Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Life In Lumber, Week #6

Day 40:
Shift began rather ominously.  My 1st customer had two carpets reduced down to $.40/yard, which needed an override.  I tried calling the HC four times before paging Adriana to call me, then paging Code 99.  Finally, Kem went down to get Cindy.  Turned out they were swamped up front, and C was on a register.  K took her place so she could come down and rescue me!

The rest of the shift (thankfully!) went much smoother, other than we had a mix-up in breaks.  A had called me to double-check my shift schedule, since I was listed on the flow chart as 4-9.  I told her I was 4-close, then she offered me the choice of taking my break 1st or 2nd.  I told her to tell Aliscia to go 1st.....but at 6:15, Al trots down to send me to lunch.  Confused, I went ahead and took it, but later found out A and C had had a miscommunication.

Had two humorous moments:  I rang up a customer and when I ran his phone #, I stared at the name.  "You're married to Michelle.  I know Ashlae; I'm Billie's friend."  He laughed and we had a brief chat about why an author was working there!  Secondly, my friend Chris, who owns the local brewery, pushed his cart toward me.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like that famous local author in town?"

I smiled.  "So I've been told a few times...."

We had a nice chat before he left:)

At the end of the shift, A told me that she'd heard someone say we had the best closing team of all the closers:)  Kudos to us!

Here's hoping tomorrow goes well; I AM filling in for Ms Ally, so she can study for finals!

Day 41:  All Three!
Shift began on a positive note!  Was up front for about an hour, then sent to Lumber, to relieve Morgan for her lunch.  Did the soda count and gathered the tax exempt and loading tickets.  Ran out of pennies, fives, and tens, so moved over to #2, and did some sweeping.  M came back; took the soda count down and was told to go on MY 15 min break, then to relieve Imogene in LG, where I stayed the rest of the night.

Couple of interesting things happened tonight:
-I knew A was busy, so when I needed an override for a 25-cent bag of river rock, I simply zeroed it out.  Then we couldn't find the item # for some screws, so I said to forget it, and put them in his bag.
THEN joked with the customer who said he had a military discount.

"I just GAVE you a fairly decent discount.....and you want MORE?"  Wink wink.

-Woman shows me a Menards online price for the 12' patio pavers, $1.19.  I said we'd price-match.  A arrives as I'm ringing her up; I told her I needed an override and why.  A did it, ONLY because a) I'd told the customer we did and b) one manager allows it, the other doesn't.

-Man wanted to buy a maple tree, but it didn't have a bar code.  I'd left my phone at home, so couldn't look it up on the app.  I tried searching for it; nada.  Emma tried matching up leaves, but nada.  Finally, I was busy with a customer when apparently the guy took it back....then placed it in his car and drove off!  The new LG person was so startled, she didn't know what to do!  A arrived at that moment to close down LG, and calmed the girl down.

Day 42:
Got called in, since there was a death in Jill's family.  Spent the day in Lumber, and things were fairly steady from 3-6pm, with only two 'oopsies'....a guy who's working on the Walmart renovation announced he was paying for his items to be delivered, then began unloading his cart.  Confused, I began ringing him up, then expected him to pay for an invoice.  Nope, that's not the case, so we had him wait until Chelsea was free to fix it.  2ndly, the guys from last week's fiasco were back....only with a smaller order.  Rang them up, then their card needed an approval code.  Was on the phone to them for at least twenty minutes, with my register hijacked, until everything could be sorted out.  Turned out, boss paid by check, and it hadn't cleared the system yet.  Voided everything, and pushed both carts aside, with a note on it.  They'll return first thing in the morning with a new form of payment.

Asked Mgr Brandon if I could re-request for my summer days off, since the vacation days had all been approved, and he said sure.  So logged in all my June, July, August, and some of September days.  Need to double-check my Saluki Con times, as well as D's dr. appointments.

After lunch, things went much smoother, and toward the end of the shift, Darren pointed out someone left us a 'present'.....a full litter box, complete with kitty turds and trash!  Thanks, whomever you are...

I also had two bathroom emergencies, something that's not occurred before.  Not sure if it was eggs last night or my Chicken Teriyaki from Subway for lunch???

Tomorrow, I work 4-close, then off Friday.  Thank god....I need a break from being on my feet!  Here's hoping tomorrow's shift goes well; it's supposed to rain.

Day 43:
Work was steady tonight, since the rain broke in the afternoon, and was gone by the time I arrived.  We were extremely busy from maybe 4:30-6, esp when the guys from last night showed up again, and I had to take payment by phone.  THEN, they wanted seven sheets of plywood to be picked up Friday.  I arranged for it,then told them I'd double-check that it would be ready when they arrived.  (I forgot...)  THEN they decided to pick up the entire thing Friday, so Aggie had me fill out the 'pick up later' sticker and put her initials on it.  I shoved it behind the counter; they left; and so did the majority of the customers.

Tiffany relieved me for break, and when I came back, did my closing duties and rang up the stray customer here and there.  Tiff called to say that a couple who were having wire cut were authorized 10% off, and when it was finally ready, I needed an override.  Ag came down and the night progressed.  The sky grew darker, and around 8pm, opened up with a deluge, just as we had a small 'rush'.

Jen's hubby DH came in, and as I was ringing him up, I told him, "Your youngest is in love with my granddaughter."

"He's a charmer; Jen says he gets it from me."

He also told me the fire to his business last year was ruled an accident of unknown causes, so he's just doing construction jobs out of his house.  He lost nearly $200K in tools AND 6 Harleys in the fire.

The only closers tonight were myself, Tiff, and Sacred, so no sodas were filled in Lumber.  Hope I'm not blamed for it, since I turned in mine!

Found our Tuesday night thief; he's the same guy who ONLY buys our ripped backs of concrete; I told Darren I suspected him of ripping the bags himself.  I also managed to write down his license plate # (420SC) AND took a picture of him with his golf cart/truck.  As soon as I can upload the photo, I'll post it here.

As stated, I'm off tomorrow, so come back for the weekly Flashback:)  See you back here on Saturday, when I'll be in Lawn and Garden (fun, fun.)

Day #44-Front
I got a reprieve!  I had worn my dark blue hoodie, plus had taken my red hooded zip-up, only to be told they needed me up front!  So spend the entire shift on Reg 13, until 8pm, when A moved me to Reg 9.  It poured all afternoon, then tapered off, but customers still braved the weather and high 50 degree temps.

Had to go out and retrieve carts; I tried to get out of it, but AMgr Scott pulled the 'I'm-the-manager-and-I-can't-push-carts-because-I-had-surgery-on-my-elbow' guilt.  Pulled my sweatshirt hood up and helped bring in several carts, plus a cart for the Lumber area.  Scott kidded me about it later.

"You didn't melt!"

"No, but if I start sneezing and running a fever, I'm blaming YOU."

"That's not how you get sick..."

"I know that; I'm just giving you some shit."

NONE of my customers set off the theft detection system tonight!  Happy dance!!!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and I'm scheduled to be in LG all day.  So see you later on Sunday or Monday, for Life As A Red Vest, Week #7.

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