Bee Orchid's articles

Earlier today, we said goodbye to our beloved Ship's Dog. This morning he ate his food, went for a walk, seemed fine. After work, he was definitely suffering and seemed in pain, and wouldn't settle. We carried him to the vet's and they quickly assessed him, gave him something for the pain, and he passed away very quickly. I blubbed like a 5 year old. He was a wonderful companion for almost 14 years and I'll miss him terribly. He was a good boy, and I kept telling him that as my son and I soothed…

This week, I have been wearing my Cloak of Invisibility. This is the cloak that I wear when I want customers to ignore social distancing, and further, to advance on me with their trolley and invade my personal space to the extent that I then push my trolley to the opposite side of the aisle until this VIP has finished in that area. Not once, not twice… I mentioned it to my supervisor, and stated I was sick of rude customers the one day. Any other time, this is rude, however in this climate of Co…

This week, I was sent home early from work one day. I arrived home almost 2 hours early, much to my son’s surprise and was just in time for us to share a ‘pot’ of coffee. I toyed with saying I’d been ‘naughty’ LMAO though I knew he wouldn’t believe me, or that he’d fret. I opted for the truth: orders were down due to a cap because of a driver shortage, and there were local system errors too, so they were desperately trying to get rid of staff. The supervisor had determined how many hours or part…

This week I had a trial for the new post. It was supposed to be 3 shifts however after just one shift I knew it wasn’t the job for me; far too much responsibility, and too much to learn. Now, I like to keep my brain active as much as the next person; I keep abreast of the news, play Sudoku, do crosswords and so on, but as far as work is concerned, I’m only there to earn money to add to my reduced occupational pension. At my age, I want an easy life, no exams, and no responsibilities other than e…

This past week, things have moved along regarding a possible new post in the store. I’d already mentioned I was interested in the new job and had to apply in writing for it. Apparently, there were to be 2 posts with the hours split between them. However, the senior manager was so impressed with my application that they’ve decided to make only one post, and next week, I’ll have a trial run to see if I think I can do it. The post is similar hours to what I’m doing already, though spread over 4…

Well, that’s another week over with. I managed to do almost 4 hours overtime; it should have been more, though the one day the vans were fully packed, and we finished hours earlier than usual. The extra overtime would have been nice, though I was tired, so I’m not too bothered, and I’ve picked up an extra shift for next week. I was supposed to be on leave for 9 days though they were desperate, and I need the money, so a deal was struck lol. A colleague jokingly called me a sucker. Strange… I’ll…

Well, another year ends. No matter the year, I’m almost always glad to see the end of it and always hope that the new year will be a better one for all of us. I hope absent friends will re-join us in our iPernity community, and that we all get to see friends and family out in the real world too. Work has been okay, not too crazy, not too much overtime, and customers were, in the main, very well behaved with some wishing me a Happy Christmas, so that was nice. I’m doing my best to only do t…

This week has been really busy, and entailed me being ‘boosted’ lol, in that I had my Covid booster. It was done at the local surgery so that made a nice change. I was sat down, in a room with 2 medical professionals unlike my flu jab! I even took a plaster with me following the flu jab fiasco, though thankfully, my arm barely bled this time around. I felt fine afterwards, no side effects to speak of apart from a mild headache, though the following day my arm was so sore, and it’s spent the past…

This week, we’ve had health appointments between us. My son had an eye check-up, and his sight has improved to the extent that he needed a new prescription. Jammy! Apart from the cost, I wish my eyesight would improve, though at my age, it isn’t likely. He had new frames too and had 2 pairs for the price of one. Not as expensive as my prescription, thank goodness, though costly enough. Tuesday, I phoned the surgery and asked to speak to, or see, a doctor. I have a couple of issues and wanted…

Lately, I’ve concluded that I’m a selfish person. It’s not a nice realisation, but there it is. Saturday, I was in an aisle picking orders, when a customer motioned that he wanted the shelf I was using. I moved my trolley forward, though it transpires that wasn’t what he wanted, and he proceeded to ram my trolley with his; it seems he wanted to carry on in the aisle without having to go around me. How selfish was that of me? Joking apart, I stated, very loudly, please just wait, and I then moved…

Last week the planned overtime didn’t quite pan out in that I worked 7.5 hours overtime instead of the planned 6 hours. Phew! On top of that, I was asked, along with others, if I would work Monday too and have Wednesday off. I’m afraid I politely declined; I was beat, my feet were aching, and the thought of working 6 days in a row did not appeal at all. I’ve done it before and it’s exhausting! Mask wearing returns on Tuesday, what joy, and Sunday the store was so busy. I think people are stoc…

… bites the dust. This week I found out that yet another young colleague has left. Apparently, they’ve been off sick more than they’ve been in, and with a few exceptions, some of younger staff don’t seem to have a very good work ethic. They’re often admonished for talking for minutes at a time when they should be working and I confess, sometimes it does make me see red when I think I’m being paid the same as them though seem to be working harder. Oh well. The ones that complain about the over…

Further to my email... Gracie sent a suggestion, and using a 'Guest' account on PayPal I've managed to renew my subscription. So I'm back. You have been warned! LOL

This week, we’ve all been a bit poorly with various stomach issues. I’ve had a ‘sensitive’ stomach for days now. Not sure what I ate, but whatever it was, it’s aggravated my stomach ulcer and I’m feeling very uncomfortable. I’ve been eating live yogurt, and filtered milk, and it’s calmed a little but not much. My son told me, very late one night, that he was experiencing lower bowel pain, and another issue, and that this had been going on for days. I was cross. Cross that it could be serious, an…

This week I popped out to a different supermarket to buy some goods that are unique to this supermarket. I’d passed an old man already and had given him a wide berth as is the norm these days, however on passing him, widely, a second time he growled: Get out of my bl**y way. OMG how rude! I called out, very loudly: Excuse me? He then scuttled at some speed into another aisle. At the till, I stated that I work in a supermarket too, and was regaling the assistant with what this old f*rt had said.…

Well, so far, I’m not impressed with the company that is buying the house. I check my email multiple times a day, and Thursday afternoon had an email from the new buyers that they’re taking over the property on Monday, and by the way they want nearly £1,000 from me in bond and pet deposit. Say what now! 4 days to find almost a grand? They must be dreaming! I got on the phone straight away to the agent that we have now, and she confirms the new buyers are not going to use our current agent. She a…

This week has been mostly frustrating. The engineer ordered the cooker part, though didn’t fit it until Thursday. That’s 8 days with no main oven! The combi microwave has been very useful, though due to the size, much smaller than a convection oven, we’ve been very limited in what we can cook. I know some people simply don’t cook, but we use the cooker every single day, and the oven multiple times a week. It’s been a drag! Last quarter my energy bill was almost £80 in credit. This quarter the…

Well, it looks as if my trip definitely wasn’t meant to be this month. The petrol fiasco continues with very on/off supply. My sister has been poorly so we wouldn’t have met up much. Wednesday, whilst cooking dinner, the oven heating element blew and blew all the electrics in the house. I really don’t know how well my son would have coped with that in my absence! We’ve lived here just over 3 years, and this is the second time the oven has broken. Again, we had a sub-par dinner that wasn’t hot du…