Funny How Things Work Out

Still busy, but I'm able to see things falling into place around here. The mold has lost the battle and the dust is slowly subsiding. The library is busy sorting the two carload donation and the local thrift shop is busy pricing their new items. Soon I will be able to sit and write in my home with no distractions, um well, that was until I received a phone call today. Things are changing again.

I was doing all of this extra cleaning and organizing, first because I let some of the regular chores go too long, and second because I knew there were changes ahead for me. We have an empty nest and the economy is bad. I was looking forward to a move and a new job. I wanted a new state and new opportunities.

My son asked to come home for a few months so he cold save towards getting his own apartment. We told him we'd be glad to have him and he has been dropping by before or after work to clean and move his stuff into the extra bedroom little by little. He bought new curtains yesterday, and tomorrow he will help me clean the carpets.

My eldest daughter has asked before if she could stay with us but has always changed her mind. This time her lease was up and she hadn't found work and she finally had enough. Ten minutes after I spoke with her my brother called me for a recipe. When I told him the news he immediately volunteered to drive up to get her. He was able to take a few days off on short notice and leaves in four days.

Now on top of completing all of my cleaning projects I have to get the house baby proofed in a few days. My daughter has to pick through an entire house of belongings and pick just a few bags and boxes of the most important bits that she can shove in the back of a small hatchback car and leave all the rest. We have our work cut out for us.

I have to rearrange my house and my thinking. I just bought two big office chairs. I was going to just keep them at the kitchen table since I usually do my writing there. Sticky fingers however, will ruin them, so I have to move them to the bedroom if I can fit them. I also have to clear the bottom book shelves, place the knife block out of reach, and make sure no cleaning supplies are on lower shelves anywhere.

Goodbye empty nest and hello recession style living. There will soon be four adults and a baby in a two bedroom home. There is a possibility that the youngest may have to come back as well. We can make it work, we just have to be organized and thrifty. We also have to communicate often and well.

Stuck in Scrubbing Mode

I'm tackling all those big chores that have piled up. To be honest at the end of the day I just can't think of anything to write. Work, come home and scrub, or, wake up then scrub and then get ready for work. They wanted me to work a sixth day again this week and I asked them to please find someone else. I'm exhausted.

Today is closet scrubbing day. It's really gross but mold collects along one wall of our closet. I removed all the clothes the other day. In a few minutes I will scrub the entire closet clean. Tomorrow I will wash the clothes and put them back when everything is dry. This is one of the big annoying chores that I put off for too long. I did convince my husband to get rid of a lot of clothing, so there will be a lot less to put back. I got rid of a huge pile of shirts and skirts that I haven't worn in a long time too.

We made forty dollars by recycling some aluminum that had been taking up space in our garage. We still have a few more bags as we couldn't fit everything into the car. Next time we drive that way we can make another ten to twenty dollars.

In the midst of my cleaning a few days ago I received a phone call from an old friend. She had called me the month before to offer me a part time job in the store where she works. It is in the next county so I declined for the time being but I did consider moving and working there if my husband could find employment. She called me this time to vent her frustrations because she just found out her store will be closing and April will be her last month. She told me it was the hardest thing to gather her employees and tell them they would not have jobs after April. It's still very difficult to find employment here. I'm glad I didn't rush to move now. I'm saving for a bigger move this Spring or Summer. I still have no idea where, but not knowing is half the fun.

On technical notes, there is a lot I need to learn about blogging. I plan to get the pesky household chores out of the way, so I don't think about them all the time. I must quiet my guilt over the extreme dust in the bookshelves, the stained carpeting, and the pile of laundry. I want to fix the blog, learn a bit more about how to do things properly, and buy a camera that will work well with it so I can glam it up a bit. To be honest, I just slapped it together without learning much and ran with it. I hear others are patient and have a cue of articles waiting so they never have a long silence. I want to put more into it. I enjoy being here.

Now your turn. What big projects are you working on? And, are jobs still just as hard to find in your area?

Back on Track?

Add a six day workweek, family drama, one messy house full of incomplete chores, work horror stories, and one frazzled blogger and you get no posts for a loooong time. Sorry about that. I am continually behind.

I owe two bloggers an award acceptance post. I am working on that and it will be coming soon. Michele and Connie, please be patient. It will hopefully be done this weekend.

I haven't checked my e-mail or logged into my site for a week. I've missed reading some terrific posts at the blogs I usually read. As I've said before, it's why I don't have a blog list. If I don't keep up with everything regularly I feel intense guilt. Silly, I know, but that is how my mind works.

Thank you to all of you who stop and read and comment, or lurk, or follow, or subscribe. I am thankful for each and every one of you. Sometimes I am amazed by the number of comments on a post that I didn't see the value in myself. Occasionally I will moan to myself over a teeny typo, making much too big a deal out of it. No-one has popped in yet with a scathing correction, and for that I am grateful too.

This is my first effort at getting back on track today. Hopefully, there won't be as long an absence in the near future but you never know what life throws at you.

Just Another Day in the Life of the Uninsured

I went to bed one day last week quite worried. I was having terrible chest pains that shot through my shoulder as well. I tossed and turned worried about possibly losing my battle with debt or even my life if I waited too long for medical attention.

I woke the next morning still in pain, but got ready for work anyway as usual. I did ask my husband not to have a drink while he watched his football game just in case I needed to go to the hospital. He wanted me to call in but it was too late for that.

It's funny, after three days of underlying worry each day I remembered what probably caused this pain. An elderly neighbor had dropped by to borrow my phone. I didn't want my daughters dog to try to jump all over her so I picked up the wiggling 65 pound dog and put her in the bedroom. It was that night that the pain started so I most likely pulled a shoulder muscle.

The pain lessens day by day. Funny how it's possible to get hurt and just not realize it at the time. I'm glad I remembered the dog incident, it eased my mind.

Meeting Goals Slowly

My goal is to pay off my debts as rapidly as possible and place as much as I can in savings at the same time. I'm careful to keep just enough cash to cover normal weekly expenses so I never have to tap into savings.

Savings grows with my excitement. I put all my change in a jar. Every few months I roll the change and deposit it in savings. Sure it may take a little time but I love seeing it all add up, plus I hate to take the time to pay for stuff with change. I never want to be the one holding up the line while I search the bottom of my purse for a nickel.

Groceries and gas are paid for with cash. Leftover cash at the end of the week is deposited into savings. On the day before payday when I get the urge to buy a little something it's usually easy to talk myself out of it when I picture which figure I can write on the deposit slip.

Being more responsible with money allows my husband and I the chance to sit back calmly and observe others. We sometimes discuss the choices of others and think of ways we could improve the situation. We don't sit about judging others, we just recognize mistakes now in others that we've made ourselves in the past. We would have had much easier lives if we would have learned our own lessons earlier in life.

An elderly customer came through my line with her husband. He's on disability and she just retired from her part time job. They have no savings and they barely get by. She had canned soup and potato chips in her order that were BOGO (buy one get one free) but she only had one of each. I explained that our store did not offer items for half price when they were BOGO and I offered to get another of each item so she could get the second one for free. She said she only needed one. The BOGO items usually have a long shelf life, but she couldn't understand it. They will keep.

I have a well stocked pantry. I always have the baking staples flour, sugar, brown sugar, yeast, and loads of spices. I also have plenty of boxed and canned goods that were bought on sale.

Here lately, I've been pretty much ignoring the sales and slacking on couponing. I'm at a point where everything is stocked up enough that, except for perishables, I don't need to shop. For the past month I've spent less than $30.00 a week for groceries. This past week I spent $16.00. I just don't need much of anything.

The money I would have spent on food is going into savings. I'm also slowly shedding my debt. It's a good place to be.

After saying all the above, life isn't just about living as a pauper and fighting debt. It would be very sad if it was. We do have fun, we are just more choosy about what we do. It's like television viewing. I recently asked my husband to turn off the television because it was too much of a distraction. He sometimes likes to flip through watching three or four shows at once and driving me mad. We enjoy it more when we tune in for just a few shows we really like and then turn it off.

We do go out and do things sometimes. We even spend money on occasion. Instead of eating out and going to the movies weekly, we pick low cost things to do like canoeing or going to the beach. Sometimes we do more. This is life - you have to live it.

Recently we went to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa and attended the Chocolate Festival there. This was a splurge for us. We've been in a rut lately and lamenting about how we never do anything. The chocolate festival was crowded but fun. There were all sorts of vendors displays and classes. Our tickets included a movie in the IMAX theatre which is always a treat.

We already spent money on tickets, and a lot of money on a few gourmet cupcakes to bring home, and we had a dog waiting for us with her legs crossed so we opted for dinner at home.

We came home, walked the dog, and together we made the most exquisite pizza I've ever had. It was a great evening. We're already planning our next trip. My husband wants to visit the newly opened Dali Museum, and I have a list of a few places I want to see. Whatever your financial situation at the moment, I'm hoping you make the time to find joy in your life, no matter how small.

Faulty Towers vs Reality

A few years ago I found a job in a hotel. Working in a hotel was something I had never done so it was an adventure to me and a chance to add something completely different to my resume. Some low wage workers, just like actors, don't want to be typecast into only one type of role or job.

I loved working there most of the time. I learned new skills and truly like the people I worked for. I worked the overnight desk position. I checked in a few guests, did the night audit, and then the next of the night was mine until I set up the breakfast. It was the first job I ever held where my manager told me to bring a book, set up my computer and relax after my work was done. You don't get that with other jobs. Restaurants want you to stand at attention during slow times when there isn't any cleaning to be done. Retail workers must be on their feet at all times and will be reprimanded if caught chatting or leaning, even if it is only for one moment. This was a different world.

Now, I will tell you the dark side. There must be a down side after all. One thing I learned about hotels was all the different types of travelers. I had traveled for business and for vacations before. Some workers live in hotels almost year round. Truck drivers, construction crews, road crews, utility company workers and many others travel from one work sight to the next. Their companies often choose a mid-range hotel to put up all the workers. When I was a retail manager we were often put up in higher range hotels when we had training or meetings. They needed rooms for two to four districts worth of managers and ballrooms for lectures and dinners.

I learned that drug dealers also travel from hotel to hotel to conduct their business. You would know that you had one when you would see the traffic coming into and out of the room on cameras late at night. Some would not care what kind of attention they attracted and would have loud parties. Some workers warned me that one of my guests would conduct his business in the back parking lot while he carried a loaded gun openly. We had to kick him out. The police warned us to be careful because they knew him to be extremely dangerous.

One night some young people were partying in a room. One guy who came to visit the two girls who rented the room became upset. He slammed their door and punched every single light fixture on his way down the walk way. There was broken glass and blood everywhere.

Speaking of blood, on another night when I came to work three people were sitting on the bench by the check in window when I clocked in. The evening shift person left and I locked up. I watched the people out front because something wasn't right. I looked out and one of them ran away and there was a big knife and a puddle of blood on the sidewalk. The police came and the ambulance picked up the injured man. He slit his own wrist because his wife was at our hotel with another man.

I learned a useful skill at that hotel. How do you get large quantities of blood out of concrete? You pour straight bleach on it and scrub and rinse with lots of water. It's a skill I have used at my current job. I had a customer who had to pick up money from Western Union. He filled out the paperwork and then he proceeded to bleed. He bled on the counter and on the floor. Instead of taking care of it he continued to bleed until he collected his money. I grabbed surgical gloves and the bleach and cleaned for quite a while after he left. What is wrong with people?

Oh by the way, the cheating wife and the new man called to say their air conditioner wasn't working. They exchanged keys for a new room. We called the old room and her kids answered so we kicked them out for scamming so they could get a free room for the kids to sleep in while they partied in their own room.

One more thing that happens in hotels unfortunately is what is referred to as a crack whore. This is a deranged, drug addled and unkempt woman who frequents hotels but doesn't get a room of her own. The woman will walk up and down the walkway, knocking on doors at two to three in the morning looking for business. They look for hotels where large numbers of construction or road crews are staying, hoping to earn a little money from men who are far from home. Once again, you have to put your book away and call the police. Before I moved I got a room in the hotel where I worked. We had the moving van packed and we only had a few hours to sleep before we took off early in the morning. Sure enough, as soon as we fell asleep there was knock on the door.

Well there you have it. More strange stories from life in the lower class. Hey, If I hadn't have worked there, I wouldn't have known. This was a clean decent hotel too. It happens everywhere.

Temper Tantrums, They're Not Just for Children Anymore

By working retail you get a view of humanity. You watch children grow up, you see couples feud, and see your elderly customers go through medical dramas. Quite often you are a witness to odd or bad behavior. Small children prance through the aisles tossing candy in shopping carts when parents are distracted. Occasionally one when denied a treat will throw himself on the floor for a full body temper tantrum.

You see a lot of wardrobe disasters as well. One young girl came into the store one night in a black push up bra, a black thong, high heals and a see through white tee shirt worn as a dress. If she was my daughter she would have dragged home and locked in her room. Years ago a woman used to shop in the grocery store each week wearing the same outfit. She wore a black one piece swimsuit with the sides cut out to make it almost a two piece. She also weighed more than three hundred pounds. She would walk through the store doing her weeks shopping while her extremely thin man sauntered proudly next to her. I'll never forget him walking along and holding one of her rolls that hung out the side of that stretched too far swimsuit.

You see a lot of men popping into the store with no shoes and no shirts. When asked to leave sometimes they resort to shouting. I saw one man run in to pay for a pizza. He stood at the counter in shorts, no shirt or shoes and handed the worker his money. Then he had an itch. It was a deep and personal itch. He then proceeded to stick his hand down the back of his pants and tend to his itch. I bet they were sorry they didn't send him back out but sometimes they just get quick service to get them out quickly with no argument.

There is one elderly lady who shops occasionally who shaves her eyebrows completely off and draws them back on in the middle of her forehead with a purple eyeliner pencil. I have to bite the insides of my cheeks to keep a straight face when I wait on her. Another lady comes in with a makeup disaster. I call her Marilyn Manson's grandmother. She has black eyeshadow, thick black eyeliner and the heaviest mascara I've ever seen. She also wears black blush painted on in a thick oval circle on each cheekbone and black lip liner. Whatever dark lipstick she wore that day is usually worn off. She is probably in her seventies so the overall effect is very shocking. One day she asked me where the restroom was. Later she came through my line and there was a terrible smell. She held out her hand for her change and there was poop smeared on her palm.

Speaking of poop, that happens too. On "Little Britain" there is a character that pees in public and doesn't seem to notice. She holds conversations in a store and pees on the floor, it really is hilarious I can't give it justice, however this happens in real life as well. We had an incontinent shopper who always rode one of the motorized shopping carts. She would ride it out to her car and expect a bagger to ride it back into the store. They would always have to clean and sanitize it first because the seat would be covered in pee.

A produce person in another store went into the back room to work and found a female customer squatting over the floor drain and using the restroom. She said she thought she was in the restroom. Really? You keep cabbages and carrots in your restroom at home?

In one large store someone was pooping in the sink in the men's restroom. They had no idea who until one day a manager walked in and found a little old man crouched over the sink caught in the act. I don't think they knew what to do because he was just obviously out of his mind.

A second hand store had a customer referred to as the poop pocket bandit. They came in weekly and put little chopped up bits of poop in the jacket pockets. They finally caught them one day and discovered it was a disgruntled former employee.

You don't think the world is this twisted? Think I made it up? You only see the retail world in fifteen minute glimpses. Stay for several hours, several days a week and you will be here long enough to catch the bigger stories, see the weirdness. We see the good and the bad.

Those temper tantrums the kids have? That's a normal part of life. How you handle it as a parent will help determine the character of the child for the rest of his or her life. Don't give in. I have a feeling some of my older customers throwing adult tantrums were indulged too often as a child.

One customer comes in and tries to cut in line every time. He feels I should run his lottery tickets before the other five people already in line are served. I remind him there is only one of me and therefore only one line for everything. One day before the holidays we were understandably very busy and lines were longer than normal. He was next in line but the woman in front of him was buying lottery for the first time and had some questions. I patiently but quickly waited on her but it wasn't good enough for him. He threw himself across my counter and shouted "Oh for the love of god, for crying out loud, what is wrong with people." I ignored him as he banged his head on my counter and finished waiting on the other customer. When it was his turn he stuck his finger in my face and said, "You are great, but you have some of the worst, most selfish, rude customers on the planet." I just smiled and ran his tickets quickly. I didn't tell him he just described himself.