I'd like to take a moment to welcome Richard of Pearly Gates to my blogroll. He has an excellent grasp of common sense politics, and while we don't always agree, I always benefit from seeing his point of view. Oh, and he's into some baseball team or something...

Posted by: Ensie at 06:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Since I work in retail, I feel the pain of other retail employees. I know what itÂ’s like to be on both sides of a cash register. No matter what type of mood IÂ’m in, or how crappy a day itÂ’s been, I am expected to smile and be polite to any and all of my customers, no matter how awful and horrible they may treat me or my fellow co-workers. Because I hold myself to this standard, I expect a certain level of customer service when I shop. I donÂ’t feel that itÂ’s unreasonable to want courteous, friendly service, and I expect to be kept informed if there is a problem. In return, I promise to treat those assisting me with respect and patience. I will ask to speak to a manager to compliment or complain as necessary when I feel that the service I receive has been especially good or bad.

Robinsons-May employees, you are hereby warned.

Before our wedding reception, Frinklin and myself registered at several stores for gifts, as you do when you are about to be married (or after you eloped, as in our case). We registered at Target. We registered at Pottery Barn. And we registered at Robinsons-May.

At both Target and Pottery Barn the staff assisting us was helpful and knowledgeable about the wedding registry program and specifics. Registering was a simple task and it was kinda fun to use the laser gun to scan things. We decided to choose only stores that allow you to "manage" you registry online, as we are impulse registerers, and like to add and delete as we see fit.

The experience at Robinsons-May was not so smooth. I bring this up because every interaction I have had in the last couple of months at Robinsons-May has sucked really bad, and they really need some sort of instruction in that place.

Bad experiences include:

1. Going to register on a Saturday afternoon and finding that the registry coordinator (we learned shortly that they have a lot to apparently coordinate) is not there on Saturdays. Apparently, you must take time off work to register or suffer through 15 minutes of an older woman who is totally unfamiliar with the computer system attempting to set up your laser gun so that you may scan items into your registry.

2. Laser scanner inexplicably shuts itself off midway through the registry process, forcing us back to the older woman unfamiliar with the computer system. Older Woman then spends 10 minutes trying to access the registry to see it the scanner has saved our previously scanned items with no success. A manager is called to assist. Ten minutes later another manager is called over to assist. We are ignored during the entire process and eventually told that they "think it's all on there--we'll find out when you're done."

3. Once we have finished scanning, Older Woman struggles to download the scanner info into the computer system for approximately 15 minutes before again calling a manager over to determine that the cable connecting the scanner and the computer are bad and must be physically held in place with two hands while typing, which takes two peple. It takes 10 more minutes to reach this conclusion and perform the act of physically holding the cables in place while another types.

4. We must leave, as we have an appointment that we are now late for. I ask the Older Woman if we can access our registry online, as there were several items they were out of that I still wanted to add. She assures me that this will be no problem. I ask again to make sure, and am again reassured.

5. We get home that evening to add items to the registry. You cannot "manage" your registry online. All changes must be done in store.

6. Time passes. We receive two rice cookers purchased from Robinsons-May from two different friends. Registry at Robinson-May reads:

Rice Cooker
Wants 1
Needs 1

7. After the wedding reception, we head to Robinsons-May with the extra rice cooker and a sheet set that we registered for and decided we don't want (I told you we're impulse registerers) and a hideous crystal thing that we definitely DID NOT register for. New Older Woman attempts to return items for credit and is confused by the register system. A manager is called. The Manager explains the process to the New Older Woman, who still cannot complete the return. After 10 minutes of waiting, we are sent to another register and cashier in another department with our packages.

8. Manager decides to walk New Cashier though the returns process. Mistake. Start over. Repeat. Twice. 10 minute later, we have a gift card, but New Cashier has lost our registry paperwork that we must have to receive our 20% discount on items we registered for but did not receive as gifts. Paperwork hunt begins, and ends 5 minutes later when New Older Woman finds it.

9. We find several items to purchase and present our 20% off letter to yet another new Cashier (Cashier 3). Cashier 3 does not know how to apply discount and must wait for a Manager. Manager walks cashier through discount process, which must be manually applied to each item. Sale is punctuated by Cashier 3Â’s comments of, "Did I discount that? I better start over." Twice.

The registry still says we need a rice cooker.

Posted by: Ensie at 08:50 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I love that Violet is so over "undecided" voters. She's ready to have the election now, Goddam it!

Posted by: Ensie at 04:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Do you watch Lost? Because you should. Beacause it's the perfect mixture of freaking me out and fascinating me.

I have a few questions though:

(a few spoilers below--don't read if you don't want to know) more...

Posted by: Ensie at 09:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Why did George Lucas decide that Audrey from "Little Shop of Horrors" needs to be inserted into the Sarlac pit in "Return of the Jedi"?

Audrey:

Sarlac:

Posted by: Ensie at 07:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This post is in response to Mediocre Fred. It started out as a comment on his assessment of the VP debate, then it just grew to large...

I'd like to point out that while Frinklin is right leaning, I'm definitely left leaning, and I thought Cheney won. He appeared to be in command and took Edwards to task on several issues, despite blatantly lying more than once ("I've never alluded to a connection between Saddam Hussein and 911!" or some such load o' crap).

I may have been especially hard on Edwards because I want to like him. I'm begging to like him. But he has always struck me a smarmy, despite "fighting for the regular folks" as a trial attorney. I guess I wish he would really let go of those roots and do what America really needs when it comes to medical malpractice costs and leashing our litigious society--why can't it be "loser pay all" in the courts, including the attorney(ies) involved? That would stop most idiotic lawsuits immediately, including unnecessary malpractice lawsuits, which would help bring medical costs down...

I have to say, I heard much of the debate replayed on the radio this morning and it sounded much better than it looked. Maybe I am like most people and don't actually listen to what is said, but how it's said, and what the speaker is wearing/doing/expressing with his facial muscles while saying it. I take back (a little) what I wrote in my previous post about John Edwards. He can continue to speak.

Both sides seemed to do a "Well, he's brought that up (whatever "that may be), but look how bad he sucks!" instead of actually addressing the issues. Regular political BS.

And if John Edwards folds his hands together one more time and tells me he's going to "speak honestly with the American people..." Lordy, that's annoying.

And Fred, I totally agree with you on Gwen. She wasn't all that great as a moderator. She had an odd rapport with Dick Cheney, I felt, and didn't seem to have that with John Edwards. I probably wouldn't have wanted to question Edwards either. He seemed a bit on edge with his "I do?! Are you sure?? OK!!" and leaping out of his chair afterwards.

That would be my disjointed and largely incomplete assessment of the debates as I saw them.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:12 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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...stop talking. Now.

Posted by: Ensie at 07:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Because of the combination of several things in my life (job interviews, Star Wars DVD release, Sims 2, sequals to various books I've been waiting forever for), I haven't had much time to blog.

But I'll take this moment to update you all on the job interview front:

I didn't get the job I originally applied for.

However, on the same call in which Human Resources at Bog's Hogs, Inc. informed me of my non-compatability with this particular job, I was also asked if I would consider applying for a different "Specialist" position that had also recently opened up. I told HR I would be interested, so now I have another interview for the new position on Thursday. This will be my third interview in as many weeks--all on Thursdays.

Ah--more opportunity to freak out over the possibility of moving to Michigan. Shaithis, if I promise not to root for the Wolverines, would it be OK then?

Posted by: Ensie at 06:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Inspired by my friend Shaithis yesterday, I checked out FindYourSpot.com to find out what areas of the United States are perfect for me. There's a questionaire and you have to enter you name and address (as you do everywhere...just opt out of the "special offers"), then you get a list of 24 places that fit within your preferences.

They do ask you what region of the US you would like to live in, but they don't ask you if there are any areas you would NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EVER, EVER, EVER live, like Texas, which seems to be the fatal flaw in the system (I want to apologize to anyone from Texas or in Texas who just loves Texas and can't stand to see it besmirched. I have a prejudice against Texas and I'm not afraid to admit it).

I also have a slight issue with most of the South. I'm not good with heat and humidity or hurricanes, so that wipes out much of that area. I'm from California and therefore have an automatic "thing" about Florida.

The most shocking thing, however, is that apparently my most compatible spot is Little Rock, Arkansas! What? Need I repeat that I'm not really a fan of the South? There were predictible answers like Honolulu, Palo Alto (where the median house price is $882,000--oh sure!), Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Portland, Santa Barbara, even San Diego. Hartford, CT showed up, as did two places in New Mexico (yay!). Then there were (again with the South!) Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Charleston, and Shreveport!

I really don't want to move, but with housing prices continuing to climb in San Diego (do I appear to be a person able to afford a $500,000 three bedroom house?), Frinklin and I are beginning to entertain the thought.

No Michigan at all, anywhere. Hm.

Posted by: Ensie at 05:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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So, the second interview came and went.

It actually went pretty well.

I'm not a huge fan of interviews, and especially of phone interviews, but I believe that the words coming out of my mouth made resonable sense most of the time. Occasionally I would have a moment while speaking when my brain had already completed telling my mouth what sounds to make and I thought to myself:

I am brilliant. This is the perfect answer to this question. It is thoughtful, insightful, and exactly the right answer to this question. I am connecting with these two interviewers on a deep and spiritual level.

Other times my brain stopped working completely and my mouth made no sounds for just long enough for the interviewers to know that my brain had completely stopped working. Instead of coming up with a thoughtful and insightful answer for the question being asked, my brain would go into panic mode:

What am I doing? What is the answer. Think! Think! Do they want specifics? General? Who? What? Think of two simple adjectives your supervisor would use to describe you!

It's the easy ones that would stump me. There was the inexplicable ending of one good answer with , "...and..." then silently freaking out, knowing that I had nothing to add and finally tacking on, "...I'm not sure where I'm going with that 'and,' so I'll leave it at that." The gentlemen on the other end of the phone laughed in a good way, not in a "what an idiot!" way, thank God.

We'll see what happens from here. They did tell me on the phone that I should look into the other Specialist positions at the Home Office, and that there was "buzz" and "interest" around my name. I interpret that to mean that I'm not getting this particular job, but that there might be another one out there with my name on it.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Posted by: Ensie at 04:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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