Sunday 1 November 2020

Monday 2nd - Sunday 8th November 2020 - Week 33 Of Under Employment, Cheapskate # 2, Kens Bento @ Food Court Macquarie Shopping Centre, No Birthday Plans & Putting Up My Christmas Tree

Monday 2nd November 2020

No - these are not the same pair of ice skates as I had on in the previous blog. 

Yes we do have Figure Skating , Ice Hockey AND Speed Skating in Australia BUT no curling in Sydney (Melbourne does though).

Day off today.

This week starts off with a cheapskate - that's an ice skating discounted lunchtime session from 11 am - 1 pm again for $20 ( not including skate hire - not so cheap skate and a 10 pass is $200 for adult therefore no discount really unless you attend a normal 2 hour public session where you save $2). I am wearing my 2nd pair of figure skates today the old leather Jackson skates I've owned since the early to mid 1990's which are my favourite until the blades were sharpened. I own another pair of blue recreational skates as well but they are in storage and are my latest pair. The pair I am wearing today have not deteriorated like the other 2 pairs which are more synthetic and the mould has changed as well. Most Jackson skates now are not made in Europe or Canada but in China now and the quality is nowhere as good.

Today was just getting use to the blades and nothing else by skating around continuously for 1 - 1.5 hours. No turns,  no backward skating etc. The blades are so different to my other pairs of ice skates.

Next to get rid of my 9 empty plastic water bottles. Usually I take them all to a tiny convenience store where I exchange them for $1 coins to use for the laundry but today I am at Macquarie Shopping Centre and I didn't have time to get to the convenience store so have been lugging around a bag of empty bottles to the supermarket and to the ice skating session wit me. I really wanted to get rid of them so after some lunch, I made my way to the carpark where I knew there was an Return & Earn recycling machine there. There was a queue to use the 2 plastic bottle recycling machines but no one using the 2 glass recycling machines. This is the first time I am using it and I don't recommend it as it is cashless for one thing , dirty and 2 of the bottles failed to register but disappeared down the shoot therefore I lost a 20 cent refund.

Return & Earn Machine - download an app for  pay pal refunds , voucher redeemable at Woolworths or donate your refund options.

Oh S***! I got on the wrong train and ended up at Cherrybrook! Any longer I could have ended out at Castle Hill or even worse Tallawong end of line! Back on the train to Chatswood and I can't go any further as Chatswood is the end of the line!

Back to what I had for lunch from Kens Bento at the food court. Sweet potato noodles and crispy chicken. $10 for both - the noodles were far too greasy and the crispy chicken is no Two Two chicken or Nenes chicken. Not even close to KFC pop corn chicken. Not nice and it was cold. Rating 6/10.

 

Looks nicer then it tasted - take out lunch from Kens Bento sweet potato noodles $6 ( vegetarian) & crispy chicken $4

Now that I've had a skate,  gotten rid of my empty bottles & had lunch. Time to head to Chatswood for some shopping.
Back in Chatswood I walk to the other end of Chatswood to the newer and quieter Aldi to shop for groceries. Obviously I can't get everything there but because my shopping bag is really heavy I take the bus back up to the station and do a basic shop for tomorrow's  lunch up at Woolworths Metro. I can always stop at Coles tomorrow after work.

After a final shop at Woolworths Metro Chatswood , I get some more cash out but the new Woolworths cash payment and cash withdrawal machines don't give an option for denominations requested - I asked for $6 in $1 and $2 coins but what the cash machine dispensed both at the manned checkout and at the automatic self check out machines was 1 x $5 note & 1 x $1 coin. That's not what I wanted. Also I can't redeem my Return and Earn voucher at a manned checout, you have to do it at a self service checkout. So inconvenient! I will have to usr the Woolworths at Warringah Mall more to recharge my Opa l card and get change for the laundry.
Home by 5.30 pm Prepare for tomorrow then another day off for my birthday.

Another message sent via the Van Gough Alive organisers via their site to advise them of how I have been unable to get a ticket online to see the exhibition and have given up as allocations to the 1 pm session on my birthday have now been exhausted. Let's see how long it takes for them to get back to me. This is my last ditch attempt at getting tickets.

Tuesday 3rd November 2020

Myer  10 am - 5 pm ( scheduled lunch break 12.45 - 1.30 pm) checked Kronos on 24th , 28th, 30th & 31st October 2020

Today there are 2 major events happening - 1. the US election and 2. The Melbourne Cup - the race that usually stops the nation but today it will be run however with no crowds and minimal support staff out at Flemington in Victoria. There will be no fashion on the fields, no crowds of race goers racing to the gates of Flemington as soon as they open, no carpark picnics , no over the top sponsor tents filled with local and international A list guests dressed in haute couture, mingling with other celebrities and over indulging in champagne, oysters, cavier, prawns and a selection of the finest food and drink catered for by well known chefs, not even any office sweeps well maybe a few etc. I don't even think I will be bothered with a bet on the horses today. In fact by 3 pm I didn't even know which horses were running in this year's Melbourne Cup let alone winning  The Melbourne Cup. Every year where I used to work there would be a race to find the nearest TAB before the race to place a bet, we would have the office or store or even shopping centre sweeps, catering would be a huge business and people ran around dressed up to go to some local Melbourne Cup luncheon ( and dinner) eventhough I am in Sydney not Melbourne where Melbourne Cup Day is a actual annual public holiday.  Today after 3 pm when the race was over there was a customer who looked as if she had been to a local Melbourne Cup lunch . She was all dressed up in a black dress and head piece so I approached her and asked her which horse won the Melbourne Cup. She said she had no idea and was only dressed up because her office dressed up. I wonder if she even placed a bet at the local TAB or even entered the office sweeps? Postscript I walked past the newsagency located at the front of the mall which advertises it also is a TAB agency only to notice it had an A4 printed sign stuck outside on the TAB window display advising customers that it was no longer a TAB - was that before, on or after Melbourne Cup day? I had not seen that sign before therefore wondered when it was actually put up. Very strange.

Even before work a text message is sent on the Whats app team group chat to check m comms and to vote for the Friday Favourite team member - especially for the newbies with a comment management are watching which team members had not checked theirs. I always have trouble finding the Friday favourite so never bother and just congratulate team members in person ( if I know them) and don't believe in being pressured into voting for team members I don't even know just so they can get votes. This time I did and was the first to do so - no I wasn't I swear I saw a whole bunch of likes and congrats on the community page before I added mine. Most of the time these favourites are difgicult to find so I give up after scrolling and not being able to find the Friday favourite. I even found the Tuesday Talent and liked and commented ( I knew who this team member was as well)

This morning I sent a message to my ex bus buddy Kathryn to advise her that my birthday plans have been cancelled for tomorrow unless I hear back from the organisers of the Van Gough Alive exhibition today. Yep I heard back from them and alk they did was tell me that there were only a few spots left for the 3 pm and 4 pm sessions, there was not even spots left for the 2 pm sesdionband I asked them about the 1 pm sesdion. I am sdo disappointed with their customer service. Yet again. They were no help at all there it looks like I will not be going to see the Van Gough Alive exhibition which is so expensive anyway. I have been trying for months to get a ticket and every time I try , by the time I get a response back the allocation for that timeslot is exhausted and I have to pick an alternative date and time but the crunch came when I could not book a ticket for the 1 pm session for my birthday after so many failed attempts.

Oops I was meant to have lunch at what scheduled time today? I had lunch at past 2 pm today. It's just not possible to stick to a scheduled lunch break. So many problems today. 

It may have started off really quiet due to the Melbourne Cup but it got quite busy later in the afternoon. 

Even if I decided to have a bet on the horses today, I would have had to do it the day before. No time during lunch as the race was almost over by the time I had lunch today. I wonder which horses won?

So today I was on my own for 45 minutes in Homewares from 4.15 pm - 5 pm. One team member finished at 4 pm and the other at 4.15 pm. At 5 pm one of the team members from Electricals who was here until close ie 5.30 pm came over to homewares to fill in from 5 pm to  5.30 pm.

So what happened today a customer purchased a gift voucher but it is not recorded as a sale and Myer One points are apparently not earned on purchase of gift vouchers so I didn't ask the customer if they had a Myer One card. I asked a team member I was working if sale of gift vouchers are included in sales we make - no they are not. Maybe they only appear when a customer uses them for purchases so it doesn't double up in the sale figures. Gift vouchers have always been a question as to when the actual sales value presents.

I asked everyone if they wanted to join Myer One and none did ( again no thanks I have too many cards already with one customer even commenting how it's not worth it,  unlike FlyBuys and Woolworths Rewards which I totally agree with where points accumulate quite quickly and can be used for more practical things ie groceries or converted to frequent flyer points not that anyone is flying at the moment) except 1 customer who wanted to join but there were too many questions asked and she did not have her glasses with her so she will come back when she has her glasses with her. Quite a few customers have a Myer One card but when I do a search with alk 3 lookup methods, their membership can't be located on the POS system so the customer gets frustrated and says not to worry about it.

I sold 2 Christmas trees today one 210 cm fir tree in the morning to one customer and another pop up tree with loads of extra ornaments to another customer in the afternoon. It shows that even with everything that has hapoened and is still happening now, there is still a small glimmer of Christmas Spirit around.

No orders today and no asking of customers to  round up of purchases for donation to charity. 

The team member I was working with today and I were having a competition to see who could make the most sales today based on the number of hours worked. A few of my customers returned to purchase more things but there were a few returns for refunds as well however not a lot. One rather pushy customer was returning clothes that were the wrong size but she started to relax a bit as soon as I had it under control.

I had a customer right to the end of my shift, it was a return from an earlier purchase of a quilt  for a more expensive one and I hope the team member who put it through did the right thing and put it through my team member number. 

Why did I get all the heavy things that customers purchased today weighing 10 kg or more each! Multiple dinner sets,  24 dinner plates , the tallest Christmas trees etc. Speaking of dinner plates - MW cashmere dinner plates, the 24 that a customer purchased were not on sale however the plates were all labelled $14.95 eachhowever all scanned on the POS system as $16.95 each so I had to honour the labelled  price of $14.95 each for the customer and I notified the Electrical department manager of this who will inform the team leader tomorrow. The Electrical department manager mentions it's like those MW individual cutlery pieces - yep the ones almost every team member has been relabelling and still is relabelling for the past month!!!!!

We had a slight problem with the Toblerone personalisation printer today but in the end Paul & Jack came back although it took 3 attempts to personalise Jack. I advised the customer that I would not put through her sale for the 2 personalized Toblerones in the event there was a problem with the personalisation but will put through her other purchases first. So they paid for and took their purchases and advised they would do other shopping and return to pick up their Toblerones later. It worked out fine. We also found 2 waterlogged Toblerone blocks of chocolate on the displays shelf near the counter that were not stained on the packaging from the recent storms but stuck together so they can't be sold. These were removed and used to practise printing and sticking the personalised Toblerone stickers onto. There are limitations of what you can actually have printed on Toblerone block - it has to be a maximum of 11 characters, no spaces allowed, capital letters only and it will not accept certain words - I tried printing "Myer Warringah"- too long but accepted the first 11 characters with no spaces allowed, I then tried "Warringah" on its own - message pops up as inappropriate therefore rejected word and then I tried "Giftorium"  also rejected as an allowed word. Finally I typed in and printed my name, "dulcinea" ( now everyone will know that I now work for Myer unless they have read my blog in which case they have know for months!) and stuck it on one of the damaged waterlogged Toblerone blocks sucessfully using the Electrical managers method of peel in one go and stick although peeling the sticker off completely from it's backing did cause it to roll and curl back onto it's self rather the other team member's more cautious approach of aligning  and stick one end of the printed sticker and gradually peeling it off it's backing and stick it over the Toblerone block - either way there is no guarantee of stuffing it up! 

Lots of crying babies today that could not be comforted by their mothers and a few runaway toddlers too.

I missed by scheduled lunch break time and had to have lunch much later after 2 pm. The team member I was working with went on her break and it was a lot longer then 15 minutes so I joked about whether she took my lunch break for me and ate my lunch in the staff room fridge as well when she returned. She was printing signs again out at the dock. Yep more bloody signs to print off and put up for picnicware!

I was going to tidy up the back counter before I left but the team member from the Electricals department insisted that he would do it as it is 5 pm  - I do not trust him one bit! If you saw the Electrical department counter you will know why ( it is always a mess on top of the counter and underneath in the cupboards! Don't even ask what is in the cupboards, one look and I walked away). I hope he signed tge sets of keys aand ipads back into the office and locks tge cupboards before he leaves. He seemed a bit keen to do it all. So I left him to it! No questions asked ( this particular team member was hardly working one shift a week and started at the same time I did and apparently hardly showed up on time but maybe he has changed since and stepped up to be more responsible).

Right, at a little past 5 pm I punch out grab my bags and leftover lunch from the fridge and leave via tge front Cosmetics department entrance as the store is now still open until 5.30 pm. The 280 bus never shows up between 5 pm and 5.30 pm so instead of waiting around I go and do a partial grocery shop at Coles before heading home on the 6.40 bus to Chatswood. No more stopping except to return a single empty water bottle to the tiny convenience store just near the 144 bus stop. I had heaps of time before the next 144 bus arrived at Chatswood. Home by 8 pm to watch a bit of the US elections coverage which I just could not watch before catching up on YouTube videos  and then going to sleep. 

No work tomorrow and no plans for my birthday. 2020 is a year I don't particularly want to remember. I can't even remember how old I am now! 

Wednesday 4th November 2020

It took me great restraint to save and not to eat this Cadbury Birthday Cake chocolate bar until my birthday today!



The vegan chocolate birthday cake I treated myself to. It is not bad , about 15 cm in diameter I am guessing double layered and very heavy but it was the only mini birthday cake that fitted in my fridge on a side plate and was the last one at $4.50 what did I have to loose? I could taste the soya milk in the chocolate cream layer though and I'm not a fan of soya milk.

Day off (2nd leave day requested way in advance approved by customer service manager)

My Birthday. I was planning to catch up with an ex bus buddy and see Van Gough Alive but too difficult to purchase tickets online - have tried several times and contacted ticketek several times. Both unsucessful and Ticketek takes too long to respond ( weeks not days). I have given up. 

The day begins around 4 am up and blogging.

By 6 am I have caught up and am ready for breakfast.

First thing this morning I cleaned my refrigerator out as I just shoved everything into it yesterday. 

I then checked Myer Metrics including watching the Humm Mcast. I still don't get why any customers would use Humm when there is Zip pay ( is that the same as Zippy pay?) and the more popular Afterpay methods of "layby" type payments. If you can't afford it don't buy it!

Next is to decide what to do and in what order today. I desperately need a haircut, dry and put my clothes away and complete the rest of my shopping. I also need to go and empty my mail box and get my Christmas tree out of storage ( I am still a bit cautious about going back to the Eastern suburbs especially to Bondi Junction). Then there is catching up with Kathryn for coffee as I haven't seen her for over 8 months now. I am still a bit cautious of seeing her due to COVID still "hanging" around. She is a senior citizen so I don't want her to contract it. I am still cautious of everywhere I go due to COVID. I am wearing my mask everywhere and still wash my hands and wash my mask in hot water and disinfectant everyday day when I get home from venturing out for the day.

So my ex bus buddy bailed on me because she didn't hear from me. She said have a great birthday catch up soon. I don't actually have time to catch up with her after today as I am working and I finally managed to get a ticket to see Van Gough Alive for next Thursday ( my only day off apart from Sunday - there were no tickets available on the weekends all sold out for next 2 weeks at least).

So now I am going shopping and maybe try and get a haircut. I still have to get my Christmas tree from my storage and empty my letter box. I should venture out today and not stay home.

The sun is out and I have my new dress on that I purchased a week or so ago from Target All dressed up with nowhere to go. 

No presents, no cake, no family and no friends this year -  not even a single Happy Birthday from anyone on Facebook.

Still no word from the volunteer organisation - I have given up on it as it's been several months and I have given them all my details but haven't had any response. It's getting too close to Christmas. 

Not even a single reader of my blog today. Being born on the 4th November really does mean death. 

Maybe everyone is too engrossed in the US elections. I was definitely watching the ABC news but turned it off after a few hours as you can only take so much of the US elections.

My ex bus buddy may have bailed on me but I think I got the best present ever. After going to my storage and getting my Christmas tree and all the ornaments and lights, I headed to Spotlight located above the off site storage facility  and found the pudding cloth I was desperately searching for at a bargain of $3.50.  I then was about to head home but almost forgot to go to my PO Box  to empty all my mail ( I can't remember how many months since I last emptied it). It was jam packed! So jammed I did have a little trouble getting out all the mail. The mail box is quite high up as well so I have to stand on tippy toes to get all the mail out. Without thinking I dumped all the mail into my bag and put my hand inside the mail box to ensure it was empty. I lock it up but there was a curious package within all my mail and so I opened it. Also amongst my mail was a hand written letter. I removed the letter and kept it to read on the 340 bus from Bondi Junction all the way back to Chatswood. When I started reading the letter there was one word that may be a connection between the writer and my family's history immigrating to Australia well over half a century ago possibly a century or more ago. I wonder if there is any connection. Everytime I meet someone that may or may not have a possible connection to my family history, it ends up a dead end so this could end up being another dead end. After reading as bit more about Coonabarabran , I suspect my father's storey of naming my brother after a famous doctor or professor or doctor is false but I still believe my parents were on drugs when they named us. I think that my father actually named my brother after a street in Coonabarabran! I could be completely wrong but it seems more logical then say my father naming him after some random doctor or professor I have not even heard of then adding on a second name after a bottle of "grog" that also am unfamiliar with!

This is the letter I found in my PO Box whichvI read on the long bus ride from Bondi Junction to Chatswood and have immediately written back to with a gift. She may be elderly but she writes like a generation Y ( ie really bad hand writing as if they have been using a keyboard for too long and forgotten how to write in cursive)

Bondi Junction has changed so much especially Spring Street and the Eastgate Shopping Centre which is the smaller shopping centre a block away from the main Westfield Shopoing Centre and a lot smaller the Chatswood Chase. Last time I visited Eastgate Shopoing Centre it was still undergoing an external facelift with it's apartment block towers above it. Now the facelift has been complete it has been transformed from an ugly duckling of a shopping mall to quite a modern looking one.

There are still the tiny Wednesday markets held along the mall area of Oxford Street in Bondi Junction - equivalent to the markets held along Chatswood Mall towards the station on Thursdays and Fridays but about 1/3 of the size and with very few visitors. I had a quick visit but wasn't really interested. There was only 1 organic fruit and veg stall that was even slightly busy. The rest of the stalls were quite ordinary with no atmosphere or people at all. 

Hidden behind the markets were not just empty stores but the original Smart Dollar store which is quite a large $2 store which has been part of Bondi Junction since I ca n remember and which I frequently visited in the past. Earlier this year it was big new when it completely burnt down. Nothing has been done with burnt out building that still stands as is hidden behind market stalls. A new smaller cleaner modern looking Smart Dollar store has reopened just next door where a  Dangerfield store used to be. Gone are the Smart Dollar green and white store front in with a new orange and white store front. So glad my tax agent moved a few years back from it's dodgey upstairs offices above a set of shops just down from Smart Dollar to a a less dodgey set of offices above a set of stores on the opposite side. Poor Hexagon Tax Agents are right above the burnt out Smart Dollar store which is  next door to to The Church In The Marketplace. ( sorry I didn't take any photos).



The whole block & street around the front of Eastgate Shopping Centre has been revamped. Very strange that it is just Spring Street. The back of Eastgate Shopping Centre has not been revamped as much. I don't know whether they were trying to slow traffic flow down or put in a bike lane or make traffic flow two ways again as I believe it had always been a one way street with rather odd on the street rest areas with seating for dining. Nope its still a one way traffic street but that's not a bike lane as there is no signage along it and people are walking along it as if it was an extension of of the normal footpaths which are already wide enough on either side of the street. 

Bondi Junction Mall Thursday Markets. I only took 1 photo, it looks big but it takes no more then 10 minutes to browse the whole market. There was even 2 stalls side by side selling competing Portugese tarts!

Grocery shopping ar Woolworths at Chatswood followed by a 144 bus home. Dinner cake ( vegan chocolate)  tv reply to letter and sleep. Work tomorrow.

The Christmas tree will have to wait to be put up another day. At least it is back home with me now.

Thursday 5th November 2020

Up at 2.30 am and I get a Happy Birthday message from my friend in South America. 

Went back to sleep and woke up again at 7 am. My vertigo has returned again in the p ast few days. It started on Monday ot Tuesday and it's the same ear as previous that is causing it although it is not infected this time. 

Very windy and overcast outside - must get up and get ready for work today. 

I searched a weather forecast for the next 10 days and it had to forecast thunderstorms all afternoon after lunch next Thursday when I have booked to see the Van gough Alive exhibition at 1 pm.  Something is telling me not to go aand see it. Too l ate I have nooked it after 2 whole months of trying without sucess. I'm not cancelling now. I will just have to stay inside the exhibition until the storms are over.

Myer  10 am - 5 pm - original shift added on Kronos as at 28th October 20 changed in Kronos on 30th October 20 to 11 am - 4 pm only . Checked Kronos again on 31st October 20 - no lunch break 5 hour shift only. Today is lunch cover only so whoever is on better have their lunches on time.

Today was so wet by the time I got to Warringah Mall. I caught the 143 to Neutral Bay Junction and transferred onto the next B Line bus. Both buses take forever to get to Warringah Mall. First thing I did when i arrived was go to the post office to send off the Black Forest Monte Carlo biscuits and letter to the resident who wrote the long letter to me and to drop off a letter that was not mine but ended up in my PO Box to be returned to sender.

I then sat down and ate my breakfast a sandwich I had made for myself wrapped in greasproof paper of rye bread, rocket cucumber cheese corn beef and mustard pickles. 

Then off to work. I put my stuff in a staff locker and punch in using their time clock near the staff entrance exit.

No Myer One sign ups but as few round up of purchases to donate to the local charity.

I didn't sell much today as I spent about an hour searching for kitchen gadgets to be relabelled. I haad to find tge products on the shelves, pull them off the shelves, scan them all using the ancient scanner/label printers , remove all the old labels and print off new labels to be stuck back on the items then put them all back checking them all off a list which was already a week old hence incorrect inventory stock countwise as customets may have purchased the last of items after the list was printed off. So stupid! One team member considered a "senior team member" asked one of the newbies to help me as she was no doing the jobs she was asked to do. Later the team leader cones along and takes her off the job saying it is a one person job. Conflict already. The team member was just trying to stop the newbie from slack in ng off and standing around chatting to the other newbie on the floor.

The assistant store manager kept asking me to do something (twice) - she wasn't listening to me I had to tell her not once but repeat myself a second time that I was with a customer! ( as well as doing the relabelling)

Finished the relabelling and onto serving more customers. I sold 4 green pan fry pans today to 2 customers.

Pretty boring day today. Quite a slow day. 

The Toblerone personalisation printer is not working again and there is only one ipad that is being used to do the personalised Toblerones.

Very late tea break about 20 minutes before finishing my shift. 

After finishing at 4 pm I punch out using the time clock near the staff entrance exit grab my stuff out of tge staff locker and go shopping and recharge my Opal card yet again at Woolworths before doing a larger shop at Coles.

On the 6.40 pm 280 bus back to Chatswood as it is freezing cold 12 degrees C and pouring with rain before hopping onto a 144 bus home.

I eat 2 of my 5 different flavoured mochi I have been eyeing to buy for weeks  at Coles Warringah ( unavailable at Coles Chatswood) but have not actually purchased to try until today as I know they are full of dairy. They need to be kept frozen otherwise they turn into molten mochi which I found out on my way home. I ate all of them  as soon as I got home. A molten mess of chocolate, mango, green tea, coconut & black seasame.

Nice hot cup of tea tv and prepare for an earlier start tomorrow. Including packing my lunch.

Friday 6th November 2020

Myer 10.30 am - 5 pm ( scheduled lunch break 2 pm - 2 45 pm)  - original shift on Kronos as at 24th October 20 changed to 10 am - 5 pm checked Kronos on 28th October 20. Checked Kronos again on 30th & 31st October 20.

Left home at around 8 am in order to get to work by 10 am. Maybe I can get myself some proper breakfast when I arrive. Nope no time but I did buy a black sheer top and cardigan from H & M for wearing to work before I got a text message on Whats App group chat of the 50% off regular priced block black preferred dress ( ie staff uniform) available to team members every day of the week from the team leader today - too late your clothes are too expensive and I just don't have time to shop at Myer and besides there is no black in the clothes I like!

One of the newbies is stealing all my customers and sales. She seems to not only chat a lot but I have caught her out twice for not getting Christmas trees for customers. Last time she  ran up to me and asked if I could get a customer a Christmas tree when I was with a customer. The second time today I retrieved a customer's Christmas tree from storage who had a trolley full od ornaments as well. Instead of waiting for me to come back and put the rest of the ornaments through for the same customer, she decides to put all the ornaments through as a sale for herself. This was my customer not hers. If she wanted the sale she should have retrieved the Christmas tree for the customer herself. You can't just pick the easy things to do.

I caught this team member stealing my customer's sales another 2 times today. The first time I asked her where the piece of paper was for the customer hold I had written out which also had my team number ID on it and placed on the back counter with the customer's items to be purchased - I had shown her how to do another team member's sale and she claimed it was 'misplaced'. The second time I caught her out doing the same thing she only put my team member ID in for the first item and not the rest of the items into the POS system when I had instructed her peviously that she had to enter it in for each item when I had spent a lot of time assisting the customer with their purchase.  I said she had to put mt team member ID # against each item not just the first one. You can't just stand behind the counter and chat all day and then put other team member's sales through as your own when you haven't actually done anything to assist their customers. I told another team member who also was complaining about the new team members chatting and not actually doing any work. I really hate this and just because they are younger it's not an excuse. they are at Myer to work not socialise as they are being paid to work therefore unfair to other team members if they don't pull their weight.

No Myer One sign ups, no customer orders because it's usually an unavailable product or they want it now. I am still asking customers if they wished to round up and donate to charity but I a m not asking every single customer as it is getting busy. I only received one customer who did not want to donate their 1 cent to charity when they were asked.

I still don't have a green giftorium lanyard but I do have my own apron now ( I have written my name on the back of it like everyone else has). One for my archives which will be good to write a message on the back of as 2020 has been a year like no other.

I actually managed to make the 5.30 pm 280 Chatswood bus today which is a miracle since I did not finish with my last customer until 5.10 pm before punching out and grabing my stuff from the staff lockers.

Saturday 7th November 2020

Myer 9.30 - 2 pm - original shift on Kronos on thh 24th October 20 changed to 9.30 am - 3 pm on Kronos on 30th October 20. Checked Kronos again on 31st October 20.

I left home around 7.30 am on the 144 bus and just missed the connecting B Line bus in front at Neutral Bay Junction. It is another 11 minutes before the next B Line arrives so I hope on the Cromer Heights bus and ask if it stops at Warringah Mall. Yes it did but the driver looked to see if the next B Line would get me there faster - not on this ocassion. I arrive at Warringah Mall before 9.30 am which leaves me time to have a Bacon & Egg no cheese light oil McMuffin for breakfast before work.

Every team member and their dog showed up to work today in Homewares and half of them were not actually working in this department. 

No myer One sign ups today and no orders. Almost every single items I searched for on the Ipads for a customer was out of stock - a big problem for customers. I was telling customers if they found something they needed to purchase it now and not wait until the last minute as there is going to be a shortage of eg kitchenware towards Christmas.

I still asked customers randomly if they wanted to donate rounding up of purchases to charity and customers still wanted to but I only asked mainly purchase round ups of under 5 cents. 

I have not seen any bob bons - I am wondering where they are as customers are wanting them.

I hope I am wrong but I swear a customer that cane in looked like a customer I served recently who came in and purchased a double bed electric blanket and we checked that it was a double bed and she said she eould ger her daughter to help her put it on her bed. I even put a purchased at Myer sticker around the handle. The lady came back with her daughter today and exchanged it for a queen bed as it was the wrong size claiming she didn't read the size. Aparently i didn't serve her another team member did. It could have been a different lady that looked very similar to her or I didn't serve her at the register, just help her with it before moving on to another customer.  Hopefully she purchased the correct size in the end.

There was a really cute gay couple of guys that came in to buy a Christmas tree and baubles along with a tree toppee star. They were a bit of fun to serve. Dragging boxes of Christmas trees from the dock is hard work especially if they are the 210 cm ones!

I Almost forgot to write about the following customer. This is a great example of how online technology has failed at Myer once again. A customer ordered online 3 x protect a bed pillow protectors as they were not available in store. Their order was cancelled not once but 3 times so I had another look for the customer to confirm that Myer Warringah did not have any of the pillow protectors they wanted. There were only the bamboo ones left and the customer did not want them as they take ages to dry. I suggested the mini Jumbuck pillow protectors and there were 3 left but they were probably 3 times the price aa they were wool cotton and were not on sale. The customer wanted some compensation for her cancelked online orders so I asked a manager who was on that day by ringing her for a discount authorisation. The first attempt on the landline she did not answer so I used the Electrical drpartment manager's mobile to call her and a 30% discount was authorised by her. The customer decided to buy all 3. The customer was happy with the 30% discount although I was surprised she wanted to purchase all 3. Great. I just mentioned to them how wool is cool in summer and warm in Winter and to ensure they read the washing instructions. I do love a wool cotton combination quilt myself and have had one previously and have a spare new one in my storage facility. So hopefully another happy customer. They also had some gift/return cards to use as well. 

I actually managed to complete a till reconcilliation today however was distracted and the first time i completed it I was $20 under because i forgot I had a cash sale then did it agasin and was $20 over so it should balance out.

Just checked Myer Metrics - What only a 9/10 from one customer  feedback today? My standards must be dropping however overall Myer only received a 9/10 as well so not a bad customer feedback score overall.

After work I went back to Witchery and purchased the black baby doll dress I had been looking at for a few weeks to wear as a work dress and that I had put on hold yesterday. It was on sale for $100. I paid for it and picked it up going straight home afterwards on the 280 bus then 144 bus. It was a long wait for connecting buses on  Saturdays.

Sunday 8th November 2020

Day off.

Thank goodness it's the end of another week!

I am so tired. All this travelling to and from work and ensuring I get to work on time and getting home late as well as fitting in all the other things I have to do is really making me tired. If I didn't have to spend so much time checking the constant changes to my shifts on Kronos and making notes in my diaries of every single change all the time as well as having to read and check Myer metrics constantly, I would not be so tired. By the time I get to work for each shift, half my time is remembering to get up at certain times in order to get certain buses in order to get to work in time , constantly checking ( almost daily)  if my shifts have been cancelled or start and finish times changed or new shifts added and reading and checking the Myer Metrics to avoid being harassed by management for not reading it. I can't even get left alone at work for wearing my name badge too low down. I almost lost it twice whilst on the floor when I was wearing it higher up as it kept flicking off  and getting caught on something and end ending up on the floor - a safety risk so I wear it down lower around my lanyard which seems to now not fall off or get in the way ( other staff do it so why can't I?). The lanyard itself is a safety risk as it gets caught in the cages especially when you are moving stock therefore I put it in my back pocket with it slightly hanging out as it is bright orange so it is very visible against the black "uniform" we have to wear. Everyone got a "Giftorium" apron and lanyard to wear - where was mine? Always the last to get one and I had to ask several times. Even the Electrical department manager gets to wear one! Yesterday he was asked to work in Homewares to help out and actually enjoyed working there and he liked wearing the apron as well - he said it makes him feel important wearing one. ( he couldn't tie it up himself though - none of us can properly due to it's design - the apron is one of those styles that criss cross at the back and loop through holes at either side with 2 snaps connecting each strap to the apron at the top so we all need help tying each other's aprons up.) Yep typical Myer where this is yet another example of how the simplest things in life are definitely not the best!

Today I intend to catch up. I plan to put my Christmas tree up today. Done before 11.30 am. It took longer then i had planned - least a few hours. It's not quite complete but close. I would have liked another garland of poinsettias which I found at Daiso yesterday but there were no more left. Maybe there may be one at another store. The garland is just the right size but a little short. They are also plastic but that's ok as I can't find any paper or solk ones and has little hooks and eyes so you can join garlands together or attach the garland around the Christmas tree. Maybe a few more snowflake or coloured lights would be good too ( unfortunately these are plastic too but tiny) . A few Christmas ornaments are still missing as they are buried deep in my storage somewhere. My tree needs some metal bells but 3 things that I will not put on my tree are real or plastic candy canes, plastic baubles and religious symbols such as angels as well as any other plastic ornaments. There is one rogue bauble I have on the back of the tree ( out of sight) which was from the manager of my previous job and came with her batch of short bread she makes and gives to us for Christmas very year. There will be no short bread this year for me.

I slept most of today because I am not feeling the best and am quite tired. I still have to make lunch for tomorrow. I did not get anything done today and did not venture out eventhough it was quite a nice day outside today. No rain but slightly windy and still a little cold.

I receive a message on Whats App Group Team Chat to check Kronos - you guessed it shift changes yet again. Yet another cancellation of a 4 hour shift on Wednesday 11th November 20 with the addition of shifts no more then 24 hours for the following week as well as a change on Saturday 14th November of department - there is now an "X" next to it.

Another message from the team leader to ask if everyone has watched the Mcast on register security - of course I watched it but didn't respond. All transactions put through are being watched to stop thief or team members taking advantage of  processing unauthorised discounts and refunds to customers. This is the reason why I won't even process a discount refund return or exchange without receipts or authorisation from a manager. Myer must have a huge problem with theft.

My Christmas tree is now almost up so photo below ( not my best effort at photographing it).

Possum has been reunited with his old friend moosey or is he Rudolf the reindeer under the Christmas tree?


End of another week.







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