the Imperfections of Rex. (1)

something Big is about to go down.

i don't know what.

but it's coming.

i can feel it.


======


so, wednesday, i overcame one of my fears, and hang-ups.

my hang-up of Asking Others For Help.

my fear of not knowing how i will be expected to show gratitude for the charity i were to receive.

i got my other father (yeah — my mom had children with another guy ── ´deal with it) to help me in my quest of acquiring: A Futon.

(he readily agreed to it: he's the one who's been around in [our] life way more than my own father has, anyway.)

(the futon seems to fit my current personality {and Needs} well; and the one i saw at Value City seemed pretty nice, indeed.)

i wasn't able to get it on that day ... hopefully we can take care of that in a few short hours: he has a heavy-duty pick-up truck, after all — this to be the second time i needed to utilize it, in as many years.

fortunately, there is a couch in the living room upon which i had been able to get my rest, the past couple of days; fortunately, i had gumption enough to think of Snoozing there: very easily, i could have found myself, once again, futilely sleeping on several sheets on the floor of my room.

(that would be a prime example of what i'd deem meaningless sacrifice, by the way — that for which no one would remark, "wow, look at that poor guy: he's trying not to [impose upon his mother] by doing this; how admirable!".)

------

at any rate, i will be calling him up in an hour and some change, so that i might arrange to take a look at his computer: he told me, on our way back to my house, wednesday afternoon, about the struggles he has with it.

i am almost certain he was hinting at something by doing so..
..and i did something uncharacteristic by taking the bait, telling him i would try what i can.

he wanted me to come that night..
..stating that he'd take me to work afterwards, as a trade.

:-).

but he was not able to execute that plan before i needed to head out.

(i will, perhaps, find out why that happened, soon.

{i conjecture he fell asleep, or some↕such.})

it might be better this way, though: i do the triage on his computer, then we pick-up the futon.

(i like the rain, but i hope it won't get my shit all wet, and shit.

apparently it's stopped — at least for now.)


======


after .. all these years, Clay finally.. ..´fesses up, huh?

even The Deaf & Blind were like this talkin' about "well, jeez: for how much longer was that mother↕fucker gonna go on pretendin' he was a carpet↕muncher?".


======


maybe you've noticed it; maybe not.

but, lately, i have taken to another format for communicating some of my many thoughts to you-all.

this, because i haven't had the [????] to tell Stories.

when might the next time be, that i just Wyl` Out?

that is a good question.

------

as has been said before: good things, sometimes, come in Little Packages.


======


i think that the main problem with my last two attempts of Chicken Soup was, i had used too many carrots — thereby imparting a very-much-so undesired sweetness to them.

i will make sure to tone that shit down, next time.


======


i think i had a premonition about It, even all those months ago, when the captain of us night-time grocery stockers first asked me, jokingly, if i would ever want to take on her job (since i was—rightfully so—complaining about the travails of my own position).

------

i have to fill in for the guy who normally stocks Frozen Food (a different department) while he's on vacation (for 8 days); i don't have to do everything he does..
..but i certainly am required to write orders for all food↕stuffs i {feel i} need; try to keep The Frozen Box orderly; perform a BRI-Solo; put up Price Tags.


more or less, i'm on my own, over there.


more or less, i'm being charged with executing a few of the key responsibilities that the captain of us grocery stockers has.

------

our grocery manager has been admonishing me quite a bit, over the past few weeks!

i had never went through anything like it before.

(as a consequence: over the past two {soon to be three} weeks, The Vein in my left-eye↕lid had been convulsing, as in a sort of Nervous Tic: it's been kinda a worrisome time for me.)

as soon as i see her approach me with another Member of the Management Team, i already know i'm going to hear something fucked-up, regarding some inconsequential infraction of mine.

what's galling is, everytime that happens, it feels like all the things i've been through, in trying to help get my store looking good, is just thrown from out of the window.

i haven't talked about that, Here, either..
..but i get the feeling i've done things that not many other regular food clerks with less than two years on the job have (and it started way before i had even reached the twelve-month mark, there).

on top of the fact that, ever since Gas Prices Started Jumping: on average of 3 out of 4 weeks in a month, i was given only 2 or 3 days to work.

(i be coming back to all sorts of changes, after i return from my many extended absences — stuff i'm apparently supposed to just magically know had been integrated, too.

{only, due to my decent Technical Ability, it really doesn't take me that long to acclimate m'self to all the newness, anyway.})

.....

but the X-Factor continues being Albertas.

bluntly, he is a Pestilence amongst us.

(this is one thing about The Union i don't like: there is a rule that "people with seniority" get preferential treatment — i.e., more days-per-week.

no matter their actual deservingness for it.)


he is too slow.

he stocks sloppily.

he is not willing to step up and help.

he doesn't want to use his brain to figure shit out.

he is a drama queen: in that, when he does put away the pallets of Perishable Order (dairy department; meat department; produce department) that arrive in the early morning into their respective coolers, he has to go put on his sweat↕shirt, or even a full-fledged [coat] first..

..even during the summer!!

(even though, ideally, one is not supposed to spend more than 2-minutes at a time in a cooler...
...with the actual average being no more than 15-40 seconds: to drive the pallet of items into the room; position it neatly then set it down; come back out to do the next one.)

(moreover: on those rare occasions where he is tasked to put up stock for the dairy department {"rare" because, putting it lightly, Management already knows that he is not the best candidate for acting as a Substitute anyplace else}, he has to don either of those same threads i just mentioned — but i guess because he moves so slowly, Albertas might very well just catch a chill from being in that area of the store, huh?)


it truly is beyond me how he continues to stay on our team.


a store is supposed to worry about maximizing Profits — not entertaining Pity Cases.
Albertas has long ago borne himself useless..
..almost no one i talk with at the job has good things to say about him.

(much more so than what might ever be said about me behind my own back, anyway.

☺.)

i hear he's been a stocker for 8 years now.

even as a part-timer (and we did have a long stretch where no regular stocker had fewer than 4 days to work, too), he should have learned his trade adequately, by now.


he is my fucking senior.


but i bet he hasn't been entrusted with even a quarter of the tasks i have, during my own relatively-short tenure with Safeway.


i bet he hasn't been threatened nearly as often as i, either: it appears, the more i give, the more they want to take.

(a lot seems to be expected from out of me!)

they still don't seem to realize that I am the remaining person, behind the Captain, who actually knows what he's doing, and have a capability of learning even more.

------

when Adrian, finally, had his transfer from out of this store granted, guess what happened?

yep.

we were given what, basically, is the black-equivalent of albertas.

only, this fella (for now) has some excuse for his own short-comings, in that—i believe—he started Stocking only at the beginning of this year, and probably never had more than 3 days, per week, to get used to this occupation's rigours — both physical and psychological.


the real point i'm making is, we needed to acquire someone with skill.


no matter if my store is currently amongst the worst-performers, in terms of profit..
..we still sell enough product where it'd be to our advantage to have a dude or a chick who can put up between 130 - 170 cases-per-shift, even if the person still isn't fully acclimated with our layout.


(yes.

of course i know that High-Level Management From Safeway Might Read This, if no one else would.

but what are you going to do?

fire me for exposing your faults?

i know i'm not paying all this money-a-week, to this Union i spoke of earlier, just to be terminated for something punk-assèd like that.

{and don't think i wouldn't be able to recognize when you'd try wreaking your vengeance on me with some indirect Nit↕Pick Shit, either.

i'm hip to that little tactic.})


=-=<interrupt>=-=


it's always amusing, to me, to hear about Mass Food Poisonings stemming from church functions.

not what happened to the people but, rather, the fact that it happened, to whom it happened.

i honestly do not believe this would be a sanctioned-method of God's to express [his] happiness with [his] loyal subjects.


======


there is a pattern to my writing style.

i'd just prefer it if you'd try figuring it our for yourselves, before laying your criticism on my abilities..


(there's nothing wrong with not knowing, immediately, what you have in front of you..
..i have to back-track with my own shit, sometimes.

:-D.

it's just a matter of me expressing my respect for the intellectual capabilities of my audience.

my audience of, currently, no one besides the few chuckle↕heads who spend less than 20-seconds looking at Gaki no Tsukai and Philip Anthony-Rodriguez.)


..on the other hand, sometimes it is my intent to Create Dialogue with you..
..i want you to ask me Questions.....
.....as long as you won't try using your newly-acquired knowledge against me, later.


======


i like Barenaked Ladies®.

so, when i heard that the dude with the glasses (steven page) was, earlier this summer, busted with cocaine..

..i was kinda disheartened.


i never would have imagined it.


======


speaking of: something about Earth, Wind & Fire's can't hide love..
..you have no idea what that song does to me.

especially when i play it at a slowed tempo.


and then i have Baby Boy: Da Prince's monday, tuesday, wednesday (a proposal song).

i'm not the dude who feels a need to have [shit] playing in the background when i'm having sex.

period.

but if i were to..
..this would be one of the rare few songs to receive such an honour.


(as a matter of fact, i'm finna make that into a Ring↕Tone.)


======


safeway's.. ..got a lot of fucking nerve.
to tell [me] that [i] should stop shopping at competitor's stores.

´da fuck out of here.

for starters, i'm one of the many part-time employees who's been getting screwed the fuck out of, these past several months; secondly, do you know what this trumpeted Employees' Discount of ours entails?


yes.


we get a 10% discount.
on their generic, off-brand, Store Shit that almost no one wants.

(on top of that: out of the many Private Label-items distributed by safeway, only a few qualify for the price reduction.

???)


y'all.. ..believe you're doing us a favour with that crap?


you in Corporate Head↕Quarters have a lot of fuckin' nerve: i bet y'all [crackiz] don't shop at your own fuckin' stores yourselves!

to tell people who are ... getting fucked-over by your very own policies what they need to do with the limited amount of money they manage to get from out of you-all.

´cock-suckin' bastards.