"The Walker"

I see my fair share of strange people at my job. As I'm sure most of us do. Unless you don't work with the public. Or maybe you work with strange people. In any case we've all encountered strange people. I think I'm going to try turn this into a series of stories about some odd regular customers we have.

We'll start out with "The Walker"

"The Walker" is a lady that comes in every so often, so walks from the park across the street, with her 90's head phones over her ears and her walkman in her pocket. She's a quiet lady, doesn't say much. She has a routine. She walks in the front door, turns to the left and walks right over the the candy shelves. Stands in front of the candy, stares for a while then picks up her selections. Comes over to the counter, pays for her candy, grabs her bag and walks to the back of the greenhouse to the coffee machine. I'm not sure whether she gets coffee, or hot chocolate or maybe even cappuccino. Then she walks out the door and back across the busy road and continues on her walk. She started this routine late this past summer and has come back for her candy and coffee every week or every other week ever since. She buys nothing else. Which I find very odd because we are a garden center... Who goes to a garden center for candy? She even does this in the coldest snowiest weather the midwest has to offer.

Packing Peanuts in the Box

Packing peanuts are the root of all evil! Ok, maybe not but I despise them!!!! Working in a small business/retail store we get packages all the time with new merchandise to put out on the floor. A LOT of the time, those packages contain material to protect the items during shipment. Most materials I am ok with, especially Bubble Wrap. I love that stuff. But packing peanuts I can't stand. Luckily they have been showing up less and less.

When opening a box full of packing peanuts, they're bound to escape. There's no chance in hell you can open a box or take things out of the box without at least some of the light fluffy Polystyrene pillows flying out. They just spring out at you like excited puppies that have been stuck in a box for hours waiting to see someone they can lick. They're so light and fluffy that they're impossible sweep up with a broom. They have to be picked up one at a time, or if you're really skilled (lucky) you can grab handfuls of them, but usually a few escape your grip.

WARNING: If you're not careful they'll stick to you without you ever realizing they're there. You could be walking around with a tush covered in peanuts and you'd never have a clue. And more than likely no one is going to tell you.

What really kills me is that even though they are recyclable. I don't think anyone realizes that. And they get tossed into the trash along with everything else. Polystyrene takes hundreds of years to break down in nature. So once your peanuts get to the local dump they just sit there. If the bag/box/container they were captured in breaks open... Peanuts everywhere.

In theory they are a good idea, soft pillowly cushion to stop things from breaking when the UPS man throws them into the truck. But there are other packing materials that do the same thing and are either more fun (Bubble wrap) or more environmentally friendly (newspaper or any paper for that matter)

Packing Peanuts just need to go!

Jacki's Random Household Items Astrology

After the whole "changing zodiac signs" a few weeks ago that unnecessarily freaked everyone on facebook out. I decided to come up with my own... (and hopefully everyone will freak out over this one too!)

March 21st - April 19th Air Freshener - You are a breath of fresh air, you keep everything smelling good and you always want everything to be fresh and new. A clear mind is a must for you. You're perfectly matched with the Garbage bag and the Ceiling fan, but stay away from the Toaster and the Tooth Brush you'll make them sick.

April 20th - May 20th Tooth Brush - You always make people smile bright, keep things fresh to death and minty fresh. Your perfect match is the Sponge or the Vacuum because you both love to clean things.

May 21st - June 20th Toaster - You warm things up and keep them toasty. You warm peoples heart and soul and keep them feeling good. You're perfect match is the Bowl because you both love to be in the kitchen!

June 21st - July 22nd Bowl - you hold lots of things and feed the needs of others. You need to make sure everyone is happy and satisfied all the time. Your perfect match is the Toaster because you both love to be in the kitchen

July 23rd - August 22nd Kitchen Table - You like to get everyone gathered together for a good time, whether it's eating dinner or playing games (board or drinking) you just like to have a good time. Your perfect match is the sofa because you both love to have parties

August 23rd - September 22nd Ceiling fan - You keep things flowing, moving along smoothly at an even pace. You also like circles and anything circular. Your perfect match is the lamp just because alot of ceiling fans come with lamps on them.

September 23rd - October 22nd Garbage Bag - You hold on to grudges and never let anything go, but if you meet your match (the air freshener) You'll learn to lighten up a bit. Your perfect match is the air freshener, you cancel each other out.

October 23rd - November 21st Sofa -You're comfy and love to cuddle. You like to take care of people when they're feeling sick or sleepy and you love to entertain as well. Your perfect match is the Kitchen Table because you both love to have parties

November 22nd - December 21st Sponge -You take in everything and hold on to it for a while. You love learning and absorbing information from everything you read. Your perfect match is the Vacuum cause you're both neat freaks

December 22nd - January 19th Vacuum - You're a neat freak, love to clean everything all the time no matter where you are. You suck alot, JK! Your perfect match is the Sponge or the Garbage Bag, with the Sponge you'll both enjoy cleaning together and with the Garbage can you can unload all your stress and junk onto them after a long day of cleaning and it won't mind.

January 20th - February 18th Freezer - You're always cold but you love the winter time. And food! You can't get enough! Your perfect match is the Toaster, your both foodies and it can warm up your insides.

February 19th - March 20th Lamp- You light up everyone's life, put a smile on their face and warm their hearts. Your perfect match is the Sofa or the Ceiling fan.

Just a little thing about flying annoyances

I wrote this on the plane ride to florida...

Let me tell you about flying southwest airlines and my flight to Fort Myers. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a pretty good airlines, and it’s the only one I know that doesn’t charge you to check your baggage, but you get what you pay for. It’s the cheapest airline I can find, if you can prove me wrong please do so I can save some money on my next trip. But as far as I know it’s the cheapest.

First of all if you live in the Chicagoland area you’re force to fly out of midway if you fly Southwest. Which I like Midway a lot better than O’hare because its smaller and easier to get around but you have to drive through Cicero. The crappiest part of Chicagoland. Which limit’s the possibility of getting a ride to or from the airport from my mom. Cause she won’t drive through Cicero.

But anyway now I’m rambling.

So Southwest is pretty nice except for their seating arrangements. You’re seated by order in which you checked in. There are no assigned seats and if you run into traffic and you’re traveling with your boyfriend and get to the airport at a time that you thought was super early but everyone else paid the $10 to check in early online you’re pretty much screwed as far as getting a seat next to each other. And guess who got stuck across the aisle from the one screaming kid on the plane.

That’s right, its me.

I don’t mind a newborn baby cry as much as I mind a 2 year old screaming at the top of her lungs because she doesn’t want to share with her sister and her mom doesn’t know how to properly discipline her children. Not to mention this happened as soon as we got leveled in the air.

Luckily I ordered a beer and I might be able to fall right to sleep as soon as I finish it. Which would be awesome!

I wonder where on the plane Jerry ended up. I keep looking over the seats to see if I can tell which top of the head is his but I have no clue where he ended up. All I know is he’s far away from the screaming child who has quieted down for now. Oh look a crying baby. YAY!

I can be annoying too!

Some, or most of you know about the newest addition to my house hold. Rabbit. The cute little 4lb black chiweenie. Now I've been thru the puppy stage with Boo and while some things are different a lot of them are the same.

The one thing puppy Boo and Little Rabbit have in common is the way they act when Me or Allie are in the shower and they are locked in the bathroom with us.

At this point Rabbit is still in the out of sight out of mind stage. And as soon as you close the shower curtain or shower door she goes into a panic. As if she's been abandon at a park and there is no one around to save her.

She starts to whimper and whine and run around like she's locked in a dark closest and doesn't know what has happened.

So today was the first time I took a shower while home alone with the 2 puppies. I was hoping to put Rabbit on the bed and she'd curl up and fall asleep until I was done showering. Yeah right, like my plans ever work out involving a puppy.

As soon as I got into the shower Boo started barking and then I see a little black spot running around the bathroom. Rabbit got off the bed. Which she has just recently discovered she can do. So I get out of the shower quickly to close the door.

This is where the fun begins. As she starts to whine, I calmly talk to her in the "baby voice" Saying things like "rabbit I'm right here" "its ok rabbit" "stop whining"

As I get more annoyed I begin whining back at her and making up little songs like "My name is Rabbit, I'm a whiny puppy, I like to whine while mom is in the shower, whine whine whine"

At this point I am so glad I'm home alone cause anyone that would hear this would think I'm crazy. I try and try to out annoy Rabbit, like a little kid trying to out annoy my brother.

I continue to whine and make up silly puppy songs in hope to shut her up, suddenly it's quiet in the bathroom so I stop. Wondering if she is getting into mischief I look closely thru the shower door. The little black spot is sitting in the spot where I had layed a towel.

It worked!!! I finish showering, get out and see her curled up on the towel.

I had successfully annoyed the puppy! Something I never thought I'd be able to say, nor have I ever thought about doing. But whatever works to get her to be quiet while I'm in the shower.

Reasons why I hate snow

This is probably going to be a short post, but I wanted to express the reasons why I hate snow so much.

1. It's cold!

2. The instant it starts flurrying, people forget how to drive. They slow down they act like idiots and make traffic even more terrible than ever

3. It looks pretty much doesn't feel pretty, as soon as I go outside thinking "oh how pretty, it's snowing" I instantly regret being out there no matter how bundled up I am.

4. Sledding is only fun when you're doing it, at my age, the next morning and day is hell!!

5. Snowboarding is fun, but too expensive and is the same as sledding. My body just can't take it

6. People throw snow balls at you.

7. If you slip and fall, which happens more often with snow than not, it hurts because there's probably ice under it and you get soaking wet and cold.

8. I have to shovel it to make a potty area for Boo if it's too deep

9. I have to dry Boo off after taking her off, sometimes she gets those annoy snow balls stuck to her legs

10. Did I mention its COLD!!!!!

The evil play ground

As a kid I was either very accident prone or the play ground at my elementary school was out to get me. From kindergarten thru 5th grade I had a number of accidents on that play ground. Never in the school or anywhere else which is why I suspect that play ground had it out for me and/or all the kids. I'm sure if I went back there now it has changed and some of the equipment that I had gotten hurt on is probably not there anymore. They probably removed it because of my accidents. or maybe just cause it was old. Either way you're just going to have to use your imagination when I describe the equipment because I can't go back to take a picture.

The first accident I can clearly remember was in 3rd grade... I think... well that doesn't really matter. On our play ground there were 3 sets of swings. 4 swings on each set. 2 sets were to the left of the yard as you walked out of the cafeteria and one set was straight ahead. Well one day I walked out of the cafeteria determined to do some awesome swinging. Low and behold there was only... ONE... SWING... LEFT.... Straight ahead.

I started sprinting as fast as my little 3rd grade legs could go. Keep in mind, until my freshmen year in high school, I was always the smallest kid in class. As soon as I got to the swing I grabbed the chain and at the same exact time. JEFF RIFKIN grabbed the other chain.

NOOOOO!!!!! I started begging and arguing "I was here first" "please let me swing" "It's not fair" "I'm smaller than you so I should be able to swing" Kid's arguing never makes any sense. No teachers noticing this continued on for a bit. Then with one strong pull of the chain on my end and one push on Jeff's end.

BAM!

Chain to the head. Naturally I screamed. Not even thinking I was really hurt. I ran over to the play ground teacher just to tell her Jeff had hit me with the swing chain, as I approached her she grabbed my arm and rushed me inside. At this point I realize that my head was wet and saw something drip onto my pants. Blood?! Where had that come from. The teacher rushed me into the nurses office. Then I began to cry now that I had discovered I was hurt and bleeding from my head. Luckily the cut wasn't big or deep enough for me to have to get stitches but I did have to sit and wait for my mom to bring me new pants. And that's all I remember about that day.

I can't remember what age but I went to summer day camp as a kid and the park district building must have been too small so they had it in my school. One day I was playing on the jungle gym and decided I wanted to jump off the platform instead of sliding down the "fireman pole" Yeah, I was a genius. When I landed on the gravel, yes GRAVEL. My legs must have given out and my knees bent all the way. For some odd reason my mouth was one and again, BAM!

My front tooth went into my knee. I sat there stuned for a second and then pulled my mouth away from my knee. The tooth... still in my mouth, just a little loose and my knee... gushing blood. Don't remember much of that accident except for the fact that I still have the scar on my knee. I'll show it to you if you want to see it sometime! lol

The last accident I had in elementary school was in 5th grade, pretty close to the end of the school year. The whole day is pretty hazy when I try to remember it. I was playing over by this big metal slide when I heard noise coming from my this strange jungle gym thing we had. All the boys were jumping from this one bar (pull over/ pull up bar) and grabbing onto the side bar of the monkey bars. The single bar was probably 2 or 3 feet off the ground and the side bar of the monkey bars was probably only 5 feet away. So for them this was an easy task. Me being the littlest person there, and the "bravest" decided if the guys could do it I could do it too! I told them I had done it before (don't know where I got that idea from) and I climbed up onto the bar.

Everyone cheering, no one believing I could do it, but wanting me to show them I could. I jumped, held my arms out as far as I could. GRABBED THE BAR!!!!

and slipped, I didn't grab in hard enough. That's all I remember until I came out of my black out. We had gravel play grounds and I had fallen and hit my head. I woke up with a circle of people surrounding me like in the movies, asking if I was alive and trying to figure out what to do. Again for this incident, no teachers were really paying attention, other wise they would have never let me jump.

Finally, not knowing the way to properly handle head injuries my friend Bethany decided I needed to go to the nurse, which was smart thinking for a 5th grader, but you're not really supposed to move someone when they've gotten injured just in case I had hurt my neck or spine. She picked me up and began carrying me to the school. Spotting her a teacher ran over and told her she needed to put me down and I needed to walk myself to the nurse. She came with me tho.

I remember the nurse asking me all the normal head injury questions, "what's your name?" "where do you live?" "What's today?" And then she asked me if I knew my phone number, which I did. So she had me call home. My mom being a stay at home mom answered the phone. I told her I hit my head and the nurse then talked to her for a bit. She decided that it was best to just watch me in the office for a while. Then I threw up in her trash can. Layed down for a bit and decided I was good enough to go back to class. So I went back up to my classroom where everyone was watching a movie. I felt terrible, but I was determined to wait it out. I ended up throwing up in a trash can in the class too. My teacher sent me back to the nurse and she called my mom back to tell her to come pick me up.

After we got home I layed on the couch, as with any concussion I felt really sleepy. And all I wanted to do was go to sleep. My mom told me that I could sleep but she would have to wake me up every 10-15 minutes to make sure I was ok (alive). That went on for the rest of the day and then I went to bed when my mom thought it was safe.

Needless to say, I think I'm just accident prone and made poor decisions as a kid, but it's more fun to say that the Eisenhower play ground was out to get me.