frogs_of_war

 I worked Monday (10 hours), Tuesday (11.5 hours), Wednesday (10 hrs), Thursday (11.25 hr), Friday (11.25 hr), Saturday (10.5 hrs) and Sunday (8.5 hrs). That's just so hard on me. Along with the scrapes and bruises from working, my body was so stressed that I got sores in my mouth and two weird rashes (the very itchy one on my finger is, I think, a reoccurrence of a rash I had as a kid) With all that overtime, I'm buying something nice.

But first I'm going to sleep for a few days...




This is a 52 (53?) foot trailer and we filled up the whole thing between Monday and Thursday. For perspective's sake, those pallets (blue/ brown things) come two thirds of the way up the trailer, all the flower bunches are as packed as I could make them, the last half of the walk way is crammed with buckets, the milk crates the other buckets are sitting on go all the way to the door, and I pushed a six wheeler (low cart) stacked with boxes into that empty space before I closed the door. And by Sunday 2pm, the trailer was empty, except for the pallets, milk crates, and trash.

 Is either my first Tuesday or third Monday  — or just day three of nine at work. Let's see if I survive it.

 Our company was bought by another grocery store about a year ago and since then the companies have been merging. Our ordering system, their delivery system, our in house products, etc. Well, one of the things their company has that ours didn't was a good relationship with the union. Ours gave us extras to keep us from joining: health insurance after one month instead of three, two floater days (paid days off) instead of  one, raises every time the union got one to keep us making a few cents more an hour. The combined company doesn't.

So the union guys came in and I resisted by asking questions. I asked everything I could think of about raises and health insurance and dues and vacations. The more I heard the better it sounded, but was it right for me? Did it matter? They were going to keep recruiting people until they go over 51% (all they needed for force the rest of the employees to sign up or quit).

But I finally checked out how much I pay in health insurance ($66+) a week compared to how much I'd pay under the union ($15), how much my pension was ($7k) as opposed to what I'd get (just under $30 dollars a month times how many years I worked for the rest of my life with the prospect of even more). So even without the 50¢ raise I'd be bringing home $40 more a week (after dues) and spend less per doctor visit ($10 rather than $150.82), and end up with a bigger pension if I live more than twelve month after retirement (if I work for ten more years). And the best gift my parents have ever given me was making sure they didn't need my help financially (because I couldn't afford it).

So on Thursday, I told them I'd sign last Saturday, and I did. Only since I waited until I was enthusiastically for it, I've been helping recruit others (the sooner we get 70%, which is 51% with a couple more in case of quitting or transferring) the sooner we can get our health benefits (one of the women I work with has a bum ankle and she can't afford to see a surgeon). Another coworker would save $450 a month by removing herself from the exempt list, which was easy because her work title says she works the front end (checkers, and the people who put things and tags on the shelves). But it turns out Floral managers can't go non-exempt, so if my manager leaves and this woman gets the job, she'll lose her union benefits. So few floral departments are union that we have almost no power. No wonder I've only gotten one 25¢ raise in the last six years.  

Now just a month ago I would have been upset at the idea of someone pushing to get all the floral departments non-exempt, but now I like the idea that managers could chose to save themselves a great deal of money and if we had greater say in the union, we'd get more raises over in my corner of the store.

I like my job, but I'd like it more if I my paycheck was bigger.

And the union is saving the company money. Right now the company spend $10 on my pension and $330 on my health benefits a week. They will be spending $18 on my pension, but only $200 on my health benefits. We all might win from this.

 So this made me wonder what kind of person I am that I didn't join until I was well into it, that I made the choice to choice for myself rather than let it happen to me. Am I the turn and fight/reason kind of person? Or, like my husband says, the kind that wonders what kind of person I am?

Google gave me a birthday doodle yesterday and I gave myself a day off, but that means that I didn't get any of the prerequisites to today's cooking done yesterday. My kitchen is too much of a mess to make anything, let along Angel Food Cake, cheesecake pudding (I'm modifying a vanilla pudding recipe), and triangle chimichangas.  But I picked my birthday food...

(And my husband is doing the dishes.)

I worked many 40+ hour weeks in a row and I'm exhausted. So I decided to take this week off. I want to get stuff done and not sleep the whole week, but I'm not sure that's going to happen.

My husband got me one of those fitness counters because I was curious about how much I actually walked at work. (I don't carry my phone on the sales floor or around the house, so the one on my phone said 5 minutes when I'd been on my feet all day.) The bracelet vibrates after I reach my "goal" which is still at the factory setting of 10k steps. I've been hitting the goal at an average of 5.5 hours of work. I knew I walked a lot.

I gave two presents that I'm really proud of. First a fox scarf because it too me HOURS. I tried to follow the directions, but got 2/3 the way through, I realized it was too wide and stiff to wear. It wouldn't scrunch up, so I had to take the whole thing apart, knitting one strand into my second attempt, and making a ball with the other. But the second attempt curled up, so I tried again. This time it worked.

Fox scarf


And the second was fun (and technically from my husband). My daughter has a lot of wigs, so we bought her wig stands and covered them with origami paper. The pile in front of the middle wig head is the paper we covered it with. They will attach to the wall once she tells us where they go.

Wig stands

(I tried to post the pictures, but I couldn't get them to show up.)

I get more joy from picking/making presents for people than from receiving them. An unopened present could something you didn't even know you wanted. My daughter got me both Champion of the Scarlet Wolf books by Ginn Hale. I hadn't even known the existed. (Now I need to reread the Lord of White Hall books then these again, but not this week because I want to get stuff done. So good.) 

Well I better get to work.

 Last night I heard a falling water sound as I sat in bed, but no one was in the bathroom. (I could see in.) Besides it didn't sound like water on a hard surface or water on water, so I concentrated on what my daughter was saying. Then she turned to the bathroom and said that water was dripping from my closet. We keep a bucket for handwashing in the bathroom, so we dumped it out and I held it up under the drip (from the rail the doors slid on) while my daughter pulled everything out that half of the closet and my husband got dressed and ran upstairs to ask the neighbors if they had a leak. They said they didn't, but as we were speculating what else it could be, the woman came down and said the toilet had flooded their bathroom and bedroom. They had a wet/dry vac and sucked up a lot of the water, which meant that it dripped for less than half and hour all told. That first water noise must have been beginning. The pile of hoodies/sweaters it dripped on didn't even feel wet when I put them in the wash just now. 

My clothes are hanging over my sewing machine and the boxes are lined up in front of the bookshelf across from the end of my bed. But all in all, it could have been worse. The neighbors might not have been home. The leak might have been in a place they couldn't just turn it off at the valve. It might have flooded in our closets, damaging all our boxes and Christmas stuff. 

I'm so tired. 

Last Saturday was homecoming in the town I work in and unlike most years when we get a few dozen corsage/bouts (52 last year which was a record high), this year we got 114. My boss worked a 13 hour day (after a fifteen) and I worked an eleven, both with no lunches and short breaks. It was even busier than a few years ago when I worked homecoming alone.

But near the end of the night, I got help from a woman who is speedy at corsages and a produce guy who entertained us. He told us about taking three girls to the prom his senior year. The first was a girl who he'd dated for two days in middle school. He told her she really hadn't given him a chance. But to relieve the stress of going to the prom with him, he'd invite two other girls. She agreed. 

Next he asked the girl so smart she intimidated him. He knows he's smart, but she was much smarted. He talked her her about a social experiment: going to the prom with three people of the other gender. She said she'd love to do it, but didn't think she could handle three male dates. He said he's take that part and she happily agreed.

The last was the girl way out of his league, who had just broken up with her boyfriend. My colleague told her the best way to make her ex jealous was to go to prom with him, and since he didn't want her to feel pressured (since she'd just broken up), he'd also have two other dates. She agreed.

My daughter says that proves he has a silver tongue. Imagine some guy convincing you to do that.

I forgot to ask how the actual prom went, but the next day I wasn't surprised when he said he was polyamorous. That gave me the biggest plunny bite. If the main character were bi... and more than just the three dates... and maybe his dates had dates...

The problem is that makes nine characters (one of which wants to take off on his own), which is too many for a short story. But I spent a while looking up clothes from the twenties (at OMG That Dress) they could get out of a grandparent's attic.  I even know how it will end. The only fuzzy bit is dinner and the dance itself. 

But I found the cutest dress (http://vintage.tips/post/122528179155/omgthatdress-ensemble-jeanne-lanvin-1920-bunka imagine peacock silk pants under a beaded tunic) and I want a character to frolic in it. Doesn't he look like he'd drive some sultan mad? Or intrigue a gentleman as at mask ball? Older than he looks, he's someone's Puck. a vampire? fairy? Just a man? But a power the powerful want to control, but like quicksilver, the harder they squeeze, the faster he runs from their hand.

I've been meaning to post for a while. I had some really "interesting" customers lately and other odd things happened at work. But as I'm on vacation, I don't want to think about work.

I came across a few websites:

Here's an (NSFW) article about a book (almost an ad) explaining how to be a good top. It had some things I hadn't thought of and might add to the next story I write with on-screen sex in it.

And here a story about three guy who love each other. Two are married and one of them works half the year on a TV show (behind the scenes). The article talks about the trials of being a threesome (from jealousy to getting a hotel room). The author says people ask about sex, but I was wondering more about what they slept on. They are all big men and I was guessing a king would be crowded. Especially when they invite other big men into their bed.


I heard this on the audio book I'm listening to: Young people these days (written and set in the 30s) "actually take refuge in irony, which should be reserved for the middle aged."

It's Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh. I probably wouldn't listened to more if this was the first book I'd listened to. It's got some really stereotyped gay boys in it. I'm not sure how much of the lisp, etc. it the guy reading it. The characters in the story get annoyed by them and Main calls them hothouse boys: one the black orchid and the other the yellow rose. He doesn't come across as the nice guy he seemed in the other two books I listened to (book 6 and 8, this was 4, the woman reading those did a much better job too).

I made a purse on Sunday, but I find I am suddenly unable to post pictures
Front    That picture doesn't have the Tree of Life in the bottom corner. 
Back
Under flap

and here's the tiny phone sized purse I made last month. It holds my phone, wallet, keys, headphones, and chapstick. 

So yesterday was my 24th wedding anniversary, so my husband and I headed into Portland without a plan other than to have a good time together. We rode the north half streetcar loop, ate at a food cart, rode the bus to the Pittock mansion (built and lived in by people who shaped the city), got lost on Forest Park, then rode the Max, WES, and bus home. Google made a slide show but only two of the photos show up on my computer while seventeen show up on my phone.

And I've finally finished my book (business) cards and my web site is working (let me know if you think it needs anything). So now I can hand them out to people I know in real life.

When searching for the link to my book on Amazon, I noted the five reviews. Now if they were on FP or lj, I'd read them in a second whether they liked the story or not. But I'm scared to look. I read an author's blog where a guest author said to embrace reviews. Good one boost you and bad one teach you. But I'm not sure I want to do that to myself. 

 Yesterday was Mothers Day here and Saturday was prom. It would have been a madhouse without employees calling in (what are the chances one person would know two old woman who died in exactly the same way two weeks apart? [one day off to see her before surgery, one for surgery, and one to take her off life support] If it's true, that's sad, but we're thinking she needs to come up with better lies) or not showing up (having a test the next day is no excuse for not going to work), since we were down one employee anyway. I was scheduled Friday 10-7, Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 7-4, but ended up working 7:30a-8:15p, 7:30-6:30, and then 7-4:30, the last with no lunch.

( prom moms )

Last night, I worked on a side story for In Trouble that includes both Mothers Day and baby's first spell. I'm going to try to type it in today and hopefully get it up soon.

 My company was recently bought by another and lots of the paperwork is different (such as scheduling, so if the two of us work, I no longer have to stay until seven) and we are cleaning like crazy to meet the other company's standards (not that we were necessarily dirty, but I hadn't ever dusted that rim of a display seven feet up). And we are supposed to be getting more hours (which would be nicer if it meant four days a week where last year it was two or three. But it means five days and 40+ hours. And coming off the holiday, I'm beat and next week supposed to be the worst yet).

I want to write! If I ignore a story too long it's hard to pick up and that's what I'm worried about with my 1001 Nights story. I already know Trifecta going to demand two days of working on it in a row get into it again. And I'm working so much that I spend my days off sleeping or getting done those real life things that have to happen. 

But really the worst change, as far as work goes is that they are moving our store manager. She found out last Monday and today was her last day (we threw a surprise going away party for her, but I had to go fill balloons for a customers just before she got there and missed all the excitement. But I went into her office before I left and hugged her. I'm not a huggy person by nature, but this was certainly an occasion for one). She helped me so much and had my back and my department's back. I couldn't have managed Floral for all those months without her.

We're told that employees at each story are supposed to be like a family (and we are for the most part), but now we're like foster kids whose parents have been changed out. (Someone told me she's feeling a lot like when her father died.) But at least our (old) manager's still down the road and they didn't move her across the state or anything)

This is a great loss to us. And it doesn't help that we've heard so many rumors about the new guy. (One of our employees who used to work at his store has panic attacks whenever she hears his voice. He never has anyone's back. He's an office dweller and doesn't lean a hand. He never thinks Floral needs as many people as we do, especially during holidays - we didn't get all we needed this last time, but the store manager worked with us for at least 60 hours that week. This guy won't) At least we get to keep our assistant manager.

So next week I go in and meet the new manager and run the department while the floral manager cleans everything top to bottom. (Days 8+ hours long because I'm doing her work and my work and without counting the cleaning, it's a seventy hour week.

My vacation's in August. Only six more months. 

 I was talking about my 1001 Nights story to a trapped coworker (she was eating lunch in the break room but not on her phone and she didn't try to change the subject, so I guess she didn't mind)  about my discovery that I needed to come up with some form of government to take over once the Dragon King moves on after conquering a city-state. She agreed there was no real way to fudge it. 

Another person came in (a new coworker, I think. I've never seen her before but other people knew her - I was just on vacation - but she wasn't in uniform which would mean meat/seafood, maybe) . Well, she listened for a moment and asked me if I was talking about a game. I said, the book I'm working on. She said, it sounds exactly like...

...in this case a game. Then she went to talk about said game (Skyrim?) as if it were the only game like it. ("It's a medieval setting and you can go on quests." I guess she hasn't heard of all the others)

It is not a compliment to be told my story is exactly like anything. But I just let it go. (Even though my story is not set in medieval times, there are no quests, and they do not use draft horse for war. They use warhorses, breed for hundreds of generations by horsepeople, to ride into battle.)

*heavy sigh*

 I feel like I was somewhere else for the last couple months. I'm still not all the way back yet, but I've caught up on all the internet that doesn't involve thinking/learning skills. I have two days off in a row with one of those days covered by someone who knows what she's about. 

My manager came in yesterday to buy something for a funeral. She kind of took over the space then bustled out. I want her to return to work so badly, but a few minutes in her company reminded me of why I've gotten frustrated with her in the past. 

Another coworker asked if I didn't think my manager looked upset that everything was going so well in the department. The coworker and my manager are in their not-getting-along phase of the year (normally February to late May, fueled by bluntness and inability to see anyone else's POVs on one side and over-sensitivity and unwillingness to forgive on the other), so I might have just taking their comments as nothing except they weren't the first to say that. Plus I feel the same way. Like she wants me to be able to do things so the department always looks nice, but not do them well (or at least not as well as she does).

I think this is part of holding two opposing opinions at once, which I think we all do to some degree. She wants to not be worried when she's gone, but not feel she's replaceable. I want time enough to write and a decent paycheck, to keep the department up and not work all the time, to get everything done and have a low stress life. But then I also want to have read the classics without actually reading them. 

I got a little more of Trifecta written, but part two of the Independence Day chapter is only a few hundred words long and part three looks to be even shorter. I have a vague idea where the next chapter is going, but I'm unsure how to get there. I feel like if I pushed through I could get it to work. Needed: hours not assigned to other duties.

One week until my vacation which I'm taking regardless of whether my manager's doctor and HR let her return.