Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside

Trying to find work is a depressing thing. I'm lucky that I already have a job, but on Monday, when the new store manager arrives, I think I will be stepping down from my position and asking for a transfer to another store. I'm so tired of being bullied by my manager, that I don't even want to be near her anymore.

Oh well. I'll keep applying for other work. I haven't received a rejection letter from the last place, yet, but then I only applied a day or two ago.

Ho hum, I do think life is very dreary sometimes.

I am cold, so cooold. This winter thing is the pits without central heating. Gee, I'm just a sook XD But seriously, my fingers look all wrinkly from lack of blood flow. I don't know where my blood has gone, but it's not in my fingers. Work was freezing as well. Didn't help that I had to keep going in and out of the cool-room to put tickets up, pull tickets down, etc etc ad nauseum. I can do without working in a giant fridge kthx.

I've been supervising the self-serve checkouts for a few hours the last couple of days. MY GOD! People are fricken idiots! Seriously, no-one listens!! The machine has a screen, on which an error message appears, there's also an automated voice telling you that the error has happened, quite a loud voice, too! And do people listen/read? Of course not, they continue trying to scan the loaf of bread a billion times. This wouldn't be so bad if it were one customer at a time, but there are five self-serve registers, and I have to look after all of them at once, so there will be at least two people at any one time doing something like the above.

Anyway, yeah, I'm glad it's only for this week, I don't think I could handle the stress if I knew I had to do it every day. Stupid customers, and that's not an insult, that's a fact. Which reminds me, I love working in liquor! I get stupid customers, but only every now and again, and most everyone is great.

Brrr, my fingers are going to fall off!

I am -not- allowed to look for rental properties. Not not not. Not until I finish flat-sitting, anyway. *hides eyes*

I have a new keyboard and mouse, how very exciting.

Work continues to go well. I'm learning what I can, and I'm more determined than ever that I don't want to do this sort of work forever. But yes, learning = good, and hopefully will give me a few more skills to take away from the place that will hopefully be considered useful elsewhere.

The customers are great for the most part. Because the centre where my shop is is still being built, we have a whole heap of tradies coming in after work to buy their slabs of beer on payday, and a couple of cans otherwise. They're mostly harmless, except we suspect a few of them are pinching rtd's when no-one's watching. Two of them have been causing trouble to the night-staff as well, but they're pretty much sorted now, which is nice.

And I'm sure everyone, in Australia at least, has heard about the new rtd tax? To sum up, the tax on 'ready-to-drink' drinks, or as the media likes calling them these days, 'alcopops', has been increased to something like 70% It's kind of ridiculous, and I can see where they're coming from, yes, they are attractive to kids, and I don't agree with the marketing of them at all. But the tax is just -stupid-. It'll make some sort of a difference, but I can't imagine it being effective in slowing down binge-drinking. Already our sales of rtd's has slumped, and the sales on straight spirits has increased. It's cheaper just to buy a 700ml bottle, right? Along with a couple of litres of soft-drink, and you've got yourself a situation in which a lot more alcohol is being ingested with a lot less chance of someone being able to count how many 'standard' drinks they've had.

Ah well, that's my point of view, and Rudd's not going to listen to me, not while his government are getting so much money from this community minded tax (hah).

Customers remain to be the best part of this job. There's one guy who comes in every day to buy a teeny tiny bottle of wine, "Just enough for one glass", another lady who has been told by her doctor that she needs to drink two glasses of red wine a day "For my cholesterol". My version of events of course has her telling the doctor that she's heard red wine is good for the heart, and does he think she ought to drink two glasses a day? He, no doubt, couldn't get a word in edgeways, and she's gone home with a perfect excuse to be an absolute sot. Seriously, she buys a 4 litre cask every two days or so.

Another lady thinks I know everything in the world there is to know about wine, which is flattering, but I'm mainly just inventing half of it. "Oh yes, that's my Dad's favourite wine" is a common lie, as is "It's very popular". The old Italian ladies who come in every now and again asking for lambrusco are lovely, particularly the one who goes on about how she used to drink it all the time when she was my age, and didn't know that you could buy it in Australia these days! She's really nice.

There are a whole lot more of them, but they're the ones who stand out at the minute. You're lucky I'm not going on about the mean'n nasty ones.
me: "How are you today?" *cheerful smile*
them: "cigarettes!" *refuses to look up or even pay attention to me*
me: *glowers and doesn't speak until they fuck off*

And that's about that. We've had professional thieves in, police in on account of the professional thieves, bottles of wine smashed, cans of beer exploded (which reminds me, I need to wash these pants, I don't fancy smelling of guinness for more than one day if I can help it), and... yes!
Goodnight.

I'm so tired. The last few days have just been spent working and sleeping. I'm sure I'll get into the swing of this full-time work thing eventually, it's just draining me at the moment.

And now I'm feeling sorry for myself, but you can assure yourselves that it's just because I'm over tired. I'll feel better tomorrow for sure. Especially once my seventh shift in a row is over with. I'm feeling a little disconnected from everything/one, and I sort of want to cry (maybe I shouldn't have watched the first half of Sleepless in Seattle :p) But again, sleep-deprived.

Give me hugs, people, I need them now XD I want to see friends, but I have little to no free time until next weekend, seeing as how I finish work everyday at six, and I only have a one day weekend this week, which no doubt will be spent cleaning and washing clothes for the next week.

I have to get up at 6.45 tomorrow. Ew.

Wow. New job. I'm completely stuffed XD

Apparantly Victoria is really the only place in Australia/the world who calls a police van a divvy van, what a shame, I totally thought it was a common thing.

Anyway, yeah, job. It was as busy as all get out, because it's a new store, so tons of people are just coming round to have a sticky beak, and perhaps buying something that they wouldn't usually buy as a result. Oh well, it's not a bad thing, the busier the store, the more I get paid, yay. I spent most of today putting tickets up for the new week's sales. Got most of them up. We sold a whole pallet of Penfold Grange, which is slightly ridiculous. The two things that struck me most today, a good 70-80% of customers are asian, and the people around Doncaster really like their wine. These two things make it a whole lot different to South Morang. There the most bought things were beer and pre-mixes.

I know that I'm working six days one week, four the next, but my hours aren't stable yet, and I think they'll be changing from day to day until things settle down into a routine. Tomorrow I'm working 12-8, same as I did today. My manager is Nick who seems very nice, and we'll be doing a rotating roster, so the week I do six days, he'll do four and vice versa.

I could so go a nap right now. Maybe I should go for a walk instead. Or maybe I'll just have one of the chocolates from the two boxes I got given last night. It was really sad to say goodbye to everyone, because they're really good people, and I'll miss them. I got given a really nice purse and flowers and chocolates from everyone, it was sweet. Ryan bought me a bunch of flowers and wrote his own card as well as putting in for the 'everyone' present, it was so sweet of him, he's a good kid.


I'm feeling positive at the moment. I'm getting rid of bad energy and being pro-active. It strikes me that I now realise what a waste the last few years have been for me, kind of a dead-time.

I'm content. And also looking at apartments to rent. Move out? Don't mind if I do.

Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!

I start on monday at midday. FINALLY I have confirmation, and it feels so so so sweet. I want to celebrate. I wish I went out more often XDDD


Ladida!! One more shift on Sunday night, and I'm gone!

Well, my job interview today went well. I think.

I'm kind of wary talking about it, because I might jinx it or something. It was a group interview followed by individual interviews, and I feel I did well in both.

I'll find out within a week if I'm successful or not. In the meantime, I have another interview on friday morning.

Haha. Had an absolute knob of a customer yesterday.

Told him his total, (he was buying a pack of cigarettes) and he started sorting change out, I start sorting it out so that it's easy to put in the till, and then, oops...

Me: I'm sorry, this is a Malaysian coin.

Him: ... So?

Me: We only accept Australian currency.

Him: *blusters and blames me for him not checking his change when it's given to him* Guess I'll have to go to Malaysia to spend it then. /sarcasm *leaves*


^____^

Well, I'm applying for a job in Canberra. Hope they like me! It's as a trainee manager at a supermarket. I've got the supermarket stuff down pat, I think that I'd be a good candidate!


Also, my plan for leaving, if I ever manage to get another job: Don't tell anyone I'm going until the last day. I'd rather have rumours floating around and not actually confirm or deny them, just ask 'Where did you hear that?' in an amused tone.

I know better than to be upset because no-one has contacted me about the job, not even to let me know that they received my application. But I am.

My biggest fear is that I've gone through all this for nothing. I handed the application to someone at the front desk, and he said he'd pass it on to the manager, but... did he? Did someone just toss it out, thinking it was rubbish? If that's what has happened, I think I'll cry, if only for the fact that I've stressed so much about it.

Oh well, it's just one job (ignoring the fuckload of other jobs I've applied for and never heard anything back from). There'll be others.

Also, I fear I am turning into a recluse.

Not a lot to update on.

Work tales: A little girl, stuffing a packet of m&m's into her pocket, and turning around to see me and Alison watching her... brilliant. She looked petrified before putting them back on shelf.

I got fooled on thursday by a lady with a dodgy cheque. It took forty minutes, and I was feeling so guilty, but I came in on saturday, and not only had it bounced, she came in on friday and tried to use another one. Apparently she's been in three or four times since then, and I got a phone call last night, asking me if I remembered her name, well, they said it to me, and it was her again! The nerve of some people.

The... second closest safeway to my store got held up the other night. The guy just told her to stand back and not to move while he leant over and took the cash from the till. Skeery. Glad it wasn't at my store. I don't know if he had a weapon or not. I have no idea what I would do in that situation. I'm enough of an idiot that I might try closing the draw. But seriously, there's around a maximum of $500 in notes in any draw at any time. That is not worth it. (Although in my eyes, nothing is worth becoming a criminal for).

Which brings me to the topic of T. The girl we fired because she was stealing phone credit from the store. Gah. I wish these kids would learn that it's not worth it. They gain, what? $300 profit? But at the same time, the gain a criminal record, because Safeway's not shy about prosecuting, and they lose their job, with the certainty that they won't get another part time job in any supermarket or fast food joint until they finish school, because I can't see anyone else hiring some kid who's likely to steal, not when there are twenty other kids who don't have a criminal record.


That's a bit sad, all of my news relates to work.

I'm seeing Phantom of the Opera again tonight :DDD Hooray!

I have a job interview tomorrow morning.

Pity that I can't talk.

*frets*

It's a customer service position, I'm sure I've talked about it before, answering phones for the main part, and I have no voice! How will that go down in an interview! I only hope that looking cheerful and trying my best to answer will show them that I am earnest in my desire to work. And I am, but only through constant thought of using the money to travel later on.

On money topics, filed my tax return for the year, three or four months later. I didn't even -do- last years one, oops. I'm guessing they owe me money or else they'd have caught up with me sooner. Seems a shame that I can't find my group certificate for that year, else I'd get that back as well.

What the frell do I wear? *frets about that*

Right, I think I have clothes organised, now I just need to wake up two hours before I leave so that I look presentable and not half dead like I feel.

*what the hell, frets some more*

I don't like interviews *whimpers*

Apparently I'm the only person who can do work in this house *glowers* I won't whinge though, because apparently it's unbecoming.

I spent the day cleaning, in between bouts of being disappointed in my lack of talent in most areas. And even if I can claim some degree of talent, it's so easily eclipsed by other people that it's not even worth mentioning in the end.

Sorry, I'm in a shit of a mood. Hopefully work makes it better. Actually, that's fairly unlikely, Sunday night was awful. Not specifically, just a generalised awfulness. Out of all the customers, I had none of my regulars, and pretty much all of them were sullen, non-talkative, rude. It just really gets you down when person after person is ignoring you, or being curt. I -like- being friendly to people, and after twenty or so of these customers, I lose my bright spark, I drawl out 'hihowareyou' without caring, and that in turn makes the customers continue to be bad. It's a cycle of negativity.

Anyway, tonight will be better, because I'm supervising and thus don't spend as much time serving. Thank goodness, more nights like Sunday will mean I need to take a break.

I left work, being all sick-like :(

I'm surprisingly upbeat, despite that. In fact, I've been really positive all week, I really like it. That sounds silly, I know, who doesn't like being happy, but I used to get a real perverse pleasure through abusing my mind and body. But it's a no-brainer, this sort of pleasure is so much better, and I don't end up hating myself, it's win-win!

But I'm still sick. Stupid dinner... stupid safeway for reducing food when it's near the use-by date instead of throwing it out.


*curls up*

Well that was one of the worser nights I've had to work :(

*curls up and sheds a few bitter tears*

I have to wake up in six hours, but I'm nowhere near ready to go to sleep yet. I'll just read some trashy fanfic and sip my tea until I am.


EDIT MORNING


I got four hours of sleep. That's better than nothing, right? I have to remind myself that people do worse jobs than I do all the time, and that they do a lot -more- work than I do all the time. But that doesn't make me any cheerier. I just want to lurk at the bottom of my bed for another ten hours and forget about work completely. If I could stop being on the verge of tears all the time, that'd help too.

So the last few days feel like they've been busy. Worked last night and dropped by at the staff christmas party where quite a few people were drunk and someone got arrested (just some random, not a staff-member which would have been awful, albeit hilarious)
Also doubled as a goodbye for Ben, good riddance. Have a lot more to say on that subject, but can't find the words.


Today. Nanna's in hospital again. This time it's some sort of infection. Not pneumonia, thank goodness, as she's had that twice before. She's in emergancy as I write, but will definately be admitted soon. Her temp was something like 48 degrees, which is a ridiculous number. She looked so frail. She's not meant to be frail. The Nanna I remember well was never lying in bed not able to talk to the people around her. I want everyone to meet her, I want everyone to know what an awesome person she is. I want the whole world to understand.

Why is it when things start going well that other things automatically start going bad?

Ah crap. I ought to be at work, apparantly. I thought I started at 5, not three. Well, bollocks to them, I'm turning up at 5. Yay for me. I got confused when Debbie told me I was doing 5-12 again tomorrow night. Um. Whinge whinge.

Getting rid of characters is slightly sad, but also at the same time, extremely liberating, it means I can concentrate a lot more on the characters that I -do- play and want to learn more about.

I really ought to be doing this with my own characters in my own stories, but I find I don't write a lot of personality-based stuff, people are merely vehicles for the story, which is why I give them names like Bean and Silly. They're not real people, I don't go into their background, the reasoning behind their actions, they are plot devices. Yay for actually sitting down and writing this out, I feel I understand a bit more about my own style of writing now.

Okay, off to launch these characters off into the great unknown.

Say byebye now!

So, wow. I have a saturday night free. Mum's going out to a dance, and I finish work at 2.45, I'd like to see people, but it probably won't happen, woes.

Have to get to sleep early tonight, since I have to wake up at 5 *chokes and dies* I didn't even know they came in a.m varieties.

Only four hours of customers tomorrow, that's great. Another example of customer suckage today at Northland's safeway "Hi, how are you?" "Horizon white thirties" What happened to responding to enquiries? This is one of my big peeves when talking to a customer, please respond to me, even if it's a 'alright thanks' does it hurt that much? Okay, so I 'have' to say it, but courtesy is always welcome.

Another thing, when I have my hand out, expecting that you're going to drop the money into it, don't bypass my hand and drop it on the counter, that's just rude, make me scrabble to pick them up like the lowly slave I am... bah.

In this circumstance, I have taken to giving their change back via the counter as well. If they have anything to say about it, I shall say that since they gave it to me in the same fashion, I just assumed that they would prefer I do the same.

Anyway. Work-rants. I haven't done one in a while, so you all have the pleasure.


LOOK AT MY ICON! it is of wonderfulness.

Hmmm, so tired. Tegan came round tonight for a visit, she hadn't seen our puppy Percy yet. It's great catching up with Tegan again, now that she's away from guys who don't like her seeing friends *cough*Aaron*cough* She's going to Hawaii! I'm so jealous.

Went into work today to have a 'chatette' with the managers Bec and Shannon, there's 5 people up for the cash office position that I put my hand up for. I hope I get it, should find out on monday or tuesday. Wish me luck! Hopefully I have the advantage over some of the others, they mentioned getting calls from people they didn't even know worked for safeway, and said 'Jennifer Freeman? who's she!' I know who Jenny is, she works nights, and she's lovely, but I'm glad that they don't know who she is, and that they know who I am.

If I get the position, I won't be looking forward to having to start at 5.30am.

Never thought I'd be happy to be known by name by the bosses. Shannon's pregnant, too ^____^ everyone seems to be pregnant these days. Must be the season for it.

Speaking of seasons, christmas is coming up. Hurrah? Ohnoes? One of them.

Actually, I like christmas. In the past I've gotten snooty about it and said, oh, it's just a huge corporate plot to make us spend money, but I do actually enjoy it. The christmas tree up, the christmas cake, the promise of seeing my family all together. I don't even mind working that much. The christmas carols get a bit much, especially when they start in november, but there's just a busyness about it all, I work more days, and don't do as much supervision. I'm feeling all sentimental about it at the moment, in a few weeks I'll be really over it.

And I need to make invitations, will get on that tomorrow *winks*

*Sighsighrevolution*

So I closed down my page before I actually updated. I can't be bothered typing it up again, especially if you consider that I should be in bed already.

This will have to do.
Goodnight.

And ouch, working 9-2 tomorrow. That's what I get when people ring me up begging and telling me they'll love me forever if I'll do the shift. Dammit, I don't want to work.

Oh, and mangoes are so good. I love summer so much, the sun, the beach, the fruit. Everything except for my gods forsaken lily white skin. I am not going to get burnt this summer, I do solemnly vow that I shall wear sunscreen, even when I'm going out at night.