We Survived Our Inspection

On Friday... I think it was.... we had a "visit" and it was NOT GOOD.

Our microwave was dirty.
The door tracks that the automatic doors slide in were dirty.
There was some trash in the corner below the trash door to the dumpster.
There was a book rack that was hanging crooked just outside the stock room door.
The candle-making glassware was not signed for the glassware sale.
Some frames were hanging crooked in the framing department.
In fabrics, the book racks were up too far (one section) toward needlework and the WHOLE NOTIONS WALL had to be moved down one section to change it.
There were black marks on the bases--where buggies, etc run into them sometimes.
The baskets on the ledges were not close enough to the Christmas area.

You get the idea.

Anyway, ever since Friday, we've all had to be on a cleaning, straightening, fixing the nit-picks campaign.

If I had the money, I'd buy my co-manager a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant (for her and her husband). It's unbelievable how she handles all this stuff.

First, she just walks through with her yellow pad, saying "Yes, Sir," "Yes, Sir", "Yes, Sir" and writes everything down that he picks at.

Then, when he leaves, she goes into her phone booth and puts on her super costume and she flies around getting it all done. She's amazing. She really does work hard herself. But she also commandeers all of us into the action. She is quite firm (but always very nice) in her directives. And she had posted a list for volunteers to work last Sunday from 1 'til 5 to get some of the Christmas "problems" taken care of.

When "he" came back yesterday at noon and walked the store, it would be stretching it to say he was pleased, but she was feeling good after his visit. I could tell by her demeanor that a load was lifted off her.

[She has a fault. But, in listening to my co-workers, it seems we pretty much agree that it's the ONLY one. She is NOT good about getting schedules made out. She sometimes doesn't even get them posted before Saturday of the week just before we work them. And, in those cases, she has had the secretary contact certain people who would not be working on Saturday, and let them know what time they'd be coming in on Monday. No one likes that. We really would like to know further ahead when our days off are going to be, when we'll be working late, and so on.]

She let me leave at 5:30 on Wednesday "because I know you want to go to church", as long as I promised that as soon as I got there Thursday, I would make sure my department was really clean.

All of this is coupled with MUCH increase in the number of people out shopping. It's like all of a sudden, last week, people decided it's time to turn loose of their money. I've had to be on the registers a whole lot more than before.

I'm busy at work
and
I'm busy outside work.

Yesterday, I had committed to keeping kids after work. That scenario changed somewhat, but I still told Tim and Felicia I'd meet them at the hospital and watch the girls while they did baby care at four o'clock.

After I told them that, I found out we'd be having DECEMBER's stock test today, so I asked if I could leave just a little early, then come back and get the rest of my freight out after I'd been to the hospital.

Also, I was originally scheduled to go in at one today, but our co wants all orders in by noon and I hadn't started mine. I told her I'd split my day and come in early, do my order, go do my (Thanksgiving) grocery shopping, bring it home, and then come back and close tonight. So I have a full day ahead.

I really need to grab my Thanksgiving shopping list (which I have on my computer and rework each year) and get on out of here.