YUMMMMM, I rarely skip breakfast, but according to most fo teh health magazines i read, breakfast is not a morning priority for most people. I think I've discovered the cure for that. Personal Endorsement: My new favourite cereal is Special K with the choclate in it. Now I even have breakfast during the day! It's quick, it's healthy, and it will satisfy your stomache and your sweet tooth!
The little bits of choclate remind me of the buns in mexico that had a piece of chocolate inside them. I used to eat Rasin Bran Crunch, and this other things with Cranberries in it. Those are good cereals too but they don't have as much sentimental value. I also used to eat hot oatmeal alot, which is healthy but then we ran out and I forgot about them. It seem oatmeal only tastes good when you're on a health kick and you make it taste good. I should probably start eating that again. I'm trying to get back to healthiness since I kind of fell into a slump. I started exercising more frequently but then I got a cold. Blast this cold virus!! I need to move!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Horoscope not helping
SO today I had a very full day. I woke up determined to ride my bike to Nevada Bob's to get my Dad a Father's Day gift, only to discover that my bike tires were flat. I then proceeded to search for an air pump to make my bike ridable once again. That took a good twenty minutes. Then I went to Nevada Bob's a bought some fancy pants golf balls (very original indeed). Then I biked home and realized that when you're twenty years old and in fairly good shape, going for a 15 minute bike ride isn't actually alot of exercise. Then my sister and I drove through the traffic hell that is calgary to get to Golf Town and buy a nice shirt for my dad as well. I've learned almost nothing from this trip except that in golf clothes, size 2 equals size 5 and Burger King has extremely salty fries. Later on when we arrived home we hd to get dressed up to go for a fancy dinner in Bragg Creek for my grandparent's annaversairy. Very nice restaraunt, good food, good service, the usual familiarity factor that plays into family dinners (lots of gossip and laughing at our own brand of humour) - not much else I have to say about that. Then I wanted to see my boyfriend whom I told a few days ago that I had friday off for us to hang out. Since he was busy earlier in the day, as was I, it didn't matter all that much that I didn't see him. When I got home from dinner he said "want to come over later?" and I said "um... later? (it's already late) I have to work tomorrow", but he was still "busy" and wouldn't tell me much about his day. I hate it when people do that. As if they have something to hide. I feel I've put every ounce of honesty I have on the line, right down to "o, i sat here and watched 'so you think you can dance' for the entire day, and literally did nothing. I ate a spoon of peanut butter and that was the highlight." I never don't say what I did because i've got nothing to hide, and I feel that by saying i did nothing it's pretty much just translates to "fuck off" or to avoid telling someone what I really did. I confronted him about that. I was angry and I'm somewhat glad I did, because I thought twice about being passive agressive. What if I just don't call him all day tomorrow and then when he calls (if he does) i just say i did nothing but am too busy to hang out. I really don't like that because when he acts like he's hiding stuff I feel like he is, then i feel bad for not having trust, but i also feel like I have a good reason. Then again it sounds ridiculous when I tell someone about it cause they just say "all he did was not call, or just not feel like conversing, and you're getting worked up" like i'm the one in the wrong. I don't know, I think sometimes I overanalyse things to the point of leaving myself in indecision. Anyways, my horoscope according to facebook says this: "Someone in your life wants a second chance. They know they screwed up, so give them one more shot. If they mess up again, you'll know their true colors." This could apply to several people in my life right now. From what I can see it's telling me to forgive but not forget and make my judgement if they don't learn... I do that too much already I think, is it right? I don't know. Sometimes I just wish I had started out as an asshole so it would be way easier to get angry at people now when I feel pissed. I have so many words, mostly angry, to spew out in brutal honesty, but too much restraint to do any of it. I need to get drunk.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Sales Strategy
I very much dislike my managers opinions for quite a few reasons which I will now rant about:
1) High pressure sales - Like many people I know, I HATE being pressured by a sales person. The more that person follows me around the store the more I want to leave. In fact, if I am shopping at the mall and a sales associate hovers around me or tries to make conversation while I am browsing I tell them "I'm just looking" and then I leave. The only point during my shopping experience that I want the sales person around is when I need a change room and to ask them to get me a different size in something. So far, from the perspective of both the consumer and the sales associate, it seems like the only people who want high pressure sales are some old people, fat women, and rich snobs. Everyone else likes to be left to their own devices and will ask for help when they need it. My manager is an advocate of high pressure sales. In fact, she has no shame in following a person around the whole store trying to convince them to try on this and look at that, and if something doesn't fit right she even goes as far as to suggest they buy it and take it to be altered! No one wants to spend extra money on something they didn't want to buy in the first place! At times she has tried to make young girls (say age 15) to try on old lady bathing suits just because she's desperate to sell something. Obviously these girls refuse but after much pleading they try it on just to really say no, or take it in the change room and pretend they tried it on but really left it untouched on the inside. From a consumer's perspective I believe high pressure sales is annoying and it is rude to try and force to spend their hard earned money on something they didn't really like. From a sales perspective, I feel that selling forced goods results in a higher number of returns and unhappy customers. IN fact I've seen when my manager has manipulated a customer to buy something and then later on that day the person comes back and wants to return it but can't because bathing suits have a no return policy. Obviously the consumer has a responsibility to be assertive about things, but high pressure sales takes advanatge of those who aren't and makes people uncomfortable, regretful, and resentful of the sales person.
2) Personal treatment of employees - The business I work for is family owned (not my family) and the number of employees we have is 3. Me, my sister, and another friend of the manager. When I started working I thought i was going to be working at a store like any other but quickly became an important employee due to reduced staff and heavy workload. Nothing wrong with that except that my managers began to treat my sister and I sa if we were their kids. I can't believe I haven't quit yet because if I was any other person I would've quit if my manager disciplined me like a child and said it was for concern for my safety (i don't mean work related discipline either, I mean life lesson type stuff your parents tell you and you don't want to hear). Of course I won't listen to a boss's requests if it isnt work related, but its annoying to know that they expect like that will happen. Also, one of them became ill in the fall and asked if I would work full time in the summer (with a raise etc.) so they could take time off and go traveling and enjoy what could be the last years. More money, flexible hours, and I guess... some sympathy? led me to take that position. Now it is nearly the middle of June and neither of them has taken any days off nor have planned any trips. They don't seem like they plan to either. What happened to this living life to the fullest thing?? Suddenly i feel like my good heart was used against me to their advantage. After all, if I had quit they would only have 1... maybe 2? employees to run the stores. Why did I believe I would be doing something worth while? I could've had a much better job this summer if I hadn't commited to this one. It's angering, but i still feel like I need to stick it out for the summer, then i will quit in the fall and never come back. Go use your cancer to guilt someone else into working for peanuts so you don't have to hire or train anyone new (in a city where you can get a 15$/hr job in 2 seconds, 10$ is nothing. Time Hortons starts at 11).
3) Distrust of everyone - i don't know about you, but I personally have faith in humanity. I believe that "bad" people are few and far between, and in general most people are law abiding and respectful provided they are also respected. My boss however runs by the motto "guilty until proven innocent". Every person who comes in the store is a potential theif (even that little old lady who I could walk after and catch even if she was a thief). Common phrases I hear everyday: "make sure you count all the security tags in the store and make sure they match the number of items", "make sure you follow the customer to the door" (hell no i wont!), "If a man comes in here call our home number and leave it on so we can hear and make sure you're not being murdered or raped", "that lady could've tried to steal" (yeah but guess what... she didn't), "alwast lock the cash register after you open it just in case". You might think these are valid concerns. And yes, they would be, if in fact our store was located in a mall or some other place where you get more then one customer at a time, and more than two or 3 in an entire day, or maybe even if you sold things that people actually want to steal... like electronics... as far as I know, no murdering rapist men have come to an out of the way store to steal a bikini. The likely hood is low enough that it's one of those not worth worrying about type things like worrying that you house will burn down every night - it's possible, but highly unlikely, and life is better when you live it without constant threat. You could wake up every night and check every room and put new batteries in the smoke detector everyday but that's a waste of time, and adestructive to a good night's sleep. Kust being aware of the possibility and the emergency procedures is enough energy to spend on that.
4) THE MOST ANNOYING SALES STRATEGY EVER! I once read in a book about a man who was given an award for being a excellent car sales man. He atrributed his great success to his open minded attitide. He treated every customer as a potential customer or someone who new a potential customer. No matter what they looked like, poor, rich, black, white, asian, adult kid... everyone, he gave them 100% great customer service. He listened to their concerns and put all his effort into helping them. He new that a kid had a parent that might buy them a car. An immigrant could be wealthy (despite a stereotype most car dealerships have). A woman could be knowlegable about cars and want to buy one... maybe her husband too! With this attitide he became one of the top sales men and made a wealthy living off commision. Now lets destroy this and go to my manager's outlook. Completely opposite. "When a customer comes in look at what car they were driving, what clothes they are wearing, if they have a giant diamond ring, etc. These are the kind of customers we want. They have money and we need to sell to them", he said. I was raised to treat everyone as an equal and honestly such details like brand name clothing and rings I rarely if ever notice. I view my job as to help someone find a product they like and collect the money that product is worth, not to judge them worthy of my service or the potential depth of their pocket. Just because a guy drives up in a rusty chevy truck doesn't mean he shouldn't have the same customer service as a guy who drives a porsche. For all we know he may have more money because cars aren't his priority and swimsuits are. I despise the judgemental strategy and feel no need to hold back my feelings when my manager makes such remarks about a woman's ring and how she should be treated because of it. I'm disgusted with that. I can't even say any more. Just repulsive. OKay I can say more, even though I've already said alot. Because our business depends almost entirely on word of mouth (since we have NO ADVERTISING AT ALL), treating customers according to our judgement of how much money they might have is a bad idea. Bad service rumours often spread faster than good service rumours (this could also be a reason why high pressure sales is a bad stragedy). We need everyone who comes in to have a pleasant experience and to tell others about it (if they even do tell anyone). Selective treatment reduces the number of people who will hear good thing and come to the store by alot. Come on, thsi should be business 101! Simple probability.
5) NO ADVERTISMENTS AT ALL due to NO TRUST because a past week long effort in advertisement didn't produce immediate results. I'm on the side of every radio marketing person we've spoken to. Advertising takes time to work. YOu can't have one ad run once a day for one week and expect amillion people to show up. No, the only radio ads that work are the ones we hear often for a extended period of time. The ad that reaches the most ears the most times gets the most business. Unfortunately, with all other money related isses, bugeting is involved, but if a marketer is willing to come up with an effective advertising campaign within budget than why not take it?? OH no! that would be too simple. How bout we argue with her about why advertising is useless because not everyone listening is our customer! Um, big picture? They seem to have forgotten how their main strategy of marketing, by word of mouth, can be enhanced by getting that word to more ears. My manager constantly compares the business to MacDonald's, "oh but MacDonald's has a huge budget they can afford to advertise that much.. blah blah blah". DUH! But MacDonald's had to get that business somehow as does any other company. You can't just open a store and magically expect people to know it exist, especially if it's located in the middle of an industrial area where no one but car mechanics go. "You get what you pay for" is a saying related to any consumer/business product relationship. But suddenly it doesn't apply in advertisement. According to my boss, our store should beable to pick empty time slots open on the biggest radio stations in calgary and pay half the amount of any other company. Why? Simply just because they have no reason. "sorry, we have millions of businesses that want to advertise that are willing to pay full price or more for those slots, what makes you think you should habve special priority?" says the obviously frustrated marketing lady for CJay and Vibe98.5 Radio. I agree with her and add "they are running a business too, you have to compromise, this offer is already a good de.." I am cut off by him "I want the free slots and I want half price. Give me half price." "I can't just chop the price in half, what would my people say about that and my other customers?" The tension is getting thicker and I'm putting my face in my hands wishing I wasn't currently associated with this foolish display of poor business ettiquette. I keep telling them, that advertisement needs to be done. ANYTHING! A website, a bilboard, a radio ad. But they don't seem to see advertising as an investment into the future of the business. All they see is a number in the bank.
1) High pressure sales - Like many people I know, I HATE being pressured by a sales person. The more that person follows me around the store the more I want to leave. In fact, if I am shopping at the mall and a sales associate hovers around me or tries to make conversation while I am browsing I tell them "I'm just looking" and then I leave. The only point during my shopping experience that I want the sales person around is when I need a change room and to ask them to get me a different size in something. So far, from the perspective of both the consumer and the sales associate, it seems like the only people who want high pressure sales are some old people, fat women, and rich snobs. Everyone else likes to be left to their own devices and will ask for help when they need it. My manager is an advocate of high pressure sales. In fact, she has no shame in following a person around the whole store trying to convince them to try on this and look at that, and if something doesn't fit right she even goes as far as to suggest they buy it and take it to be altered! No one wants to spend extra money on something they didn't want to buy in the first place! At times she has tried to make young girls (say age 15) to try on old lady bathing suits just because she's desperate to sell something. Obviously these girls refuse but after much pleading they try it on just to really say no, or take it in the change room and pretend they tried it on but really left it untouched on the inside. From a consumer's perspective I believe high pressure sales is annoying and it is rude to try and force to spend their hard earned money on something they didn't really like. From a sales perspective, I feel that selling forced goods results in a higher number of returns and unhappy customers. IN fact I've seen when my manager has manipulated a customer to buy something and then later on that day the person comes back and wants to return it but can't because bathing suits have a no return policy. Obviously the consumer has a responsibility to be assertive about things, but high pressure sales takes advanatge of those who aren't and makes people uncomfortable, regretful, and resentful of the sales person.
2) Personal treatment of employees - The business I work for is family owned (not my family) and the number of employees we have is 3. Me, my sister, and another friend of the manager. When I started working I thought i was going to be working at a store like any other but quickly became an important employee due to reduced staff and heavy workload. Nothing wrong with that except that my managers began to treat my sister and I sa if we were their kids. I can't believe I haven't quit yet because if I was any other person I would've quit if my manager disciplined me like a child and said it was for concern for my safety (i don't mean work related discipline either, I mean life lesson type stuff your parents tell you and you don't want to hear). Of course I won't listen to a boss's requests if it isnt work related, but its annoying to know that they expect like that will happen. Also, one of them became ill in the fall and asked if I would work full time in the summer (with a raise etc.) so they could take time off and go traveling and enjoy what could be the last years. More money, flexible hours, and I guess... some sympathy? led me to take that position. Now it is nearly the middle of June and neither of them has taken any days off nor have planned any trips. They don't seem like they plan to either. What happened to this living life to the fullest thing?? Suddenly i feel like my good heart was used against me to their advantage. After all, if I had quit they would only have 1... maybe 2? employees to run the stores. Why did I believe I would be doing something worth while? I could've had a much better job this summer if I hadn't commited to this one. It's angering, but i still feel like I need to stick it out for the summer, then i will quit in the fall and never come back. Go use your cancer to guilt someone else into working for peanuts so you don't have to hire or train anyone new (in a city where you can get a 15$/hr job in 2 seconds, 10$ is nothing. Time Hortons starts at 11).
3) Distrust of everyone - i don't know about you, but I personally have faith in humanity. I believe that "bad" people are few and far between, and in general most people are law abiding and respectful provided they are also respected. My boss however runs by the motto "guilty until proven innocent". Every person who comes in the store is a potential theif (even that little old lady who I could walk after and catch even if she was a thief). Common phrases I hear everyday: "make sure you count all the security tags in the store and make sure they match the number of items", "make sure you follow the customer to the door" (hell no i wont!), "If a man comes in here call our home number and leave it on so we can hear and make sure you're not being murdered or raped", "that lady could've tried to steal" (yeah but guess what... she didn't), "alwast lock the cash register after you open it just in case". You might think these are valid concerns. And yes, they would be, if in fact our store was located in a mall or some other place where you get more then one customer at a time, and more than two or 3 in an entire day, or maybe even if you sold things that people actually want to steal... like electronics... as far as I know, no murdering rapist men have come to an out of the way store to steal a bikini. The likely hood is low enough that it's one of those not worth worrying about type things like worrying that you house will burn down every night - it's possible, but highly unlikely, and life is better when you live it without constant threat. You could wake up every night and check every room and put new batteries in the smoke detector everyday but that's a waste of time, and adestructive to a good night's sleep. Kust being aware of the possibility and the emergency procedures is enough energy to spend on that.
4) THE MOST ANNOYING SALES STRATEGY EVER! I once read in a book about a man who was given an award for being a excellent car sales man. He atrributed his great success to his open minded attitide. He treated every customer as a potential customer or someone who new a potential customer. No matter what they looked like, poor, rich, black, white, asian, adult kid... everyone, he gave them 100% great customer service. He listened to their concerns and put all his effort into helping them. He new that a kid had a parent that might buy them a car. An immigrant could be wealthy (despite a stereotype most car dealerships have). A woman could be knowlegable about cars and want to buy one... maybe her husband too! With this attitide he became one of the top sales men and made a wealthy living off commision. Now lets destroy this and go to my manager's outlook. Completely opposite. "When a customer comes in look at what car they were driving, what clothes they are wearing, if they have a giant diamond ring, etc. These are the kind of customers we want. They have money and we need to sell to them", he said. I was raised to treat everyone as an equal and honestly such details like brand name clothing and rings I rarely if ever notice. I view my job as to help someone find a product they like and collect the money that product is worth, not to judge them worthy of my service or the potential depth of their pocket. Just because a guy drives up in a rusty chevy truck doesn't mean he shouldn't have the same customer service as a guy who drives a porsche. For all we know he may have more money because cars aren't his priority and swimsuits are. I despise the judgemental strategy and feel no need to hold back my feelings when my manager makes such remarks about a woman's ring and how she should be treated because of it. I'm disgusted with that. I can't even say any more. Just repulsive. OKay I can say more, even though I've already said alot. Because our business depends almost entirely on word of mouth (since we have NO ADVERTISING AT ALL), treating customers according to our judgement of how much money they might have is a bad idea. Bad service rumours often spread faster than good service rumours (this could also be a reason why high pressure sales is a bad stragedy). We need everyone who comes in to have a pleasant experience and to tell others about it (if they even do tell anyone). Selective treatment reduces the number of people who will hear good thing and come to the store by alot. Come on, thsi should be business 101! Simple probability.
5) NO ADVERTISMENTS AT ALL due to NO TRUST because a past week long effort in advertisement didn't produce immediate results. I'm on the side of every radio marketing person we've spoken to. Advertising takes time to work. YOu can't have one ad run once a day for one week and expect amillion people to show up. No, the only radio ads that work are the ones we hear often for a extended period of time. The ad that reaches the most ears the most times gets the most business. Unfortunately, with all other money related isses, bugeting is involved, but if a marketer is willing to come up with an effective advertising campaign within budget than why not take it?? OH no! that would be too simple. How bout we argue with her about why advertising is useless because not everyone listening is our customer! Um, big picture? They seem to have forgotten how their main strategy of marketing, by word of mouth, can be enhanced by getting that word to more ears. My manager constantly compares the business to MacDonald's, "oh but MacDonald's has a huge budget they can afford to advertise that much.. blah blah blah". DUH! But MacDonald's had to get that business somehow as does any other company. You can't just open a store and magically expect people to know it exist, especially if it's located in the middle of an industrial area where no one but car mechanics go. "You get what you pay for" is a saying related to any consumer/business product relationship. But suddenly it doesn't apply in advertisement. According to my boss, our store should beable to pick empty time slots open on the biggest radio stations in calgary and pay half the amount of any other company. Why? Simply just because they have no reason. "sorry, we have millions of businesses that want to advertise that are willing to pay full price or more for those slots, what makes you think you should habve special priority?" says the obviously frustrated marketing lady for CJay and Vibe98.5 Radio. I agree with her and add "they are running a business too, you have to compromise, this offer is already a good de.." I am cut off by him "I want the free slots and I want half price. Give me half price." "I can't just chop the price in half, what would my people say about that and my other customers?" The tension is getting thicker and I'm putting my face in my hands wishing I wasn't currently associated with this foolish display of poor business ettiquette. I keep telling them, that advertisement needs to be done. ANYTHING! A website, a bilboard, a radio ad. But they don't seem to see advertising as an investment into the future of the business. All they see is a number in the bank.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Mr. Golden Sun
I realize blogging, for me, is a practical way to sort my thoughts so they aren't jumbling up in my brain when I need to be functioning efficiently. So as a result, much of what i write seems to be a documentation of the progression (or deterioration) of my thoughts and feelings, but i suppose that is the definition of a blog anyways... I will now update in reference to my previous blog:
I feel like the sun is peeking it's head through the clouds! Literally speaking, it's doing alot more than peeking since the temperature is going to be 29ºC tomorrow (apparently) and was 24ºC for most of the day today. Figuratively speaking, the rain cloud is dissipating. I've switched to a different BC and I already feel the difference. Today I felt much more like myself again. It's crazy how altering your regular body chemistry can affect you. Everything is so finely tuned and everythingis connected. I am constantly in awe of how complex the human body is, and what it reflects about the complexity of the universe.
I feel like the sun is peeking it's head through the clouds! Literally speaking, it's doing alot more than peeking since the temperature is going to be 29ºC tomorrow (apparently) and was 24ºC for most of the day today. Figuratively speaking, the rain cloud is dissipating. I've switched to a different BC and I already feel the difference. Today I felt much more like myself again. It's crazy how altering your regular body chemistry can affect you. Everything is so finely tuned and everythingis connected. I am constantly in awe of how complex the human body is, and what it reflects about the complexity of the universe.
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