them out by name to help out somewhere the morning manager was doing their best to pretend to not exist.

While my closing manager is dealing with various health related issues right now so while 'present' in the store...isn't quite present in that they need to take time off the floor, but while they are on the floor are limited in what tasks they can and can't do because of said health issues.

So it left me to do a lot of running around while it felt like everyone else was standing still. 

And most of the time I can handle it.

But it's been a week filled with similar situations where it feels like I'm the only one actually working so by today I was just...over it. So very much over it.

Hopefully I can take the day tomorrow to reset the mindset for next week....but we'll have to see.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Check Your Messages

 So. 

In the continuing saga of me wondering where my coworker's brains are at.

We've had one of those... I guess it's been about a months worth...but one of those weeks where everyone and there mom is sick. Like right around Christmas everyone started getting hit with some sort of cold/flu thing. 

Which has continued into the new year with multiple people calling out sick this week. 

Which is pertinent because one of the main requirements needed to open the store is that we need to have two people present in the morning in order to get into the building. 

But due to call outs our usual morning person who comes in with the morning manager was out sick. 

And no one else was available to come in that early. So therefore the last couple of days we needed to delay our entrance into the store a little bit until the next person was scheduled to come in. 

Which hasn't been that big of a deal because yesterday it still gave me time to get stuff done before the main store opened and such. 

And the manager today was contacted via text and warned that there was no second person available for the normal time and that they would need to come in an hour later than scheduled because of it. 

A message that's pretty cut and dry....

IF

and I say IF

said person reads their freaking text messages.

Which I get. 

Not everyone is as connected to their phones as I am. 

I get it. Many people like living disconnected from their phones.

It's probably healthy that way.

But like....if it involves work...you should still check every now and then before your shift starts to make sure you haven't missed any messages. Especially if you're a MANAGER. 

Granted....said manager could have seen the message and just....elected to ignore it. 

It wouldn't surprise me...this manager is...well...stubborn...and completely awful at communication to be honest. 

In any case.

Head Manager and I were also due to come into the store at the EXACT SAME TIME as the opening manager with the delay that was given. 

But when we arrived we discovered the morning manager was already in the store.

And doing a little research we discovered that they entered the store at their ORIGINAL SCHEDULED TIME.

They hadn't made any effort whatsoever to come in LATER like they were told to. 

Plus they broke policy by entering the store without another associate with them. 

And I'm just left shaking my head.

Like....Why?

Did you not SEE the text?

Did you see it and think "Oh I don't need to listen to this?" 

I don't get it. 

But it's another tick in the list of frustrations I have against this particular manager.....

Like....communication is kinda important in this job....and you are very much failing at it morning manager. So much failing. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

How's The Migraines?

 I had a check in appointment yesterday with the doctor. 

About my migraines.

Basically a 'how's it going?" sort of thing.

Which overall things have been pretty consistent....

With the exception of like...the last weekish or so where I've had nearly daily migraines.

But that could be attributed to multiple factors....like coming down from having so much social family/friend time from the holiday, and having to deal with a slightly increased stress load at work, and the sudden barometer changes from multiple storms coming and going, plus like just life being screwy from the holidays....

as the last time I had near constant headaches....was when my work/life/home balance got all screwy back in the summertime right around my family reunion where I too had a bunch of work stress, and family socialization and screwed up my diet and my work/life balance and yah.....

Amazing how routine helps to keep you from getting migraines.

In any case.

Even with the outlying causes explained away.

I did bring up the fact that even though I have seen a major decrease in migraines....I am still getting migraines.

and with using the Nurtec as a guide...since I can only get 8 pills a month through my insurance....I've been having between 5-8 migraines a month....

Which like 1-2 of those tend to be on the 5-6 pain scale while the rest are on the 1-2 irritating level of pain which would be negligible and not worth taking the Nurtec at all except if I don't take the Nurtec then the stupid 1-2 level migraines will last for DAYS on end if I don't take something to stop them. 

So yah. Compared to the pain scale of 11 that I was experiencing.

Everything has calmed down significantly from near daily headaches/migraines to 5-8 a month.

But still ....a handful a month is still probably a handful too many. 

So for the next month we've decided to try upping my dosage of topiramate another step. Since I was taking the lowest recommended dose. We decided to bump it up a step to see if that will help get my migraines down to like maybe 1 a month. Hopefully. We'll see. 

So far it's not boding well since I kinda woke up with a migraine today after taking the increased dose.

But it is the first day. Gotta give the stuff time to kick in.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

What Does Priority Mean To You?

 One of my weaknesses as a manager that I've been working to overcome has been the ....well it should be simple...but the simple matter of delegation.

The process of dividing out tasks to my team so that I'm not the one trying to get everything done by myself. 

I struggle with this though.

Because it often feels like I could have done it much easier and much faster if I'd done it by myself.

Especially in the sort of situations where I DO end up having to do the task by myself after all. 

And it's especially frustrating when I give out tasks to others only to see them not get done.

And it's hard to know if they weren't done because the person didn't want to do them or they didn't have time to do them or some other factor prevented them from completing them. 

But like....coinciding with yesterday in "give a person a specific task and timeframe to get the truck done" it continued on into today.

Where I left my opening manager with a list of tasks that needed to be done.

Which amounted to like 3 things.

1. Open the store.

2. Finish the truck and clean up 

3. Do the required scans to check inventory.

and like a side project was "Hey give the cashiers this project to build so that I can finish this reset a different day. " 

And I get a message at the end of opening manager's shift. 

Hey there's still a bit of truck left and scans weren't done.

Which -_- not unexpected because it was a larger truck and we're still getting back into the groove of having one truck a day. But like....how could you not get truck done when you had EIGHT HOURS to do truck?

Okay more like SIX HOURS to do truck because the opening tasks can take a couple of hours.

And granted it's been a 'sick' week where we've had a bunch of people calling out for not feeling well, which was the case today as well so I get there having to be a bit of breakaway. 

but at the same time....I'd been hoping to have a bit more of truck done. 

But also it turns out that the task I set the opening manager to set the cashiers to do?

Didn't get done either. 

And I don't know if it was because the cashier was like "Nah I don't wanna" or if the morning manager didn't COMMUNICATE that this was a task that needed to be done and therefore the cashier didn't know it needed to be done.

In any case.

I get in touch with the closing manager to be like "Hey finish the truck and then do the scans if you have time but truck is the priority." because we're supposed to have truck done within 24 hours of it arriving. 

And also had the closing manager get the closing cashier started on the task that the morning cashier should have been working on. 

In any case.

Closer to the end of the night when the closing manager needs to be switching gears to start the closing tasks I get a text of "Hey we're still working truck but I got half the scans done!" 

And I'm just.....face palming.

Because TRUCK SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FOCUS.

How hard is it to get through everyone's skulls that truck should have been done first?!

Like scans can be pushed off to a different day if needed. Truck? Not so much. 

And granted I'm sure that closing manager did some of the scans for a bit of those happy endorphins of "I completed a task" but at the same time. WHAT ABOUT THE TRUCK!

Sooo yah it's left me a bit frustrated to have multiple people ignoring the 'truck first' priority and just like....do their own thing. 

Especially when that means that I have even more on my plate for tomorrow when I go into work because now I have to fit in the rest of whatever didn't get done today with what has to be done tomorrow. 

So yah.

Frustrations all around.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Can't You Go Faster?

 There's a certain amount of frustration that occurs when things don't go to plan. 

Especially when it's over little things that shouldn't have caused the plan to derail and yet caused the plan to derail.

Like today with our truck.

After the last few months of us having trucks twice a week to account for the holiday demands...this week was the first week of us having just one truck again.

Which means instead of having around a dozen pallets to work ....we now have twice that many. 

Which means that I needed all hands on deck to try and get truck out and done as quickly as possible.

Which I warned various associates about. The "Hey, we're back to one truck a week which means we have nearly two dozen pallets that need to be worked TODAY so I need you working QUICKLY so that we can get this done fast!" 

And I hasn't passed my attention that the moment I say "Hey, I need you finishing quickly so I can put you to work elsewhere....." often seems to cause my coworkers to move SLOWER. 

Which is, to me, an obvious sign of "oh I don't want to do that job so if I take my time here I will be able to avoid doing that other job there." 

And like I get it. I get not wanting to do certain tasks.

But when I'm on a deadline and I tell you to move quicker, I really mean MOVE QUICKER. 

Like my petcare was doing really well today in getting done fast...like they were actually on track to be done on time today...and then they got to the fish wall and it took them like THREE HOURS to do like a  HALF HOUR job. 

It's just.....frustrating.

And I'm quickly losing my patience and understanding with it. Because like I've told them a million times the expectations and they're failing at the expectations and I don't know how to get it through everyone's skulls that they should make the priorities and a priority.

So yah.

Frustrations today.

So much frustrations. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Why Are You Like This?

 There's a certain frustration that follows when people can't follow directions. 

And really, it's probably part of the reason why I didn't post for a couple of months. 

Because a lot has been happening at work that was and has been stressful. 

And when I'm stressed out and don't really want to face my thoughts....I don't write. Because writing is how I process my thoughts. 

In any case. 

Part of that current frustration involves one of my fellow managers.

Who was my equal position wise, but I just recently jumped up to a higher manager position putting me over them in the tier of managers. 

And this manager... did not take the news well when they found out.

Which was a bit of a ??? moment for both myself and the head manager.

Because this management position has been open for months because for various stupid reasons it took forever to get through the interview process and to get approved to get bumped up to a higher position what with all the recent management changeovers work decided to do earlier last year. 

In any case. 

We had no idea this manager was interested in the open position.

Because they NEVER ASKED ABOUT IT. 

The closest to bringing it up was a complaint of "when is this position going to be filled?!" to which my head manager had responded "when I get applications and interview them then I'll fill the position" because with the new process we actually have to do the whole official apply online procedure and get interviewed and such rather than the old way where it was more of a 'here's quick interview click click your position is now changed!" 

In any case. Beyond that one singular comment this manager did not bring up wanting the open position AT ALL. 

And we kinda figured it would be a position that they would NOT want to apply for anyways because 

1. That position requires the manager to close once a week. Which this manager does not like closing and 2. Requires that you cannot work before a certain time. And this manager would much rather work early morning shifts...which the open position does not do early mornings unless there is no one else available. 

Plus this manager is just frankly...unqualified for the position because it's over a much larger aspect of the store that requires communication and organization and being comfortable in petcare as well as being comfortable with working the inventory in the store. 

So all in all not a good fit.

And yet. 

They were upset that they were never 'told' that the position was open. 

Like....pretty sure the manager LEAVING was the official opening, but also like they had asked WHEN we were getting the position filled and head manager had said "WHEN I GET APPLICATIONS" 

Like that had to be clear enough???

In any case.

The main frustration from this manager comes from the fact that they Cannot. Do. Their. Freaking. Job. or Follow. Freaking. Directions.

Like I am doing my best to communicate and to keep open channels so I can make sure the store is being run properly on my side, but this manager is refusing to play ball without some serious teeth pulling. 

I tell them to text me what tasks are left and they don't.

I give them a list of tasks that should be completed in a single shift.

And they don't complete them.

And more and more it's like "can we leave you alone to actually be a manager or do you need to be held by the hand and watched the entire time.' because we keep finding things and we're like ??? "how long have you been doing that for?" 

Like yesterday when I discovered there was a potential issue with the registers and when I asked "Were any of the registers off this morning?" to this manager expecting to hear "yah register # was short" and instead got "Yah all of them were off." 

When I knew head manager had closed the night before and therefore the registers should not be SHORT ANY MONEY beyond the maybe potential ONE register due to a different manager error a couple of days previously....

Only to have head manager RECOUNT all the tills and discover that no. NONE of them were short. They were ALL ON.

Which meant this manager had managed to MISCOUNT MULTIPLE TILLS and DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT to anyone until I had asked.

Makes me wonder just how often the tills are off when they open when they're actually on. It's just.....

It's just been so frustrating dealing with this manager.

And I can't tell if they're doing it on purpose because they're unhappy with me being the manager over them....or if they were really this incompetent the entire time.

Like I'm guessing it's more of the latter. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's a bit of the former because I'm quite open in trying to talk with and communicate with my coworkers and fellow managers. This manager? You can work a week with them and hear maybe 5 words.

So yah.

It's been a frustrating couple of months. 

Especially with the holiday crazy on top of it. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

All The Noise Noise Noise

 It's probably the lack of great sleep the last couple of nights. Like...New Years Eve I kept getting woken up by people texting me early in the morning and then last night I went to bed late and had an early shift...but like.....today was a day of feeling overstimulated. 

Which I'm saying is probably due to the lack of proper sleep allowing my brain to properly rest.

Because for the most part....being at work had the mostly normal amount of stimulation in the store. The occasional customer deciding to be annoying with the squeaky toys. The random string of multiple phone calls in a row. The cashier being chatty on the radios randomly. 

It's all noise that I'm pretty used to.

But today it just...was getting to be a bit too much.

And I think it was because of the wild birds stuck in our store.

As you see, we have two of them currently.

Because we keep our pallets outside in a little padlock area. And in the fall time, birds like to hang out in them. And if you're not careful...you can accidentally bring the birds inside the store when bringing the pallets back in the store to load in on the truck we send them back to the DC on....and let them loose. 

Which is what happened earlier this fall.

One of my managers didn't make sure there weren't birds in the pallets before bringing them in.

And now we have two wild birds once again loose in the store for the winter.

Because they won't fly out until the spring.

Because even though we've had like no snow whatsoever this year. The inside of the store is still warmer than the outside. So the birds, with free food and free water and no predators...are quite content to hang out. 

Which overall isn't that big of a deal.....when they're quiet.

But the last few days at least one if not both birds have gotten super vocal. Singing and chirping for ages above us.

And it's LOUD. And constant. And doesn't STOP. 

And apparently is just one straw too many for me when I haven't had enough sleep and have been dealing with work related stress for the week. 

Because I was sooooo overstimulated with the birds today. Sooo overstimulated.

I literally wanted to find something to throw at the birds just to get them to shut up so I could have some quiet for a bit because the noise was tensing me up. 

And I'm grateful that I don't have to be at work for the next few days so that I can hopefully get enough restful sleep and time away from people and socialization needs that I can unwind, relax, get my zen back and not be overstimulated when I get back to work.

Because I do not need the migraine thank you very much.

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

2026 Decisions

 I came across a post a couple of days ago that said something like "There's literally no rules saying your New Years resolutions can't be for evil." 

Which at the time I thought was funny and I was like "what would I do if I made an evil resolution?" which honestly I couldn't think of anything that i wanted to do. 

But like.

The thought did keep crossing my mind today that some people DID wake up and choose violence on the first day of the new year.

Metaphorical violence in my case. Though I've seen plenty of news stories about actual violence. 

But like.

It's New Years Day right?

The day after New Years Eve.

The night where people STAY UP LATE to party. Like until at least midnight but more likely until at least 1am people are staying up if they've ventured out anywhere. 

Me. I was home by 1 am because I had to work today. So even though I was out until midnight with family and friends. I was being careful to give myself enough time to get home that I would still be able to get enough sleep to be fine at work this morning. 

And you would THINK that knowing that people stayed up late that the next day no one would really be in contact until like...later in the day.

Like bare earliest would be the typical 9 am time frame. 

AND YET. 

I got woken up multiple times before my alarm went off by people TEXTING ME. 

And some of them I could forgive. Like older relatives who get up at the crack of dawn or friends in other time zones who may have forgotten the time difference. 

But I had like SIX different people texting all before 9 am. 

The one text I was most annoyed by though was my freaking guy manager.

Who I had told on TUESDAY to text me on WEDNESDAY what he'd gotten done during his shift so I could continue on with projects and know what got completed and what didn't. 

Did he text me Wednesday?

No, he decided that it was best to text me at SIX IN THE MORNING on NEW YEARS DAY. 

Like the morning after everyone has PARTIED ALL NIGHT AND SHOULD BE SLEEPING IN. 

Yes. I had to work. But dude. CHECK THE SCHEDULE And SEE THE TIME I WORK. 

I wasn't in the store until 9. You could have texted me much closer to that time.

Like granted we're usually in the store about 7 am. But like it's a HOLIDAY the hours are DIFFERENT TODAY. 

So yah.

I was irritated.

Like dude WHY. 

*exhales*

So yah. Apparently some people did wake up today and decide to be inconsiderate to others and their sleep schedules. 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi