Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Hope you're enjoying it, even if it's just another day to you.
Much has happened in the last few days or so, particularly in the realm of Wal-Mart. The last couple of days have been somber, sad in the Photo Lab, as we lost one of our good associates, Dana Doyle, who was fired for excessive lateness. He was definitely a fun person to work with, a good associate who worked well. The news came last Sunday as a bit of a shock to me, but I realized just how sneaky Wal-Mart was in going about it...for his dismissal was planned for some time. It began a couple weeks ago, when he noticed a significant portion of his hours had been cut. Last Saturday, the day before they let him go, I was asked to switch my work schedule for that day--I was originally on from 9-6, then I was asked to work 1-10, the closing shift. When I asked Laurie why the switch, out of curiosity, all she told me was that she just needed to make a change, which is unlikely logic coming from a department manager who knows how to (or at least attempt to) lie and feign shock. Every time she asked me to make a switch, it was because someone needs a day off, or someone needed a switch. However, I just shrugged it off.
Sunday, I came into work, and there was some confusion--both Dana and I were going to work 1-10, which is VERY unusual, even for Laurie's backward scheduling. Never is there 2 people working 1-10. Around 4 or so in the afternoon, he was called back to the management office...and that was that. Next thing I know, his girlfriend is bawling at the register, and Alan just said somberly that Dana was no longer with us. I felt like someone punched me, it was that much of a shock. I called Rob, let him know, and Allison couldn't believe it.
The next day, Laurie had a pow-wow with those of us on, talking about confidentiality, etc, etc, watch your punches, etc, etc. Later on that day, she had called Allison into the back, and was there for 45 minutes, and I started to feel nervous, thinking, oh, God, not Allison too. You could say a slight paranoia has gripped us in the Lab, seeing that now Wal-Mart is formally reprimanding people and firing people for accruing overtime--even 30 seconds worth. They DO NOT WANT ANYONE TO HAVE OVERTIME. And they're starting to get serious, looking for ways to get rid of people.
Which is even making me more and more want to leave retail--now we've got covert and suspicious dealings going on.
In other news, I purchased Resident Evil 4 again, now that it's a Greatest Hit and down to $20. And it's one of the rare games that make me feel like I'm playing for the first time all over again--this is my 2nd runthrough, and all the plot twists, all the action is still just as fresh as it was a year ago. That, my friends, is the mark of a truly good game.
I've decided to do what I call a "negative restoration" project utilizing my Photo Lab...although there really is no restoration of negatives. I'm just putting every roll of film I've taken since high school and putting them to disk. It's been a long time since I looked at some of these--the rolls of Tri-X I did when I was taking Photo in high school...the Taconic camping trip with Dan and Jackie, KBH Christmas Party in New Paltz, when I was a student...Halloween at MCLA, my trip to Oklahoma a couple summers ago, last summer's RenFaire, and much more. I will probably share some pics just for nostalgia's sake when I nab them all.
Ah, it's getting near contest update time.
And we'll be in New Paltz tomorrow. Joy!
The plumage don't enter into it. He's stone dead.
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