What Was Accomplished?

 I kinda hate to say it...

But it's probably a really good thing that I came in to work today to cover my other manager's shift. 

Because like....if she had come in...she wouldn't have worked truck because she probably wouldn't have been feeling well. And if she hadn't come in and no one else could cover...then truck wouldn't have been touched much regardless....of her presence or not.

But like. My presence made a tangible difference in how much of yesterday's remaining truck got knocked out today.

Which is great in that I won't be caught off guard at 'how much' of truck was left when I go in in the morning. 

But it would have been quite a mountain of work left for me to slog through compared to the hill I managed to chip it down to today.

Which really just begs the question of like.... WHAT WERE MY OTHER MANAGERS DOING ALL DAY!?!?! AHHHHHHH.

Like Yes, morning manager as the opening tasks that need to be done to ensure the store is ready for the day. But that at most takes a couple of hours. 

But when I came in a couple of hours after that point...it seemed like they'd just barely started working on truck right before I arrived....which isn't great considering the store had been opened for a couple of hours by that point....

Like We still had quite a bit of truck left. Like at least a half pallet of dog food that I can remember. Maybe two? since the manager was working another one...maybe it was an unfinished one from last night. 

But like....

None of the totes had been touched. The cat cans hadn't been finished last night and so those had to be finished.

It was just like....

Trying to figure out just how much would have been done if I'd actually not been present.

Like morning manager got the rest of the dog food put out and was working on a cart or two of totes that I could tell....

And when closing manager came in I had them start working on cat totes...which was like...maybe 8 boxes? And I ended up doing ONE of those boxes and it took them like SIX HOURS to work on SEVEN BOXES. Like it DOES NOT TAKE AN HOUR PER BOX WHY ARE YOU SO SLOW?!?! AHHHH.

Like in my eight hour shift I managed to do two carts filled with cat cans, 16 boxes of petcare totes, a cat totes, and a cart and a half filled with dog stuff all the while multitasking helping in petcare, picking orders, covering lunches, and other things. Like....I did SO MUCH in my eight hours....

And like....if I hadn't been there.....what all would have actually gotten done? A couple of pallets of dog food? maybe 8 boxes of cat? MAYBE? IF the closing manager WORKED on truck at all? Because opening manager is NOT GREAT at communicating what needs to be done. So maybe Truck wouldn't have been touched AT ALL once morning manager had left. 

It's just....frustrating....how slow some people move and like....what doesn't end up being a priority on their list even when they're told it should be a priority. 

Like I mentioned multiple times to the closing manager that "we're 4 hours behind on truck so we need to get this done." and they still moved SO SLOW. Just. *bangs head against wall* 

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. Because it feels like I'll be the one doing all the work. AGAIN.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

It Was Expected

 It's kinda exhausting ... to mentally have to prepare yourself to not get a day off. 

Like since last Saturday that's kinda been my mindset...maybe even before then. 

Because my EL manager has been sick for a while...dealing with morning sickness and a couple other issues on top of that. 

But like.... the illness has been bad enough she's had to go to the hospital a few times because she can't hold down food, and barely can hold down water on a good day.

Which isn't great when you're trying to get nutrients for yourself and for your little one. 

I'm really hoping that this is just a first trimester illness for her and things will improve after that point...because having to deal with 9 months of stress is not great for her.

And not great for us either. 

Because it sucks at the moment to schedule her and wonder "will she be able to come in today." 

Hence my mindset the past week or so. 

Just mentally preparing to have to come in on my day off, or stay longer for a shift, or go without a middle manager and not be able to take a lunch. 

And even when she does make it into the store....she's basically a ghost manager. Because if she's not in the bathroom throwing up then she's hiding in an office trying to not throw up. 

So while she's present...she's not present....

So it came as no surprise when I received the call tonight.... that she's called out for tomorrow....on my day off ... and that I was asked if I was able to come in to cover her shift.

Which yah. I am able to.

I'd already mentally prepared myself for the possibility. 

But it would be nice to just be able to you know.... relax on a day off without worrying about how the store is doing or how the EL is doing and how coverage is going. 

Like...I'm going on vacation this weekend.....and I'll be out of the store for a while....

And it's like...will the other managers be okay without me there? Especially if the EL is constantly calling out? 

Like we haven't managed to fill our empty manager position. 

I can't imagine how well it's going to go with us being down 2 managers...and maybe a third manager if the EL keeps calling out for illness....

I've wondered more than once if I should just cancel the vacation and stick around.

But at the same time....

I'm kinda tired of catering to everyone else's issues. 

I've had this vacation planned for a while now. I had no idea my EL was expecting when I did my vacation plans. I was trying to plan it where we'd be fine with coverage.

Like...I was doing all I could to make sure we'd be fine when I was gone.

And I hate that it feels like I'm screwing over the store by going on vacation...when I did everything I could to ensure that this week would be an okay week to go. 

It's frustrating.

So frustrating. 

But at least I was already mentally prepared for tomorrow. So I can get tomorrow's shift out of the way and then my obligation to help out at work for coverage will be done for the week. 

*fingers crossed* that everything goes well.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Worn Down

 The thing about being stressed is that .... after a while, it kinda wears you down.

And usually it's easy enough to head it off. By resting. Getting enough sleep etc.

But I've been pushing myself a bit more the past week or so because we've been trying to get a ton of stuff done before I head out on vacation, but also because there's been so many people calling out sick this week that it's messed with plans and schedules and such.

So I haven't been able to rest and relax as much as I've wanted to. 

and even if I am resting I'm probably stressing in my subconscious because I've been worrying about how work is going to function while I'm gone.

Add into that going in on my day off yesterday to cover for 3 coworkers who called out sick....3 coworkers who I've interacted with in the past few days....

It's no surprise that today I've been feeling a bit crummy.

Achy muscles. Tightness in the chest. A slight dryness to the throat. A slight runniness to the nose....

All the signs that I'm probably coming down with something. A minor cold at least. 

I hope it's just a minor cold.

Because I do not want whatever crazy my coworkers got because it sounds much worse.

But it also has me stressing out more because I've been looking forward to this vacation for like a month now....and to be at the finish line and to get maybe sick?

Yah. I'm so frustrated at it. 

Because if I get sick I won't be going. I'm on driving by myself anywhere if I'm feeling crummy. Plus I don't want to get my family I'm visiting sick....

So right now I'm in emergency. "TRY EVERYTHING TO AVOID IT!" mode.

Which mostly involves just resting/sleeping and drinking lots and lots of liquids to try and flush out anything in my system ASAP. 

Because I would much rather be out having fun on a vacation than home sick and miserable.

Hopefully I can manage to get this slight cold gone within the next day or too.

Though tomorrow is going to test it for sure since I have a long 10 hour shift in front of me.

Ugh.

Wish me luck.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Calling Out

I have to say that I am counting down the days until I can head out on vacation because this past week has been a trial of dealing with fire after fire at work where plans don't go to plan and I forsee this upcoming week before I vanish being even more of a trial because it always feels like work likes to catch fire right before I leave to go anywhere.

Take today for example. 

We had our Morning Petcare call out sick last night. Which I was aware of but was able to find coverage for.

BUT THEN a couple of hours after I had left our Morning Cashier also called last night to ALSO CALL OUT for today. Leaving us without a morning Cashier. 

And the cashier said she would contact others and let us know if she found anyone...but we're not sure if she actually found anyone....needless to say....we were without a morning cashier this morning.

AND THEN this morning the Petcare chat gets a text because our Closing Petcare is ALSO calling out SICK but they tried calling out early enough in the morning that the store wasn't opened yet so they couldn't reach the store.

And it's like. Seriously?

THREE PEOPLE? Calling out in ONE DAY?

*exhales*

Like the odds aren't high for that to happen but SERIOUSLY?!

And it literally sucks for Petcare because at the moment we only have FOUR people who are actively petcare. 

And TWO of them were sick and ONE of them was already covering the other and ONE was on vacation. 

Which leaves NO one to cover. 

.... Except me.

Which was tricky because while I could cover I also had to watch my hours to avoid going into overtime. So I could only come in for a handful of hours and not an entire shift. 

So a different manager who also had a handful of hours to spare also ended up coming in to help cover a bit of the cashiering but also a bit of the petcare shifts until I could get in to cover the rest of petcare and it's just like....

WHY?

It's Soo frustrating. 

And now I'm really really expecting this week to not go well.

Because basically every single person in petcare requested at least some time off this week. And if half of the crew is on vacation and the other half is sick.... WHO IS GOING TO WORK IN PETCARE?

I honestly don't know.

And it doesn't leave me hopeful at all that things are going to go well while I'm gone on vacation either.

It leaves me wondering if I should actually be going on vacation, but at the same time I'm getting stressed out enough at work that I really need a break from everyone else's drama before I snap.

*exhales*

Hopefully things go better than I expect.

But we'll see.

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Do A Little More Please

 I already knew today's plan was going to go a bit off the rails when it came to work because I'd been informed that our morning petcare person had called out sick....and unfortunately no one was available to cover the shift. 

Which meant that our morning manager would need to do a quick open of petcare before the store opened. 

Not the most ideal as we've been planning to get a bunch of resets done today and things have already been thrown off multiple times this week with people getting sick and other factors out of our control.

So to have Petcare also getting sick and causing a delay in tasks....

Yah. Not ideal.

But needed. 

And I wasn't too concerned with this manager opening petcare as they have done it before and did it well enough I figured they'd get most of it done before I came in.....though I did have my misgivings about it because like.... I was wanting to expect the best case scenario. But wasn't putting my hopes on actually getting the best case scenario. 

As I told my closing manager who was contacting my opening manager about the plan for the morning, to let them know that I would take over and do the rest of opening once I came in for my mid shift. 

And that's a bit where my misgivings began...because like....how much would this manager actually DO knowing that I would be in to take over in opening petcare a couple of hours after the store opened?

Would it change their plan knowing I was coming in in comparison to there being no one in until later in the day? 

Who knew.

Best case scenario would be the scenario I came into last time they had to open petcare which was that I just needed to feed the fish and we were golden. 

Expected case would be that they'd only be able to get the back rooms and cat done, leaving me to do the rest of the floor and the fish tasks. 

Since they were the only manager on duty this morning and also needed to complete all their Manager tasks too that need to be done before the store opened....

I was kinda thinking the latter case would the the situation I would walk into. That I would need to feed the fish and the animals on the floor while the 'off floor tasks' of the back rooms and cats would be completed. 

*exhales*

But when I came in a couple of hours after we opened and checked in with my morning manager to see what needed to be done....

They stated that they'd only done the cats. And had pulled some dead fish.

That was it. 

And it left me just.....frustrated and disappointed.

Because like why would you not at least open the back rooms too? It took me like maybe 15 minutes total. Not that long to do so. 

And it was kinda expected because we have animals in our iso rooms who have meds that need to be given both morning and evening currently so they kinda need those meds IN THE MORNING. 

So I had to clarify with them the expectations on ensuring that the backrooms get opened before the store is opened.

But yah....

It was frustrating because while that manager had their own agenda of Manager tasks that they were also working to complete before they left for the day....

I too had my own tasks I needed to do.

And it kinda felt like this manager shoved all of petcare onto me so that they could focus solely on their own tasks.

Which yes, I have way more experience in petcare and can get it all done much quicker than everyone else.

But still. A bit more equality would have been appreciated. 

I had my own scans I could have been doing. My own resets I needed to get done.

All of which ended up delayed by a couple of hours because I had to open far more of petcare than expected and also work with all the petcare customers and such.

So yah.

Not the greatest Saturday I've walked into.

But I managed to get everything that I could get done done. So ha!

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Making It Fit

 There's something satisfying about accomplishing a task that seems near impossible. 

We had a truck come in earlier in the week. 

A little larger than normal pallet wise...but also in our overstock.

And I'm not sure if it's just because we didn't manage to work enough of the back room stock out onto the floor this past week....or if the DC just sent us waaaay too much of certain product with the expectation that that product would have sold enough so that we could fit the new product on the shelves when it came in only for it to not fit...

But well. 

It didn't fit.

We've had a flat cart and a shopping cart of various types of cat food in our receiving area since Truck came in that should have been placed in our overstock shelves....only said overstock shelves were stocked full of product. 

And this morning, it was my goal to get as much food out onto the floor as I could. So that I could actually get all of our overstock to fit into the overstock area without it overflowing elsewhere.

And I managed it!!!

It took a bit of finagling and such because for all the cat stuff we've sold this week....it was all product that we didn't have more of in the back. So while I wasn't able to put out as much stock as I was hoping to put out....I did manage to get enough out to jigsaw in everything else so it all fit onto the proper shelves and such. 

Which is great!

Until you consider that we have another truck coming in in a few days....I'm hoping we can get more product out to the shelves before that so the back room is emptier in preparation for the new stuff flowing in.

But we'll see. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

Ripple Effects

 I feel for my coworkers. 

Like. 

With the events that happened on campus yesterday. 

I'm affected...but not that affected.

There's a connection. It's my school. I was on campus recently. I know the area. I work nearby.

But I wasn't there.

My coworkers though?

Not so much.

Interacting with them today it was interesting to see the various takes on it.

From the "Oh I wasn't there but I had friends and family who were there who saw everything."

to "I wasn't there but I live in the apartments nearby so I'm affected because of the helicopters and the blocked roads and the lockdown that happened."

to "I was eating lunch in the courtyard nearby and heard the shot, saw the people running, and so I took off running." 

It's...it's intense. To have to field all those different emotions all my coworkers are going through.

To try and lend an understanding ear and be there for them. And support them.

Especially to my one coworker who had to run. They were literally shaking as they were telling me about it. 

Like that's trauma right there.

And it hurts that so many people were affected because of one person. Because they felt they had to act in such a horrible manner.

And I'm left trying to figure out how to help out my coworkers to try and ease their pain to help bring light back into their lives. To make it better for them so that they can get through another day. Get out of their heads. Move forward. and like...rebuild the trust. Rebuild the security.

I feel for my coworkers.

That is not an event I would want anyone to have to go through. 

Especially since they're still searching for answers. Still searching for the suspect. 

I feel like there's still going to be a sense of unease for a while. Until he's found. 

Until you next find these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi