Best Phone Call EVER!

At work the other day, I got a phone call.  I get plenty of phone calls at work.  Mostly people asking questions, looking to see if there is a certain piece of furniture in stock, price, size, etc. etc.  But, I got the best phone call I have had since I started at my current job.  In fact, it might be the best phone call I have ever gotten while at work.  Below is the paraphrased conversation.

Caller:  'Hello, my name is xxxxx.  You helped me about a week ago look for and find a Christmas cookie cutter set I was looking for.  Do you remember that?'

Me:  'Hello xxxxx.  Yes, I do remember that.  Is there anything with that I can help you with?  I can check to see if we have anymore.'

Caller:  'No, I just needed the one.  Thank you.  The reason I was calling was because I was really impressed with your customer service, knowledge of the product, and that you knew exactly where it was.  I work for Target as a human resources manager in town and was wondering if you would be interested in coming in and applying for a job as a department manger with us.'

Me:  *Smiling ear to ear* 'Thank you, but no.  I really enjoy working here.  The team is great, the management is supportive, and the pay is good.'

Caller:  'Okay, I just thought I would extend the offer.  They are lucky to have you.  Have a good day.'

Me:  'You too.'

Now, I got home and told my wife this story.  She said, 'well, you should have told her that you worked for them for close to eight years and all the shit that you had to deal with and how they don't try to develop their people unless they are close to the managers.'  And part of me really, really, really wanted to.  If this had been a phone call from my store here in Minnesota, I would have.  And if this caller had caught me on a bad day, I might have.  But, I wanted to take the high road, plus all she was doing was trying to staff her store.  You know, her job.  And the main reason I wanted to be polite and was because she doesn't have a clue about my previous work history.  She just saw someone that took the time to work with a customer and make sure they found what they were looking for.  It just made my day.  I went and told my manager shortly after the phone call and we both had a good laugh about it.  Because she has gotten the same type of phone call from her previous employer.  And the same type of scenario.  Someone who was impressed with her service, but was from a store that she did not work for.  We both have only been in our current position for less than a year, so we have something in common. 

59/120

Fruitless Travels

I went home last week.  It was nice and relaxing.  The main focus of going home was to get out into the woods for some hunting.  I was able to hunt the previous two years and living so close to home now is starting to become a fall tradition. Which is nice on a couple of levels.  It's nice to get home more than once a year. It's nice to get into the woods.  It's nice to have an opportunity to provide food for the majority of a year.  But that is also the problem, it's an opportunity to provide the food, it's not a guarantee.  

I did not harvest a deer this year after having success the previous two years.  The weather was not the best.  It was cold and windy and rainy the majority of the time I was home.  The winter last year was a harsh one.  The DNR noted that at the end of the hunting season last year.  Pretty much everyone knows that last winter was harsh on the deer population. In fact, there are plenty of people that think it will take a couple of years for the population to recoup.  And many are hoping for a more mild winter to help out the deer population.  I don't know if it will happen or not, I'm just reporting on what I've heard.  

My time in the woods was not without interest or entertainment.  Below is a list of what I saw In the woods:

•rabbit

•squirrel

•partridge

•porcupine

•coyote

•various birds

And I did see one deer.  Just one.  It walked through and did not present a target.  All in all it was disappointing, but every hunter knows that it is not a guarantee that you will get a deer each year.  As the saying goes: if it were easy, it would be called 'killing' and not 'hunting'.  

And there is always next year...

58/120

My Aversion, and Eventual Signing Up, of Pinterest

Social media sites are a dime a dozen it seems like.  Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Myspace (remember that?), you can take your pick of how you want to spend your time on the internet.  I have mainly used Facebook and Twitter just because that is what I am comfortable with.  I looked into Tumblr, but it just wasn't for me.  I don't have a reason, it just didn't look like something that I was going to like using.  Another very popular site is Pinterest.  You all know what it is, I don't need to explain it. 

After searching for something similar to Pinterest but 'for men', I have come up empty handed.  Don't get me wrong, there are a few sites that are geared as 'Pinterest, but for men'.  I have looked into them.  They are not great.  Lots of pictures of guns, fully naked or half naked women, lots of sexist jokes and pictures, grilling tips, sports, and lots of things revolving around bacon.  If you're into that, cool, be my guest.  There are some fun and useful things on those sites, but so few and far between that it isn't really worth the time nor the energy.  Get a bunch of guys together to make up a website's content, and what would you expect?  Nothing but what I described earlier in the paragraph. 

So, I looked into Pinterest.  It wasn't like I was avoiding it because 'Pinterest is stupid' or 'Pinterest?  You mean where all the women go to put pictures up? '  I just kind of gave up on using a social media site like it.  And while I was sitting around today on my day off, I thought about it.  I thought about it because I didn't have anything better to do.  So I checked it out.  And I made an account.  Just to have one.  I have found a few interesting things so far.  I don't know how much I will use it, but it's there because it is more useful than the 'Pinterest for men' sites. 

57/120

How to Cheer for Not Your Team

The MLB playoffs started last night.  And if that game is any indication for the rest of the postseason, we are in for quite a treat.  Kansas City beat Oakland in twelve innings.  Very exciting game.  There are lots of story lines to choose from.  Kansas City in the playoffs for the first time since 1985.  Oakland choking away three leads in the game.  How about Brandon Finnegan?  Age 21, pitched in the college World Series for TCU THIS YEAR and came in and pitched two and a third innings.  Cold.  Blooded.  Because Detroit wasn't playing in the game, I had a chance to cheer for a different team.  I cheered for Kansas City for a couple of reasons, and I think that it can be applied when watching a game that your favorite team is not currently playing.

Kansas City is in the AL Central, the same division as the Tigers.  This division is looked down upon as a weak division, yet have two teams in the playoffs this year.  It is no longer a one team division which is great for the sport, but not so much for their fans.  I like to see the division of the team I cheer for do well (no matter what sport) unless that team is from Chicago.  Fuck all of those teams.  The same can be applied to college sports.  Except Ohio State.  Fuck them.  I also watched a lot of Royals baseball living down in Wichita for six years.  So to see a team that struggled improve over the course of those years, it's cool.

I know not everyone likes to cheer for divisional opponents, even when they aren't playing your favorite team.  Some people are like that.  I am not.  I have teams that I never want to see win (see:  Chicago, Ohio State), but I always like to see the division my favorite team plays in do well.  Whether it is baseball, hockey, or football, as long as the team isn't from Ohio or the city of Chicago, and they are not playing a team from Michigan, you will see me pull for them.  I won't sit down and watch the entire game, but I will check in frequently and if they do well, I will give the team their due and think 'well, good for them'. 

56/120