Timelyness

It was a good day at work today.

Why?
Because my coworker showed up on time today!

lol.
As the past couple of times I've been scheduled to open with this particular coworker,
She has ended up being late. :(

The first time because the managers switched the schedule on her and didn't mention the changes so she thought she had the day off.
The second time because either her alarm didn't go off or she slept through it.

Which meant, because she lives a bit away.
That when I finally called her to see if she was coming,
She would end up showing up an hour late.
Which is an hour of useful time before the store opened.....gone.

So it wasn't a surprise when I looked at the schedule this morning and saw she was coming in,
That I wondered if she would actually be on time today.

And she was!!

Lol we both were really excited about this fact.

Because she felt bad that she kept being late to work.
And I was beginning to feel like she didn't like me. ;) lol.

So to have us both there when we were supposed to be was a nice change. :) lol

Hopefully we can continue this streak of 'on timeness' for the rest of the week. ^^

-Sarnic Dirchi

Give Me A Number

I had a customer come up to me today,
A young girl, she seemed to be more early teens than anything.
And told me that she needed to buy some crickets.
Alright...
Like usual for most people. She didn't specify how many crickets she wanted. So I asked her.
and she said "Eight sixty nine's worth."
Aka.
$8.69 worth of crickets.

I blinked.
Okay....
I asked her again how many she wanted.
She was like "I only have $8.69 so whatever number that gets me, I don't have a calculator! You do the math."

>.>
Don't have a calculator huh?
And since when do our phones not come equipped with a calculator function?

Why do you assume that I would automatically know how many crickets you can get from $8.69?
It's not like I'm a human calculator myself. That I can just do numbers in my head and get the answer.

*shakes head*
Honestly, some customers thought process is weird.
It's lucky that I had a little calculator on hand.
To do the math for me.
*shakes head*
For those customers that want me to automatically know how many crickets or fish they can get for a certain amount of money.

Honestly....why they would think I would know is beyond me.
It's a retail job. It's not a math job.
It's not like we spend a week memorizing tables that tells you how many crickets you can get per dollar the customer has. lol.

Yah....those people are interesting....

-Sarnic Dirchi

No More Crack

For a long time now.
We've had this ancient sink in the back area behind our fish tanks.
That we've used to clean all the dirty dishes and things that need to be cleaned.

It's ancient.
Probably the original sink from when the store opened. I wouldn't be surprised.

In any case.
It was there when I first started working there.
And it had this crack in the side of it.
That had been fixed with...I'm guessing Aquarium Sealant to make sure it didn't leak.

Who knows how long the crack had been there before I started working there, or why it was fixed in that manner.
But there it was.

Yet, it hadn't been leaking in that time period.

However,
Back in January when I went on vacation for a week.
The faucet broke.
Sending hot water into the sink for like two weeks straight.
Which I think the stress of the hot water constantly flowing through it.....
Made a thin crack in the bottom of the sink.

Making more of an issue.
But not really....
Just a small leak.

But finally....after like a month.
We had a fixit guy come in to fix the faucet.

Which was more important as we finally were able to get running hot water again back there.
It's not fun to do dishes in cold water.

We hadn't even considered fixing the sink itself.
But the guy happened to notice the big crack in the sink.
And decided to order us a new sink!

And it was installed yesterday!
Yay!
We have a new sink!
It's so amazing.
No cracks.
All nice and white and clean and brand new!
So. Very. Cool. :)

To finally get a new sink is amazing. :)
I'm glad the fix-it guy noticed.
Otherwise it probably would have never been fixed until it split in half.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Need For Food

I had a customer come into the store today,
Looking to get some crickets for her gecko.
Originally she only wanted six, because she'd been told that they only needed to eat two at a time.
O.o Who knows who told her that.
And then she wanted to know how long it takes the geckos to get full grown.
So I told her about a year if they're eating well.
Which would mean feeding more than two crickets at a time to the gecko. I usually recommend 5 crickets per leopard gecko, sometimes as many as 10 per feeding. To help them grow.

In any case, as I was adjusting the number of crickets she wanted from 6 to my recommended 24.

She happened to notice our dish full of water cubes on top of the cricket box.
-As I'd taken it out to be able to see all the little crickets in order to count the today.
And asked what it was.
So I told her "It's water for the crickets, they can't drink straight water so we give them these."

She was quiet for a moment before saying. "I didn't realize they needed to eat."

It took me aback for a second and I told her. "Well...it's a living thing, all living things need to eat."

Granted I can see how you don't think about the live food for your pet would need to eat because its food itself. But....it is a living thing. If you want them to live longer than the 'four days' you say that they can live for you....you gotta feed them too. *shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi 

No More, No More

I got a call over the intercom today at work.
To go up to the register.
Which usually when my department is called up to the register,
It's to take care of an animal.
More often than not it's one that didn't make it.
(I did have a live animal return today Yay!)
And in this particular case.
That was what happened.
An aquatic frog hadn't made it.

So the customer had returned it in order to get another.
But I didn't make it over to the register to see why I'd been called up there in the first place.
Before the woman who did the returning had already approached me.
Telling me that the return was hers and she needed help.
Alright. I was happy to help.

So I asked her what she needed.
And she was like "I need a new aquatic frog to replace the dead one, and then three more besides that."
Okay.
Good to know I would need to go up to the register to grab a dead frog later.
But unfortunately for her...We didn't have any frogs.
Surprisingly we didn't get any in in our fish shipment when it came in.
It happens on occasion.
But its rare for them to not come in when we were out of frogs already.
Yet, that's what happened.
We had no frogs.
More frogs should have come in.
But they didn't.

So I told the customer. "I'm sorry, we're out."

And she used such an offended tone with me. "What do you mean you're OUT?"
"We don't have any frogs. None came in in our shipment. We don't have anymore."

It was like she couldn't comprehend such a thing.
Us? Being out of what she needed?
It was like she expected us to be able to go out into the back and grab more because she needed it now.

Well...we're not a farm. I can't just go back and grab more frogs whenever I want to. We get them shipped to us. If they don't ship, we don't get them.

"Well...How am I supposed to get my frog then?!"
"Well, you're going to need to take your receipt up to the cashier and get your money back for now. You can then come back on the day we get our fish and see if any came in then, because that would be the day they came in. We won't get anymore before that point."

So.
There was that solution.
She didn't like it.
But there was nothing more that I could do.

*shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Lift or Push?

I'm stronger than I look.
I mean, there is by no means that I can lift a 150 gallon by myself.

Which...
is kinda what the customers wanted.
We have a 150 gallon fish tank for sale. Tank and Stand combo.
Yah.
That thing probably weighs a ton.

Which is why I got four of the guys at work to lift it onto a cart, and lift it into the customer's truck.
Because that's what it takes to lift that thing.

Once it was in the truck, we set to work ensuring that it wouldn't get scratched in the process.
Which meant placing cardboard around the tank. To cushion it and protect it.

But to get the cardboard to stay in place.
We had to move the tank a little bit more.

So my head manager told one of the other guys to get into the truck to help move it.
But was distracted talking to the customer.
And I figured that it would be better to act now, so the customers could get back home sooner, instead of waiting for them to finish the conversation then move the tank.
Since I was already in the truck bed, placing cardboard.
I decided to take action.

I didn't need to lift the tank.
I needed to just push it.
Lifting is different from pushing.

So I went to the tank.
And with the right amount of force in the right place.
I was able to push it into place.
It took me like six tries to move it the six inches.
So basically an inch a push. lol.
But I moved it into place. :)

I think that might have impressed my manager. lol.
Being able to move it without the help of a guy.
But I'm thankful the guys were there to lift it. As it would have been impossible for me. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Squeezed

So it was near the close of work.
When I turned around and saw some customers come in with a box.
Not usually a good thing. Because usually within the box is an animal that has died. :(

Today...unfortunately, was one of those cases.
:( I much prefer it when the animal comes back in the box alive.

So, the customers came to me, to return their dead hamster.
This particular box with the hamster within it....
Was different though.
Because it had bloodstains on the outside of it. O.o

I thought I figured out the solution when I saw the paperwork that they brought in.
As it showed that they had bought two hamsters.
Of two different sizes.

So I thought the problem was that more than likely the larger hamster had attacked the smaller one, and killed it.
As I saw it was my greenest coworker who had sold them the hamsters, so perhaps my coworker hadn't known that you don't put two hamsters of different sizes together in the same cage.
-You don't put two hamsters together period-

Not the case. It wasn't that the hamsters had been put together.

The customers were very adamant that I don't look in the box.
But if they're returning the animal.....I kinda need to double check that they're returning what they say they're returning.

It definitely wasn't pretty.
A pool of blood below the hamster's head. It's eyes bloody, one hazed over in death....blood coming from the nose...

It's something that I haven't really seen before...when another hamster hasn't attacked the other.

What happened was just....
Sad.
S.A.D. Sad.

Apparently they got the hamsters for two people.
A boy and a girl.

No idea how old these two people are.
I'm assuming they're younger, possibly kids...

But I'm not sure, as I didn't ask for detail on ages.
In any case....
Apparently, when they got the hamsters to the two people.
The girl, opened up the box with the hamster that met it's unfortunate end.
She reached in and grabbed the hamster.
Like grabbed it, from above....kinda like a bird would dive down and grab onto the hamster and take it away.
You usually want to go under for picking up hamsters, scoop them up in a way.

But she reached in and grabbed the hamster.
So obviously it bit her.
Hard. I hope. Hopefully it drew blood.

She dropped it.
Who knows how far it fell.
But she apparently picked it up.

And stuck it between her legs to hold it in place while she went after the other hamster.

So what happened with the hamster?
Basically it was squeezed to death.
Between this girl's legs.

So the bloody eyes?
Probably it was squeezed so tightly that it wouldn't surprise me if it's eyes had literally popped.

So. So. Stupid.
Such a stupid way for the hamster the die!

Honestly, grab the one hamster, put it in the cage and then grab the other one.
Don't try and grab both of them at once!!

Ugh.
So. So. Sad!

Apparently the hamster that died, belonged to the boy, who was really upset.

I would be too.
Especially because they had bought the hamster earlier that day! Gah!

A hamster dying the same day? Not. Good. Ever. Especially when he was perfectly healthy when he left!

I really didn't want to sell them another hamster.
But I didn't want the boy to get the short end of the stick because of the stupid actions of the girl.

So with a firm "Don't let the girl handle this hamster!" and other instructions like on when to handle them, how to handle them, how to pick them up.

I got them another hamster.

But if this second one returns to us dead......
I've already gotten a contingency plan in hand.

I left a note for all my coworkers, telling them to keep an eye out for customers who come in with the paperwork with "so and so's" name.
And that if they come in with another dead hamster.
To. Not. Sell. Them. Another. One.

As obviously the people they're giving them to, don't know how to handle hamsters correctly.
I also let the managers on duty know.

So. If they do return that one hamster dead.
They're not going to get another one.
Hopefully. So long as my coworkers read my message and remember to keep an eye out....
Hopefully it doesn't have to be an issue, and the hamster ends up fine.
Hopefully.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Broken Lock

It's weird how things are working fine one moment, and then the next...its broken. Without any signs of anything going wrong.

I had a coworker do the bedding changes.
As finally I had a coworker who came in early enough that I could have them do the bedding changes and still expect to have them done about the time the store opens.

-For the past week that hasn't really happened, so I've had to clean the animal cages while my coworkers open up the rest of the department.

And they'd been doing really good.
However....somewhere near the end of their tasks.
One of the locks to keep customers from walking off with our animals....
Failed.

It wouldn't turn.
It wouldn't lock or unlock.
Nothing.
It wouldn't work for my key or hers.

Of course, if something stops working....
The automatic response is to come find me and have me figure out a solution instead of them trying other solutions first.

It had been noted by my coworker that the latch -that locks the cages- was loose.
So I thought, it basically needed to just be tightened right?
Which meant I needed to find a screw driver to tighten the screw on the lock and all would be good.
I went and found a screw driver.
Tightened the loose screw.
And yah, you guessed it.
The lock didn't work.

My next thought was to take apart the lock, But I wasn't sure if that would solve the problem either.
So I called Sirch over to look at the lock, as he's a bit of a fix it guy himself.
He tried his key, and the lock didn't work for him either.
So he figured that the lock had gone bad. -Not a surprise, it is an old store.
And that we needed to replace it.
So off we went in search of another lock.
Found one.
Took apart the old one.
And my manager had the thought of "Well maybe I could fix it if I greased it up a bit."
However, when he took the lock apart, and then fit it back together again, trying a brand new key in it, and then our older keys -which apparently are really worn down.-
The lock was once again working fine.
O.o

He got called away just then,
So I figured I would finish putting the lock back together.
And try the keys.
Guess what?
Yah.
Once the old lock was back together, all the keys worked just fine in it.

My guess is....
That since we were working on the reptile bedding change, and that involves placing dirt in the bottom of the tropical reptile cages. That possibly a bit of debris got caught inside the lock, or maybe on my coworker's key, and jammed up the lock.
And the way to fix it....was to just take it apart and put it back together again.

*shakes head*
So weird.
but at least we didn't need to get a new lock right? :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

The One And Only

:) I love it when I get complimented at work. :)
It just makes the day go better, you know?
At least for me it does.
I love getting compliments. Ones that put a smile on my face, give me a buzz of excitement, make me anxious to help other customers in hopes that they too will give me a compliment.

Today,
I was helping out a customer with questions with Guinea Pigs.
They seemed halfway familiar.
But since I see so many faces....it was hard to know if they were repeat customers, or just looked like somebody I'd seen elsewhere. I mean, if the customer doesn't come in that regularly, it's not easy to remember them.

In any case.
In the midst of our conversation.
The wife was the one to tell me.
That I was the reason why they decided to shop at my store.
Because I was the one who gave them all the information they needed about Guinea Pigs, and tips and such, and that I was so knowledgeable compared to everyone else they talked to.

lol.
Apparently they'd gone to other pet stores.
And the people they'd talked to in those stores, weren't as helpful as I was. 
And that they could tell that I genuinely cared about my job.
Which I happily told them "I love my job!" -So true. I do.

So. Because of me, they plan to shop at my store instead of any others. :D Yay! :) lol

But.
The story doesn't end there.
While they were complimenting me the wife was suddenly like "Is your manager around, as I'd love to tell them how awesome you are."
I said "Sure! He's just around the corner."
Which my manager was, he was working on stocking. (that's a never ending job it seems like.)
So I called him over.
And the customers told him that I was amazing and that I'm the reason that they plan to shop at our store instead of any others, because I'm so knowledgeable etc.

Cue the warm fuzzies all over. ^^ Awww!!
It's rare for customers to want to talk to managers about us in good ways.
So to have it done for me today.
It was great!
Totally energized me and helped me get through the rest of the day. :)

So glad that I was able to provide a positive experience for those customers. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Back So Soon?

Sometimes I wonder at the motives of people....
Why they act in the way they do.

*shakes head*

I had customers come into the store pretty much as the doors opened.
They wandered about looking at things.
I thought they would just leave.

But the ended up deciding to get a hamster.

At first the girl wanted two hamsters.
But I gave her the spiel on why that was a bad idea.
So she decided on just one.

I grabbed the hamster for her.
Took it up to the register for her to buy.
And figured that was the last I would see of them.

But.
O.o
Strangely.
Just a little bit later.
I'm not even sure if it had been an hour yet...
hmm...no longer than like two hours at the most.

I got called up to the front.
Because a customer had just returned a hamster.

I was half expecting it to be dead.
but no.
The hamster was alive.
And I recognized the people as they walked away from the register.

They were the same people I'd helped just a little bit earlier!

They left before I could ask what was up.
And my cashier had no idea why they returned the hamster.

Yes, the hamster was still alive.
It would have been horrible if it had been killed in that short time period. :S
(it's happened before unfortunately. Not recently, but when idiot people leave pets in a hot car...it's what happens. :( )

He looked fine...
So I had no idea why he had been returned.
I can only guess it was a change of heart. *shrugs*
I'll probably never know.

In any case.
I put the hamster back in his cage.

And continued on with my tasks.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Stuck In Tight

So, in our fish tanks at work.
We have these lock lines, as they're called.

They're basically nozzles that bring fresh water into the fish tanks. So that there is always filtration/circulation happening.

Occasionally though, those lock lines get clocked up.
Whether with debris, or snails (since we have a problem with those,) or chunks of food.

Once they stop letting water through.
We need to clear them out.
Otherwise the water in the tank gets stagnant and cold. Which isn't a good environment for most of our fish.

So today, I noticed that a few of our tanks appeared to have lower water levels.
Which usually indicates a blocked lock line.
So I turned off our system
-As its not a good idea to take off the lockline while the water is flowing, because if you manage to not spray water all over the place once you get it off....you'll spray water all over the place attempting to get it back on.

And went to change the locklines.

Only.
I couldn't.
Why?
Because all but one of the clogged ones had been twisted into the tank so tightly...
That it might as well have been welded in there. XP
I couldn't get them to twist off.
My grip wasn't strong enough.
-It makes it even more difficult when you have to deal with fish water, and an awkward position to get a good grip.
But no matter what I tried with my hands...it was basically glued into place.

Not good. If I didn't get the locklines cleared....
The fish wouldn't be too happy before long, if they weren't already unhappy now.

Many people would have just given up. Moved onto a different task, and let someone else some other time clear out the lock lines.
Yah.
Wasn't going to do that.
I'm the type where if one solution doesn't work, I don't give up. I just think of a new solution to fix my problem.
I'm good at that.
lol.
Which is probably why everyone in the dept comes to me when something quits working because I can usually figure out what's wrong and fix it.

In any case.
My first solution was to just find a guy coworker in the store and have him and his strength untwist the locklines for me.
Problem was, that they were all swamped with customers. -It being a holiday after all.-
So there would be no help from them anytime soon.

So what else could I use to get those things off?
Answer.
A pair of ...I think they're called pliers? I have no idea actually. Shows how much I pay attention to tools. lol.
It was like a cross between a wrench and tweezers....I think its pliers.
Only not cutting ones. Just a flat edged one, used to help unscrew/tighten things.

I found one....but it was waaaaay too big to maneuver in the small space available.
So I had to dig around the store for a while until I found a smaller set.

It took a bit of work, to get the pliers situated on the lock line to where I could twist it and slowly loosen it.
But finally!
I did it!

I cleared all those locklines and got the water flowing through them again!
Yay!

XP
It would have been so much easier of those locklines hadn't been screwed on so freaking tightly though.
A five minute job turned into like half an hour job as I struggled to get those things off.

Honestly, they don't need to be screwed in so tight they can't move. Especially considering that we have to unscrew them to clear them.
*shakes head*
Hopefully it won't be a problem now.....but we'll see.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Different Position

I was taking a break from the crazy.
Customers. They can be a drain on your energy reserves.
So halfway through my shift, I took my lunch.
Just to get some peace away from people.

But about halfway through lunch,
One of our Vet techs walked in.
-As we have a Vet Hospital located within our store.
They just share a space inside our building, they're not part of Starsmet.

And the Vet Tech started talking about the fact that they were looking to hire people.
More vet techs and secretaries.
He suggested that I should apply for a position there.
Because I've been at Starsmet for a while now.
And he could put in a good word for me. If I decided to apply.

Which...if I was looking to be a Vet Tech, would be an amazing opportunity. :)

....But I'm not.

I love cats and dogs.
And it would be fun to help take care of them.
Give them shots and such.
And I would be able to learn a lot.

Yet....
There isn't really a draw for me to go and do that.

I'm really happy (despite the difficulties I've had this past week at work.) where I'm at.
I get to care for all animals.
Fish. Birds. Reptiles. Hamsters. Cats. Dogs. Etc
And not just Cats and Dogs like the vet sees.

Plus.
I think I would feel cramped there.
As the vet part of the store is like...a third the size of my department.
Which is one forth of the size of the store.

So to go to such a small space.... :S Not sure I'd like that.

Still.
It's good to know,
That if I decided to branch out and do something different.
I could always apply to work at the Vet's. :)

For now though, I'm sticking with what I have now. :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Tip of the Iceberg

It's interesting, what difference a good night sleep gives you.
What difference not having a headache gives you.

I had basically the same situation happen to me two days in a row.
Where I was deprived of help in my opening tasks.
I had coworkers scheduled to come help me out.
But due to different circumstances.
They weren't able to help out.

Which didn't help much with the overall tension in the store.
Because we had a District Manager coming to visit.
And it was the day before and the day off the visit that my coworkers were unable to come in and do their jobs.
But I hadn't known that.

I had been planning on their help.
And so was opening up my department with that plan in mind.

The first day, I hadn't slept well the night before. A headache took up residence in my head and would. not. leave. So I was already in a bad mood. Trying to just survive work, and this set back was one setback too many that morning. And I basically snapped. Tears, crying, shoving things around. Because I couldn't do it.
We managed to work it out, I got help eventually, and it all went well after that point.

I mean...
I'm used to those sort of situations. Where I have to open by myself. I did it for months on end because my managers wouldn't schedule a second person to come in until later in the day during that period. But that's been a while now. And if I'm given a heads up. It's no big deal.
But for some reason. That day.
I couldn't handle the situation. It wasn't working for me.

Yet,
The very next day.
I had the same thing happen.
I was expecting a coworker to show up, but nobody had told me that she wasn't going to come in today. Which was horrible news considering our DM would be showing up right smack on the dot when our store opened. And having the dept fully open at that time.
Impossible.

However. I had had a good nights sleep. I was rested. I didn't have a headache. I was in a better mood.
Or else since I'd already experienced this just the day before. I was resigned to it happening again.
But. I was able to handle it.
No tears, no shoving, no crying.
I just buckled down and got to work.

Didn't mean I wasn't frustrated at this turn of events.
But I handled it much more calmly than the day before.

Amazing what sleep and no headache can do to make the day better.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Cage for Hamster

There are days where you kinda want to hit your head against the wall at the stupidity of some customers.

I had two young bright eyed bushytailed customers come in today.

With their parents.

Wanting to get a pet hamster. Or two.

Basically each girl was going to buy a hamster for herself.

They obviously weren't thinking things through.

About what it costs to have a pet.

Like the fact that they need a cage.

Food.

Water.

Stuff to sleep in.

One girl was prepared to pay the money.

And had gathered all the stuff.

The other.....

Not so much.

She didn't have the money to buy the cage the hamster needed.

Yet, still wanted the hamster.

She wanted to keep him in a box.

And I told her that the hamster couldn't stay in the box.

She had thoughts that I would provide a box for the hamster to stay in until she could get the hamster a cage.

The boxes we provide for customers are only temporary containers.

To keep the hamster safe until they're home and are able to put the hamster in their cage.

It's not a container to keep them in for long.

For one.

They need food. For two they need water. For three they can chew through the box within like an hour if they're determined.

So definitely not a place to keep a hamster.

And she didn't seem to understand that.

She just wanted to keep the hamster in a box.

And I was like. What about food. What about water?

She had no answer.

She didn't have money for the stuff the hamster needed.

And yet wanted to have the hamster?

It's beyond stupid.

You don't buy any living thing without being able to provide for it.

And I told her straight up.

Until I know you have a cage for the hamster I am not selling him to you.

Lucky her.

Her parents were there.

And were willing to get the cage for her so she could have the hamster.

There was some discussion that they could just put both hamsters in one cage.

And I told them that it wouldn't work.

They would fight and kill each other because that's what hamsters do.

Especially when they're coming from completely different cages.

That's just begging for a fight.

In the end.

Two cages

and

Two hamsters went home.

Now we'll see if they end up getting returned or not.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Update: The lady who bought the hamster and guinea pig while her husband was out came back in to get a second guinea pig. *shakes head* The husband is aware of the guinea pig. He said "I told you No!" but has been fine with it ever since apparently.

Nightime Blahs

One thing about work,
Is abut the only consistent thing about it is that it's always changing.
You can't plan on anything to stay the same for long.
Which sucks when you try to make plans further than like a week in advance,
Because you don't know if that's the week where they'll decide to change things on you.

But it also sucks when your managers actually get a bit smart in their scheduling.
Especially when it ends up at my disadvantage.

This particular disadvantage being that,
Since I'm let a step below manager.
And since we technically no longer have a manager solely over my dept....
I'm basically the manager of my dept.

It doesn't make sense that I shouldn't work on the busiest day of the week.
During the busiest time of the day.

Because I'm basically manager over the dept. Over the animals.
The head managers want me to be working in the dept on the busiest day of the week.
So I can basically be present in the dept if anything happens to go wrong.
Or at least be there to answer questions.
Since I am the most knowledgeable about the animals and potential problems or concerns customers may have about them.
And Saturday's are the most likely day that customers will come in, in multitudes, with those concerns and questions that my other coworkers who haven't been in the dept as long may not know.

Really, it's a valid point.

But....why instigate it now?
Why start making me work Saturday nights now when I've always been a morning person.
>.<
Bleh.
Must be a new year resolution or something.
Though I think my coworkers have been handling things just fine on Saturdays. I can understand why they'd want me there.
I don't like it.
I'm hoping that it's one of those 'changes' that doesn't last long.
As I really am not liking the night shifts. >.<
Especially on a Saturday Night.

-Sarnic Dirchi

To Get A Pet

The other day I had a customer and her daughter come into the store.
Why?
Because the daughter really wanted a Guinea Pig.
So the mom had brought her, so they could learn a bit of information about the animals in the store and price things out, just to see how much it would cost.

I don't think originally there was an intention of buying anything.
Though the daughter -typical young spoiled young teenager- really really wanted a pet.

The Mom was less inclined.
Mostly because her husband wasn't keen on the idea of another pet. Especially not a Guinea Pig, though the mom planned to talk to her husband about it.

They were also curious about the hamsters as well.
So I told them about those as well.

The Mom was considering going more of the hamster route.
As it would be more easier to keep secret from her husband.

>.>
<.<
Secret huh?
Apparently the husband wasn't the most observant sort.
As they've had pets before without him realizing.
And figured that the hamster could be hidden.
Though the daughter was set on the Guinea Pig.

Oh wait. No she wanted the Hamster.
Oh wait.
No she actually just wanted both of them.

They could get the hamster now.
But couldn't afford to get the Guinea Pig until the Mom got paid that week.

I suggested that they could wait.
But daughter was impatient.
She wanted a pet now.
I suggested they could just stick with the hamster.

But the daughter wanted both.

*shakes head*
I left the customers to let them decide while I saw to other tasks and other customer needs.

Still confused....
As to why the Mom would go ahead and get her daughter a pet if her husband didn't want it?
Furthermore. She mentioned waiting until Saturday to get the pet, because her husband would be going out snowmobiling that day. And he's always in a good mood when he gets back, so he'd be more likely to accept the Guinea Pig. Especially if it was already there in the house.

But why?
I know you want to make your daughter happy...but is it worth it at the expense of your husband?
Why would you go behind his back and get a pet when he didn't want it?
Why not bring him into the store and make him part of the process.

*shakes head*
I dunno.
I was hoping she'd think about it.
But daughter won the day.

When I got back to them like half an hour later.
They'd decided to get not one, but two hamsters.
TWO hamsters.
When I'd told them that one would be just fine.
I had no idea why they got it in their heads that they needed two.
Especially when they also informed me that they were going to come back and get a guinea pig.

So...You came in to check out prices...
And now you're leaving planning to get potentially up to four pets.
-Because they were talking about getting more than one guinea pig as well.

All because you can't say no to your daughter?

In any case.
I managed to talk them down to one hamster.
For the specific reason that two hamsters don't get along once they're mature.
They fight.
They can kill each other.
Not.
A.
Good.
Idea.

So they left the store with one hamster.
With plans to come back once the Mom got paid.

The weekend came....
And so did the Mom and her daughter.
To get their guinea pig.
Just one for now. Maybe another in the future.

They still love the hamster.
Now they're ready for the Guinea Pig.
-At least the husband is aware of the possibility he's coming home to a Guinea Pig to the house.

But they got a Guinea Pig.

Husband is still unaware of the Hamster.

..... I'm really curious how this is all going to turn out.

Guess we'll see....

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Little Cardboard

It's one thing to have to work a busy Saturday when things are going well.
It's totally another thing to work a busy Saturday when all the customers seem much more demanding and needy than normal.
Like they must have the exact thing they want and won't take no for an answer, and won't take substitutions and such. They have what they want in mind and they want it exactly like that.

*shakes head*

Today I had a customer ask me about a 75 gallon fish tank we sell.
Wanting to know if we had more than just that one tank on the shelf in the back.

No big deal. We have customers who ask all the time if we have more tanks in the back as they think the tanks we have on the shelves are just display tanks, not meant to be moved or sold.
Which isn't the case at all. If you see it, you can buy it. Take it right off the shelf.

But customers also ask us if they have more in the back,
because they think that the tanks come in boxes all wrapped up and such.
Which depending on the tank...some do, some don't.

I can understand why customers want their products wrapped up.
It gives a sense of 'newness.'
A sense that no one else has touched it, or it hasn't been disturbed by other means.

But honestly, we wouldn't sell the tanks if they were covered in brown cardboard.
So when we put it on the shelf we remove it so customers can actually see the tanks they're buying.

Still, this particular customer wanted to know if I had another 75 gallon tank.
So I went and checked.
Though I did tell him that he could take the one we had off the shelf, he wanted to know if we had others.
Turns out we did.
We had one more tank.
ten feet above our heads in our steel. -requiring a Forklift to get it down.

So I returned to the customer.
As he'd been wanting the tank in a box.
And politely explained to him that we did have one more.
But it's 'in the box state' was just a thin layer of cardboard that wrapped around 3 of the sides.
It was hardly any 'protection' that he was looking for. It was like not even a cm thick of cardboard.

I told him that we could take extra boxes from the back and wrap them around the tank that was already out on the floor to help provide some protection.

But no.
He wanted the one that was on the steel.
*sighs*
So, I grabbed a manager to get it down via forklift.
And brought it over to him.
and he seemed surprised that it wasn't as much protection as I think he thought it was.
Yah. It's not like its covered in a box. It's just a book cover sort of covering. Nothing more. *shakes head*
But apparently it was 'protection' enough for his long hour and a half drive back home.

Hopefully the tank made it all the way home in one piece.
At least he was understanding that 'that's how the tank comes'
As other customers don't understand the concept that things aren't packaged how they think they are.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Reeking

Turtles are annoying.
Because you can't always tell when they've well.....died.

I was finishing up cleaning out the turtle tank today.
pouring fresh water in.
And just wanted to check in on the turtles that were in there.
Placing them up by their food so they could eat it and such.

And I picked up one.
Our smallest one.
And I noticed that he wasn't....reacting.

I couldn't remember if I'd seen the turtle moving around earlier or not.

:S Which would be really sad if I like scalded the turtle or something as I did put in warmer water....

So I checked the turtle out.
His legs were all limp,
But his head was pulled back into his shell.
With closed eyes.

Which made it difficult to tell.
Because usually if they're dead....the head and legs are all limp.

But this turtle wasn't doing that.
Still...
Limp legs...
I was assuming it was dead.
But just to be sure, I took the turtle into the back, off the floor and out of sight of customers.
But then got called away by customers,
So I left him out on a table for like 15 minutes....
And he didn't move an inch.

Was in the same position.

Just as a final check though.

I smelt the turtle.

Oh yah.
Big mistake.

That thing reeked of death.

No wonder I thought I smelt something rotting as I was cleaning out all the reptile cages today.
Now I knew the source.
Poor thing. :(

-Sarnic Dirchi

Kitty Cat Marathon

There's something about humans, where if they see one person doing something...they all end up wanting to do that same thing as well.

Which can be both nice and annoying at work.
When different customers all in a row want the same thing.
Whether its three customers in a row wanting a Pleco.
Four in a row all wanting to get a hamster.

It happens all the time at work.
I have no idea why it happens.
Its probably the same reason why you have no customers for forever, and then suddenly you're calling for multiple cashiers as everyone in the store randomly decided to come up at the same time.

Today it was cats.
A customer came and found me as I was working on stocking.
Saying that he wanted one of our cats that we had up for adoption.
So I started him up on the process of filling out paperwork and everything so he could get the cat.
And while I was working with him on that.

There were a bunch of other customers in the adoption area looking at them.
9 times out of 10, the people looking at the cats just want to hold them, not take them home.

Not so today.
As soon as I finished with the paperwork with the first customer.
I checked in on the people looking at the other cats and kittens.
And a couple wanted to look at one of the cats.
Which I then ended up adopting out to them.

Once I was done doing the paperwork with them and getting them their cat.
I saw another woman in the adoption area.
Looking at the cats.
And checked in with her.

Yep.
You guessed it.
I adopted out a cat to her.

So I did three cat adoptions, all in a row.
Took me the better part of an hour to help all three of them.

But today three cats found their forever homes. ^^
Yay! :)

-Sarnic Dirchi

Visited Again

It's always interesting getting a new manager into the department.
Each one has their own quirks.
Their own methods of getting things done.
Some are more easy going, others are more strict.

When I first started at Starsmet. I had a manager that was more by the book.
So I knew all the details, all the needs, all the steps that needed to be taken to have our department in 'tip top shape' when our DM comes in.

Details.
That the next manager wasn't as concerned about. They were more lax. Basically just make sure the basics are in place and you're good.

We've had different DMs during this time as well. And they've focused on different things.
But the original DM I had when my first manager was there. Has come back.
And I know their standards.
I also know that we've been doing just fine whenever they drop by to visit before now.
Just little things to fix here and there.
Nothing to worry about.

But this particular DM visit.
Is with my newest manager.
This will be their first time being manager with the DM visiting.
And they want everything to be perfect.

So today, they went into extreme detail on how everything was supposed to look for every part of the department for the visit next week.
I already knew all the details. I know how the department is supposed to look.
But I went along with it.

Honestly, I'm not concerned with the visit.
I've been through many of them.
Some are slightly better than others.

But apparently, we've been making really bad impressions the last few times the DM has visited.
And so my manager wants to ensure that we make a great impression this time around. If not for the DM for our Head Manager's sake.

*shakes head*
Honestly, I think its the rest of the store that hasn't been doing a good impression.
As its only been little things mentioned for my department if mentioned at all.
Because I know what needs to be done.
And they're easy fixes. Easy to do the day that the DM shows up.

Still.
I can feel the tension rising in the store.
To ensure that everything looks good for this visit.
*sighs*
This is going to be a 'fun' week until the DM shows up.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Long Sleeves

There's a good reason why I don't wear long sleeves at work.
Because with everything I do at work.
Those long sleeves would get pretty dirty and wet in no time flat if I didn't push them up.
And if I have to push up my long sleeves in order to not get them dirty.
What's the point of wearing a long sleeved shirt in the first place?

I'll tell you why.
Because when you don't want customers to notice things.
You wear long sleeves.

I did that today.
For like the first time ever.
I wore long sleeves to work.

Because for whatever reason, I appear to be suffering from some allergic reaction.
Considering that I'm not aware of being allergic to anything.
(it started before I went to work, so it was nothing work related)
It's really weird for me to be breaking out in red spots all over the body.
*shakes head*

Needless to say.
I didn't want customers commenting on those red spots.
Nor did I want them getting paranoid that I was contagious.
Which I'm not.

So I wore long sleeves to hide them.
*shakes head*

It didn't really end up mattering in the long run though.
Because I ended up leaving work early.
To go get myself checked out by the doctor.

But still.
I'll probably be wearing long sleeves for the rest of the week until those red spots go away.

-Sarnic Dirchi