My Bird

I don't like birds, thank you Alfred Hitchcock but an amazing thing happened to me this week with "my bird". I have been known to trim back the ivy in the courtyard so much that the old bird nests just had to go. I did that to prevent the advent of baby birds that have hopped around the patio to just end up dead because of the heat and lack of attention from their parents.

Well, a little over a week ago there was another baby bird hopping around because he had fallen out of his nest. At first I thought "oh great I'll be scooping his body up in a day or so" BUT, this one seemed a little bit bigger then those that died before him so I don't know what possessed me but I gave him a little dried bread. My bird tried to eat it but had some problems but then what twisted my heart was his mom flew down and started feeding him the food I left on the ground. It was so sweet I thought that if his mom wasn't going to give up on him either was I. I left the hose dripping a little water all the time and every day and night I would go out and feed my bird.

It was amazing that my bird started to know who I was and what I was doing. His instinct told him to keep his distance but every day when I was feeding him he would come up and eat with me watching him. He wasn't afraid of me and I think welcomed my being there.

So now more then a week later my bird showed me that he is learning to fly. Tonight I went out on the patio and he flew up from the ivy to a planter. From there he flew on top of the barbecue and just sat there looking at me like, "look at me, I'm flying." He then flew behind the hot tub where I have been feeding him and gave him some more food and water. My wish is I won't see him any more and that he is flying around but won't make his nest in my courtyard next year.

I am a proud Papa.

Sunflower

Wow, it's been a long time since I've written but so much has happened. Ever since Tom told me I need to get a job I've been looking but not as hard as I should have. Last month Kal told me that Sunflower was opening a new store and you could apply online for positions. I though what the hell, I had applied at both the Lomas and San Mateo stores but heard nothing so why not the new one? I put the application in on a Monday and on Wednesday I got a call to meet with Kathryn at the store in Corrales on Friday. I thought the interview went well and that I answered her questions in a professional manner and was happy about how things went. We went up to Colorado to see Barbara over Mothers Day and came home on Monday where I had a message to call Liz at Sunflower for a phone interview. We played phone tag for awhile but my Wednesday we finally talked. She told me I was being considered for the position of events coordinator for the store which really excited me. I was thrilled that after all these years of not working that I could make the impression for a "titled" position and I really thought I could do a good job at that position.

Unfortunately I got a call a couple of days later and was informed that they gave that position to someone else but offered me a full time cashier position. I jumped on it and was informed that training would start the week of May 17. I actually had my orientation on May 13 which is my "starting date" and then realized that life at 4138 Coe Dr. would never be the same again.

The two weeks of training were alright, we met everyday at 8am to 5pm. The mornings were for cashier training and the afternoons were for setting up the store which sucked. The cashier training was mainly focused on the produce codes and some actual work on the cashiers. There wasn't enough time focused on the actual day to day encounters like the refunds / exchanges that take place. Even now that I'm starting my 9th day of work in a row this morning that is one area that I think really need some attention.

Training ended on May 28 (the 11th anniversary of dad's passing) and we got what will probably be the last 3 day weekend of our working lives. We had our traditional BBQ on Sunday and then Kal had to work on Monday which really sucked. Tuesday the 1st was the stores soft opening and I had to be there at 7am. It wasn't real busy but enough to keep me on my toes for the grand opening the next day.

Grand Opening! Wednesday, June 2 was the grand opening and everyone had to be there at 6:30am. There was already over 200 people in line to get their free bag of groceries and other goodies when the doors opened at 7am. There were people there helping with the produce codes and bagging and the day went well but I was pretty exhausted by the time I got home. The initial schedule had me there every morning at 7am through Sat. then the new schedule had me working every day either at 8am or 9am through Thursday which meant NINE fricking days in a row of working with today being day 9 with the crazy hours of 9:30am to 3pm.

OK, this all sounds alright until the actual working took place where there are a lot of things that really need attention and changing or this won't be the place I imagined.