Not Enough Space

It started out as a simple enough encounter with a customer.
Where she wanted to know how the Under gravel filters work within a fish tank.

Which...honestly...I have no idea. I know you place the grate at the bottom of the tank, cover it with gravel and place the tubes on the side and walla! 
I also know you have to clean out that grate every few months or so as it gets clogged. 

And so I told the customer as much.
And instead recommended that she get an over the back Tank filter because those are easier to deal with. 
To which she stated that she already had one...only she wasn't using it because when she set up her tank (it was a corner 56 gallon) she'd placed it too close against the wall so the filter she bought wouldn't fit in the tiny gap that was left.

-Which I was like...why not readjust the tank to let it fit if you already bought it??? 

But I just went and suggested some internal filters that could suction cup to the inside of the tank and not need to hang over the back.
The problem?
We were out of the larger sizes. We only had ones left for 10 gallon tanks. 

And the customer was like "If I buy this smaller one now, will it help until the larger one comes in?" 

To which I had to be like..."Yes...it will help a bit, but the larger one will do a better job."
"Well, I'll get this one for now." was her response.

And then. THEN. 
I find out that her water is green....which is possibly due to no filtration, or direct sunlight or who knows what else.

AND.
She ALREADY HAS FISH IN HER TANK.

Seriously?!
SERIOUSLY?!
She was like "Sooo I bought these fish here" *points to goldfish* and I already had one die....

And I was like: ITS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE A FILTER, WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU PUT FISH IN A TANK THAT BIG WITHOUT A FILTER?!

Because, especially with goldfish, you'd be needing to do water changes at least once a week to try and keep that water clean, and goldfish are sooo messy...it's like...crazy that she decided that she didn't want to adjust the filter or move the tank or worry about anything until AFTER things started going wrong and GAH.

It doesn't help that this customer only told me this information...After she bought MORE FISH.
>.<

-Sarnic Dirchi 

Playing Telephone

Manager: Sarnic, could you check and see if we have pet wrap?
Me: Pet wrap?
Manager: For wrapping injuries on dogs.
Me: *goes and checks* Yah we have some.
Manager: Great, can you tell the customer on the phone we have it?...
Me: Sure. *Picks up phone* Thanks for holding, how can I help you?
Customer: Yes, do you have pet wrap?
Me: For like treating injuries correct? Yes we're have them.
Customer. No, no. Pet Rap. R-a-p
Me: You mean, w-r-a-p?
Customer: No, the live animal. Pet Rats. R-a-t.
Me: Oh!! Sorry, we don't. We haven't carried rats in a couple years.
Customer: Oh, okay, thanks for the help. *Hangs up*
Me: *goes to manager* They were looking for rats not wrap.
Manager: No! They said Pet Wrap.
Me: They said Pet Rat.
Manager: ....oh.....

-Sarnic Dirchi

On Display?

So I was letting a customer hold one of our chinchillas today. 
Which she was beyond excited about. Excited enough that she had her mom constantly taking pictures of her holding the chinchilla. lol

And they were really intrigued with them, wanting to know the care, and the cost and such. 

When the mom asked me...

"So where do you keep the ones that you sell? Are they in a different part of the store?" 

O.o 

Uh... No?
I told her that the ones she saw were the ones we sell. 

Which seemed to surprise her....
Which....surprised me.

 I mean....why would there be another room specifically for selling our animals?
Admittedly, we do have a back room where we keep our extra animals until there's room for them to come out to the floor.
But a different room/section of the store for selling them? 
Nope.
The chinchillas they saw are the ones we sell.

It's not like they're just there to be on display. They're there to find a forever home.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Come Apart

So we have this door at work,
That opens into our little bird enclosure.
Where we can open up the bird cages within and catch the birds in the little space without worrying about the birds getting loose in the store. (you know...so long as people remember to shut the door. lol) 

In any case.
That door has a lock on it, and that lock is located on a mini door that slids up when you unlock the lock to reveal the handle to the door within so that you can open the door...but customers have no easy access to opening the door to the birds themselves.
(why they didn't just create a door that had the lock on the handle....who knows.) 

In any case.
Recently that particular lock has been giving us problems.
In that the screws that hold the lock together....
keep falling out.

That little round piece...a bolt? a nugget? Like a washer? Whatever that little round piece is called....likes to unwind and get loose...and fall off....if no one is paying attention and making sure that it's still tightly put in place.

But it got a little ridiculous this week.
As I've had to fix that lock twice. 
TWICE.
Because it fell apart.

O.o 
I don't even comprehend how it fell apart!
But it did. 

And last night when I came in to help out with stocking...I discovered that the bird lock had once again...fallen to pieces.

Which considering I had fixed it not TWO DAYS earlier.
Was pathetic.

Like seriously...what did my coworkers do to make it fall so thoroughly apart in the single day that I was gone?
*exhales*

I didn't have time last night to fix the lock.
So I ended up putting it back together again and replacing the lock this morning. 
So that once again our door could be locked. 

*shakes head*
Still...I have to wonder if any of my coworkers even attempted to fix it...or if they just saw it was broken and went. "Oh well." And didn't even try....

Who knows....
At least its fixed again though.

-Sarnic Dirchi

Water Problems

I had a customer come into the store today with a problem.
You see, he'd bought a ten gallon tank and had put fish in it....
Only they were having troubles keeping the Ammonia levels down within the tank.

He'd tried everything he could think of to get those ammonia levels down.
And nothing. 
If anything the Ammonia levels in his tank were only increasing. 

Which...isn't a good thing.

And everything that we would suggest to treat the tank....he'd already done them.

*exhales*
It's kinda weird....in that if people have problems with their fish tanks...it's usually those people who own the 10 gallon sizes. 
Dunno what it is about that ten gallon size....but it's definitely difficult to keep that tank 'happy' for a lot of customers.

This particular customer, had ended up bringing in a couple of his catfish in some spring water he'd been filling his tank with.
So I decided to test the water, there -though it could show slightly skewed results because there were fish in the water sample.
And discovered that the gentleman's water was rather soft, low in alkalinity, and low in PH levels.

Which could be the cause of some of his problems.
Because my friend Google (because yes, I google answers if I don't know them.) told me there was a particular syndrome called "Old Tank Syndrome" where ammonia levels could skyrocket if a) the tank was overcrowded. or b) the PH is low because that means the biofilter can't function properly and that biofilter helps to decrease ammonia in the water.

Basically, I told the customer that he should probably try adding in some good old tap water or yard water into his tank. Water that wasn't soft (because the fish in our area are used to hard water) and would be harder than the spring water. And see if that would help.

I dunno if he believed me.
Nor if he's actually going to try it.
But I did at least offer him a couple of possible solutions to the problem....

*exhales*

In any case.
Out of that exchange....I also ended up adopting his two catfish he brought in. -A Peppered Cory and a Sterbai Cory-- as he didn't want them to die in his tank. And I have a nice 125 gallon fish tank at home that should have plenty of room for them to do well in.
*fingers crossed*

-Sarnic Dirchi

A Wet Morning

I was cleaning cat cages today.
Minding my own business.
When I suddenly felt something cold and wet splash down upon my head and shoulders.

I look up.
To see the kitty in the cage above me, with his head shoved underneath his water bowl (it's a metal bowl in a holder hanging on the cage door) trying to get my attention.
And said bowl...is full of water.
And him lifting it up...tilted the bowl...sending water splashing down upon me.

>.< Considering I already took a shower...the sudden wetness was rather unwelcome.
And it took a bit of moving the bowls about to ensure that I wouldn't continue to get wet.
Which I succeeded in doing. Yay. :) 

-Sarnic Dirchi
 

Dunked

This morning I got into work, and as per the usual went to go grab the keys for my department as well as our department phone.

Only when I grabbed it...
I noticed that something wasn't quite right. 
For one, the screen was just showing the white screen of death.
For two...there was moisture built up on the INSIDE of the screen.

And the phone wasn't responding to anything at all.

Considering there was moisture inside the screen....that could only mean one thing.
It had been dropped in water.

:S Still...I was hoping that the phone would still work.
So I popped out the battery and then put it back in.
And walla!!!

The phone turned back on!
....Kinda.

The screen now was a pixelated mess.
But still legible which buttons and symbols were which.

However...despite being able to navigate and use the phone...
The speaker in said phone no longer worked.
So while I could pick up and answer the phone....
No one would be able to hear me.

Which means...
Phone is definitely busted. 

*shakes head*

So I ended up borrowing a different phone for my work shift.

Wondering how in the world the phone had gotten soaked last night...and what crazy had happened in the store after I left yesterday to cause the phone to get a bath....

I got a partial answer.
So last night, my coworker got sick and had to leave early.
Why?
Because my coworker ended up throwing up. 
:S Not fun. Especially not at work.

But apparently....
The phone...had ended up taking a tumble into the toilet at some point. :S XP 
Uhmm can you say EWWWWW?!?!
Because gah!!!
That's gross. XP 

*shakes head*
Definitely a first for the store....
But gah. 

-Sarnic Dirchi