What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate

Current song stuck in my head: Fake Wings from .hack//Sign

Today was busy. And frustrating. But mostly frustrating. Here's why.

For the first two hours, I ran from register to register, taking over for other cashiers when they took their breaks. No big deal, at least not until this afternoon. At one o'clock, I was sent to register 5.

*Insert groan here*

Register 5 is the busiest register in the store. It's the first full-service check-out past the self-checks. Since so many people hate the self-checks, they walk straight to five. So I had a line all day long. Making matter worse? I didn't have functional equipment. My PIN pad wasn't working; it wouldn't read any credit or debit cards. So the customers would run their cards multiple times, get frustrated and I'd have to slide the card through the magnetic reader on my side of the register. A transaction that should have been completed in under a minute took at least three and a half minutes. It doesn't sound like a long time but to a waiting customer it's an eternity. It felt even longer to me.

Yeah, I was frustrated, to put it mildly. But it gets even better.

The CSMs know that our PIN pad is faulty on register 5. Our store manager does not. Why? The CSMs haven't told him.

There is a total lack of communication in my store and it is now affecting my job. Register 5 needs to be fixed immediately but our manager doesn't have a clue about it. No one's told him. I'm also willing to bet that he doesn't know about the other malfunctioning registers in the store, like number 16 which doesn't have a working stylus. I'm frustrated, the customers get angry and nothing is being done about it.

And unfortunately, unlike so many others who work in my store, I actually give a damn. I want things to get better, or at least be somewhat bearable in the building. I'm sick of it, sick of the utter lack of communication, sick of the faulty PIN pads, sick of management being so clueless about how bad things really are there. I come home from work so irritated that I have to spend an hour upstairs with the cat on my lap to calm myself down. It shouldn't be this way, but until a few other employees actually start caring, things won't change.

And that honestly depresses the hell out of me. But it doesn't surprise me in the least.

--Weasel, "I'm tired, frustrated and trying not to slam my head into a wall. Wish me luck."

...and I just died a little inside...

Current song stuck in my head: Key of the Twilight from .hack//Sign

Yes, you're reading that correctly, if you clicked the link in the title: Prince Fielder has signed with the Tigers.

I could cry. Seriously. Not even joking. I really wanted Prince to stay.

Ah well, those are the breaks. Good luck, Prince. It was fun seeing you hit for the Crew. Best of luck with your new team.

--Weasel, "Not going to cry, not going to cry, not going to... too late."

Son of the Return of the Revenge of the Dark of the Random Thoughts

Been a while since I've done one of these guys; I may be a little rusty so bear with me.

Current song stuck in my head: In Between by Linkin Park

* The holidays are over. No more crowds. Now all we have to worry about is the Super Bowl. If Green Bay makes it, my store will be a ghost town.

* So the locale for BotCon 2012 was announced and we're going back to Texas. I can hear Prime booing and hissing in the background as I type this, but I seriously wanted to go back to California. It's nice there. Ah well, maybe next year.

* I'm still trying to Masuda Method myself a shiny Golett and I am failing massively. I've hatched 725 eggs and haven't seen my little Guardian. Yes, I have the name picked out for "him"; do not ask. Before you ask just what I'm doing with all the hatchlings, uh... I kinda don't keep them. I turn off the power so I'm not forced to release any of them. Yes, I'm a total wuss but I refuse to abandon something so cute! (I can't help it; the the little bugger is adorable.) Even worse? I'll have to restart the whole process again as I want a shiny Golurk and Guardian will not be evolving. Oh no, I'm completely not insane over here...

* We've had a grand total of maybe an inch and a half of snow this season. Either we're not going to get a whole lot, or we're going to get slammed with three blizzards in a freaking row in the middle of February. But no, no real white Christmas over here. Not awesome.

* On the 29th, Prime and I will be heading to Brewers on Deck. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. (Autographs and players and swag and all things baseball!)

* I have an extra day off this week. Seems the home office said we couldn't go over forty hours and our holiday pay counted as part of our scheduled time so I got myself a third day off. Not complaining about it, believe me.

* Prime, being the awesome wonderful guy he is, got me Bubble Power™ She-Ra® and Swiftwind™ for Christmas. I haven't squealed so much in a very long time. (The eight-year-old in me was very happy, trust me.)

* We have a Ninja blender in our kitchen now. So we can make smoothies and milkshakes and mixed drinks galore. Now I need to figure out just how to make a Mocha Frap like Starbucks and life will be officially awesome.

And that's about it. Tune in next time when I decide to root around the wrinkles of my brain stem and slap together more random crap like this. Until then, this has been...

--Weasel, "Over and out."

Prime's Going to Kill Me...

...but I don't care.

Um, I need this like I need oxygen. Seriously, the awesome overwhelms. That Golurk, oh that Golurk... it's gorgeous! I must have it. :swoon:

Like I said, Prime's going to kill me. Why? Because I'll beg and plead until I get my hands on that bit of epicness. Oh well, sucks to be him, I guess.

--Weasel, "I told you Golurk was epic."

Waiting For the End

Current music stuck in my head: Victini and the Black Hero:Zekrom OST Track #25-Golurk VS Reshiram Yes, it's epic because Golurk is epic. Just sayin'.

Well, it's almost over. Christmas is nearly here. Which means I can relax for a little while.... until the returns start.

This past Saturday, being the Saturday before Christmas, was insanely busy. As in, we were up to our necks in cranky customers. It wasn't fun, to say the least. How crabby were the customers? Oh, very. Apparently, we had someone decide that he couldn't reach the PIN pad on the debit card reader so he proceeded to beat the poor machine until it slumped over. "The wild Customer used Hammer Arm! It's stupid effective!"

Yeah, the pad wouldn't work properly after that. Gee, I wonder why?

Me, I spent most of my time on a register that had a nonfunctional stylus. No one could sign for their credit cards, so I had to print out slip after slip after slip. Now I wonder just how many trees I killed on that one day. It makes me feel a little guilty, I admit. Even worse? I told the CSM about it and she said she'd fix it. It never got fixed. So as far as I know register 16 still has a non-functioning stylus. Lovely.

Oh well, only a few more days and I'll be through all this. Until then, I have my copy of Pokemon Black (I'm trying to Masuda method myself a shiny Golett--wish me luck) and Pokemon Rumble Blast to help me keep my sanity. Until then, Merry Christmas to all and to all, good freaking luck.

--Weasel, "Most wonderful time of the year my skidplate..."

COMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPT: TOO MANY DOG TAGS

WingTacker (thank Primus for the Multiforce; twelve W names with which I can run) has obviously been slacking off here. Understandable, I suppose; still filling notebooks with that horrendously illegible scrawl of hers (won't just buy the cheapest ones, either), spending moronic amounts of time looking for GTS Pokémon trades (it IS moronic when it's happening well after midnight and the alarm clock's gonna sound around 0700), mooning over the Brewers and the latest player to jump off the train (Jerry Hairston just signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers). Y'know. The usual.

Black Friday passed uneventfully for both of us. The 'open' times for stores poking into Thanksgiving late-night meant that all the nigh-solipsistic assholes, the nutbars who do all their holiday shopping then, and the people who were just looking for one or two deals and preferred not to risk missing out on 'em...they were pretty much all gone by 0300 Friday. WingTacker hadda be in at 0645. Fairly quiet shift. Me--I am a charter member of the third group listed above. No dues to pay this year, though--the entirety of Transformers offerings, this year, consisted of old stock, taped together and stickered with a fluorescent yellow SPECIAL VALUE starburst label. Shipped like that from Hasbro--I've seen the case boxes. Generally gotta put a little more effort into the repackaging to get me to bite.

So I stayed home and bought a Ninja. Hasn't arrived yet...

Took WingTacker to see Pokémon the Movie WHITE: VICTINI AND ZEKROM on Sunday. Limited engagements, bleh. Four whole theaters in Wisconsin showing it (once a day for two days), all in the Milwaukee area.

Whatever. I can drive that in my sleep BUT DIDN'T BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE. Yomped around the area a little bit, afterward, hoping to find a Transformer that's been sighted in the state and is being snapped up about as quickly as its predecessor.

And BotCon just horked up the dates and location for the 2012 convention. Hopefully, Dallas in late April will be nothing like Dallas (Frisco, whatever, blah frickin' blah) in late September 2005. I'm missing DairyCon for the first time ever for this. Kinda sucks, but then, some of the behind-the-scenes drama is making me feel...somewhat less bad about it.

+++PRIME OUT+++C'EST LA VIE+++

I Survived

Another Black Friday has come and gone. And I survived it yet again. More later, as I am too tired to think straight.

Oh, Yay.

So I found out what I'm working during "The Event", AKA Black Friday.

I'm doing a 6:45 to 4 PM shift. That is completely not what I had signed up for; I asked for something a bit later in the day. (Me and getting up early don't really get along. Well, unless I'm doing something important, like attending BotCon or checking a GTS trade. But I digress.)

I am going to be a zombie this Friday. Wonderful, I can barely wait.

But on the bright side, I can watch Thundercats that night. If it airs, that is.

--Weasel, not feeling the Christmas spirit at all.

Halloween Doesn't Get Any Stranger

It's Halloween and I'm covering a break on the self check-outs. It's nothing I haven't done before, only this afternoon I'm dealing with a huge migraine headache and we are busy.

It also doesn't help that one of the self checks is shut down and not working, which is putting a massive strain on the other three. It goes without saying that I'm running around like I'm crazy, trying to keep up with everything.

I wasn't doing such a great job, either. But I digress.

As I'm standing near the pay station, I see cashier Sean rushing towards me. He's wearing his coat and he looks upset. Very upset. He then proceeds to tell me as he breezes by that I will never see him again. He's just been fired.

Yeah, I can't say a whole lot as he stalks by. I'm too shocked to say anything other than "What?!"

Not five minutes later, management is by the doors. They're all talking and watching the doors as if they expect Sean to come back, but I know he won't. If I were in that same position, I know full well I wouldn't walk back into the building. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

Sean's wife came in about an hour and a half later to get his things; she wasn't happy and I couldn't really blame her. She was supposedly mouthing off about management, but I honestly don't know if that's even true.

With Sean, this had been a long time coming. He often couldn't keep his mouth shut and said a lot of inappropriate things in front of customers and associates alike. But it's still a shock. I'm still frankly rather stunned it happened.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly; there weren't any other odd happenings or weirdness of any sort afterwards. My migraine had also cleared up by lunchtime so I was actually feeling better. But man, what a weird Halloween.

In other news, Nintendo Wi-Fi is not working for me. I can't get onto GTS, which is frustrating. There might be a shiny Golett or shiny Golurk who needs a home and I can't get to it. (frustrated grumble) It doesn't help that I'm waiting on a blasted trade over here...

--Weasel, "Come on, can't you let me on for a few minutes? Please? There's a Golett out there waiting for me..."

Today

On this very special day, I'd like to extend an extra special birthday wish to Dan Gilvezan. Hope today's happy, Dan. You're awesome and you deserve the best.

A book will be ordered in your honor.

Two Words:

Go Rangers.

Party Like It's 1982

So something incredibly awesome last night. Wanna guess what it was? Okay, I'll tell you: the Brewers clinched their division last night. They are the NL Central Champs and will be heading to the playoffs.

Oh yes, I am quite happy.

.....I'm also a little hoarse. And hung over.

--Weasel, "But it was worth it!"

COMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPT: 'WE' ARE TOO BUSY

Hard to say if you heard of the ridiculous storm that crossed Wisconsin yesterday morning. If it was mentioned nationally, I sure didn't have a lot of opportunity to hear about it.

Damn system was on a tear at 75 MPH and was blowing winds at a fair clip higher than that. As you might imagine, some trees don't take to well to such windspeeds. Powerline poles...well, duh, same thing.

Wingthing and I have no power at our house, and it's been that way for over twenty-four hours, now. WE Energies, which serves a large portion of the Fox Cities (too large, if you ask me, and I don't care that you didn't), has, I suppose, their hands full trying to restore power to everyone that lost it. Doesn't make seeing houses on the other side of the street with power at night any less an irritation, unfortunately. Unfair, I know.

The humidity was already making staying in the house a fairly miserable experience by itself by the time I returned home from work yesterday. No light but candlelight in the waning hours of the day just added to it. We both finally uttered 'screw this' and went to a fine Fox Cities establishment...well, an Applebee's...to have a light dinner and watch the Brewers game (8-2 over the Astros, yay).

Back home...still no power. This morning...still no power. And all the fallen branches are still in the backyard and on the roof (though no, I wasn't expecting them to magically disappear. Didn't have that thought at all, but now that I have, BOY IT SURE WOULDA BEEN NICE DONTCHA THINK I SURE DO).

Local library internet access results in the finely crafted blogpost you see before you onscreen. Bask in its glory, 'cus WHO KNOWS WHEN IT'LL HAPPEN AGAIN.

+++PRIME OUT+++FINALLY REACHED MY TIPPING POINT, I HATE HEAT AND NOW *RAIN*+++WHERE IS THE DAMN SNOW+++

EDIT, 1223: IIIII HAVE THE POWWWWWERRRR (and, ostensibly, so do others up the street)

COMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPT: DUEL SHOCK

I swear, I didn't misspell 'dual'. That 'e' is LEGIT, yo.

Broke down--or more accurately, proclaimed, "SCREW THESE STUPID SHOULDER BUTTONS THAT DON'T WORK ANYMORE"--and bought a Nintendo 3DS. Much as I've enjoyed both DSlites I've owned, the shoulder L & R buttons are pretty much the first thing to go on the 'lite' model. The silver version I bought Black Friday before last didn't even make it a year before the L started on its path to becoming grievously useless. The R wasn't far behind, and lemme tell ya, for me, it is not a grand and glorious experience playing MLB2Kwhatever when I can neither make a basestealing attempt when I wish nor can I make the runners get back to base when I need.

Wingstun, naturally, enjoys getting hold of it to make use of the Pokédex 3D app (by which I mean, she'll peruse the other listings I've so far garnered before going back to coo over those effing mudbots which continue to cost me currency and sanity DAMN IT ALL COULDN'T YOU HAVE SIMPLY STAYED A BUMBLEBEE FAN I COULD LIVE WITH THAT PRIMUS KNOWS I HAVE DONE SO FOR OVER A DECADE bleeeahhgk...better, now. Me...I use everything else. Bought a few games so far off the eShop, screw around with the camera and get onto the internet wherever I can find a free wifi hotspot.

Fun. The camera and internet access have already come in handy--I can tweet from a ballgame using a stylus much more quickly than using iTap on a phone BECAUSE I AM JUST SO SLAGGIN' AWESOME SHUT UP BABY I KNOW IT and can even snap a few 3D photos of the action--both of which I did Thursday night at the Timber Rattlers ballgame. Game started off as a pitcher's duel for a few innings--thankfully, it didn't stay that way. Need to figure out how to log on at Miller Park, if I can, though I doubt the camera will get much use, considering that we're usually sitting in the Terrace Level. Club Level, last game, but that's not so big a difference, at least to my eyes. Man, the prices nowadays sure make me appreciate the games I was able to attend as a kid at County Stadium--I could walk down by the dugout and try for autographs, pregame...

Between the multiple BP C'Mon Back Club cards I and my mom filled over the summer, and a Time Warner Cable BOGOF offer bill slip, Wingstun and I have pairs of tickets to four games in September. That's more damn games than we've attended in whole seasons past. Naturally, she's looking way forward to it. Just hope she's granted the requested time off.

Two of the games are on consecutive days. Been giving serious thought to simply staying at a hotel after the first game and perhaps yomping around Milwaukee the day after before attending the second. Wingstun can probably use a mini-vacation...as it is, she's been bugging me about going to Slagacon in October. Apparently, two TF-themed cons aren't enough for her anymore...

Probably going back to Fox Cities Stadium tomorrow. Carlos Gomez is there for the second of a four-game rehabilitation stint, and there are postgame autographs by the team on Sundays, so if Go-Go is gonna be part of that, it's worth a shot.

Worth the $10-$15 for parking and the ticket, too.

+++PRIME OUT+++SHE GOT MORE AUTOGRAPHS IN ONE DAY THAN I GOT IN A DECADE+++

Good Motivation to Murder the Grass

So, our lawn was getting a little shaggy and Prime wondered, after returning my phone call to him at work to commiserate about the loss the Brewers had just suffered at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates, if I could mow it during this decently nice day...you know, before the weather decides to turn to 'I DRENCH YOU NOW' again. Now, I really don't mind killing the patch of greenery in our yard, but it is a bit labor-intensive. So I was about to strike a deal with my sweetie-bot and tell him, sure I'd do it, if I could be promised one of these.

I know what you're going to ask--what the slag is that thing? Simply put, it's a plush Pokemon keychain. Not just any Pokémon, either. It's a Golurk keychain.

Instant want. Golurk is only one of my favorite Pokémon. The other being its base form, Golett. Those two are hands down, my favorites. I love 'em more than any Pokémon from previous genrations. The words "utter adoration" might actually fit in this case. Seriously, golem + robot = instant epic win.

So, as I tell Prime that I'll do it for the keychain, he tells me that there's a small box near the desk that I should look inside. Curiosity gets the better of me and I do.

What stares back at me? A little plush Golurk. Yep, Prime had gotten me the keychain, along with a Golurk figure. I have no idea when he did it, but he did it.

Pity my poor front lawn, as it had no idea what hit it. I have never mowed with such extreme prejudice before. Seems I owed Prime that much, at least. That and I'll do slag near anything for my favorite Pokémon.

...within reason of course. (Stop getting ideas, Prime. I forbid you from milking this!)

--Weasel, "And now--TACOS!!"

Friday Photoblog: "Closin' It Down" Edition

A pair of BotCon staffers, getting ready to shut things down.
(I always hate that moment.)

Quarter Century

On this day, 25 years ago, The Transformers: the Movie premiered in theaters nationwide.

Before you ask, no, I didn't get lucky enough to see it on its release date. I didn't even get lucky enough to see it on the release weekend. I actually saw it over a week later, after much begging and pleading. Being 11, I had to go to the theater with my mother, as she wouldn't let me go alone. We went in the early afternoon, making the trip in Dad's old blue and white Dodge truck, which is long since gone.

My first impression of the movie was one of surprise; there was a massive twenty year time skip between the series and the feature film. There were also Autobots onscreen that I had never seen before. Who exactly was Kup? Where did Blurr come from? Why hadn't Optimus Prime ever mentioned them before? Although I was a bit confused, I just rolled with it and followed the action.

And there was a lot of action. A lot of death, as well.

Contrary to popular belief, I did not cry during Optimus Prime's death. My mother spoiled that scene for me about a week before the movie's release and said outright that she didn't want to see me crying over it. I was a stubborn kid and I flatly refused to show any true emotion during that scene. All I did was bite my knuckle and soldier onward. It wasn't meant to be any sort of disrespect to Optimus--I did it to spite my mother. We never really have gotten along; there's quite a bit of baggage with that relationship.

That didn't mean that I wasn't heartbroken. I had admired Optimus Prime since I was nine. Seeing him pass on was like watching a member of my own family die and I wasn't allowed to mourn for him. In the next twenty-five years, I would make up for this, as I cannot watch this scene without tearing up. Even the music brings me to tears.

But it wasn't only Optimus Prime who passed on: Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, Wheeljack and Windcharger, just to name a few, were also cut down. There were so many Autobots dying that I lived in fear of what may happen to my sweet Bumblebee. He had been taken out of the action early and I feared the worst for him. Thankfully, he was one of the lucky few who were spared.

Later, I did admit that seeing Bumblebee in peril made my heart skip a few beats.

I was stunned to see Hot Rod become the new Autobot leader and, to this day, still shudder at the name of Unicron. For an 11-year-old, the movie was truly epic. I really didn't want it to end. However, nothing good can last forever.

Unfortunately, as soon as the credits began rolling, my mother insisted we leave. It would be years before I could finally see them in their entirety. It's another thing that I and my mother did not agree upon--I didn't believe I should leave the theater until the entire film is done. Mother didn't see it that way. And now, I am forced to wonder if I could have spotted the name Dan Gilvezan and committed it to memory, saving me years of raw vocal chasing and frustration. But I'll never know.

I was only able to see it in the theater once. I wanted desperately to go again. I truly loved what I had seen and wanted to experience it in all its glory for a second time but I knew better than to ask. Seeing a movie in a theater for a second time was out of the question. I wouldn't be able to do so until I was an adult and at BotCon. A gift to myself, I guess you could call it.

A lot has changed in the quarter century since the release of The Transformers: the Movie. The home I lived in has been sold and the dirt road I lived on has been paved. The cats that ran about the yard are only memories. The old mutt that we kept is gone. And quite a few of the things I thought I knew about my family and childhood have changed radically. But some things have not. After twenty-five years (and longer, really), I'm still a fan. I can't help but think that I'm a bigger fan now than I was when I was younger; those Robots in Disguise have helped me get through a lot in my life.

I'm a different person now than I was 25 years ago but Transformers will always be a part of my life. The Autobots and Decepticons are one of the few things that I can count on, that I can depend on, that I will always love.

'Til all are one!

COMMUNICATIONS INTERRUPT: FREEBIES COST REM

Not a damn thing to do with the band. Just sayin'.

Ol’ Windsweeper has been busy killing letters and using Microsoft Word to do it, and I’m frankly sick of opening Firefox to see a Photoblog, so…what the hell.

Went to see another Milwaukee Brewers game on 26 July. Not even a week earlier, Caterpillar Global Mining bought 5000 Terrace Reserved tickets apiece to that game and the following, both against the Chicago Cubs, as a goodwill gesture, thank you, blah blah blah of some stripe…guess they entered into some sort of corporate partnership with the Brewers. What kind of partnership a baseball franchise and a mining company needs, I’ve no clue, but it happened. They were made available on the Friday before, at 0900…which naturally means I’m already at work. Figured it was worth a shot nevertheless. A single two-dollar charge for printing ‘em yourself, when normally each ticket, being for marquee games, would be $20 before the convenience and delivery fees? Yes, please.

Was kind of pain to get through the order—the site was being hammered like MattyCollector.com on a sale day. MLB does better with the refreshing waiting room concept, though. Took so long to make it through, though, that I couldn’t get seats together for either game. However, Windsweeper has, in the past, made clear that sitting together isn’t a high priority for her when attending Brewers games—a mild insult of which she was rather unaware until I spoke up—so I jumped on what I could get for us, and picked up another pair for the next day’s game for a coworker who is a diehard Cubs fan (somehow, we get along fine), and put the order on through.

Game day comes, Windsweeper’s off and I’ve left work an hour early to get down to Milwaukee at a reasonable time…which almost never works, anyway. Traffic gets pretty slow down there around an hour before first pitch, and that day was little different...probably worse, what with the Cubs as opponents. Plenty of Chicagoans make the drive north to fill seats with that narfy bright blue. As it was, it took half an age to get parked in one of the General Parking lots (Uecker, I think). No way I was getting into Preferred, let along paying for it on gameday. Not for a Cubs game.

By the time we’d walked to the stadium and gotten past the gate, the first inning was already over—a fact made more irritating because all the scoring in the game happened in that inning. Made our way up to my section and saw that all but two in my row were empty, so Windsweeper stayed. Could always have moved if the actual seatholders showed up. They never did, so we were able to enjoy the game together. Well, she enjoyed—me, I’ve never been all that big a fan of pitching duels unless there turns out to be a good shot at a no-hitter (then the enjoyment becomes retroactive). Windsweeper left after the fourth inning to get her usual cheese-fries-in-a-helmet—cupboard’s getting full of those things (exaggeration), but I still have the ice cream helmets and drink cups that I picked up after Brewers games in the late 80s/early 90s, so I’m one to talk, I guess.

Game ended with a win and we headed back to the car. The drive back home was uneventful and as always, somehow longer than the drive away.

Windsweeper stayed awake until 0200, keyed up from a win yet again.

+++PRIME OUT+++I MISS REGULAR EIGHT-HOUR SLEEP+++

Friday Photoblog: "Friendly and Helpful" Edition

Pete and Shawn, answering questions at the info booth.
(One of these years, I'm gonna have to volunteer...)

Friday Photoblog: "So Very Theatrical" Edition

The entrance to the Paramount theatre where we saw a bit of footage from Revenge of the Fallen.
(Devastator still scares the slag out of me to this day...)