October 2006 Archives

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. I really haven't gotten into it much this year, I have been so busy with work, and opening the restaurant. That actually went pretty smoothly. I ended up getting out of there at 10pm last night, and turned around and went back at 6am this morning. I have managed to get out of there long enough for the kids to go trick-or-treating tonight, although I may end up sleeping on the couch. With the kids and my wife all having mostly gotten over the creeping crud, I figured that I had dodged that particular bullet, but such is not to be the case. The last couple of days I have felt a bit under the weather, but I chalked that up to the hours I've been working. That is probably part of it, but now I am hacking up my lungs, and have never ending snot running from my nose, and to top it off, I have a fever of 100. At least I only have one more day to go before I get two off. As long as I can make it through tomorrow without passing out I will be OK. The only problem that I can foresee is that I am short a cook tomorrow night, so I may end up working third shift.

Technorati : Halloween

I don't know what time I will get home tonight, so this may be my only post for today. We are going to officially open for business at 2pm, but we will actually start serving at 10am or so. All of the city muckety-mucks have been invited to eat for free, along with the fire department, police department, and everyone where I bank. Limited menu of course. A few of us are going in at 7am to get the last bit of prep done that I couldn't do Saturday. Some of that stuff just doesn't sit well for two days.

I get to drop Ruth off at daycare as well. That will be kind of cool. Her school is about 150-200 yards from my new store, so I will start dropping her off every day, which should save my wife a bit of time in the morning.

Technorati : work

I told myself last week I would make sure to post at least once every day. I guess I lied (only missed it by about four hours though). I ended up working until about 10pm last night. I spent most of the evening fixing little nit-picky things that are just the kinds of things that senior vice presidents notice when they are in. I'm not particularly interested in kissing their asses, but good visits are also short which is always nice.

I have to go up about 10 and let the window washer in, but other than that we are ready to go.

Although I missed posting yesterday, I will try not to be remiss later today, since some of my help is lacking brains and the rest have no sense, I feel that I am going to be spending a LOT of time at work the next two weeks.

It's funny. I don't really appreciate the daytime until I have been stuck inside from dark to dark for awhile. Not that it's going to get any easier for me for awhile. I do get to see the outside occasionally, while driving from one store to the other, but that is about it.

I think that I am going to have the new manager do the drawer change in my old store for the next couple of nights though, so that I can spend some time at home before the store opens. My boss is off today and tomorrow thank god, so even though I will be running the district, I won't have to deal with that. The last couple of weeks as I have spent more time in the new store, she has been pretty pissy about it. I know she understands what I have to do, I think she is just pissed off that she is losing me and getting a new manager in return. That will give her two brand new managers out of three, which is pretty difficult, and we are getting ready to go into the holiday season.

One thing I thought was pretty fucking hilarious that Dax will understand, maybe some others will, has to do with my P&L. We have certain target overalls that we have to hit each operating period They consist of food cost, operating (asswipe and stuff), payroll, and management payroll. Due to various reasons including my extremely high sales (low targets) and the number of people I had to have because I had more seats, I NEVER hit my overall target in my old store. Not in the 42 operating periods that I was there. The closest I ever came was being out about .3 which is somewhere around $150. The new Guy that has been there decided that HE could "hit" so has been working all kinds of doubles, sending people home early, working 3rd shifts and basically doing the shit that I absolutely avoid like the plague, because I hate doubles. We got our P&Ls in yesterday, and he was out .5

Damn, he was pissed. I had been trying to tell him for weeks that he needed to concentrate on getting the hell out of there, and beefing up his staff. The more sales he does there, the more money he will make in other bonuses. You make your money in that store from sheer sales volume, not from great profits. He acted like I don't know what the fuck I am talking about. I think he gets the point now, or at least I hope he does. I work a lot of hours when necessary, but working 80 hours a week just to cut payroll is suicide in the long run because it runs off your people, and then you are left burnt out.

I have spent most of the last two days in the new store getting it ready. The health inspector came today, that was pretty much a non-event. I won't get a real score for five or six weeks and then they will come in and do a real inspection.

I spent most of the day today setting up and breaking in new equipment and then spent the evening with my boss going over schedules. I only have about 25 holes in the schedule, so it could be worse. We have pretty much hit critical mass and if I don't open now, I will start losing more people than I can hire because they have to work somewhere and can't sit with their thumbs up their asses waiting on me.

I will spend most of tomorrow and tomorrow night doing training classes and making sure everyone knows the things I am anal about, then Saturday I will spend the day prepping some of the stuff that will hold for a few days.

We open on Monday afternoon, I guess I will feed the people that work for the city from 10-2 and then open the doors to the public at 2pm.

Of course I am still running my other store until Saturday night, so that has been a big pain in the ass to keep going. I've only been there for five or six weeks, don't want to be there, and pretty much don't give a fuck if it burns down right about now.

Technorati : work

Earlier I was searching myspace for "Georgia Bloggers". Pretty fucking useless search there. That's how I came across the aforementioned site.

Technorati : Internet, Myspace

I guess that today is Judgmental Wednesday or "Asshole Hump Day" although that might carry other connotations. :) I am just being very judgmental today. I am pissed off about work today so it is carrying over into everything else.

I have a MySpace account. I very rarely update it, but I set it up because my 17 year old has one and I wanted to be able to visit it, and also for a couple of old friends to find me if they so need to.

I will not link to the profile, not feeling like that much of an asshole, but I came across one today and she called herself "Blogger Extraordinaire" and listed Professional Blogger in her profile. I decided to visit her site.

I have to say, I definitely consider myself an amateur. I've blogged for about three years or so and kept a frequently updated website, almost a blog, for six or seven years before that. Prior to that I ran my mouth on pre-www days electronic BBSes. Michelle Malkin and Instapundit, to name two, are professional bloggers. Definitely not me.

Neither is this chick. Her myspace layout is not the most irritating, but it is pretty fucking close. I decided to pay a visit to her "professional" web site. It's at blogspot, which was first clue that she's not a pro. The ultra ugly background on the page as well as the fact that it would not display properly in IE were a couple more. Then there is the fact that she has posted four times since August 12th. Of course, being an amateur, I can post drivel after drivel all day long. I guess the quality of her posts makes up for doing one every ten days. Not.

Maybe I just have my Andy Rooney shirt on today or something, but just because you spend 18 hours a day sitting your fat ass in front of the computer, that DOES NOT MAKE YOU A PROFESSIONAL BLOGGER.

Technorati : blogs, internet

I was checking out comments on a video over at youtube and one dude (I am assuming) called it "Culturally Significant" and declared that this is the "Youtube Decade". Fucking moron. I attempted to say as much, but I kept getting this page about verifying my email address, even AFTER I verified it. Fuck them, it gives me something to blog about anyway. The advent of the World Wide Web was culturally significant. The creation of Arpanet, then the Internet is significant. The invention of the light bulb, the TV, and the PC were all significant. A web site that allows people to share videos? I think not.

I think that youtube plays a very small but important part in the current incarnation of the World Wide Web, but that is it. It just shows how the Internet is evolving to become a part of our daily lives. Youtube, MySpace, easier and faster shopping, wikipedia, and shitloads of blogs. I can access them from my PC, my TV, my iPaq, even my damn cell phone if I want to. Some of the content, such as youtube, is important to a few people, and help advance the technology that is driving the net, but overall it is just a bunch of dumb fucks looking for something to do rather than watch TV (yes, I am one of those dumb fuckers) or read the newspaper.

Technorati : Internet, Youtube

When I saw the link over at youtube I just HAD to click it. Yeah, I don't watch America's Funniest Home Videos, but if it happens to be on I am one of those who laughs their ass off at other peoples misfortunes.

Technorati : youtube

There is a sign in front of a local church that I pass several times daily:

Halloween or Hallelujah!

Heaven or Hell!!

I just want my fucking candy bars. Keep the rest.

Technorati : Religion

The weekend has been pretty nice but unfortunately it had to end. I may take a couple of days off work later this week since I open the new shop next Monday and all I seemed to do yesterday was sleep. Shortly after my brother left yesterday I lay down on the couch for awhile. Woke up two hours later. Still I went to bed around 8pm last night. Damn I have become a lightweight somehow.

I did manage to get someone's computer fixed last night, and although I am pretty technically proficient, I have never really attempted to burn a DVD other than for data backup, so I recorded a show to DVD, and it works. woo hoo. Holder goes to school on my daughter's birthday, which actually happens to be Tuesday, and will take cake volcanoes and give a lesson. The show was "The Magic School Bus Blows It's Top" which is about volcanoes, so I guess they will be watching it as well.

Today and tomorrow will be my last productive days in the Carrollton store (productive as in actually working on the floor and cooking) as long as everything goes well. I still have a ton of stuff to get done before the week is out. I've got to schedule a meeting up there with the health department, and get my bread and produce deliveries set up as well. I have at least three interviews this afternoon, hopefully I can set up a few more, as I still need about ten more people, 20 according to what my bosses want me to hire. That's probably about right since several of the people that I hired will only be good for a couple of weeks.

I've gotta get me one of these things for the hood of my car.

Technorati : weapons

Just to entertain you bastards. I just finished my 16th straight work day, got home at 9:45pm, what do I do? MAKE COFFEE. Dumbass.

Good night.

Technorati : blogging, work

Damn. I am whooped. I had a half day off last Thursday, and prior to that I was off on Tuesday and Wednesday the 3rd and 4th. Too many days without a day off. Things at work are finally starting to come together though. I should have plenty of people by the time we open in ten days. I have unfortunately had to hire a few that I know I shouldn't, just to have some warm bodies to open with. They will get weeded out pretty soon after we open.

I'm off this weekend though. My little brother and his spawn are going to be in town tonight. I am looking forward to that very much. My parents may be coming out tomorrow as well, for my daughter's ninth birthday party. She's pretty excited. I just wish I had a bit more dough to spend on her this year. She'll never know the difference though and will have a great time. I think that about 30 people were invited, which means 15-20 will show. Should be fun. I will just have to make sure and get some beer on the way home tonight. For the kids, not for me of course.

Technorati : birthdays, time off, work

...are fixed. I sent emails to several different contacts at Charter (not tech support) and apparently it was fixed today. It was a real pain in the ass having to log in to AOL first and then surf through their software.

Technorati : Internet

Well, after getting treated like a fucking dumbass tonight, I have sent an email to several different people at Charter. I can't get here to post to my blog, or even access ANYTHING on my sight, unless I log on to AOL via their software first (they use their own DNS servers). I didn't look very hard tonight, but if I don't receive an answer by tommorow morning, or the problem is not resolved, I am sure that I can find some of their VP's email addresses on their investor relations page. Here's the email for those technically inclined. Perhaps the issue really is on my end, then I need to have been treated like a dumbass, and an asshole to boot, but I just don't think so.

I had not planned on getting up quite this early, but there it is. I have to go in about four am, so I went to bed at eight last night, figuring to get up at three or so. Woke up at midnight and can't get back to sleep. It's probably going to be about an 18 hour day today, so I might as well get an early start to it.

Technorati : Work

Well, I have a new opening date. October 30th. I think I may have pissed off a couple of people today, as I asked my new boss if I was going to be standing there with my dick in my hand while they were all out Trick-or-Treating with THEIR kids on the 31st, or if someone planned to be there with me. Since she is a woman, she might not have appreciated it, but we have worked together, so she knows how I am. No sense in futzing around when you can be blunt, at least where my superiors are concerned.

Technorati : work

Lately I've not blogged much, except for work-related stuff, and the occasional technical/htpc/ha post or review. Boring. I guess that is about all I have going on recently, so that is what I am thinking about. My level of stress is pretty high between work, money matters, and the fact that Chris will be moving on in a few months.

He still isn't sure what he wants to do, but I think he is tending toward just going to school, although military service is still possible.

Technorati : work

It's getting harder to get up in the morning. Damn. This is my 11th day straight at work (took a half day on Wednesday) and I have five days left. Not sure if I will make it through the end of the week without oversleeping. Luckily the manager/trainee will be back at work tomorrow, so if I do oversleep I will just blow it off like I planned it that way.

I left the house a mess last night and went to bed last night anyway. I guess it will give me something to do when I get home this afternoon anyhow.

...as Poirot would say? Or just little ear treasures? What is it about Q-Tips that makes you look at them after removal to see what little treasures might be bestowed upon you? Perhaps something grew in there as you slept.

I always think about the scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where little creatures are inserted into Chekov and some other dude through their ear canals. I keep hoping if I dig hard enough I might find one.

Technorati : ear wax

I got up about an hour ago and have been sipping coffee and reading a bit. Nice quiet time. I am certainly not motivated today. All I want to do is go back to sleep. I guess it's because I know I have such a short time left where I am at. My bosses bosses boss did extend it though. Now I am staying in this store until the 24th or 25. I open the new store the 26th. In the meantime I have to get it clean, stock the restaurant, put up and check equipment, hire the rest of the staff and get them trained. WTF?

On a brighter note, I fired another person yesterday. The fourth since I took this store three weeks ago, not including two that I just ran off. Twice the number of folks that I shit-canned in the three and a half years I was at my last store. The manager that is taking over from me in two weeks is extremely happy (she really is, no facetiousness here) as I promised her that I would try and fix the damn place during the month I was there.

My little brother and his kids are driving down from North Carolina next weekend for my daughter's birthday party, and my parents are coming as well, last I heard. I am really looking forward to that, it may be the last time for a few months. For a few years we had Christmas dinner here at the house, but last year we couldn't as it is just too far for my grandmother and great-aunt. It will probably be in Atlanta again this year, which means that I will miss it for sure. With the new store there is very little chance that I will have ANY free time during the holidays.

Technorati : Work

It's all about the bra.

How not true. Even the right bra can't disguise those really nasty titties.

If you were wondering, this is one of the 50 or so junk mails that I just deleted. I am easily entertained.

Technorati : Bras

The wife decided to watch her shows in the bedroom last night, so I decided to lie down on the couch and sleep till she woke me up. Damn, she just did. I haven't had that much sleep in a while, and I am still ready to go back to bed. I suppose this last week at work has just kicked my ass. I worked seven days this past week, and then a half day yesterday, so that was my only time off.

The only bad part about couch sleeping is that it kills my back. I would probably be better off lying on the floor.

This week doesn't look to be any better. With having to get the new store ready I won't have an opportunity to take any more time off until the 21st. I will just have to make sure and take advantage of the manager trainee for drawer changes and get out of the door as early as possible in the afternoon.

Technorati : Sleep, Work

I think Shoe said it best, "uh, what's an Htpc?"

That pretty much sums it up for the great majority of computer users. I answered her, at least a bit. It is like Tivo on steroids. Live TV, recorded TV, DVD library, music, pictures, gaming. All on a computer hooked to my television. I also run my home automation software on the same box, and some of it is tied in to my HTPC setup.

My current HTPC is running on a home brew PC. Athlon 64 3200+, Abit UL8, don't remember how much memory it has. Although I love tweaking my PCs and the software that they contain, I have learned to leave this one alone, and just let it do it's job. I use Windows XP as my operating system. I have tried Linux, but the HA software designed for it sucks compared to what I use, and the hardware is just not designed for it. Too much damn tweaking. The HTPC software programs that I tested under Linux just don't do everything that I want it. No extra programs running, no anti-virus, no firewall (other than my external routers). I don't need them since I don't read email on this machine, or browse the web.

I have four TV tuners in the machine, a Hauppauge PVR250 (roslyn), a Hauppauge PVR150MCE, a Hauppauge WinTV PVR 2 USB external tuner, and a generic bullshit tuner I bought at a computer show a few years back. The PVR250 is hooked into my Motorola cable box via component video, and I have a serial cable run to the box as well, for channel changes. The bullshit card has a feed from my Sony VCR, and regular cable, as do the other two tuners.

Video is run from my Nvidia Geforce 6600 LE via DVI/component to my TV. Just a generic Sharp flatscreen. Nothing special, but but my eyesight isn't particularly sharp lately anyhow.

I run sound from the MB's onboard connectors to a Sony audio receiver, and out to about 10 mini speakers around the living room.

If you do a search around the web, you will find that mine is a pretty generic, low-price setup. I've seen some sweet setups that would run $10k+ that just make me weep when I think about them. I like mine though. For the most part, it does what I want. This is the second machine I have built for this purpose over the last five years. Not bad considering it gets constant 24 hour usage, and they were both built with parts from previous PCs.

My software setup is a bit more complicated. I have been interested in HTPCs for about ten years or so. I got my first TV tuner in 1995 or so, but was never able to really get a nice setup that worked, or that I could hook to my TV and my family could use. That's one of the key factors. If my kids can use it, it works.

I started getting interested in X10 and home automation about six years ago. I picked up a basic kit, and hated the free software that came with it. After looking around for awhile, I found Homeseer and loved it. I still use it. I would like to move away from X10 into some higher end stuff, but that shit is expensive, and with my current extra spending money of $2/week :) it will just be awhile. I have about 13 X10 controlled light switches, several lamp modules, and several appliance modules. I have 10 or 12 RF motion sensors that communicate with Homeseer and tell it when anyone is in proximity, as well as whether it is light or dark. I have about 10 temperature sensors around the house inside/out and a humidity sensor. Homeseer also controls my audio/video appliances via IR as well. All of it is accessed via remote control, switches, voice, as well as through a web browser in other parts of the house. I also use a couple of programs that interface with Homeseer as well as iTunes and WMP, so I can feasibly turn on the tunes from the shitter.

Anyway, about the HTPC software. I run several pieces of software. On the back end, as I said before, I sometimes use itunes and WMP through my HA software. I also access my music through a front-end, BeyondMedia. It's OK, but not the greatest program I have used. I used to use one called Meedio, but it is now defunct, and there is no more meaningful development going on. BM is not at the top of Snapstream's development list, but I am sure that they will get back on the bandwagon, or integrate it into their PVR product. It works for what it is supposed to though. Videos, DVD library (using a plugin), games (also using a plugin), photos, as well as access to some online stuff, although I don't use anything other than the weather. I also access itunes on the TV screen for a few shows that I have downloaded, although the legibility sucks since it was made to be looked at on a PC screen.

The part that gets used the most is the PVR software, BeyondTV. BTV kicks ass. This post actually started out as a review of the software that someone asked me to do, but I will do that later, perhaps on my day off when I have a few extra minutes. Although there will probably always be stuff that it doesn't do to my satisfaction, it is by far the best PVR software out there. It is easy to use, both for me and my family, right out of the box. Watch live TV, pause, rewind, record four shows at once to watch later (which is what I mostly use it for), as well as tune to FM radio. I can do this with the IR control from my HA software to my receiver, but using BTV is MUCH easier.

My favorite part, and what makes it so easy for the rest of the family, is the remote control. I have a couple of remotes that I can use. I use two different IR receivers, and both can transmit as well, but I much prefer the RF Firefly over the rest. It is easy to use, easy to set up to work with multiple programs, and fits right in my hand, so it's not too bulky. It ties all the rest of it together. I only wish that it were a combination of RF and Infrared so that I could program it it to control my components as well.

I have tried several other programs out there, including MCE, MythTV, Sage, Meedio, Yahoo Go, and a few others, and none of them are as good as what I am currently using.

Technorati : BeyondTV, HTPC, PVR, Snapstream

I hate public speaking. I don't dislike it, I fucking hate it. That's one of the reasons that I don't believe in regular employee meetings. When I do have them they very rarely last longer than 10 minutes.

The presentation that I had to give tonight was two minutes long. Someone was keeping time, and was SCORED by the nine division managers present. You were given a score of 0 (not on topic), 5, 10, or 15. Then they critiqued our presentations. All of this adds up to make it as uncomfortable as humanly possible. I did end up getting the highest score out of the 20 or so presentations, so I got a gift certificate to Smoky Bones. Free food is always nice.

I immediately needed a smoke after I gave my speech, but had to wait another 40 minutes or so. Damn.

Technorati : Public Speaking, Work

I had planned on going in to work late today and cook until about 9pm or so in order to let the manager trainee run the store this morning. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way.

My DM called me up on Friday to let me know that I was "invited" to attend the leadership dinner (meeting) tonight, and that I have to give a two minute presentation. No big deal. I figured I would get it together this afternoon and go give a short talk on some work-related stuff.

They called me this morning and now I still have to give my presentation, only it has to be more detailed, as well as turning in my copy of my 100 days goals, and my calendar for the next three months. Crap. The calendar I keep up in Outlook anyway, so I had to add a bit to it, now I am working on this other crap. I hate paperwork.

Technorati : Meetings, Work

I am getting ready to upgrade to Vista Release Candidate 2, so if I don't post for a couple of days it's because I have hosed my computer. That and the fact that it's beer thirty.

Update - Apparently it worked with no problems, as I am back online. I will try and post some of my experiences with Vista later this week. I also have a review of BeyondTV as well.

Back in April I talked a little bit about Yahoo! Go for TV here and here. None of this will have any interest for you unless you are into HTPCs so you can just ignore this post, or read it anyway until you realize what a waste of your time this was.

Here is the body of my initial review from April. Not much has changed:

Technorati : Go for TV, Yahoo

I posted earlier that I had changed my days off to stay at home with my daughter earlier this week. They are going to be pretty screwed up over the next few weeks, culminating in having to work my ass off until after Christmas probably. Since I was off Tuesday and Wednesday this week, I should be off Wednesday and Thursday next. No such luck. My boss is on vacation, so I am doing her job AND mine. Wednesday I have to be at work, if not actually productive on the grill. I have to close out all of my paperwork for the week, then our construction department is doing the turn-over for the new restaurant. I have to be there to make sure everything is OK and sign off on it. At that point we will be in and out until opening on October 26th. Thursday the 12th will be my only day off. I won't have another day off until the 21st and 22nd. We are having my 8 year old's birthday party, and my little brother and his brood are driving to Georgia to spend that weekend with us. Should be pretty cool. Then I go to work on Monday and take Tuesday off two days before I open.

It won't really feel like I am working because I check out of my current store on the 17th and from that point forward I mainly have to set everything up in the new store and get the rest of the folks hired and trained. I may end up working eight or ten hour days, but it doesn't feel like work unless I have spent the day on the grill busting my ass.

Technorati : work

I read this little blurb somewhere on the 'net, don't remember where, probably some news site.

OK, here's the deal you fucking clueless morons. It is illegal as a business owner for me to put someone to work that has a phony, or no SS#. It is also illegal for me to keep working them after the government sends us the letter informing us that they do not have a social security number. The key works in the paragraph above are "ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS". They are fucking illegal, I cannot work them for fear of being closed down. If you want to boycott something you bunch of fucking morons, boycott paying your fucking taxes to the IRS until the federal government changes the immigration laws. They have been "accused" of firing "illegals". Since when is it an accusation that you are following the law?

Now here's an idea. We all join the boycott against Dunkin' Donuts, until they go out of business and put more LEGAL AMERICAN CITIZENS out of work, then we do the same to some other AMERICAN company, until we have a whole bunch of unemployed people, and we descend on , oh... say CANCUN and protest over beers. Fuck them.

Damn, I could use a couple of jellies right now. Hold the alcohol and ludes.

Technorati : Applebees, Dunkin Donuts, Immigration

Damnitall Redneck, you never showed up for your interview today.

I am of course in the process of hiring folks for the new restaurant. In what little remains of my free time, I have been doing interviews and 2nd interviews. The good thing is that I like my new boss, having worked for her, and vice versa back in the '90s. We decided awhile back that EVERYONE had to go through both of us for approval, particularly if they have worked for us before. I don't want a bunch of retarded retreads working for me that I will just end up replacing anyway. In some cases we are sending them on a third interview with my Human Resources Manager as well. Luckily she is pretty nice, and gets paid the same as I do, so we are not at odds.

Technorati : work

I have purposefully kept myself out of the news loop over the last week or so. No blogging, no reading CNN or FOX, just farting around pretty much.

I noticed earlier about the fuss with former congressman Mark Foley, and just a few minutes ago saw a story where he admits that HE was molested by a priest. AH, so that explains why you are a fucking pedophile. Jeez, I suppose we are all supposed to nod and say how said it is and just let bygones be bygones now. Hell, he's been molested by a priest! Let's re-elect his ass.

Technorati : Child Molesters, Mark Foley, Predators

Damn, for such a slow store I am tired as hell. I only worked about 10 hours today, so it could have been worse. Some asshat hit a power pole this morning and I got to operate without power for about an hour and a half. That's always fun. There are only a few things that can't be served, so we operate business as usual. I had to prop the doors open, since the exhaust fan doesn't work without power and it stinks, and very quickly gets extremely hot. I don't know what it is. I could be the only fucking building without power, and people start streaming in like cockroaches.

It took forever to get the mess cleaned up. The manager who will be taking over the store after I am gone finally finished her training classes and is back there with me now, which should make it a bit easier, if only she could cook. I have two weeks to teach her the shit that they skipped during training and improve her cooking skills to the point where she can handle it by herself.

I started this morning by telling her all of the stuff that is sure to piss off my boss, like they can't mess with her days off and to not take any shit about it, and to turn her cell phone off on her days off, and don't let our boss come in and manipulate numbers to make herself look better. Off to a good start already.

Technorati : Work

...is what it has been around here for the last few days. I have been working a bit more this week and really have not had much to say here. What with getting ready to open the new store I have had quite a bit more on my plate than normal, thus I am not able to shoot out of work in quite the hurry that I was for awhile.

They poured the parking lot on Thursday, so I will start spending some afternoons up there for awhile, taking applications and interviewing. The good thing is that we have several people hired already and in training. The last time I opened a store was in '98 and they gave me twelve days to get everyone hired and trained; needless to say it was a goatfuck.

I haven't even had time to do any surfing at my normal haunts. I have a few minutes before I go to work today so will try to visit a couple of people after I check the news and weather. If I don't end up working another 14 hour day I will probably be back online this evening.

Technorati : Work