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  • A Step Back

    - 17 months ago - 7 comments
    This week was yet another busy one, though because I was off last week, I've missed out on some of the overtime, and only managed 3 hours this week. My feet are happy, my wallet - not so much. On the plus side, I already have 5 hours booked for next week, all being well, and 3 hours for the following week already. It involves a shift change for one day though that's okay with me if it means I get extra overtime. It all helps keep the wolf with big teeth from the door. I was reading some alarm…

  • Losing my Mind

    - 06 Nov 2022 - 3 comments
    Regular readers will know that food-wise at least, my head has not been in the game recently. As per my previous blog I'd been out grocery shopping Wednesday, forgot a number of items, and had to go out again on Thusday. On Friday we were scheduled to have haloumi (cheese) 'burgers'. Friday lunchtime, and my son is browsing the fridge, and he noted we didn't actually have any haloumi! OMG. I quickly walked over to the nearby supermarket and bought the requisite haloumi LMAO. Dinner was good; sli…

  • Brand Loyalty

    - 03 Nov 2022 - 3 comments
    In the past, I've maybe been a brand snob. I've always bought Birds Eye peas, Heinz beans, Warburton's crumpets, and so on. With prices rising way faster than my salary, I've been looking at alternatives. I've liked Lurpak butter for a long time, but now, the price is just silly so we've switched, mostly, to a vegan margerine. It's pretty nice on a sandwich, though for toast, I do prefer Lurpak however I won't buy it unless I see it on offer somewhere. Crumpets are now store own brand which are…

  • Like Flies

    - 30 Oct 2022 - 3 comments
    This week, colleagues and management have been dropping like flies. Some kind of bug going around: severe sore throat, a temperature, and feeling nauseous. Nice! I've kept my head down, kept my distance, and just got on with my job. There's been a lot of overtime this past week due to staff off, and I worked almost 7 hours extra. Oh my feet know it! I did chat with one colleague who was asking where I was from, as she thought she could hear some South African in my accent. What!?! Of all the…

  • Some Sanity

    - 24 Oct 2022 - 3 comments
    Last Monday, I blitzed my bedroom, including vacuuming under the bed. I did a pile of laundry, got it dried outside, and ironed and put it away too. We had some lovely weather. I also cleaned the bathroom, and gave the kitchen a minor cleaning. That night, I slept for 9 hours! That was good, and a real surprise. Tuesday I took it a little easier lol. Workwise, I managed over 5 hours of overtime so that was good, though sleep was not so forthcoming with my leg throbbing most of the night despi…

  • Yet More Lies

    - 18 Oct 2022 - 6 comments
    Honestly, I thought BoJo was bad, but Truss? She takes deceit to a whole new level. The government had introduced a 2-year cap on the amount we could be charged per unit of energy which for many of us was a huge relief. Still expensive, though an improvement on bills costing thousands per year. They also planned for a slight cut in income tax from April next year. Now? That's all been thrown out of the window and the cap will end in April. Just watch the bills rise inexorably then! Oh, and he…

  • Brattish Behaviour

    - 17 Oct 2022 - 4 comments
    Last week was a bit of a mixed bag: My Birthday came and went, I had a couple of cards, and a nice gift from my son - useful tools for the kitchen that I'd asked for. The previous day I'd been talking with my kid sister, and she suddenly realised she'd forgotten my Birthday. I made light of it though in truth, I was deeply disappointed. For my Birthday dinner we had takeaway curry from our 'usual.' I always enjoy the meal though always 'suffer' from too much salt afterwards which apart from cost…

  • A Good Week

    - 09 Oct 2022 - 4 comments
    This past week has been a good one. We had notice that we're being given a second pay rise from November; it's not a massive rise however every little helps. They're also going to bring forward our pay review to the spring, so hopefully that'll mean more money too, earlier in the year than the usual August date. We have 'new' contracts soon, and I've gone to great lengths to notify my manager that, in the main, I want to continue doing the job I was hired to do. Missives from the union lead m…

  • Heigh Ho

    - 04 Oct 2022 - 4 comments
    ... It's back to work on Wednesday. It's been a nice break. I didn't do anything specific, abondoned ideas of a day out - bad weather in the main, though it was good. I had a nice haircut. I've been growing out the layers, growing it longer, though in truth it no longer suits me. My hair is fine, going grey - obviously lol, and all I do is tie it up and get a headache to boot, so off with it! I had about 1.5 inches off, layers put back in, and I'm much happier with it. I can, only just, tie it i…

  • Half-way

    - 30 Sep 2022 - 3 comments
    Friday marks the half-way mark of my time off. Aside from the weather, which has not been good, I've had a nice break. I've done the usual housework: beds, laundry, ironing, and not a lot else, for a change. I did some light weeding during a dry spell, and I've defrosted the fridge-freezer. I emptied it into freezer bags, removed all the draws and shelves, and gave it a really good clean. It wasn't dirty, though the manufacturer did state that it should be fully defrosted about every 18 months;…

  • Woohoo!

    - 25 Sep 2022 - 4 comments
    This week has been so busy. From Friday to Sunday inclusive, I worked almost 6 hours extra. My feet know it! I have a similar amount of overtime booked for 2 weeks hence. Orders are up, and the store has been very busy. Saturday, we were wiped out of bread. I wanted to get some after my shift, but no luck. Sunday, we had bread again, though no washing up liquid. We're running out of the unusual things such as iron water; not been any in store for months now. It seems to be down to 'supply chain…

  • Locusts

    - 18 Sep 2022 - 3 comments
    This past week ticked over nicely until Friday. From Friday through to Sunday, it was mad in the store. Like so many other places, we're going to be closed on Monday, so people were out in force buying anything and everything that wasn't nailed down; that's the way it seemed anyway. As far as the veggie aisle was concerned, it looked like a plague of locusts had descended and ravished all the goods. We're closed for one day! A few colleagues commented it was like Christmas as far as crowds are c…

  • Fraught

    - 11 Sep 2022 - 4 comments
    This week has been quite fraught. Wednesday, there were no lights on in the car park, so before 6am, I'm crossing a dark car park. I was not pleased. Then, we had no milk delivery thanks to protestors blocking the dairy. They're entitled to their opinions, however stopping people from buying milk, which legally they are allowed to, is a step too far IMO. The milk eventually arrived, however a different delivery was very late due to the HGV driver taking 90 minutes to reverse his load into the…

  • End of an Era

    - 08 Sep 2022 - 6 comments
    Today, our Queen passed away at the age of 96. She's ruled us since 1952, that's over 70 years. My grandparents, and my mother were all fans and regarded her highly. She's seen us through many turbulent times, and she'll be missed by many. I'm sure the country will be in mourning for a while. I've always been ambivalent about royalty, it's undemocratic, however I feel a sadness; she's been our Queen for all of my life. Charles will now be King.

  • Attaboy or girl

    - 04 Sep 2022 - 5 comments
    Today I heard the supervisor praising a colleague for improvements in their pick rate - we have to pick a certain amount of items within a certain amount of time. I wandered off to the next aisle, thinking I'll never get one of those. The supervisor then found me, and I was praised too! What a surpise that was. This week I've been fighting off a head cold, I think, and I just got my head down and got on with my job. It's obviously worked in my favour. I'll have to try and keep it up, and I want…

  • Uneventful

    - 28 Aug 2022 - 4 comments
    In the main, an uneventful week. I managed to work 2 hours overtime. Not a lot, however I will get 4 hours overtime for working bank holiday Monday, all being well. This will be my 6th day in a row, so I'll be shattered afterwards lol. Customers were mostly good, just the odd screamer or two - kids that is. When my son was very small, we used to shop in a large Safeway I think it was. For a small amount of money, we could leave him in a creche to play with other kids. There was no way to 'esc…

  • Trial Run

    - 24 Aug 2022 - 6 comments
    The 'trial' job did not go as planned. Friday, my manager took me to meet the staff who do the stock control. He asked the one colleague to give me some training, she declined, stating she was about to go on break. My manager asked if she could do it after her break, she stated she wasn't going to be in on Wednesday anyway, so there was no point. Friendly! My manager then took me to the stock control manager and introduced me, she seemed nice enough. She told me to find a certain colleague…

  • Free Food

    - 21 Aug 2022 - 6 comments
    This has been another busy week, with me working 4.5 hours overtime. My feet know it! No overtime scheduled for next week, so far, though I am working bank holiday Monday for 4 hours. The one day it was so boring. The system was down, so we had to go on the shop floor and tidy shelves. After 90 minutes I was thoroughly fed up, so offered my services to till work. At least I was sat down for about 90 minutes. I then checked, still no system, so we tidied yet more shelves until we were released at…
551 articles in total