Thursday, February 06, 2014

Winter Quest Solo Adventure Part 2

So, where was I? That's right, not writing on a proper schedule.

Finally at work, Monday, and the place was dead. Granted, my mall typically looks like the set from Dawn of the Dead, only with less zombies. There were a few places open. The brave employees for corporate stores that brave their salary and modest wages... and me. Still I had work to do. It was a Monday, and I have a routine.

Monday is typically the day I need to get my inventory done. For two reasons, really. One is so I know what to order later in the month. The other is that I need to adjust the quantity of our order coming in a couple days if need be. Typically it means decreasing the amount of comics we are getting because of lack of sales and no return-ability option.

I deemed it classic rock day because I bought some CDs (remember those?) the day before. The likes of Kansas, Boston, Foreigner, and the Scorpions were my company for the day. Apparently, that was the nearly literal.

I had one person come into the store in the morning. One. He is a regular and I see him multiple times a week. Sure, he is odd for even comic book stereotype standards, but he usually buys something. Unfortunately, he usually only buys one quarter comic. Thant's right. One 25-cent comic book. That was the extent of my sales till about 2:30. The only people I saw until then were the Postal carrier and the UPS delivery guy.

Chick-Fil-A seemed like the only place that was doing business. They seemed to have a steady stream of people buying chicken and chicken flavored products. That was until the spontaneously closed around 2. They were one of the only places actually making money and they closed. That wasn't a good sign.

Going back to when I first got into work, my first phone call was my boss. He was asking how it was and how the roads were. I didn't sugarcoat anything. I said they were terrible and getting worse. Probably not the best idea to try and brave it for no reason. He told me to leave whenever I felt like it. This was at 10:30.

I stayed till 3:30.

See, I am way to dedicated to getting my work done. I decided to finish my inventory and input my order changes. I had one other customer who braved the weather. Thankfully, he justified his determination with a respectable $80 sale. That was about it though. As soon as finished with him, my orders and a general sweep of the store, I was going home.

Surprisingly, the worst part about going home was getting out of the mall parking lot. This didn't really surprise me. The mall isn't the most on-point when it comes to snow clean-up. They finally got around to sending plows and tiny Bobcats to clear some of the lot. My car, of course, was still surrounded by a layer of heavy snow. I had a secret weapon though. Instead of trying to rock my car through the snow and risk slipping and spinning into something I didn't want to hit, I used a shovel. Yes, I have a shovel in the back of my car. I should have been a boy scout. Some quick snow removal later, and my car could escape the snowy grasp of my parking spot. That should have been the end of it.

Little did I know that there was no clear path to actual exit the mall parking lot though. I made it to the outer-rim of road. When I tried to get to the exit, my path was blocked by more standing, un-plowed snow. Thankfully, some brazen mall escapee trail-blazed a path for me. So, best I could, I sunk into their pre-driven tire tracks and escaped the confines of the mall. The drive home was fine after that.

The only other significant thing that happened occurred when I finally parked at home. A little kid, probably around 10 or so, was shoveling the sidewalk across the street from my house. When I got out of my car, he asked if he could shovel the sidewalk in front of my house. I told him,"Sure, if you want to." I then went inside to drop all my stuff off and grab a drink.

The kid started shoveling. I felt a little bad, so I was going to help him some. Yes, I was going to pay him. I am not that stingy. I mainly allowed the kid to do it because he asked and I really didn't want to do it myself. So, I went to to clear the walkway to my house while the kid worked on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the kid was gone when I got back outside.

Begrudgingly, I had to shovel it all myself. Heavy, wet snow is the worst when it comes to clean-up. It is gross and messy. It splashes when you heave it out of the way. My shovel handle broke in true, typical fashion. My brother showed up after the initial clean-up with a better shovel.

After that, it was time to eat something, take a nap and generally try to figure out what to do with my extra time off. Mainly, it was take a nap. I like naps.

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Winter Quest Solo Adventure Part 1

As with most people in my area, I am pretty much done with dealing with snow for this season.

Some of the most recent snow days were messy, sure, but not tolerable. It has been exceptionally cold. This in turn makes snow fluffy. The snowflakes are like their own thing and are kind of like sand. Today presented a more terrible, ugly version of snow. The heavy wet stuff. The stuff of accidents and backaches.

I had a fairly average start to the day. Most times, snow doesn't really bother me while driving. I am not a hardcore driver, person. I have a sedan. No 4-wheel drive for me. I just have confidence and trust in my vehicle. Take things slow and careful. Be considerate of everything around you and try not to stop for fear of never starting again. This felt like one of those mornings. Don't rush to work. I'll get there when I get there.

Everything seems about what I was going to expect. A few daily commuters on the road going to their respective day jobs. We just took our time.About half way to work, the weather decided it had enough with pleasantries and turned against those of us on the road. The sky grew grayer, snow was coming down in large, wet clumps. The road was getting messy and slippery. Still, I trudged on. cautious as ever, but things were moving and not bad.

That was until I got to the top of the one large hill I need to climb. Thankfully, I was at the top of the hill and not the bottom. There were a few cars ahead of me stopped. Some were already attempting a three point turn to find another route. Turns out, there was just an accident. I didn't want to take an alternate route. I was fairly close to where I needed to be already and I definitely doubt wherever I went would be any better.

So I waited.

It wasn't really that long. I was already late for work. In a few minutes, the first car in the accident started to move. It actually seemed to have decent traction and maneuverability for only having one working front wheel. The SUV that was also involved faired a little better in damage, but that car couldn't drive worth a damn. I thought it was going to hit someone else just trying to drive away. Thankfully, it didn't and I was on my way to the mall.

I had a brief scare at the next intersection because I had to stop at a red light. Going on the green turned out to be a skill challenge to keep my car from moving laterally. I passed. Things were all right. The parking lot was garbage for driving. I made it to where I thought a spot would be. Really, I parked next to someone who was already there. It was a pick your own spot day. Nothing was plowed, so there was no telling where the lines to park were. I made it though.

Then one of the most boring work days happened.

Sunday, February 02, 2014

No Repetition for this Groundhog Day

It is February 2nd, and the Superbowl just ended a few moments ago.

I didn't really watch it. It was on in the peripheral of my vision. Mainly, I was playing World of Warcraft, doing something monotonous. I was listening to some classic rock and a podcast to break up the noise.

I have nothing against the Superbowl. I usually watch it. This entire season of football really didn't grab my attention. Sure, I am from Philly, and the Eagles did pretty good considering a terrible start. I just didn't watch many of the games. I usually have a tendency to sleep late on Sundays. I work Monday nights and Thursday nights, so those games are out of the picture. I just didn't feel compelled to watch. I usually like football. Hell, I like watching most sports in general. I just don't make a consistent habit of it.

Still, the Superbowl happened and the Seahawks handily defeated the Broncos. All that matter is that no matter who won, legalized marijuana won. See, each team was from a state where buying pot is legal for recreational use.

It is also Groundhog Day. You can blame Punxitauny Phil that we will have six more weeks of winter. He saw his shadow, but really, after the winter so far, I am not surprised there isn't an end in near sight. It is even supposed to snow tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that. I have had enough of snow this season. One thing I absolutely hate about winter is the necessity to clean my car off whenever I want to go somewhere.

Other than that, I am currently pretty tired out of boredom. Playing WoW is just making my eyes droopy. I think I am just going to watch some Supernatural via convenient DVD.

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Once More Into The Breach.

Well, I last visited this thing in August, why not come back for some more?

A friend of mine started a video blog as a 30-Day Challenge. I though it was a neat idea. I don't think I could do a video blog myself. I am not that pretty for it. I also don't want to subject people to my awful stammering when it comes to speaking out loud.

Now, I don't plan to partaking in an actual challenge. I am making no promises or signing any deals. Could I do this for 30 days? Maybe. I kind of hope so. I need to get back into a regiment of things.

I have been feeling especially bland lately. One of my least favorite questions that I have to fake an answer for is, "How are you doing?" I just don't quite know how to respond to it. Things aren't particularly terrible. Thankfully, no one in my immediate family is gravely sick or dying. My main problem recently was car trouble that I threw a lot of money at to fix. That isn't interesting.

My car started doing weird things. Making noises that I mentioned in a blog last year. Finally got that fixed. Engine smoking but not impairing performance. Got that fixed. Not really the stuff of legend here. My car worked fine, but was having some troubles. I got worried about it and took care of it. Granted, I wound up not having the use of my car during that time for about 20 days. That sucked. Still, it seems fixed now.

Now, I just have to figure out where to drive her. (Yes, I think my car is female.) I don't really drink that much. I tend not to drink alone and I am mostly alone, ergo, I tend not to drink that much. Not a hard algebra problem. I just don't see the point in going to a random bar. Mainly because I would do it alone. Not too many friends that drink either for personal reasons or familial reasons.

Still, I am going to try this writing thing again. I carry around a notebook and everything. Maybe I should use it for topics. I haven't actually written in it for months, but who knows? Could be something good in there. Mainly my notebook is for lists of things to get while I am at Target or a mall or somewhere.

If all goes according to plan, I will continue to place words on this here page over the upcoming days. If my day seems particularly uninteresting, I will think of some topic to discuss, like what I am listening to, or reading, or my thoughts on pop culture. I don't know if I am an expert in anything, but this is the internet, that doesn't mater.