Food Store

“Better Food for All!”  Jamie Oliver is salivating so much he spits all over the food.

I work in a food store…..  food, food, food…. tons of food. It gets rather disgusting, so much gluttony, so much waste and so many irritating customers. They want every thing there, every time, made fresh everyday. You should see the cart loads that are tossed every day, but heaven forbid if their  favourite loaf is not available today or not made fresh today.

“You should make more!” they say. Every day we try and figure out exactly how many of any given thing we will need for tomorrow; the balance between making too much or not enough.

Yesterday I was on a four-hour shift re-stocking the freezer with cakes. I was hit with all the stupid stuff in the flyers we had on special, like Nutella topped cheesecake. Get them out now!

I also had two special orders and one was the size of a small coffee table. It  had a logo of their company and some words that needed to be photocopied onto edible rice paper.

My boss was in a bad mood to begin with because he came in at 11:00 for a Health and Safety meeting and was ‘closing manager’, working until 9:00.  I only had an hour left before I got to the special orders.

The computer/scanner/printer rig is so old and so frustrating. First the work screen won’t come up from the cake screen-saver.
“You have to move the mouse first” he says.  I couldn’t help blurting out “well, I know that much…!” !  What did he think? I was standing there wishing it would change?

The photo was cut short.  “You have to put it face down on the glass”  OMG. No f*#%ing kidding! I didn’t say that.  He come over with a big sigh, turns it around and scans again.  It takes a long time to scan……  it’s cut short.

Then the devil sent this sweet little old lady who was having a birthday party and wanted to order cupcakes.  A tear-away, which is cupcakes all iced as one and written on. Then she changed her mind and wanted them individual in containers.  It took some time to get the final decision on how many chocolate and vanilla.

By this time my boss had got the thing going and it was starting to print. Ca, chuuuung Ca chuuung….. it takes forever. I started to clean up what I could while  it was coming…..  already a half-hour over my shift.

Got it on without ripping it, trying to work fast.  Yards of trim and sprinkles , getting the box made….. I’m almost done….. 

I see her coming back waving and shaking her head. She doesn’t want cupcakes, she wants a cake. She doesn’t know what size. “What size are you working on?”

“That’s a half slab.”

“Oh, I’m only having a few people over……”

I showed her another cake size we haven’t displayed…..  a white cake and she asked if it was chocolate. I want to throw it in her face so bad.

She could not decide. My patience wore so thin.  I told her to think about, come in the next day, pick out a size and we will write on it. That got rid of her.

My boss said, “She’s always a pain in the ass” and did a great impersonation of her. That made me feel a little better.

I’m back this afternoon. The student scheduled has a ‘thing’ at school and, oddly enough, no one else was available for Saturday night except me. Oh, well, its a little more money on the paycheque.

This is a long one!  So long I forgot it was Stream of Consciousness….. so now I don’t have to edit.

Better Food for All!

 

 

The courageous new athletes..

I salute you with this re-blog. My aunt is in a nursing home and I am so thankful for people like you. Even more kudos.

My Best, Missed Comeback

My neighbour is one of those people who counters everything you say; points out the opposite so basically everything I say and do is wrong.

We ran into each other getting mail one day and I don’t know how the subject of my being vegetarian arose but she said, “I don’t understand why there is fake meat. If you want to eat that, then why not just eat meat?”

I pointed out that we were all raised on meat and had some favourite dishes and textures that we missed. Now we could have that knowing it was made out of soy beans and not a body.

She kept saying, “Why not just eat meat….” and I kept trying to rephrase my view. She just shook her head and laughed like that was so stupid.

I thought of the great comeback later:

“That’s like saying lesbians shouldn’t use dildos.”

 

Weekend

The ‘weekend’ is kind of a contraction. It’s two days that make one thing. (Except when Maggie Smith says it, “What is a week end?”)

“It’s the weekend!”  I’ve heard that happy phrase sung every weekend and have worked Saturdays almost all my adult life. I work in a grocery store and we get regular weekends off, in the winter when it’s slow, but I’m working all weekend; the closing shift today 3:00 to 9:00 then I’m in tomorrow 10:00 to 5:00.  This is a lot of hours for me.  Normally I would not be working tomorrow but my counterpart/co-worker is a big race car fan and tomorrow is the Daytona 500, that’s their Super Bowl, so I said I’d work for her. I’m off Monday/Tuesday anyway.

This weekend, Saturday/Sunday is one working unit. This morning I prepare for the next two days. Tonight I’ll get home about 9:30 and have to remember to rinse out my apron for tomorrow and make myself get to bed so I can get up and do a 7 hour shift. Scoff not, younger people, I’m 63 and that’s a lot of work!

Although it is two schedules it is in the same pay-period/ paycheque. A healthy shot of ‘hours/ dollars’.

Since this is Stream of Consciousness Saturday. ….. What’s up with The Weeknd’s hair? It has been the same for at least a year now. How does it not change? When will he change it? How long can it look exactly the same?

 

http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/19/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-2016/

Habitual Hermit

Ah, another day to just stay home. I even surprise myself how much I like to just stay home, putter and watch TV while doing a jigsaw puzzle. At night I promise myself ‘tomorrow I will start to organize my papers and clean out the corners in my bedroom’; the hidden messes. But then I do the same daily routine.

When I don’t have to go to work I sit with my two coffees and do my computer stuff, as I’m doing now, then clean up the kitchen-living room-washroom triangle.  There are daily outside chores; feeding the birds/ squirrels and bringing in firewood. It’s almost a monastic life, I’ve even been eating gruel! I made a lentil/ wild rice ‘soup’ but it got so thick it became stew. The next day you could have cut it with a knife. But I had caramalized four onions and three large garlic cloves in the slow cooker at the onset so it tastes great. It just looks like gruel.

I have a big job today; shovel out from a snow storm. Yesterday, Wednesday, I was supposed to work but there were bad snow squalls. I was waiting for 8:00 a.m. to call into work that I was snowed in but my boss phoned earlier and said ‘don’t come in’. JOY!  It’s like a bonus day off! Snow Day!

The snow in the driveway was too deep and heavy to shovel so my neighbour plowed it out.  (He’s charging $30 this year.  Yikes! I hope we don’t get much snow.) but I still have to shovel out my porch, walkways and car.

So I haven’t been out in the ‘real’ world since Monday when I drove to town to get a few groceries. Today is Thursday and I’m still happy I don’t have to go anywhere. It’s a good thing I have this quirky habit; I’m sure other people would be climbing the walls!

I do have a cold which gives me another good excuse to just shovel out then call it a day. I will be finishing the puzzle today, too, another major accomplishment. There is never ‘nothing to do’.

Just stuck my arm out and took this. Brr.. it’s very cold outside!

A thought: The internet is the best thing for a hermit. And texting, too. I can be a hermit but not feel isolated.

Lucky me; I can stay home and shovel snow then come in to warm couch and the whole world right there in my living room via satellite and internet.

 

I see blue sky; time to bundle up and get shoveling.

 

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/quirk-of-habit/

Woman of Few Words

Todays Daily Prompt was stupid but then I realized I could answer it with One-Liner Wednesday;

“You’re at the beach with some friends and/or family, enjoying the sun, nibbling on some watermelon. All of a sudden, within seconds, the weather shifts and hail starts descending from the sky. Write a post about what happens next.”

“Everyone hurriedly packed up their stuff and ran to their cars.”

(If you need to write more than that, you may have verbal diarrhea)

http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/10/one-liner-wednesday-a-disco/

The Old Woman I Will Be

Great post on aging!

notquiteold

Another birthday.

A big one. 65.

Over the last few weeks, I have been preoccupied with the significance of 65.

Two thirds of my life is behind me. Maybe more. Do I have 30 years left? What if it is only 10?

I’ve wasted a lot of time in 65 years.  John Lennon said, “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” But have I enjoyed it? It’s gone now… all those hours waiting for boys to call or vegging in front of TV or playing online games or shopping for shit that I hardly ever wear. I can’t get those hours back.

But I want to make the most of whatever time I have left – and to enjoy that time. Maybe that still means television and shopping. But maybe not.

I will soon (not quite yet) be an old woman.

I’ve been asking myself:

What kind of old…

View original post 784 more words

Superbowl Sunday

I’m restless today. Having Superbowl Sunday was a waste of a day off for me.  I hope someone at work isn’t disappointed they are missing it.

We don’t even get the good commercials here in Canada, they actually have the best ones on the news, then there is YouTube or next years “The Greatest SuperBowl Commercials”.  Last night I watched it….. I had taped it because there are so many commercials between commercials.

This was my favourite;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=X4GZfvXx9Js

I do keep checking the time on the game for half-time to see the show. It never fails to impress; Americana at its finest, it’s sort of a morbid fascination.  Beyoncé is headlining with Coldplay (there’s an odd combo) joined by Bruno Mars.  I can’t imagine either Beyonce or Coldplay doing Uptown Funk and hope they don’t try. I am so sick of hearing that song.

My ex-husband was American and always watched the game. I miss asking him how many quarters it has.  I think I’m feeling a little nostalgic for marital comfort. Those times were so few and far between. It meant a day to actually relax and do what I wanted.  Now I can do that a few days a week; it’s not so special anymore.

So I’m discontented that I’m not going to a Super Bowl Party when I don’t even want to go to a Super Bowl party. Does that make sense? I don’t like sports and I don’t drink alcohol or eat meat. I’m a Super Bowl Bummer! I’m discontented that I still don’t have friends that live around here. I asked a ‘friend’ to walk on the trails but she’s going to a Super Bowl party in her neighbourhood. She would fit in; she likes to get drunk and eat bacon and she can stagger home. I would not like to go there. I’ve already seen her drunk; once is enough.

Hopefully I can go for hike today, my knee was too sore yesterday. Friday night I worked my ass off. The big boss was due the next day so I had a list of extra cleaning but was interrupted by customers for writing on cakes, slicing bread and giving kids cookies: so much so, I couldn’t do it all. That stresses me so I go like crazy….. and feel it the next day.  Yesterday I was limping around and tired all day. I felt very old. Slept in the afternoon sun on my couch….. heavenly to have the sun coming back!

Ok, time to go plan a fun day for myself; work on my jigsaw puzzle and keep checking for the big half time show. Party down.

 

 

I Conquered Fear

Are you comfortable in front of people, or does the idea of public speaking make you want to hide in the bathroom? Why?

Many years ago I did public speaking. Hard to believe now, my life has changed a lot.

The spiritual path I am on has an organization I no longer have contact with but ‘inside’ I’m still a believer.  There are ‘designated speakers’ as opposed to preachers and I was asked to ‘speak’ on the subject. There were guides lines such as; someone who has never been there before should get an idea of what it’s all about. But it also had to be interesting enough for those who go every week.

I was terrified at first, of course, who isn’t?  I found if I had every word written in front of me and didn’t have ad-lib, I was fine.  The first time I just looked down and read it so fast I was done too early.

But I was well-received and complimented so I grew more confident and could look out at the audience every once in a while. My home base was Kitchener but I was asked to speak in Toronto, Brampton and Hamilton, too.

Now that I look back, it was perfectly orchestrated by the powers that look after me. Just a year or so before I was asked to speak, I took a creative writing course.  That helped me write well laid out ‘talks’; to start with a theme, then build it into a half-hour.  It also boosted my self-esteem by leaps and bounds. My mentor knew just what I needed.

Also, I had been caving and in some life-threatening situations. I have faced fear and kicked its ass!

 

WordPress ;you suck! I can’t paste! I’ve checked it everywhere else, only here trying to write and I can’t paste the link!!!!

I’m not fiddling with this one more second.

Groundhog Day

“And the star animal, dubbed Middlemiss Mike, isn’t even alive — it’s a stuffed groundhog passed around during the annual breakfast, a fact that hasn’t stopped it from making predictions about the winter weather.”

from an article in the London Free Press about which groundhog is the best.

I always copy and paste the link.  Today it will not ‘paste’ and I’m sick of trying. 

I’ll try pasting in ‘comments’