One at a Time

So I've mentioned before that I'm not always the most social of people. 

Like, being on the more introverted side...I can only handle soo much engagement with other people before I just...get exhausted from it all.

Which is why more often than not I am quite happy to come home from work and crash for a couple of hours to try and recharge my social battery before I have to repeat the scenario the next day.

This means that I'm often not willing to go out and do 'extras' outside of work. As it's...hard to keep energy going. 

But there are times where I feel like I've stored up enough 'energy' that I can go and do the social thing.

I can contact a friend and be like "Hey wanna hang out?" Because I feel like doing so won't end up overtaxing me.

However. 

I've noticed this unfortunate trend in me trying to be social.

Unfortunate, because like I said. I have limited social battery.

As I've noticed like a day or so after I've reached out to someone and planned to be social....

It's like the floodgates have been unleashed.

Suddenly everyone is texting me or running into me and "wanting to do something"

And I'm like. O.o Where did you all come from?!?! 

I only planned for ONE social interaction this week.

Not SEVEN.

GO. AWAY. 

*shakes head*

Seriously.

I feel like it's the butterfly effect.

Where my small action of reaching out to be social.

Stirs the 'connection airwaves' or whatever of people I know.

Somehow triggering them to remember me, and therefore want to hang out. 

Like....couldn't you all take turns or something? Realize that you want me present for things at different times? Like space it out a week apart or something?

Because I only planned for ONE social engagement.

And you're just draining my energy faster by causing me to suddenly have to decide if I have the energy to meet up and interact with more people. 

*shakes head* 

It needs to stop.

I need to figure out how to not trigger those waves when I reach out.

Because honestly, it only makes me wanna go hide in my room again if too much is suddenly placed upon me at once. 

Let me do the one thing please. It makes my life so much easier. 

Until you next see these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

A New Coworker

So. 
I have another new coworker in my department. 
Which first off: YAY. FINALLY. 
Because I've been like...what four people short all year? 
And we've finally hired a SECOND person in the last month to finally cover the gaps that were first left back in DECEMBER. 
*exhales*
Seriously....work has not been fun since December because we've been so short handed. 
Which it wouldn't have been a problem...but this past 'semester' has been hard because all the college going workers of mine...ended up all needing Tues/Thurs off for classes. 

Which left basically just me to work those days. *exhales* 
Yes. 
Very difficult. 

But that's retail for you I suppose lol. 

In any case.

I had heard from my manager a couple of days ago, that we were having a transfer come into our store.
-Meaning my coworker was transferring from another Starsmet to work in our store- 

But I hadn't thought anything more of it.
Because like....I hear these things and then it's another three months before anything really happens. 

*shakes head*

However, I was surprised to discover today at work.
That the transfer...was scheduled to work a shift. 

O.o
Huh?

So fast?! 
Weird. 

Lol, but what's funny is I hadn't met her yet.
As her first day in the store...was yesterday, when I was off. 

And she was supposed to come in to work the later part of the shift.
So I was on the look out for her, because like....I hadn't met her yet. 

So I was like "What does she look like?" 

And what I came away with was that she had "short black hair." 

Which.... O.o idk who said that?
Because the girl had dyed hair of reddish shades, and was curly, and pulled back in a pony tail because it was long. She was also shorter than I had been expecting...shorter than me.
Which is always weird because I don't really consider myself tall. lol. 

In any case.

It was interesting the type of persona I'd already kinda pieced together in my mind of how my coworker was going to be.

Taken from the brief hints I'd seen of her presence when I opened this morning (as she'd closed the night before), from her name (and dealing with people in the past with her name), from the description I'd been given, and from the knowledge that she was transferring from Cali....

It was interesting.
Because I was totally prepared to not like her.
She was Cali...and the last girl who'd transferred from a warm state...(I think that one had come from Florida actually?) had darker hair, had a 'mightier than thou' attitude, and just...wasn't the best of workers. 
She also had the same name as pervious roommates who also had dark hair.
And they too had a bit of an attitude and a bit of...well we didn't always get along. 

So I'd pictured in my mind, this tall skinny girl with dyed black hair cut in the 'can I speak with a manager haircut' and the 'I'm better than you" vibe and the expectation of "I'm going to be the most amazing worker here and you're going to appear like a slob after I'm done with you." sort of thought processes. 

Apparently I'm semi-threatened by transfers?? lol. 
*shakes head* Silly me.

But in reality?
She's completely opposite -as I described up above- she was shorter, had longer curly hair, and was really friendly. Asking questions, wanting to know how we do things in our store, because each location has their quirks and such, and yah, it was really...nice.
It was like an almost instant connection, of "oh hey, yah I think this will work"

Because I was totally not expecting that lol. 

But it was great, I enjoyed talking to her, and teaching her and first impressions after meeting her is I think this will work out.

lol we'll see if that's actually the case or not.

But yay for her not being at all how I imagined her to be like. ^^;; 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Cardboard Roll

It's one of those trends with my roomies that I don't ever quiet understand.

Though I do wonder if it's sort of like a....petty thing? Maybe a controlling thing? Maybe a "YOU DO THIS" sort of thing?

I don't know.

But it feels like with almost every roommate I've had...that I've had to share a bathroom with....

It usually ends up that I'm always the one who changes out the toilet paper roll.

Which...I never fully understand.
What's so hard about going "Oh, hey, I used the last of the toilet paper. I'll just take two seconds to put on a fresh roll."

Like...what's the point of just leaving it for the next person to change out?

And to have my roomies consistently do this to me, where I feel like I'm always the one changing the roll....

I do have to wonder....why?

Why is it such a hard thing to be considerate of the next person and just grab a fresh roll if the other one is empty?

At this point, I almost wonder if it's a power struggle sort of thing.
The need to establish a dominate personality or something by constantly making another do a simple task that you could do yourself....

*shakes head*

It's probably one of those give and take things.
Where the roomie feels like they're 'always' doing something else that I'm not doing or leave them to do.
So they take it upon themselves to leave me something to 'always' do as well.

*shrugs*
Who knows. I certainly don't.
It could be as simple of a thing of "Oh hey, I never did this growing up, someone else always did it so why would I think any differently now?" And it's not even on their radar that they could change the roll themselves. 

*exhales*
Oh well....I guess we'll see if the trend continues when the next roomie moves in or not....

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Better Prepared

Football came to our country town later than most. 
The school board had neither the money for equipment nor a coach. 
Then the great day arrived.
Our high school principal was able to buy twelve inexpensive football outfits, except the expensive cleated football shoes (we used our basketball shoes), and our coach was recruited from the faculty because he had witnessed a game.

We learned a few simple plays, how to tackle--or so we thought--and set off for our first game with Twin Falls, the previous year's Idaho state champions. 

We dressed and went out on the field to warm up.
Their school band started to play (they had more students in the band than we had in our entire high school), and then through the gates came their team.
The twelve of us--a full team of eleven plus one all-round substitute--watched in amazement as they kept coming through the gates--all thirty-nine of them in full uniform. 

The game was most interesting!
To say it was a learning experience is rather mild.
After two plays we didn't have any desire to have the ball--so we would kick it, and soon they would score. 
When they got the ball, they would run a baffling play and score.
Our problem was to get rid of the ball--it was less punishing. 

In the final minutes of the game they became a little reckless. 
A wild pass fell into the arms of Clifford Lee, who was playing halfback with me. 
He was startled, not knowing for sure what to do--until he saw the "Dallas Cowboys" thundering after him. 
Then he knew what to do.
He was fast.
He wasn't running for points, but for his life!
Clifford made a touchdown; six points went up on the board. 
The final score--106 to 6! 
We really didn't deserve the six points, but with our torn shirts and socks and our bruises, we took them anyway.

A learning experience?
Of course!
An individual or a team must be prepared.
In all things success depends upon previous preparation. 

-David B. Haight -The Responsibility of Young Aaronic Priesthood Bearers -April 1981 General Conference

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Out Adventuring

There are days where I get frustrated with having to rely on other people to go somewhere.
Like... most days I really don't care if I end up going somewhere or not.
Because I tend to plan for the possibility of things not happening and such.

But there are days where I just...get sick of it. Of plans falling through.

So then I'm like "Screw it. I don't need others to go out." 

And then I venture out by myself. 
To go do the thing.

Which isn't always the smartest thing to do.
Though truthfully I usually only do the 'by myself' thing in places where I'm confident I'll be safe. 
Like going to the theatre to see a movie by myself.
Or wandering around a mall by myself.

Things like that. 

Today I ended up wandering up and down Center street for a couple of hours. 
By myself.

Because my roomies were busy with things, and there is this Pokémon event going on where you can catch certain regional creatures that aren't common in this particular area. 

And it's a time limited event.
So like....not going means that I'm missing out on things.

And I'd already not gone yesterday due to roomies being unavailable yesterday too.

I didn't want another day to pass by.

So, I told the roomies I was heading out.
Drove down to center street.
And just wandered up and down it catching Pokémon. ^^;; 

Lol it was busy enough with people that I was confident I would be safe doing this by myself. 

And I only ended up getting catcalled by one guy. "Hey Beautiful" 
Which I ignored him because I did not want to engage with a creepy dude. 

Otherwise?
Yah, most of my walking was avoiding being in the pictures of like the dozen photographers and their subjects taking pictures up and down the street as apparently it's a picturesque place to take pictures?
*shrugs* No idea.

Still.
I had fun.
Exercising and catching Pokémon. lol.

And I got home safely! Woot. ^^;;

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

Too Lethargic

I'm rather curious how this customer ended up with the lizard in the first place.
Because either she wasn't the one who bought it.
Or else my coworkers didn't do as good of a job in teaching the woman about the lizard and it's needs as they should have been doing. (Who knows she might have been one of those "I've owned these before" sort of people, but I doubt it.)

So there I was, on register, helping to back up a massive line of people that materialized basically out of nothing. 
When a woman comes up to the register, with a critter tote in one hand and a bag in another. 
Wanting to return a lizard.

Usually it's because the lizard is dead, but judging by the critter tote that was set up as a sort of cage....
I doubted the lizard had died.

But to be safe I asked her why she was returning the lizard and what lizard it was.

She said she'd bought a gecko and was returning it because she thought it was dying. 
Why?
It hadn't moved. It just laid there. It wasn't being active at all. (Which struck me as...an odd complaint...as Lizards aren't the most....active of creatures. Most of the time the just sit there unless you're feeding them.)
But she'd also tried to feed it....and it hadn't eaten anything.

Which I was really concerned about the 'lethargic' part, but was also confused as upon glancing at her receipt, I noticed that the woman had purchased the gecko....Yesterday.

Which...the way she'd been talking I'd expected her to have had the gecko longer than that. 
And if the gecko was dying...then that's well...bad because how can a gecko get sooo sick so quickly? This had me thinking that the gecko probably wasn't as sick as the customer was saying it was. 
And the 'not eating' part makes sense. Because she'd bought it yesterday. New animals don't always eat right away when they're taken to their new homes. They have to acclimate to their new environment. 

Going by the setup of the critter tote, and the fact she'd said gecko
I was thinking that she'd bought a Leopard Gecko.
As the cage was set up for a more desert type environment.

So I was rather surprised to lift up the home and discover that she'd bought the Crested Gecko.

As Cresteds are tropical. Meaning that they like a humid environment. So it's best to have a moister cage, one with dirt and such. 
It also made more sense why she was like "It's not moving. It's not eating."
Because Cresteds aren't the most active during the day. 
They just find a nice place to hide and sit there, being more nocturnal and such. Plus, they usually go for a more fruity diet, so it makes sense that they wouldn't eat a lot of crickets. 
And again, being nocturnal they would be more likely to eat at night. Not during the day.

In any case.
I picked up the gecko to check him out.
And dude perked right up. Jumped out of my hands.
And the customer was like "That's the most active I've seen him."
My response was "Ah, well animals usually like me." 

But yah, the gecko seemed just fine to me. 
But the customer wanted to return him so I started the process.

And realized another issue as I was going through her receipt, returning the items.

As the woman had brought the gecko in in a medium sized critter tote. 
I had assumed that it was just a traveling tote for the gecko to get it to the store. 

But going through the receipt, and seeing how she'd placed things in the tote and such....
I realized that the critter tote was what the woman had been planning to keep the gecko in. 

Which...crested geckos don't need as much heat as the more deserty bearded dragons and leopard geckos do. 
But still. They do well with a heat source. 
So again...it makes sense why the gecko was being lethargic...not being warm enough could also be the issue. 
*shakes head* 

Needless to say...the woman had tried to go as cheap as possible on everything.
And then got upset after 24 hours when the gecko wasn't being active.

*shakes head*
Lady, if you want an active animal....a reptile isn't the way to go. They tend to just sit there. 

Thankfully, she brought him back.
But still...I wonder if she's going to do a bit more homework next time she tries to get a reptile.... 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Moment of Listening

I've gotten quite used to having children crowd around me while I'm working.
After all, I can get how it's fascinating to see someone feeding the fish and opening the cages and such. 
So the little ones often crowd close around me to try and see what I'm doing while asking a ton of questions.

lol which the parents are always like so apologetic about it and trying to pull their kids away. 
Which honestly, I don't mind them being close. It just means I have to be a tad more careful when opening and closing cages to ensure that I don't accidentally squish or pinch little fingers. 

It was one of those situations. 
Where I was in the middle of feeding the reptiles. 
That I had three young girls approach me.
 Probably ranging between 6 and 12 years old. 

The youngest one, of course, being the one filled with the most questions. 
All of them wanted to know if they could hold the reptiles and such and see them.
Which I told them they could only hold it if their parent was nearby.
Which they went to grab their mom, only to come back parentless with the words of "she'll be here in a second." 

So for the next 5-10 minutes as I was finishing up feeding the reptiles, I was answering their questions, but also listening to the stories they were telling and you know...just kinda paying attention to them and not brushing them away.

Which I guess struck a cord with them?
Because when their mom called over "Girls! Time to go!" (they hadn't held the reptiles and by this point I think they'd forgotten) 
The two youngest girls were like "Bye!!" And each gave me a hug goodbye before going to join their mom.

Lol Which caught me a bit by surprise.
Because customers don't usually hug me while I'm at work lol. 
And like...I was a complete stranger to these little girls.
So the fact that they were like "Here's a hug! Thanks for talking! Bye new friend!" 
Was rather heartwarming lol. ^^;; 

Definitely a highlight to my day for sure. :D 

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

-Sarnic Dirchi