Random Update 10-11-15

On 10/11/2015 at 01:10 PM by Ranger1

Well hey there, Pixlbit Nation! Hope everyone is having a good weekend. I started my winter job last Sunday with a three hour orientation, followed by several (non-consecutive) days of training. I'm working at the local independent grocery store, which is family-owned-and-operated. Bow Street Market is much more like an old-fashioned market than a supermarket. I'm cashiering, nothing glamorous, but the pay is decent, the training is excellent, and the atmosphere at the store is very friendly and team-oriented. And the checkout lanes are in front of giant windows, so I get to see the sun. The store is also very safety-conscious, and gave me $20 cash when I showed them my new slip-resistant footwear, proof that they were slip-resistant, and the receipt. So I got a good pair of shoes for $10 out of pocket. The store is also very community-oriented, which I also like.

As for what else I've been up to, well, you know the format.

Reading: Been on a real reading kick lately. My favorite bookstore is running a scavenger hunt with a bunch of other "Buy Local" businesses, so Jason and I stopped in to pick up our official clue sheets, While there, Kath, one of the co-owners (and the person who has clued me into some of the best fiction I've read over the last two decades - Song of Fire and Ice, Name of the Wind, American Gods, need I say more?) recommended a book to me: Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. I read it in one day. It's the first of a trilogy, and of course I had to back for the second one, The Invasion of the Tearling. Read that one in a day and a half. Now I have to wait until June for the third book. Also read The Voyage of the Star Wolf by David Gerrold, and I'm mostly done with the sequel to that, The Middle of Nowhere. Haven't decided what's up next yet.

Watching: Watched an episode of Nature (PBS wildlife documentary series for those of you who don't know) called Animal Misfits that was quite entertaining. Also been binge watching season 5 of Hawaii Five-O so that what's going on in season six makes sense. Other than that, I've been busy doing other stuff.

Listening: Currently in the CD player in the car is Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. Being as my commute is so short these days, I haven't really been listening to much at all.

Playing: Kind of taking a break from Lego games for a bit. Haven't decided on a console game to play next yet. Still playing Animal Crossing almost daily. Currently collecting Halloween-themed furniture and costumes. I've also been getting a few more hybrid flower colors, which makes me happy. This is the closest I get to real gardening, lol. I've brought my HHA score up to a little over 92,000, which is the best I've ever managed to pull off, so maybe I might like Happy Home Designer a little better than I originally thought. Cary, once again, has written an excellent review on this game that is worth checking out, by the way.

Other stuff: My dog had a mishap earlier in the week, he's old and going blind, and he fell in between the two parts of the bridge by the pond out back and got stuck. I managed to get him right-side up, but couldn't lift him up through, so I had to shove him under the higher section of bridge, then jump in the pond and guide him out. He's OK, but it scared both of us. I take a leash with me now so I can guide him over the bridge.

The leaves are trying to turn pretty colors. However, it was a dry spring and early summer, so the colors aren't nearly as vibrant as they should be. And a lot of them are falling off the trees before they turn. But it's still pretty out there in the woods.

leaf

I need to get myself going so that I get a big lunch and walk Bandit before I have to go to work. Today's schedule isn't my ideal, 3-9, and I'm going to miss the Patriots-Cowboys game. Oh, well, I'm sure some kind customer will keep me informed on the score.

Have an awesome week!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

10/11/2015 at 07:41 PM

That's sad about Bandit. I have problems like that with Taco Belle here. She's not blind, but it's hard to control her cause she doesn't hear. I have to use hand signals to get her to come and whatnot. Sometimes she gets in these fits too and won't stop running in circles around the house. It's a little scary. I love that damn dog so much, as I know you do yours.

my favorite Springsteen album is Nebraska. I heard he recorded it really simply on a 4 track or something. I love the song about the guy on the highway trying to make it home.

did I ever send you a book? I don't think I did. I'm so lame, sorry. I'm gonna print up some soon for xmas packages, and I will send you my space opera.

Ranger1

10/13/2015 at 11:26 AM

No, you never sent me a book. You sent me a 3DS instead. I think that keeps you out of the lame category forever.

10/13/2015 at 12:21 PM

but my books are just as fun!!

10/13/2015 at 12:28 PM

So double bonus!

Cary Woodham

10/11/2015 at 08:20 PM

My dog Venus is getting pretty old, too. I think she's lost most of her hearing (unless it's selective hearing), and I suspect she's going blind in one of her eyes, too. So I can understand that part.

Halloween is one of the best holidays in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. You buy monster masks, and then find out which monsters your townsfolk are scared of. Then on Halloween night, wear that mask and scare the neighbors to get candy, and give it to Jack for really cool spooky furniture.

I've been playing LEGO Dimensions with Jeff a lot this weekend. We play LEGO games together, it's a tradition. I'm also playing Chibi Robo: Zip Lash (and working on a blog about Chibi Robo later). I'm working on reviewing Freedom Planet and Transformers: Devastation.

10/13/2015 at 11:29 AM

Yeah, I'd figured out the Halloween stuff after I met Jack. So far, I've only got four masks. Are there more? I did like my model ship that I got for Explorers Day yesterday. That was pretty cool.

I really want to get my old TV set up and hook my Game Cube back up. I found Chibi Robo for the GC for cheap, but I've never played it.

KnightDriver

10/12/2015 at 02:03 AM

Gotta save the doggies. I see so many dogs in my work. The variety of breeds is something else. I think their faces are interesting. I've also figured out how to get most of them back in their house when their owners let them out by accident. Some just don't listen to doggie reason though.

10/13/2015 at 11:32 AM

I've always loved dogs, never was able to have one as a kid because we moved around too often. The first thing I did when I graduated from college was to adopt one from the local shelter. He was my best bud for the 15 years I had him. Bandit is my second dog, and he's been a bit of a problem child, but I wouldn't trade him for the world.

10/14/2015 at 02:42 AM

I had a dog as a kid and suffered a shock when I came home from college one year and found she'd been put to sleep for going after a neighbor's dog. I still think it was her way of being upset that I wasn't around to take her on long runs and such. I haven't had a dog since. If I ever get a house, I may consider getting one.

My friend Mark, who I game with frequently, goes out every day and gives the neighborhood dogs treats and takes their pictures. He was telling me how they've become totally attached to him and get depressed if he doesn't come around one day.

BrokenH

10/13/2015 at 03:05 AM

I smiled when during our conversation you told me how splendidly you and your employers/fellow co-workers were getting along,Tami! That's what I like about more modest family run stores. They usually have a better grasp on team-work and being a supportive community.

Fall is in full swing here as well & Im likewise enjoying watching the leaves change colors!

10/13/2015 at 11:44 AM

The whole atmosphere of the market is pretty awesome. Their goal was to make it as much like an old-fashioned outdoor market as possible in both feel and looks. It looks like a gigantic barn from the outside, complete with giant sliding wooden doors (just for looks, they're actually attached to the walls), inside, the display cases are all made out of old barn boards, and the ones in front look like old-fashioned carts. The ceiling is high, and they don't use those awful fluorescent lights that most supermarkets use. I think they're probably still fluorescent, but they give a warmer-looking light. And it's very much a local place where people connect. I'm actually having fun, believe it or not, and I never thought I'd say that about a cashiering job.

I'll have to take some pics of the market. It's pretty cool.

Super Step Contributing Writer

10/14/2015 at 05:26 PM

I'm glad you're enjoying your new job. I'm quite liking my own at the moment. Lots of work with minimal required interpersonal interaction at both.

I'm convinced Tom Brady paid members of opposing teams to take out key members of the Cowboys. It's just how that bastard QB of yours operates.

10/14/2015 at 08:51 PM

Shh! Not so loud, or everyone will be doing it! Actually, I'm sorry Tony Romo's out. I quite like him, but that kid has some of the worst luck in the league. I'm not in the least sorry about Ben Roethlisburger's injury, though.

10/14/2015 at 09:40 PM

I don't know all the details of the allegations against Ben, but Cracked.com's take on it among other things got me to seriously consider boycotting the NFL this season by not watching.

But since it's their Golden Year, I feel compelled to at least watch the history play out.

goaztecs

10/22/2015 at 03:36 PM

I'm late in reading your blog (along with a couple of other folks) but I'm reading! Anyways it sounds like your job is good place to work. I like the mom & pop grocery stores. The one I grew up with was such a cool place because when us kids would come in they wouldn't charge tax, and they had tons of good candy. Glad to read that your store is focused on keeping their employees safe.

That book Song of Ice and Fire, that would make a good TV show

Sorry about your dog's mishap. Hopefully he's doing better. I like your picture. Its cool to see leaves change colors like that. Being in Southern California we don't get much of that so its nice to see other places in the country have seasons.

PixlBit