Oops , I did it AGAIN ...

... neglected this blog, that is. Time for another round-up on my oh-so-interesting and exciting life ..... NOT!

Firstly - the fun factory. The revolving door has turned again, but this time it wasn't a manager leaving, but the deputy - Michelle. She had got a promotion to manager, and her first store ( not counting the time she was actually running our store, that is ! ). I was sad to see her go .... I quite liked her, and that now meant there was no-one left in store management-wise from when I first arrived at Eastney , no-one who knew me from the time I wasn't the Baker ... but pleased she had got her promotion. Actually, when I did first arrive at the fun factory, Michelle had just become a team-leader, like me .... it is amazing how far you can go when you are determined enough.... . Anyway, she has left, and we acquired a new deputy - Wayne. I think he had been a manager at another of our much smaller stores, but this was still considered a move up for him. So now we have a completely male management team for the first time in a good few years .... which I am not completely comfortable about, but I will get used to it. Wayne seems a nice enough person, and seems to know what he is doing around the store. I'm just waiting for the two male egos to appear ( and I'm sure they will with 2 alpha males in store - Tony and the new addition ) and hopefully not clash - if they do, it will not be a pretty sight. During this new change, Michelle's little helper has had to become Tony's , and now Wayne's little helper .... and he is even more in his element than ever. He ( that is John ) has had a small change in role. He has left the office work behind ( for now, anyway ), and has become in charge of Chilled/Produce section. This was something he had done in the past, and now he was back !. It seems his self-important head has made a reappearance too ... he is VERY good at telling people what to do! Unfortunately, not everyone likes being told what to do ... and there have been a few little niggles, but they passed soon enough. People are used to John by now, and know that is just how he is..... luckily, he has little to do with me and my little part of the store .. at the moment .... .

As for me .... my moods are still going up and down , I'm still having my eternal struggle with the waste figures ... nothing much changes. I have had my little run-ins with others in the store too. It all came about because we were short-staffed one afternoon. We are short- staffed most of the time really, but this particular day we were especially so .... people on holiday, people sick, people just not turning up. As I am generally left to my own devices in my area, and generally ignored by everyone else anyway, I didn't take much notice to all the bells being rung from the checkouts ... there is normally always someone else to answer them, and even when I do answer them, I am told I'm not needed, or they need someone else. Except, this afternoon, there wasn't someone else to answer them .... everyone available was already on checkout ... which I didn't know .... and some grumpier members of staff ( make that ONE grumpy member of staff ) were not happy about it. It was commented upon that why couldn't I go on checkout, why hadn't I answered any of the bells, after all " she is a team-leader"..... generally I was accused of not being a team player, not pulling my weight . So they finally noticed I AM a team leader then ! As I said, I'm generally ignored .... not included in the equation of the store, in the team ( or that is what it feels like at times ), why should it be any different when we are short-staffed to when we are not ?! I don't answer bells because (1) they don't usually need or want ME even when I do answer or (2) I am so tied up with the ovens I can't - it was only because others didn't want to go on checkout or run around after the bells that it became an issue. Plus the fact, Mr Grumpy ( yep, it was a bloke who was complaining ) could not even have the decency to moan to my face - he complained to one of the others on the shopfloor. Things were a bit strained between me and Mr Grumpy for a day or two .... but he calmed down and things went back to normal.
Outside of work ... my usual aches and pains appeared then disappeared every now and then, joined for a while by a foot ( or that should be an ingrown big toe nail ) that became almost too painful to walk on.
Mum and bigbrother are still Mum and big brother. I still mess around on the Jarre forum and Facebook ( after a few additions and deletions , my friend count is up to almost 30 .... the majority of them fans of the Maestro who I have never met and probably never will ... ) most evenings. I'm looking forward to next weekend, and eventually getting to see Eddie Izzard perform again ( well, I did book the tickets in JANUARY ! ), and then Christmas ( and the end of the Tenth Doctor ....), then next March ( and the Maestro in Paris ) ... you see, my life is not ALL doom and gloom !

And that is about it .... until the next time I get around to writing that is .....