| Say what you will, but my posts are at least more frequent than leap years! |
[Mar. 4th, 2012 at the third stroke, the time will be 07:35 pm]
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| [ | Caution! Curefreak is |
| |  accomplished | ] |
| [ | Annoying the neighbours with |
| | "Drive" In My Pants...REM | ] |
Though they are about as frequent as a change in Chelsea F.C. management.
OK, firstly I sincerely apologise for the lack of posting on my part. It was actually my fault, though I am tempted to say that I was actually being paid by the U.S. postal service to NOT post or reply to emails in an attempt to destroy the internet and save the U.S. postal service from ruin...actually if they would like to send me a cheque I promise to buy some stamps with it.
So, a quick update on me. I actually have been keeping tabs on all of you, reading through my friends' page about 4 times a week, sometimes more. I think, in retrospect, this was a "bad" thing as it made me miss you guys less and therefore created no sense of urgency for me to post - weird, but I actually think it was like this.
The depression has been really bad. It's strange how you can be constantly bombarded by inner dialogue and yet find yourself completely speechless. I'm doing ok today and the last week I have been a bit brighter, so here's hoping :).
Job situation has been wacky really.
I quit the mattress place back in December, having given them about 14 months of my life. The money I was making there was really nice, but the whole 55 plus hours a week thing was getting me down. The job itself was something that makes retail, which is notoriously a tough gig, even harder. I could spend ages trying to describe it - and once I get a therapist I probably will, right up until the moment they throw themselves out of a window that is. For now though I think the following 8 minute cartoon sums it up pretty well, though be aware it is slightly not work safe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XieR60HxYGE
Back in November I was recruited by a furniture company who basically told me a very large number of lies, so I gave 2 weeks notice at the mattress place, resisted their offers to try to keep me (I do admit they were tempting), and moved on, though the regional manager at the mattress place did promise to keep the door open for me should I wish to return at any point.
Hmm, yeah, the furniture place was an experience. They told more lies than a pack of politicians on a campaign trail.
Briefly put it turned out to be like being paid $4 an hour plus commission. Now the "selling" part of it was really a joke. Probably 2% of the time you interacted with a customer did you actually have any opportunity to "sell", as the customer walked around and either liked, or didn't like what you had. The place was very poorly set up stock wise. I mean there were lounge suites there but you had a choice of 1 colour only, if the customer liked it, but didn't like black, they were SOL and so were you! In the 3 months I was there I was their top salesperson, but I have to honestly say, given there were usually 3 of you in the store at any one time, taking in turns to take customers, the vast majority came down to luck. You were not allowed to pool commissions which really would have been a fairer way of doing it, although you were expected to load other people's sales as most people collected the stuff themselves and some of the bedroom pieces weighed well over 150 kgs (330 lbs). Now naturally if you are single handedly loading a bedroom suite for a co-worker from the warehouse out the back and taking it to their truck, you are not actually in a position to help your customer. It really was a teenage job. As for it being mainly commissioned based, picture working at Target, or K Mart and getting paid on commission, pretty much the same opportunity to "sell" and level of "salespersonship" going on!
I quit there last Friday, giving them just 1 day's notice and when the manager complained that I was only giving a day's notice I said "Yeah, well had you not blatantly lied to me about the pay structure at the interviews I wouldn't be giving you notice right now because I would never have come to work for this shit hole in the first place!" I gave him quite a few other digs before I left too, as not only did they lie to me about the pay, the work, the hours etc., but they also lead me to believe that there was excellent opportunity to move into management, but after I started I talked to a couple of the higher up the food chain managers and found out all management recruitment is done from outside, as they don't feel comfortable promoting from within.
Tomorrow I have induction for my new job. It's working for a large hardware store (Think Bunnings or Home Depot depending on where you are) selling flooring (Carpets, rugs, hardwood flooring etc.). I have had a good chat to the store manager about where I want to go and he seems like a genuine guy and said he will make that happen. Also this time I did a bit of research and spoke to staff who said he really is a good guy and a man of his word and advancement can and does happen there. As one manager put it to me "This is a great place to work and move up in if you want; if you don't want to then it's not a bad place to hang out until you find the place you do want to work. The very weird part of this job is 1. They strictly limit your hours to 39 or 40 a week (Overtime is occasionally offered at time and a half) and 2. It is not commissioned AT ALL! There are department bonuses, but this is the first time in my 20 plus years of selling that I am not involved in the head f**k that is commission - I can't even explain how weird and exciting this feels!
Last Saturday night I went out for drinks with a couple of the guys who I worked with at the mattress place and one of them said he had let the Regional Manager know I was leaving the furniture place and that the Regional Manager wanted me to call him (He apparently "isn't allowed" to contact me) to discuss the terms under which I would consider returning to them (ie. 4 days a week, my choice of store/s, etc. etc.). It's nice to know I still have this as a "Plan B" :).
OK, time I shut up and hit "post", especially since my Mac keeps giving me the spinning wheel, as I am overdue for a software update and frankly I feel like I am the gimp for a hippy psychiatrist!
Oh and a question for you all: Why is it cats sleep 20 hours a day, but they cannot make those 20 hours coincide with the 6 that I am trying to sleep? |
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curefreak
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