Spring has arrived

Shopping USA

High point of our day! Pick up an order from the USA.

Kirk ordered his boat material from Florida. The main reason, he has been dealing with this company for years now. Second reason, it is half the price than the local vendors.

It is our first trip and order delivered to the UPS store in Port Huron. The border crossing both ways went without a hitch. We just told them exactly what we are crossing for. Show all the appropriate papers and invoices and homeward bound we go.

Our discussion home is about how much money we saved on shipping/handling/customs/duty and time. The comfort level is high which may mean, many more purchase and pickups to follow.

Kirk decided to have a local upholster business recover his boat seats. In return, he will build a rack for their bolts of material to hang on. Win win situation for both. Each will concentrate on their speciality. Kirk also freely offered his contacts in Florida for material. We hope it works out for them.

Not sure if this is good or bad. We both forgot that today is our anniversary. 11 years.

180 Vehicles an Hour

This number represents peak performance. In short, it should take only 20 seconds to; take the customers order, fill the order, collect the payment and pass the product to the customer. And then, have the customer drive away from the take-out window immediately. (some things are beyond our control)

Lucky for us, the owner finds 35 to 40 seconds an acceptable time for processing each transaction.

I'm finding my confidence level at an all time low. At this point in time, I can not vision myself being able to do this. I'm still hunting for the buttons on the register let alone assemble part of the order.

The more positive thinkers tell me it will all come together. I sure hope so, I do like working there. I just feel so bad when I bring their numbers to the unacceptable.

Actually, after yesterday, I'm not sure where I fit in. If something could go wrong, it did. It is my 16th work day which is not classed as a beginner anymore?

Kirk's Sunday Projects

Kirk usually works on his boat on Sundays.

Awhile back he made new windshields.

I didn't really see the process but I know it started with a flat piece of clear plastic.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

In the maze of his shop, he is working on a pattern for the boat seats.

The material should arrive any day now (blue & white) but in the mean time he is practicing with some red and black, left over from way back when.

He mentioned, the seat design may change. He likes roll and pleats.

How much you want to bet, it's going to be roll and pleats.

Which looks good and much more difficult to do.

Affordable Groomer

Click on pictures to enlarge
We found a professional dog groomer who is affordable and close to home.

This is too good to be true.

Her ad is posted on a bulletin board at the Canadian Tire Store. It was one of those things, each time I went by it I would say to myself "I should check this out". Finally, I followed through.

We warned the Groomer of Shadow's age, attitude and now dislike of anyone getting in her face.
Because it was the first visit, the Groomer did ask Kirk to stay during the face trimming. All went well and Kirk left her to finish the job. A few hours later, she called the dogs are done. To our surprise she only charged $35. for the both of them.

Our understanding of the arrangement; we deliver clean dogs every 5 to 6 weeks for her to groom. The hair cut will be affordable and professional. (They do look a lot better than one of my cuts)

For non-pet owners this is going to sound silly.
Since Shadow behaved so well, I bought her a squeaky toy. The hedgehog seen in the picture above. She picked it out of the toy basket right away. Since her vision and hearing are impaired we are not sure if she can see it or hear it but she has claimed it.

Training is complete?

I've been advised by many that my training days at Tim Horton's are over. They may be done training but, I still have a lot to learn. I feel the balance of my learning will be all "trial and error" from here on in. A few of my co-workers attitudes have changed slightly. Help is not given so freely now. Some of the mature co-workers are more understanding and realize that I may not be able to grasp all the experience of the workers with 6 and 7 years of service in a matter of 14 training days. From the mature I get at least some explanation as to how to, do or correct something.

Fully aware that speed is of the utmost importance here. There are some things that will take time. Example; Since many of the customers are regulars, a lot of the orders are completed and ready before the customer reaches the counter.

On my own time, I study the training CD's (there are about 20 of them). It helps but, then I get, "we don't do it that way here". OK. Well, I'll just keep trying my best and it will all fall into place some day.

PS; A comfort level did occur yesterday during my last few hours of work. It felt good. Mind you, no one was standing over my shoulder to critique.

Boat for Sale

I got the news today that Kirk wants to sell his boat. He's been told by a number of his friends that he can get a minimum of $10,000. for it. He is excited now, because he saw the boat of his dreams last weekend.


Around and around we go. I don't know anything about boats. To tell you the truth I don't care to know. His sales pitch was good and if that is what he wants, go for it. He just has to sell his boat first.

This is a picture of a newer model of

His DREAM Boat

NO Pressure at Tim Hortons

Right? This job is pressure. Which is good.

It keeps my mind very active. It drains me mentally. The fast pace drains me physically. At the end of the day I feel good just because I lived through it.

I tell myself and others tell me, it will get better. Actually, it is getting better. BUT, I feel they are testing even more. How much pressure can one handle? The day consists of being told of all the things I did wrong. Some of the things, I believe, I did right? Who knows, I'm not going to question. Just keep trying my best.

Up side of this is, I think I'm losing weight. The stress and pressure is taking it toll. Sure, we get free donuts, muffins, coffee and tea, All other items are at a 30% discount. In an 8 hour shift we get two 15 minute breaks. Plus, a 5 minute break just before quitting time? Maybe some, can consume a lot of food in 15 minutes. I find, by the time I make, (you have to make your own sandwich) and pay for my sandwich and eat it, break is over.

Many people join health clubs to lose weight. Not me, I just need a job. My self-inflictive insecurity and lack of confidence will do the trick for me. AND, I get paid to do this.

Soaking up the Sun

It was sunny with a slight breeze and 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Peaty took advantage of the outdoors. He did not want to come into the house.

He just lay on the deck soaking up the sun.

I left the door open, just in case he changed his mind.

I miss the hot tub. It was a perfect day to hot tub. I think Peaty misses the hot tub too, as that is when he usually would lay on the deck.

I disagree

In a Vacuum

You could say, I was in a vacuum today.

We are the proud owners of four vacuum cleaners.
I have access to three of them. Shop-vac belongs to Kirk and is in the shop.
My favorite is the "Rainbow" which I use all the time, until today. The "Eureka" is for small jobs or quick clean-up situations. We also have a "Beam" central vac.

Years ago, I learned there are two things you do not try to vacuum with a household vacuum cleaner. Ashes and dry-wall dust will clog up a filter in a heart-beat.

When we purchased this home (Nov. 1, 2005) one of the things that excited us was the central vac. The excitement soon disappeared when it wouldn't pick anything up. (it doesn't suck) After asking the previous owners about it, I resigned myself to the fact it didn't work and never tried using it again.

I don't know what possessed me to try using the central vac today. It still didn't suck. Stubborn streak kicked in and I was determined to find out why. Taking the vacuum apart I noticed there was a hole in the filter bag. Getting the filter out was another project. Starting out being careful to aggressive I did get it out and was covered in dust in the process. Being well into it, I now take my problems to Kirk. As usual, he stops what he is doing and sews patches in the filter.

It looks like someone in the past vacuumed hot ashes or cigarette, as all the holes (Kirk found more holes) were burn holes. It is patched for now and working great.

All is well for now. We have a working central vac. We plan on having a service person check the motor and buy a new filter. My life SUCKS. Yippee

Learning the Lingo

Only have 5 training days left. By next Sunday, March 18, I will have to have my act together.

So far, the buttons on the keyboard have been my biggest challenge. Once I hit a button, an additional menu pops up and if the item is not there, hit menu look up, more items pop up. Sure wish I could get a printout of what they call "modifiers". (as you can see I took a picture of the keyboard for memorization purposes at home)

My next challenge is understanding the customer. I have now learned that a 4 by4 is; four sugar & four cream. A flat tire is; a honey cruller. Then comes the folks that request 10 sugar and 10 cream. I know I'm not to acted surprised but on a few occasions I did question what I heard. It almost wants me to ask wheather they wanted any coffee with that?

I think I'm getting it, until someone askes for something that is not on the keyboard or popup menu. Like, ice cubes in their coffee or tea. This makes me bumble around long enough for someone to say; forget it and move on to the next order. "Time is of the essence".

Hopefully by the time I'm on my own, (which feels like now) I will be able to enter the orders as fast as customers rattle them off, assemble part of the order and take the next order, returning to the registar to enter it before the next order. This is the true meaning of multi-tasking.

Help me Lord, to have it all come together by March 18.

#65

Kirk is none of the above but may act like little Timmy at times.
(just kidding)

Kirk had a great day. NO Party. Enjoyed the company of friends and family. I made his favorite Old Bay shrimp and bought him a dozen assorted donuts. (Surprise!) He likes the oozy gooey filled donuts.

His fish-finder is on order. His calendar is marked- March 20th as date of arrival.

Gone shopping

Excitement in the air. Today, Kirk is shopping for his fish-finder. There are very few times that he will leave here to go shopping but, this is something only he can pick out. (Not sure if he can bring it home today. It may have to be ordered.)

He has been working diligently on his boat for the last week now. (I should have taken pictures for the "before and after" story but, I wasn't thinking.) He put a new aluminum floor and carpet in the boat and is still in the process of buffing the boat to shine like new. The seats need to be recovered but, this doesn't seem to be a priority right now.

Hopefully, it will soon warm up around here so he can try out his new toy. There will be a lot of reading and study before it will be put to use. And, Oh yes, the show and tell.

Tomorrow is the big day. #65

Time is of the Essence

Day Two at Tim Hortons was great!
I got to work with the person I'm replacing, due to maternity leave. She is of kindred spirit. I already know I'm going to miss her when she leaves.

Rules are many. One is, no jewelery on arms or hands. For me, this means no watch or rings. I miss them right now. However, I know this too will pass. The hard part was getting my rings off. Over the years my knuckles have swollen so even cold soapy water didn't seem to help the task of removal. I guess, I'll just leave them off.

As for the watch, no big deal. Time is all around me. They have clocks in every corner. Every movement is timed. Once I get the hang of the procedures, I will have to complete each task within the designated time with the goal to decrease that time. Example; on the assembly sandwich chart it states how long it takes to put this sandwich together. The average is 23-25 seconds. Should it take longer than that, it effects others task times. Example; toaster caught on fire, time taken to fix situation caused drive-through to loose their record time. We get to hear about it more than once.

Already, I know I like this job. Fatuous but true, the challenge to beat the clock.

Then there is the watching. Not only are there clocks in every corner, there are security cameras. I believe every movement on the property is caught on tape. Which explains my co-worker's repeated comment "when it is not busy, look busy". Mind you I haven't experienced the "not busy" time yet. Some how I don't think it happens often during my work hours of 6-3.

Again, looking forward to my next day, working the drive-through is coming up.