Monday 4th January 2021
Myer 9.30 am - 5.30 am new shift added to Kronos 25th December 2020. Checked Kronos 29th December 2020 no changes to shift.
Change of shift at work and on Kronos 31st December 2020 by customer service manager and also remindeed by the assistant store manager on the same day!
I did so much merchandising of stock today it's not funny. That's "merchandising" which is different to and is not "visual merchandising". There was nothing visual about it just a need for excellent spacial awareness skills. I know what I would do if I had the chance - a " Watch me pull the tablecloth from under the....." ie break all of the stock on the display tables so I don't have to see it ever again.
I had put in my leave request on 1st January 2021 and it still has not been approved except I get a ranting long text message on the whats app team group chat about the porocedure of leave request etc. I've written my texted my leave request to the customer service manager already way in advance ( I wanted to for the rest of the year but managers here can't even think an hour ahead let alone a day a head) and I've written it up on the planner which no other team member has done. I thought we weren't allowed to take leave on the dates blacked out but a lot of other team members have and it has been aporoved. It was a lso stressed on the Whats app team group chat nobody is allowed leave on the 9th February - who said I wanted leave on the 9th February 2021? 9th of July 2021 was one of the dates I wanted leave if the customer service manager had read it correctly and the 9th February is not a blacked out date on the planner/calender since it's been up ( yes the same one behind the cupboard door that has been there since before Christmas has not changed that no other team member has used AND that my name was left off on!) It seems one rule for everyone else and a different one for me. Myer is not getting away with it - I won't swap my shift with any other team member I will just take it off and any other leave I need off for any prepaid bought forward events I had that were cancelled due to COVID last year. As a long suffering shareholder of Myer I want my "pound of flesh" back off them and I have been patient enough time again for my " no more Mrs nice guy" - there has been too much giving and no receiving from Myer.
Now onto something that happened today which in no way makes up for the way Myer operates in general. I had just sat down to have a quiet lunch by myself in the staff lunch room. An hour of peace and quiet to eat my yummy lunch I had prepared only to be interrupted about 10 minutes into it ( after a team member from Kidswear finished up her lunch and left) by the customer service manager who ( and I am not exaggerating) plonks herself down in the chair next to me at the table not even social distancing herself from me (and I happen to not be wearing my mask as I am alone and eating!) with a clipboard , a series of questions and my name ( very likely incorrectly spelt) scribbled at the bottom of it. First 2 things that came into my mind simultaneously were
1. What have I done to get me into trouble this time?
and
2. Is this one of my monthly staff evaluations - odd time to have one as I haven't had a one on one with the customer service manager for months now.
Nope neither , I was not in trouble and it was not another one on one with the customer service manager ( I am sure this will return once metrics are taken seriously again).
So what was this all about? - not my leave request that's for sure, that hasn't even been considered. I told the other 2 team members in Homewares - stuff it I'm taking it anyway after writing it on the planner calendar ( still can't work out why other team members can ask for leave at the last minute approved and I can't when I give notice -I'm not exactly taking weeks off just a day or few days here and there.)
Ok getting back to why I was so rudely interrupted during my lunch break by the customer service manager. She wanted to nominate me for Tuesday Talent I think that's what it is called. Oh great! I think some other team members are going to have a laugh at this one. The customer service manager wanted to put me forward to be nominated - a group text message has already been sent out to "like" me on the Whats app team group chat. The customer service manager put me forward to the assistant store manager to be nominated because she thought I had done a lot for Myer ( yep I sure have but I still want my leave requests approved and my "pound of flesh" as a shareholder from them!) . Is she serious? - 5 months at Myer and I'm wondering why I have never made the Friday Favourite despite having good sales figures and customer feedback which is a much more serious nomination then the Tuesday Talent. Tuesday Talent does not get anywhere near the amount of recognition Friday Favourite does ( if Tuesday Talent even gets any - except you have to have your photo taken just like the Friday favourite does and stuck to a wall not seen by any customers). Who's going to "like" the Tuesday Talent especially now when it is DEAD! I suppose there is nothing for management to motivate other team members so a manager just decides to nominate a random team member for something anything although she did say I deserved it. I told her my first award at McDonald's over 3 decades ago was a customer service pin and that means so much more to me always has and always will then this Tuesday Talent which comes and goes with no tangibility attached ( and I still have this customer service badge from MacDonalds in my storage somewhere archived.)
After lunch ( which I did not even continue with after that as it took away another 15 minutes of my lunch I went back to the merchandising of stock in a frantic bid to finish it all! A massive job but I had a lot of help from a team member from VM who was absolutely fantastic. We both said that we were not staying back to finish it but we managed to actually do almost all of it and I just need to finish off a few bits and pieces on the wall to the table. It looks really neat and tidy. She says she thought the customer service manager was going to come back and help us - she never did , she started one wall left stuff off it and broke a few large plastic lolly jars. That was her helping us out!
Gail force winds, torrential rain and extreme thunder storms was what I was faced with when I finished work at 4 pm today. The mall was soaking wet in areas being an indoor outdoor mall you could even feel the rain in the indoor sections of the mall. I thought I had missed the 280 bus to Chatswood which I saw just turn out of the mall's sheltered bus stop to the outside car park but less the 15 minutes later another 280 bus arrived. So questionable for being Tuesday Talent. Oh and you don't get anything for it so I am going to not take it seriously either.
As soon as the bus arrived at Chatswood the rain had almost stopped. I went for yet another quick shop for groceries. Besides purchasing some turkey breast fillets, bottled sparking water and other bits and pieces, I purchased the following. No time to bake a roast lamb with all the trimmings including mint sauce? No problems Smith's Chips have released a limited edition Lamb & Mint "flavoured" Chip. Now I am not a fan of chips and don't eat packs of them but I saw this row of Lamb & Mint chips on sale at Woolworths and thought I would give them a go. In the past I have tried one or maybe two of Smiths limited edition flavoured chips - I think Peking Duck may have been the last flavour I tried. So what did I think of the Lamb & Mint flavoured chips? I can taste the mint but there does not seem to be any mint or lamb in the ingredients on the back of the packet hence my usage of the word "flavoured". If a product says it a Lam & Mint chip but is not actually made of or from lamb and mint but only made to taste like it - shouldn't the product have the word "flavoured" on the front of it's packaging - even better with the words "artifically" or "naturally" included with it - I get it - it's all about taste and marketing - who cares what's in it as long as it smells looks feels and tastes good but not good for you. Nobody wants to buy a packet of chips that says "Lamb & Mint Chips Artificially Flavoured Flavoured" and without containing or being made from real lamb and/or mint they can't exactly be labelled 'Lamb & Mint Chips Naturally Flavoured" by law. Rating 7/10 There is nothing really special about these chips. It's not a product I would purchase again even if it was a non limited edition.
photos below
Tuesday 5th January 2021
Myer 10 am - 5.30 pm new shift added to Kronos 25th December 2020. Checked Kronos 29th December 2020 no changes to shift
Shift changed 8.30 - 5.30 pm on Jronos 31st December 2020 at work by customer service and assistant store manager. First hour stock rest of the day floor (service).
Up at 3 am catching up with blogging.
I give up today was just shit! Don't even want to talk about it.
Another change to tomorrow's shift from 10 am - 5.30 pm to 8.30 am - 5.30 pm to help out with stock so it will be 8.30 am - 10 am stock then the rest of the day on the floor as a last minute request from the assistant store masnager and store manager. They asked if I could start at 8 am - DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT, I'M NOT DOING TOO MANY EARLY STARTS. EARLIEST I AM STARTING IS 8.30 AM I ADVISED THEM!
There was one very sweet thing that happened today and that was a certain team member from VM saw how I had been nominated for Tuesday's Talent and gave me a museli bar ( one of my favourite brands Sam's) for achieving it. I am going to treasure this ( Don't even think about it being a crush he is far too young for me and born in 1984!) . Being Spanish his English is quite good but I joked about teaching him English snd he teaching me Spanish when we were talking about what being Tuesday's Talent actually means - it's for everyone that does not have sales metrics and how in my case I am a what he described as a "hybrid". ( yep I am exactly that at Myer although his English pronunciation was not quite correct the noun he used was spot on). I told him that I don't think Spanish will be of any use to me as my friend is from Brazil and I don't think they speak Spanish.
I wouldn't mind matching team member ticket girl up with team member VM although he may be a little old for her. He is sweet though and she is too.
I can't believe team member "ticket girl" only had a 3 hour shift today when there were heaps of tickets to take down and new ones to put up. Poor team leader was given a rant of why she had not put all the tickets up and I could not help much as I was serving customers and pulled away to do stock. Do managers not get that I don't actually enjoy doing stock? It's merchandising not visual merchandising! There is a difference. Merchandising get the stock out on the floor as quick as possible in a neat way. Visual merchandising make it look good ie add some frufru.
6.08 pm still waiting for the 280 bus to Chatswood.
How bizzare. As the bus crosses the Roseville Bridge, it starts pouring with rain but the sun is out. Yep pouring with rain all the way to Chatswood.
Sorry blog crashed again.
Another stop off at Woolworths Metro Chatswood for a grocery shop as I won't have time to cook a meal except prepare lunch for tomorrow. I have been meaning to try a few products for a while now. One is Sam's Apple Crumble Museli Bar ( photo below). It's my favourite brand but I usually stick to cherry chocolate or brownie flavours. I do like an apple something so decided to try the Apple Crumble bar this time round ( not on special by the way) and for dinner prawn dumplings from the hot takeaway section. Yep I am allergic to shellfish but I don't care anymore as I just took an antihistamine as my eyes were itchy watery my nose runny and I had a wet cough again. A rash is starting to come up too. I just can't shop in supermarkets. It's got to be something in them that causes my allergies to flare up. Going to Coles and Woolworths seem to affect me more then Aldi. I can spend quite a bit of time in Aldi and not start coughing I think it, maybe the cleaning chemicals they use or their air conditioning or maybe just unsanitary environment.
Ok so what did I think of Sam's Apple Crumble. After finishing my prawn dumplings I opened a museli bar and tried it - not my favourite taste a little artifical - will stick to Brownie or Chocolate Cherry! Rating 7/10. Postscript I gave one of these to the team member on his birthday who gave me a peanut flavoured one for being nominated for Tuesday Talent. He does like the chocolate ones like I do but he thinks this one is ok not his favourite flavour. ( Damn it! He already has a partner (although I am unsure if it is a he or a she) so there goes my plans of match making team member "ticket girl" with him and he is almost 11 years her senior)
Home on the bus. Prepare for yet another day of stock tomorrow. I am already so tired - stock duties coupled with early starts and late finishes take a lot out of my little body. If I work 4 days straight I need the entire other 3 days to recover. So tired. Lunch prepared. Straight to bed again.
Wednesday 6th January 2021
Myer 10 am - 5.30 pm new shift added to Kronos 25th December 2020. Checked Kronos 29th December 2020 no changes to shift.
Not anymore! 8.30 am - 5.30 pm see above last minute change from after 5 pm yesterday.
So I was suppose to be on stock from 8.30 am - 10 am then on the floor from 10 am - 5.30 pm but most of today was on stock but I did keep a constant eye out for any customers waiting in line to be serve.
I even managed to sign a customer up to Myer One but forgot to scan the barcode to confirm that I had done so AGAIN! ( refer previous blogs) and asked random customers but not all customers if they wanted to make a donation to the local charity which customers are willing to still do. I also started informing customers how from February 1st 2021 Myer will start charging 15 cents per plastic bag where apparently proceeds will be donated to charity - I really question this, yes it it great that Myer will be doing this but unless I see evidence that ALL the proceeds or donations are actually being received by the charities and not lining Myer's pockets then I am remain sceptical about this initiative. ( refer previous blogs about how Myer Metrics charity figures were appearing for a while then disappeared - so where did all the donations go? )
Lots of conflict on what I have to do today. Such a lot of non communication. There seems to be so much conflict between managers and I seem to get caught in the middle of it and I'm not the only casual team member who has mentioned these conflicts - others have also told me from the beginning when I first joined Myer as a casual team member how one manager wants you do do something but another manager wants you to do something else. I only want to provide the best customer service & product knowledge possible and work as a team with all the other team members. All team members are so nice to work with and about 90 % of the custoners ( there will always be the 10% of ratbag customers who shoplift, have no respect of the store's merchandising, are rude or constantly pestering about discounts or sales etc ) are lovely and really appreciate the customer service if not just mine.
So if I am rostered on stock duties, I am technically under the assistant store manager but if I am rostered on customer service I am technically under the customer service manager. When I am a "hybrid" or rostered on for both on the same day or even worse when both the customer service manager and assistant manager are rostered on the same day there is a a major conflict. A constant pushing and pulling - if you have read a previous blog of mine when I was blasted by the assistant store manager for leaving my "repricing" duties to measure up and take notes of a display for the customer service manager who got blasted for "eating into her budget" you will understand what I mean and it is still going on just as there is constant conflict between the customer service manager and team leader in Homewares where there is a handover between the two however one is always accusing the other that the handover list had not been done upon their return when one had been told to ignore the other's handover by the assistant store manager and as a result I am caught in the middle of it again. If i've done it already - it's done and dusted ( which it had been).
I know what I have to do today and complete tomorrow so I'll just do it. Move the Vue photo frames neatly which had been started for me onto shelves closer to home decore and continue with the cages of new Vue organic stonewash sheet and quilt sets which I had decided to display on 2 walls near the other Vue sheet and quilt sets as well as separate the white Vue sheet and quilt sets onto another set of display stands. I did this until I finished my shift.
Caught the 6 pm 280 bus to Chatswood. The team leader from Electricals was on it as well. Stopped at Woolworths Metro for yet another grocery shop - I need to eat a lot more now that I am pushing heavy loads of stock in cages and constantly climbing up and down step ladders and loading and unloading stock. Sheet & quilt cover sets sure are heavy - you don't realise how heavy they are unless you have a queen king or super king bed!
Home on the bus eat & sleep and I did not bother to pack my lunch for tomorrow.
Thursday 7th January 2021
Day Off Not anymore.
No new shifts added to Kronos as at 25th & 29th December 2020.
New shift added 31st December 2020 by customer service manager & assistant store manager.
Myer 8 am - 4 pm I guess I am on stock again!
I finished what I was doing yesterday it the Vue photo frames and wall of Vue organic stonewash sheet & quilt sets before doing what needed to be done by the customer service manager which was go down to the hard reserve and clear it out by putting a whole list of things onto the floor.
List complete. I crossed off all the things to come up from the hard reserve off the list after merchandised them all onto the floor.
Lunch at 2 pm then I will just bring a final cage of stuff out from the dock. End of my day.
After lunch I only had an hour or so before i finished my shift at 4 pm so managed to get 2 cages or so of stock out onto the floor paying attention to the second cage of stock were the display table tge stock belonged on was a shocker. It was a Maxwell Williams display table full black and white oven bakers. I tidied it up and restocked it with what I had from the cage as best as I could as the store manager the previous day knew I was good at my stock but wanted me to step it up a level and make the store "look nice" .So I am but always have been. Aparently Myer has floor plans and standards which I have not seen therefore I have gotten into trouble for my attempts at merchandising ( another example of miscommunication).
Just checked my Kronos and I have no shifts beyond next week with quite a number of shifts cut next week. I can't keep up with all the changes - I asked for just 1 day off 23rd January 2021 - it's not as if I asked for a week off and it kicked up a stink. Another team member wanted to take a day off for his birthday and a stink was also kicked up. He was already working today on his birthday but wanted the weekend off - he was right in saying we are casuals it's not as if we can't request leave. Yep even casuals are allowed to take leave. I think Myer adopts the Chinese 996 work culture which is not the Aussie work norm.
5 pm and I just arrived back at chatswood on the 280 bus and its raining and a bit cold again! Really bizzare weather this Summer in Sydney.
I log into Myer Metrics and read anything important. 6 likes and 1 comments I can see from team members for being nominated as Tuesdays Talent. I appreciate team members comments and thank them but I would still prefer to be Friday Favourite . I saw this Fridays Favourite a lady from the Electricals Department and liked her and congratulated her online as soon as I saw it. I can't be accused of not reading Myer Metrics on my days off this time! Done.
Friday 8th January 2021
Day off
Finally. Not planning to venture out today as it is a life admin day today.
Up at 6 am and first thing is watch the news on chanbel 7 and prepare myself a proper hot breakfast of noodles, pieces of beef steak and brocolli. Yum!
Bills paid today membership & income protection for January, mobile phone bill & Monthly offsite storage all done.
Organise my laundry to be washed and dried. I need to get more change (coins) for the washer and drier before I can do my laundry ( hopefully I don't have to find a spoon in one of the draws and use it to scrap out someone's over filled solidified large clump of laundry powder left in the dispenser before I can fill it with liquid laundry detergent & sanitiser)
Prepare a bag of empty bottles to be taken to be recycled at the local earn and return convenient store in Chatswood for next time I venture out.
Another general grocery shop to be done maybe tomorrow.
Take the rubbish out. Finally done.
Fortnightly reporting to Centrelink online. Although I am no longer getting JobSeeker payments, I still continue to report any income online as I know my shifts will be reduces to almost nothing in February March after stocktake. If I stop doing this I will have to wait another 3 months before I maybe be able to get any JobSeeker payments again. Done.
Deal with what I can do with my apartment in Whistler which I am unable to travel in this year due to the COVID ban on international travel at the moment. I have tried to list it on Air BnB already ( pricing is different as there was no option to customise what I wanted to charge).
To any of my readers out there that are able to travel to Whistler ie local residents of BC ( without having to self quarantine for 2 weeks) on Friday 15th January 2021 - Friday 22nd January 2021 and would like to stay in my apartment for that week for CAN $250 - yes a whole week in Whistler in a 1 bedroom apartment with mountain views close enough to walk to the lifts & everything else but far enough from the village not to hear all the noise in exchange for writing and submitting a detailed report for me. Please feel free to forward your details to me via my comments. I will review and contact anyone that contacts me. Criteria : non partying , mature responsible honest singles or couples welcome, unsuitable for kids ( apartment with balcony high up), non smokers only, no pets allowed, security deposit required as bond for keys and passes required not to me but to check in front office, underground parking available ( maybe additional cost and must provide rego number to check in office), no candles allowed , must be able to write and submit a detailed report in English of apartment's condition during their stay & all it's communial facilities eg lifts, pool hot tubs & gym to me . Please note there is no check in desk or front office check in on site of property. Check in is down the road at another property's address. I have also posted on my Facebook page. Photos were posted on AirBnB and there are a few photos on Facebook. Photos are also on my previous blogs.
Saturday 9th January 2021
Day off
Still feeling really allergic but I need to venture out today. Dishes done last night as well so there is nothing left to do except grocery shopping for essentials return bottles for recycling and get some change for laundry.
With all these COVID clusters popping up, I am a little afraid to go too far out of Chatswood but would like to visit something that is on at The Australian Maritime Museum and something else that is on at Carriageworks sometime during the Festival of Sydney.
Have not ventured out today and have been trying to book tickets on the Sydney Dance Company website again to attend a virtual class to l earn the routine at 5 pm - 5.45 pm today for the "I Want To Dance With Somebody" Sydney Festival event. If i can't log on today I won't get a chance to as I am working on all the other days the classes are on at. I have been trying to get on for a few weeks now and same error message pops up even with a temporary password given to me by The Sydney Dance Company.
I tried so many times to book a class and almost gave up in the end. I even closed any apps on my phone that were open and changed over to my spare phone. Failing again to log in I downloaded the mindbody app and after several failed atrempts finally managed to sucessfully join the free online class via Zoom 5 minutes before it was due to start!
I should not have had to download the app in order to book a class online. I should have been able to go directly to the SDC website to buy tickets and book a class. I don't want extra apps on my phones nor do I want my personal information given out to third parties.
The 45 minute class was interesting and the routine quite long. I won't know if I can remember it until I get to the location I want to participate in it ie 23rd January 2021. I plan to have a bit of fun with it at Macquarie ice rink during a mega skate session. I hope it won't be too crowded to do the routine.
I snapped a photo of the free class via Zoom. There was some information that popped up on the screen towards the end of the class however i could get my phone out in time to capture it as a photo.
Sunday 10th January 2021
Day off
Another do nothing day. I still have not ventured out.
Bottles returned and I got some money for the laundry.
I decided to go shopping at Chatswood so caught the bus there however I spent almost all of my time at Chatswood Chase and no time at Westfield. The Coles is larger at The Chase and I also had a look around Kmart.
Christmas and New Year are barely over ( with Christmas stock still on clearance in stores ) but the hot cross buns and eggs are already out for Easter and have been since after Christmas in supermarkets, the cards and gifts are already out for Valentines Day, the flags and paraphernalia are already out for Australia Day - the only things missing are Chinese New Year and Anzac Day! We could not wait for 2020 to be over but now it looks as if we can't wait for 2021 to be over as well!
photos below
k so on my shopping list besides tissues toilet paper paper towels ( where coles has also now imposed a 2 per customer limit after Woolworths did) and antibacterial wipes there was brocolli laundry sanitiser laundry liquid berries shallots yakault spinach dark chocolate baking chips crackers and museli bars. I originally wanted to try Coles brand ultimate salted caramel and 40% chocolate chip cookies but put them back opting for Carmans dark chocolate cherry & coconut nutty delights mini bars. They are mini for a reason and on sale for $4.50 a packet of I think 8. They are really hard and not chewy or sift like all the other full sized museli bars I have tried. It is like a mini toffee bar but they didn't taste too bad. I think I want a second one. I did toss up between this packet of Carmans and the similar packet of full sized Sam's choc cherry bars which were cheaper but chose Carmans as it was Australian Made & Owned and had better proportion of quality ingredients. Rating 7/10 not my favourite bar.
photo below
I forgot to add something to this blog so am adding it in now. School holiday activity for kids and adults. Pop up VR experiences at Chatswood Chase lower ground floor. Photos below but will upload a video onto my YouTube channel.
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