beboots | Entries tagged with superduperstore

-Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and how it got that way.

Okay, I just had a phonecall that made my DAY. No, weekend. No, LIFE.

I HAVE THE FORT EDMONTON JOB!!!! :D

I was really worried that I wasn't going to get it, because two of my other friends (both history dorks) had job interviews for the same job within a day of me, and they both got calls back earlier this week with job offers... but I got nothing. I got a call yesterday, actually - apparently the Fort Edmonton lady had been playing telephone tag with my previous supervisor at Superstore, and so I needed to chase down another reference... I actually drove right down to Superstore and managed to find the Assistant Store Manager, Barb, who agreed to be a reference, thank goodness... and apparently she was a good one, because I got the job offer today! :D

GLEE! :DDD

Fort Edmonton, for the uninitiated, is a historical re-enactment park. Here is its website: http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/pages/FortEdmonton/default.aspx It is a relatively large park, right along the river valley, which tells the history of the city of Edmonton, from an actual Hudson's Bay trading fort, to the settlement era, to... well, the 1920s, where I'll be working. There are general stores, penny arcades, early 20th century playgrounds, photography studios, farms (with horses, ponies, pigs, chickens, turkeys...), churches, a mosque, a tom thumb golf course (AKA minigolf), gorgeous scenery.... :D

I'll be in the Midway, a 1920s carnival. :3 I get to run the merry-go-round. And/or Ferris Wheel. <3 I am so PUMPED for this job... :D

I get fitted out for a costume in two weeks. I'm so excited! :D I'm just so full of GLEE right now... Just thought you guys should know. :D

Also, that means that I can give in my two week's notice tomorrow, at Superstore. I'll be getting out, after nearly four and a half YEARS. <3

I need more happy faces in this post.

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Current Mood: bouncy
Current Location: Soon-to-be Fort Edmonton
Current Music: Bach

Quote = from my new favourite non-fiction book, "The mother tongue: English and how it got that way" by Bill Bryson. Seriously, if you're into history or linguistics or english or British culture or anything, really, go out and read that book.

In other news... I'm pretty bogged down with papers, like pretty much all other university students are this year. On the plus side, I have just finished my midterms! :D Huzzah! ... which means that I only have three weeks until my first final exam. -_-;

Status report:

Due this Thursday: Habsburg history research paper on Enlightened Absolutism on Maria Theresia & her two sons: 1,184 out of 2,500 words, plus editing time. So, I'm probably already in advance of half the class. ;)

Due this Tuesday (OMG Tuesday? Shit!) French paper on La Moustache (which is trippy, btw): er, 13 words. Out of 1,000. But I have most of a plan written I swear.

Also, tomorrow I have a job interview for Fort Edmonton! :D I'm both excited and anxious. I'm worried that I'll sleep in, that I'll forget to take a tag off my new shirt, that I'll accidentally interrupt the interviewer, that they'll bring in an authentic Japanese person to test my Japanese skills... though luckily, our last unit was on job interviews. So I can use the correct level of politeness, and might not stumble too much.... I'm also worried that the interviewer will test my French skillz (which is more likely than the Japanese option), but that they won't understand me because I no longer speak the Quebecois dialect, although I understand it.

There is also a written portion. On Canadian history, I assume. I'm pretty solid on this era (well, anything pre-confederation, up to world war to, really), but not in Western history. I can talk for hours about Ontario and Quebec and the Maritimes... even Manitoba because I'm interested in the Métis and wrote a paper on them last semester, but... aside from Fur Trade politics, I don't know much. But that'll get me through part of the park - Fort Edmonton is, after all, a Hudson's Bay Company post.

Maybe I'm panicking for no reason. Maybe I'm overconfident and will fail because of that. I don't know.

We'll see how this turns out.

(Goddamn I really don't want to work at Superstore for another summer. D: If the interview goes well, when I go in to check my schedule tomorrow I'll hand in my two week's notice. Seriously, this time.)

Current Mood: anxious
Current Location: Not yet Fort Edmonton
Current Music: Slumdog Millionaire OST

or exercyse any Wytchecrafte Enchauntement Charme or Sorcerie, wherby any pon shall happen to bee wasted consumed or lamed in his or her Bodye or Member...
Yep, I'm reading from "An Act agaynst Conjuracions Inchantementes and Witchecraftes". Oh, Tudor England, how awesome can you get?

...At least the paper I'm writing for that class is currently much more interesting than Cardinal Wolsey. I actually don't mind doing the readings for this one. It helps that they're shorter...

So I was having a bit of a bad week. My computer is well and truly deceased, and I ordered a new laptop, but it won't come in in time to be any good for typing up the two papers due this week, so I'm using the family PC. It's working out fine, I suppose, though I miss my lovely laptop keyboard. ;_; But apparently my new laptop shall look the same as my old one, but $150 cheaper, with more memory and more advanced overall. So... things shall look up.

I only have to get through until this Thursday. On that day, I'll have handed in my Hist 332 paper (Tudor Regime) and done the presentation on Tuesday, handed in the Hist 260 paper (Pre-confederation Canadian History) on the Wednesday, and will have completed my Art History midterm (my only evaluation besides the final, worth 40% of my mark) that morning. I can't wait for Thursday afternoon...

I mean, I was having a stressful week, but it's now no longer as oppresively bad. I mean, I was worried that with my two seven hour shifts at Superstore this weekend, I wouldn't get anything done. In fact, I really shouldn't be typing this, I should be working on my assignments in the word documents two windows over... BUT a few good things have since happened to me:

1) I've gotten stuff written down for my witchcraft assignment. And a plan for my essay. Isn't that nice? :) It's an improvement on what I had (not) done as of three days ago.

2) I was seriously considering quitting my job because I felt under-appreciated, harranged and harassed. Then, today at work, I was working side by side with my boss, Teri, and David, a worker more junior than I. Teri had to leave for an hour to go to an appointment of some sort, and David and I were left in charge of sorting out this disaster zone of an aisle. I also went for lunchbreak during that time. David and I focussed, and we got the aisle cleaned up. We were just finishing up when Teri returned - and she told us she was stunned at how well we had done, that it looked really nice and neat. She actually was under the impression that I'd skipped by lunchbreak to work hardcore at this aisle. I felt much better. :)

3) The next paycheque is all of my back-pay, as per the new union agreement! :D It shall be like the lottery, only I'm sure to win - I just don't know how much I'll get. It shall be a surprise. I just know that I get 60 cents for every hour that I've worked since August 2006. And I've worked at least 2000 hours since then.

4) I got an e-mail saying I've been accepted for the Louise McKinney scolarship - which means that they throw $2500 at me for being in the top 2% of my faculty. I feel better for having worked myself nearly to death last year. The GPA for my first year will keep me afloat for the rest of my University carreer, I do believe.

... and now BACK TO OUTER SPACE! D:<

... I mean, homework. Yes.

Also, I have learned the manliest name ever, topping even the phallic symbolism in the word "Shakespeare": Manwood. I kid you not, this is an actual last name. Doesn't Early Modern England rock? :D

Current Location: Not on my laptop
Current Music: WALL-E Soundtrack

"So what's new with Beboots?" You may be wondering, if you too aren't bogged down by schoolwork. Why, I shall inform ye! (Also, everyone on facebook, check out your language options - alongside English (UK) there's English (pirate). So awesome...) Anyway....

First of all, I'm writing this on the oldschool family computer. Why? Because my laptop has died... for a second time. I mean, it was freezing up for a day or two, then gave me the bluescreen of death, then "repaired" itself, then went back to freezing... so it's in the shop. I'm told it has like several viruses. But... I probably won't lose anything. Just as well, because I've been paranoid ever since it died a few months ago and so everything's backed up anyway. Take heed, all you readers: back up your files! Especially those essays that you're working on!

Speaking of essays... I got my essay on Cardinal Wolsey back: B-. Not bad, but not as good as I was hoping. It was mostly little errors that bogged me down. A satisfactory essay, but not a stellar one. But since I hated every minute of writing that thing, i guess that's to be expected. Anyway, I'm working on a new one for that class, which is on witchcraft (that's a quote of it you see, up there), and so is automatically way more interesting than Cardinal Wolsey could ever be.

I have not yet caught any of the various illnesses flying around campus yet, and I remain hopeful that I still won't have by the time that midterm month is over. I can dream, can't I?

Also, I get much less time to work on things this month than anticipated. Why? Because Superstore is no longer going on strike. ;_;

( Here's the deal... )

So... there you have it, I suppose. I'm dissapointed we didn't go on strike - I could have used the free time to study for midterms and write papers... and my novel, actually. :D I can't wait for Nanowrimo! On the forums, we were writing 15 word summaries for our novels. Mine for this November is the following:

"Two vampires (an extremely old child and a mildly depressed former accountant) figure out life."

How does that sound?

Current Location: Not Superstore
Current Music: WALL-E Soundtrack

Most adventures begin at home. You don't really want them to, but they do anyway.
~ From the journal of Surka Aurelia Maxine Shrew, Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew, By Ursula Vernon

Day: -1

In the last fifteen minutes, I've suddenly recalled a grand total of three things that I've forgotten to pack. D: I sincerely hope that that's the last of it. I'm not too worried, as it's not like I'm going to a third world country. I'm pretty sure that if I were to lose my suitcase, I could find (and replace) nearly everything in it in France (at an expense, of course). Well, I'd probably weep over my lost costume, which is irreplaceable, because it probably took me nearly a full week's worth of hours to make in the first place... D: I sincerely hope that I don't lose it...

At least I have my camera, it's charger, a plug adapter, my passport and my wallet all packed. I suppose that everything else is superfluous, really. ;)

Also, it occurred to me last week that I've never been away from my twin sister for longer than like, two days before. We don't talk as much as we used to, but the fact is that she's been like an extension of me for my entire life. Anywhere that I've gone - be it Québec, England, France, Japan or Maui - I've gone with her. And now I'm going to take the plunge and not only be away from my dearest mother for a month and eight days, but I'll also be separated from "my other half". I'll miss you, Danielle dearest! ;_;

I got up at like 6:00 this morning to work a 7am shift (at Superstore); then, I had to rush home to shower off the worse of the dirt from the garden centre before heading off to the dojo my little brother attends (he just got his blackbelt yesterday, by the way - everyone, congratulate him! :D ) to attend a ladies self defense class. Desa-sensei was awesome at giving us practical (if vicious) tips on how to fend off attackers. I am now just a little bit more paranoid than I was before, but a small dose of paranoia is helpful when travelling alone, right? Right?

Anyway, other than these few worries, I'm actually really excited to be going to France. :) My first flight leaves tomorrow at 13:15 from the Edmonton International Airport. Then, it's off to Toronto, and then... France! :D

Current Mood: good
Current Location: Canada... but not for long!
Current Music: The Mountie Song - Arrogant Worms

Neil Gaiman (who is my fantasy author overlord).

So I'd like to all wish you a HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR! :D You guys all rock.

What's up with me at the moment? Well, I'm still slowly ploughing through writing my nanowrimo novel, "Winged". I've only written like 5,000 words since the end of November, though. D: I have been editing what I do have a little bit, though, which is good. I've also been working on fanfiction, most notably "Alchemy's Child" (a Fullmetal Alchmist X Harry Potter crossover) and "Rise of the Jinchuuriki" (a Naruto fic in which Gaara and Naruto go back in time to when they were six for the hell of it and race to become Kazekage and Hokage respectively). If you're interested, go read them at my ff.net profile, here: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/331848/ And don't forget to review!

My Christmas went very well. :) I got many books, blank journals, a few DVDs and CDs, a really nice sweater, and loads of chocolate. :) I'm quite pleased with my "haul". I also feel really clever, because my sister didn't make a list, but I got her two awesome gifts that she wouldn't even have thought to ask for (the newest Miyazaki film, "Tales of Earthsea" and the sountrack to her favourite Korean soap opera, "the Palace", which she didn't even know existed).

My family and I also went down to Jasper to go skiing in Marmot Basin for two days. My little brother was snowboarding, my dad was skiing, and Danielle and I were on snowblades. I only fell twice, and both incidents were while I was going down black diamonds, so I don't feel too embarrassed. Did you guys know that there's a little knitting store just off of the downtown street in Jasper? :D I stocked up on yarn there; it was awesome.

I've also been taking in-car driving lessons. D: It has been making me so anxious! I did do two lessons in one day on Wednesday (four hours of driving in downtown Edmonton, an hour and a half of which overlapped with rush hour!) so I'm improving, but my nerves aren't. D: I haven't gotten in an accident yet, which is a plus!

Work has been... fine. I took two extra shifts this week as a favour to my boss, who is in BC skiing this week. Everyone else in my department (Home & Garden at Superstore, in case you were wondering) is either on vacation or getting their wisdom teeth pulled. There are only four other people in my department besides me, though. I went in extra early on Wednesday (I worked 7am-noon, but I had to get up at 5:30 to walk to work), to put out the shipment of bouquet flowers... which didn't arrive, because the schedule was screwed up due to new year's eve. D: I was like "fine, whatever, I'll do stock, I get paid anyway". So I had my second extra shift today, and wouldn't you know it? Wednesday's stock arrived today, along with today's stock (both large shipments, a pallet and a half each of flowers stacked higher than myself) in addition to four big bins of tropical plants that weren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow. And they ALL had to be put out today, because you can't leave live plants in the backroom. They also all had to be watered, provided that they were in pots. D: I ended up staying an extra hour to get it all done. It was hectic, and stressful. I only put one pallet of tropicals out because only one would fit in the aisle - it filled it all nearly up. The box really was packed solid with plants. D: I hope my boss appreciates me...

Oh, and for all that I complain a lot, I'm actually a rather contented person. I am happy, not suicidal. Don't worry! Life doesn't get me down. :) I have too much stuff to do.

In any case, I'm excited for next semester! As of today, I'm signed up for the second half of English 111, Japanese 150 (which I'm pumped for), a history course entitled "China and the West", History as a Discipline (required for history majors like me) and a Classics course - which is kind of random, but I'm taking it with a friend who's a classics major and the spiffy thing is it counts towards my history major... so it's all good.

I wish you all a happy new year! :D Best of luck to you all!

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Ma chambre
Current Music: Yura Yura - Naruto opening theme

Mae West

Woah, I haven't updated this journal since October! O.O; Sorry, all!

So it's new years eve here, and I've just put a pizza in for my brother and his friend (we're the only ones home; I suppose I'm a recluse). I just got back from a short four hour shift at Superstore (I've just passed the two year mark of working there; I feel old), and I've decided to never walk home with my work shoes in this kind of weather. They have no traction; I was almost killed fifteen times in the half-hour walk from work to home, slipping and sliding, and none of the incidents were due to drunk drivers. -_-;

So I've had a pretty good Christmas; I got DVDs, CDs, chocolates, socks... what more could you want? Plus my sister and I pitched in to buy House M.D. season one and dad bought season two, both for mum... but totally for us as well! XD House is so mean, but his acid wit is hilarious!

But my favorite gift was... a digital camera! XD It's so beautiful! I've yet to upload pictures because I haven't uploaded the program onto my computer yet, but I'm getting there... I've already taken over fifty pictures, and I haven't had much time to do so. But I'll probably post many pictures once I'm capable of doing so.

My boyfriend, Daniel, and I are still together. :) His mother makes delicious cookies. He just had his wisdom teeth out on Boxing Day, but is feeling much better now. ^_^

So I've knitted about five pairs of matching socks by now. ^_^ Yay socks! I shall post pictures (again, as soon as I'm able).

I wish everyone (even those of you whom I have yet to meet) a very happy new year! XD

Current Mood: pensive
Current Location: The study
Current Music: "This is Hallowe'en" (remix by Panic! At The Disco)