The wrong job

[lostpony]

So it might have been a mistake to get a job at my favorite thrift store where I habitually drop in every day.

I didn't know the employee "shopping" policy until after I signed up.  Yes, as employee I get 30% off but....I only get to buy stuff on workdays before my shift and not on weekends or sale days, and I only signed up for weekends so basically i don't get to buy anything except on saturday morning, when I can put stuff in the "supe room" and come back and buy it during the week.  Crazy right?

There's a 50% off toys sale yesterday and today for the holiday (clothes and other stuff too but of course I care only about the toys...), and I saw big bins full of toys on the 2nd that were to be put out yesterday and today and though I guess it's OK for me to mope through the store, I couldn't bear to go in there and see what I don't get to buy so I don't even know what I missed.  No more Buildabear ponies for $3 for me anymore and if any G1s go by on my work days I'll have to watch as the competition carries them out of the store.

I tried to petition the store manager to let me shop on off-days and I brandished a pony, and she said "You carry those around with you?"  no help there.

The agony!!

I have too many ponies already but gee darn.  Aaaaargh. Hahaha, oh feel my pain people.

I scrubbed the internet and found a thrift store in the other direction that closes early so is a morning-only thing for me, so no more pony-hunting on the way home from my other job.  They say on the fone that they have stuffed animals so I'm going there today and see what I can find.  My pony-hunting will not be silenced!

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Oh yeah that is the downside of working at a thrift store, they usually  don`t want it to be an advantage to any kind of collectors...

[NightGliderSA]

Oh no, that is terrible! I feel your pain lostpony... not sure that I would be able to watch while other people bought ponies that you clearly deserve way more. What if you offer to pay full price for them?

[lostpony]

Nope, and while I wanted to stalk the holiday rush I couldn't bear it; didn't set foot in the store.

I did find a good handful of little plush unicorns, giraffe and elephant at the other nearby thrift store, which turns out is a bit dingy and disorganized but the prices are good.  Kinda like a permanent yard sale...also found a $400 file cabinet I need for $15 so it's not all bad.

Looking good on the Build-a-bear job at the end of the summer though, when much of their staff goes back to school and the store manager likes me and my extra retail experience over the summer at the thrift store will be good for getting hired there, so I just have to stick it out until then when I can switch.

Meanwhile it's just as well, I'm moving out of my trailer space in 60 days and have to clear out a lot of junk from storage to make room for the massive pile of big toy horses I already have piled up here including rocking horses, Battat horses, a shed-ful of plushes and all that whatnot so it's probably not a bad time to put the acquisition on hold until I downsize and trim for my new deal where I'm basically living mobile for the next year or three while I pursue some lawsuits, complete a bankruptcy debt reorganization, deal with some taxes etc and get my life back together now that pony therapy has helped me get my mind a little more right than it was two years ago.  Once I get things trimmed to fit my new lifestyle I'm going to spend my pony time drawing and learning to animate etc instead of acquiring anyway so it's all a good thing.

Thanks for caring! and hope things are going well for everyone else.

[LadyMoondancer]

That sucks, but I think it's pretty common.  They want stuff to get into the general public's hands.  It's bad publicity if an employee is buying up all of Item XYZ.  It means collectors of XYZ will stop bothering to come in.

I get your frustration, though.  That would certainly be hard to watch.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I'm sorry to hear it's stacked up against you like that due to your shift pattern. Fingers crossed that you get your job in BAB and that other things continue to improve as well. I switched from acquiring to making customs (very slowly lol). Im quite glad that I have reached that point now.

[lostpony]

Thankses!

Yes I know they can't support the store being cleaned out by employees and that's clearly the reason behind the strict policy which states that not only can there be no pricing done in the back for any crew members, but even joking about it is verboten.

They've been at this a long time across a lot of states and the policy is very well developed.  I don't mind, and I'm happy to have work but it was just surprising that I don't get to be a regular customer at all.  I pawed through all the toys every work day on my way home so it's going to take some getting used to.

I have been looking at the motivational word-of-the-month on the calendar I'm using at the Dr's office job: 

May was "greatness" which does describe my success in getting the writ thrown out by the court (which would have ended me quickly if I had not succeeded) and few accomplish that so whether it means I did a great job, or just that it was a great windfall for me, it seems to apply,

June was "adaptability" which describes both taking a move-out deal that drastically changes my lifestyle but provides the $$ needed to move me towards stability as well as taking a job that restricts my habits while also moving me towards stability,

July is "determination" which describes what I must have every day to clear stuff out of storage and relocate all my stuff, keep showing up at both jobs 6 days a week with a smile, and deal with all the vehicle registration, repairs, refits, packing, logistics, etc,

August is "endurance" which is what I must have to keep up the effort and get all the projects wrapped up successfully and actually roll out of the trailer park to live landless without any connected utilities etc by the end of the month, as well as to go out and seek the buildabear job in the middle of the month with all that going on.

September is "harmony" which describes how I have to exist if I want the new situation to actually succeed...reparking the rig twice a day in new places to avoid trouble with local authorities and vandals, finding nice overnight spots a little apart from the bustle that are relaxing and positive, and safe spots to leave the rig full of pets and ponies while at work during the day.

October is "inspiration" which hopefully means making a lot of great progress on my art and other endeavors perhaps by finding great parking spots with natural surroundings that relax and inspire me (there are quite a few such areas nearby, a short drive from the bustle),

November is "accountability" which probably means getting on track with all the years of unfiled taxes and that sort of thing....who knows really, but it implies a scary turning-and-facing of things left neglected too long that are going to catch up with me anyway by then if I don't face them,

December is "perspective" which hopefully means looking back and forward and figuring out exactly what I am supposed to be doing and how to go about doing it.  Something I am certainly too lost in the trees to see right now.

It's quite a perceptive calendar.  It's peculiar what ends up being a source of wisdom in life.

[Artemesia's Garden]

Thankses!

It's quite a perceptive calendar.  It's peculiar what ends up being a source of wisdom in life.

I agree!

[dragonfly]

Lostpony, I'd quit. They're clearly cramping your style. LOL.

[NightGliderSA]

I like how you are looking at the positives here. What a cool calendar 

One question though: rocking horses? As in large carved wooden rocking horses?

[lostpony]

Thanks Aremesia and I appreciate that sentiment, Dragonfly!  I do plan to quit, but not before I get that Buildabear job at the end of the summer. 

Yes NightGliderSA, rocking horses like a small child can sit on...most of them are plush over a metal skeleton but I do have a wooden one by Radio Flyer that is really nice.  They're not antique or anything but they are large ponies.  I should get a picture of them all together at some point soon while I'll dealing with my stuff re-org.  I have one that has wheels that swing down under its rails so it can be rolled around....it's the right shape and I plan to customize it into G1 Applejack and tow it behind my pony costume someday, with a pack-saddle to carry all my convention loot.  Something to look forward to!

I admit I was fiending so much for a thrift store with a toy section last night that I got off the train at a stop far away and rode an extra 6 miles home because there's another thrift store along that route and I made a just-before-closing mad dash and found a couple of Namco G3 plushes there, Yaaay and a few of beanbag-sized horses.  12" or so Pinkie Pie and a Rainbow Dash about half that size, for a dollar each and a weird leather-covered 12 inch horse sculpture.  There was a fakie G1 fancy-pants baby but the bag was torn and they wouldn't sell it to me, ack...fakie anyway, but still.  My pony-hunting will not be stopped!

I also saw a really amazing spring-horse (like a child can bounce up and down on suspended by 4 big springs) by Radio Flyer in thick plastic with really cute big hooves in a fun pose that was both too much $ and too big to carry on the bike but....I'll be keeping my eye on it and if it's still there when it goes on color-tag sale...I'd carry it home somehow.  Maybe by then I'll have tags on my truck and drive for it, otherwise just ride with it under my arm....for like 5 miles, ha.

There's always a positive in everything, no matter how small....failing to find it can be a fatal error.  Finding it can be a way forward. 

[NightGliderSA]

That is awesome! I have always wanted a rocking horse. My dad actually made one when I was small and then sold it. He promised that he would definitely make another one for me buuuuuut.....    So. Big Scars.

One day I will get a beautiful carved wooden rocking horse. And I will even let my boys ride on it.

[Nappercasper]

Don't you have someone who can come look for you, if you did see something you could text to come in and buy for you?

[lostpony]

NightgliderSA I'm sorry to hear you were deprived of your carved wooden rocking horse!

I love them so much.  There are some videos on YouTube for fully-carved wonderful wooden rocking horses.  Have you seen them?  still being made by craftsmen who love them as we do.

I hope you get yours someday!  I'd like some like that too, but for now I enjoy my modern plush knockoffs very much.  I have almost ten of them right now so it's OK I can't buy any more right now.  I can send you one of them if you want but the shipping will probably be ridiculous.  PM me if you want a plush-covered one.

No, Nappercasper I don't know anyone who I can have come in to buy things for me.  I've avoided the store completely off hours now and I did check out a number of other stores in my area, some of which are a tough bike ride to get to.  None of them are quite the same....this particular store is really great, and a lot of people sweat very hard to make it so.  Further, the stuff I did put aside according to policy to buy got restocked and sold so I am simply resigned to not buying anything there for now.  I found a couple of nice things around the store last weekend (a g3 cheerilee book yay, uh, arg) while on the clock and all I can do is watch them go by.  Eh.

On the other hand, the buildabear store manager will almost certainly hire me at the end of the summer when her people go back to school.  Yesterday I just found out about their reindeer which are really great.....no shopping restrictions at buildabear so all I have to do is not get fired until the end of August so I'm just serving my time until then.  I think I'll appreciate such a job a bit more after being chained to an oar for a little while.

Oh and it's a really tough job.  I am definitely losing a toenail over it because of the new work shoes I wore the first day.  I heard I'm doing well and they like me so far, so I should be able to keep from getting fired for two months. 

Got my register code Saturday.  They trust me to touch the money?!?  eeeeeeks

[lostpony]

Ok shopping update, i guess its cuz im doing well and i guess someone told the store mgr about me but when i popped in today to talk about a timeclock issue (attack of the machines) the store mgr told me i can come in during her hours and "buy ponies" is how she put it. She even said that if i find any ponies during my work hours i can put them aside in the "sup room" and come in during her hours to buy them.

So cool! Not only can i shop there again but im now a bona fide pony nut there.

Total losses are just one big fuzzy blanket with big rocking horses on it. That got put back and sold before i figured things out. Aw too bad woulda been so cool for picture backgrounds.