Greetings once more, Dear Readers. This week in Soronos News...
What's behind YOUR Friendly Facade?
April 21 - Writing projects
Opened the store today, and it was brrrr! chilly. Seems that things in Victoria don't warm up nearly as quickly as back in Niagara... moderate all year around, which is actually amusing to me, as I tend to be moderate in most things too.
In the evening I worked on some of my writing projects, including a new children's story that I hope to have ready in a few weeks - but don't quote me on that. I have quite a lot on my plate, so finding the right balance between work, sleep, relaxation and personal projects is always a challenge for me. I've said for some time now that if I could clone myself, I would... despite the shouts of horror from those who fear puns around the world.
April 22 - Do I need a title for a Tuesday?
The morning was pleasant enough, and work in the evening wasn't so bad either. I do like the fact I can leave about 45 mins before a shift and still arrive with time to spare. I'm not sure how long it would take by walking, but likely at least that, if not more. While I like walking, I tend to do it briskly and end up working up a good sweat... which is not so good if you're about to start work for the day.
April 23 - Bus Stories
On the bus home today from a morning shift, I observed the most touching thing: an older woman, a senior citizen, giving half of her remainging chocolate bar to a young child who just got on the bus. She broke off a bit for herself to finish, and offered it to the child who took it, nodding in thanks. All of this without words, and smiles throughout. The child ate the bar happily, and the senior looked on with a smile as she finished her own portion. It was really touching.
On that note, I should mention there is a 'rainbow windmill' that I pass on Cook St. whilst on the bus. It consists of two spinning wheels, which rotate in opposite directions as the wind blows. It's the simplest thing, but it always makes me smile when I catch sight of it - I still can't recall exactly where it is on Cook St...
April 24th - Social Bullies
One thing I always mention about my job is the fascinating observation of the human condition. Today is a case in point: one part of my job is to call people and ask them nicely to come in to take care of outstanding debts. As you may expect, this provokes some to be less than polite( but in fairness, most are quite nice ). One person in particular used what I like to call 'social bullying' in responding, which I find amusing now that I am aware of it. Basically, the person turns things around on you: they don't acknowledge their debt( or errors )but instead seek to undermine YOUR sense of authority, well-being or worth. This person( who pretended she couldn't hear me on the first call and then called back when I left a message the second time )denied that she'd made an appointment( she had, earlier in the week )and then said she would "speak to my supervisor" and hung up. In this day and age of 'Customers First' this sort of tactic is unfortuntely an easy route for deflection, when the customer turns THEIR problem into a Customer Service issue, which has to be looked into by the manager. Modern corporations are far too worried about Service, which gives wily customers a HUGE lever when dealing with them. It's all too easy to 'ask to speak to a supervisor' and take the Complaint route, which again deflects the attention from the fact that the customer is the one who started the whole mess in the first place. *coughs* Anyway, my point is, that I dislike dealing with these dishonest folk who seem to delight in attempting to make CSR's look bad while wriggling out of their commitments. In such cases, one has to keep a straight face and keep comments about honesty, morality and decency from surfacing - nobody likes to hear the truth, especially people lacking in the above. I mean, I've been doing my job for years now, so all those idiots who have seen fit to threaten to remove me for it for some small annoyance to them haven't been successful, eh?
April 25th - The day runs late, into B5
I opened the store today, the sixth day of work this week - we're short-staffed( nothing new there )and having to make up for more shifts by cutting them shorter. Usually. Today though, we had 'Paul' from head office visit; he arrived just as we were about to change over things so I could head home, so bad timing. Nicest guy though; he spent two hours talking to the manager whilst I fended off customers and the sun blazed through the windows, mocking me. I had the last laugh though: since it was my sixth day working this week, the ENTIRE day will be counted as O/T - nice! That means also each 'extra' shift in the coming months will be O/T as well - nice compensation for the lack of days off. In any case, after a 9-hour shift I relaxed outside on a bench, soaking up rays before hitching a ride with my parents - take that, mocking sunshine!
The evening vanished quickly in various activities, and I hit the hay rather worn out from it all. I guess the sunshine had its revenge, after all.
April 26th - Bicycle Shopping
Ah, the simple things in life: sleeping in, Saturday morning cartoons and hot chocolate. I availed myself of all three today, so it was quite a nice start to the weekend. I spent part of the afternoon out and about, looking through various bicycle shops as I am considering purchasing one this week. One shop in particular is just down the street, and their customer service was the best I've had yet. Sure beats the crap out of this place, where I once waited 45 mins at the counter before someone acknowledged me( yes, I was past being annoyed at that point and wanted to see how long it would actually take ). The weather is turning nice, and I don't want to spend more money on a bus pass for May that likely won't get used at all if I have my own method of transport. Besides being good exercise, I'll likely get out to 'see' more of the city on two wheels.
The evening was good as well; I interrupted watching my newly-arrived Babylon 5 DVD's( seasons 1 & 2 )to have a great phone call with Rene, Shi, Mike, Brian, Faith and Pierre. They were all at Pierre & Faith's celebrating Mike's birthday( on the 25th ), and it was a pleasure as always to hear them all on the phone. No hummus though, so I guess my influence is waning already.... *sigh*
April 27th - Rainy Daze?
I'm working on collecting the 'best of' pictures from my time spent so far here in Victoria, and will post them on FB shortly. No swimwear shots yet though, so you're lucky - 1003, those better not be anywhere still ... :-)
I spent some of the morning writing, as well as watching the rest of Tank Girl( the movie )from my PVR recording a few weeks ago. I may have to find the comic somewhere; that always seems to be the way, that I find out about something cool long years AFTER the fact. Oh well. Rainy all day today.
After a few hours checking out Mass Effect( finally )and being impressed by the visuals all on their own, I loaded up Call of Duty 4 on my 360 . I ran into Simon , Matt, Dave and later Lucas on Xbox Live!. We played for some hours, and I managed to hold my own despite not having played COD4( or anything )since late 2007. I must say though, I am disappointed not to be playing MORE games online with my friends - there is Catan available, as well as quite a few others. What I think I miss the most though, are the Halo Days... all Halo, day. Glorious, but memories only now.
Looks like it's going to be a rainy week coming up. Yay, indoor entertainment... and as always, keep the Comments coming friends! Once again thanks to all those who read and enjoy this weekly...
What's behind YOUR Friendly Facade?
April 21 - Writing projects
Opened the store today, and it was brrrr! chilly. Seems that things in Victoria don't warm up nearly as quickly as back in Niagara... moderate all year around, which is actually amusing to me, as I tend to be moderate in most things too.
In the evening I worked on some of my writing projects, including a new children's story that I hope to have ready in a few weeks - but don't quote me on that. I have quite a lot on my plate, so finding the right balance between work, sleep, relaxation and personal projects is always a challenge for me. I've said for some time now that if I could clone myself, I would... despite the shouts of horror from those who fear puns around the world.
April 22 - Do I need a title for a Tuesday?
The morning was pleasant enough, and work in the evening wasn't so bad either. I do like the fact I can leave about 45 mins before a shift and still arrive with time to spare. I'm not sure how long it would take by walking, but likely at least that, if not more. While I like walking, I tend to do it briskly and end up working up a good sweat... which is not so good if you're about to start work for the day.
April 23 - Bus Stories
On the bus home today from a morning shift, I observed the most touching thing: an older woman, a senior citizen, giving half of her remainging chocolate bar to a young child who just got on the bus. She broke off a bit for herself to finish, and offered it to the child who took it, nodding in thanks. All of this without words, and smiles throughout. The child ate the bar happily, and the senior looked on with a smile as she finished her own portion. It was really touching.
On that note, I should mention there is a 'rainbow windmill' that I pass on Cook St. whilst on the bus. It consists of two spinning wheels, which rotate in opposite directions as the wind blows. It's the simplest thing, but it always makes me smile when I catch sight of it - I still can't recall exactly where it is on Cook St...
April 24th - Social Bullies
One thing I always mention about my job is the fascinating observation of the human condition. Today is a case in point: one part of my job is to call people and ask them nicely to come in to take care of outstanding debts. As you may expect, this provokes some to be less than polite( but in fairness, most are quite nice ). One person in particular used what I like to call 'social bullying' in responding, which I find amusing now that I am aware of it. Basically, the person turns things around on you: they don't acknowledge their debt( or errors )but instead seek to undermine YOUR sense of authority, well-being or worth. This person( who pretended she couldn't hear me on the first call and then called back when I left a message the second time )denied that she'd made an appointment( she had, earlier in the week )and then said she would "speak to my supervisor" and hung up. In this day and age of 'Customers First' this sort of tactic is unfortuntely an easy route for deflection, when the customer turns THEIR problem into a Customer Service issue, which has to be looked into by the manager. Modern corporations are far too worried about Service, which gives wily customers a HUGE lever when dealing with them. It's all too easy to 'ask to speak to a supervisor' and take the Complaint route, which again deflects the attention from the fact that the customer is the one who started the whole mess in the first place. *coughs* Anyway, my point is, that I dislike dealing with these dishonest folk who seem to delight in attempting to make CSR's look bad while wriggling out of their commitments. In such cases, one has to keep a straight face and keep comments about honesty, morality and decency from surfacing - nobody likes to hear the truth, especially people lacking in the above. I mean, I've been doing my job for years now, so all those idiots who have seen fit to threaten to remove me for it for some small annoyance to them haven't been successful, eh?
April 25th - The day runs late, into B5
I opened the store today, the sixth day of work this week - we're short-staffed( nothing new there )and having to make up for more shifts by cutting them shorter. Usually. Today though, we had 'Paul' from head office visit; he arrived just as we were about to change over things so I could head home, so bad timing. Nicest guy though; he spent two hours talking to the manager whilst I fended off customers and the sun blazed through the windows, mocking me. I had the last laugh though: since it was my sixth day working this week, the ENTIRE day will be counted as O/T - nice! That means also each 'extra' shift in the coming months will be O/T as well - nice compensation for the lack of days off. In any case, after a 9-hour shift I relaxed outside on a bench, soaking up rays before hitching a ride with my parents - take that, mocking sunshine!
The evening vanished quickly in various activities, and I hit the hay rather worn out from it all. I guess the sunshine had its revenge, after all.
April 26th - Bicycle Shopping
Ah, the simple things in life: sleeping in, Saturday morning cartoons and hot chocolate. I availed myself of all three today, so it was quite a nice start to the weekend. I spent part of the afternoon out and about, looking through various bicycle shops as I am considering purchasing one this week. One shop in particular is just down the street, and their customer service was the best I've had yet. Sure beats the crap out of this place, where I once waited 45 mins at the counter before someone acknowledged me( yes, I was past being annoyed at that point and wanted to see how long it would actually take ). The weather is turning nice, and I don't want to spend more money on a bus pass for May that likely won't get used at all if I have my own method of transport. Besides being good exercise, I'll likely get out to 'see' more of the city on two wheels.
The evening was good as well; I interrupted watching my newly-arrived Babylon 5 DVD's( seasons 1 & 2 )to have a great phone call with Rene, Shi, Mike, Brian, Faith and Pierre. They were all at Pierre & Faith's celebrating Mike's birthday( on the 25th ), and it was a pleasure as always to hear them all on the phone. No hummus though, so I guess my influence is waning already.... *sigh*
April 27th - Rainy Daze?
I'm working on collecting the 'best of' pictures from my time spent so far here in Victoria, and will post them on FB shortly. No swimwear shots yet though, so you're lucky - 1003, those better not be anywhere still ... :-)
I spent some of the morning writing, as well as watching the rest of Tank Girl( the movie )from my PVR recording a few weeks ago. I may have to find the comic somewhere; that always seems to be the way, that I find out about something cool long years AFTER the fact. Oh well. Rainy all day today.
After a few hours checking out Mass Effect( finally )and being impressed by the visuals all on their own, I loaded up Call of Duty 4 on my 360 . I ran into Simon , Matt, Dave and later Lucas on Xbox Live!. We played for some hours, and I managed to hold my own despite not having played COD4( or anything )since late 2007. I must say though, I am disappointed not to be playing MORE games online with my friends - there is Catan available, as well as quite a few others. What I think I miss the most though, are the Halo Days... all Halo, day. Glorious, but memories only now.
Looks like it's going to be a rainy week coming up. Yay, indoor entertainment... and as always, keep the Comments coming friends! Once again thanks to all those who read and enjoy this weekly...
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