Trials and Triumphs

A few weeks ago, my current employer issued a challenge to me.  The challenge was both demeaning and motivational at the same time.  We were discussing an incident that happened while he was out of the store on vacation.  The end result of the conversation in essence cost me at least $125 in lost wages / penalty.  The challenge was issued with this statement "Go out this week and find another job.  You won't find one because you are too old, no one will hire you."  That statement translates in reality to "You can't find another job because of your age.  No one is going to hire you.  I have you over a barrel, I can fuck you at will and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.  So shut the fuck up, bend over and take it like a man."  The events of yesterday provided the answer to that challenge in a series of events that altogether were so totally freaking awesome that one twenty-four hour period could not contain the awesomeness.  The awesomeness had to spill over into the next twenty-four hours without even blinking an eye.  

The day started out in its typical fashion with a fuck up that could have ruined the whole day, and for a while it looked like that was what was going to happen.  I had arrived at work , on time as usual, to find the co-worker with whom I was scheduled to work, basically quit which left me without help on my shift.  My least favorite co-worker who claims the title of Assistant Manager, yet does not deserve the privilege for any number of reasons, then had to serve as his replacement.  The most infuriating thing about him is his ability to be such a lazy, arrogant asshole whose default action is to sit in the office and play with his phone (maybe even himself, I can't tell because he shuts and locks the door, leaving me to run the store by myself while he fucks off in the office).  He is the one that I referred to a few posts back as more co than worker.  As the night wore on, he really did not accomplish much other than to make it look like he was working on something while in reality he was doing nothing at all.  Because he was for all intents and purposes he was working a double shift, he had made arrangements for the day girl to come in at 4 AM so he could go home.  When she came in at 4, it took him less than an heartbeat to hit the door and go on his merry way, leaving way too many of his assigned tasks undone and unlikely to be done by anyone else in the long run scheme of how things work in that store.  Then to top off what was beginning to look like a really bad day, the other girl who was to be my replacement sends me a text saying she was going to be late because she had a flat tire.  If it would have been anyone else, I might have had some sympathy for her plight, but this is the woman who I consider constitutionally incapable of arriving to work on time to save her soul.  She did finally arrive 45 minutes late and I finally got to depart.  

I returned home and began pulling together the disparate parts to yesterday's post then cross posted it here at Blogger and also over at my tumblr page.  I made a little something to eat then begain getting ready fto head to my dental appointment at the Oral-maxillofacial clinic at JPS's  main hospital.  The reason for my visit to the dentist was because my general practitioner had referred me there to have the ulcer that has developed on that little stretch of skin that runs between the middle of my bottom gum to the middle of my bottom lip.  The handsome resident who examined me diagnosed that this ulcer had developed because of an irritation by my bottom plate which has a pointed spot that digs into the hole in the middle of the ulcer itself creating quite a problem wearing my teeth.  As a result of this diagnosis, I cannot wear my bottom plate for the next two weeks, rinse  daily with an anti-biotic mouth wash which he prescribed for me, then return for an reexamination on the 25th.  Then I returned home to try and get some rest before I reported to work at 5 PM.  This is wear the awesomeness began that spilled over into today.  

I got about an hour and a half's sleep before I had to get up and get ready to go to work.  The great thing about it is that I did not have to work at my current store, but that it was the first day I got to work in my new store on the west side of town, much closer to my new apartment than the store at the corner of Crazy Avenue and Stupid Street.  The new store new store is like comparing a Park Avenue mansion to the back streets of the slums of Calcutta.  A difference as stark as the difference between night and day.  Just as I was getting ready to leave I received a phone call from the Social Security Administration regarding the application I had placed on line for my retirement benefits.  A phone call I was both anticipating and somewhat dreading at the same time.  The caseworker had call last Thursday but I had missed his call.  I left him a voice mail when I returned the call whose message said he would get back to me in two business day which would have been Monday.  However he had been out ill and did not get around to returning my call until yesterday around the time I was getting ready to leave for work.  He asked me several questions to verify some information, then explained how my benefit amount was derived and when I would begin to receive them.  He told me everything was simple, straightforward and in order and that I would begin receiving benefits to the tune of $855 a month beginning with the month of August would would be paid in September on the fourth Wednesday (September 25) and would continue to be paid every fourth Wednesday of the month until I reach the age of 66 when I will be reevaluated for an increase in my benefit amount.  I am allowed to earn $15,000 a year without any penalty to my benefits.  I earn slightly more than that and my benefit amount was adjusted to compensate for that.  Still, I will be getting $855 a month in addition to whatever I make at the store.  This means my financial situation will stabilize and I will actually have more money than month every month for the first time since I had my stroke 4 years ago.  I was really stoked about that, then I had to leave to go to work.  

Now I was born and raised here, and I never for a minute thought that I would get lost in my home town, however I made a wrong turn after exiting the freeway that took me on a wild goose chase through Colonial Heights and back to a road two exits back from where I got off the freeway.  I called the new job at five and explained how lost I was but I was on my way.  I had being late, but in the end, this little detour which could have been a monumental fuck up into just a little adventure on the way to awesomeness. 

The new store is neat, clean, well organized, has no gas pumps and is located in a trendy neighborhood across from some new high dollar condos and the University of North Texas Health Science Center and Medical School.  The stark difference in customer base was such a joy to behold.  I mean I got to wait on 'normal' people instead of drunks, druggies, hoes, pimps thieves and the occasional bat shit crazy  lunatic like over at the store in the hood.  In just a few minutes I will be going to my old store to place my order for hot and cold beverages, then give the boss my two week notice, and tell him the days I will be available to work at his store in order to coordinate with my hours at the new store,  I get to then smile in triumph at his consternation when he realizes that I have answered his challenge and proved to him that I am not too old to find another job.  He will have to find some other schlep to throw over a barrel to fuck without mercy.  I am so happy at this moment that I am beside myself with sheer joy!!!

Before I go running off to ruin his day and make mine, I have some music and men to share with you.  Your Musical reprise for today features Violin Concerto in D Major, Number 1, Opus 3 and Violin Concerto in A Major, Number 11, Opus 3 by Pietro Locatelli. Both pieces are performed by The Raglan Baroque Players conducted by Nicholas Kraemer featuring Elizabeth Wallfisch on Violin.  The play list is followed by an excellent grouping of Random Hotness that sizzles off the page for you to cruise and peruse to your heart's content.  Thanks for spending part of your Wednesday here at Nichevo, come back often and be sure to bring your friends!  Until next time as always, Enjoy!