two not-so-good days

Get up early on Thursday to go a BAFTA Board Meeting, The meeting concludes and I grab my coat to leave but can't find my gloves. Fortunately someone later finds them and will mail them to me. But in the mean time, I'm walking around with cold hands.

Decide to work on Thursday because we are having a special gift-card promotion. This turns out to be a bad decision.  I have more returns than sales. End the day having to give back money in commissions earned in previous weeks.

Take a Via home and the driver is a newbie. He rides the break, making me slightly nauseous, having only eaten a muffin all day.. And, he drives multiple blocks in the wrong direction, causing the ride to last 15 minutes longer than it should.

Friday is no better. I have over $6,000 in returns and only a marginal bit more in sales. I've earned basically nothing for two  hard days of work.

Then I trip on a big Lucite display box  (housing some kind of artsy broken mantle) that someone has left in the middle of the floor. 

I land on the same knee I had fallen on last week. Customers and colleagues rush to my assistance. I am too embarrassed to let the hurt show.

Then, a short time later, I over-react to a not-worth-detailing incident that results in my apologizing to two people. I feel so bad that I end up crying, and I rarely cry. 

This job should not elicit such emotion. And it certainly shouldn't make me cry. And yet I do. And then I ask myself, "How did I end up here?" and start feeling bad when I have no good answer.  But I work with some really great people and they get me out of my momentary and unwarranted bout of self-pity.

By the time I leave work, my head is fine, my knee — not so much. It's twice the size of my 
right. Am hoping ice and Advil will help.

recovered

I have washer-dryer envy. 

For the past year or so, I have been sending my laundry out. The cost is only slightly higher than doing it myself. The machines in my building cost a lot ($5 per large wash, $3.50 for regualr wash, and $3.25 for one dryer cycle that never completely dries my clothes). Plus, doing laundry is such a major pain. 

Three trips to the basement. Lugging all my clothes while carrying laundry detergent or dryer sheets. Plus having to deal with an incovenient laundry card that has to be filled with money from my debit card. 

But then I really don't like having people I don't know touch all my clothes. And they always seem to fold everything in mysterious, inconvenient ways.

So on Thursday I do my laundry for the first time in a few years (exclduding when I visit my mom; I actually like doing laundry there; it's such a novelty).

Anyway, I'm matching up my favorite BOMBAS socks (the best) and see two lone ones. 

So I go back to the laundry room and check. Not in the dryers. And the washing machines I used are now spinning with someone else's clothes.

I write a note about my lost socks and tape it to the two washing machines.

This morning I open my door to get my paper, and see this.

And inside are my Bombas mates. I now have cozy feet again.

breakfast disaster (with a happy ending)

On Sundays, I generally work from 12:30 to 7:15. So unlike most mornings, I have time to eat a filling breakfast.

I go to Agata and buy:

• scrambled eggs with tomato (only a 1/4 pound as I don't  like scrambled eggs, but want the protein to get through the day); 

• something Agata calls breakfast potatoes;

• and a small apple-flavored turkey sausage.

I heat it up. Then decide to add a touch of salt to the potatoes, using my once-reliable little bunny salt grinder.

Only this time the bottom falls out (literally).

I leave for work hungry,  and pick up a muffin on the way.


Addendum: I go on the Chef N' website to order a new one and see that my salt grinder is guaranteed for life. My free replacement is on its way!

thank you Brandon

One of the high points of my job (yes, there are a few) is my boss. I've been using the pseudonym Marlin but now that he's leaving, I have his permission to use his real name.

A couple of weeks ago I was having a very bad day. Sales down. Returns up. Not getting credit for an online sale that I believe I should have. Brandon choses that day to tell me his news. He figures getting a lot of bad news at once is better than spreading it out. I almost cry. A few of my colleagues do.

In a sea of questionable management policies, Brandon stands out for his candor, intelligence, and understanding.  

Brandon and I have had our moments. There was a two-week period where we barely spoke. That was awful. And there have been times when this very calm, unflappable  manager has gotten frustrated with me (likely deserved). But I think our disagreements have helped make our relationship stronger.

I adore Brandon.  And I'll miss him terribly. As will the rest of his large team.

Joy organizes a little party for him in a small  office near the freight elevator. It's supposed to be a surprise but twenty plus assoicates leaving the sales floor at once is pretty hard to keep secret. Some associates who aren't even working today come in.

We all gather in a small space waiting to say good-bye to our much-loved leader.

The hugs good-bye are all twinged with sadness.

But we wish Brandon well. And I know that for me, it's not good-bye. His new job is in Boston. And, I finally have his up-until-now-heavily-guarded cell number and personal email.  

I plan to use them both.

wrong day for local travel

My ancient iPhone S has a cracked screen, and its memory is full. 

I think if I had an Amazon Echo, or something like it, I would fill my home with music again.

And my once-loved Nikon D-80 now records the fatal letters Err when I go to shoot anything.

Yup, I need some new electronics.

This morning I decide to venture to the far west side to B&H, the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in The United States.

And it's friggin' freezing out

What is it with NY busses and the cold?  All of a sudden, they seem to disappear. I wait 30 minutes for a crosstown bus. It's so frigid I wait inside a Citibank across the street from the bus stop. And I miss two busses. Yup, two. 

A bus pulls up; I race across the street (almost getting hit by a car); catch the bus driver's eye; and motion for him to stop and wait. I then watch as he pulls away (and maybe I imagine it, but I think I see him smile). This happens twice. Do bus drivers become insensitive and smug when temperatures drop?

One bus, one subway, and a short two-block walk, and I arrive.

.

B&H is a good place to find people who know what they're talking about. And to try out any camera you're thinking of getting. Last week I went to Best Buy and they had one of the cameras I'm interested in. But the floor model was broken and they had no others to try.

I bought my last DSLR camera, a Nikon D80, in June of 2007 for $990. Today's cameras are much better and cost less. I've been waffling between the Canon Rebel T7i and the Nikon 5600. Since I already have the Nikon lenses, and I like the feel of the Nikon body better, I make my decision.

I'm not quite ready to make the purchase yet, but at least I know what I want.

I take a Via home. It comes quickly. But midtown at noon is a traffic-filled nightmare. It takes almost an hour to get home.

atypical January

December is usually a good month in retail. Christmas shopping, tourists, and all that.

My December was fairly slow. 

Now January is usually the month for lots of returns. All those gifts that didn't fit right or looked dreadful on (or off, in some cases). Those impulse buys.  And even those holiday outfits that were worn once (don't think we don't know) for that very special occasion and are now being slyly returned (yup, we get plenty of those). 

But surprisingly, my January has been great. In fact, I'm up 22% in net sales for the first four weeks vs. the first four weeks in December. The store hasn't been particularly busy, but there seem to be fewer sales associates. But whatever the reason, I'm not complaining.

Aside from the money, it's a satisfying feeling to work hard and actually get paid for the effort. In retail, it's all about the numbers. And when my numbers are high, I feel like I'm doing a good job. Like getting that A on a report card. But unlike that report card A, I work just as hard on days I don't make any money than on days I do.

I think the company I work for does not value its associates. In general, the pay is dreadful. The benefits practically non-existent. And the paid days-off a joke. But oh that discount! 

These past few weeks, we could buy designer items that were on clearance for a total discount of 82% off. And surprisingly there were still some great pieces showing up on-transfer from other stores.

Staying positive, I also very much like most of the people I work with. 

The other day, the beautiful, 6-foot, incredibly nice Paige wanted us to take a group photo. She looked like she had just walked off the Rick Owens runway.  When it came time for the photo (taken by Kareem, who had even brought his Nikon DSLR to work that day), it was just three of us, including a nice guy I'll call H.

(And in case you're wondering, I'm the short, ghostly white person on the right.. not the far right, that's a mannequin).

nothing much to say

I haven't posted in almost two weeks. 

January is a slow month.

I mean really, how much can one say about:

• Not having the flu.

• Nothing major happening at work that I can write about.

• Attending a BAFTA Board Meeting, where again I wonder, how did I get to be part of such an illustrious and talented group?

• Participating in an online Focus Group for the company I work for, where I try really really hard to NOT be the most outspoken person on the call.

• Buying a gorgeous $885 Comme des Garcons skirt and paying only $153. I wear it to work and get tons of compliments from other associates and customers. I even end the day well, despite the Floor performing badly. Maybe what you wear does make a difference? Either that, or it's a good excuse to get a non-traditional piece or two into my wardrobe.

               So then I also buy this dress from the same designer for 88% off.

• Learning that I can seamlessly switch out HBO for SHOWTIME with no changes to my bill. So now I can watch last season's HOMELAND and when I'm done, switch back over to HBO and watch this past season of CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. 

• Discovering (well, actually M recommended it) a new, non-drip vacuum-insulated travel mug that I can use at work (or home); it's my new favorite thing and costs under $20.

• Dealing with wildly unattractive fly-away hair and hoping it's not being exacerbated (dare I say caused) by my new Dyson hairdryer.

So that's why I haven't written. 

I've had nothing much to say.

Except of course, Go Pats!