Going To Make A Map!

It's the last day of work this week, and I've got the whole system down-- well, almost the whole system-- the hardest part of the job is still go-backs, naturally. And helping customers is just as hard for the same reason: I still don't know where so many things are! To make matters worse, most of the customers here are fairly intelligent and knowledgeable of Safeway stores, so they almost always ask about the stuff that can't be answered by common sense or even a basic knowledge of the store-- the stuff that really is hard to find, like tofu, wheat germ, and mint leaves.

From the very beginning, I had been planning on creating a blueprint of the entire store, so that I could memorize everything about the store in a week or two, and be done with it. Yesterday I spent hours painstakingly surveying the entire store, literally down the the millimeter (scaled to the millimeter, mind you!) I used my footsteps to measure the store (an ancient, but very effective measurement scheme known as "paces"), and scaled each footstep down to a millimeter using a ruler. I then charted out a map of the main store area using North, South, East, West, NE, NW, SE, and SW measurements. I didn't have a geometry compass, so I manually traced right-angles to compensate. It's a very accurate map, and all things considered, a damn good one!

The whole map, when it's done, will be color and number-coded, the isles labels (i.e. isle 1A and 1B), and have a Legend at the bottom to interpret the whole thing. It's going to be a massive project, and will include the parking lot, the back areas (break room, various freezers/storage/loading areas, etc.), and will tell me absolutely everything there is to know about the store, down to the exact shelf location of every size of every brand of every type of food, product, etc.

The map will also tell me the locations of everything in the produce department, coded by PLU#; this will help me to learn the PLUs for every produce item, which I will need to know to become a food clerk or manager.

I'm completely in the rhythm of things now, and everyone, from management to my peers, really likes me. Hopefully I can maintain the full support and favor of everyone here, so I can quickly move up in the company-- I'm really looking forward to that!

Now that I've completed a draft of the map of Safeway, I'm going to (once I get a scanner, or ask my dad to use his!) scan it to jpg., and once I complete the whole thing, bundle the whole set of images as a pdf for you for your viewing pleasure here.

Almost Payday!

Today's the last day of work until Saturday, but more importantly, it's the last of work until I get my first paycheck in 3 years! I get paid tomorrow (Thursday), and I'm very much looking forward to it!!!

Honestly, although my duties and the incessant traffic at Safeway keep me occupied, I spend every spare moment anticipating tomorrow morning, when I can finally collect that check. It's been a surprisingly fast couple of weeks, and it feels like I could have done so much more, but nevertheless I am overall very satisfied with the job I've done thus far.

I've gotten the whole work schedule down now, memorized just about everyone's names, and can bag, push carts, and clean the whole store (well, the parts of the store I'm permitted to) with ease. Particularly with cleaning-- a little while ago I had some difficulty sweeping the whole store in an hour-- now I can do so in 15 minutes if necessary, or in 30 minutes with ease.

I can also now handle transitions between different tasks with grace and composure, with even the most sporadic of transitions being done smoothly.

The past week has been thoroughly productive ;-)

Getting Into the Rhythm of Things.

Things are really starting to settle in now-- I've got the basic job functions down now, and I can start applying all the things I learned yesterday-- especially all the mistakes I made-- to make today even  more productive and smooth-sailing. I've already received several compliments from coworkers of all levels, on the quality of my work, which I feel is a good sign-- after all, the more people @ Safeway like me, the more I'll be able to get the support I need to get promoted, and I want to get promoted as soon as possible.

The main thing I needed to work on (other than those damn go-backs!!!) today is BOB (Bottom of Basket), which is still quite easy to forget-- I'll need to instill a habit for it; especially when transitioning between break/lunch and work, I tend to forget about the finer details like that.

That's why I hate taking breaks: they kill my rhythm, make me forget stuff, and throw off my professional equilibrium. I sometimes wish I could skip breaks altogether.

But all in all, it's been a really good day :-)