It was a good year.
At the start of 2015 I lived with Michelle. I was working as an un-loader at Walmart. In fact I rang in the New Year at work.
In January I started to work IMS on weekend mornings. Which wasn’t a ton of fun. Most of all when I had to work until midnight. And then come back at 8 a.m. But it was a good experience. Good to be doing something other than nights. I had hoped to learn in the process. And I did about inventory. A system which has completely changed.
I didn’t learn much about the rest of the store.
In the spring I had some trouble with a co-worker. And it helped me to see something. Working in the backroom wasn’t getting me anywhere. So I agitated and got relocated in the store. I had talked to another store about a transfer. But they didn’t offer me anything better. I am glad I stayed with 5899.
The new job was in produce. It was Scott, Allen, David, Elias and I. At first I had a few shifts in produce and some in deli. Then for almost two months I worked in the deli. During this time the deli changed managers. At first Joe was manager of both bakery and deli. But they split the departments and added a manager. I thought for a moment I had a chance. But it went to Tammie. And it was a good choice.
Working in the deli was fun. A lot going on. Slicing meat, cooking food, checking times, making chickens and pizzas, discounting food, cleaning, stocking and pulling food. Closing isn’t hard. But it does take a while, at least for me. When I started the oven was dirty. You couldn’t see through the doors. I managed to get them clean enough to see through. Although each door took me about an hour. Now they are staying clean, so far. In the deli I worked with Justin, Rose, Ann, Barb, Carolyn, and Gregg. Of course some did more work than others.
My memories of the deli are of some of the great customers. There is a cute girl me and Justin find attractive. She comes and gets sliced meats. But she has a boyfriend. Also trying to learn to write on cakes. Being in deli is always moving. There is always something to do. Cook, CVP, pull, cook, CVP, pull. You have to stay ahead of the hungry masses. It is a challenge. And I like the challenge.
Eventually things changed. Daz joined the deli. And I got moved back to produce. At first I was working a few days in each department. But for a long while I was just working produce. Allen left and they hired a new Justin. Allen had been full-time, so now they needed me in produce. I worked two opens, 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. and three closes. 1 -10 p.m.
Working in produce was a bit slower. But I also got pulled more from produce. It was rare I worked a full shift in my department. Either I got pulled to the cashier, or carts or the backroom. But I love to be flexible. I love to do it all. Oh yeah, sometimes I got pulled to dairy, and deli too. Almost anywhere. One day they even asked me to sweep the floor.
The fun part about produce was putting product out. And changing things around. I never know if Scott likes what I do. But if I see an end cap low, and a bunch of product in the back. I take action and put the new product on the end cap. I’ve moved things around a lot when I had the time.
My weakness in produce is culling. I can break down three large pallets, fill the bananas and stock the floor. But culling is where I fail all the time. It is an area I continue to focus on improving. Working with Scott hasn’t been easy all the time. He does things differently than I would. But I think we respect each other. And I enjoy working with him.
One night I was pulled by Robin to help Dan. We were going to unload a trailer out back. And then the power blipped. It was enough to reset the registers and I thought I got out of going outside. But I didn’t. Once the lines were down, they sent me out back with Dan. It wasn’t too bad. It was good to work with Dan again.
On Black Friday I worked in Roberto. We were on a que line. Our product was tablets. And I thought about buying one. But by the time I got off work they were all gone. It was really a boring day. Wait and wait and wait. It was a slow day for me and for the store. After the event we started to condense items in the action alleys. I remember this from last year. We had a ton of stuff left over. But in the next few days most of it sold.
The period between Black Friday and Christmas was busy. But nothing extreme. Until Christmas Eve. The lines were busy all day. I was scheduled for produce but spent the entire day on registers. At one point Shannon closed my line. It slowed for a moment. She told me to go back to what I was doing. I took a break and then things were busy again so I got on register again.
At the end I went to talk to Produce Justin. He didn’t even know I had been there all day. Since then business has slowed a little. I still get called to the front. But more and more I spend time in my department.
For the last couple weeks my schedule has changed again. I’ve been working two opens in produce, and two closes and then a day in deli. Which is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Which is a fun schedule because it gets me out of produce one day a week. I like working with the deli people. Even Gregg who barely works, and Rose who is just a pain sometimes.
Deli Justin has moved to the front end as a CSM. I am sure he will do a good job up-front. It will take time to adjust to his not being in the deli. And I doubt anyone is going to clean like he did. A new girl is taking over his shifts, but it is yet to be seen if she will perform well.
Also there are other potential changes moving into the new year. A potential opening in Infants and Shoes. As well as a possible change within my department. I would like to move away from Walmart in 2016. But at the least I hope to grow to a better position with the company.
As for non-work news. I almost forgot. Which says something about me I guess. I lived with Michelle until the summer. Then I moved in with a friend. Now I have to pay rent, $300. But it is a good room. It is warm and I can use the bathroom indoors. Baby Girl seems to be happy here.
When I moved in it was just my friend and his girlfriend. But her sister also moved in. Which is okay, the house is big enough and we are all busy people. They are all friendly. In terms of space I’d love to move. But in terms of comfort and people, I like it here.
I haven’t done much with friends. A walking partner stopped talking to me this summer. I’m not sure why. And a co-worker I used to do things with too. She said my car was too hot. It bothers me a little I don’t have more friends. Some old friends have been hard to get together with because of time and space. I don’t hear much from Heather.
I did get to know a friend of Michelle’s. And I plan to visit her in a couple weeks. It will be good to see her. And good to see where things develop. Problem is she lives far away.
I am more glad this year I moved to Portland/Vancouver than I was last year. Though I do think about moving again from time to time. If there was a great job, or some other opportunity I would move in a moment. In a couple weeks I go back to California. And I’ll see friends, and there is a chance I could find a reason to move back.