life: expressed

Wednesday night, I closed at work with a few other people. Our last customer had over $200 worth of merchandise and claimed that his wallet was stolen. After he wrote his name down, I remembered him from last fall when he pulled the same act (though this time his wallet was left at home). My supervisor agreed to hold everything until the morning, and I wrote a lengthy note for the manager as to what the deal was.

I called in yesterday afternoon to find out if I had my birthday off, and asked about the guy and his stuff. Lo and behold, he never showed up to buy it. Just like the previous time.

The results of dealing with him Wednesday night was not getting out of work until nearly 10 pm (it should be 9:30), and some pretty upset coworkers. There was much cursing after the guy was led out of the store.

Is there a name for this type of behavior? Because seriously, why spend 3 hours at a store, make the cashiers ring all of it up, and then not have the money to pay for it? And, then claim that [you’ll] have a fit if it’s all put away the next morning before he can get there to pay for it. AND, then not show up anyway.

There are customers who shop for hours and have huge carts full of stuff, but at least they pay for it and take it home with them.

I wonder if he’ll be banned from the store.

Today was productive, even if it didn’t seem like it very much. I learned new things today.

I learned that if one wants to record a video, it is usually helpful to install the webcam software.

I learned that one way to freak out my husband is to leave the camera on and pretend it isn’t there.

I learned that until I understand the idea of embedding video, I’m better off uploading to YouTube for now.

I learned how to hook up the headset I found on my husband’s side of the bedroom and record my voice. Podcasts, here I come!

I learned that it is good to get up out of the chair once in a while, lest one doesn’t hear the very soft knock of a Jehovah’s Witness trying to give away literature.

I learned that I let off some rather snarky steam when I’m relieved. [context: I’ve been waiting for a week to find out if I would get my birthday off from work, because it is my weekend to work, so I can attend the VAST concert in St. Paul.]

I learned that asking the opinion of others is better than beating your head against the wall when trying to come up with an ad.

I learned that calling someone to request permission is a good segue into getting another cover from them for a future issue.

I learned that by asking, whether directly or indirectly, for help when money is tight can be a good way to strengthen a friendship. Because of this, I am trading an ad for an ad to promote ITAK, as well as getting a little closer to working on my Associates Degree. It is also the reason why Orlok is attending the VAST concert with me.

I learned that sometimes it is better to plan the budget then let it sit for a couple days (and spending time with your spouse) instead of planning and going to get everything finished right away, and not relaxing.

I learned that sometimes it is better to ride things out instead of reacting right away.

I learned that there is such a concept as drinking too much milk.

I learned that woman can not live on Cheez-its alone.

I learned that sometimes it is good to turn off the alarm and sleep in (even if you wake up early anyway).

I learned that sometimes it is good to go to bed early and snuggle.

Incredibly bad video. However, it is my first one, so be nice. I’m still learning stuff.

Disclaimer: my husband makes a brief appearance in his Guinness boxers. (he does generally try to avoid the camera.)

Disclosure: I work as a cashier full-time at the location referred to in this article.

Discarded goods land at Goodwill

Text for posterity:

By Frank Lee fclee@stcloudtimes.com

Published: March 25. 2007 12:30AM
WAITE PARK — Kim Clubb sits at the crossroads of the fashion industry even though it may not look like it, given the gray, brick exterior of the Goodwill store she manages.
Clothing donations at the second-hand store spike during the weeks before school starts as fashion- conscious children and their trendy parents look to clean out their closets.
“And as you go from Christmas to spring, you may see a heavier fluctuation of sweater and winter-type things to make room for spring clothes in their closets,” Clubb said.
Garage sale season typically starts in mid-May, but warm weather will drive the date earlier in the calendar year, and the season usually ends around June.
“When a garage sale is done, and an item hasn’t been sold, you’ll see they’ll come to Goodwill with a donation,” Clubb said.

Quality
Shoes, purses, belts, swimsuits, gowns — you name it — chances are the nonprofit has carried it at one time or another, along with goods such as electronics, tools and housewares.
“The quality and condition — that’s all we base the acceptance of items on — not whether it’s something I would wear, I would like or something I think is just hideous,” Clubb said.
Items such as weapons or those on product recall lists will not be accepted by Goodwill, which sorts donations into apparel and “everything else,” such as dishes, books or toys.
“The clothes that meet our quality and standards are put to our pricing station, where they are hung, tagged and placed on the sales floor,” Clubb said.
Stained, torn or shoddy clothing will often not be accepted but sold to “salvage markets” that find a use for them.
“We throw no clothing in the Dumpster — unless it is wet,” said Clubb, who added the base retail prices for apparel, such as jeans for $6.99, are set by the Goodwill corporation.

Sales
More women’s apparel than men’s is dropped off at the Waite Park-based store “because women seem to change their style and go through clothing more,” Clubb said.
“I enjoy the job — meeting all kinds of people who come through,” said Cody Giles, a Goodwill employee.
Clubb estimated 20 percent of the clothing donations the Goodwill in Waite Park receives are deemed unacceptable by its standards and turned over to salvage operators.
“Stuff is on the sales floor for three weeks. After the third week — for two days — those items go on sale for half off, and the third day they go on sale for $1.29,” Clubb said.
“And if after that third day, they haven’t sold, they get pulled off the sales floor and get shipped to our Goodwill outlet facility in the Cities, where things are sold by the pound.”
Goodwill Industries, a global network of community-based organizations, reported that in 2005 retail sales accounted for $1.64 billion (or 62 percent) of the revenue generated.
“I’ve seen a brand new wedding dress with the tags still on it dropped off here, and the person just said, ‘I don’t need this,’ which was by far the weirdest donation,” Clubb said.

Full circle
Jaci Talberg rolled up to the Goodwill Donation Center’s and dropped off a bag of baby clothes that once belonged to her 4-month-old son who was born in November.
“I was a single mom for a long time and came here and shopped, and now I’m just trying to help someone else like Goodwill helped me,” said Talberg, who recently got married.
The 27-year-old personal care assistant and registered nurse is from Santiago, about 20 miles east of St. Cloud, and wanted to help others who may be on a budget.
“And a bunch of the clothes I just dropped off came from Old Navy and Gap — the kind of clothes that are fashionable and wanted,” Talberg said.

So. Yesterday, I was in the midst of editing categories on this site, and the pages refused to load. I took a look at my modem and it wasn’t being as blinky as usual. I reset the modem twice, and still nothing. I called Charter, and it still didn’t work. I decided to take the modem to the local office and trade it in.

As I was leaving, I found this little door-knob flyer telling me that Charter was combining the cable systems in my building. (Charter bought Astound last year, and apparently Astound’s lines are newer.) I traded the modem and spent over an hour last night re-wiring my apartment to hook into the Astound jack. There was much cursing on my and my husband’s parts.

The net still isn’t up. I’m at my dad’s store Dijital Majik Computer Clinic checking email and doing a very scaled down version of my activities. There’s a lot I want to post and comment on, especially the stuff happening to Kathy Sierra, but it’ll have to wait until I can be at home and have time to compose my thoughts.

This should be on Thursday, as the tech I talked to last night said that was the earliest he could schedule a support call, because apparently NO ONE knew about the combining of cable systems in my building. Since I have neither internet nor television, I’m considered a priority. With my luck, they’ll probably want to come earlier when I’m at work tomorrow.

Anyway, that’s the scoop. If you’re here from Twitter, I have notifications turned off because we don’t subscribe to a text messaging package. If you want to text me or call me directly, the number is 320.282.8135. I’m at work from 3-6 CDT today and 1-9:30 tomorrow night. Like I said, I should be back up on Thursday.