So today is cleaning day, and that is why I blog, mostly to postpone the inevitable. Thankfully there have been no more poo incidents, but for the past 2 days, the dog has thrown-up in the basement. I cleaned it up yesterday, only to wake up to more vomit this morning. I am currently in the process of desensitizing my brain to its nastiness so I can start to clean it up. This is not the only reason why I am cleaning today. My parents come home this week on Wednesday, and I need to make the house look like I've cared for it regularly over the past few weeks. They read this sometimes, so I guess the secret's out. It's not too bad, it's tidy, but it needs to get clean.
I decided not to feed the dog this morning until she starts bugging me for food. If she's sick, I dont want any more of her messes around the house.
Ok, that's enough, I should get to it. At least this time half the mess is on the linoleum.
Boersma
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
The Grouch
It was around 5:15 at The Right Shoe today, a time less than an hour before closing where we get a lot of people just coming in to browse. I approached one lady who seemed to be studying the shoes more carefully than the other customers were, which was enough evidence to show me she was not a browser but a shopper. I approached her and asked her if she had any questions. Sure enough she did. She told me about the Merrell hiking shoes she had purchased before and how their insole had the best support for her foot and that nothing else had better support (which I believe is a little flawed - in an arch support war I think Birkenstock would be the hands-down winner). However, this time she was not looking for a hiking type shoe but wanted a bit more of a dressy sandal that she could wear to the office but also take long walks in. Ok, so my task is to find a comfortable dress shoe for her...can be done. She shot down some of my ideas, but managed to pick out one she liked. I was about to grab her one in her size when another customer who had just walked in stopped me to ask me a question. The other girl I was working with was upstairs at the time dealing with a customer on the phone, so it was just me on the floor with about 4 people in the store, so naturally I listened to the other customer's question.
The other lady was looking for a sandal for walking for a trip she is going on in the fall. She wanted to know if the sandals would go on sale before then of if she's better off getting them now. She told me the brands that were recommended by her podiatrist at Paris Orthotics, and I told her those brands don't go on sale very often and if they do, it's because we only have the "extreme" sizes left like 6 or 11 and she was a 9-1/2. I was on my way to just point out where she should look for the sandals when the other lady I was helping stops me and says, "Excuse me, but I was here first." And I was like, "yes, I realize that." What else do you want me to say, really? Then she said, "aren't you going to grab me my shoes?" And I responded with, "yep, I'm getting them, I'm just showing this lady where to look, but I'll get them in a second." With that, the lady slipped her shoe back on and stormed out of the store, leaving me completely flabbergasted and the other lady who had come in after felt so bad. She turned to me and said, "I'm so sorry. I lost you a customer." And I just said, "Don't feel bad. If that's her attitude I don't want to help her anyways. What am I supposed to do? I'm the only one down here. I can't ignore everyone and just focus on her. It's not your fault."
I had to reassure this lady several times that it wasn't her fault and that I don't want to deal with people like the grumpy lady anyways. The other lady was much more pleasant to work with.
I think I just don't understand where the grumpy lady was coming from. If I'm in a store which clearly has more customers than sales associates, I don't expect to be waited on. If the sales person quickly stops to guide someone else, that's fine. That is their job and it is also more efficient for sales if you can grab something for one person while the other is looking for things they like in the right section. If I didn't guide the second lady where to go, she probably would have picked out some sandals that weren't good for her feet and I would have to correct her and show her what would be better and why. If I can avoid that first step and show her what to look for, she will pick out good footwear that I can grab for her thus avoiding the step where I explain to her why the shoes she picked out are bad. It just seems logical to me. In my opinion, the first lady had no right to storm out like that. Well, "right" is not necessarily the best word, maybe "reason" would be better. I think she was being completely irrational and needs to stop being so selfish. I hope I never run into her again, but it's hard to say if she'll ever be back. With that attitude I hope she doesn't come back.
The other lady was looking for a sandal for walking for a trip she is going on in the fall. She wanted to know if the sandals would go on sale before then of if she's better off getting them now. She told me the brands that were recommended by her podiatrist at Paris Orthotics, and I told her those brands don't go on sale very often and if they do, it's because we only have the "extreme" sizes left like 6 or 11 and she was a 9-1/2. I was on my way to just point out where she should look for the sandals when the other lady I was helping stops me and says, "Excuse me, but I was here first." And I was like, "yes, I realize that." What else do you want me to say, really? Then she said, "aren't you going to grab me my shoes?" And I responded with, "yep, I'm getting them, I'm just showing this lady where to look, but I'll get them in a second." With that, the lady slipped her shoe back on and stormed out of the store, leaving me completely flabbergasted and the other lady who had come in after felt so bad. She turned to me and said, "I'm so sorry. I lost you a customer." And I just said, "Don't feel bad. If that's her attitude I don't want to help her anyways. What am I supposed to do? I'm the only one down here. I can't ignore everyone and just focus on her. It's not your fault."
I had to reassure this lady several times that it wasn't her fault and that I don't want to deal with people like the grumpy lady anyways. The other lady was much more pleasant to work with.
I think I just don't understand where the grumpy lady was coming from. If I'm in a store which clearly has more customers than sales associates, I don't expect to be waited on. If the sales person quickly stops to guide someone else, that's fine. That is their job and it is also more efficient for sales if you can grab something for one person while the other is looking for things they like in the right section. If I didn't guide the second lady where to go, she probably would have picked out some sandals that weren't good for her feet and I would have to correct her and show her what would be better and why. If I can avoid that first step and show her what to look for, she will pick out good footwear that I can grab for her thus avoiding the step where I explain to her why the shoes she picked out are bad. It just seems logical to me. In my opinion, the first lady had no right to storm out like that. Well, "right" is not necessarily the best word, maybe "reason" would be better. I think she was being completely irrational and needs to stop being so selfish. I hope I never run into her again, but it's hard to say if she'll ever be back. With that attitude I hope she doesn't come back.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Success
Well, so far no other problems with the dog, hence the title of my post. I've been taking her for extra long walks so she does her business, but I also enjoy exploring new routes in a neighbourhood I've lived in my whole life, so it's win-win. It's amazing how certain streets can be overlooked, only to be traveled 22 years later. I love my neighbourhood. Quiet streets, lots of trees, and plenty of ditch space for the dog to poop. It's great.
I played for the Jen VanHove/Joel Nagtegaal wedding today. What a beautiful day to have a wedding, it was gorgeous. This is just the first of a couple other weddings this summer, and I love it. It's like I have a gig. I get to showcase myself for 30 minutes before the service, without being too obvious, so it's more my style - up front, but not drawing excessive attention to myself. It feels so intimate, and to calm the nerves a bit, I like to pretend I'm just sitting in my parent's living room at the old piano playing my heart out and praising my God for the gifts He has given me. The next wedding is not till after my finals, and it's in Ontario, so it will be nice to have a bit of a holiday in a lesser-traveled part of Canada for me, and to see family I haven't seen in a while. A bunch of Boersmas together - this could get rowdy.
Classes are going steady for me. I wrote my last midterm for the summer yesterday, and now I don't feel like doing my homework, so I blog. I am also procrastinating walking the dog in the heat, so I blog. I probably should be watering the flowers, but I blog instead. :) This semester is going by incredibly fast. If the next two go by as fast as this one has, I'll be a graduate before I know it - with no idea of what I intend to do with my degree. Is it this hard for everyone? A lot of people I've talked to have it all figured out, the next 5 years at least are all mapped out already. Part of me is envious, but the other part knows that's not my style. I take it one day at a time, and I need to trust God will show me what I am supposed to do in His time. As for now, I finish my studies in Kinesiology at SFU, and move on to bigger and better things. Music perhaps. We'll see.
As for now, I need to water the plants so not everything is dead when my parents get home. So far the dog is still alive, and I think my chances of keeping her around are pretty high. For the vegetables, the zuccini are coming up in full force and appearingly on steroids :O. I caught the dog eating an apple from the tree the other day. Judging by her face, it was not quite ripe yet, but she ate the whole thing, after playing with it thinking it was a ball. Ok, that's enough, I think the plants are dying, time to save some lives.
Boersma - Plant hero extraordinaire
I played for the Jen VanHove/Joel Nagtegaal wedding today. What a beautiful day to have a wedding, it was gorgeous. This is just the first of a couple other weddings this summer, and I love it. It's like I have a gig. I get to showcase myself for 30 minutes before the service, without being too obvious, so it's more my style - up front, but not drawing excessive attention to myself. It feels so intimate, and to calm the nerves a bit, I like to pretend I'm just sitting in my parent's living room at the old piano playing my heart out and praising my God for the gifts He has given me. The next wedding is not till after my finals, and it's in Ontario, so it will be nice to have a bit of a holiday in a lesser-traveled part of Canada for me, and to see family I haven't seen in a while. A bunch of Boersmas together - this could get rowdy.
Classes are going steady for me. I wrote my last midterm for the summer yesterday, and now I don't feel like doing my homework, so I blog. I am also procrastinating walking the dog in the heat, so I blog. I probably should be watering the flowers, but I blog instead. :) This semester is going by incredibly fast. If the next two go by as fast as this one has, I'll be a graduate before I know it - with no idea of what I intend to do with my degree. Is it this hard for everyone? A lot of people I've talked to have it all figured out, the next 5 years at least are all mapped out already. Part of me is envious, but the other part knows that's not my style. I take it one day at a time, and I need to trust God will show me what I am supposed to do in His time. As for now, I finish my studies in Kinesiology at SFU, and move on to bigger and better things. Music perhaps. We'll see.
As for now, I need to water the plants so not everything is dead when my parents get home. So far the dog is still alive, and I think my chances of keeping her around are pretty high. For the vegetables, the zuccini are coming up in full force and appearingly on steroids :O. I caught the dog eating an apple from the tree the other day. Judging by her face, it was not quite ripe yet, but she ate the whole thing, after playing with it thinking it was a ball. Ok, that's enough, I think the plants are dying, time to save some lives.
Boersma - Plant hero extraordinaire
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