Thursday, June 30, 2011

Goodbye My KIA

Yesterday was a wild ride! I got rear-ended going to the bank. All the years I bitched and complained about the traffic and idiot drivers in Tyler, and I get in a wreck in little ol' Mineola.

I got my little KIA in 2001. It's been paid off for forever! I had 160,000 miles and was looking forward to the 200k turnover and going for the 300k turnover.




Unfortunately, the frame is bent and it would cost more than it's worth to fix. I really liked that little car. If everything goes ok with the insurance I will try get another KIA. Any KIA dealerships out there listening?


BTW, I'm ok. It felt like I was at the beginning of a really wild roller coaster.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

I Must Be Doing Something Right!

Because people are calling up left and right to complain about me. One person got mad because I wouldn't give him a deal. He called my boss to say that he saw me at an estate sale...so what. Did I mention that he owns an "antique" store (using the term loosely) and wanted his wife to work at Goodwill so she could buy stuff . That is considered a conflict of interest, not my addiction to garage sales and flea markets. I don't resell. He also accused me of hiding items so he couldn't buy them. Whatever. My working at Goodwill is Mr. Plantfreak's worst nightmare...a daily garage sale, so I tell myself it's just stuff . I have to wait 24 hours before I can buy an item anyway, and it usually sells before that. So there.

Now I have another person who says she is calling to complain that we have tripled our prices. And? Our job is to take donations and sell them at a price that is less than new but fair value for the condition of the item. Problem is, this particular store has a sketchy history, with sketchy employees. Some people were in on the hook ups and some were buying out the back door. Which is why we now have cameras everywhere. Those sketchy employees are looking for employment elsewhere.

At this rate, I figure I'll get promoted or fired. It's a toss-up.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Staying Inside

Because we had a heat advisory yesterday and the temps reached 102 in my little world. All our yardwork and nursery work gets done at the crack of dawn! Old age has made me a sissy!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Please Explain

Why someone would steal from Goodwill? Is that 99 cent item really that great?

Don't get me wrong...I'm not being all high and mighty, but really?

At Breedlove's AKA the former paying job, I dealt with mostly high end customers with money to burn. Now, I see those that are struggling from day to day. I see 25 year old women with no teeth, kids with dirty clothes, men in their 40's that are beat down from years of hard labor making them look 60, and I'm reminded on daily basis that I've got it pretty damn good. I may not be raking in the dough...but I've got all the necessities and more than a few luxuries. Happiness is relative. There are things that I "can't live without", but I know that I can...and still be happy.

The people that are stealing? They aren't the folks I mentioned before, those people work for what they get and are glad for it. I'm talking about the twitchy people, the ones that are on drugs. Then there are the people who steal for fun, they don't care what Goodwill is about they just want to get over on someone.

The money from sales at Goodwill goes to help people with special needs live a productive life, and to help those same twitchy people get back to a respectable life. Every time someone pulls up with a donation, I feel like it's a party! A) It gets us more product for the floor B) that's one step closer to our quota, and C) it helps keep people employed.

Now that I've gotten on my soap box, I've come to the realization that the very people I'm trying to stop from stealing won't even read this...they have already hocked their computers. Dammit!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

New Direction

Things have changed in the last month. I left my paying job at Breedlove Nursery for a job that provided insurance and was closer to home. I put in my 2 weeks notice...was starting to panic because nothing was happening...happened to drive by the Goodwill near my home and for some reason decided to go in and see what they had...what they had was a job.

I got an application and talked to the Assistant Mgr., a nice lady, and was told to come back the next day. I returned the next day and interviewed, went home, got a call back in about an hour to come back down. In the hour I was gone, the assistant manager was let go, and I was offered that position. Wow. Took it. Three weeks later, I went to lunch...came back and My manager was let go. I've been acting manager for the last week. I was just looking for a part time cashier job.

I interview for the manager's position next week. This will cut into my plant time, but Mr. Plantfreak is taking the reigns on the business so that I can still get my fix.

Yep, things have changed.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

College Bound

Do we really think he's ready for college next year?

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

But I'm Too Young

To have a child that goes to Prom!

Apparently the style now is to look like a member of mob (the stereotype anyway). Check out the pink shoelaces...did you know that they make black patent leather converse tennis shoes for the well-dressed non-conformist? Now he looks like every other 17 year old non-conformist (note the irony in that phrase).

I think he looks awesome of course.