Battlestar Sleeptacular

Has it only been two weeks since I took over my new store? I think something like that. I tore the joint down and rebuilt it in that time frame. It looks fantastic. About 90% complete at this point. Then it's just getting everyone onboard regarding procedures and operations. I am very excited cuz, well, it's a great location and I'm gonna make lots of cash! Anyways...

Today was a day off (though I have to admit, I can't wait to get back to work and continue the evolution of that store - sick but true for the moment). I have been trying to get my woman to watch Battlestar Galactica. Now, I have already mentioned how damn good this show is, so I wanted to share it with her. Well, that has proven to be one hell of a chore. We have attempted to watch it three times already. Each time she fell asleep within 20 minutes!

Now, I obviously do not think that it is the show that is making her pass out, since it rocks utterly. So I have come to the conclusion that my woman has narcolepsy. It is honestly the only thing I can think of. She just nods right off at the drop of the hat. We finally managed to trudge through it tonight (since we started watching it early) but, I dunno. I think from now on if I want to share some TV shows with my woman, I will have to stick with something 15 minutes or shorter.

Speaking of TV shows. How many of you knew that a Babylon 5 movie was in the works? Yeah, well, don't worry, it's been canceled! B5 is one of my all time favorite shows. A fantastic, thought provoking, and intelligent show spanning a 5 year story arc. But, I swear, JMS (the creator) just can't get a break sometimes. He has such a vision of things and Hollywood just seems to deflect him at every turn. It's a damn shame.

Why am I up?

OK. So. It's 5am and I can't sleep. So, of course, I am up on the computer. Not sure exactly why I can't sleep. I should be really tired with all the work I have been putting in lately. But I hear I am looking for something to occupy my time until I get tired. Blah.

I received a $50.00 gift card to Circuit City from a job related promotion. The big question I have is though is what the hell do I buy at Circuit City for around $50.00 bucks!? I have been looking at their website and they seem to have a really limited selection. Not sure if that's just Circuit City or just a shitty website. Guess I will have to go in store to find out for sure.

Well, think I will get something to drink to kill the time. I hate insomnia!

A night of weirdness

My woman returned home last night from her 3 month training out of state. She is a lot exhausted and a little under the weather. So that sucks.

I went out to go grab her some dinner, noticing a lot of flashing lights on the main road behind our apartment. We have a fence that surrounds the complex thats a mere 15 feet from my front door that looks out over this road that is behind the complex. Looked like something big as there were about five firetrucks plus cop cars and ambulences and so forth. There is a canal that runs past the complex and under this road and that seemed to be where all the activity was concentrated. The news crews started to show up as well. To top it off, a helicopter comes in low, about 50 feet off the ground, and starts shining its spotlight in and around the canal. Ok, this is interesting

Come to find out that vehicle had hit the embankment, broke through the barrier and plunged into the canal. Now normally, the canal has water in (well, yeah, its a canal). But not a lot, cuz it's Arizona! But we have had mass rainfall over the past few days, so it was fairly full. The big problem at the moment? They can't find the vehicle! The emergency vehicles are shining spotlights, the chopper is cruising up and down the canal, people are out on foot. Nothing!

So, now it is this morning and I am trying to find out what the hell is going on, but of course, no news on it. God our news SUCKS out here! I will see what I can find out later today though.

Now, to add even more weirdness to the evening. Sometime last night my upper lip swelled up like a bitch. No idea what the fuck caused it. I didn't bump it or anything like that. I feel fine. But my lip swelled up big time. I look like a retard. Allergic reaction perhaps? I have no clue. It seems that by this morning - 8 hours later - it is finally subsiding back to normal. But I am friggin clueless what could have caused it. Something I ate? Something I came in contact with? Very bizzarre. At least I had off today so I didn't have to talk with folks and look like a mook.

Looney Toonie

Two things of the "er, what?" category for today...

First on the list is in regards to the massive multiplayer online roleplaying game - Everyquest 2. Also know in the industry as "Evercrack" due to it's addictiveness. Everquest 2 is actually a Sony product. Sony has made a little business deal with Pizza Hut where you can actually order a pizza from within the game!

"You're in luck - pizza is just a few key strokes away! While playing EverQuest II just type /pizza and a web browser will launch the online ordering section of pizzahut.com. Fill in your info and just kick back until fresh pizza is delivered straight to your door."

God only knows how the terrible requirement for food and beverage can interrupt a great online gaming session!

The second item up is a very pathetic venture by Warner Brothers. Now, the WB has not had a really good track record in recent history, but this is just, well, sad.

I am sure all of you are familiar with the Looney Toons gang - Wile E. Coyote, Taz, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Lola Bunny, and the Roadrunner. Well, it seems the WB wants to bring these great, classic characters up to speed and make them "cool and hip". So, they have gone and redesigned them! Yay! So, in the order I just gave above, here are the new, hipper (scarier?) models. No, it's not a joke.

Goodies for me!

Ah, well, a little bit better today. Finally got some sleep in and feel sorta refreshed. Have been cracking away at the store this week. As I said earlier, it was a disaster. You always wonder what gives when you walk into a situation like that. Far as I can tell so far, it seems to be simple mis-management and lack of leadership. The crew that is in there is jumping on the assigned tasks and completing them quickly and correctly. So my stress level has gone way down now that I know we can move fast and effectively in fixing/changing/modifying/redoing what needs to be done. Still a lot of work ahead, but progress is assured. A big thanks to the well wishers out there as well. Your support is much appreciated.

My woman is due back this Saturday. Thank God. I don't mind some time apart, but this has gone way overboard. It will be nice to have her back. She managed to totally surprise me on Valentines day. She sent me a nice little Egreeting that said to check her closet for a surprise! It was a stuffed Garfield with lots of chocolate! Very sweet, very nice. I am lucky to have my little Valentine girl.

I just received my winnings from Canon today! There is a retail training website that I regularly go to to complete training tests on. When you fill these tests out you are entered into monthly drawings. The tests are cake and I usually end up winning a little something here and there. But this time out was jackpot time!
I ended up wining a Canon A75 digital camera and a Canon CP-330 dye sub printer!! Whoohoo! So now the question is, do I hang on to them or sell them off for something BIGGER!? hehe.

Ah hell, how'd it get so late already. *sigh* No rest for the wicked.

Signs of the Apocalypse

Well, I walked into my new store yesterday for the first time.

Even the worst of my thoughts did not prepare me. Here we have a flagship store, that is completely and totally trashed. Everything from displays, to merchandising, to operating procedures. No wonder the higher ups were flipping out. So, I get to play fix it up. It's really going to take some time, thats for sure. But hey, it's close and its more money, not to mention the flagship store - especially once it looks like it should.

I'll tell ya one thing, I am already tired off my ass.

I'll post a bit more when I am not about to pass out.

The time approaches

Well, only a few days left until my transfer and takeover on the 15th. I'm a lot more at ease though, since the boss came in yesterday and we had time to sit down and talk about what's going on at that location at the moment. Apparently (of course) the place was a wreck - or so they say. They have had a new, temporary manager in there for the past four weeks who apparently has really cleaned up the place. So I am told the destruction factor that I will be walking into has been minimized greatly by this temp manager. Sounds good to me. The smaller a hole I need to dig out of the better.

My woman is still away on business. Another, what now, two weeks until she returns? Blah. Getting kinda old at this point. I mean, my laundry is starting to pile up...

So, *cough*, anyways..

Big news in the computer industry as Carly Fiorina, CEO of HP, has been forced to leave. Now, being in that industry since before she took over, I can tell you that she left a wake of disgruntled employees and consumers since day one. A while back, even Walter Hewlett, son of the founder, tried to have her ousted. Of course, he failed. I just find it amazing how ALL the employees and consumers can bitch about how bad this chick was in her position, but it takes forever and a day for the "upper management" to finally take action. Once again, the grunts know better than the higher ups.

Well, it seems like it is going to be a rainy weekend. I normally like the rain, however, this weekend was suppose to be the Fountain Hills Balloon Race. It's a small little show with about 30 hot airs, nothing like Thunderbird or Albuquerque. However, over the years, it has ended up being on of my most profitable shows photography wise. The bulk of my published work has been taken at the Fountain Hills event. Of course, rain equals no flying for balloons. Guess I get to sleep in, instead.

I think I may fill my weekend by downloading Battlestar Galactica episodes! (thats the new version folks). I just found out at that the new Battlestar Galactica was financed by both the Sci-Fi channel and England's Sky One. The kicker here is that while in the US we are on episode 5, in England they have already completed the first season! So, of course, that means there are episode downloads to be had! With the nifty new DVD player that the woman bought me, I can just copy the downloaded .AVI movie files to the CD, toss it into the player, and bingo! New episodes on my TV. Yay!

I think I will have to start that after I go scrounge for food. I swear, I get tired of eating sometimes, wish there was just a pill or something... kinda like a Jetsons thing.

Mayhem gets knocked up a notch

Well, this has surely been an interesting week. I apparently have made my mark with the powers that be by taking an absolute disaster of a store and turning it into flawless gem. By this, I mean the look, cleanliness, and organization of the whole place. Which, honestly, is a whole lot considering what it was when I got there. So much so, that they actually dragged every manager in the region to come look at my store and state "this is what ALL of your stores should look like." So, hey, nice to be recognized.

Along with that, I have been offered a new store. The regional manager himself has requested me for this "mission". Now, of course, thats a bit of a double edged sword. It seems to be another fixer upper. So, not too thrilled about that, since it does take a lot of time and effort to get a store to top operating conditions. Basically, for the most part, you end up cleaning up somone elses fucking mess.

However, to outweigh that negative, is the fact that the new store is a mere five minutes away from home, runs strip center hours instead of mall hours (close at 7 on weekdays, open 10-6 Sat., and 12-5!! on Sunday. Coolness) and it is a store that is kicking ass all over the place in with monkies for a crew. So more business equals more cash in my pocket. So, two weeks from now, off I go.

I am a bit nervous, as I have no idea exactly what to expect in terms of "clean up" yet.. but hey, since I am so damn tired tonight, I won't give it much more thought... at least till tomorrow.