Monday 5th April 2021
Day off
Easter Monday
Yes I did venture out today instead of doing my laundry.
I had to recharge my Opal card and get some groceries again as I had almost no protein or fruit left.
I even managed to make a healthier version of hot cross buns using a recipe I found in the latest edition of the Woolworths magazine. I modified it a little as I didn't have some of the ingredients and substituted them with other ingredients eg I don't like and didn't have fruit mix so used candied mixed peel and glace cherries which I cut up. I didn't have maple syrup so substituted it with dark Manuka honey. I used instant oats instead of rolled oats as I didn't have any and added dark chocolate chips to the mixture. There is no oil in the recipe just dried yeast wholemeal flour ( I didn't have any plain wholemeal flour so used self raising wholemeal flour instead) , vanilla paste, Speckulaas ( I had this instead of mixed spice) and milk ( I had non lactose milk). That's it no eggs and no butter. To glaze I used some left over fig jam instead of maple syrup or honey. They were delicious! One for lunch tomorrow. Baking sometimes is all about improvisation but only to an extent though.
Not much else happened today.
Tuesday 6th April 2021
Day off
Not anymore new shift added to Kronos 2nd April 2021 8 am - 4 pm stock only
I didn't have lunch until 3 pm today and by the time I finished lunch, it was almost time for me to go home but of course I did not finish until 4.25 pm because I was intercepted by a customer about 3.55 pm just before I was about to leave which put me back a little finishing off a cage of products I did not quite finish before lunch. Luckily it was a very small amount of stuff I had left to put straight out onto the floor and not squeeze back into the reserves.
I actually took a really full cage of kids toys and clothes out onto the floor today. It looked easy to put out but it is actually really time consuming as there was one box of kids sizes 3 - 8 white printed t shirts and each individual t-shirt was sealed up in a hard plastic sleeve! The rest of the coloured printed t shirts and leggings were batched into a box in one soft plastic bag unsealed . The toys were just stuffed animals easy to display although they shelves needed a tidy up. Then there were all the Harry Potter cushions and bedding sets as well as all the Friends cushions and bedding sets.
There is still too much stock - the floor is unable to take it all and the reserves are bursting at the seams with stock and therefore there are cages of excess stock on the dock in cages again.
The customer service manager was absolutely no help at all. She forgot what she had to tell me and just told me some useless information of how we have run out of room for the Hertiage stock - oh dear ! We ran out of room weeks ago. Who's stupid idea was it to move all the Heritage stock to the tiny former click and collect reserve?
Next she leaves unfinished stock laying around - today she left a whole bunch of artifical flowers on the photo frames display table and there was the top of a pot stand missing in the home decorator area.
The third most unhelpful thing she told me today was to advise me to move a whole lot of cashmere dinner sets back to the dock as the sale was over to make more room for the individual pieces of MW Rapsody range I was putting out. I said that I didn't put them out and said that she knew I didn't but to make room and move them back out to the dock. The most illogical thing - besides not having time to do this - Did she really expect me to be lifting and moving a whole shelf of heavy boxes of dinner sets on my own when I didn't put them there in the first place? and where in a few days time will be likely to be moved again back to the same spot on the floor?
Last Thursday the S & P rep was at Myer merchandising her displays and asked me to place some "sample" cloches over her scented candles. She advised me that they were her samples and that Myer had not purchased them therefore they were not for sale . There was a full box of them so I advised her that I would get yellow stickers and stick them on all the boxes and cloches advising team members and customers they the cloches were for VM only not for sale - even writing "VM only not for sale" on all of them. The second S & P products that she advised me about was the bamboo plant/pot stands. She had taken them all off the floor as they had a bug infestation problem therefore needed to be recalled. She advised that there will be a formal communication of this which did appear on MComms in the last few days. Again I communicated this to 2 team members in advance of this Mcomms together with the cloche situation.
Covered in cardboard today by lunch time, my allergies are so severe today. The dust dirt and bits from all the cardboard did not help. There seems to be a pattern everytime I travel away from Chatswood North to where there are more trees as well as working indoors with air conditioning , my allergies are triggered - and yes it rained again today. I was wearing my mask as usual but the mask has seen my lungs get better but my skin and eyes are 200% worse. Antihistamines no longer seem to work.
4.20 pm punched out took the next 280 bus back to Chatswood straight home ( after finding out that there was no Service NSW store or concession inside Warringah Mall to inquire about the Dine and Discover NSW vouchers)
Wednesday 7th April 2021
Myer 8 am - 4 pm stock only new shift added to Kronos 27th March 2021. Checked Kronos 29th March 2021 no changes to shift.
It's raining yet again. I'm at the staff entrance/exit waiting to be let in again. I ensure I have punched in prior to 7.55 am on my phone most of the time now.
My allergies are still quite severe. Mainly my eyes. If the skin around my eyes gets irritated so do my eyes.
Stock stock & more stock. The customer service manager was of absolutely no help to me today. There is so much stock coming in, it does not fit on the floor or in the reserves therefore it sits in cages on the dock building up yet again - which means if they have no cages left they are stuffed. That's just poor planning again.
I wanted a break from Homewares so merchandised a few cages of kids clothing and accessories, toys and luggage today but returned to Homewares a few hours later. Kidswear is not easy and takes time as some items of clothing are individually wrapped and have to be size sorted sometimes before putting out onto the floor. Why are there so many different fittings? Everytime I go into the now locked fixtures and fittings room to find a particular fitting for a particular fixture I always find the incorrect one because some of them are so specialised they are hidden within the departments - today the Sprout brand baby section was an example, the particular fittings were stored by the previous VM team member in one of the draws in the Kidswear department not in the fittings and fittings room and same with the Shoes & Sox brand who have their own in the back room.
I had quite a few customers coming up to me to ask for help. I mostly direct them to the appropriate department but sometimes I have to serve them because "There is no one at the counter to serve them" - how many times have I heard this at a Myer store! Nothing has changed in the now 8 - 9 months i have been working at Myer.
I don't get why Myer does not just put more team members on the floor!
Thursday 8th April 2021
Myer 8 am - 4 pm stock only new shift added 27th March 2021. Checked Kronos 29th March 2021 no change to shift
This was the type of thing the customer service manager said to me today which is a total abuse of managerial powers " This is my department and I can do what I want" . Is this how the rest of Myer operates? I hope not.
There was a lot of text messages popping up on the What's App Group Chat - a few of them a little inappropriate. Like blaming people for anything that goes wrong.
Today a new casual team member from from the Review concession downstairs aporoaches me to ask if there was anyone that could show her where the lift was to the mezzanine as she had to get some clothes from the reserve to take back downstairs on the ground floor to restock. She was not confident in taking the lifts to the Mezzanine floor as she mentioned that she had lift phobia and was advised just to ask someone how to get to the reserve. I offered to escort her down to the appropriate reserve and to give me a mi ute to put my bundle of t shirts down in the Kidswear section. I had not seen this casual team member before- she was dressed in black but had no name badge so asked her a whole heap of questions. She did have the code to the reserve written down so I took her to the reserve via the passenger lift as we did not have a rail and walked her to the women's reserve which was ready open as there were other team members from different clothing concession brands in there collecting stock. I waited outside for her - she was taking a long time and the assistant manaber5 spotted me asming me if I needed the code to get into the women's clothing reserve- I advised her no and that I was just waiting for a new casual team member from Review who I had not seen before as she was still had not received her name badge as she had a lift phobia. She told me that if someone is "unwell" she should be advised about it in case something happens whilst they are under Myer's employment. She tgen went in to check on her before coming out of the reserve and asking me to ask for tge team members name and to get back to her with it so she was aware of who tbis new concession team member was. After the assistant manager left I went into the reserve to check on how she was doing and help her with the stock. She had a rail but was unsure how much to put on it. We ended up filling the rail as it wasn't heavy just awkward to move along and around the rabbit wardens corridors of the mezzanine of Myer where the reserves are. I had to stop and wait s few times and even pick up some cardigans that had fallen onto the floor off her rail. I escorted her down to the ground floor in the goods lift explaining to her that no rails or cages are allowed in the passenger lift and asked if she was ok and was advised yes as she will sign off on the ground floor so she will not have to go back up to the mezzanine in the lift. I left her and headed back up to the first floor in the goods lift and reported back to the assistant store manager with her name and department. Done. I question how management could not know who new concession team members are.
I was surprised that team member "ticket girl" was called in at the last minute to do stock with me today. Probably because the other VM team member was off on holidays for 2 weeks. She was lucky she escaped the night shift ie late night Thursday shopping - her brother was doing the shift. I caught her putting too much stock and misding stock to be put out so corrected it. I could get the stock out off the shelf she had put out because it was too fully stocked. Done.
Home on the 280 bus to Chatswood but I needed some more laundry money so withdrew some money and purchased a $5 Japanese curry from one of the food market stalls for dinner. Done
Home to prepare for tomorrow's day trip to Melbourne- yep I am still going! No sleeping in tomorrow.
Friday 9th April 2021
Day off
Day trip booked to Melbourne to see the Triennial @ NGV. Must leave home at 5 am in order to get to the airport by 7.30 am. I hope there is no trackwork today!!!!
I am due to arrive around 9.35 am in Melbourne and depart at 7.45 pm for Sydney.
Well no turning back now. After waking up at 4 am and ensuring I left enough time for a taxi or alternative back up plan to arrive at the airport in time for my 8 am Virgin Australia flight, I leave home around 5.30 am and wait for the next bus to St Leonards Station before boarding a train to Wynyard and changing onto another train for the Domestic Terminal at Sydney Airport. It is meant to be a short trip between Wynyard and the airport however upon arriving I find that the next train to the airport has been cancelled due to a some accident at Granville station. This was announced not long upon arriving at Wynyard Station - I panicked a little as the next train service was not until another 30 minutes with no alternative transfers. I run up the stairs to ask a train officer how do I get to the airport as the next service has been cancelled. He advises me that the there is another service in about 30 minutes however he was unsure if that service was cancelled as well - gee thanks for making me panic even more. He then suggested I take the next train about to arrive on platform 5 to Central and catch the train to the airport from there as all airport trains run via Central. Best decision - I managed to get to the Domestic Airport Station by approximately 7.10 am.
Was I anxious about taking my first domestic flight in well over a year hence I made it only a day trip Sydney Melbourne return. If I had taken the train I would probably hsve gone for a weekend however it was a little cheaper to fly with the other transfer costs and due to school holidays all sleepers were booked out. So what was I anxious about besides missing my flights? Snap boarder closures and getting stuck in Melbourne, catching COVID and catching anything , having to quarantine for 2 weeks etc etc, clamping legs, blood clots, allergies from the air conditioning and my skin drying out severely - we haven't taken off yet and I'm already feeling my skin dry out around my eyes and neck! You can't move around much in a plane - much more comfy on a train but no chargers or Wi-Fi!
This plane is jam packed and what's with the excessive carry on luggage! I predicted correctly when I said to the check in staff member that I wanted to check in my small bag- she said that I could take it on board with me if I wanted to and put one in the overhead locker and one under thr seat but I said to her that I didn't want to take up too much carry on luggage space ( give it to someone else instead). Check in luggage was included even with the lowest fare! Way to go virgin Australia. They didn't even weigh carry on luggage. I predicted correctly not only was the plane fully booked, there was a shortage of carry on luggage storage space as some people had too much carry on luggage. What happened to the 7 kg limit specified in the terms and conditions? The flight departed and arrived as close as possible to the specified times. First little incident after boarding the flight, a mother with her 2 year old baby was seated in the middle seat next to me. She was really cute but really squirmy throughout the 1.5 hour flight. The mother did everything to calm her. Even giving her snacks and water in a sippy cup. Ah the sippy cup - I don't know how this happened but somehow a spout of water spurred out of the sippy cup hit the overhead locker above me and landed all over me. I have never seen a sippy cup do that! Just as well it was only water even the mother was surprised when it happened.
Landed in Melbourne with a thump on the tarmac and I headed straight to the baggage claim then onto the Skybus ( I had prepurchased a return ticket) .
Arrived at Southern Cross station coach terminal and headed to Hungry Jack's near the Woolworths Metro not the other one for breakfast due to previous bad service experiences. This time the same bad experience - every single time I get breakfast at hungry Jack's in Melbourne something bad hapoens. This time I asked for a breakfast wrap which contains avocado egg bacon lettuce and tomato. I grab what I thought was a breakfast wrap take just one small bite and find it was a sausage and egg wrap - Where was the tomato? I walked all the way back to return it saying this was not what I ordered and where was the tomato being advised it was inside. I then said that no it was not and this was not what I ordered. Reluctantly the crew member took it back and my order was remade. it took a while but I spoke to the manager and advised him that everytime I come to Melbourne to get breakfast from Hungry Jack's something always goes wrong.
Because it took me so long to get to the Melbourne CBD, I had to eat breakfast on my way to the NGV down the other end of Melbourne's CBD. I barely took 1 bite out of my breakfast wrap and was struggling with the piece of bacon in my mouth as it was so overcooked before a seagulls swooped from behind me and snatched my entire breakfast out of my hand from behind. If you have read my previous blog this happened to me inside Southern Cross Station previously however this time the seagulls came from behind - people walking by were just as shocked at what they just witnessed as I was. The seagulls didn't even eat it , just tossing it aside. I was so angry I tossed the remaining paper bag in my hand on the floor and walked off trying to find an alternative breakfast. I found a Seven Eleven a walk away nowhere near the station and decided on a hot vegetable pasties instead. It tasted much better and it was hot unlike the breakfast wrap. It was a cold morning so the pastie was a nice warm treat. Onto a tram and walk to the NGV.
I am going to rate the NGV a solid 1/10 for wasting my time. It does not matter how good an art exhibition is , if the customer service is not present it spoils the whole visit or experience.
So much to write about but my battery is not fully charged.
This day trip had everything and I don't think I will be flying to Melbourne again for a while. Every possible disaster happened as soon as I landed - incorrect breakfast order that I complained to the manager about which was replaced but was so inedible that a seagull swooped down over me ( again! Refer old blog of similar incident) inside Southern Cross Sation as I was walking grabbing and knocking my entire replacement breakfast wrap from Hungry Jacks out of my hand just after I had taken barely one bite from as shocked witnesses walking past looked on. I ended up finding a Seven Eleven and purchasing a vegetable pastie which was much nicer and hot to eat. This wasted an hour of my time. I ended up arriving at the NGV a little after 11 am and lined up before finding out that if you already had a ticket you could go straight to the entrance with a shorter queue however when I got to the entrance my ticket would not scan and I was told to come back at 12.15 pm. I had previously messaged the NGV and advised them that I was having trouble going online to purchase tickets and going on a day trip from Sydney to Melbourne to see the Triennal and was advised not to worry there were plenty of tickets at the door to get in. So they told me I could purchase another ticket but thete was a huge queue and I asked if I had to line up again. So then I was told to see one of the staff members and they said they would get me another ticket when I explained what happened. She took so long I asked another staff member who was the supervisor who went to find out what was happening and finally came back with my ticket citing printer problems. By the time I finally entered the NGV it was around noon. So all that time wasted, I could have just turned up with my original ticket and gone in.
I did not read up on any of the artists but I am sure some of them have already had works in previous exhibitions eg VIVID Photos below.
Art That Were My Favourites
Art For The Kids (And Adults)
I had to stop at my favourite snack stop and purchase my usual dark chocolate custard filled churros from The Spanish Churros food concession above Southern Cross Station across from the horrible Hungry Jacks . We just don't have these types of filled churros in Sydney. The best you will find are just rolled in cinnamon sugar or dipped in a side pot of chocolate sauce never filled with creme brief, strawberry cheese cake or custard enrobed in chocolate even a triple chocolate churros ie chocolate filled dipped and enrobbed.
This was a quick day trip and everything that could go wrong went wrong. I caught the skybus back to the airport but my electronic ticket with a QR code on my smart phone would not scan, it took about 4 tries before it would scan. Then when I got to the airport to check in, I asked for assistance to print my bag tag as I already had a boarding pass. I go to the automatic bag drop machine and my bag was too light so would not scan therefore I had to do a manual check in - just as well I was early and my flight was delayed. At the manual check in I was asked if i had another bag tag - nope only one was printed by the Virgin ground staff from the self check in machine. I go to the gate after passing through the security screening gates - so good not carrying any aerosols or a laptop as you casn zip straight through. I had also removed all my sharp objects and placed them into my checked in bag ( eventhough I could have taken it on board with me) . I look at the departure board and see the flight has been delayed. I walk to the gate and again it is announced that the flight has bern delayed. I don't know when we actually boarded but I boarded through the overhead tunnel onto the plane when I should ha ve gone down the stairs and bo added via the ba co of the plane - it was cold and dark and no one else was using the stairs to walk across the tarmac and up the other set of stairs to boatd via the rear of the plane. I booked an ask me seat so it doesn't really matter.
Not long after ascending, there was a medical emergency - the lady in seat in front of me was in pain and needed an oxygen mask so a tank of oxygen was bought to her. Fortunately a doctor was seated next to me and moved from her seat to examine her. People seated in seats acrosd from her were moved to make room for the doctor to sit next to the lady and monitor her for the rest of the journey until we reached Sydney where an ambulance was contacted to meet her upon arrival. I think her stomach was causing her problems so she was escorted to the bathroom and back. I had to move and my bag under my seat moved to the overhead locker above as they needed to strap the oxygen tank underneath the lady's seat so it would not move on descent. Hopefully she does not have COVID - we all had to wear a mask the entire journey both to and from Melbourne to asnd from Sydney.
Finally landed in Sydney unaware of what time it was. Collected my bag and went straight to the train station.
Home on a train to Central changing onto the North shore line to St Leonards then a walk across the road to catch the next 144 ( the longest wait however there were others waiting for the same bus) home arriving home just after 11 pm.
Saturday 10th April 2021
Day off
So nice to be ablke to have a deep in today.
Catch up day as I did not arrive home until after 11 pm last night.
I did 3 full loads of laundry and am still catching up on my blog as I have just uploaded 7 videos of the Triennial @ the NGV in Melbourne wonton my YouTube channel. The Triennial closes next weekend to make room for a major new exhibition The Impressionist I think it is called.
A moment in history the passing of Prince Phillip. When I saw and read the news feed online I could not believe it. I thought why was there a tribute to Prince Phillip? He is still alive - I read the article of the love story between the Prince and the Queen before seeing the news on tv. It was real he had indeed passed. I think back to the conversation with the store manager of Myer who is of English months back when I was being a bit cheeky and asked him "So does Prince Philip get a letter from the Queen when he turns 100?" - I guess the answer is now unfortunately no.
Sunday 11th April 2021
Day off
Checked Kronos again and I hardly have 2 shifts again the following week - both on stock.
No comments:
Post a Comment