The Latest!

I haven’t posted anything in a really long time. I was very busy until recently. I finished school at the end of August. During the summer I took three classes, one was an internship, and had two jobs. I was also involved in the ALA Emerging Leaders project. It was really tough but worth it. Now I’m done, and received my diploma in the mail last week. My number one priority right now is to find a job since both of my part-time jobs have ended. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find a job in a library as there are almost no openings in the Chicago area.If anyone is interested in seeing the video I created for the ALA Emerging Leaders Project, it can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpwW6KQTbnE

As I sit here typing this, my cat has positioned himself next to the computer with his face in front of the screen. He spent most of the day and evening on my lap. One would think he had enough attention for one day, but I guess not.

Other than looking for a job, I’m still working on my knitting. I’ve started making the Christmas and Hanukkah gifts I plan on giving this year. I should have enough time to finish them. I find knitting to be very relaxing and it gives me the opportunity to create something, which I miss.

Sephora Update

Time gets away from me especially when I have class. Anyway, I did send a complaint email to Sephora after my experience and they responded quickly. I met with the Old Orchard store manager who was very nice and she apologized and gave me some samples as well as a gift card. Getting free stuff from them was not my goal when I complained. Letting them know how they were hurting their business in a very bad economy was my goal. So thank you to Sephora for being nice and showing that you really do care about your customers. Not sure when I’ll go back since I’m swamped between school and two part-time jobs.

Sephora Sucks!!

Tonight around 5PM I visited the Sephora in Skokie, IL at Old Orchard Mall. I went there to buy Bare Escentuals makeup. Besides me, there were three other people browsing in the store. We were all ignored by the salespeople. There were three salespeople that weren’t helping anyone. Two were very busy talking to each other, and another one that looked like she was the manager on duty was straightening. I was in the store for 20 minutes and not one of these three approached any of us. The one straightening looked at me as I walked by her and said nothing. I left and went next door to Macy’s. I spent $90 at the Philosophy counter. If the salespeople had been busy helping others I wouldn’t have minded waiting. 

In this economy retailers assume that the reason their sales are down is because people aren’t spending money. That is only part of the reason. The other is because of bad customer service. My experience at Sephora is an example of bad customer service. I would have spent my money at Sephora if I hadn’t been ignored. Companies don’t understand the impact of bad customer service. I won’t go to Sephora again for anything.

Can you say matchy matchy disease?

I’d really like to know what the merchandiser/window dresser at Macy’s in Skokie,IL was thinking when they dressed these mannequins!

The first time I saw them I did a double take. I wasn’t sure I was seeing what I was seeing. I came back about a week later and happened to have my camera with me, and since the mannequins were still there, I knew I needed a picture.

Political Stuff

I am not big on sharing my political views, but think the following article is important to read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/opinion/11herbert.html?em

Invisibility

Have you ever felt invisible? I have had this issue most of my life. I am currently sitting in the snack bar area at Dominican trying to organize what I plan on doing tonight while at the reference desk. This is a very busy area with a lot of traffic, desks with computers that are back-to-back. I am sitting here minding my own business and people keep bumping into my chair. I am not sitting that far away from the desk, and am not blocking the aisle. There is plenty of room for people to walk behind and not bump the chair. But they still do. I don’t get it!

I’ve had this same problem while driving my car. It’s hard to miss my car as it is bright red. In fact, it attracts quite a lot of attention with it being a convertible. But still, others in cars don’t seem to see me. I almost had a head on collision with a truck on my way to Dominican. He was driving in my lane!!

All my life I have had people hit me with shopping carts at the grocery store, or walk into me at malls, on the street and in subway stations. This isn’t an issue of there not being enough room. For some reason they just don’t see me. I’m not a small person. I don’t get it!!

School

I’m having a hard time getting started this semester. Not sure why. The classes are interesting, and so are the people in them. All have a lot of work. 

As some of you know, I quit my primary job last week. My manager was crazy and has major control issues. She had a meltdown because I was trying to get some work started instead of waiting for her to grace me with her presence. Who would have thought a supervisor would have issues with a person trying to be prepared and save time? I guess I should have known since earlier in the week she told me I was working too fast. Oh well. I’m still on the 2nd floor reference desk at Dominican Monday nights, and am helping a professor do some research.

State Fair

 

State Library

Chris and I went to the Illinois State Fair this year. We left on Saturday morning and came home on Monday. Had a great time and cost me a fortune. Thought it would be inexpensive since it’s only 200 miles each way, but the expenses added up. Gas was only a little cheaper in Springfield, $3.76/gallon. We didn’t do much driving once we got there. We stayed less than half a mile from the capitol building and downtown Springfield, so we walked everywhere. It was hot but not as oppressive as here. No humidity. The Old Capitol building was really interesting. It’s free to get in and take the tour. The ask for donations but it’s not required. All of the rooms are roped off, but you can still see in them. These are pictures of the original state library. I love going to the fair and seeing the animals. We went on the last day so most were gone, but I did get pictures of the sheep in their pajamas. I was amazed by the cow made completely from butter. I could feel my arteries hardening. (See the picture page.) The Lincoln Library opened in 2005 and was interesting. They have a really cool 3D movie about archives. Price of admission is $10 for adults. I wonder how much taxpayer money was spent to build it. 

State Library

Oh the cost of not driving!!

As most know, I don’t do a lot of driving these days. On my way to school yesterday I went over a bumo and my fan for blowing hot/cold air (air conditioning anyone?) went out. So I of course took the car in this morning. 

I’ve been taking it to the dealer for repair since I have a warranty and they’re really good about honoring it. I also asked them to check the top to see why it’s making a lot of noise again. The fan needs to be replaced along with the top parts they replaced last year. But that’s not all!!! They told me I need front brake rotors because they are rusted. How did they get rusted? From not driving much!! My current brakes only have about 25,000 miles on them. So I save a lot of money on gas because I don’t drive much, but the cost of maintaining the car goes way up from not driving much. Last year I had to replace part of the muffler assembly because it rusted from not doing enough highway driving to blow out the condensation that naturally forms. That was around $600. Brakes this time are $450. Cost to fill up my car even at today’s prices: $45 per tank. If I do the math, the money I would have spent on gas to drive more so I could have avoided these repairs comes out to about what I would have paid for the repairs the warranty doesn’t cover. The cost of realizing how much money I saved from not driving much: Priceless!

Oh, where has the time gone?

Seems like the summer semester just started. The first part is almost over. I have no idea where the time went! How did it get to be mid-June? 

I finally had some good news in the mail today! I got a stimulus check!! Totally unexpected! My dental insurance also paid my dentist! I thought for sure they would deny the claim. I had a root canal done and the surgery part was performed before the new insurance went into effect. I thought they would deny the crown part based on that even though their policy was inforce when the crown was done. Hooray for me!!

Now if I can just squeak out an A in my management class….