fuck this job.com

I haven't been on in ages. And this entry is really only going to make sense to anyone who remembers me from when I worked as an armored transport guard. But enjoy anyway!

Wow. Made a major discovery this morning on the way to work and just confirmed it a few minutes ago. For those of you who remember this far back, armored company one (the first armored transport place I worked for) was about two miles from my house. When I go to work in the morning I often see their trucks leaving for the day.

Anyway, haven't really seen any in a while since when I leave for work in the morning it is late for them to be leaving. But I saw my old box van come around the corner and blow up the road towards the highway. I ended up behind them at a light and had a laugh that the "ATM is down" signs were still in the back window after all this time. I also noticed the truck number was very different, but I recognized the truck as being the exact one I had driven a few years ago.

Hi all who may actually remember me! LOL! Sorry I vanished. I came into the knowledge that the store owner cruises the internet regularly trying to find the employees online. So I haven't been posting anything about work. When I do elsewhere, I never mention names, but just to be sure.

So, I am still selling guns for a living. In December I'll have been there for a year, which frightens me. I've seen a lot of people come and go in this past few months. And I've had a lot of really funny stories that I wish I could have shared with you all. But I am sure you understand why I haven't.

I am looking in to other areas of employment. That's a given. You always have to look for bigger and better. But I recently ran in to a local area police officer who invited me to come by one night for a ride along while he was on duty. I'm considering going in for it on Monday. It is one of those "come whenever" deals. But he knows I was on to a PD, he wants me on his PD, so he wants me to come in and meet some people and maybe get the ball rolling. And I think I will. I'm not in the greatest shape anymore since I left armored and don't lift coin and sprint all day, but that won't be hard to fix. And by the time the process is complete and I am ready to go to the academy (if they take me), I'll be ready to go.

Thought I would pop back in for a quick hello. Things are changing at my job rapidly. I am in my third possition with the company, but I am about half way back onto the register at this point. It appears there was a mysterious rule no one knew about stating that cashiers were not allowed to become sales people. We know too much about the computer systems. What that has to do with anything, I really don't know, and no one else appears to get it, either. I can work the register... sort of. What, exactly, does that matter? We don't have access to much. What am I going to do, change prices? I can't.

I am thinking my father is correct about my gun sales job. This job is more dangerous than armored transport. 99% of the people are armed, and out of those about 43% are stupid. Out of that 43% about 20% are dangerous stupid. Like yesterday. A girl comes in, she's a security guard, and she has to practice with this little Sig (it was the same one I own and I almost took it away from her. LOL!). She assures me about six times that the gun is unloaded, I ask to see it anyway, and she hands it to me business end first. I pull the slide and out pops a hollow point.

But yes, even in a gun store there is a difference between stupid and dangerous stupid. All stupid people are dangerous, we know this. But there is a major difference between the guy too stupid to be able to find the exit of the range (which is a 20 foot opening leading out onto the sales floor) and someone who points a loaded gun at you and swears it is unloaded while saying, "See!" as you jump forward to smack the barrel towards the ceiling or to pull the gun away as their finger is going for the trigger. And yes, people have shot the ceiling in the store.

We had a guy come in with an AR-15. He starts this major bitch fest about his lane having no lights. So he switches with another guy who has lights. Now, the guy who offered to switch lanes then comes out and tries to pull one over on us by telling us he needs lights and if he can't have them he wants a discount. Well, the lanes would all have lights if people didn't shoot them out or bring in larger than needed weapons that cause the lights to burst (we are forever replacing bulbs and just can't always keep up). So they told him, to be nice, that since he can't shoot on the lane they'll give him a free range pass.

So we have this one customer who calls constantly. The man only fired a gun for the first time ever last week, but since then he has been back to shoot four times. And in that period of time he has called the shop at least 50 times with one question or another. I, of course, am usually the one who gets his calls, so he now knows my name, too. Which is fine, because I know his. LOL! Knowing the customers' names means something, trust me.

Anyway, he was in to shoot this afternoon. But he called a few hours prior to see how busy the range was, which is info I am not permitted to give out. The reason being: one moment it could be empty and the next moment we could get a bus load of people in and the waiting list could be two hours long. It happens all the time.

So today was a lot slower than it has been in a week or so. We had about 1/4 of the crowd we have been having. It appears work is back on full force now. The smaller crowds left us time to notice and harrass people who cannot read. We always notice, but bigger crowds give us less chance to harrass.

This store is wallpapered with signs. About everything.

- No cell phones
- No open toed shoes or tank tops on the range
- The new hours are...
- Hunting licenses are available only through the cashiers
- We're closed on these holidays
- Closed *insert dates... always a holiday*
- Let the first range door close before opening the second

Has anyone seen this thing? The singing trophy buck is what it is refered to. It is a very large plastic deer head, with huge amounts of ear hair, that moves and sings shit like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Rawhide." It also breaks up it's songs with little jokes. From what I understand, you can even plug a mic into it and sing along.

It's sort of like Billy the Big Mouth Bass... only it's a mounted deer head. Life size, too.

For the record, I hate this fucking thing.

But I have a reason. My reason is that there is one of these things mounted on the wall at the firing range, and it happens to be less than a foot from where I have been posted for the past three days. So for three days, I have heard The Singing Trophy Buck repeatedly sing Sweet Home Alabama. This is a solid 30 hours of Sweet Home Alabama as done by a deer head.

So I started at the gun shop yesterday. Aside from being fairly boring (ok, really boring) it isn't such a bad job. I'm just having a little trouble adjusting to not being in a constant sprint. And not being a supervisor anymore. LOL!

But I'll tell you. It is really something special to work with a group of people who are actually intelligent. There isn't one person in there you could refer to as an honest to God dumbass. One might by obnoxious, but he isn't stupid, either. So this is a major change. I don't loathe, hate, despise, or even slightly dislike anyone I am calling a co-worker so far. Sure, only the second day, but this is a good sign.

I got hired on the spot. It turns out this second "interview" was a trick. He was just testing to see if I'd show up on time, and since I was 20 minutes early last time, and somehow got there 45 minutes early today, he just took me in to meet the general manager and awarded me the slot.

I start on December 12 at 09:45, making $8.50 an hour. Major paycut, but much better benefits, and a WAY better working environment. I'm going in already knowing their rules and the store layout as well as how to work most of the equipment.

Once I get my concealed carry permit, I will also be allowed to carry at work again. That's a few months away yet, but damn.

It went well. I went in today, was very early (about 15 minutes) so I used the time to sit in their bathroom and calm my nerves. I shake at the slightest thing anymore, I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I've been this skitish for months, though.

It lasted about 30 minutes, he asked some questions, told me about the pay and benefits, what he expects of employees, etc. It was a rather unusual interview from what I am used to, but it was a good one, and excellent practice if nothing else. He wanted to know about hobbies and what have you, to which I am sure I turned bright red when I told him I went shooting as a hobbie. It sounds like ass kissing, I'm sure, but let's face it... I never had time to have much of a life, but I had time for the range. And plenty of stress to burn!

Wow, I finally got a call back for a job!

Bad thing: it's retail. If I get the job I'll be a cashier and probably only making minimum, but it is something... for now.

Good thing: it's the gun store/range I bought my Sig from and used to practice before requalifying for the past almost three years. I know just about everyone in there, including the customers. Aside from that, I once hooked the manager up with an application for the first armored place I worked at... before he became the store manager there. So we know each other pretty well (and considering he gave me the application and now I have an interview, it's probably a "debt paid" deal. But hey, it's something, and I might have a shot at it).

Don't want to completely fall off the face of the Earth in here, so I am stopping by to say hello.

I'm doing fine. Still very much unemployed with the holidays approaching fast, still waiting for my unemployment checks to come in, and still not getting any calls back for applications I've filled out.

I'm currently researching trucking schools in the area with the hopes of getting a CDL and a hazmat endorsement to match. What can I say, the bigger the truck, the happier I am. But I figure I can do that for a little while, and maybe someday be able to go for what I really want if I can get my shit together. But I like the idea of driving trucks. I'm like a little kid, I wanna play with the big trucks! LOL!

I've been seeing some entries about people being let go. I'm sorry to hear this. Believe me, I know as well as everyone that while a job sucks ass it is still a paycheck.

However, being in the same state of sudden unemployment, I see it as a chance to move ahead. We hate(ed) our jobs. And making the change of leaving and going to a new slot is a hard thing to deal with. When you become suddenly unemployed, it is really a chance. A chance to move on and try something different.

I just want to wish you the best of luck if you have become suddenly unemployed. I offer my support if you need it, I'm always here. But keep your eyes on the future, and maybe try something you always wanted to do.

My boss went on a firing spree by order of the DM. He ended up letting four people go.

I was one of them.

Missing bag, the whole nine. I asked my questions, along the lines of "why wasn't I investigated the way the other three were?" It appears, to me at least, that I was just let go. They all did polygraphs and what have you, I was never sent for one, I was never questioned, I just wrote a statement that evidentally wasn't readable acording the polygraph guy who read the statements.

So, I'm out of work. Needless to say, I won't be around for a little while, but I am 100% sure I'll be back.