...

Most of my equipment came in, and I'm pretty adjusted to things at work. The other groomers have been really nice and helpful. I quite enjoy working at times -- especially when all the groomers are there, and everyone is talking and socializing so much that it hardly seems like work anymore.
There are definitely still those moments that are less than fantastic, though. I'm daily clawed and/or bitten at, and frequently things are running behind and the phone just won't stop ringing. Then there's the difficult customers.... Yesterday we had to have a store manager come help out when a customer was livid over a price, and she ended up going away with a free service.
Today we had a dog that had major behavioral problems, and bit the groomer repeatedly. When the groomer told the owner about it, she actually laughed and went on to cheerfully tell us how many people won't groom him at all, all as if his attitude is cute. She then proceeded to take her dog and tell him in a sweet voice that she'd bought him a hamburger for on his way home...

Last week there was a plane crash just down the road. A little cropduster hit a power line and went down in a field. Surprisingly the pilot only had minor injuries, but you can see his plane didn't do as well!

work, fedex woes, moody gardens

I worked till 9:00pm last night, and groomed four dogs. I'll be working closing shifts about twice out of the four days I'm to work each week. So far everything is going fine, although I'm concerned about "mandatory meetings" for store associates, which are apparently only held on the Lord's Day. I'm going to have to talk with the store manager and see if there's any way we can work around this.

FedEx... have I mentioned how much I dislike FedEx? I'm pretty sure I did in a blog last fall. Anyway, the equipment I ordered was destined to arrive last Thursday, and it is now nearly Wednesday and I still don't have my package. The reason for this is simply that they lost the package. As you can imagine, I'm not very pleased about this. The shipper can't file a complaint until 10 business days have passed from the time the package was lost, and add on top of that the time it would take to make a new order... it could be a long time before I get my equipment. This is rather a large problem seeing I really needed it yesterday.

Mark and I met up with James and Hayley at Moody Gardens on Saturday. We went to a somber Titanic exhibit with artifacts and details about the the incident, watched a neat 3D IMAX about the Grand Canyon, and then had a peaceful ride on a paddlewheel boat.

the third thing

(see other two things in post below)
I remembered, and I didn't even have it written down!

I started up my laptop this morning, and discovered I had a trojan virus. I also had an automated-looking message I'd received while offline from someone on my MSN list, telling me I had been blocked -- I'm not sure if I received the virus from them, or if I sent the virus to them... At any rate, I've cleaned my computer, and I apologize if I infected other people's computers. Everything should be back to normal now.

first day at work, and...

I spent my first day at work today. Except I didn't really work, I just spent hours and hours in the break-room in the back of Petsmart, going over a gigantic book full of rules and policies and safety procedures, and watched videos of the same, while people came in and out and ate lunch, or fell asleep slumped over the table and snored, or sent text messages, or cheerfully distracted me from reading while they asked me countless questions. I have to do the same thing a couple more days, until I finish watching the videos and going over the book. The place is very hectic and a little chaotic, but the managers are all friendly and nice even if you can tell they're very pressured.

After getting out at six in the evening, I had to do a little running around and shopping while I was out, and guess what I saw...



...

Isn't it pretty? Nevermind the Mazda3, I think I'm going to look into a Maserati Quattroporte instead! ;P (Photo not mine of course, though the car I saw looked exactly the same.)

Well, I was certain I had three things to mention in this blog post, but despite trying and trying to remember, I've completely forgotten what it was...

a job!

Ok, I'm updating. I thought about skipping this whole post since what I'm about to say has kind of been mentioned in other places already, but I suppose not everyone will be impressed with that idea. :D

I had a job interview with Petsmart on Monday. I must say, it was not a very organized or professional interview, but it went well. I think I like most of the people (but not all of them), and I feel pretty comfortable working there. I'm starting out on Monday with "bookwork" and at some point I'm going to have a tryout groom so they know I can do the job. If everything works I will be working part-time, 36 hours a week, as a dog groomer. I'm not particularly fond of dog hair or misbehaved dogs or phones that never stop ringing, but I'm looking forward to it because it pays fairly well and I'm already trained in it. :)

I had to drive up to Houston for a drug test yesterday, which is required as part of Petsmart's hiring procedure. I then spent most of my evening working on an online order for some equipment I need for the job. The website I was ordering from wasn't set up very well, and I spent quite a bit of time getting things together, only to lose it all when trying to pay for it! I had to start over at the very beginning again. It was after midnight by the time I had it finally fully ordered, but even now I'm not positive it worked out since I didn't receive a confirmation email. :S

If the job works out I will be looking for a car to buy in a couple weeks. Exciting!! :D

(Edit: Why do all of my paragraphs end with smiley faces?)