Hello all! I have many photos on my phone's camera roll and not enough time (read: energy) to prep posts. As I write this, I'm sick with a bad cold so I can't do much skincare or makeup related new content right yet because, y'know, germs. But, no more! It's time for content, my dudes....!


Towards the end of June and into earlier this month, I went down south to another store for work and worked there for two weeks. I was able to go with my partner (they work a different position at my same store), and we drove together, staying at hotel nearby.

 I was paid for mileage and we both had out expenses paid for, so it was a nice experience. They wanted us initially on overnights for a week to help them with stocking freight as the store has recently opened and they were apparently short staffed--my own store is short staffed! The higher ups asked for a second week, but on days, and later for and a third, but we declined for the third week as it was too hot.


 W E E K  O N E 

I'm trying to be vague on purpose because naming the location would reveal my identity too clearly but basically, I drove south about 120 miles, with the cutie being the official jams monitor and GPS supervisor. We left early on the morning of the 30th, technically our first real trip together., on a nice, sunny day! :^)

About 20 exits away from home, a truck cut me off and a few moments after they passed into my lane, my tire emergency light went off. In retrospect, it was probably low tire pressure and the potential of a slow leak, but the cutie helped me navigate to a local Safeway where I got my tires checked (the psi was indeed low, 25 in one of the back tires!) and also for a pee stop and lunch. Technically, we were on the the moment I left my house so we had to take a lunch, and log

There was a lot of traffic (lots of trucks) but we got back on the road and traveled for another hour or so. The emergency light also never went off and thinking something was still wrong, the cutie found me a nearby Honda dealership where even though I couldn't have a service guy look at it because it was a weekend, I was able to find out some info in under ten minutes (counting that as our "break"). I learned that my tires should be ok and should I have any issues, I could come back on Monday, a few days later.  We decided to get back on the road and make the remaining hour of the drive, and to consider that option later.

We got to the hotel and checked in at around 3:20pm. Clock out, and drive complete!!


Since both the cutie and I worked overnights, that meant working at 10pm to 7am--we had about six or seven hours to ourselves before needing to report at the store. Plus, the store we were to work at was only a 6 min drive from the hotel.

Relaxing time......we took a well deserved nap...which turned into a longer sleeping session.

After waking up, we downed ice cream sandwiches--it was bright and hot outside.


Decided to venture out and have dinner ↓↓

 
There was at a local diner that was conveniently placed a block from the hotel--so worth it, so tasty.

On the first few nights, we worked about three huge pallets of health and beauty (shampoo, body wash) and some heaping cart some pharmacy items. The pallets were taller than I am (I'm 5 ft 8). Knocking out that freight in about five hours, we were beat--both of us had been awake for some 16 hours on the first night, so sleeping was a priority.

Over the course of the next few days, the cutie and I worked our shift, drove back to the hotel, log our times and "clock out", strip and relax in the hot tub. They put us in separate rooms, but we hung out a lot, especially when it was breakfast and most importantly, food time. Then we'd conk out and SLEEP.  We slept through the morning, then worry about eating and relaxing in the late afternoon up until it was time to work again the following night. It was a nice change from the usual slog at our own store and I would consider working overnights at another store, no joke.

The main point of us being there was to work freight and help the store during its first few weeks of being open. The work was easy at times for overnights; the store actually closed at midnight (unlike ours, a 24hr store) so there was a solid SIX hours were neither of use had to interact with customers, which is an integral and constant part at both my and the cutie's positions--it was a nice break. While we sometimes work the same shift, we don't work in the same departments so this was an unusual chance to together, and to learn.

Breakfast was provided at the hotel so enjoy all the food spread shots! On the right is a nice shot of the cutie in front of the gorgeous sunset


Pizza from a local joint--so GOOD!!! ↓↓







Fruity food spread from the next day, featuring some grapes and lovely, sweet Rainier cherries...... ↓↓




The cherries here the same that I used in this Instagram post. I took the photo just after the one above:

rainier cherries are the best cherries don’t @ me 🍒💖 . . . . #food #fruit #cherries #yum #チェリー #美味しい

A post shared by jess 🍑🍇🍓🍒 (@spacedump) on Jul 10, 2018 at 12:50pm PDT

More gorgeous sunsets! ↓↓



Basically, we just took every opportunity to relax, sleep and eat, in ways that neither of us do in regular lives, and to slow down. Even though we spend time together, a hot tub makes a whole difference!

The last day had finally come! On the morning of July 4th, we had to fill out some paperwork, which was something I was prepared for but I didn't anticipate to what levels of irritation I'd experience. Irritating was an understatement. First, I couldn't get a straight answer on the Right Way to fill out the form vs how THEY wanted us to fill out out (a very Big Difference) as each manager told us something different. It took some pushing to get the right answer from three different managers and finally about an hour later, we finished and returned got back to the hotel. Because of that setback, it put us in a difficult position. We discovered had to get out of the area and checkout easier than expected as some 200,000+ people were expected to flock near the beach for a parade and later, a fireworks display for the holiday celebration. So to beat traffic and the heat, we had everything packed and ready to go, and got on the road to head back north.

Since doing the paperwork ate up time that we would've taken a nap, both of us hadn't slept yet since Wednesday afternoon. I had taken some MCT oil but because of the heat, was feeling so drowsy. Desperate, I pulled into a grocery store car park and we napped for about 1.5 hrs, while on a "lunch" so neither of us would hit our fifth. Doing that was an unsafe, desperate thing to have done but I made the executive decision as I would rather that then not being alive and awake to write this post. I love my partner and wouldn't want them to be in harms way. Plus, it was smoky, hazy and a sizzling hot4th of July.

We got back around quarter to 4; I dropped my partner off at their apartment and noting the times exactly, I drove back to my place. We both agreed to take the rest of Wednesday and our two scheduled days, Thursday and Friday off, with Friday being the day that we'd go into work, clock in and fix our punches.

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 W E E K  T W O 

I got a call from work that Friday morning, asking if a) we'd come in to fix our punches asap and b) could/would we go for another week. I went to go pick up the cutie and we both go into work to input the first week's punches, as planned. After some quick thinking, we agreed to a second week, seeing as neither of us really unpacked! 


With little time to prepare, I ran a couple errands. Also I stopped by my local Honda dealership and come to find out, my tires were still low on pressure but looked fine. The emergency light on my car model only needed to be reset, so everything was ok. Phew!

The mood for the second week was miscommunication. There was some deep, utter confusion: a few of the other visiting associates (like us) were told that it was another week of overnights, and some were told to work closing, but on days. There was much miscommunication from the levels of management as we got told initially overnights, but then was confirmed for days a few hours later. Either was fine, but just choose one!

Leaving on the Saturday morning at a bit before 7 AM, we repeated the same journey, but this time, there was far less traffic on the road and less heat. We got to the area with a few hours to kill and took lunch at a nearby Costco.



Looking back, the second week was harder: we worked all closing shifts and basically worked the same position that my partner does at their own store.  I did just over 14k steps in one shift, primarily when unloading the truck.

Put simply: it was wild--I got a true taste of the happenings that goes on in the backroom and gained an appreciation for what my partner does, from being right in the sweaty mess. We both got unexpected closure--a manager who got promoted over me at my store got promoted to a higher level of management and moved to this store down south, was one who worked in my department when I first started, as a floor associate. It was awful yet eyeopening to see how things operated under her. But I had the chance to come to peace with it. My partner experienced some odd closure too as they encountered a previous manager too, one who in the past, wasn't...the nicest. What was cool is my partner's manager stood up for us during a few intentional (yes, intentional) rounds of miscommunication and even trusted my partner to do good work. On one of the days, one of the guys even rage quit!

Breakfast was easier on the second week. Instead of coming back after work at 7:30AM, just, to rush breakfast, we were just starting our day at more like 9 AM.


Food-wise, Costco was the easiest choice for dinner as there was one nearby. They do wonderful pizza! 

Originally from my IG stories:


Beaten down and trodden, we had pizza again the following night.


Burrowing deep down into my soul, just to bring myself up and stay afloat for mutual support took so much energy. It was a surreal chance for closure. We discovered a multitude of things: the manager who used to work at my store wrongly advised us on how to fill out the paperwork on the first week (we corrected it), which made us spend extra time on the last day trying to track down the Right Manager(s) to quadruple-check if it was correct--it was. What was nice on the second week was once we left at 11pm, we could go back to the hotel and actually sleep.
 
All in all, it was a good trip. I got to learn about myself and experienced my partner's job firsthand. I have appreciation for what the team does at our own store and have witnessed many inefficiencies, ones that if fixed, could make so much of a difference (in moral, integrity and of course, profit for the company).

Most importantly, an unexpected but beautiful thing happened that I want to document here as I never want to forget the raw emotion and happiness I felt then. Through some moments, in the early hours of the last day of the trip, my partner told me something they had been holding back all this time, from the moment we started to date, and for much longer. We talked, cried and hugged. Now, all of this makes sense and I'm indescribably happy to walk this journey with her. I'm so lucky, lucky to to have her in my life and just lucky to be here. I keep crying in happiness, writing and rewriting this small paragraph; to be able to properly and wholly convey how happy I am is impossible..

I officially hit 3K miles on my car, at some point during the second leg of the trip....!


Anyway, I've taken some time to get back to my usual routine (the ugly slog) at my own store, including an upcoming remodel, getting ill and the disgusting heat. It's gotten horrible at my own store, so much that I've fallen back to unnnessary negative thinking patterns--a place I don't wish to find myself wandering through, in time of thought.

I've become greatly aware that it is high time for a promotion! A new job, a new adventure! From the work trip, I feel clarity and more focused, like I know exactly in which way to navigate and can all the wrong ways to walk. All the bullshit is confronting, but I recognize it now. Pieces have clicked together and I've discovered so much while learning about myself, the way I work and the way things have happened in my workplace.

Now it's time for rest. 



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