An End of an Era

posted on: 2007-05-14 at 8:49:00 AM

Jebus... Where do I start?

Firstly: I want to hereby publicly announce that I am chalking up the past three months of my professional life as PURE ENTERTAINMENT. As I've written in prior blogs, and as some of you know from talking to me in real life .. the Computer "Mega Store" that I was hired on to be a manager for closed within the first four days of my working there.

Replace super-cool store Manager, Mike with Bob. Bob had bitch tits. WAIT NO, NO HE DID NOT HAVE BITCH TITS. THAT IS A LINE FROM A MOVIE. I'VE BEEN WAITING TO SAY THAT FOR MONTHS

Bob is the man in charge of the liquidation sale. He is one of the most interesting and bizzare people that I have ever had the pleasure to interact with. Bob is from Wisconsin. He is old(er) and has been in the retail-sales arena since the 1970s. I've been in sales for a long time -- and maybe it's as simple as old-school vs. new-school, but where I come from, being a successful salesperson equals being helpful, understanding, and caring. I think, possibly, the general intelligence of the average technology consumer has increased in the past decades -- and with the advent of the internet, getting specifications, price comparisons, reviews, etc. is second nature to most people.

You can't swindle most customers today. In the 1970s, you could -- and moreover, that was how salespeople thrived. Consumers didn't know what "solid state" or "high fidelity" meant because (unless their uncle was a Ham radio operator) that information was only spread via specialty magazines and "shop talk."

Bob's disposition is one of cynicism and pessimism. I find myself trying to "cheer him up" (as do the girls behind the counter .. which is another source of hilarity for me). He smiles often, but it seems to me he's just waiting for the next opportunity to hem-and-haw about something insignificant. I will cut Bob a break because his job is to deal with stores that are closing -- customer retention, referrals and overall customer satisfaction are not things that will necessarily serve him well. Also, making lasting relationships with those he works with has no lasting value, either.

Bob is a nomad.

It has been both grating and wholly entertaining to work in my closing store for the past few months. I have been serendipitously placed in the middle of the likes of Bob and his cronies, bright-eyed high-school kids, and the most overly-dramatic and rabble-rousing employees I've interacted with in a long time (which isn't a bad thing-- it takes a very comfortable and open workplace to allow such behavior).

So, I've been working amidst chaos. The store looks like an Alabama mobile-home park and I'm quite done with it. Today is the last official day there, and I am EFFING HAPPY. As I've said .. this is 100% entertainment for me. I have a few days of store clean-up ahead of me and then I start my new job (same company, different location). I cannot wait!

*SIGH* In other news, the spawn is awesome. He's kicking ass and taking names and as it's turning out to prove, he's quite the flirt. He loves people and he LOVES the women (I don't know whether to be proud or scared). He's four months old now and you can see TONS of pics in my pics section.

He had ear surgery last month and is now officially bionic in that he has tube implants. There was a significant amount of drainage which in most cases is bad, but in our case, is good because it shows that his hearing loss was probably due to some "leftover" gunk in his middle ear. Hopefully his hearing will increase significantly soon. We still have some more tests to go through to find out, though.

I'm going to hit level 58 in World of Warcraft soon and FINALLY make it to the Outlands. Before any of you reading this get angry at that last sentence, please realize that I've played that game since December of 2004. You do the math.

I'll catch you all up on the other facets of my miserable little life soon.

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

Labels: stress, work, WoW

posted by Carl | 2 Comments | Leave a comment

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HOME AT LAST!!!

posted on: 2007-01-16 at 6:29:00 PM

WOW... What an amazing week it has been! Oliver is now one week old .. and he is proving to be a very well-mannered baby! He's cooing and snorting with the best of 'em, and can't be too much cuter, to boot!

Angie and I were supposed to leave the hospital Saturday morning, but we were asked to stay late because Oliver lost too much weight (over 14% of his birth-weight) during the last few days of our stay. We were discharged officially, but given the room as a temporary place to hang out until the doctors felt comfortable with Oliver's weight.

I was SOOOOO READY to leave. Holy GOD! Five days (four nights) of sleeping on a hypo-allergenic cushion who's temperature control was a broken set of mini-blinds was not my cup of tea. BUT -- it was a fun stay nonetheless. The view was spectacular! Each of the Family Birth Center rooms at Legacy Emanuel have a view into the "Children's Garden," as well as many windows into other rooms across the veranda -- which proved to be a source of countless hours of entertainment for me. I also spent time wandering around the hospital at night. It is really cool to see how they run .. so orchestrated and fluid in the mire of chaos.

Angie was outstanding. She recovered from the doctors slicing a giant gash into her lower abdomen better than anyone had expected! The first two days were trying, but after the fourth day, she was up and walking around without any help. By the time we left the hospital, she was running under her own steam.

I posted lots of baby pics for your perusing pleasure! Check out the NICU pics, and the post-NICU pics (** WARNING: the NICU pics include some that are not very pretty).

We left the hospital on Saturday evening with a spring in our step. Oliver, Angie and I were ready to go home. Little Oliver got his first ride in his new car seat as Angie and I hobbled out of the hospital with grandma and grandpa Scripter, great-aunt Claudia, and various nurses in tow.

Two quick anecdotes: 1) While in our room, I was reading a book on Einstein and time travel-- and in the book they discussed how things can be separated in time and space, and as an example, they said "you being born, and you reading this book NOW.." (I was born at the very same hospital, so the book ASSUMED I was reading it somewhere different than I was born).. HA!! 2) Oliver was wrapped in the very same blanket I was wrapped in 11606 days ago as I left the very same hospital. EPIC!

As Angie and I trekked home, only one quick stop at Walgreen's slowed our progress... SIIIGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!

Sunday was a quiet day for us. Angie and I needed one day to feel things out and make sure we're not doing things horribly wrong. Luckily for us .. we weren't!! Oliver has been a little trooper and has only fussed when he's needed something (food, diaper change, cuddle time, etc.). The rest of the time has been filled with relaxation and cleaning (which .. all of a sudden .. is VERY WELCOME).

IN OTHER NEWS: Monday night was the midnight launch of the BURNING CRUSADE, which we sold at midnight at my store. I decided to go ahead and work for a few hours. I got my copy and .. even though I'm only level 3 .. HOLY CRAP. I guess 8,000,000 subscribers can't be wrong! Draenei FTW.

I awoke this morning to find a blanket of white snow atop everything outside. It was SOOOO beautiful! The temperature was below freezing (well below), yet people tried to venture out. As the countless hours of local news has proved ... PEOPLE ARE STUPID. Something like 60 Tri-Met buses were stranded, as were hundreds of semi-trucks and passenger vehicles.

I managed to walk a few miles and take the light-rail to get the other copies of Burning Crusade that I had pre-ordered (Angie and I both wanted a copy -- and I made a cool $100 on Ebay). Seeing all the whiteness -- and all of the Portlanders traversing around in 20 layers of clothes was quite fun. There were a lot of smiles exchanged.

Now I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do. I have one more week of real vacation. Once back at work, I have four weeks of "half-time" where I work 20 hour weeks. WOOOHOOO!

Labels: Burning Crusade, oliver, snow, WoW

posted by Carl | 4 Comments | Leave a comment

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