aubkabob

I've been half-jokingly nudging management over the last couple of weeks, playfully reminding them that I'm overdue for my yearly evaluation. As time goes by, the playfulness has started to turn into slight miffed-ness, as my four year anniversary was well over a month ago.

Finally, though, Ted came up to me and said in a low voice, "I just wanted to know that you WILL be getting your review next week. It WILL be good. It will involve a merit raise. Just so you know."

I feel better now. I was afraid that since they gave me a dollar more an hour in July due to my new position, that they wouldn't ("they" in this case, meaning district, who are bitches about any monetary increase, no matter how good the individual) be willing to fork over any more. I don't expect it to be MUCH more, but it's still good to be appreciated.

I walked up to Jason and Liz to hear this:

Jason: So that's why we're going to fire EVERYONE and hire all new people.
Me: I heard something to that effect. I hope IIIII'm not included in that.
Jason: Aubrey, the day I say the words "You're fired." to you will be the same day that I slit my wrists and kill myself because of it.
Me: Well, I hope then for both of our sakes that day never comes.

Ted and I were faced with the impossible task of only two of us being able to work two truck shipments out onto the floor (thirteen pallets of freight) in one shift. Neveryoumind that for the first three hours of this shift, the store is open, and we are unallowed to work freight.

I dunno how it happened, but we did it. Granted, we left an hour later, but STILL. I feel accomplished. All my joints and my spine are angry at me.

I HAVE BUSINESS CARDS! They're cheesy, but they were free. I thought about putting them in with my holiday cards this year, if I decide to actually send them out. I mean, really - the whole thing of stuffing a folded piece of paper into an envelope to send it across country (with just your name schlupped down inside) for someone to open it, wonder who "Aubrey" is (for those that don't automatically associate my real name with my user name), and slap it onto a stack of other cards they got from Jims and Bobs and Cassandras that they don't know, either. But the business card has a man hand playing an acoustic guitar that fades into a black background AND has a 2008 calendar on the back, so why not? I wish they had a more feminine hand for the background when I made it, or that I had written my job description as "Music and Photography" instead of "Musician". I wonder how many people will get them and think that it's MY hand? "Here. Have a card with my name, address, phone number, and meaty hand on it so that you may properly stalk me."

Dreamed about job corps last night, about all the magical things that made me almost cry in my dream because I missed it so. I remember looking out of the back of a lodge of some sort. In one direction, there were fabulous mountains under a purple sky, blue grass, beautiful scenery as far as the eye can see. To the left a bit, it was a mystical forest with a red sky and purpley red trees and a ground that was red with brown blotches. I saw fabulous beasts in there - three. They had all been made up by man and had adapted beyond that to the forest, you see.

Job corps was an EXTREMELY important period in my life, but it certainly wasn't MAGICAL.

Finally got Bacci to play with the laser pointer - THE FUNNIEST THING I HAD SEEN IN MY LIFE OMG. The batteries promptly died. It was a cheap thing that I got at the arcade we visited. I may try to replace the batteries, or just buy a better one. All the previous times that I tried to play with Botch with the thing, she wouldn't look at where the red dot was on the floor, just look at my hand as if saying, "The jig is up. I know you're making that. Don't stultify me, mmmkay?"

Yesterday was day four of HORRIBLE, AWFUL DREAMS. In this one, someone I cared about was acting like a bitch (long story), and I grabbed him as he turned away. He back handed me, so I punched him in the arm. He threw horrible, egotistical insults at me, we traded blows, I screamed at him repeatedly "DON'T MAKE ME HATE YOU!!!" I finally made him leave, telling I refuse to even look at him when he is acting like this. He left, leaving my brother and I stranded across town after dark, knowing we would have to walk home. The front door then broke, allowing Bacci to get out. Two large (like large dog size) cats came in, and she came back. They got in a horrible cat fight and I could do nothing about it. I told someone to just let them be, as my shoulders slumped in sad resignation, knowing that Bacci would most likely die.

Why on earth I was stranded across town from my home, yet still was in where I lived with my cat and roommates here is beyond me.

Anywell. Overnights fer sher next week, though... weird overnights. Instead of Midnight to 8 am, we're working 8 pm to 430 am. Sure, we still have tons of time to get everything accomplished when we're not open, but we're still open for the first hour of getting there, so we have to wear our idiotic superhero clothing (which is what I call my work uniform) for one hour, then change into something a bit more... comfortable to be moving freight, etc. in.

DUM.

Kirk says we'll do my yearly review soonish, but that it's changed, so we're going to sit down as he does a managerial (?!?) review on me, since the new policy isn't out yet. That.... makes me nervous. I was so much more confident when I knew what I would be graded on, having been through it three times already.

Clocked out today and walked around the corner immediately afterwards to bump right into Andrea! Oh how I miss that girl. Best roommate ever. (Uh... okay, on equal roommate qualities with the current roommates, so no one's miffed.) Her, Baby Laurel, and I walked to the park next door to our apartments and played on the swings and in the grass.

Went to lunch with coworker Aimee a couple of days ago, with Andrea and her mother the day before. I ate said my goodbyes to sushi.

Speaking of, me-sa hungry.

Today was my four year anniversary with OfficeMax yay!

Or something.

Worked on less than five hours sleep from midnight to almost 9 am. Poor Yancey had less than two hours and then will be going home to a newborn, coming back on Sunday (oh, tomorrow!) to close, forever to be closing from then on. Tedders gets back soon, so he and I will be overnighting it until further notice. I shall greatly miss working with Yancey, as I realized today that he's my gossip partner. We only gossip to each other, you see. I was also greatly enjoying having a coworker to swap random Zim quotes with. I DID learn LOTS of juicy tidbits today, though.

Yancey: Four years ago, could you ever have envisioned that you would be doing this right now, right here?
Me: Cutting a box of lint rollers on aisle ten at two in the morning? No.

I only got this job as a temporary, you see, until I found a "real job". Funny that I ended up happier here than I have been at any other job.

Oh, the other day, I was at my desk and Yancey comes back with a piece of cardboard.

Yancey: Aubrey, I have something for you!

It was a piece that he had sliced from a generic box that said "W.I.P. Work in Progress". I cheesily told him I would cherish it forever, as he put it on top of my monitor. I told him he had to autograph it, though, so he wrote "To: Aub, From Yan" Five minutes later, he comes trotting back.

"Aubrey, Aubrey! You need to sign one for me, too!" So I wrote something super nurdy like "Keep rockin! To Yans from Aubs" He immediately "laminated" it by covering it with box tape to keep it safe from possible liquids.

I'm not making a whole lotta sense atm, so methinks I shall finally go to bed.

I also have fantastic news to spew about my old band - I am quite proud of them, you see. I will go into further details later, but for now, Clicky, please.

AND CHECK OUT THEIR MYSPACE, DAGNABBIT!!