Frustrations
If I get them all out in LJ, maybe I'll feel better?
Family: My grandfather had a heart attack yesterday morning. He's going to be fine, they say, but he's in the hospital until at least tomorrow. Also, one of my cousins was in a car accident today-- she's fine but her car is not. I really hope that there isn't a third, but that if there is it also leads to the person involved being fine.
Paypal/Zynga: Zynga is a game company, the one who runs the wildly popular game Farmville on Facebook. I do play Farmville (and also their CafeWorld). Today out of the blue I received an email from paypal saying I had authorized a payment for $150 (!!!) to Zynga. I had done no such thing. I immediately opened a claim dispute with Paypal AND contacted customer support at Zynga AND emailed their billing address. I also changed my Paypal password. Paypal responded by limiting access to my account and contacting Zynga. Zynga, presumably since it's Sunday night, has done nothing. Of course, I've heard horrible things about the company, so I'm quite nervous about getting my money back. (Apparently I purchased 5million credits -- which I have not received. Not, of course, that I authorized this payment to begin with!) I have absolutely not comprehension of how this could have happened. Nor do I know how one proves a negative (that I did not make this purchase). $150 is a lot of money. I am not a happy camper.
I'm going to hold off on posting anything new in my Etsy until this is resolved so that if purchases are made they aren't going to the currently limited account.
Bookstore: The first day on the job was fine, I guess. The Boss hadn't built the bookshelves he'd promised ('cause he had to rebuild the entrance since someone had tripped over it and nearly broken his elbow) but he'd gone and started pulling fiction off the shelves. I pointed out that if we pulled stuff but had nowhere to put it, then no one would be able to browse it and buy it. He agreed, so after he left i put stuff back on the shelves. I'm hoping the new ones will have been built by Tuesday.
He also promised me a 60% discount off of used books and 40% off of new. Tonight I received an email saying the new policy is 30% discount.
Also, his business practices are ridiculous. I admit that I know very little about running a used bookstore, but it seems to me that the fiction section would be one's bread and butter. Instead, he wants to focus on non-fiction. And he has a clearance rack outside (only it's labeled "clearence") with good books on it that are marked down to ridiculously low prices. I know that his business practices don't really affect me (as long as I get paid) but it's so frustrating.
On Thursday, he got to the store at 4:30, which was great, that's when I was to leave. Flurry and I went to the Greek place next door for dinner and grading. I ran out to my car to get something (my jacket, I think) and I saw the Boss leave, having stuck a sign on the door saying, "Back at 5:45.") This means that the store was closed. Again. Being open consistently, it seems to me, is the most important thing right now for a brand new store. But whatever. When Flurry and I left the Greek place, the bookstore was open again, but now there was a sign on the door that said, "For trades, call [number]; temporary policy change". Suuure.
Oh, and while working a woman came in with a huuuuge pile of children's magazines she wanted to trade. She told me that the Boss had told her that she was to bring them in and he promised her a great deal on them, since she's a teacher, etc. When I called the Boss to find out what he wanted to do, he said, "We don't take magazines." That policy is fine, but then he shouldn't have told this woman otherwise. And I have to believe the customer, not the Boss, because the Boss is a lunatic.
And if I have to hear him say, "I did [insert task here] with my own two hands" again, I might have to strangle him.
The actual working is not bad (yet) but I'm already beginning to resent the whole experience.
(And everything you guys said in previous posts is 100% true. And honestly, I would have told anyone else who came to me with this same story to quit. And yet I can't bring myself to do it-- things aren't that bad.... I go back Tuesday, and will update you all then, I guess.)
Second Shepherd's Play: I'm not saying that my choice of directorial style is the only one, and my aesthetic is certainly not the only one. But geeeez this play needs a director. I would do pretty much everything differently from how this play is going. The guy who has become the default director, by virtue of the play being his idea, and he being a professor, specifically one who has been teaching most of the rest of the cast this semester, has, in my ever so humble opinion, no freakin' idea what he's doing. I'm rapidly coming to hate the play. On the bright side, when the default-director/second shepherd does something stupid, I just concentrate on the third shepherd, as he is attractive. :)
Family: My grandfather had a heart attack yesterday morning. He's going to be fine, they say, but he's in the hospital until at least tomorrow. Also, one of my cousins was in a car accident today-- she's fine but her car is not. I really hope that there isn't a third, but that if there is it also leads to the person involved being fine.
Paypal/Zynga: Zynga is a game company, the one who runs the wildly popular game Farmville on Facebook. I do play Farmville (and also their CafeWorld). Today out of the blue I received an email from paypal saying I had authorized a payment for $150 (!!!) to Zynga. I had done no such thing. I immediately opened a claim dispute with Paypal AND contacted customer support at Zynga AND emailed their billing address. I also changed my Paypal password. Paypal responded by limiting access to my account and contacting Zynga. Zynga, presumably since it's Sunday night, has done nothing. Of course, I've heard horrible things about the company, so I'm quite nervous about getting my money back. (Apparently I purchased 5million credits -- which I have not received. Not, of course, that I authorized this payment to begin with!) I have absolutely not comprehension of how this could have happened. Nor do I know how one proves a negative (that I did not make this purchase). $150 is a lot of money. I am not a happy camper.
I'm going to hold off on posting anything new in my Etsy until this is resolved so that if purchases are made they aren't going to the currently limited account.
Bookstore: The first day on the job was fine, I guess. The Boss hadn't built the bookshelves he'd promised ('cause he had to rebuild the entrance since someone had tripped over it and nearly broken his elbow) but he'd gone and started pulling fiction off the shelves. I pointed out that if we pulled stuff but had nowhere to put it, then no one would be able to browse it and buy it. He agreed, so after he left i put stuff back on the shelves. I'm hoping the new ones will have been built by Tuesday.
He also promised me a 60% discount off of used books and 40% off of new. Tonight I received an email saying the new policy is 30% discount.
Also, his business practices are ridiculous. I admit that I know very little about running a used bookstore, but it seems to me that the fiction section would be one's bread and butter. Instead, he wants to focus on non-fiction. And he has a clearance rack outside (only it's labeled "clearence") with good books on it that are marked down to ridiculously low prices. I know that his business practices don't really affect me (as long as I get paid) but it's so frustrating.
On Thursday, he got to the store at 4:30, which was great, that's when I was to leave. Flurry and I went to the Greek place next door for dinner and grading. I ran out to my car to get something (my jacket, I think) and I saw the Boss leave, having stuck a sign on the door saying, "Back at 5:45.") This means that the store was closed. Again. Being open consistently, it seems to me, is the most important thing right now for a brand new store. But whatever. When Flurry and I left the Greek place, the bookstore was open again, but now there was a sign on the door that said, "For trades, call [number]; temporary policy change". Suuure.
Oh, and while working a woman came in with a huuuuge pile of children's magazines she wanted to trade. She told me that the Boss had told her that she was to bring them in and he promised her a great deal on them, since she's a teacher, etc. When I called the Boss to find out what he wanted to do, he said, "We don't take magazines." That policy is fine, but then he shouldn't have told this woman otherwise. And I have to believe the customer, not the Boss, because the Boss is a lunatic.
And if I have to hear him say, "I did [insert task here] with my own two hands" again, I might have to strangle him.
The actual working is not bad (yet) but I'm already beginning to resent the whole experience.
(And everything you guys said in previous posts is 100% true. And honestly, I would have told anyone else who came to me with this same story to quit. And yet I can't bring myself to do it-- things aren't that bad.... I go back Tuesday, and will update you all then, I guess.)
Second Shepherd's Play: I'm not saying that my choice of directorial style is the only one, and my aesthetic is certainly not the only one. But geeeez this play needs a director. I would do pretty much everything differently from how this play is going. The guy who has become the default director, by virtue of the play being his idea, and he being a professor, specifically one who has been teaching most of the rest of the cast this semester, has, in my ever so humble opinion, no freakin' idea what he's doing. I'm rapidly coming to hate the play. On the bright side, when the default-director/second shepherd does something stupid, I just concentrate on the third shepherd, as he is attractive. :)