October 18, 2008 More used car shopping...

We got a late start this morning, but eventually made it out the door. Mike finished installing his new exhaust system and was confident his truck would pass inspection, which it did. Since we were out that way we browsed some used car lots on Willow street in Yarmouth and found a Mazda truck Mike said might be ok. Unfortunately nobody was in the office so we'll try calling on Monday. We made a quick stop at a pizza shop then took Em to work for 12:45. Mike, Dan and I made a quick trip to the grocery store for dinner supplies then came home. Mike decided he was going to take a nap. Dan and I opted to take Marley for a walk in the woods. We had a great time, I love walking in the woods in the fall. And both Marley and Dan got out some pent up energy. A win/win for all involved!

I went to work, this could be a long story, but I'll shorten it. Basically I walked in a little before 5pm. The assistant manager (AM) was there who I love to work with, but nobody said anything about me giving notice, until a few minutes after 5 when the AM checked the red book and asked what was going on. I stated that I gave notice. What I hadn't known was that my Brazilian Friend's (BF) last day of work was tonight. AM noted that she didn't think the Manager had seen my note and suggested I let her know later on. At this point I'm pretty sure I'm not quitting. If my BF is leaving, then I'm staying. She and I worked together throughout the night. I had lead headset (the one you can talk through, the other you can only hear) so I was pretty much tied to the service area. My BF was then respondsible for things like sweeping and mopping. I did my job, and was getting ready to work on the sandwich board when I noticed my BF pouring water into the bakery case. We were low on donuts so she'd moved them to one side. Before I knew it she was standing barefoot in a pond behind the counter. I've never seen anything like it. I took a picture. At that moment the phone rang, My BF answered, yelled for a few minutes in Portuguese and then handed the phone to me saying the Manager wanted to talk to me. My BF and the Manager are good friends. I said Hello and she said you wanted to talk to me?
I spilled my guts told her that as of right now my BF was barefoot behind the counter in a puddle with three other unfinished projects going on. She said it was unacceptable and asked to talk to her. My BF sounds like she's yelling when she's having a normal conversation and I wanted to avoid a controntation with so much work left to do so I asked my Manager to hold off until later on. She and I worked the rest of the night until 9:45pm when the phone rang again. I was taking the garbage out but I could hear yelling coming from inside. I did the rest of my work, happily said good bye and promptly left. She grunted....so it goes! So I still have a job and actually can't wait for work tomorrow.....I predict we'll be done early!

October 17, 2008 Used car shopping and Bye Bye Dunkin

I booked Disney! We have three flights round trip, and since I was doing it I ordered tickets for Dan and I for Disney. We decided that with 10 days of passes we didn't need the park hopper feature and saved ourselves a $100. The tickets should arrive by the end of the month. We're very excited, but Dan keeps asking when we're leaving....it's going to be a long few months!!!

Today's Friday and Mike's home and on a mission to replace his exhaust system. I am on a mission of my own. To find Emily a trustworthy car in the $2500 range which is what she's saved along with a $1500 start on insurance/fees/etc. She goes for her drivers road test on election day, November 4th and is thrilled that Gogie will be driving up since neither of our vehicles qualify for the road test. There must be an emergency brake between the two seats in case the testing administrator needs to stop the car. I can't wait for her to be able to drive herself back and forth to work. Ever since she's switch to cashiering sometimes Dan and I wait for an hour for her to be done. The time has definitely come. We checked several dealerships and it seems they all run the same way. They sell off their older trade ins to used car lots so most of them don't have anything in stock under $5000. We checked a couple of used car lots and found a couple, but either they were too old or had high milage. We'll try a place in Buzzards Bay tomorrow that one of the salesmen recommended. We got home around 2pm, had something to eat and relaxed until it was time for work.

I'm scheduled to work with my Brazilian (read, not-so) friend tonight and tomorrow. I don't have a good feeling.
10 O'clock follow up. Tonight went as expected, although I decided that rather then kill myself to get us both out on time I'd see what she does when left to her own devices. Namely, me not cleaning up after her. I arrived 10 minutes early as usual. I like to get there early, see what's going on, get a jump start if I need to without dealing with customers. Seems the other employees think then when I walk through the door I'm on. Laurie promptly collected her tips, counted them out and left! Celia started yelling for me to get her a toasted bagel, I pointed to the clock and told her I wasn't punched in yet. She yelled that I was on, I yelled that I wasn't. And so the night began.
I did what I always do. I took out all the trash in the store, including outside. Swept and mopped the entire store. Cleaned and stocked the Sandwich station, did all the dishes, cleaned the ovens, cleaned out the donut case, emptied and cleaned all the ice coffee urns, and waited on customers. She had to clean two dairy cleaners which normally take her 3 hours (me 30 minutes) and stock and clean the drive thru station. That's it. When I left at 10, because I had to pick Emily up at a football game, she still hadn't finished one of the creamers, and her station was trashed. I didn't feel bad about leaving. As I was finishing the paper work, temps, and donut and bagel throwaways, etc. I added a note for Camilla (the manager) that I was giving my two week notice. Enough is enough, I started working to get out of the house, socialize, gain a sense of accomplishment and make some money. With only two of those goals being met, it's just not worth it....I wonder what I'll do next!