Not make-up related: news!

I'm really, really exited because I've found a new job! It's a small business with great products, I'm not taking a paycut and the hours are just as good, if not better because I'm a casual again (instead of being part-time). What has me personally relieved is that there is no uniform and the dress code is smart-casual. So I'll be able to wear coloured polish and eye makeup again! I can feel myself relaxing already! I'm giving my two weeks notice at my current job tomorrow, and by the time uni starts I will have finished there and be finishing my initial probation at the new job. You can expect to see a LOT more NotDs and EotDs from me now, and maybe even some more jewelry making (since I have to get my study ready for the semester, I might be able to set myself up a craft station as well).

It's sad how customers can ruin a job for you. I think if the company itself hadn't been so ridiculously strict on some things I could have handled that particular stress a little more easily... vice versa, maybe if we didn't have such a high percentage of rude/demanding customers, it might have left me with more head-space to shrug off management issues I had problems with. But things being what they were, I decided that having the mental capacity to concentrate on graduating at the end of the year was more important than trying to stick it out at a job that was increasingly stressing me out.

My boyfriend has been wonderfully supportive through my decision-making process. I have to stay I'm glad it happened now rather than 6-7 months ago when I was still at home, as my parents were really skeptical about me leaving such a "good" job (and I am still very much concerned with their approval :/). They are an extremely generous company to both staff and customers, don't get me wrong, but... No amount of training sessions or discounts or free product is enough for me to pander to customers being rude and demanding! You don't get to walk all over me because you 'contribute' to my paycheck. That is NOT how it works for me and since that seemed to be how my workplace did it, I felt it was time to find an employer who was a better fit for my personality and my beliefs. That it happened so quickly, and with a company who sells product I am actually passionate about is a huge blessing. When I say quickly, I mean I dropped my resume there on a Tuesday morning, received a phone call from them Tuesday afternoon, had the interview on Friday and am starting Monday (tomorrow!) It was amazing and ridiculous and I'm really nervous but also happy. I am going to miss the amazing co-workers from my old job, but if I put aside all my money worries and my anxiety about learning new things, I know I will be much better off with this new job.

Just so this isn't a wall of text, here's the Australis flaky over a taupe franken!

MORE FUN NAIL TIMES TO COME.

P.S. Check out my rant/essay on customer service at my other blog, where there will be more book and comic book reviews soon. /plugplug

Tales of a Part-timer

**Please read my review of Chew if you haven't already, and comment on the review for a chance to win a copy of issue 1!**

You guys, I did it! I made it through my first week (by week I mean two days, I haven't done my weekend shifts yet) of part-time work (mostly) intact!

I look a bit tired because, er, I am, and also because I'm wearing NO MAKEUPS in this photo. I'm smiling behind the paper, I promise. I was going to do the whole cheesy thumbs-up thing, but I can't find my tripod at the moment. It's probably hiding under my couch cushions. One day I'll find a dust bunny under there the size of an actual bunny. Then I'll sell it on eBay.

These are some of the more entertaining thoughts that were running through my head over my first few shifts:

• This POS system is so old I think that it might actually BE a dinosaur.
• No, sir, I cannot give you a free display box worth $60 because you're buying a "lot" of coffee. FYI, you are not actually buying a lot of coffee.
• Oh god which one did she say?! Just tell me the package colour please. On second thought, don't do that, because you'll say gold and then I'll have to ask you if you mean the pinky gold, the pale gold, the yellow gold or the copper gold... and then it will be bad (thank god there are only three reds, two greens and one that people keep referring to as blue but I swear it's purple... albeit a very bluish, cool lilac-y periwinkle-y colour).

Today I had the trial run of what I like to call the "doomsday race"... basically, I have classes from 8:30am to midday. Then I have to somehow:
1) Get changed into my work clothes.
2) Have lunch.
3) Get to Perth, which is an approx. 20 minute trip via public transport.
And I have to do all of this in one hour. Hence by the time I got to Perth it was 12:45 and I hadn't eaten yet. I ventured to the closest and least busy place-that-sells-food, which happened to be a great Japanese sushi bar. I got a Teriyaki chicken box which was about twice the size of the one I normally get (from a different shop). It was my first shift with the assistant manager so I was absolutely FREAKING out about being late and making a bad first impression, so I starting wolfing down my food like it was going out of fashion (funny phrase, but I can't think of anything similar right now).

I got the hiccups. I'm eating and freaking out trying to eat fast, and hiccuping, and thinking "oh NO, I have the hiccups, how long is this going to go for aaaah nobody is going to be able to take me seriously!..." and then they stopped. Normally when I have hiccups I have them for a good twenty or so minutes. By sheer force of will I made these ones go away. I didn't quite finish my food because I suddenly realised how much I'd eaten and I didn't want to make myself feel sick later, so I hurried off to work. The assistant manager is delightful, in case you're wondering.

One of the girls I worked with today will be on with me on Saturday, and she's already told me I can ask her anything at any time, which is so nice. Also my boyfriend has promised to get up (gasp!) on Sunday morning to have coffee with me before I go to work. It's not that early, don't worry, but I do feel a bit bad making him miss out on his weekend sleep-in. He's a tradie so he starts work at 5:30am.

More makeup reviews, swatches, comic and webcomic reviews are on the way! I was going to do 'a something' tonight but this will have to be it... I kinda sorta maybe haven't done my readings for class tomorrow (EEP) and I'm rather sleepy.

How are you all, any significant changes in the last few weeks? Read any good books lately? Had something funny happen to you or to someone you know? Share in the comments, or if it's something you'd rather not tell the whole interwebz, you can email me at the.jade.carver at gmail dot com. Or tweet me. I'm on Twitter all the freakin' time!

I ain't doing this for kicks

Lately it seems I've written about a million cover letters. I won't deny the practise has been helpful, but lordy is it depressing! For every application I send, for every half an hour I spend agonising over word choices, I am getting nothing back.

I've heard a lot of people say that Australian employers are by far the worst for getting back to you. I've never tried to get work outside of Aus, but I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. If you don't want to hire me, FINE! Just bloody well let me know! I'm not going to sneak in during the middle of the night and vandalise your shop!

It especially gets me when I drop my resume off at a shop in the city that I walk past often. No emails, no phone calls, and nearly a month later they still have their 'staff wanted' sign up. Doesn't do much for a girl's self-esteem. I've heard back from maybe one out of four places I applied to, and it's all been "Blah blah thankyou for your application we found someone with more experience".

Picture snitched from here.

I pretty much am doing the assistant manager's position at my current job, because we don't HAVE one, and one of the 'co-managers' has been away. I've done rosters, customer orders, banking, returns, opened and closed the store, and tracked the budget. I'm not getting paid extra for it but I don't care. It needs to be done and I'm here pretty often so I just do it. However when I get back to uni, because of our weird shop schedule and overabundance of casuals, I'll be getting 6 hours of work a week. Yup. SIX. HOURS.

Hence why I am looking for another position. New or second job, I'm not fussy. Except that I've been looking since about November.

I have a lot more availability this semester than I did last semester. A lot of places are looking for full-time staff but even more are looking for casuals. I have a ton of experience in a wide range of fields. I learn fast, I'm easy to work with and I'm great with customers. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong! I want to be able to save money while I'm at uni, not just scrape by.

Writing endless cover letters and worrying about money isn't fun. It's sapping my creative energy, hence why I haven't been blogging much. I haven't done any writing for myself lately either, despite having some really great feedback from a magazine.

I've got about a week and a half til I go back to uni, so I'm applying for things left right and center, and trying to muster inspiration to get things started and finished before I get bogged down with studying and assignments. I have been thinking about (thinking about thinking about :P) opening a jewellery shop on Etsy - simple and slightly geeky items, but I don't know if I have the stamina for such an extended creative project! I also don't have the equipment or expertise to do anything beyond beading. I know that some of the stuff I have come up with is really quite pretty and marketable:

The first and last necklaces also have matching earrings. Some of the pieces I can fairly easily re-create... but some of them are really 'one-off' designs that were made out of vintage beads or just took really long to make. I've been working on a gorgeous tiered safety-pin necklace for months now, it keeps falling apart on me! I'm thinking it may need to be soldered. Clamping them works fine for the earrings as there's no strain on them, but the weight of what I want to make usually ends up being too much for a necklace and it just falls to pieces on the third or fourth wear.

I also don't want to just make random junk-y things, I wanted it all to be 'discreet geek': inspired by books, games and TV shows. I don't know if I'm going to be able to come up with enough designs to merit a whole shop... I get inspired by beads, by jewellery and by plain ol' necessity. Most of the pieces in those photos were created because I didn't have a piece with a certain colour scheme, I acquired a piece of jewellery that didn't quite work for me so I altered it, or I saw the beads and just HAD to make something with them. This inspiration process can take anywhere from a day to years.

 I have had these beautiful blue marbled beads for months and still haven't been able to decide what to do with them.

I guess I'm still in a state of indecision, where I'm waiting for things to happen (i.e, uni to start so I know how busy I'll be, and to hear back from some jobs) so that I can figure out what my next move should be.

We're Not Tasmania!

Here is a very basic map of Australia:

Right the way over on the lonely left hand side of the country sits Perth, the capital of Western Australia, where I live.

The population of Perth is approximately 2.25 million. The population of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, has 352,200 inhabitants. Sydney, with a population of 4.50 million, is bigger than Melbourne at 3.9 million even though Melb tries to retain its title of Australian shopping capital. Sydney is 3,301 km from Perth.

Wellington, New Zealand is 2,229 km from Sydney, across the Tasman Sea. Bali, the cheapest and closest holiday destination for Australian tourists, is 4,623 km away.

Not quite NZ but not Bali, and yet somehow, when it comes to retail companies with multiple locations across Australia, Perth is treated like the black sheep of the family. Those kilometers open up a social and emotional chasm which results in Perth stores getting things late, last and in some cases not at all.

Perth's population and smaller tourist clientele equal much smaller sales potential than their eastern colleagues. To those who have lived and worked in the east all their life, these lower numbers are associated with lazy or unskilled staff rather than a geographically-induced difference in lifestyle. Head office staff (or 'corporate' as they're known in other circles) treat Perth - intentionally or not - as a mixed bag, a risk or even a necessary
evil! I understand that often it does not make financial sense to pour resources into a shop that isn't doing so well, but as I have so often lamented to co-workers: how are we supposed to sell stock we don't have, to customers who aren't there? In what way can we keep up to date and homogenise the store's look with display/merchandising props we don't have, for weeks after other stores get them? Short of running up and down the street attacking people with merchandise and fliers and screaming, "We're down there!" how do we get more people in our shops?

An annual visit, or over-the-phone conferences may make Sydney-siders feel as if they're doing their bit to help Perth stores feel more included in the retail family, but frankly, it isn't good enough. It won't give them a solid idea of what Perth stores deal with every day. Those in the food service industry, no matter where they are or what they're selling, will always have busy periods. Depending on your location, your target market, your product, and your advertising exposure, some stores only pick up around Christmas time! The Perth shopping spirit is a very lethargic and selective one. Those in power in head office need to understand and appreciate this, rather than blaming a lacklustre income on staff.

That being said, training should by no means be neglected just because a store is smaller and slower. If you want to uphold your standards, you need to give each and every employee the best preparation possible. And while you're at it, please stress customer service. Today, I bought a book which I'd had no intention of buying because the man in the counter was genuinely friendly, not only to me but to each and every customer who walked into the shop while I was there. Conversely, last week I swore off a certain retail outlet because I had been in there twice, and each time the staff did not smile or even make eye contact with me - when taking my money at the till! Training will either correct these bad habits, or hint which staff should have their hours cut down.

*gets off soap-box*

For the non-Aussies, there is a running joke that Tasmania isn't really a part of Australia, and the poor little islet is very often forgotten in political, social, economical... er, it's forgotten a lot. The title is meant to infer that, while Perth is far away and has a rather different culture to the rest of Australia, at least it's still not Tassie. Wink, wink.

The day in which I spent money and had an interview

Interview
Except I wouldn't call it an interview. It lasted barely ten minutes! She's calling me to organise a trial next week. This whole thing is so odd. I got there a bit early, intending to snoop around the shop. It was a lot smaller than I remembered. There was a customer in there, so I had a minute or two to myself. After said customer left, I introduced myself, mentioning the fact I was early. I gave her my updated resume, and then she just started asking me questions about my availabilities and customer service knowledge. We didn't go out the back room, or sit down, or anything! If/when she calls me back for my trial, I will be asking a lot more questions. I also have to have a chat to the co-manager at my new job, to make sure that if I do start getting shifts at the boutique, it won't clash too much. I have no idea what will happen when I get back to uni... eh, one thing at a time!

Spending money
So after that odd little debacle, I went to Borders, and was stoked to find that they had Rob Kaay AND Christian Tamblyn's books! I bought them both, and picked up a notebook for JulNoWriMo. Isn't it pretty?

It's a hardcover, ring-bind notebook with lined paper. I  have to have lined paper in my notebooks, otherwise my handwriting goes all over the place. This notebook has LOTS of paper in it, and the rings are those big, black plastic-coated ones, so there's plenty of room for my pen to slide in. That reminds me, I need to find the pen I bought last week...

I didn't want to go home too early, so I went to a few shoe shops that were having sales. I have been trying to find a pair of black boots for winter for quite some time now. My old pair were a cowboy style with a pointy toe. I've had them for about 4 years so the inner sole was worn down, the toes were chipped, they didn't look so great and weren't very comfy either. Bring in the replacement!

(Do you like our lounge room rug?)

These cost $65, which is only $5 more than the old pair. I am so stoked, they were pretty much exactly what I wanted. I have been in love with the lace-up, ankle-height granny/military boot since they became popular again. However, Perth's fascination with leather meant that everything I found was $200+, or suede, or studded, or had a ginormous pointy heel. I will probably end up wearing these all weekend for SUPANOVA! And I can get my books signed by Christian, Rob and Marianne. I'm halfway through Silverbirch, started reading it as soon as I left Borders. I will do a proper review of them both when I'm done, but for now I must say: Silverbirch is trippy, and Rob needs a new editor. There were some apostrophes where they most definitely shouldn't have been.

Politics
Rounding off this ramble: as some of you may already know, this morning Kevin Rudd stepped down from his position as Prime Minister, and Julia Gillard took his place. That's right, Australia has it's first female PM! My thoughts on the matter (don't worry, there aren't a lot):

1. It will only be a true milestone in Australia's history if Gillard is re-elected when Australians can actually vote.
2. Reading about it online, I saw several comments pertaining to Gillard's appearance. To those people I have one thing to say: SHUT UP. Her hair colour has nothing to do with her skills and leanings as a politician. Don't comment on her childlessness either. Sure, we joked about John Howard's eyebrows, and Kevin Rudd's ears, but come on! Don't nitpick about her clothes, or her hair, or her make-up, it's got NOTHING to do with her involvement with the Labour party, her new position or her plans for the mining tax scheme. I don't care if you don't like her, or if you're disgruntled that Rudd was booted. Comment on her press statements, not her pantsuit (or lack thereof), please.
3. Rudd started out really, really well. I'll forever admiring him for having the guts to say 'sorry' to the Stolen Generation. However, his tax policies... eh. Yes, the mining industry makes a ton of money, but that isn't all going into CEO's pockets. Increasing taxes so soon after the end of the slump was a bad move. A lot of men and women lost work because companies couldn't afford to keep independant contractors, take on apprentices and do as much building and repairs as they normally could. When the boom started, everybody heaved a sigh of relief. Proposing a supertax on a recovering industry? Not too smart.

In summary
Lots and lots of reviews coming up, I will do a post-Supanova... post, and I'll be putting up some bits of my own fiction writing, and some photographs. I was going to go out and do a shoot yesterday (just architecture and nature stuff, nothing fancy) but my plans got completely stuffed around! Also the zoom on my camera has gone a bit bonky. I need to find my receipt and check to see if it's still under warranty. It's more or less use-able, it just... has difficulty zooming out once you've zoomed in! The lens gets stuck and it makes horrible whirring-clicking noises. Poor camera.

More soon,
Jade.

This should definitely be fiction

Here's what happened: it's 7pm, and I'm in the middle of doing stocktake for my old job - my last ever shift. I've been at the fancy new job for a little over two weeks now. Not only is it waaaaaay better pay, but it's a much better atmosphere, and came in good timing, because my old job is closing on the 2nd of July. Myself, the old assistant manager, and one of the other casuals were all able to find new work pretty quickly. My old manager, poor thing, is still looking.

Back to the weirdness: so I'm scanning, pushing stock around, and my mobile phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket and check the screen. It's a number I don't know, so I hit "busy" and figure I'll look into it later. It starts ringing again. I think, "what the hell?" and I pick it up.

"Hello, this is Jade."
"Um, hi. I have your resume here, are you still looking for a casual job?"
(I'm thinking: huh?)
"Er, I actually accepted a position about three weeks ago."
"Oh... what a shame... missed out..."
(Pause)
"Who is this?"
"Oh, it's mumblemumble*."
"... and where are you calling from?"
"Some Random Boutique**."
(I'm thinking: um, er, come on brain, work... ohhh. I dropped my resume off there before I got my new job. That makes it about three and a half weeks ago. Uh-huh)
"Well, I am on uni holidays at the moment, but after July I'll only be available one day a week, between classes and my current job."
"Oh, well, that would actually work for me."
(Pause)
"What days would you be needing someone?"
"Thursdays, or Saturdays."
(Pause)
"Um, do you want me to come in for an interview?"
"Yeah, that'd be good! When are you free?"


Really, is three weeks an acceptable time lapse for a potential employer making first contact with a potential employee? Isn't that a bit, well, rude? And her phone manner was absolutely awful! If she's that bad on the phone, how does she deal with people in person? What about CUSTOMERS? Won't somebody think of the customers?

Sorry, it's late, and it's a proven fact that my wittiness deteriorates when I'm tired.

My thoughts on this mini-mystery:

• My resume got 'lost' in a drawer and was just 'found'.
• They're desperate for staff.
• They got a new staff member, who turned out to be supremely awful (that happened at my old job, twice) and were consequently fobbed off. Now they're sorting through the other resumes.
• The manager was sick and the shop has been in chaos for three weeks whilst they ran on minimal staff (that happened at my old job, except it was that the assistant manager quit and head office didn't manage to find a replacement in the two months notice she gave them, and then manager had to take a week off because her family were visiting from overseas).
• They're really desperate for staff.
• I probably don't want this job, but I probably won't need to turn it down since I know nothing about the labels they carry (Good Stuff? Jane Peacock? Autonomy for guys? Are these ACTUAL brand names? I think some serious Googling is in order here)
• ^ that's exactly what I thought about my last interview, and I got the job, and I'm loving it.
• They're really, REALLY desperate for staff.

Obviously, I'm going in for the interview, which means I'll need to re-print (and update) my resume, iron some respectable-but-not-too-bland clothing, and do some reasearch (who calls a clothing label 'Good Stuff'? I can imagine some hilarious, but confusing conversations coming out of that one, such as, "I love you jacket, what is it?" "Good Stuff!" "...?"). If I do get the job, and it sucks, I figure I'll just ride it out for the remaining month and a half of uni holidays, and then tell them I don't have the time for two jobs during semester. If I like it, I'll figure something out. If I don't get it, problem solvered!

Some actual-proper blog posts all lined up, just thought it was too funny not to share.


* she did say her name, but it was something fairly common like Linda, Caroline or Louise and I can't for the life of me remember. I was a bit distracted at the time!
** not the actual shop name, although that would be funny and kinda cool.

Don't you just love

When your life decides to go crazy on you, with no warning? In the last week I've gotten a job interview at a really upmarket jewellry store, a job trial at an even more upmarket bag shop, been informed I can't sponsor my Compassion child any more, and had my wallet stolen from my current job. I only have a bankcard, and I called and got it cancelled pretty quickly, so I didn't lose any money. It was just A) really craptastic because I had to borrow $5 from my assistant manager just to get the train home, B) more craptastic because I really liked that wallet, and C) now I have to go about replacing all the stuff that was in it. And get a new wallet.

This week: 
*Monday I'm working 9am-5:30.
*Tuesday, jewelry place interview, after which I will be able to get a replacement bank card, do something about my Medicare card (which was in my wallet) get a new Smartrider (again, in my wallet) and if I have any energy left, I'll run over to the movies to replace my member's card. All the other stuff was just coffee loyalty cards (ironically, I had about 5 of them), a bowling card which I don't think I ever used, and some photos which I have digital copies of, so I can reprint them.
*Wednesday, handbag place job trial. After that I have to go into uni to get a new Student I.D. card, because I need it for my exam on the 8th, and it's also my university library card.

I got in a little retail therapy the morning my wallet was stolen. I found the first installation in a new comic series featuring Vala Mal Doran from Stargate SG-1, placed an order for a bunch of other comics, and managed to get my hands on two discontinued Mode polishes, namely Tree Hugger (grass-green) and Bubblegum (sheer pale pink with blue-purple iridescence). Links are to Vibrant POV's reviews. In all the craziness I've hardly looked at the polishes, barely touched my Sassy order, which I want to review, and my camera batteries are flat, so I haven't gotten any further on the Concrete Minerals primer review either. I ordered some more shadows from both Sassy and CM, so I might even wait til those arrive before typing up my thoughts. I haven't done nearly as much exam study as I should've. I need to organise posting a goodbye letter to my sponsor child... that's going to be so hard. I don't really know the situation in his village; I've been sponsoring him for close to three years and there's been no trouble that he's told me about, or any delays in letters back and forth. He's sent me many letters and pictures that he's drawn. He's a delightful, intelligent boy and I'll never forget him. I will definitely sponsor another child, I just need to wrap my head around losing Lucky first.

Fingers crossed for my job stuff next week. I'm trying to stay focused and positive. And studious. I had a sort-of day off today because I was just feeling crappy and stressed. I played some Red Dead Redemption with my boyfriend (it's not multiplayer so we take turns; I'll admit there's a bit of backseat driving, hehe), had a cry and a cuddle, and I'm feeling alright now. Just a bit tired! Going to bed right after Castle finishes at 10:30, and I'll be studying on my lunch break tomorrow instead of the shopping I had planned. Yay inadvertent saving? :P

Some proper writing will be along by the end of the week, pinky promise.
Jade.

You vs Your Job

In the last fortnight, my job has become pretty darn crazy. There's a buttload of construction going on in our street, which is impeding the already tiny amount of foot traffic we get each day. Fortunately, when the construction finishes, there'll be more shops and cafes opposite us, which means we'll get more customers.

Unfortunately it means our rent is going up. So not only have both my assistant manager and my manager provided resignation notice, but head office is letting us know by the end of July whether or not our store is still going to be open. Fun times!

In light of all the insanity, I bit the bullet and searched out every retail outlet looking for staff. If I saw a "casuals needed" sign, I went in, even if it was a store I'd never consider entering otherwise. So I did venture into a few stores I knew I wouldn't feel comfortable working in, let alone shopping in. You see, I don't tend to have a lot of luck with jobs. This is probably the third time in as many years I've been looking for supplement/replacement employment. Every time I hand out at least ten CVs. Every time I hear nothing back. So it was to my utter surprise I got a phone call from a local jewellry store asking me if I was free on Tuesday for an interview. Which, y'know. Yay, employment and such. But... I don't own any jewellry that could have come from somewhere like that. Everything I own is indie, handmade or cheap costume stuff. The only expensive/contains 'real' gold/stones type thing I own is a beautiful teardrop necklace my boyfriend bought me for Valentine's day three years back, with my birthstone in it. The chain broke a few months ago (which we both knew would happen since it contains high amounts of gold and is therefore quite fragile) and I still haven't gotten around to getting it fixed.

What I'm getting at here is that I don't want to be one of those people who absolutely despises their job. Or feels silly being there. I am firmly and utterly an indie, vintage and bargain shopper. Terms like "investment purchase" and "paying for quality" just aren't a part of my vocabulary. Jewellry, for me, is about being unique, and fun, and colorful, and supporting your own and others creative ventures. I make a lot of my own jewellry. The stuff I don't make comes from antique stores, online indie places, or from friends and family. My current favourite pieces include a pair of white lego block earrings, iridescent purple guitar pick earrings, a vintage metallic button choker I made myself, and a gold mesh buckle bracelet I bought from Etsy. How am I going to feel trying to convince women/boyfriends/husbands/children that they need to blow a few hundred bucks on something that's OMG real silver with some OOH sparkly rocks.

Now don't get me wrong, I think that gold and silver and gemstones are important in the context of say, wedding rings and engagement rings. But in an everyday context I'd much rather have something affordable, with a ton more personality and colour than something mass-produced. My broken necklace does have colour, and its subtle, and pretty, and meaningful because it has my birthstone in it, which is also a colour I really like (purple).

I guess what I'm trying to get at is, how do you overcome that sense of... wrongness, when your job clashes so hard with your ideals and your values? I'm still going to this interview. Job > no job, as one of my  friends very succinctly put it. I like jewellry. I just don't like paying $299 for a cute ring, and I don't know how I'd feel about trying to sell it to someone.

NOTE: Sassy Minerals review incoming, just checked the mail and did a little happy dance. I also bought some empty jars on ebay to de-bag my various other samples. I fail at using bags. Also bought a bunch more Mode polishes, if anyone's interested in a picspam of those, please say so, else I won't bother.

Holidayish

Uni semester is over! Well, I do have an exam, but I have two weeks to study for it, so I'm not worried; I even had a lovely long sleep-in this morning. I'm more worried about what I'm going to do with myself in the holidays! I definitely need a second job, I've been at my current place of employment for over two years now. Not only am I really, really tired of all the problems that never get fixed, and the continual bombardment of the same questions and horribly annoying traits that our customers have, but they've really cut down my shifts, and I need something to keep me busy. I don't plan on trying to find something full-time for the two months (mid-year break is looooong) because I do have a lot of creative things planned.

I am still working on the Concrete Minerals primer review, but taking a clear eye close-up is proving ridiculously difficult! I have the draft review done, I just really wanted some pictures to go with it. I got some EcoTools brushes for 15% off last week, they're really nice. I wouldn't mind picking up a few more, I need more brushes in my life. And probably brush cleaner, too. I'm waiting on orders from Sassy Minerals, Meow Cosmetics (they had a free shipping sale which I pounced on [haha, geddit?]) aaand maybe a Concrete Minerals order as well. Quick note for CM fans, eyeshadow samples are being discontinued this Sunday night to make way for new shades being released on Monday (!) Which was of course very confusing for me, being in Australia and thus one day ahead of all the Americanos. I also have some hasty indoor snaps of my new Mode polishes. Yeah, I'm an addict! A few of them - Glitterati, Chillax and Frenemy - Vibrant Point of View has already reviewed, so you can check out better pictures on her gorgeous nails there.

Besides reading a lottt of books (and reviewing them), in the next few months I am going to really crack down on my own writing. My 2009 NaNoWriMo novel has been sitting on my hard drive since, well, since I finished it. I love the concept. My writing, not so much... so I plan on finally sitting down and attacking the silly thing. I was also thinking about churning out a few more scripts, and maybe running my own NaNo during July, since I didn't do it last year. I want to do more photography, make some more jewelry, and I have some clothes I've been meaning to dye.

Oof, and next time someone complains about Facebook, tell them it saved a university student. I thought that re-enrollments wouldn't be opening til after exams but turns out they're TONIGHT... I could have gotten the worst schedule ever if I hadn't have been on Facebook and found out! Phew! I had just enough time to double-check my schedule, too. *Wipes brow* crisis averted by your friendly neighborhood social networking site. And my habit of staying up way too late, reading blogs of authors I've just discovered, like Karen Miller. I'll be reviewing her series, Rogue Agent, right after I re-read it. It's three books long so far, and I'm pretty darn sure she'll be writing more. I really like her style, I'm hoping to get ahold of her other series as well.

One last note: I finally visited the infamous Archetype website. It's really badly put-together and the photographs of the actual eyeshadows are really craptastic. Yeah, some of the descriptions were intruiging, and $0.25 per sample was tempting... I'm really glad that international shipping is $13+ because I honestly think that was the only thing that stopped me from throwing my money into that glittery abyss. Never mind the plethora of horrible experiences I've read from people who have ordered from them. Sassy have $0.75 samples which come in jars, they have a huge range of colors and finishes, and lots of great reviews, which I hope to add to when I get my order. If it's glitteriffic-ness you're craving, just go to Fyrinnae. Hello, free shipping internationally for orders over $20?!

Well that was a ramble! Primer review soon, I promise. And maybe even something more srs; goodness knows I have a huge list of stuff I want to write about.
Until next time,
Jade.

Customer Service

Retail. Hospitality. Supermarkets.

Wherever you work, wherever you shop and whatever you shop for, you have to deal with people (if you do have a job that doesn't require you to deal with people, please let me know where to drop off my resume). So eventually you're going to encounter that often terrible, sometimes wonderful creature: CUSTOMER SERVICE *dun dun duuuuun!*

Now, I work in retail. I also shop, both online and offline, for different things. Thus I have encountered both sides of the proverbial fence: experiencing crappy customer service with unhelpful/oblivious staff and having to put up with horrendously rude customers.

Inspired by the day I had at work, here's a list of my Top Five Things Not To Do whilst shopping (employee and customer versions). It's a bit retail-biased, but there are some pretty universal points:

If you are a customer:
1. Don't bring food or drink into the store. Most shops actually have a sign that mentions this - mine does. But you still get people wandering in with the odd ice-cream or coffee. Now it's not that we don't want you eating or drinking in the store - it's when you make a mess that we have to clean up that it gets not-fun. Especially when it's already busy in the store, we're having to clean up after merchandise that customers have left lying around, and when you risk damaging or dirtying merchandise that we then have to explain to the manager. Eating and drinking are for cafes.

2. DON'T ask for a discount or a freebie. I cannot stress this enough. We are lectured by our managers to tell customers about sales and promotions. It's a part of our job to tell you about these things in the hopes that you will buy more things. Most of the workers you encounter in shops are grunts - as in we have no authority and/or influence and we get the short end of the proverbial stick. Asking us for free stuff, or discounts, is just annoying. We feel bad when we have to turn you down, it's irritating because it feels like you think we aren't doing our jobs properly, and when you KEEP asking even though we've made it clear that we actually cannot physically do anything for you... it's just plain rude.

3. Please, be polite and don't walk in on the phone, or with your earphones in/on. Seriously. Whilst I understand that some people are skilled at 'walk-and-talk', and that some shops play craptastic music... C'mon. Let us do our job and at least say hello to you when you walk in!

4. Check store opening and closing times. A pet peeve of mine is when people come into the store 5-10 minutes before closing time TO BROWSE. Yeah, some people work 9-5 and don't have much time to shop. I really don't mind if you have to run in on your way home to make a purchase. But if you're shopping recreationally, DON'T walk in at 5:20pm when we close at 5:30 and meander around aimlessly until some poor employee with the short straw has to tell you they're closing in one minute and please, sir/ma'am just leave so we can clean up, close up and go home!!!!

5. Actually listen to what staff say. Asking me the same question 5 different times, albeit with slightly different wording, will not produce a different answer. I ain't made o' magic, I can't pull stock out of my- anything, ok?

If you are an employee:
1. Smile. I know what it's like to be having a terrible day, to be exhausted or upset, or to just plain not want to be at work. But you're getting paid to be there. At least you could muster enough energy to move a few facial muscles so I don't feel like I somehow offended you by walking into your store.

2. If you don't know, find someone who does, or explain to me why you don't know or aren't sure. Yeah, sometimes managers aren't the most communicative bunch, but I only know what you tell me. Being new is also a good excuse.

3. Make eye contact. If you're busy with another customer, or a task, that's fine. It's polite to acknowledge that there's another person in the room by at least looking at them (again hopefully with a smile. Being glared at is unpleasant).

4. Do be careful when processing sales so that you don't make a mistake and over-charge a customer.

5. Try not to eat and/or drink at the sales counter (most shops, especially in retail, frown on this), and if you absolutely must, be discreet. It's a bit off-putting to see someone chomping away over the till! This includes gum. I might be biased because I think it's gross (I make an exception for bubble gum) but it's just not necessary to be chewing gum 24/7. Save it for after work, please.