So I am again searching the job ads

and this time I am more resolute about the whole thing. I have already applied to several jobs and once I have finished here, I am going to apply for more but this time I am going to try for office work. I enjoyed my time at Sears apart from the bad management, lousy hours and most importantly the crap pay, so I am not completely put by working in retail but I would prefer office work, I think.

My official leaving date was the 10th Jan but Glades took me off the schedule from Wednesday which I was glad about as I really didn't want to work another 2am-9am (always extended to at least 11am) shift on Sunday.

As I left I overheard Glades and Theresa cooking up something about Ray, giving her more pay,hours or both but they will come unstuck soon, as at least 2,probably one other, of the girls (making 3 in total), are resigning in the coming weeks, leaving with them only 3 associates. Given that I was the 5th person they hired for the same position in 6 months because they lie about the hours, they are going to have problems. Personally I would get rid of the whole department and have a bigger floor staff doing the job, with regular hours.

One the thing I did notice on the last day, is that Theresa (the operations/HR ASM) twitches her left eye if she is lying or caught out by something unexpected. Basically our ISS lead, Glades disappeared for a good 2 hours on my last day and when we asked Theresa about it, she twitched her left eye nervously several times. She then pretended not to have Glades' cell phone number (Glades' cell is seriously glued to her ear, despite being banned at work) even though we all know that Theresa calls even on her off days to check up on the cleaning crew at night. Again as she asked for Glades' cell phone number from another colleague, she twitched nervously several times. She must have known Glades was missing in action as she shares an office with her and is very pally-pally with her. Plus, if Glades is working, she is almost always in the office, not on the shop floor where she is meant to be.

Anyway despite all the hassles of the lousy hours, bad management and bad pay, I enjoyed working with all the girls in the dept, even Ray who at first got one my nerves with her so eager to please attitude. After a couple of weeks there, I soon realised that without Ray the dept would be in utter chaos as she does most of the lead's (Glades)work. So they better pray she doesn't move out of Austin for her degree once she is finished with her credits at ACC or that they have replace Glades before then. So I will miss the girls but not the work.

Jobs, or lack of them

Emily was told on Tuesday that after today her services would no longer be required which is ok because it was a seasonal job with only a vague possibility of becoming a permanent job. To honest, the hours she worked this Christmas were ridiculous for a 17yr but at least it has given her a good base for her savings and she has already put in several applications for other companies who will hopefully have better work practices than Sears.



I have quit my job as well.

Why did I quit? I was considering staying for at least another month but I was just getting fed up with not knowing what the next weeks schedule was until the last possible moment because the Section Lead seems incapable of planning ahead. The work week starts every Sunday and most weeks I have been there, I haven’t had a schedule until maybe Friday but mostly Sunday at the start of the work week. I know I am starting at 2am this Sunday morning but the rest of the week is a mystery as she hasn’t put up the schedule yet! Also the hours aren’t reliable. This week I did almost 40 hours and apparently from another source, its looks like most of us will be lucky to get 10 hours this week. One week I did over 40 hours the next it was 17.5 hours. Fortunately I don’t rely on this to live on but couple of the women do as they are single with kids. With the uncertainty of hours, it’s not as if you can even plan a 2nd job around it.



Anyway, I have left a parting shot because I know most of the team are really fed up with hours and the management, so I told them I was being paid $8 an hour as oppose their $7.50 hour. I don’t know why I was being paid a higher rate but it is obviously unfair. I am doing exactly the same job as them but being paid more. I don’t know whether they will do anything about it but the ball is in their court. To be honest, I really don’t know how they have stayed there that long but I am glad I have made the decision to go. It just wasn’t worth it.



So I am now on the job trail and hopefully this time I will get a 9-5 job.

on the 24th day of Advent

I was working from 10am - 6.30pm and boy! it was busy. I cannot believe that so many people want to shop on Christmas Eve. If I had the choice and I wasn't working, I wouldn't be shopping right up to the last minute. They had the shop closed for 10 mins and people were still browsing for gifts! Apparently, they were even bangingon the closed doors

Anyway thats me now on Holiday until 11am on Tuesday when all the mark downs start. So I am sipping a glass of wine and looking forward the big day.

on the 22nd Day of Advent

I started work at 5am and finished by 9.30am which was brilliant. I went straight up to Round Rock to get the last remaining gifts I needed to get and was home by 11am.

The only person up was Emily and she was waiting patiently for Elisabeth to get up as Elisabeth had promised to take her to the Store to pick up her pay check and go gift shopping with her.

Alan got up at about 11.30 and was out of the house by 12.30 with his girlfriend, trying to find the book store he couldn't find the day before. His sense of direction comes directly from his father, in that he doesn't have a sense of direction!

At 1.20 I woke up Elisabeth who was, it looked like, dead to the world. Her room stunk! Even though she doesn't smoke in the house, her clothes reeked of cigarette odour, it really is disgusting! No amount of persauding can seem to stop her from this foul habit, despite its health risk to her and people around her. Despite that, its great to have all the kids back home for a brief while, it might be the last Christmas we have together in a while if Elisabeth follows her dreams (which I hope she does).

Anyway it seems Emily had waited in vain for Elisabeth to take her to the store and have some quality time together, as she really wasn't in the mood to do it, or so it seemed to Emily. Not sure if she actually asked or just felt she couldn't ask but in the end Emily and I had an enjoyable afternoon shopping for her friends. I even managed to get something for myself, a jewellery holder

ont the 20th day of Advent

I had a busy day. I finished work at 9.45am, did a bit of shopping, using my associates discount card before returning home to relax a little.

At 12.40, I took Emily to work which took longer than normal because obviously the last minute shopping rush has started, include me in that. I then went off to do my own christmas shopping which was very successful and all done in just over 2 hours except for 2 small gifts. Tomorrow it will be food shopping.

On my return I retrieved my mail from the communal collection area (no letterboxes in this area) and saw that we had received 4 more Christmas cards in post. I love receiving post at this time of year because a number of our friends do the same as us and add a newsletter with the card. Its amazing how similar our lives are really, most of us have kids in uni, leaving uni or leaving school.

on the 16th day of Advent

I am getting seriously fed up with Sears. The reason they wanted us in early yesterday was because they decided to start the Saturday Sale on Friday (which the public wouldn't know about as the advert wouldn't be available until Saturday morning) we were 2 people short as the Lead wasn't able to get hold of them at such short notice and we finished the morning run at mid-day. We were then expected to come back in at 4pm to do the 6pm specials and all the 10% signs out. I asked if we really expected to come back at 4pm and the lead said yes. So I said that's a really short break between shifts. Someone else said they had to go all the way back to Georgetown, it was hardly worth the effort. Just after that the Lead asked all of us in the room whether we wanted to come back at 4pm or not. Jeeze what did she expect, all of us answered in the negative! So the 4pm shift was cancelled and I suspect after the xmas/new year rush, we might be out of jobs.

Anyway that's not the only reason I am seriously pissed with Sears. Emily got her schedule for the week last night. She was working until 12.30 am so I didn't see her until early afternoon when she got up as she was working today from 4pm-12.30pm. She already knew that, so expected to start Sunday late in the day. No! they had her schedule for 7am-4pm. Gordon, I and Emily were furious. That would be mean that by the time she got home, she would be lucky to get 5 hours sleep! We took her to work hoping she would be able to speak to the AS who does the schedule for the store but unfortunately, the store was so busy she couldn't.

By the time her break came around, the AS had disappeared until 9pm. So she spoke to her lead about the hours and her wish to leave earlier than 12.30. She was called to the hub at 11pm and told that she shouldn't be talking to anyone but the AS about her hours however she did allow her to leave but that was still 11.30 before I was able to pick her up.

I really think Emily should just leave but I suppose another 2 weeks is doable but I really don't want her to work there during the next semester as it is obvious that the management has no regard for school work at all!

Sears really has been a sad disappointment compared to the treatment Alan got in the summer working for Home Depot. Despite being a part-time employee, he had full benefits and was able to join the stock purchase plan. If he worked over his contracted hours he got overtime. Emily is working 41 hours this week which is well over her contracted hours and it will be all at $7 an hour. Again, no wonder, no one but the older, time served employees stay.

Anyway enough of that rant. Yesterday because both Gordon and I were working, Alan cooked us a vegetarian meal and it was very good. I must admit, I was suprised he cooked as he and Gordon had a mini meltdown on Thursay night but obviously he got up in a good mood, deciding to be creative. Of course, the fact his girl friend was over might have had something to do with it, nothing like proving to girl that you can actually cook as well as being a normal boy.

Alan last christmas

on the 14th day of Advent

Gordon and I went christmas shopping which was hard as only Emily had provided any clue of what she wanted. Anyway we managed to get the bulk of it done so I only need to couple more things for them and all of Gordon's presents.

I was hoping to do some of that tomorrow but as we were shopping, Alan called to say that a woman with a weird accent had called and asked to call her back. I knew immediately it was my lead at Sears and sure enough it was. So instead of working from 4pm-11pm (more like 12.30) I will be working from 4am- to whenever we are finished and back again at 4pm- to whenever we finished. I have come to the conclusion that management sucks badly at Sears as how can you not know until the day before that an ad is coming out! Its sucks because Gordon and I was actually planning to go out to the local Bar tonight, the first time in more than a year. Now I will be going to bed instead!

I was reading Judy Scotts blog and learnt about the floods that were affecting Scotland at the moment, particularly Milnathort, the village which is right next to Kinross. What is really shocking is the fact that they have only just finished the flood prevention work which the villagers had to fight for after the last near miss in the late 90's and a particularly bad flood 15 yrs ago.

Tomorrow I am determined to get a photo of a local garden with their lights, its really really over the top and very American

I might not have put up the Christmas Tree yet and I am still debating the wisdom of putting it up all but here is what it normally looks like by this time of year.

13th day of Advent

Today as is a now normal wednesday I started work at 4am. At about 8am I was blasted in the ear by the assistant store manager (AS) because I had dared to ask for Emily hours on today and tomorrow to be changed. So much for being a caring employer but then I never believe all that c%%% anyway.

This week is the final week of school until the New Year and as is normal over here, it is midterm exam time which is usually a large percentage of your grade, so they very important. Seemingly despite knowing this, the (AS) told all her high schoolers that tough, you can take one night off, so decide which is your most important exam. So Emily picks up her schedule and this was her timetable for the week.

She got off Tuesday as she asked.
Weds 3.30-11pm
Thurs 3.30-11pm
Fri 3.30-11.30pm
Sat 4.00-12.30am

That is more hours than I am working even with the extra hours I got on Sunday and Monday. It's ridiculous hours even for a normal part-time working person, let alone a school kid who has to be at school at 8.25 each day!

So yesterday, as I had the time I went down to change her hours to Weds finishing at 10pm and Thurs not working at all as she has an english exam on Friday at 8.30. I would have spoken to the AS but she wasn't there, so I spoke to one of the cashier's leads (who has the authority to change the schedule) who agreed with me, school is more important than work and changed Emily's hours.

The AS was furious to say the least but that's her problem, maybe if they paid competitive salaries (all the other stores around here pay at least $1.50 a hour more) they would be able to keep their staff and not rely on high schoolers in the evenings.

Anyway, I and Dad have said if she gets any grief other this decision then she is to leave immediately as at $7 an hour it just not worth it.

A picture of Edinburgh castle at 10.50 Uk timetaken with the picture feature on Camvista.com

ont the 10th day of Advent

I was working from 2am to 2.30pm which is %$#@ to say the least. Whilst I was out, my Mum called to say she has broken her arm and had to 2 pins put in to fix it place. Why the hell didn't my Dad called when it happened? Can't imagine the pain she must have suffered as they live miles from anywhere.

Hopefully it will make them realise they need to move into a small town where there is public transport and better services,(actually Mum already knows that) however, no doubt Dad will put the blinkers on again as they can rely on their friends to get them to places. What he doesn't realise is that friends will do that sort of thing in an emergency but probably not on a day to day basis which is what you need as you get older.

Unfortunately I wont be able to talk to Mum until Tuesday probably because I am working tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I will finish work as scheduled then I might be able to talk to her tomorrow. I can't even email because the last time I talked to her, their internet service was down and she was saying she was giving up on as it has been such a problem. Not that she would be able to get up to the office anyway.

Another photo from the hippie part of Austin at christmas as you can see they are quite inventive with their lighting

On the 4th Day of Advent

I actually had a day off and I even have tomorrow off. So what did I do, I went to Sears of course, accompanied by Alan to get those couple of presents I needed for relatives back home. May as well use the discount whilst I am there.

yet another doodle via scribbler

Its official, My new job sucks!

Not that I really expected it to be great but its even worse than I thought. On Friday, I was scheduled from 1pm-10pm, I was eventually let out at 1.50am Wednesday morning because I am still shadowing the section I will eventually be doing. The other 6 workers were still there and potentially still there for several more hours.

Today I am scheduled to start at 1pm until 10pm again, starting Saturday at 7am until 2pm and back again at 12.30am Sunday morning. Not sure I am going to last out especially as the person who suppose to be training me, so wrapped up in I'm doing such a great job attitude doing 3 depts, that she cannot allow me to do anything. To be Fair to her, she does a brilliant job but she is not showing me enough so when I start being on my own I am going to be totally lost.

Anyway it will be interesting to see how many of them show up this weekend as all of them where complaining about the extra hours they had been doing the past few weeks. Apparently, one person just upped and left the other week, another who has a job line up with a grocery store, is thinking of just quitting and the other 3 young girls were threatening to do the same. I could be the a party of 3 by the end of the weekend if the craziness carries on. However, with Christmas around the corner, I suspect they will at least manage to stay on until then.

Apart from a sh***y job, Life is great at the moment. Yesterday, Elisabeth my eldest, made dinner for all of us. We started off with artichokes with lemon-butter dip, following by chicken and vegetarian enchiladas served with refried beans and mexican rice.

Must admit not into all the thanksgiving thing as it an American celebration but it was nice to have all the family back home for a couple of days. So now the countdown to Christmas begins.

The Weekend was a blur

On Saturday, we were up at 5.00am to travel up to Denton which is northwest of Dallas. We left about 5.45 and arrived in Denton about 9.45, with short coffee break, just outside Forth Worth.

The reason for our trip, is that Emily has applied to the University of North Texas, starting next August, so she was attending the preview day. Next on the agenda, if she is successful, will be a three day orientation in the early spring. At the moment, she toying between doing photography or mathematics as a major. It's a very nice looking university having been established in the late 1800's, so is mix of traditional looking older buildings and the new buildings as it is like all American Universities, expanding rapidly.

We started with a general welcome from 5 members of the University faculty, then various faculty depts were called out and depending on the major you wanted to studied, you followed a student to where the academic advising session was being held. We went to the Science one where they had a very informed session on what to expect if you were planning on doing Pre-med, health Professions or Mathematics.

After that we toured one of the housing units which wasn't really Emily's cup of tea as it meant sharing a very, very small room with one other student and sharing a shower with the adjoining room. I can imagine most modern kids being taken totally aback sharing such a small area with a total stranger.

We followed that with a brief visit to the academics fair where Emily managed to get more detailed information on doing a math or photography major and then we were heading back to Austin, arriving back just after 6pm.

After cooking dinner, which Elisabeth, who had come home for the day to look after the cats and dog, had started for us, I had to make a decision whether to sleep or tough it out. Why, you may ask, because I had to be at work by 2 am. I tried to sleep but as usual failed miserably.

It was weird leaving the house at 1.30am in the morning, with Gordon and Emily asleep. Working was a tedious as I thought it would be. There is no art in the practice of taking down 'sale' signs only to put up more 'sale' signs. Safe to say it was long,long night and I was only too glad to be out of there at 9.21am. I was very tire by then and felt sure I would sleep but all I managed was a miserable hour or so before I was up again, despite the house being very quite, as Gordon had thoughtfully removed himself to other parts of the house and Emily was working.

So I have today off which so far I have totally wasted and then tomorrow I am in again from 7am, a much more sensible time. Apart from the Thursday, rest of the week is 1pm - 10pm as there are 3 ads coming out this week! All this for a paltry $8 an hour, still its better than the nothing I was getting.

At least my Mum should be happy, I have fulfilled her dreams. When I was at my last school, I mentioned I was considering going to teacher's training college and her reply was "I would rather you worked at a Woolworth's than become a teacher. No daughter of mine is becoming a teacher!" and she promptly withdrew me from school. Well, its not "Woolies" but its near enough. I don't actually think she meant me to fulfil her 'dream' it just she saw all the possibilities that lay in private companies and to become a teacher wasn't ambitious enough, she just had an unfortunate way of saying it.

Well, I have a job of sorts

Its at the local Sears store and I will be re-pricing items which have been reduced for Sales or special events. Not exactly the job of my dreams and not something I plan to do for too long, expecially with the hours it involves, 5am to 10-11am weekdays and then 2am - to 10-11am on Sundays (when the flyers go out with the Sunday newspapers.) However, its is at least a job, its only seasonal for now and will mean Christmas will be better financed.
Emily has also got a seasonall part-time job there as a cashier so that has made her happy, hopefully it will be permanent after christmas as she wants to save up for her fare to Scotland in the summer. She can only go if she has the fared saved so she has the incentive.
So yesterday was my last day as a regular volunteer at the Blanton and it was really busy, with a party of 45 visitors turning up unexpectly and all wanting audio tours. I was really sad to go as I had become very friendly with the front desk and some of the gallery assistants. Working at the Blanton would have been great but it was not to be.