お久しぶりね！
I am once again inspired by the fact that Alice Nine, and most jrockers for that matter, can continue to update their blogs while being so busy with tours and...fame in general HAHA. Granted, they have much more exciting things to write about, but the point is they make time to do it. So I have no excuse.
その感じで, I will try my hardest to catch up and keep up with this journal again. If anything, for myself, the original purpose of it. I will also try to use more Japanese, and with the help of rikaichan, more kanji. Reading Hiroto's blog and seeing how much English he uses...I should at least be able to match that. Thanks to hibari_sensei for introducing me to this wonderful tool!
Currently, I'm listening to Identity by Brainstein, a band that just formed apparently. It's nothing spectacular or groundbreaking, but it's enjoyable. That's the magic of the internet and social networking online. Although it is unfortunate that musicians probably lose an unbelievable amount of money to pirating, without the sharing that happens online, many bands would probably lose more long-run. I mean, without the internet, where would visual kei in America be? Not nearly as far as it is. YouTube, blogs, and online communities supply the exposure these bands need. And I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for it. Without the internet, Alice Nine wouldn't be in my life, jrock wouldn't be in my life, and I can't imagine my life without it.
On another note, work has been a roller coaster of sorts. A roller coaster that I'm not thrilled to be on. I even told my District Manager today that I was lacking any sort of motivation (daring, ne?) but she somewhat reassured me, saying that everyone was at that point right now, even herself. Today was our Regional Manager's last day and he conference called all store managers to say bye. Our new one will be starting, this coming week I suppose. I hope it goes ok. The company has decided to lay off just about all of our full-time stocks. This came as a huge surprise to me. I was in Austin for SXSW when this was announced and I was rather put off by it. They apparently held a conference call with managers Thursday and sent out letters/had the "we're letting you go" conversation on Friday. I hated being gone when that happened! I mean, my FTS had been at that store for 4 years. And I worked with her for 2 of them. Her and her new husband were literally about to buy a house...but now they are unable to do that. It's really irritating. I think part of my apathy towards the company is because it's becoming harder to comply with the expectations I do not agree with. But it's not to say that my time with the company will be a waste. I have grown leaps and bounds from it. I have developed so much as an adult because of the setting, the expectations. And working with the people that I have has really opened my eyes. I think mostly I'm reminded to be thankful for everything I have. At Christmas, one of my kids (what I call my associates, since most are 17-18 yr olds, who btw are EXTREMELY difficult to manage) lost his whole house to a fire. Then recently, another kid's mom was diagnosed with cancer and only given one year to live. And with my FTS not being able to buy the new house they wanted, it's just a huge reality check. On the otherhand, I was very pleased when I came into work today to see my new shrink poster. Shrink is a measurement of the shortage in your store due to theft and money lost. My shrink used to be -4.something% back when I was an assistant at this store, then it went to +1.23%, which means something must have been missed in the previous inventory count because a positive shrink % would indicate that you were GAINING merchandise, which is not possible. Previously I was losing 23 items a week. Bitches were stealing 23 ITEMS A WEEK! That's a LARGE amount for a slow kid's store. But I just recently received my new #s and they are good! My shrink is currently -0.33% and I'm only losing 2.9 (basically 3) items a week! HOORAY! My DM was very pleased, and so was I. So that was definitely a bit of good news, news I needed to hear. Also, I'm a huge idiot and did not realize I had asked for next week off for my vacation. Of course, I knew I had asked off for the first week in April...but when I was making the schedule, I didn't realize I was making the one for the first week of April, and scheduled myself like a doofus. But it's all worked out now. I have agreed to switch shifts with Nolan from Firewheel Hollister so he will be opening my store and I'm closing his. Why did I agree to this? I don't know. I guess because we have to help each other out, and I thought, "What if Alice Nine were doing something while I was supposed to work, and I missed it simply because someone was unwilling to go slightly outta their way for me?" This was my main thinking when I agreed (sad I know). But also, it's sort of like collecting "get outta jail free" cards. Now he owes me. And I should be able to cash in on that sometime. It's also my first time working at an outdoor store! Firewheel is an outdoor mall, so it should be new and interesting. Yay for new experiences!
So speaking of my vacation, here are some things I would like to accomplish:
~ clean my room
~ begin using my planner, as part of a larger effort to get my life organized
~ make paper cranes and stars (LOL)
~ go to Austin to talk to the EPA (have to tidy up my dusty resume I guess -_______-)
~ research my trip to Japan i.e. should I consult a travel agent?, talk to IACE, look up hostels
~ apply for my passport
~ start a program for myself to relearn and advance my Japanese studies
~ start a workout regime I can stick to
~ start a diet (change in eating habits, not so much counting calories sorta thing)
~ shop for a computer/clean up my current one
~ catch up on my lj posts
Hmmm, that's all I can think of at the moment. Plus I'm getting distracted by my dear wifey and yesstyle.com haha. I finally ordered the cupcake ring I'd been eyeing for forever. But now, they have new items that I want, and Sam wants a necklace, so perhaps I will make another order >_____< We also ordered more circle lenses, so I'll be sure to take pics and post those when I get them, along with the millions of pics I've neglected to post for the past...month or so. I still have so much to post about, like MEETING DOLLY etc, but it will have to wait for my vacation!
Also, the countdown for Alice Nine is about to turn to 6! I wonder what the countdown is for...WORLD TOUR?! Haha a girl can dream, ね? I'm willing to bet it's a new single. And if it is, please come with a PV!
And I think the reason Alice Nine can keep up with their blogging is because they only post 3-4 sentences and a picture. This post is exactly WHY I can't keep up. No time to write a novel every night -_____________-
じゃみんな、気おつけてね！おやすみなさい <3
その感じで, I will try my hardest to catch up and keep up with this journal again. If anything, for myself, the original purpose of it. I will also try to use more Japanese, and with the help of rikaichan, more kanji. Reading Hiroto's blog and seeing how much English he uses...I should at least be able to match that. Thanks to hibari_sensei for introducing me to this wonderful tool!
Currently, I'm listening to Identity by Brainstein, a band that just formed apparently. It's nothing spectacular or groundbreaking, but it's enjoyable. That's the magic of the internet and social networking online. Although it is unfortunate that musicians probably lose an unbelievable amount of money to pirating, without the sharing that happens online, many bands would probably lose more long-run. I mean, without the internet, where would visual kei in America be? Not nearly as far as it is. YouTube, blogs, and online communities supply the exposure these bands need. And I can't begin to explain how grateful I am for it. Without the internet, Alice Nine wouldn't be in my life, jrock wouldn't be in my life, and I can't imagine my life without it.
On another note, work has been a roller coaster of sorts. A roller coaster that I'm not thrilled to be on. I even told my District Manager today that I was lacking any sort of motivation (daring, ne?) but she somewhat reassured me, saying that everyone was at that point right now, even herself. Today was our Regional Manager's last day and he conference called all store managers to say bye. Our new one will be starting, this coming week I suppose. I hope it goes ok. The company has decided to lay off just about all of our full-time stocks. This came as a huge surprise to me. I was in Austin for SXSW when this was announced and I was rather put off by it. They apparently held a conference call with managers Thursday and sent out letters/had the "we're letting you go" conversation on Friday. I hated being gone when that happened! I mean, my FTS had been at that store for 4 years. And I worked with her for 2 of them. Her and her new husband were literally about to buy a house...but now they are unable to do that. It's really irritating. I think part of my apathy towards the company is because it's becoming harder to comply with the expectations I do not agree with. But it's not to say that my time with the company will be a waste. I have grown leaps and bounds from it. I have developed so much as an adult because of the setting, the expectations. And working with the people that I have has really opened my eyes. I think mostly I'm reminded to be thankful for everything I have. At Christmas, one of my kids (what I call my associates, since most are 17-18 yr olds, who btw are EXTREMELY difficult to manage) lost his whole house to a fire. Then recently, another kid's mom was diagnosed with cancer and only given one year to live. And with my FTS not being able to buy the new house they wanted, it's just a huge reality check. On the otherhand, I was very pleased when I came into work today to see my new shrink poster. Shrink is a measurement of the shortage in your store due to theft and money lost. My shrink used to be -4.something% back when I was an assistant at this store, then it went to +1.23%, which means something must have been missed in the previous inventory count because a positive shrink % would indicate that you were GAINING merchandise, which is not possible. Previously I was losing 23 items a week. Bitches were stealing 23 ITEMS A WEEK! That's a LARGE amount for a slow kid's store. But I just recently received my new #s and they are good! My shrink is currently -0.33% and I'm only losing 2.9 (basically 3) items a week! HOORAY! My DM was very pleased, and so was I. So that was definitely a bit of good news, news I needed to hear. Also, I'm a huge idiot and did not realize I had asked for next week off for my vacation. Of course, I knew I had asked off for the first week in April...but when I was making the schedule, I didn't realize I was making the one for the first week of April, and scheduled myself like a doofus. But it's all worked out now. I have agreed to switch shifts with Nolan from Firewheel Hollister so he will be opening my store and I'm closing his. Why did I agree to this? I don't know. I guess because we have to help each other out, and I thought, "What if Alice Nine were doing something while I was supposed to work, and I missed it simply because someone was unwilling to go slightly outta their way for me?" This was my main thinking when I agreed (sad I know). But also, it's sort of like collecting "get outta jail free" cards. Now he owes me. And I should be able to cash in on that sometime. It's also my first time working at an outdoor store! Firewheel is an outdoor mall, so it should be new and interesting. Yay for new experiences!
So speaking of my vacation, here are some things I would like to accomplish:
~ clean my room
~ begin using my planner, as part of a larger effort to get my life organized
~ make paper cranes and stars (LOL)
~ go to Austin to talk to the EPA (have to tidy up my dusty resume I guess -_______-)
~ research my trip to Japan i.e. should I consult a travel agent?, talk to IACE, look up hostels
~ apply for my passport
~ start a program for myself to relearn and advance my Japanese studies
~ start a workout regime I can stick to
~ start a diet (change in eating habits, not so much counting calories sorta thing)
~ shop for a computer/clean up my current one
~ catch up on my lj posts
Hmmm, that's all I can think of at the moment. Plus I'm getting distracted by my dear wifey and yesstyle.com haha. I finally ordered the cupcake ring I'd been eyeing for forever. But now, they have new items that I want, and Sam wants a necklace, so perhaps I will make another order >_____< We also ordered more circle lenses, so I'll be sure to take pics and post those when I get them, along with the millions of pics I've neglected to post for the past...month or so. I still have so much to post about, like MEETING DOLLY etc, but it will have to wait for my vacation!
Also, the countdown for Alice Nine is about to turn to 6! I wonder what the countdown is for...WORLD TOUR?! Haha a girl can dream, ね? I'm willing to bet it's a new single. And if it is, please come with a PV!
And I think the reason Alice Nine can keep up with their blogging is because they only post 3-4 sentences and a picture. This post is exactly WHY I can't keep up. No time to write a novel every night -_____________-
じゃみんな、気おつけてね！おやすみなさい <3