Edible

So there's a new cat food that we're carrying in our store called Applaws.

And with most new foods that we get into the store, we end up having a training video we watch on it. Just so we know a bit more about the brands coming into the store. The perks, and the 'special things' that the brands provide and such.

Applaws is a brand that specializes in limited ingredients.
Like so limited there's only 1-3 things listed. 

But the main thing I took away from this training thing.

Is the fact that Applaws can be eaten by people. 

O.o 

That's literally a first.

I mean, I know there's been people who have tried to eat dog/cat food over the years and such.

But this is the first time that I've heard a food say that it can be eaten by people. 

*shakes head*

Which. It just seems weird lol. 
Yet, the person in the video ate it right then and there. O.o 
Crazy.

But looking at the actual product in the store....I can see how it could be consumed by people too. Like. It's basically just pulled chicken or tuna....with maybe a vegetable added in. 

Crazy.
>.>

At least I know now that if I get stranded at work for a while....there's one food I can eat there without getting sick from it. lol. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Ammonia Test

Yesterday I had two guys come into work to get their water tested.
Because they'd noticed that they're goldfish were getting black spots on their bodies and were concerned.

Which yah...kinda concerning because I was pretty sure black spots appearing on fish usually means there's too much ammonia in the water.

And that's exactly what the water test revealed.
Their ammonia was sky high. :S In the "DANGER!!" Zone. 

So I recommended that they do a 50% water change and possibly add in some Ammo-Lock to detoxify the remaining ammonia, as well as possibly adding in some Beneficial Bacteria to their tank to also help break down the ammonia levels. 

And like....the guys ended up spending a long time in the store.
Much longer than I expected them to.
Because I figured they would just take the things I suggested and well....buy them and leave.
But no, I saw them looking at all the chemicals and the fish tanks and the filters and just talking to themselves....

Though I didn't get a chance to really speak with them again to check in because I was desperately trying to get the bedding change done yesterday before I got off work. 

But I figured they'd found what they needed and left.

And to my surprise, they came back into the store today. 
With another water test.

To which I was like...you were just in yesterday....
:S 
So I was desperately hoping that these guys would have a different and better result today than they had had yesterday.

Because I really don't like it when customers come into the store expecting there to have been an immediate change. Becomes sometimes there isn't. Sometimes it takes time for things to shift. 

So I was mentally preparing myself to give them the bad news that there wasn't much of a change when I tested their water again.

But surprisingly, and excitingly.
There was a major difference!

The ammonia levels had dropped drastically, nearly to the safe levels. 
And all the other slight issues from yesterday were nonexistent today.

And it was just such a cool moment.
To tell them this news, and see their faces light up.
Because it had worked!
Spending money on things had helped!

lol 
^^;;
So yah, we were both rather giddy over the results.
Glad that they had improved and such. 
^^;;

A good moment, that's for sure. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Big Bag Please

Customers are weird.
Like I get when they want to be extra careful and ensure that the animal lives....
But sometimes they can go...like a bit overboard with it?

So.
I had a family come into the store.
Parents and a Daughter....possibly more siblings as well.
Though I really only interacted with Mother and Daughter. 

And the mother had that "Can I talk to the manager" sort of attitude. The attitude of "If you don't give me exactly what I want I'm going to complain." 

While the daughter was more of a mild mannered and timid sort. 

But the Mom found me and was like "My daughter wants a fish! A Zebra Tetra!" 

....Which we don't carry Zebra Tetras....so I was like "Zebra Danio? Neon Tetra?" 
She's like "no, the fish with the vertical black stripes."

Oh. The Black Skirt Tetras. 

*shakes head* 

So I was like "How many do you want?"

The daughter quietly said "Two." 

So I got on the ladder to grab two Black Skirts....
And had just scooped in two into my net.

When the mother was like: "NO! She had one in mind that she wanted!" 

....okay why didn't you say so in the first place?
I looked to the daughter, who quietly said that she wanted darker ones that were of similar size.

Ooohkay...not too hard to do. *shakes head* 

So I grab the fish, and go to grab a bag and ask my usual question of "Do you live under an hour or over an hour away?"
Because my smallest bag is good for an hour and a half, and I have customers who come from up to 4 hours away to come get fish. (Because our location is the closest to them.)

The mother stated that the drive was an hour.
Which okay, small bag it is then.

But then she asked for me to "Do something special" to ensure that the fish live that long.
But like....we don't? We don't do anything to the fish. If the drive home is longer we put them in larger bags so that there's more air in the bag.

So upon hearing that she was like "Okay I'll take the largest bag then!" 

Which I literally gave her the O.o look of confusion and blankly told her "That's good for 3 hours, but your drive is only an hour. The small bag is good for an hour and a half" 

But No. "I live in Central!" she said.
Which I took to mean that she meant that she lived in the central part of the state....
Which if you hadn't just told me was an HOUR away would have made more sense to be concerned.
As again, I have people drive for 3-4 hours to come to our store to get fish. 

But it was a freaking HOUR
and you said you were going STRAIGHT HOME

Why do you need the biggest bag possible to take home two fish??

*exhales*
I gave her the big bag anyways. Because you know, 'make the customer happy'

But I still think it was a bit extreme.
There was no reason to get such a big bag for those little fish....

-Sarnic Dirchi

And Another One's Gone

It was the weirdest thing at work today....

Which considering it's a holiday isn't weird at all because weird things often happen on holidays.

But we had eight zebra finches in our back room.

They'd just come in a few days ago,
So per policy we keep them off the floor for a bit to observe them and make sure they're healthy before we bring them out onto the floor to sell.

And like....they were fine when I last saw them on Saturday....
But when I came into work today....

Two of the eight zebra finches were dead on the bottom of the cage.
O.o
Which?
WHAT?!?!

Like I can get there maybe being one....like one not getting enough food or something....
But two dead?

Something had gone wrong...
Though I had no idea what.

And as I looked closer in the cage, I noticed that a third one wasn't do so hot.
It was puffed up, sitting on the bottom of the cage with it's eyes clothes.
Barely even reacted when I picked it up.
Didn't even try to fly away.

So I took care of the dead birds,
Separated out the sick one so I could watch it easier.

And continued on with my task of cleaning out the cages in the back.

Only to come back a couple of hours later, glance in the zebra finch cage, and see another dead zebra finch on the floor.

Which brought the total of dead up to Four.
Because the bird I had isolated away from the others....also ended up dying a couple of hours after I had separated it from it's buddies.

And when I went to take care of the fourth deceased finch...
I noticed that two of the other four weren't looking too good either.

They were puffed up and lethargic....

So I did what I could for them.
Checked the temperature in the room and turned up the heat a bit as it was a little chilly.
Gave them fresh food and water

But.....

By the end of my shift....a fifth finch had passed.

Which left me with just three left alive....one puffy, the other two looking normal.

And it's just....crazy.

I've never had this happen before.
O.o
Like 5 birds all day in less than 24 hours? Three of them for sure within like three hours of each other?
It's crazy.
There's something wrong.
Either a disease they all had.
Or something they were given.
Or who knows....was it the temperature, the food, the water, the room, the birds themselves?
who knows.

I just Know it wasn't a fun day to work. *exhales*
Not fun at all.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Let's Play!

There was a little boy at the fish wall with his parents today.
Nothing really to remark on.
Kids come into the store all the time to look at fish. 

I wasn't helping the kid's parents at that moment though.
No, I was helping a woman and her daughter by catching them 40 small goldfish.

Easy enough to count out and such.
I have a method down.

Only the little boy was sitting right where I needed to catch fish.
He scooted over when I said I needed to be there.

And he was watching me catch the fish.
But it wasn't silently.
No. he was talking the entire time.
But not just regular kid babbling.
No it was game babble. 
"Let's Play! Let's Play!" he cried out in the "little kid show voice" that some games and children's shows do. "En Espanol. In English. Matching. Matching. Match the goldfish! Let's Play! Matching. In English."

Like...O.o It was like listening to a parrot kinda? Idk.
It was just weird how the boy could mimic the tone of the 'game' so well.
Like writing it out has no comparison to how it sounded.

It was distracting for sure.
lol. Made it difficult to count out the fish.

*shakes head* The odd things I encounter at work....

-Sarnic Dirchi

What Are You Trying To Say?

A customer called on the phone wanting to know information about our tank/stand combos. Particularly the size, shape and price. Which no big deal. Easy enough to answer, though I did have to repeat myself a couple of times because the customer wasn't totally understanding what I was saying. It happens. Phone conversations aren't always the clearest.

But then.

The customer had a question involving an item that goes in the tank. That item was something that had just come out a couple of years ago and was a newfangled device to help keep the tanks cleaner. It's something that goes on the bottom of the tank and has a tube and filters the water in a box and then puts clean water back out.

Which in the beginning sounded like an undergravel filter system. Which isn't new at all. That's totally old school.

But no. That's not what the customer wanted.

So I was like "are you looking for a filter?"

But no. The customer was looking for a thing that goes in the bottom of the tank -not an undergravel filter- that sucks at the gravel and cleans it and puts fresh water back in.

Which sounded like a gravel vacuum, which isn't a filter at all. But the gravel vacuums we had were ones that took water totally out of the tank and didn't put fresh water back in unless you were talking about the ones that connect to the sink.

But no. The customer didn't want one that connected to the sink. It was supposed to suck out the water, cleaning the gravel in the process, and filter it in a box and then put clean water back in.

Which sounded like a filter system. Specifically our canister filter systems where you have a box underneath the tank and then two tubes go into the tank. One to suck out the water, one to put it back in, but you still have to maintain them and they're more expensive and they don't clean the gravel.

Nope. The customer was adamant that what they were talking about was only like $20 two years ago when they first saw it. That it cleans the gravel too.

So again, I tried to talk about the gravel vacuums.

But no. It wasn't that. The entire thing was self contained. No water would ever need to leave the tank. It cleans the gravel and filters it and puts clean water back in.

Round and round we went in this conversation for like 15 minutes. With the customer increasingly getting louder on their side of the phone constantly saying NO! THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!!!! IT'S *proceeds to explain again*

To which I was like. "It sounds like you're trying to combine two things together the filter system and the gravel vacuum but that doesn't exist like that. It's one it the other."

But no. It was a new device. It was out two years ago, etc.

The customer was finally like "Let me talk to someone else." Because obviously I wasn't getting what this customer wanted and they were sure that someone else would understand them better.

So I put them on hold and went to the manager and was like "After you busy? Because there is a customer on the line that is being difficult and they want to talk to someone else" and I did my best to explain the situation but after playing Ring around the Rosie, I was more than upset. So. Very. Frustrated. Frustrated enough that I was shaking and close to tears and barely able to speak clearly because I had no idea what the customer was trying to find and it felt like they were going to stay on the line forever until the answer was found.

All my manager got in the phone and had a similar circular conversation with the customer until he figured out what they were after.

......It was our battery powered gravel vacuum.

One that's handheld that has a little filter system within it to gather the gunk while the water is being filtered through it. (Which is $60 btw not $20) which after hearing that. Yah that makes sense.

*Exhales* It was mostly a case of the customer not explaining themselves well because with how they were describing the device the manager shredded it sounded more like a filter system and not the gravel vacuum. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

New Fish

I had a guy come into work today.
Looking to potentially get a couple of fish for his apartment.
-Though he needed to check in with his roommates first on if they would want to have a fish or not.

But he was looking to see if we had any blue or black fish.
Because the theme of their apartment was blue and black.
And he thought it would be cool to have a small bowl with black sand and a blue fish.
And another one with blue rocks and a black fish in it. 

So I pointed him towards the bettas.
As they do the best in the bowls. 
And showed him all the blue ones.
As they're one of the more common shades we get in.
Though we don't usually get in fully black bettas....they tend to be mixed with other colors and such. And unfortunately, I didn't have any in the store at this time.

But I talked to him about care, about the benefits of getting a small tank over a bowl, and just answered all his questions about the bettas and such.

And left him to browse while I went to help other customers and do other tasks and such.
Saw him talking on the phone.
And later saw him with another guy -turns out it was one of his other roommates.

And they were discussing the pros and cons of getting bowls or tanks and choosing bettas and deciding what fish they liked best, and which decorations to put in the tank and such.
Which meant they were often coming up to me and asking questions and such. ^^;; lol. 

lol they ended up upgrading to a 3.5 gallon tank last minute. So that's going to be fun for them.

But yah, kinda fun and interesting to help them out. Teach them and show them things and such. 

Hopefully they have a good time with their new pet. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Picky Eaters

I got called up to the register today.

Because there was an older lady at the register, who was needing help with dog food. 

As she has this picky eater of a dog, that will barely touch it's food, and she's gotten like four different bags of dog food and the dog barely eats it. 
So she was wanting suggestions on what to buy that her dog would eat. 

Which, not always an easy question to answer.
Because we have like 20 different brands of dog food in the store.
And while a lot of them are similar, there's always slight differences too. You know, to make the brand unique.

But when I'm confronted with a picky eater of a dog.
I usually ask them if they've tried BilJac

Because I had personal experience with it.
Where my dog would only eat cat food, but when I fed her BilJac she loved it. 

So I usually recommend that one to customers looking for a soultion. 
But also because I know that it's worked with other customers who also have finicky dogs. 
And like there's a high rate of success stories with that brand.

So I'm really confident on recommending it to customers.

Plus! The great selling point of the food.
-Besides the fact that dog food is in a different shape.

Is that BilJac offers their food in trial sizes. So you can buy a little bag that's like $4, usually enough for one or two meals, to take home and have your dog try.

That way you're not spending a lot of money on a larger bag of food, just in case the dog doesn't like it. 

So this customer was like "Great! I'm game. I'd love to try it. I just want him to eat because I can't stand him not eating anything! I want him to be happy!" 

So I ran to the back of the store to where the BilJac was located for her and grabbed a trial size to bring back up for her to purchase. 

And didn't think much of it after I ended the conversation and went back to my other tasks.

Until the cashier informed me like maybe 5 minutes later over the radio that the lady I'd helped was back and wanted to talk to me. 

So I come up to the front, and there she is with her cute little toy poodle doggie.
And she was like "I just wanted to thank you! Because I gave him" *wiggles dog* "three pieces of the biljac to eat and he just gobbled them right up! He inhaled it practically, and I'm just so happy because he's never eaten food that fast!" And she continued to say other things, but the overall tone was just how grateful she was that I'd helped her find a food that her dog would actually eat because she'd been so frustrated over his pickiness.

^^;;
Which awww.
I'm so happy that I was able to help her find a solution for her dog. ^^;;
Yay. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Which One?

Had a couple come into the store today to buy a guinea pig.
Well, at least the woman wanted the guinea pig, not so sure the guy did.
Apparently they'd just bought a bird from a nearby local pet store.
So the dude was less than enthusiastic about adding another pet so quickly to the family.

But the woman wanted a guinea pig of her own, as her daughters had them, and she wanted one that was more bonded with her. 

So she wanted to hold the guinea pigs we had.
Searching for one that had the right vibe really.

And she was trying to decide between one that was more brown, and the other that was more white.
As she liked the more white one.
But the more white guinea pig had been a big more wiggly and vocal.
While the brown one had been rather mellow and calm.

And she wanted a guinea pig that wouldn't end up 'crazy.'
As she apparently always picks the 'crazy' ones.
And so she was trying to convince her husband to pick the guinea pig for her.
But he wasn't having any of it.
It was her pet.
She would pick it. 

So after feeling the vibes and such.
The woman ended up going for the brown guinea pig.

Hopefully it stays mellow for her. :) 

-Sarnic Dirchi

What's Wrong?

I'm never going to understand why people come into a pet store expecting to get vet advice for free.
Like I get that people don't want to pay money to take their animal to the vet.
But like...while we people in a pet store see a lot of pets....it's not like we're constantly around ones that get sick....

*shakes head*
So pretty soon after we opened this morning.
My manager called me over to help some customers with a reptile question.
The question?

They had bought an Iguana from the reptile expo like three days ago....and had been told it was eating and saw it eat...I think? 
But now it wasn't eating, and was skinny and wasn't looking right.

And they wanted to know what they could do.

Which I don't have much experience with iguanas because we only carried them for one summer like two or three years ago in the store. And while my brother owned an iguana while we were growing up....it's not like I paid any attention to it...I knew it ate veggies and that was about it.

But I do know that reptiles can go a while without food.
So three days without food wasn't that concerning to me. 

I couldn't help though without seeing the reptile.
Because it's easier to tell if something is wrong if you can see the creature in the flesh.

Which apparently it was sitting in a cage in the car as the guy had his....son? a younger male go get it. 

When he came back in with the 10 gallon cage I pulled out the iguana....
And figured he looked fine.
Because a) his coloration was nice and dark. 
b) he was alert and gripping onto me tightly.
and c) his eyes were clear. 

So like I couldn't see anything wrong with the reptile itself. 

But the customer was like "No see these white stripes here?!" which he pointed to some white coloration on the sides of the iguana. "That's an obvious sign that the iguana isn't well because those weren't there before!"

Which...sure? I guess that could be an indication.
but like overall it looked like the iguana was fine. The green color was nice and bright. So like....I could see no cause for alarm with the iguana itself.

Which was frustrating because the dude was looking at me like I was failing some sort of test and such, expecting me to have all the knowledge of a vet and get it without having to pay for a vet's opinion. 

So I went for a different solution.
That of telling him that the cage needed to have a heat source (as it currently didn't) and to give the iguana more humidity. 

But otherwise...I had no suggestions for him.

Which left me frustrated because I hate not being able to help customers out.
But I literally had no idea what else to suggest because the coloration didn't seem like an issue to me.
And dealing with a headache it wasn't like my brain was firing on all cylinders either. *shakes head* 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Clickers?

Sometimes I feel bad about leading customers all over the store when I'm trying to help them find what they're looking for.

I had an older woman come into the store today.
Who originally was looking for some pet stairs for her dog.
So that the dog could climb onto the bed and such.

But after leading her to said stairs, she also asked what type of clickers we had.
Because she wanted one for her dogs.

So I lead her to the inexpensive ones as they were just one aisle over.
Only she wasn't quite fond of them because it had taken me a moment to get the thing to work (the plastic made it difficult to click it) and she didn't want to have a hard-to-press clicker as she wasn't that strong in the fingers.

She wanted to know if I had any others, specifically ones that were more like....hmmm I don't remember what she wanted exactly....I think it was one that made noise at the press of a button?

Which the clickers....are kinda like buttons....
But in any case, I lead her across the store to the mini 'training' wing we had by the training center to see if we had any of those clickers she was looking for.
Nope.
We just had another similar clicker to the one I'd shown her by the leashes. 
Only it was like a dollar more, but it had the ability to change the loudness of the sound.
Which I hadn't realized you could do with a clicker, but apparently you can. 

But as she was debating about getting it.
She let it slip that she was looking for a clicker so that she could get her dogs to stop barking.

....at least that's what I heard the first time, but apparently it's her son's two dogs that won't stop barking, and her own dog is...fine I think? 

*shakes head*

But I was like "Oh! to stop barking."
Because I don't think she mentioned that earlier, she was just talking about clickers. 

But I knew just the thing for the barking. The handheld noisemakers to make them stop. 
It's the portable Sonic Eggs in the store that we have.
Little handheld devices that you can press and it creates a sound to get the dog to stop barking. 

Which....was back on the other side of the store, near the original spot I'd led the customer to the first time for the doggie stairs. 

And as we walked over there, I was telling her about it, but also checking in with the manager to see if we had any....

Which we unfortunately didn't. 
But!
With further questioning, she mentioned that the barking issue was indoors mostly.

Which I had a solution to that!
The regular Sonic Egg thingy that we carry lol. 
It's the same thing as the portable sonic egg, only this one just sits in the house and creates a soundwave to get the dog to stop barking. 

So I ended up convincing her to get one for her son, and she was thinking she'd come back another da for the handheld one.

Only as I passed by her at the register, she decided that she did want a second larger Sonic Egg to try at her house too.

So yay for me being able to help her find products that she needed lol. ^^;;

*fingers crossed* That they work for her and the doggies. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Sink?

I've seen quite a few interesting set ups in our sick room. 
I mean, you kinda have to get creative when the room is suddenly overfilled with pets with various issues and you can't put any of them out onto the floor because they aren't healthy yet. 

*exhales*

But I came into work this morning....
And discovered that a coworker last night,
Had set up a cage for a guinea pig. Which was fine in of itself.
Because it was in the proper cage for the sick rooms.
However.
It wasn't in the proper location.

No, my coworker, had decided the best place to put this guinea pig cage....was in the sink that was in our sick room. 

Like. O.o Huh?

I've never had anyone think to put a guinea pig in there.
No usually if we get too many animals in one room....we usually end up needing to move them into the new arrivals room as there is more space there to hold animals.

But like in the sink?
Seriously?

*exhales*
Which meant I had to scramble a bit to get the guinea pig cage into it's proper location.

Which ended up being a simple matter, as a hamster had been placed in the sick room....that was perfectly healthy. Sooo I moved him back out onto the floor and put the guinea pig cage in that spot. 
And walla!

Solution!

Though with how full our cages are....:S We really need to get those pets healthy. 
As I have no room whatsoever now back there.
*exhales* 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Feathers

You gotta love those customers who feel like they need to give you an entire background story in order to ask a simple question.

I had a coworker call me over the radio, asking if I could come over and help a customer with birds.

Which usually means that the customer wants to get a bird. -Not my most favorite task in the store, that's for sure. 

So that was my expectation when I found the customer.

And upon asking her what I could help her with.
The customer proceeded to tell me that she had a parakeet.

It was 9 years old. 
Sweet thing.

-Which I was like...was she wondering how long they could live?

And the bird was in a cage with cockatiels. 

-Which. ()_() Why? At least he's alive.

But the parakeet had been by himself.

-Oh so you're looking to buy a companion?

Because his friend had died recently.
Recently being 2 years ago. 

And she'd gotten him another companion bird, much younger than him.
Because he was 9 years old. 

So I was like...were you wanting a third bird for when the 9 year old bird dies? 
Were you wanting to return the other bird?
What point are you trying to get to?

The point?

Apparently the parakeet, who is otherwise happy.
Is loosing the feathers on his chest. Like he's completely bald there. 
And the skin there has turned a brown color. 

But the bird was eating just fine and acting cheerful.
It was just missing the feathers on it's chest. 

*shakes head*

She'd come into the store wanting to know if we carried any medications she could give to the bird to help.

And I was like...."Not really" "You should take it to a vet." "I don't know I'm not a vet." 

Because really, I only deal with baby birds. They're usually under a year old. I don't know problems with older birds at all. 

Like if it's loosing feathers, either it's self plucking which is usually a sign of stress, or other birds are picking on it, or it could be mites, or it could be a number of other internal issues. 
But like. I don't know. 

But when I mentioned that I only carried a skin and plumage drops thing to put in the bird's food. 
She latched onto that idea, that that would help the bird recover. 

Which *shrugs* It might.
But really, if the bird is losing feathers and you don't know why....take it to a vet. Please. They would be able to better tell you what's wrong than a worker in a pet store.

-Sarnic Dirchi

A New Attempt

So I was trying a new thing out at work today.
Where I brought my mini laptop with me.
Since I'd recently rediscovered that. ^^;;
And I'd recently had my sister show me how to work on online documents offline. 
Sooo I could work on my writing at work where there's no internet access. ^^;;

And since I get two or three breaks a day...where I don't do much.
I figured I'd see if I could be productive with it a bit.

And so during my lunchbreak today, I pulled out said mini laptop to jot down an idea I was working on.

Which I think this sort of system could work....

Except.
I happened to take my lunchbreak at the same time as two of my coworkers.
And they were being really fidgety and noisy and their energy was just.....making it difficult to focus.

As apparently when I'm thinking really hard, 
Unwanted visual stimulation and noise....gets on my nerves super quick.

Like I was aware of that just from writing at home when my roomies are about and being noisy.
But it apparently applies to work too lol. 

So while I can write at work....
I really can't do it when other people are around.
So note to self: Try and take breaks when other people aren't around. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Phones

Work surprised me with an update today. 

Which honestly, the manages were probably aware that it was coming...but dropped the ball on telling the associates about it.

But our phones upgraded to a new system. 

So like I go to look at the work phone today.
And the screen is totally different. 
The numbers to put people on hold is totally different. 

It's all totally weird. 
Ugh.
It's going to take a while to get used to it.
This new phone system upgrade.

Like I could see it being a bit more efficient than the old one.
But yeesh. 
A bit more warning would be nice because I don't always do well with change. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Going Home

So there are animals that tend to....well...sit in our store.
Where they'll be there for 6months, 8 months, a year....before they get sold.

One such animal we have is a Skinny Pig.
Aka the Hairless Guinea Pig.

Those particular creatures go through phases.
Where like everyone suddenly wants them and we can't keep them in stock....
Them sitting there for months and months with no one wanting to get one.

We've had a Skinny Pig in our store since last year.
I think we'd probably had it a month or two before we sold it...only for a customer to return it around Christmasish because it was having skin issues. Scrapes/dry skin and such.

So like we treated it.
Took it to the vet.
Treated it some more.

Ended up with another skinny pig that had the same skin issue.

Where like cuts and spots of dry skin would appear all over the body.
Most common on the shoulders/around the neck and on the lower back.

And the second skinny pig eventually healed out of it.

But like six months later....the original skinny pig still was suffering from it.
He would heal. And we'd prepare to put him back on the floor...only for a new cut or scrape to appear the next day.

The Vet said that there was nothing wrong, and figured that the Skinny Pig was hurting itself as it groomed itself.
As no fur to protect the skin and sharp teeth...not a good combination.

It finally got to the point where we just put the Skinny Pig on the floor.
Because it wasn't getting any better and was technically not getting any worse.

And today. After informing an interested customer about the Skinny Pig's skin issue and how to treat it, as there was nothing else wrong with him....

The customer decided to buy him!!
Woot!!!
So happy to have that skinny pig finally find a home. ^^

Hopefully he stays there. :S It would be sad to have him returned again....

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Knowledge

So I was called up to the register today, so I could take a customer off a cashier's hands.

Because the cashier can't leave the front of the store or like....the register in general because someone has to man that so that customers can buy stuff and then leave. 

This customer was an older gentleman, looking for a very specific product.

Which I saw him gesturing around the store, probably explaining what he was looking for to the cashier....

So I approached, ask what he was looking for.

And he told me that he was looking for a 'porous stone' 

-which I was like. O.o okay?

but he continued with "that you push air through, like it has a hose and such." 

Which is when it clicked for me. "Oh an airstone?"

"Yes! Exactly!" 

"Yah they're this way, let me show you." And I guide him over to the products on the shelf.

lol and the customer was like "Finally, someone who knows what they're about that's been here longer than two weeks." 

Which yah, been at my job for 5 years.

lol but I do get that retail feeling.

Where you're perpetually stuck with the 'greenies' who just started a week or two ago and have no idea where anything is in the store.

Yah it gets frustrating. 

So he was glad that I knew exactly what he was talking about. 

So glad that he told me to take the rest of the day off.

Which I did. lol 15 minutes later because that's when I was off. XD 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Litter Woes

While I was walking back to the front of the store, paper towels in hand (because I needed them to finish cleaning the cages) I noticed a white-haired lady near the cat litter, looking about in that "I need help" sort of manner. 
Which, me, knowing that I was the only employee in the back of the store.
I went over there to see if she needed help lifting one of the cat litters.
Because that's a pretty common request we get from our older customers.
Because Cat Litter is freaking heavy. 

The woman didn't quite need my help though.
She was 'furious' because the cat litter that she has been getting....switched to only carrying her particular one in the bigger boxes. You know...the 30-40lbs but feels like it weighs like a 100lb boxes. 
And she can't lift those.
She can only lift the smaller ones, and those had disappeared from our shelves.
And she was just 'mad' that the brand did that to her and now she had to figure out a comparable brand to use (because her cat is picky) that had sizes she could actually lift.

Which unfortunately I can't help out too much with that. 
Mostly because I don't like the scent of cat litter in general, but also because I have no idea what brands of litter are the most similar.... *shrugs* It's not exactly something they put on a poster or anything lol. 

In any case.
It was semi amusing because this woman was like "I'm so sorry for being mad, I'm just in a bad mood today."

But like....I didn't really read her as being mad?
I could see a little frustrated.

But she was actually quite pleasant to talk to compared to other 'angry' customers I've dealt with in the past. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Which Gender?

There was a customer at our fish wall today.
Who was intently staring at one of our tanks of mollies. 
Specifically at the Cremecicle Lyretails in the tank.
Why? 
Because he was trying to see which ones were girls.

As wih the Lyretails it's not always easy to tell the difference between the males and females because the flowyness of their fins occasionally makes it hard to tell. 

But I did my best to be helpful and pointed out three out of the ten that I thought were girls.

Unfortunately the largest of those females...was more of a dirty yellow shade instead of the bright cheerful yellow/orange they normally come in.
But the other two potential females had good coloration. They were just slightly smaller.

So I was expecting the customer to point to one of them when they finally decided on the fish.

But no.
He caught me off guard by saying "I'll take this one." And pointed to a male.
So I had to double check if he was wanting a boy and not a girl.
Because like we had just been talking about the girls and he hadn't given any indication whatsoever of wanting a male....

But no he wanted one of the boys.
And ended up taking a female Dalmatian molly instead. 

*shakes head*

-Sarnic Dirchi

Parts?

I had a customer come into the store. 
Needing to exchange out a turtle dock because the one she'd bought was missing the suction cups.
So I found her another one and made sure it had all the parts. 

But before we could go up to the register to exchange the products....
She stated that she also needed help with a filter.

Specifically a part of the filter she needed to get/replace.

Which I was quick to say "I don't carry parts."

Because we don't.
Like we carry cartridges to put in the filters.
But beyond that? Things like Biowheels or plastic tubes and the like?
Yah. We don't have.

So if those things break?
We can't help.
Either you have to find the pieces online somewhere....
Or like....you need to buy an entirely new filter system. (cus companies want you buying more of their things.) 

But the customer went on to explain the piece she was looking for.
It's the part of the tubing that makes a u-bend to go over the side of the tank.
It's too short for their tank, and they needed to make it longer. 

To which I was like "AH, I see the problem, but I still don't have the parts."

She responded by saying she wanted to see the filters/parts.

So I showed her the filters.
And told her again "I don't carry the parts to filters, just the entire filters themselves."

So she was like "What's that?" and points to a canister filter.
So I told her "It's a canister filter."
"And what connects to those pieces?" She asked, pointing to the in/out flow points into the main canister filter.
"Hoses."
"And what do the hoses connect to go into a tank."
So I told her. "It's a plastic piece in a u-shape"
She nodded and said "I need that piece!"

*eye twitch* I got that the first time!
But still I had to tell her AGAIN. "I don't carry it. I don't carry parts to filters" 

To which she finally FINALLY comprehended. "Oh, I thought you'd carry the pieces."

No. No we don't. I told you at least six times I feel like that I don't, how could you not hear me all six times? How could it go in one ear and out the other? How could I have worded it differently because I'm pretty sure "We don't carry this part." Is really clear. 

*exhales*
I don't get customers some days. I really don't. 

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Specific Number

So in our store, we have a thing where they want us to have prebagged crickets ready for customers to grab once the store is opened. 
That way, if we end up being busy elsewhere with other customers, and someone needs crickets...they can just grab the bag and go without having to wait for us to come bag them up. 

I usually end up bagging up 8 different numbers of crickets for each size. 
(Mostly because there are only eight slots I can hang bags from) 

For 6 of those bags I stick to a set number 6, 12, 24, 36, 51, 76 
Because those are a) the common numbers I end up having to bag anyways. and b) the price changes depending on the number of crickets a person buys, so I make sure to have some crickets in each price adjustment range for customers. 

But the last two bags.
Are a random number.

Mostly it's just whatever crickets are left in the little catcher I use to hold them in while I'm bagging the bugs. 

Often I'll do like 10, 40, or 60 here.
But depending on how many crickets are left in the container, and if I want to go catch more crickets to bag up more....I can end up with random numbers like 15, 27, 55, etc. 

Today I ended up with 15 small crickets in one bag.
A number I only occasionally bag up. 
So I was like "Hope this one is one that a customer needs today."

Well. 
Towards the end of my shift.
A woman came into the store looking for 15 large crickets.

And I was like "OH!! I BAGGED THOSE UP!" 

And was so proud and grabbed them for her, and was like "Yes, my job was made easy!"

Only for her to be like...."are you sure these are large?" 

*face palm* 

I'd grabbed the 15 SMALL crickets I'd bagged up earlier because I was like "OH FIFTEEN!" 

And had totally spaced that she'd needed Large. 

*exhales*
So I had to go actually catch crickets and bag up 15 large for her because I didn't have that number in the large prebagged ones. 

So close. 
Ah well.
Next time maybe I'll get the right size and the right number. ^^;; 

-Sarnic Dirchi

Which Bird?

I never understand the customers who want me to pick their pet for them.

Like they're like "What do you think will work best for me?"

And I just....find it difficult to give a definite answer.
Because like....I have no idea what your home life is like, or what type of pet will be best suited to you...and besides....you're going to be the one taking care of said pet so shouldn't you be the one to pick it? After all it will be your responsibility and not mine. :S 

Today I had a customer call on the phone.

Originally looking to see if we carried any doves. 
Which I told her that we carry Diamond Doves but don't currently have any in stock. 

To which she then got on this huge tangent. 
Like nearly a ten minute conversation. 

Where she was like "Here's the size of cage I have, and where I'll keep the birds, and I want the birds to be visible, but should I get a parakeet or a finch because I've had canaries but they just always die so I think I need a bird that's more tolerate to noise, so a finch? Or do you think a parakeet?"

And I'm like....trying to tell her pros and cons of each.
Trying to figure out what she's after.
But like after every potential thing I tell her.
She's like "But parakeets?" "But finches?" 

To the point where she was like "Which one do you think I should get?" 

So at the end I was like "Get the parakeet" 
Because she wanted a bird that was visible so her kids could look at it, could make noise, and be fine in a cage.

And also because I know we'll have parakeets when she comes in this Sunday. 
I don't know if we'll have any of our finches or canaries in stock then. 

So I went with the safe option to guarantee her getting a bird.

*exhales*

Guess we'll see if she ends up getting a parakeet or one of the others...

-Sarnic Dirchi

Delayed Coming

So, I often have regular customers come into the store.

People who I see at about the same time on the same day for the same reason.

Which if it happens consistently enough, then I can remember what they need and get it to them a lot quicker. 

Today though I was thrown off.

Because on Mondays I have a woman come into the store, first thing in the morning to get a bag of six small crickets. 

But yesterday, it had been raining rather hard in the morning. 

And I figured after bagging crickets and not seeing her. 

That either a) I'd missed her at one point because she'd come later or b) she'd decided not to come yesterday because of the weather. 

So I was kinda surprised to see her walk into the store this morning.

As I had that moment of "wait...what day is it?!" when I saw her.

Because again, I see her on Mondays, not Tuesdays. 

But nope. 

It was Tuesday. 

It turns out that yesterday, due to the storm, her power was out in her part of town. Which meant...she couldn't get out of her garage because that's on an 'automatic opening' sort of thing. (which I hadn't actually thought that would be affected...but that makes sense too) 

And it would have been too much work to open the garage manually.

So she just hung out at home yesterday until the power came back on.

And came in today to grab her crickets. 

So yay for me getting to see her. And yay that her car is freed from the garage. lol. ^^;;