Mechanisms

[illusionofjoy]

I really had no particular reason to be awake this morning, aside from every reason I've had for several weeks now. My alarm went off at 8:00AM. I stumbled to the other side of the room to grab the clock as it made the noise, hitting the snooze button, as I set it next to the bed I was climbing back into. Seven minutes later it began beeping again and I pushed the snooze button once more. I wasn't really sleeping at this point. I was actually lying under the covers thinking, "that blasted thing is going to go off again any minute now." The next time the alarm began beeping, I clicked it off permanently and stared at the ceiling for several minutes before climbing out of bed. It was nearly 9:00AM at this point.

My younger brother was home, which was unusual. I found out that most of the schools in Northern New York had been shut down today due to a storm that came through last night. The roads were slushy, and it was raining outside. I decided to brave the potential danger anyhow. There was no milk in the house, and my mother sent me forth to buy more. The roads weren't really all that bad to drive on, though it was raining. I drove to one of the two local grocery stores and went in, seeking milk (and a loaf of bread, I "should get as well").

I am beginning to believe that the shopping basket is going out of style, as American culture becomes more and more ravenous in the throes of crass consumerism. When I was young, I remember that shopping baskets were easy to find. They were located right next to the shopping carts in a big stack, with a sign above that said, "shopping baskets for your convenience." Today, the shopping carts are in the same place, however, instead of a cute little stack of baskets within easy view, there are a bunch of miniature shopping carts next to the normal-sized ones. My assumption that these must be for toddlers was confirmed upon noticing the little flags on each one, attached to four-foot poles. Each flag had the phrase, "future consumer" printed on it. Indeed the mega-corporations start early and aren't nearly as subtle about it as they used to be.

I finally found the baskets I was looking for, located in a small, sad little unmarked pile at the end of a checkout line. I grabbed one and walked towards the back of the store, where they always locate bread and milk. Far be it from a supermarket to make it easy for anyone merely wanting a quick carton of milk; they want to catch every potential impulse-buyer that they can. Far be it from a supermarket to make it easy for a customer to shop in any way.

My mother, slightly paranoid as she tends to be, prefers to purchase a particular brand of 2% milk, which has a guarantee that it did not come from cows treated with bovine growth hormone. Naturally, I went in search of this brand and naturally I couldn't find it on the shelves of the cooler when I got to the store. I am aware that sometimes they have stuff stocked in the warehouse section of these stores, just waiting to be put out for purchase by the general public. I noticed an employee and decided to ask him about the product I was looking for. Walking up to him and thinking I had been noticed, I began.

"I'm looking for-" I cut myself off as the slightly heavyset man with greying hair looked away from me for an extended period of time, apparently mesmerised by thin air.

"Excuse me," I said, trying to draw him back to one of the many people who allowed him to get a weekly paycheque - i.e.: the customer.

"Yes, I'm listening," he replied with a tone more appropriate for a cocker spaniel that had just soiled a carpet.

I told him what I was looking for and was greeted with a less than satisfactory reply.

"What we have is already on the shelves," he said curtly, "special milk is on the bottom self the next aisle over." He quickly walked away from me, as if being anywhere but helping me to find a specific product was a gargantuan priority.

"Wanker," I spat out after him as I mused about how simple it would have been to get one of the prepubescent stock boys they have in their well of employees to go back to the stock room and bring out what I wanted. I left the store without purchasing a thing and drove to Potsdam's other supermarket, where I found what I was looking for immediately. Had I the time or inclination, I would register a complaint about the unhelpful employee at the former store. It would give me great pleasure to give him a rough lesson on the order of business transactions - that being, to effectively sell, one must maintain a neutral yet helpful attitude towards the customer and repress their own opinions of personal emotions. I would love to make this employee pay for his sins on the job, perhaps even so far as to get him fired. At least I was able to get my bread and milk - at another store!

---

I have finally found an apartment in Pittsburgh! Well, sort of...

I spent my entire Friday afternoon trying to call the real estate company that is renting the place out. By that, I actually mean that I began my calls at noon, and proceeded to repeat calling every half-hour on the dot until 5:00PM. I did not reach an actual human being during this entire operation. Unabashed, I called the same place once more at 9:00AM yesterday. This time there was someone on the other end to pick up the phone.

I asked them if the apartment in question was still available, and the answer was, "yes." At this point I told them that I wanted to rent it out. They told me that they were unable to do that without myself, or someone representing me viewing it first (Pennsylvania state law, I think). I informed them that masochistmonkey would be viewing it on Thursday, but that I needed to be assured of having a place to live in once I made it to the city on Friday. My main concern was that someone was going to rent the place from beneath me, so to speak.

I was told that while they were unable to rent me the apartment without the mandatory viewing, they could hold it for me if I mailed in a deposit. After my friend viewed the apartment on Thursday, I could then call up the company and arrange to meet with them when I arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday to finalise the arrangements. If I decide that I don't want the apartment after all, I lose my deposit. I don't think I'll be giving this up though, as I finally have a place to live. As an added bonus, it's less than two blocks away from where Masochist Monkey lives.

Thus, with the apartment situation pretty much cleared up, I need to focus on other matters. Employment is at the forefront of my mind once I get there. I'll probably end up starting out in temp jobs while I look for something better. xeyli thinks that I should apply at Border's. Honestly, I think she should be the spokesperson for that chain of stores, given how much affection she seems to carry for it (and having a sexy Asian spokesperson wouldn't hurt Border's either). I am actually considering it with some degree of seriousness, after what she told me some of the benefits of working there would be. Not only that, but I would get more benefits than her as I would be working full time instead of part time.

Aside from finding employment (which, as a word, I like far better than "work"), I still need to pack up my stuff here - or at least get started on it. I pick up the U-Haul truck Thursday morning, which means I'll be loading it up that afternoon and leaving that night (or very early Friday morning - I'm considering doing an overnight starting at anywhere from midnight to 2:00AM). It would be nice to be able to just load everything in without having to worry about putting things in boxes immediately beforehand. Procrastinator that I am, I imagine that I may have a few loose ends to tie up.

Even so, my mother has been pretty helpful thus far in packing stuff up. She has recently decided to replace most of her cookware, dishes and flatware. She asked if I wanted a lot of the old stuff, and being that I am all for saving money, I agreed. For the most part, these are nice dishes, pots and pans. That, however, is just a bonus as I am thankful to have real dishes to eat off of once I move out.

All in all, things are coming along swimmingly. Perhaps a little slower than they should be, but I can't really complain there, now can I.

Comments

As the "spokesperson"

[xeyli.livejournal.com]

Borders doesn't have an apostrophe. The people who started the company are the Borders brothers; it's their family name. Neat, eh? not really, but just playing along with the gag.

[czerach.livejournal.com]

I love buying loaves of beds at the grocery store.

:P

[illusion-of-joy.livejournal.com]

That typo has been corrected. :P