Seems the petition for our store to change wage levels went through the organization, and actually went above and beyond what we were hoping for. We are now getting the same wages as the State College stores, which means my angst with working where I do has been almost eliminated. Now, instead of driving 20 miles and getting paid less, I'm just driving 20 miles, which is something I can handle quite easily. Additionally, the pay for Assistant Managers (which I will soon be) has been increased dramatically, so I will start seeing some nice paychecks in the coming months.

Other than that, things have been pretty boring. Dan's gone for two weeks, and Chris was gone for the weekend, so I've been by myself quite a bit. Chris is leaving for Poland next weekend, so I don't see the trend stopping anytime soon. Luckily, I've been working quite a bit, so I'm keeping myself entertained in some way.

Tonight at work, there was someone from corporate offices riding on the delivery truck to come around to the stores to take a look around and see how the stores are run on a more intimate level. Quite ridiculous, and quite impeding, since we were already running with one less person than we probably should have had. Turns out she was Steve Sheetz's personal secretary, so she wasn't just some nobody who wanted to ride in a big truck. The truck driver seemed none-too-enthused about having her tag along for the evening, so I suspect she will be found in the freezer in one of the State College stores till he got done with his route.

Our manager conducted a series of interviews with potential hirees yesterday, and will likely be hiring three of the four people she met with. Hopefully, we will soon have a few more intelligent people working at the store, though I somehow suspect that, like every other round of hiring, we'll get one decent person out of the group along with a bunch of people who will merely add another rejected job to their history. It would be safe to say I've lost my faith in people in general. Luckily, all the potentials are younger, which is fine with me since they're less set in their ways.

That is all for now.

Having said that...

It's really about time that this employee was shown the door, as most of the other people have really been pissed off by all that she's been getting away with that none of us would even consider pressing our luck with. The fact that she finally got what we all felt was coming to her really did a lot to lift the spirits of the entire store. I honestly think that the fact that we all knew that none of us would have to work with her (or cover a shift for her) again lifted a lot of the tension that has been floating around the store lately, which will hopefully start a process by which we can all have fun at work again (which has not been the case for quite some time). The only difficulty is that she is still on the schedule for the next 3 weeks, so we will have to figure out how to get people to work those shifts in the meantime.

Thankfully, my manager was going through and setting up quite a few interviews today, so we will hopefully soon have some more people who will show a bit more dedication to the job (and thus be able to keep it). Additionally, it seems as if she's interviewing quite a few younger people, which is fine by me since I think the shifts go better when they are being worked by people who don't have the worries of a family to sidetrack them, and who are used to disappointments. Being indifferent and cynical about the world around you is a quality that can go a long way when dealing with the public.

We went to Chambersburg tonight, and I've come to accept that towns which I once viewed as "significantly bigger than Waynesboro" are now "significantly smaller than State College." I'm fine with things being put in perspective, but it just seems really hard to come to terms with the fact that the world you've lived in for 19 years of your life suddenly seems so small. I'm not ready to go for broke and move to L.A., but I'm beginning to see the advantages of living around more people (and the disadvantages of living around fewer). From the backwoods to the bright lights...

On a brighter note, I did see Krystle for a few minutes today (for the first time in over a year), which, aside from being awkward, was actually quite enjoyable for me (though I'm sure she was probably counting down the seconds till she could get away from me). It brought back a lot of good memories, which have sadly been pushed to the back of my mind for quite some time. Ah, the good ol' days; how I miss them so...

I actually had a good day at work yesterday, which is the first time in quite a while that I've not wanted to stab out my eyes out of aggravation. It's amazing how much more enjoyable that job can be when you're working with enough of the right people and can actually have some fun between the mad rushes. However, I doubt the trend will continue today, so I'll likely be looking for the scissors around midnight, or so.

I have already repaired many of the broken links on the pages, though I undoubtedly still have a ways to go. Additionall, I have changed the links to other pages on my site to open within the same window, rather than opening another window (which I remember having a reason for doing, but I forget what it was). Hopefully, this venture will be a little bit cleaner and well though out than the last one.

Additionally, I am hoping to add some new features to allow this to serve as more of a journal than a random collection of my thoughts. I would like to ensure that I am writing down (in some form) the things I would hope to not forget and eliminate the crap that's really inconsequential.

Last Sunday, I fell off my bike (as noted in the previous post). Not wanting to break a newly-established pattern, Tuesday, I fell off my bike again. I got a few hundred feet out the front door, peddling full speed in the highest gear on my bike (i.e., going about as fast as possible), approaching a turn, when a bug (or similar-sized UFP (Unidentified Flying Particle)) found its way into my right eye. No problem, I'll just use the one good eye I have left and slow down, right? Wrong. At that point, something also got in my left eye, which left me without any way to see, thus leading me into the bushes and then into the sidewalk. Results: one-by-four inch scab on my elbow, a probably bruised tailbone, a swollen butt, and a sore back. It's been 5 days and I still have a hard time sitting in the same position for more than a 15-20 minutes at a time. Not a good sign.

One of my classes is essentially over for the semester, and I'm almost done putting another out of the way. I've got another week-and-a-half and this set of classes will be a thing of the past. After that, I'll have a week off before I start into my summer classes, which run in two sections of six weeks each. That's more within the grasp of my attention span. After this summer is over, I should only have 19 credits to go till graduation. Yippee, and stuff...

The weather here is seriously beginning to piss me off. Friday, it was sunny and in the lower 90s. Saturday, it was raining and in the lower 60s. Makes it sort of hard to figure what to wear and what to do. Thankfully, I'm stupid and stubborn and went for a bike ride on Saturday about 20 minutes after it got done raining, resulting in my being cold, wet, and dirty. Gotta do something to keep life interesting, I guess.