Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Despite the title of this post, yesterday was horrible. I’ll start at the beginning…
I was scheduled to work at eight o’clock so me and my ride went to Subway. We were there on time, but that didn’t make a difference. No one was there. It took twenty minutes for my boss to arrive. She apologized and noted that she had driven halfway here and then realized that she left the keys back home, so she had to turn around and make the trip again.
I don’t remember exactly what I was doing, but shortly after I started working my boss, who is actually the Regional Manager, came by and asked if I could watch the front while she went to the bank. Watching the front is the manager’s way of saying “If anyone comes in deal with them.” I’m not sure if I said I would or not, but every bit of me inside was screaming No! I am new. What did she expect? Yesterday was like my fifth day of work. Did she expect me to know everything by then?
Anyway, my boss left and I was at the store alone. ALONE! I admit I wasn’t too worried at first because it’s a brand new store and I didn’t think anyone really realized that it was open already. Boy, was I wrong.
Right after my boss pulled out of the parking lot it hit. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! People were coming in by the hundreds…well not really, but the way I was feeling just then, it might as well have been a hundred people. It was more like seven or eight. But still, that’s enough to send a greenhorn crazy! Honestly!
I got through the first two customers with very little trouble, but once I got to the register, WOOSH, I hadn’t a clue how to ring up what he had ordered. Luckily the customer I was helping was really nice. I told him that I was new and he was perfectly alright with that. He said “We’ve all been there before.” I got really embarrassed when I accidentally put steak on his sandwich instead of roast beef. -Well they look exactly the same! He told me that I had made a mistake, very politely, and then I fixed it. The rest of the line looked at me funny when my face turned bright red and I started apologizing. I could almost hear their thoughts as I worked my way down the counter with the sandwich. Argh!
Fortunately my boss showed up just as my register problems started happening. I was glad she had returned, but the fact that she was upset with me didn’t improve the way I was feeling. In fact it got worse. I did my best to just keep smiling and I pretended like I knew what I was doing and actually I came to realize that I knew a lot more then I thought I did.
My boss never yelled at me or wrapped her hands around my throat, but I could tell she was upset. The look on her face when I asked all those questions was one of pure acrimony. As the day trudged along, however, her mood lightened up. Soon after the rush, she was laughing and joking just as if this morning never happened. For that I was grateful.
My ride picked me up at four o’clock and we headed home. As she drove I related my awful experience of work. I also told her that despite the horrid nature of my morning, I was glad for it. Why was I glad? Because now I had something to Blog about. Isn’t that sad? My life is so utterly boring that it has to be made abhorrent in order for it to be interesting.
Anyway, about the title. My day reminded me of a quote I once read and it goes as follows: Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. …Yeah, I never was a big fan of Adolf Hitler. But he is right. If a Richvillian (….I hope you don’t mind if I just start making up words for you-) were to see a pauper and how wonderful their life really was (should that be the case) then they would see their “paradise” as a sort of hell. And were the pauper to see the Richvillian’s life he may think just the opposite. Life is strange. Why is it that we always want what we don’t have?
Julia Willis
Posted in Funny Experiences, Office Experiences | No Comments »
Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
From my experience a Hawaiian vacation is something everyone should do once in their lifetime. I would also suggest you take the cruise around the islands so you can stop on all the islands and not limit yourself to just one. There are so many activities to do you won’t have enough time to do everything you want. Of course you will want to go back as I do.
Some of the things to try are:
- Windsurfing
- Mudbugging (dune buggies in the mud) See Mudbugging in Hawaii picture.
- Kaui Zip Line tours (oh yeah, hundreds of feet ABOVE the trees) See my video footage below.
- SNUBA diving (Kinda link Snorkeling and SCUBA mixed)
- Snorkeling
- Biking down a Volcano with the Maui Downhill (my favorite activitiy)
I’ll post a slide show soon to give you a taste, but you should visit at least once in your life, I promise you will not be disappointed. Unless you stay in your room all the time. 
Posted in Life Experiences | No Comments »
Saturday, August 18th, 2007
From my experience last night at a concert featuring Styx (who didn’t play Mr. Roboto, see lyrics), Foreigner and most importantly Def Leppard I learned that bands from the 80s are still giving great concert performances. True, not all the original band members are part of all the groups, most of the core members were, except for Dennis DeYoung, who I thought was the only band member I really missed from all three groups.
That notwithstanding, it was a excited atmosphere with at least 3 generations in attendance. I saw ages from 13 - 60. I know some people age 60 were there as my parents were in attendance across the stadium (Nissan Pavilion in Bristol, Virginia) from my wife and I.
While all the bands were very entertaining, Def Leppard stole the show without a doubt as the final act, climaxing with a superb performance of the song “Pour Some Sugar On Me. See live video footage at the end of this post. It was as if I had been transported back to the mid-eighties when they hit their height of popularity. Adrenaline and high-octane energy were in abundance from the crowd and the band members. You can see in the image to the right, from my mobile phone, that Vivian Campbell is ripped and in shape as all the members appeared to be, from all the bands, for that matter.
(more…)
Posted in Entertainment Experiences, Life Experiences, Music Experiences | No Comments »
Saturday, August 18th, 2007
From my experience releasing a press release about your business relationship with a company you are working with without written permission can seriously jeopardize that relationship. Check with the company you wish to write the press release about, even if you are casually mentioning them and especially when you are introducing them as a client.
Most businesses spend years perfecting and then protecting their brand awareness and aligning your company with them in the media, by writing a press release, without their express written permission can be seen as a breach of trust that can easily cause you to lose the client.
Never assume and always ask first and then get it in writing. It will save you writing letters of apology, making phone calls asking for forgiveness, asking for retractions and generally consuming your time you should be spending to cultivating new business. Even if they say no, they will respect you for taking the time to ask. And who knows, they may even say yes and give you a quote.
Posted in Business Experiences | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
From my experience the teenage years are there to help loosen the apron strings and help everyone accept a child leaving the house to start their own life. If they stayed as sweet and as lovable as they are when then are babies and toddlers you would never want them to leave.
As it is, teenage years of growing independence set the stage for the final exit into the world and as a parent you are usually more than ready for it by that time. Keep that in mind parents and future parents, the teenage years do have a purpose, trust me on this.
Update: My daughter did go to college in August and I have written about that experience as well.
Posted in Parenting Experiences, Relationship Experiences | No Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2007
From my experience Paradigm speakers are the best bang for the buck you can get for your home theater! Over the years I’ve owned many different brands of speakers including Cerwin Vega, JBL, Infinity and Bose. Yet none of these can compare to the price and sound quality of my current Paradigm home theater setup. And to top it off, the Paradigm’s cost less than my previous Bose speakers. I currently have the Mini Monitor system, except that I opted for a larger center & surrounds.
The first time I heard Paradigm speakers in the showroom, I fell in love with their rich, vibrant & authentic sounds. But it wasn’t until my Mom was visiting and said, “Wow, I can’t believe how good this sounds, it’s better than the theater,” that I truely marveled in how good a value they are. It takes a lot to make people, like my mother, who normally say they can’t tell a difference in sound quality take notice of how good something sounds.
Posted in Home Experiences, Music Experiences, Technology Experiences | No Comments »
Monday, August 13th, 2007
From my experience, giving flowers for no reason is much better and more rewarding than giving flowers because you are sorry. I did learn this the hard way after sending flowers as an apology.
Take the time and send flowers
to a loved one without a reason. You’ll both be happier for it.
And you can send flowers inexpensively, here are flowers for under $50 bucks
.
Posted in Relationship Experiences | No Comments »
