How do you feel today?

[Phantasm]

Uuuuugh, upset stomach - thank God for loperamide.

[Krazy Kat]

I've just spent the morning worrying about Camerman Jenn. YES, YOU! miss Jenn Jenn!

I agree with those cops that stopped you. You really must get a crash-helmet. You just can't tell what might pull out in front of you, or what debri might be on the road that escapes your notice.

So next pay-cheque get yourself a helmet, and if possible...

Oh, and while you're at it, you should get some elbow and knee pads with that helmet

...besides, you can always keep the helmet on until you reach your apartment. It could be useful for headbutting creeps in elevators!

[aliantha]

Feel better soon, Phantasm!

I am cross-eyed right now. I've been knitting all freaking day. I finished most of the work on another sweater last night (yes, I made *another* sweater! Where's Matrixman when we need him to make fun of me? ) except for the trim on the neckline. I could have done something easy like four or five rows of ribbing and been done in an hour, but oh no, ali's gotta get fancy. I said to myself, "Self," I said, "let's put a shawl collar on this thing. I've never done a shawl collar before, and the sweater's kinda plain. Maybe it will be fun." Oh yeah, it's fun all right, if you like short rows. I've been working on it for *hours* and I still have 19 rows to go. I'll never make *that* mistake again....

[Seareach]

I'd make fun of you, Ali, in memory of MM...but...well...now I'm all sad wondering where he is. <sigh>

Which reminds me (segueway here): remember those socks you bought me in Denver? I finally had to accept they were far too holey so they've "gone to God" (so to speak. They're actually now in my little box of US stuff).


As for my day: my back is playing up. Driving me nuts! Got an impossible work deadline so dosing myself up on pain killers...and then procrastinating because the codeine fries my brain and so I can't concentrate/function/think. Grrrrrr!!

[Avatar]

Uh...yeah Jenn...helmet. A full face one too. GF's father dropped his bike in a open-face...now's he's got no teeth, and two big dents in his head where they had to drill into his skull to relieve the pressure...

--A

[aliantha]

I'm glad to hear you appreciated the socks, Sea!

[AjK]

I may be providing outdated information so if others are more informed please correct me. Despite (or maybe because of) many years of riding a bicycle everywhere I have never ridden a motorize bike of any kind. However I do have a friend who is a long time (35+ years) motorcyclist. His word of caution regarding bike helmets is that the vast majority of them are not capable of preventing head injury in crashes occurring at speeds of 15 mph or more. Regardless of the accuracy of his statement it would still be a good idea to do your homework before you decide on a specific helmet.

[Cameraman Jenn]

Don't worry. I'll be getting a new helmet. Thing about the full face ones is that motorcycle helmets limit visibility and take for granted that you have rear view mirrors. The scooter doesn't. I lose too much side vision to feel comfortable or safe in a full helmet on that scooter. Not only do they limit vision but they limit my ability to turn my head all the way to the left or right. Also keep in mind that while I am zipping around SF, I rarely get it up to full speed because I am hindered by lights and traffic during the day and at night there's hardly any traffic so the things I have to worry about most are not mowing down drunk/stoned/tweaking pedestrians stumbling out into the street trying to get the attention of their dealer or pimp. Also, the Emeryville stretch I ride has wide bike lanes all the way which is nice. I've had three moments in which I have had to stop quickly. Two were similar above mentioned pedestrian moments and one was an a-hole in a prius who decided it would be a good idea to slam on the brakes and hit reverse without looking so that they could back up one third of a block to nab parking in a commercial zone even though they did not have commercial plates. Even in those given situations I am very aware of all the cars etc. on the road and I am a very cautious driver with quick reflexes. Also, keep in mind that part of my job for the past ten years has been to take cars with known issues out on the road and try to recreate the symptoms so that they can be more accurately diagnosed, situations such as intermittent brake failure etc. I am very calm and in control when I am driving a vehicle of any kind. I also know it's not my driving that I should be worrying about but the driving of others, that is why I make sure to give plenty of room and berth while on the road. I am not one of those guys who sneaks up the middle between two lanes of traffic to beat the light. If I feel the driver behind me is driving too close or aggressively I'll pull over and let them pass. I play it safe as I can.

On other notes, it was a long but productive day. I had fun teasing one of my cashiers. I had bought one of those single serving pringles chips containers for a snack and I opened it and there was not a single whole chip in the can. Later, when Kristen was stocking the candy and chips I teased her by saying, "You know, Kristen, you are not supposed to go like this before you place the pringles on the shelf." while miming extremely violent shaking actions. She looked at me and paused a second and then laughed and swore it wasn't her. I told her, "I think it's you so I'll be watching you." Then did the two finger eyes on you gesture. She was laughing. Crystal had overheard the conversation and was laughing too. Later when Crystal was going to lunch I told her to check first and make sure Kristen wasn't over there shaking the pringles. Then later I asked Kristen if she could start the go backs and she said not right now because she was busy shaking the pringles. Then at the end of the night I told her, "Make sure when you are recovering the front end that you give those pringles an extra hard shake, I want my next can to be dust, not scraps but pringle dust." Then after that I said, "I want to play a new game with you guys, Kristen, tell me something you did today that you think was your best work today." She asked if I meant customer service or in general. I told her in general, whatever came to mind first. She told me about helping a woman gather things on school lists for the woman's charity group for kids in need. I said, "Fabulous, one bravo card for you." She said, " I like this game." I'm going to play it from now on. I like making them tell me something they feel they did well during the day. It gives them ownership and motivates them to impress me. Win/win if you ask me.

I also got my workout today. I was a maniac on freight and then I stocked all the cases in the paper depot so I made the stacks of cases of paper that you guys see when you visit stores. I was again a maniac and my co-worker Mary was like, "Oh dear lord you make that look so easy." I said, "I've had a lot of experience slinging tires and other heavy stuff so I know my body mechanics but I am breaking a sweat now and it will only get worse as I continue to deal with these pallets." I got every paper stocked that we had and all the cases out on pallets that we had room for. I am going to be sore tomorrow. I even managed to empty an old pallet and make room for it on the floor. While I was slinging ten ream cases around, a customer came up and asked me where to find something which I can't even remember, so I stopped and helped him and then ran into him again about fifteen minutes later when I was running to get stuff out of lockup for the cashier and at the end of his visit he said, "They work you hard here, don't they?" I laughed and said, "It's all good, at least I am employed." and I meant it.

[Seareach]

crap day. friend now on remand until late next month (until next court hearing). Done for trafficking dope and also magic mushrooms (which have been prolific around here over the last couple of months). Had other drugs on his possession (but enough only for a possession charge). The quantity of mushies he had will be enough to put him away for a couple of years. He's a good bloke. Messed up and all there rest but a good bloke none-the-less...and such dip-sh*t for thinking that going down this road was the best way to earn a quick buck.

[aliantha]

Sorry about your friend, Sea.

I am bemused today. A couple of days ago, going into the mini-kitchen on our floor, I noticed a wet patch of carpet. I assumed somebody dropped a cup of coffee there or something and went on. Yesterday morning, I noticed the wet patch was still there, and it was bigger, and the overnight cleaning crew had left one of those "careful, wet floor!" signs on top of it. It was about then when I realized there must be a leak coming from the under-counter icemaker, which is quite close by. So I e-mailed our maintenance people. They sent a guy with a shop-vac, which was, of course, pretty much useless.

Today, I see, the wet spot is even bigger. Somebody has positioned a fan next to it. The "careful, wet floor!" sign is still there.

I wonder how long it's going to take before they admit defeat and call a plumber.

[lucimay]

LOL!! that sounds like the toaster oven story!

back in Lex i was chefing at a pub that served english fare and i asked the quite ditzy owner if she could go out and buy me a six slot toaster.
just woulda made things easier than the 2 slotter i'd been workin with.
(you know, more pieces of toast at once means i can make more BLTs
at the same time therefore serving more customers more quickly-like,
right?)

next day peggy comes in with a toaster oven. and not a very big one
at that. a deal at the Target she says!

i'm all like...well...yeah...i can work with this AND the 2 slot toaster and
i can do pastry tops with the toaster oven too...but....it would REALLY
be helpful if i had just a regular toaster with six slots. they sell em at
the restaurant supply place where you get the paper products, i told her.

next day she comes back from the restaurant supply place with...you got it...an even LARGER toaster oven and no toaster.

so at that point i had a two slot toaster, a small toaster oven, and a big toaster oven.

i thought i'd try one more time and says to flakey peggy that the world would be a lovelier place if i only had a bigger toaster.

next day she brings me her OWN toaster oven from home.

i gave up.

[aliantha]

Luci --

Usually the facilities people here are on the ball. I dunno why they're having trouble with the concept of "carpet continuously wet = plumbing leak somewhere nearby"....

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: The plumber's here. My faith in our facilities people is restored.

[I'm Murrin]

You'd think I've be more bothered about my World of Warcraft account being compromised, 30,000 gold and all my gear taken. Ah well, shit happens.

Running a virus scan and it looks like my Java is full of viruses.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I don't know what it is with delivery carriers in my neighborhood. Remember back when I got my scooter and the fed ex guy just left it in the freaking hallway? Well, I have some stuff ordered, not expensive and it was coming ups. The ups driver would not let Jorge sign for it even with my note that it was ok so now I have to truck over to the ups store on 16th and san bruno to get my stuff. I have five days. I happen to be working those five days. Very frustrating.

Luci, Ali, I too am constantly amazed at the perceptions of people when it comes to efficiency.

Sea, that totally sucks about your friend.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I had a frustrating day. I am seriously about to throttle a co-worker. Today I am hauling a printer up and going to stop at the furniture pad to grab a laptop tray desk for another customer, both of which are waiting at the register for me. My tech guy asks me to unlock the tech bench. I ask Chai to do it and she says she is with a customer, her usual response since she can only handle one thing at a time and even that is questionable. I get back on the headset and say, "Ok Phil, I am currently bringing up a printer for one customer and getting a tray desk for another so I will swing by on my way up to the front registers and unlock the tech bench before I jump on and back up the cashier so give me a few minutes." I finally make it back to receiving and Mary and Zainab tell me that was awesome and that they were in hysterics laughing. They have both given up trying to get Chai to multitask or even be remotely helpful but apparently they love my sarcastic efforts to prove a point. Unfortunately I think it went completely over Chai's head.

Anyone know how to teach someone to multitask? or even just task better? Or to pull their head out once every few weeks? About an hour after that Chai asks if we have any of the cases of bottled water advertised in the flyer. I happened to be in freight with Mary and Zainab again so I say, "I got this one." I get on the mike and say, "Why yes, Chai, there is an entire pallet full, stacked eight high on the endcap just to the side of school supplies." We are gearing up for the monster back to school rush and crazy sales and she has no clue where anything is in the store. I found out that one of the dps people went to our boss on Tuesday, nearly in tears, about her frustrations with Chai. She and the other dps person are on the verge of quitting because of her. I tried to give her slack but she's been in that position for FOUR months and still can't even order double sided business cards or set it up in the system. I had to show her today. This is basic ASSOCIATE stuff, not MANAGER stuff. It's ridiculous.

[danlo]

Getting my weird uni-boot wound-cast off today-yea! No hot and itchy anymore, most of my leg has healed itself, still not totally pretty. Off all meds and off to walk Thor before it gets too hot. (made an insane last second trade in Fantasy Baseball [Michael Young for Cliff Lee, if you follow such things]-could either get me the championship or throw me down the crapper-sil (such is life) c-lv...)

[Avatar]

Good news Danlo.

I had a good day, dyed my mohawk bright red.

And since this month I've been at my new job for a year, I got my increase, which was a great one.

--A

[Spiral Jacobs]

I'm tired. My son came home from the hospital a week ago, but he's in a cast (left leg to the ankle, right leg to the knee) so he has to be carried everywhere. He also has trouble going to sleep and wakes up pretty early, because of his hospital experiences.
And then there's my 3 weeks old daughter, you can imagine what her sleeping pattern is like .
In short...tired.

[Spiral Jacobs]

I had a good day, dyed my mohawk bright red.

Mohawk?

[Menolly]

I had a good day, dyed my mohawk bright red.

Mohawk?

From the Watch's album, although I had to load it to my photobucket, since I can't get pictures in the album to work with

I hope you are able to get some decent rest soon, SJ. Any chance of some respite care for you and your wife to grab some alone time overnight anytime soon?