From The Stupid Files: Y7, W 14

 Day 45: Memorial Day Cool, high 60s; 70 t/a

ASM: Alex

HC: Austin, Kaitlyn

Loaders:  DS Charlie, ASM Ian, Kaleb

1) Pro K was trying to sign a woman up for the MLR but her phone wasn't receiving the texts, and when she scanned the QR code, she didn't know her Apple PW. So then Kath sent it to her email successfully, but when creating a PW, she used one of the item # on the flyer 'so she'd remember it'.  This entire transaction (just to get a Blackstone grill at the member price!) took over an hour.  Some people (over a certain age, maybe???) should not be allowed to use mobile apps.

2) Customer bought a French door, then discovered they couldn't get it in their truck. ASM Ian decided to refund/rebill and set it up for delivery. BUT, the earliest delivery could get it to them was Wednesday, and they needed it today.  Plan C was to cut several boards and create a platform. Fine; but THEN they discovered the door was missing a part. By this time, they were 2 hours in. The guy decided to go CUT the part off another door, but was stopped in time.  DS Charlie simply swapped out the door, and the customer left....after nearly 3 hours.

3) Management ordered Domino's Pizza for us, and the fresh ones arrived as my 1st break was over. Opted to eat a fresh hot slice and extend my break by 5 mins.

4) Marilyn was with me until 6, and we weren't that busy, until she left. I wasn't exactly slammed, but was steady until 7. HC Austin sent me to lunch, then only had 12 t/a while I was gone.

5) Something happened at the Holiday Inn; after 10, several fire trucks and police arrived.  Hope I find out, and that no one was hurt.

Outfit:  White God Bless The USA tee, faded jeggings, thin gold hoops

Day 46: Cool, low 70s; 16 t/a

ASM:  Maria

HC: Kayla

Loader:  DS Charlie (Conrad called in)

1) Came in at 7pm b/c apparently no one else was willing to come in. Same is true for tomorrow; Schedule had nobody closing in LG or ASCO; just Kay and Dawson!  I have to take Ned to Washington tomorrow, then meet Sara in Princeton at Maurice's at 4.

2) Customer asked if I could add his electrical and countertops to his VSP; I said we'd try; I'd never added to an existing VSP before. But when he arrived, he only had the countertops, totalling less than $600. Asked him about the cabinets; he said he'd changed his mind and would pay for them later.

3) I arrived at 7, and Dawson hadn't pulled trash, collected the paperwork, or even swept yet.

Outfit:  White Valspar tee, faded jeggings, neutral danglies

Day 47: Cool, mid-70s; 17 t/a

ASM:  Shannon

HC:  Kayla

Loaders:  Brighton (final day), Joe

1) Woman asked if we had any swings, and then asked where Aisle 25 was.  I told her the other end.  She then asked if we had them any other place; I looked it up and no, only in Aisle 25. Then she asked if it was on the left or the right!  Told her right, then after she walked away, I asked Kay if I was speaking English.  A customer happened to walk up at that time, overheard me, and laughed.

2) Watched ASCO while Kait was on a break, and 1st customer had a gift card to buy.  No problem. 2nd customer had the wire on the other register; I said I'd ring them up over there.  Things were fine until I notice a friend of mine needing help. I ran over to help; the machine ate their $20 and wouldn't take the 2nd.  Called HC Kay, then went back to customer #2, and finished them out. Kait arrived; customer #4 wanted a pallet of mulch.  Called OSLG to find out how many was on a pallet, and got him rung up.  Then Kay arrived, tore the machine apart, and discovered their $20 bill crumpled up like an accordian!  I rant them up on #6, then went to do soda count.

3) After gathering the soda, and putting #5 and 6 away, I pushed the cart to Lumber and asked Dawson if he wanted to do soda or clean. He chose to start gathering the trash and sweeping. After the soda was filled, I sanitized the registers, coffee bar, and counters.

4) I'd arrived at 7 again, and while Dawson had gathered the paperwork, he hadn't consolidated the trash yet.

Outfit:  Black eclipse tee, faded jeggings, eclipse earrings

Regular shift tomorrow!

Day 48: Cloudy; low 70s; 85 t/a

ASM:  Shannon

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Kaleb, Peyton

1) Hadn't even clocked in when Bob called my name and told me I'd be covering Millwork, Electrical, and Plumbing, including the Pro Desk!  HA!

2) Had a couple of entitled customers.

3) Learned we have a 'cashier' named Quanita, who apparently can't read or count, so she's been relegated to flower watering.  My question was, who filled out her app?  How did they hire her for this position?

Outfit:  Gold tee, faded jeggings, thin gold hoops

Day 49:  Cloudy, low 70s; 114 t/a

1) Had a shadow until 5:30; she used to work at Big Lots

2) Had an online return that wouldn't go through; had to send him to CS.

3) Didn't get sent to lunch until 8; then was sidelined by a customer needing help in Lights. Was supposed to go at 6:30, and was hoping for Thainamite.

4) Was uncommonly busy!  Didn't even get to do my LU.

Outfit: Yellow Fla tee, faded jeggings, sea horses

Off for the weekend!

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W13

Day 40:  Mostly sunny, low 80s, with late rain; 79 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Austin

Loader: Bright, Joe

1) Eric Moore was in, buying a LOT of clearance items; Kim J rang him up and it was after 5 before he left. Teased him about cleaning out the clearance aisle!

2) Bright thanked me for the GC and hugged me.

3) Saw TDS as I was going to lunch, and chatted for 5 mins.  Matt's getting married next month!  Still no mention of Gretchen's daughter....

4) Brayden knocked over my tumbler and BENT my straw.

5) Sold Brandon V the torn 10lb bag of concrete for $.50!

6) Discovered ASM Chris B is going to retire soon.

7) ASM Alex asked why I had a padlock on my lunchbox.....then was shocked when I told him WHY.

Outfit:  Blue MyLowesRewards tee, long capris, small gold textured hoops

Day 41: Chilly, 60s; 95 t/a

ASM:  Shannon

HC:  Austin

Loader: DS Charlie

1) Customer wanted to swap out a battery, but we were out of that model, so when I went to refund/rebill, it for whatever reason didn't recognize his card, and when I offered store credit, he refused, then got angry and stormed to CS.

2) DS Charlie went to lunch; Joe was a no-show (found out later he's getting a heart monitor and will be out for a few days); everyone needed help.

    -Cust needed drywall.

    -Cust had 3 carts of lumber

    -Cust had an online order of lumber.

Ended up called Brayton down to help.

3) #1 was out of $1s, $5s, and $10s; HC said he'd get to it soon.  Never did; at 6, I gave up and stayed on #2.

4) Delivery driver wasn't sure where to go, even after I told him 3 times.

5) ASM Shan caught Brayton goofing off.

6) Sydney and I had to go bring in all the carts before we could leave. There was one LG cart; about 10 regular carts, and maybe 4 lumber ones.

Outfit:  Black/white shirt, dark jeggings, black danglies

Off tomorrow, to drive to Lafayette with DIL and granddaughters to see G'ma Sally and get the race tickets for Kyle and Dalton.

Day 42:  Sunny, low 70s; 94 t/a

ASM:  Shannon

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Brighton, DS Charlie, Kaleb

1) Customer who spoke little English ordered 75 boards.

2) At 6:30, had to call Bright up to help with the line; I had a customer who had a phone order.

3) Had a customer with an expired tax exempt account; sent them to CS to straighten it out.

4) Customer left 3 plants at #2 and never returned.

5) Card reader quit working; saved invoice and hopped to Pro Kath's register; everything worked. Returned to #1 for next customer; no issues with the card reader. Weird.

6) Customer returned a lot of wood, plus insulation. Three bundles were past the 90 day return policy; they had had it delivered to their house, and had a friend bring it back then leave. They had no way to get it back home. Sent them to CS to talk to ASM Shannon,

7) When the new HC-in-training, Isaac, arrived to send me to lunch, I was dealing with #6, then had a line. Stuck around until it cleared; hubby arrived with 3 lunchables, but I only kept two.  Put the other in fridge with 'free to good home' written on it.

Outfit: Blue/white tee, Crew neck Cabela's sweatshirt, dark jeggings, double heart danglies

Day 43:  Rare Sat; Rendezvous; partly cloudy, high 60s; 92 t/a

ASM:  Shannon

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  DS Charlie, Bright, Conrad, Jax

1) Both Dawson and I were in Lumber.  He went to break at 4, and I was slammed.  I took my break at 5, he was busy, but not excessively.

2) Customer brought his cart back in, placing it right in the center of the aisle.

3) Customer returned plexiglass; pushed it behind the Pro desk.

4) Customer had black iron fittings; kept flipping them over with the bar code on the bottom, AND did this by the card reader. I finally had enough of it and picked it all up amd moved it closer.

5) I was only scheduled til 8:30, so while Dawson was covering a lunch at CS, I swept, mucked the mats, and pulled trash. At 8:30, I took the returns back and clocked out at 8:50.

Outfit:  Gray IN tee, dark jeggings, small gold hoops

Went to Denny's with Derek and his crew.   I was starving!

Alex is now with us for the summer and we'll see what happens in October.

Day 44:  Rare Sun Indy 500 Day; 83 t/a

ASM: Alex

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Kaleb, DS Charlie, Charles

1) Syd left at 5 and the crowd arrived

2) Customer blocked me with a cart

3) Customer blocked me with a cart of wood

4) Customer tried to get free batteries with a Craftsman, not Dewalt for free

5) Had an entitled customer

6) Saw TDS!!!!  Joked around with him and J.

7) Learned 'Tito's real name; Queny (Kenny) Issario

8) Saw Aaron, my loader from last year!!

9) Card reader quit; had to reboot

10) There were no Zebras; had to use Syd's

11) HC A took tax exempts; 5 mins later, had another t/e customer!

12) DS Charlie bought me a Bueno bar:)

13) Had 2 customers after we closed.....the day I wanted to be done on time!

Outfit:  Rendezvous outfit, double pearls

Day was also a huge frustration point, b/c all month long I'd heard I would be able to watch the race on the Fox app FOR FREE....was able to watch online until NOON, when it quit. Downloaded the Fox 59 app on the TV, but they were showing the 5-8am stuff.  Gave up and went over to Rendezvous.....where they were out of both Chix and Dumplings AND the stuffed mushrooms!  Ate 3 hot dogs.

Came home and was able to watch the pre-race traditions, the start, and the first 6 laps on YouTube, then the display said to watch the rest on the app.  Will try again tomorrow.

I DO know Alex Palou won:)

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W12

Day 35: Rainy, high 60s; 96 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Kayla

Loaders: Joe, Peyton, Kaleb, Conrad

1) Customer licked his chip to clean it!

2) Customer's card wouldn't work; he finally answered the fraud alert, and then it worked.

3) Register went blank on me twice

4) Ran out of $1s and $5s

6) After lunch, I discovered someone had TP'd the handicapped stalls.

Outfit:  Red 'Sarcasm' tee, faded jeggings, thin gold hoops

Day 36: Rain, low 70s; 78 t/a

ASM: Chris

HC: Austin

Loaders: DS Charlie, Conrad

1) Eric Moore; heckled me while I rang him up. At one point, Pro Kath said we sounded like an old married couple!

2) Zebra wouldn't log me in

3) Zebra wouldn't load the Driver's License app; had to log out and log in on another device.

4) Ran out of $1s; would be on #2 for cash sales.

5) Customer reeked of pot

6) Had to explain the 40% discount for this week.

Outfit:  Blue LU tee, faded jeggings, thin gold hoops

Day 37: Sunny, low 80s; 84 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC: Austin

Loaders: DS Charlie, Joe

1} Tate had a tax exempt that didn't take

2) Customer's card refused; I saved the invoice; he returned a few mins later and had taken some items off.

3) Associate (male) didn't turn on his light; I was sweeping the floor (light was on!); customer approached him instead.

4) Customer interrupted himself 5 times; 5 half-sentences.

5) Nearly asked a customer if I could 'introduce' him to the Scrub Daddy, instead of 'interest'.

6) Customer was looking for CLAY vinyl fence; noticed the GRAY was similar; I invented a new color....GLAY!

7) While I was at lunch, Bray had only 2 customers; when I returned, had 2 customers in 10 mins.

Outfit:  Spare parts tee, long capris, small gold textured hoops.

Off tomorrow, for a trip to Lafayette:)

Day 38: Hot, mid 80s; 73 t/a

ASM: Chris

HC: Austin, Katelyn

Loaders: Brighton, Kaleb

1) Due to an unforseen detour, I was half an hour late getting to work. The ramp to I-74 was closed, so had to turn around at the 1st Danville, IL exit.

2) Didn't get to go to lunch until 8:15.

3) Cesar logged me out of my Zebra right before I went to lunch.

Otherwise, the evening was pretty good. Never got any rain, though TH and Sullivan was hit with golfball-sized hail.

Outfit: Vancouver Aquarium tee, long capris, sea horses

Off tomorrow!

Day 39: Rare Sun, Sunny, 80s; 99 t/a

ASM:  Alex

HC:  Kayla

Loader:  Brighton

1) Customer told me he missed me; the other woman was sassy.  "I sass you all the time...."  "Yes, but you're sweet."  Awwwwweeeee....

2) Customer tried to look up her card, but the connection was bad.

3) Dawson never took his returns back last night; I returned everything.

4) Final customer left at 8:15.

From The Stupid Files: Y7, W11

Day 31:  Rain, high 50s; 100 t/a

ASM:  Maria

HC:  Austin

Loaders: Jax, Conrad, Joe

1) We were very short-staffed; all the CS called in, as did our Garden cashier.  Joked Shelby and I hadn't gotten the memo!

2) Customer wanted to do a phone sale, but couldn't get the person on the phone.  Ended up saving the invoice while he kept trying to make contact, and rang up the others. Finally the person answered the phone, and it was taken care of.

Outfit: Ash gray IN sweatshirt, fuzzy sweater tee, new dark jeggings, small gold hoops.

Day 32: Warmer, high 70s; 65 t/a

ASM:  Chris

HC: Austin

Loaders:  Jax, Bright, Joe, Conrad

1) Was called in to help cover breaks; Switched places with Dawson.

2) Had 4 loaders????  WOW!

3) Customer returned insulation, but the return tab showed a different screen. Finally, Emma figured it out.

4) D came in just as Dawson sent me to break.

5) Customer had over $2K in purchases; said he was a Pro, but no phone #. Couldn't run it through VSP.

Outfit: Blue sequined tee, new dark jeggings, crystal 'tear' danglies

Day 33: Warmer, sunny, mid-70s; 85 t/a

ASM: Chris

HC:  Austin

Loaders:  Jax, Joe

1) Plywood had no tag; customer brought me another tag.

2) Shingles: Barcode was faded; had to search for several mins for right color.

3) Customer kept insisting she had a 'business account', then I figured out it was tax exempt. She kept telling me to look under the business name; finally found it under advanced search; the phone # wasn't the correct one. Then she wanted a pick up later, and was able to use her own phone # for that.

4) Irate customer b/c we paged 5 times for someone to help him in plumbing, but no one came. Loader Joe went with him to help out, and he was happier. ASM Chris was covering 4 departments, plus helping Fulfillment.

Outfit: Gray 3/4 sleeve hooded sweatshirt, faded jeggings, diamond flowers,

Off tomorrow, for Creative Market:)

Day 34:  Warmer, high 60s

ASM:  Alex

HC: Kaitlyn

Worked at ASCO from 3-9

1) Little old lady wanted me to check her out AND put her $$ in for her.

2) Customer had wire, then moved their cart; turned out they had a LOT more!  HC Sonia helped out at ASCO, since Halle was in Garden.

3) At 9pm. I went out with Brayden to get carts.....and there was a lot of 'em. Made at least 3 trips with regular carts; made 2 trips with the Lumber carts, and one with a Garden cart.  Went to the training room and did my LU, then clocked out around 9:45.

Outfit:  Brown blouse, faded jeggings, neutral danglies

Came home and pissed off the spouse when I informed him Nan and I were off to Branson in the morning.  Threw everything in the past 30 years in my face, calling me a selfish, manipulative b**ch and forget about giving me any help toward my medical bill; if I could afford a $200 trip to Branson, then I could catch up the $300 payment myself. Fine. Nobody's complaining, and I ASKED HIM if he wanted to go FIRST!

Yes, I have ZERO guilt about this trip. It's something I've always wanted to do, and I've saved my $$ to do this.  I'm sorry if that makes me selfish.  I've NEVER talked HIM out of doing anything he wanted to do. But by all means, call me selfish for taking a 24-36 hour trip out of town.  It's Mother's Day weekend; be happy I'm not asking you to take me out to eat or get me flowers!