(no subject)
So, aside from my adventures in dating, things continue on in their own, individual ways.
Things are stressful at work. Like everyone else in the world, my store has had a horrible Christmas season, and money is really tight. At corporate, they laid off the merchandising manager, the graphic designer, and the junior accountant. They had two district manager slots for Washington and Oregon, and they laid the Oregon one off and gave it all to the Washington one, with no pay increase to her, obviously. At our store, they have scaled back our hours 20%.
Worst of all, they got rid of our shipping and receiving guy back in the warehouse. The one who took in all of the merchandise, labeled it all, shipping merchandise from our warehouse to the other stores, and etc. When my manager told me he was laid off, she explained that he was spreading only 3 to 4 hours of work out over a full day, and clearly there wasn't enough work there to keep him on. Since then, she and the assistant manager have been working almost full time in the back, doing all of the shipping and receiving. Apparently, this job that really only took one man 3 actual hours a day to do is taking the two of them their full days to complete.
So, not only are two 40 hour workers who are supposed to be running things in the front of the store in the back, but the rest of the team is much lighter staffed. The two people who are supposed to be running things in the front, and watching the store, are now in the back and unable to watch the store. The guy they should have fired, one of my co-leads, is still with us and screwing up and slacking off more than ever. My manager told me today that she was having murderous thoughts towards one of my co-workers, and that our assistant manager felt the same way. I knew who she was talking about. Now that they don't have their eyes on things, and unable to help up front, the store, in my eyes, is really beginning to look a mess, and it's me who has to try to manage my co-worker. Who knows his place is equal to mine, and thus doesn't take managing all that gracefully.
So, we really, REALLY didn't get rid of the right person at work. I think that my manager knows that, and now she's in a bind, because she doesn't have time to do the ex-employee's job, her job, and find a new person who can waltz in, and take on the 40 hours a week lead position. There's no time to try to advertise for the person, interview for the person, and then have to train the damn person. So we're stuck with a weak link, and there's nothing that can be done. I look around the mess of the store, and the customers who need to be helped, and the things I need to do, and I can't get it all done either. I feel stressed, and I look at my manager's face and see her stress, and I watch my co-worker make some massive mistakes on a daily basis, and I know that somewhere along the line something is going to break. If he goes, then my hours at the store will go up, and I don't want them to go up as far as they would if he were gone. It's a bit scary. I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm worried about how we're all going to cope. Maybe we'll settle into things, and things will actually get better without someone else getting fired or things going really wrong. Maybe. I hope.
With my friends, there's good news and bad news. Rachel is engaged, and Joanne's falling in love with a wonderful guy. I'm really happy for both of them. Unfortunately, Katie's boyfriend broke up with her last week, and she was so in love with him, and so she's just an absolute wreck. Worst of all, things are going really badly for another friend's marriage. He's being unsupportive and controlling to the brink of being abusive. She wants out, but she can't afford to leave and stand on her own right now. I'm really, really worried about her. We had dinner and coffee last night, and when she was confessing about the problems and being stuck, she was practically in tears. She's such a good person, and she's come so far and wants to keep flourishing, and he seems to be reacting to this like she's going to flourish right over him, and so he's trying to keep her in place, and under his thumb, and of course we know what happens then. The harder you try to hold the sand in your palm, the faster it slips through your fingers. It's really sad.
But what's odd, and what we talked about, was that despite the ups-and-downs we're going through, we both feel really good and we're taking care of ourselves. I went to the gym tonight and swam 20 laps in the pool, even though I didn't feel like it. I've fallen in love with the "Shopaholic" books, and I've enjoyed spending my time reading. I've been down to the market, buying strawberries and plums and tulips. I got my hair cut, and I've started this regimen for my skin with Loreal day and night skin creams, and I've stuck to it and my skin looks absolutely amazing. I'm getting up in the morning, and I'm doing what I need to do. I feel I can handle myself, and that's a good feeling.
Things are stressful at work. Like everyone else in the world, my store has had a horrible Christmas season, and money is really tight. At corporate, they laid off the merchandising manager, the graphic designer, and the junior accountant. They had two district manager slots for Washington and Oregon, and they laid the Oregon one off and gave it all to the Washington one, with no pay increase to her, obviously. At our store, they have scaled back our hours 20%.
Worst of all, they got rid of our shipping and receiving guy back in the warehouse. The one who took in all of the merchandise, labeled it all, shipping merchandise from our warehouse to the other stores, and etc. When my manager told me he was laid off, she explained that he was spreading only 3 to 4 hours of work out over a full day, and clearly there wasn't enough work there to keep him on. Since then, she and the assistant manager have been working almost full time in the back, doing all of the shipping and receiving. Apparently, this job that really only took one man 3 actual hours a day to do is taking the two of them their full days to complete.
So, not only are two 40 hour workers who are supposed to be running things in the front of the store in the back, but the rest of the team is much lighter staffed. The two people who are supposed to be running things in the front, and watching the store, are now in the back and unable to watch the store. The guy they should have fired, one of my co-leads, is still with us and screwing up and slacking off more than ever. My manager told me today that she was having murderous thoughts towards one of my co-workers, and that our assistant manager felt the same way. I knew who she was talking about. Now that they don't have their eyes on things, and unable to help up front, the store, in my eyes, is really beginning to look a mess, and it's me who has to try to manage my co-worker. Who knows his place is equal to mine, and thus doesn't take managing all that gracefully.
So, we really, REALLY didn't get rid of the right person at work. I think that my manager knows that, and now she's in a bind, because she doesn't have time to do the ex-employee's job, her job, and find a new person who can waltz in, and take on the 40 hours a week lead position. There's no time to try to advertise for the person, interview for the person, and then have to train the damn person. So we're stuck with a weak link, and there's nothing that can be done. I look around the mess of the store, and the customers who need to be helped, and the things I need to do, and I can't get it all done either. I feel stressed, and I look at my manager's face and see her stress, and I watch my co-worker make some massive mistakes on a daily basis, and I know that somewhere along the line something is going to break. If he goes, then my hours at the store will go up, and I don't want them to go up as far as they would if he were gone. It's a bit scary. I don't know what's going to happen, and I'm worried about how we're all going to cope. Maybe we'll settle into things, and things will actually get better without someone else getting fired or things going really wrong. Maybe. I hope.
With my friends, there's good news and bad news. Rachel is engaged, and Joanne's falling in love with a wonderful guy. I'm really happy for both of them. Unfortunately, Katie's boyfriend broke up with her last week, and she was so in love with him, and so she's just an absolute wreck. Worst of all, things are going really badly for another friend's marriage. He's being unsupportive and controlling to the brink of being abusive. She wants out, but she can't afford to leave and stand on her own right now. I'm really, really worried about her. We had dinner and coffee last night, and when she was confessing about the problems and being stuck, she was practically in tears. She's such a good person, and she's come so far and wants to keep flourishing, and he seems to be reacting to this like she's going to flourish right over him, and so he's trying to keep her in place, and under his thumb, and of course we know what happens then. The harder you try to hold the sand in your palm, the faster it slips through your fingers. It's really sad.
But what's odd, and what we talked about, was that despite the ups-and-downs we're going through, we both feel really good and we're taking care of ourselves. I went to the gym tonight and swam 20 laps in the pool, even though I didn't feel like it. I've fallen in love with the "Shopaholic" books, and I've enjoyed spending my time reading. I've been down to the market, buying strawberries and plums and tulips. I got my hair cut, and I've started this regimen for my skin with Loreal day and night skin creams, and I've stuck to it and my skin looks absolutely amazing. I'm getting up in the morning, and I'm doing what I need to do. I feel I can handle myself, and that's a good feeling.