A smile...

...from forty years ago in a photo.
He was the love of my life.
He led me to rest of my life.

Work...

...yet again.
The DM Ninjas came last week and revamped the backroom. A huge improvement. We're feeling our way around finding stuff...adjusting to a the new logic of placement.
That's not really what I'm talking about.
J...the store manager is on vacation this upcoming week. It's her week she takes every year. Events she loves. Yeah and I'm glad she does. It's stuff she's passionate about.
An envelope with my name on the back office computer.
Opened it...read it. Pissed me off.
She dumped the schedule on me. She had the time...coulda...but no. Okay. So I get the chore. She doesn't like doing it and I'm okay with it.
The tone of what she wrote was condescending. I know she's trying out her new managerial voice but it so rubbed me wrong.
She's trying a new voice because of the new sheriff in town. She's trying to figure out how to play her...and she never will. Amy...the DM...is a cut to the chase girl.
Joyce has got to be scared out of her knickers. She doesn't know which persona to employ.
I have worked with this woman for fourteen years and pretty much I know jack shit about her.
She's a chameleon.
She is the person in Auschwitz who would've had bread.

I wondered today if I was jealous. She got promoted. I didn't.
Yes...a part of me is.
Have dealt with it. Fairly okay with it. Mostly forget about it...
until she dumps on me. See above.
Schedule....takes about an hour and a half. Off the floor backroom stuff. 

The next few months...

...are going to be interesting.
New sheriff in town.

The Force...

...stormed our store...and totally redid our back room.  I don't think our backroom was this clean or organized wen we opened.
Our new DM has done this with stores throughout the past year. A team comes in with a backroom redo. Get it.
All the stores have the same starting reference point.
Joyce said today "This is wonderful. I hope the girls keep it up."

Good intentions

...pave the road to hell.
Had intended on getting in early and moving stuff in the store...like eight early. Well...elevenses was what happened. Got done what needed done. Not happy with the back end of the store...but oh well.
Joyce...the store manager...asked me yesterday if I had looked at my pay stub.
Me: We got paid this week?
Bob looks at that stuff...so I don't pay attention.
Her: You're gonna be surprised. It's big. The bonus was big.
Me: I don't think so. It'll be nice...but you're on a different scale.
She doesn't think so. She has told me that she thinks she's not getting the same bonus as the other managers...not on the same scale.

Next she brings it up I'm gonna have to remind that in certain cities I'd be making minimum wage.
Really?
Really.
My job description is the same as her job description.
Quite frankly...when she got promoted...Joyce knew shit from shinola how the store worked...the everyday stuff. She was never made to learn because I was the grunt that got that stuff done. 
The person who hired me...I adored her. She was a mentor.
Somehow that went haywire.
She became incredibly mean to me. Never knew what I did...but apparently something.
Don't know where I'm going with this.
Do know I am worth a hell of a lot more than this company pays me.

I was a Ninja...

...in moving stuff.
It looks good...but it also created a mess that I have to go fix tomorrow. It's like home...you clean one room up...but the stuff shifts to another room.
Really wonder how the new DM is perceiving our scheduling. Joyce is scheduled off til Tuesday. I'm off the next week. So...a Saturday without management...sales leads...and they are brilliant. We're covered.
If I were Amy...I would be asking why isn't a manager in the store?
I didn't ask for the next week off...grateful for it.
If Joyce is js not feeling behind the eight ball...she's stupid.
The crapspeak she got by with Linda ain't gonna work with Amy.
I'm still recovering from lunch with Amy.
When we sat down...I was almost hyperventilating. Thinking "Don't let me come across stupid."
In forty five minutes Amy knew more about me than Linda knew bout me in the eleven years I knew her.
I always felt stupid around Linda. For whatever reason, she dismissed me.
Oh well.The medal  I wear...Shakespeare qoute..."though she be but little...she is fierce."

The times they are a changin'...

...and I think for the better.

There was rearranging in the company towards the beginning of the year...redistricting. The Columbus stores are now aligned with the Cleveland/Pittsburgh stores. We...meaning the Columbus stores...are now in the playing field with the Big Girls. We are now in a market with stores that have $60,000 weekly plans...and those stores make those numbers.
In the rearrangement...people lost their jobs. The DM for our market was one of them.
So...we have a new District Manager.
The first time she came into our store...I was embarrassed. We were busy. Stuff piled high on the counters from returns. We were shorthanded...store was tossed beyond belief...and our numbers were sucking big time...huge return percentage. It felt like your parents showing up unannounced ...sink full of dirty dishes...laundry overflowing the hamper...everything wonky.
The look of the store has been...I don't know what word to use...evolved...passed...dumped...to my hands.  I do love doing stage set. It's like like doing the New York Times crossword. There's a clue that bingo's five other words. It all falls into place...or you use the iPad for help.
At Stage Set...I'm the iPad. I'm good with that.
I'm not good with how I respond.
I know there are times I get short with people and give half assed explanations. I hate that. It's because I know there's a section that I was supposed to do that is way behind.
There were two ladies who were the bomb at stage set. A gobsmacking thing...both of them said to me "You taught me how to do this." Really?

So...
She...DM..will probably be in our store tomorrow.
Her MO is make things better.
 Joyce...our SM...is in for a long day.