1-22-11 Saturday (Share? Hell No)

We did little of value today other than our 131 Main outing so let’s cut right to the evening.  Jim, Deanna and I met at Beth’s at 7pm for some pre-dinner cocktails.  Well, wine really.  Empty stomach + wine + good company = me having a really fun time. 

Above: Beth

Above: Deanna

Above: Beth and Jim.  Beth is the one on the left.

Above: Jim and Garret (me!)

Above/Below: Some people

It was off to dinner.  Jim drove Deanna’s roomy SUV while the rest of us were “happy” from wine consumption.  Here’s the Charlotte Restaurant Week menu for 131 Main that we chose from:

The placard-ish menu in the restaurant did not say “one to share” on the appetizer as it does above.  We each ordered one and then shared.  Beth wanted the Salmon.  We tried it and other than Beth, we didn’t love it.  The smoke flavor was too much for me.  What that meant is more for Beth.  The other 2 appetizers were awesome and we were surprised that they were FULL sized portions.  For $30, you’d think it would be a full portion of everything, however, being an upscale and pricey restaurant, I guess we assumed the portions would be less than usual.  We had way too much appetizer action going on.  That’s OK, we took it home.

Jim, Beth and I had the Prime Rib and Deanna had the Meatloaf.  There’s one in every crowd. Everyone loved their meal.  The Prime Rib was once again a large, normal portion and was high quality.

The desserts?  Brownie’s for everyone except Beth who had the Banana Crème Pie.  Yum to all.  Once again, HUGE portions.

131 Main was wonderful enough to include prices on their website so it was interesting to price out my $30 meal.  Ready?

1. $ 8.00 least expensive wine on their menu
2. $24.00 12oz Prime Rib
3. $ 6.00 Double Dip appetizer
4. $ 7.00 Brownie a la Mode

$45.00 for $30.00.  This place is some where that’s actually reasonably priced and doable without Restaurant Week.  We’d return.

The service was wonderful.  We had 3-4 people serving the table. 

Tomorrow night = Ruth’s Chris.  Nom, nom, nom.

1-21-11 Friday (Compact Calculations)

Jim and I have been looking forward to Charlotte Restaurant Week for a long time.  The gist per their website:

Enjoy a culinary extravaganza during this 10-Day celebration of Charlotte's restaurant scene. From Friday, January 21, through Sunday, January 30, each participating upscale restaurant will offer a spectacular 3-course, prix fixe dinner menu for only $30 per person (not including tax and gratuity).

It's a royal opportunity to experience Charlotte's ever-expanding array of dining options and remarkable chefs, from popular favorites to new hot-spots.

We love food.  That combined with the fact that these are upscale (or just plain pricey) restaurants that we’d typically not spend the money on makes this entire deal an awesome one. 

I just stated, “We love food.”  I do.  When I decided to tackle Weight Watchers again, I thought about Restaurant Week and then even into the future for the Valentine’s Day Chocolate buffet (we went to last year) and decided not to let these things control my life, my goals.  I’ll use my weekly points where I need to and I’ll eat smaller portions and maybe just a bite of this or that and finally, maybe I’ll make smart choices like chicken instead of beef/pork.  There’s a lot I can do. 

I mentioned “pricey”.  This is a great deal but still expensive (in terms of just for a meal).  It’s $30 per person for 3 courses.  I’m not working.  We want to hit at least 3 restaurants.  That’s $30.00 * 2 of us ($60) and then 3 restaurants = $180 plus tips and drinks.  Ouch.  But it’s once a year.  We missed last years.  Before committing to this we also waited until we heard back about my potential employment.  With that falling into place, it’s time to spend some money. 

With much aggravation, I booked 3 reservations.  There wasn’t much available for Saturday night, naturally. 

131 Main Restaurant - Dilworth
Saturday, January 22, 2011
9:15 PM
Party of 4   

Ruth's Chris Steak House - Charlotte Uptown
Sunday, January 23, 2011
5:45 PM
Party of 4

Del Frisco's - Charlotte
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
8:15 PM
Party of 5

Going out to eat at 9:15 at night seems strange to me but it was the best I could do.

As you know, I’m back on Weight Watchers and I have a few complaints.  The new PointsPlus calculator sucks.  For several reasons. 

1. It’s sexist.  It’s shaped and made to look like a woman’s compact. 
2. While holding a package with one hand and the calculator with the other (while shopping), my thumb barely reaches the 0 key.  The +/- keys are really a stretch.  Ergonomically confortable, I think not.
3. Too many buttons to press to calculate points.  First the power button.  Then the PointsPlus button.  Then the stupid thing’s screen asks “calculate?”  As opposed to what?  Then hit enter.  But that’s being petty.

On the good side of things, it was cheap and includes a regular calculator whereas the prevous model did not have regulator calculator functions.

A little more about the calculator.  As I searched online for clip art I found this from Amazon:

Above: $45???????????   Wow, glad I stopped into a Weight Watchers center and got it for under $10!

That’s all I got.  I’ve got a chicken in the rotisserie.  Mmmmmmmmmm.

Dear So And So

Dear Fat Cells,

I’ve never liked you and never will.  {evil voice} Soon, you will be eliminated.

Your Executioner,

Garret

---

Dear TGI Friday’s,

I so love your Green Bean Fries and Cheesy Bacon Cheese Burger.  I also realize that you’re working with the Fat Cells and wanted to let you know that I do not approve of that alliance.

PS: Please clean the nasty light fixtures with the abundance of dead bugs in them that hovered over me as I ate.

---

Dear Underwear,

Holy underwear!  Why do you develop holes where my junk goes?  I don’t have crotch rot.  Maybe this is a result of over stretched fabric?  A size 32-34?  Who am I kidding?

Uncomfortably Yours,

Future Underwear Shopper

---

Dear Clea,

Stop getting on my chair when I leave the room for 3 minutes!

Thank you in advance,

Chair Owner

---

Dear Goodwill,

I can’t believe you don’t have a separate men’s vs. women’s jean section.  I had to look through umpteen thousand pairs of jeans for the size as well as the gender appropriateness.  On the other hand, thanks for having several pairs of jeans and khakis that my enlarged body fit into.

Bloatedly Yours,

Pudgy

---

Dear Deanna, HR Chick The Human Resources Goddess,

Thank you so much for all the wonderful advice you’ve personally given me.  I’ve landed a job, a new career, and I’m excited about it.  Thank you for writing a wonderful, helpful, and often comedic blog (Corporate Survival from the Bottom Rung) with tips about surviving in the corporate world.  

Gratefully Yours,

New to the Corporate World

---

Dear City of Charlotte,

While I wished I would have had a job sooner, I’m happy that there are so many opportunities here.  Every so often I drive by some new corporate or regional office and am grateful to see them here.  Microsoft, Electrolux, HP, IBM, Rack Room Shoes, Speed channel, Wells Fargo, the list goes on and on.  Now could you just lower your damn taxes?

Residentially Yours,

An Abundantly Taxed Taxpayer

---

Dear North Carolina,

What the hell have you done to me?  At what point did I become the person that says, “It’s nice out.  It’s 40 degrees.”  You’ve also infected Jim.  Perhaps when we visit Florida, we’ll wear shorts when it’s in the 60’s while the Floridian’s bundle up.

Chillingly Yours,

A Brainwashed Carolinian

 

---

Dear Blog,

I know I said I was quittin’ you.  I can’t.  You’re like an addictive drug.  I can’t NOT find something to blog about.  We’ll eventually have to slow down our meetings once I get that job.  For now we’ll just have to enjoy one another.

Addictively Yours,

jimandgarret.blogspot.com Author

 

---

As my friend Joanie of Joanie’s Random Ramblings says:

Dear Friends,
If you like Dear So and So, and want to give it a try, just pop over toKat's Place at Three Bedroom Bungalow, hook up with her Linky and add your own!  It's a great way to blow off steam, and you can read lots of other letters!

Love,

Joanie

Psssst, I posted 2 entries in one day so don’t miss one.

1-20-11 Thursday (Logo Lingo isms)

I try to be careful about mentioning where I actually work.  With modern technology, I’m sure it’s easy for companies to search the internet for any mention of them.  Not that this post is trying to hide anything but I’d prefer to keep work separate from home. I’ll tell you about the job situations and positions by displaying their logo.

I had 2 in-person interviews with   last week.  Both for inbound call center positions.  The position had better hours overall.  I’d be off a weekday and Saturdays.  Lower pay but with monthly incentives.  A 50/50 mix of customer service and sales.  As a customer you’d call in upset about an overdraft fee.  I’d be the one to reverse the charge and sell you overdraft protection.  The biggest drawback is “upset customers”.  I’ve dealt angry customers for most of my career. 

The 2nd was for an position.  The hours are 12-9 (after training), Sunday’s off plus a weekday, 100% sales but to a customer who is interested in the product.   Good points: having Sunday off is good to recover from late Saturday night fun.  Taking Tuesday’s as my day off would be great so that if I take Monday off, I’d get a 3 day weekend.  This position is higher in pay and offered quarterly incentives.

Yesterday I mentioned I had an interview with for the position.   As I said yesterday, this has been in the making since July.  This position is all about service for inquiries, service orders, trouble calls, billing, etc.  The interview went well.  The pay was “OK” but no incentives.  They’re hiring 22 people.  The hours would be for what seemed like 1st shift.  I’m not even sure if weekends were part of it.  The good news is they’d be making offers by Monday.

On Monday I had an interview with to be a service advisor.  Been there, done that.  I really want out of automotive.  The interview seemed OK, the place seemed a bit dated.  Deep down I really don’t want this job but I’d take it if need be.

SO, I accepted the .  It’s the only job I was offered but I think it works out because it seems to have far more pros than cons.  Like I said, the hours are the con but with seniority or being a top producer, that can be changed.  I thought about stalling my acceptance a little to see if the position would come through on Monday.  I think I can go further with the banker thing, and the money is better.  As for the position, I didn’t get turned down as of this posting but there’s no telling how long until decisions and offers would be made. 

I’m excited.  I’m a bit nervous too.  I’m nervous about the training.  6 weeks.  I have a hard time with classes.  Be it a form of ADD or something, I sometimes just zone out.  It happened in Real Estate school years ago. I just start thinking about dumb things.  I’m going to make sure my lunch doesn’t make me tired and crash which is easy with Weight Watchers.  Any suggestions on how to minimize or beat this?

*** 2 updates: 1: At about noon I received a job offer email for that position but turned it down.  2: I received an email from my recruiter saying the schedule options changed.  Tuesdays for a day off are not available and the Saturday shift is later originally agreed on.  I’m not particularly happy but I’ll deal.  With hopes of changing the schedule down the road, I contacted the guy who interviewed me.  Afterall, he did personally write his work email down and told me to contact him if I had questions.  He replied: “After your first quarter on the floor selling, you can start bidding for schedule changes on a monthly basis. I have three employees that got first shift schedules after their first quarter on the floor, but they were top producers. I don’t know what the future holds and what the business needs of the company will be, I just know that you can bid for changes monthly and they will look at performance and seniority.”

All in all, I’m damn excited about the job!

1 year ago today: I got the Jeep repaired.  I admitted my shower head collection.   We hit the gym. 2 years ago today: We were in San Francisco!  Jim was freaked out by a view. We got lost.  I made a slideshow of today’s adventures.

1-19-11 Wednesday (Paying Attention Is Worth 4)

OK, a little catch-up.  The other day I took an assessment for a position with a company that specializes in outsourced customer service inbound call centers.  Here’s a screen shot of one of the many screwed up questions I was asked:

There were several of these numerical questions and a few alphabetical ones.  I worked hard on several of them.  THEN I enlisted Jim’s help.  THEN I Googled the string of numbers and found the answers quickly.  Was it cheating?  Did they care how the answer was obtained?  Were they looking at my resourcefulness?  I’ll probably never know but that’s OK.  Many of these customer service jobs are using computers to research product information or customer accounts so I have to believe that Googling the answers are acceptable.  There… now I can sleep.

I mentioned we ate dinner at TGI Friday’s the other night.   Usually Jim submits the Friday’s online survey but this time I did.  I wanted them to know that our server is the best and we continually ask for him.  As a matter of fact, I now enter in the restaurant, phone number and server’s name into my phone so we remember who to ask for.  The benefits in requesting the same server is typically awesome.  I won’t mention our server’s name because I don’t want him to lose his job or anything but he gave us a free order of salsa and chips, didn’t charge for the iced tea or soda, and applied 2 coupons to our ticket.  I really wasn’t expecting all that.  From a strong management background, I don’t think he should have done that.  I think the exceptional service he’s always provided us would have been adequate and welcomed.  I digress, as I typically do.  The point is about the survey.  I mentioned that the chandeliers overhead had many bugs laying in them.  I mentioned the great food and awesome service.  Check out the 5th row of the survey screen shot below:

“For this row, please select a “four” to mark your place in the survey”.  I thought this was strange and yet cool.  It’s probably there for those who don’t read the questions and just score badly or even exceptionally.  They pencil whip the survey.  I wonder if answering something other than 4, if the survey is then disqualified?  Genius really.   In my dealership service days, customer received surveys and sometimes you can tell people didn’t read the questions.  They were angry and scored low on stuff that was a lie just to get their point across which just actually hurt many involved.  Suddenly because something wasn’t warranty the advisor is scored as rude, work not completed on time, customer never greeted promptly, etc, etc.

Back in July I applied for a customer service rep for our local power company.  In October I went for a long 3 hour test.  I knew I had passed but for whatever reason they didn’t have positions open anymore.  Throughout the whole process they’d send emails saying they’d probably resume hiring soon.  Today I went to an interview for the that position.  6 months in the making.  The interview seemed to have went well.  When I got home, I had an email with a job offer from the financial institution I recently had my background and fingerprinting done for.  I like everything about it except for the hours.  After 6 weeks of 8-5 (most likely) training hours then my regular schedule will be 12-9 with 1 day off during the week as well as Sundays.  Jim and I plan to discuss it this evening.

Yesterday I called Bob.  He’s the service advisor at the Rock Hill shop where Angela fell.  Angela is working part time there (for worker’s comp reasons) and still has an arm in a sling.  I’m told she’s heavily drugged and more of a hindrance than a help.  I didn’t get anymore details since Bob was at lunch and almost back to the shop.  I did hear they have their 3rd manager there since I left.  What a mess.

I’ll let ya know more about the job later in the week.  Time to get my delicious turkey meatloaf out of the oven.