Saturday, January 7, 2017

Happy New Year!

Hey! I haven't been on here in over a month holy crap! I've been so lazy lately which is a coincidence because I've been working more. A girl just left my work and she was a really good worker so maybe that's why I'm getting more hours - who knows. All I know is that I'm not appreciated like I should be at my job and it really pisses me off. Wanna know what happened? I went to my Christmas work party and showed up a tiny bit late but nobody was there yet (well, like 4 or 5 people total) so the whole time I was there it was a lot of non-english talk and sober people. A lot of people didn't show up but I made the best of it. Near the end of my time at the party they handed out gifts, I was the last one to get a gift and I found out that a girl that's been the biggest ass kisser on earth who hasn't been at the job long has been made assistant manager and the other girl who was the main supervisor girl has been made manager (which is fine with me because we get along really well) but she was gone for 2 months and came back. I've been there every step of the way and as much as a fucking hate the job I would love to move on up and get paid more - especially because I'm living on my own now and I'm having to put more effort to getting there every day because my mom doesn't drive me anymore unless it's the odd friday or something. I've been supervisor for a year and 3 months and still have yet to get my supervisor shirt, which shouldn't be a huge deal but for some reason it is to me and they happened to mention it at the party and make me seem like a huge loser while doing so. and I quote "you'll be getting your supervisor shirt soon but with that comes more responsibilty" yes I'm well aware I've BEEN supervising the fucking staff and fixing so many fuck ups before they even leave the store and straight to head office and nobody has taught me anything like here go be a supervisor. Will do but I'd love to learn some paper work and what not... Well, that only happens on Sundays when you're not here blah blah blah meanwhile the other day you said I could ASK to learn it. I did like a year ago what do you want from me?! Anyway.... My landlord scored me an interview at her work and will be finding out when that will be this week sometime so yay! That's another story... I'm gonna have to work 2 jobs for a bit before leaving this shit one I'm at now because they didn't take off enough taxes so I'm probably going to owe the tax man money this year that I really don't have so there's that... Hopefully I get this other job and have an awesome year because it seems like everybody is starting their year off wonderfully except me...

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Being sick at work

Hey! Was MIA again sorry... Been working tons I'm surprised I'm getting all these hours but I kind of like it considering Christmas is coming up soon! Anyway, I'm gonna be talking about working while being sick tonight because most of the time I'm guilty of going to work sick as hell and lately everybody at my work has been sick with something or other.

First of all, we're not suppose to come in to work if we're sick. We have to do these online modules about the job and it even says not to come if ill. Things aren't that easy at my work though. The boss is most worried about not having somebody there to cover the shift and will even tell the person calling in sick to find someone to cover their shift or else they have to come in - sick or not. I don't think that's right but I mean I see where he's coming from he's trying to run a business but I mean at the same time he keeps hiring people who are in school constantly or they can only work so many hours per week etc. He doesn't hire people who are more available but it's up to him who he hires.

It's not easy to call in sick even if you're actually sick. I don't ever call in sick if I'm not sick I think I might have a handful of times but I'm such a horrible liar and on top of it if I lie to someone telling them I'm sick, guess what? I start actually feeling sick. So I always just go to work lol.

A doctors note is almost always required before coming back to work and I don't know about you but missing a day of work is also missing a day of pay so I really hate to pay for a doctors note on top of it. Where I go it's $14 for a note that has no detail it literally just says something like "was unable to work due to medical reasons" and it's the getting there and waiting part that sucks too. Sometimes you wish you didn't have a job and could sit in your pjs, watch tv, and be catered to like when you were little. Those were the days!

Most of us go to work sick it's easier just to feel deathly ill than to attempt to call in that shift. We handle food with no gloves. Our hands are clean yes but we're working with the public's food while sick. It's better just to eat at home honestly what goes on behind the scenes in the food industry is fucking repulsive and unless you work there and make your own food I wouldn't trust it 100%.

For instance, people at my work have witnessed my boss, myself included, rinse meat off with water after it has fallen on the floor cook it and serve it. I'm not even kidding. I always told myself and family that if they ever ever ever fire me I will get them closed down so quickly they won't even know what hit them. For now, it's where I go to earn money so I can survive on my own so I need it to stay open. I personally treat the food how I would do it myself at home and sometimes I get yelled at for tiny things but that's how I'm gonna do it because that's how I treat my food at home and not gonna lie I'm a damn good cook!

You may be thinking I'm full of crap but I'm not. This is what happens behind the scenes at any food joint. I'm sure you know people who work with food just ask them. Just because the restaurant has a "pass" sign on the door from health and safety people that really doesn't mean anything. Those people are extremely thorough sure but when I step foot in to work my boss will whisper to me that they're there and we work a lot differently than if they weren't there. They'll turn their back for 1 minute and the boss will have someone clean something mad quick so they don't get a bad mark. That's just how it is.

So, if it's flu season I highly suggest not eating out. Chances are you will get sick with something and have no idea where you got it from.

Thursday, October 27, 2016

McDonald's Monopoly

Have you or someone you know won anything big from this? I've been playing it for the past few years and the most I've won is a walmart gift card worth I think it was $20 or $25, a snapfish thing to get like 5 free picture prints, and free food.

I have a ton of extra stickers if anybody wants them if you need one more and I have it I'll take like $20 for it lol. I feel as if there's a ton of the same stickers and like 1 of the ones everybody needs. Just shoot me a comment on here if you need one and I'll let you know if I have it or not. I'd write them all down but I don't have enough time because I have to get ready for work. I need one more for each I think and now when we get food we're getting stickers we already have...

Working with OCD

   First things first I need to set something straight, OCD isn't all compulsively washing your hands every few minutes like a lot of people seem to think. There's a lot of different types of OCD and hoarding is even one of them. 
   I have 2 different types of OCD and that is checking and numbers. I also deal with the organizing type but it's not so "there" like the other two are. 
   Checking OCD is practically just checking to make sure things are done over and over and over again. For example, before leaving my house I go to each room several times to make sure all the lights are out, there's no candles burning, there's nothing plugged in that I think could cause a fire, the oven is off and no elements are on, the fridge and freezer doors are completely shut I'll push on the doors a few times just to make sure some days when my OCD is bad I'll open and close the doors to make sure nothing fell that could open the doors after I leave, the TV is off, etc. Some days I run really late for work because of it. It's normal to check these things once or twice but I do it a lot. I will even leave my house and come back just to check these things again. Days where I'm running late because of it, I won't turn around to check again and I'll get really bad anxiety until I know my boyfriend is home and everything is ok. 
   Numbers OCD is really bad for me. I get really fixated on a certain number and I have to do things with that number or I notice that number a lot more and talk about it for awhile until that person gets annoyed. You might have noticed that my second post to this blog was called "333" that is my main number I'm always seeing. I notice it EVERYWHERE. On license plates (even in the movie "Ponyo"), sides of cabs, phone numbers, prices at grocery stores, clocks, etc. I'm usually with Nick so I always bring it up to him. I think he gets annoyed with it but when I see it I feel as if I HAVE to say something about it, I HAVE to give it recognition. I've been dealing with this number since 2008 and no matter what I do I can't not see it. It really drives me crazy to the point where I google it and read the same articles over and over again on how it's an angel giving you signs and what not. I mean, it could be I guess, I like to think that anyway. It haunts me though for sure. My other numbers are 3 (in general but I usually connect it with 333), 4, 7 , 13, and 14. I usually do things in 4's. Whether it's checking things or whatever I'm doing. I have a lock at work for my locker and I grab the top and bottom of it and squish it together to make sure it's locked. I press it together 14 times and I repeat that step 4 times. 7 I find very lucky and when I see a 7 or do things in 7's I feel happy like it's my lucky day or something. 13 isn't so lucky for me, I always have something bad happen to me on Friday the 13th's whether it's a death or something small like my favourite pants rip or something. I always give these numbers major recognition to the point where it drives myself crazy. I've tried to just walk away from it but I feel as if I HAVE to do it no matter what it is even if it makes me late for work I don't care. 
   OCD is nothing to laugh about even though I'm guilty of it myself, hell, I joke about it sometimes I'll say to somebody "holy fuck you're so OCD!" but in reality it's actually a pretty horrible thing to deal with. 
  Working with OCD is practically the same as being a regular person at work. The only difference is that it takes me an extra few minutes to actually get to work from my locker, when I'm working and I see something that needs to do "fixed" aka moved slightly so it makes my mind more comfortable, counting the tills to end the shift takes me a little longer because sometimes I'll be counting the coins and I'll say one of my numbers in my head then I have to recount because my mind wanders a little with the number in mind, changing the mop water in the mop room takes me an extra minute because I have to tell myself a few times that the light is off, the water is off, and the door is closed. There's some other things too but in general, working with OCD is the same as working without it except you spend a few extra minutes each shift doing OCD type things. It's not all that noticeable to other people but dealing with it I can tell. 
   I tried yoga the other night because apparently exercise helps with OCD and it did for the next day I wasn't feeling so anxious when I left the house for work which was a big deal because my OCD that week was really really bad. Some days it's worse than others but it's always a little bit there. It's not for me though at all, I really suck at yoga. I'm sure it gets easier but I'm going to find something else to do that's a little easier. Downward dog then walking my feet up to my hands was crazy hard lol. 
   I was thinking about using the voice memo on my phone to record myself telling myself that my check things are done that way when I'm on my way to work or I'm at work I can turn it on and listen to it but I always forget to do it but it's probably a really good idea if I started it and turned it in to one of my routines. 
   One little story before I post this, make 1 more quick post so I have more than 13 posts, then get ready for work.... About a month ago I had just got to work for an 8 hour shift. Worrying about germs isn't really my thing but this guy came in with his little boy and the second I seen the kids face I backed away a little bit. His eyes were full of puss it looked like and his nose was running and crusty at the same time and he had his mouth open like "uhhhhhh I'm so sick" this kid should've been home eating soup not at A&W with his dad eating hamburgers. Made me sick like how can you take your child out when they're that ill?! Well, for some reason that experience really set off some sort of OCD that's deep within myself and the second I gave him his change I told the other girls to take the rest of the orders. I practically ran to the back sink got paper towel and picked my nose with it until I felt like there was no sickness germs in there then I washed my hands, then washed my face, then washed my hands again. Even after doing that I felt like the kids sickness was on my uniform and I still had 7 hours of work left. I kept washing my hands and face almost the whole time I was there I could not shake the feeling that I was gonna get sick with what that kid had. I wanted to go home and shower and wash my uniform in hot water instead of cold. So please please please don't go in public if you're sick or your kid is sick because that's how things spread and there's people like me who will freak out the rest of the day because of it. 

Surviving 8 hour shifts

   I usually work 5 hour shifts at my job but lately I've been getting at least 1 or 2 shifts that are 8 hours long. It doesn't seem like such a big deal since almost everybody who has a job works that many hours if not more but when you're so used to working 5 hours that extra 3 hours seem to linger a really long time. 
   
   Waking up on the day of my 8 hour shift I have uncontrollable feelings of worry and nervousness. For some reason I feel as if I'll never be able to get through that 8 hours at work and I'll get fired because I'll just up and leave if I'm not allowed to go home. I used to get physically sick during 8 hour shifts and beg to go home I don't understand it but I think it has to do with the types of OCD I have which I will cover in another post... 

   One Friday evening Nick called me freaking out because he thought I had somebody over because our new apartment looked trashed so I instantly lost my shit because I knew that somebody must have broke in to our apartment while we were both at work. I started to get bad anxiety and begged to leave my boss wouldn't allow it because I always go home early on Fridays. I wanted to quit so badly because I was extremely worried, mostly about my belongings. I have a really weird attachment to everything I own you can practically call me a hoarder. I hoard things but I'm not disgusting like how you see people on that tv show. I didn't end up quitting obviously but I mean if that were to happen now that we've been here a few months I most certainly would because before I was also worried about how much things cost to live because I had no idea and now that I have an idea I wouldn't be so worried about money if I were to just up and quit. 

   Anyway, surviving 8 hour shifts can be tough especially in fast food but I have a few tips to help you get through it if you're used to working less hours and 8 hours seems too stressful...

1. Switch up your routine 

If you go to work every day and do the same things every time you'll find that time goes a lot slower once you get past that time where you would usually look at the clock and be happy you're leaving in less than an hour. In my 5 hour shifts I always do the same things so by the time I'm done all those things I can stand around for 20-30 minutes then go home. When I do that on an 8 hour shift I find those last 3 hours absolutely kill me. I feel insanely bored. So my number 1 tip to you is to do things that you usually don't ever do - those things pass a lot of time!

2. Take short breaks

At my work we can go for our break whenever we want. We get either one 30 minute break or two 15 minute breaks. Me, because I smoke I take the two 15 minute breaks. It's also better to take short breaks because you don't get too comfortable and lazy doing whatever you're doing. If you smoke you can quickly run outside, smoke 2 cigarettes, and run back inside in exactly 15 minutes. That means that if you don't smoke and you usually eat like most people do on breaks that's more than enough time to eat a meal and not be so wound down that you're too tired feeling to work again. Also, take advantage of bathroom breaks. I mean, don't go to the bathroom every 30 minutes but in an 8 hour shift it's more than acceptable to go 3 or 4 times for 5 minutes (4 times at 5 minutes each is 20 minutes of getting paid to go to the bathroom!)

3. Don't talk a lot

You would think that having conversations at work would pass your time but in reality you're more likely to look at the clock whenever the conversation gets boring or you'll look at the clock because you're nervous that the boss will give you shit for talking for so long so you try to make the conversation quick or you look at the clock right after the conversation and realize you were only talking for a few minutes. My advice to you is to get lost in your own thoughts or sing some songs even if it's just in your head because I find that makes my time go by really fast.

4. Take time to sit down

When you're on your feet all day and dealing with the public it really puts a strain on your body. Take a few minutes to sit down even if it's not on your break. At my work there's a walk in fridge and right inside the door there's a little wall beside a shelf where no cameras can see so I always sit on the floor there then get up when I feel like I'm getting too lazy. It gives me a second wind every time - plus it's cold so that helps a lot too. 

5. Keep in mind it gets easier

The more 8 hour shifts you do the faster it goes by. Instead of avoiding 8 hour shifts try asking your boss for more. Not only is it more money but it's good experience to work that long for when you apply to a "real" job where you have to work 8 hours or more every day.  

 

 

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Cigarette cravings at work

As you may know, I smoke. Having cravings during a shift really sucks. I once was working 2 jobs and my other job allowed me to go out whenever I wanted and I got awesome tips and I worked all by myself, ugh it was amazing and I screwed it up and found myself fired right before the probation period was over because I called in sick on new years eve. I actually was sick but that's not the point I should have went and kept that job because it was way better than the one I've been at for almost 3 years. 

I have to calculate when I should go for my break and instead of eating I sit outside smoking 2 cigarettes because 1 doesn't cut it after it's all you've been thinking about for at least an hour. I go for my break after 2-3 hours of being at work and I take 15 minute breaks instead of 30 minutes. I also volunteer to throw the garbage every night because that allows me to sneak in 1 quick one.

When I'm at home I hardly ever want a cigarette but at work it's all I want. I don't know if it's the crappy customers that come in, the fact that I'm bored from doing the same things every single day, or what it is but if I didn't work I would definitely try to quit I think it would be easier. Of course if I wasn't working I'd also be broke and wouldn't be able to afford them lol. 

If you smoke and are having a hard time waiting for your breaks at work the one thing I can suggest to you is to chew gum. I chew Excel because the strong minty flavors really subsides the cravings and when the flavour runs out and you want to spit it out and go outside for a smoke just spit it out and put a next piece in your mouth. I also tried the cheapish vapor cigarettes you can buy at gas stations or convenience stores for like $14 and every time I REALLY felt like a smoke I went to the washroom and took a few puffs or I went to change the mop water that's in a tiny closet like room where it's private. It helped a lot but I had a hard time keeping it in my small pocket without anyone seeing it so I just gave up on that. 

I plan on quitting soon but maybe not today.  

Using public washrooms at work

A bathroom is a bathroom no doubt about it; it sure beats pissing your pants lol! We have to use the bathroom that the public gets to use as well. I work in a restaurant that is inside of a gas station. 

When you think of gas station bathrooms you probably think of that most disgusting thing you have ever never seen and want a vomit and it's pretty much exactly like that.

We are required to check and clean the bathrooms every day even though it's technically the gas station workers duty. I refuse to do it because I have a very weak stomach even though I've cleaned up vomit and have changed many many diapers. I can not deal with washrooms. Even cleaning my own toilet at home I have a put my hair right up and I put my shirt half way up my face and gag until my eyes are watering while I'm cleaning it. No way in hell will I clean a public bathroom, nope. 

ANYWAY......

A few months ago I was about 20 minutes from leaving for the day and I have quite a distance to travel home it's sometimes around 40 minutes with traffic other than that it's about 20-25 minutes to get home. I have a baby bladder when I have to go I have to go right away. So I walked in the bathroom and instantly smelled shit. Like thick sticky diarrhea shit. I gagged and looked in the big bathroom quickly, nothing. Looked in the small stall didn't see anything then I opened the big stall door again then noticed that someone wiped their ass on the toilet paper that was hanging on the roll and left it there. There was also shit on the wall, floor, etc. I don't know how I missed that the first time I looked but I think I was just looking in the toilet thinking that someone didn't flush. 

By the way, who shits in a public washroom?! Seriously. I can understand if you are about to have explosive diarrhea and have to use a public washroom but almost every day I go in the public washroom it smells like shit. WHY?! STOP PLEASE!!! Go home to take fat logs because people who are already miserable from being at work don't want to use the bathroom when it's absolutely disgusting especially when that's the one place we can go to escape for a few minutes. 

So if you're job hunting right now, any job is money but if you want to be a little bit picky I highly suggest looking for a job that has employee washrooms. If you have to use a public washroom at work, I understand the struggle...