Friday, October 14, 2022

The cut-rate supermarket where I work has published a 2nd Quarter report showing that sales totaled $8.4 billion, were over budget by 8.4%. Compared to last year’s same quarter, our sales rose by 17.3%. We workers in the chain almost daily feel a surging of customers.

It’s the economy, stupid.

Today we learn that Kroger and Albertson’s plan to merge. Each chain is big already (Kroger, huge throughout the country, owns Fred Meyer’s; Alberton’s is all over the West Coast and owns Safeway). Combined, they’ll be a ginormous food distributor.

The word is that they’re combining to become more competitive with biggies like Amazon and Walmart. We could guess “biggies” would include Costco.

If the regulators approve this combination, just consider its potential for negotiating and purchasing powers, and also for dominating online sales and food deliveries. Regulatory okay or none, it’s worth following in this increasingly tumultuous economic environment.

How might an outcome allowing merger impact the chain where I work? Somehow our employee-owned grocery consistently provides all the products available elsewhere and at lower prices. Customers say they save about 40% on purchases and love this chain.

(On a side note, a customer explained how to boil fresh ginger and create excellent tea. Ginger tea helps against inflammation and is recommended also for cancer patients.)

Dear Friends: We’re in economic upheaval hoping for a viable future. Diana

Thursday, October 13, 2022

So. it’s official, Costco will build a new facility on the town’s north side where RV camping existed years ago. That some forty-acre space originally was for a Super Walmart, but that store dropped out upon the city’s demands that it foot major costs to upgrade highway traffic flows alongside the site.

To be built up is more than an expanded Costco. The development plans are large and available for viewing online.

Costco will close its eastside location forcing residents on this side of town to drive farther or to shop at the eastside Safeway. Another eastside supermarket is planned for development on Butler Market Road.

I work in a midtown cut-rate supermarket. It also will become a destination for more shoppers from the eastside.

For the last couple of evenings, I’ve worked an extra hour or two. Our store is open for 24 hours and mostly slammed with customers. From the time I open my cash register until I’m off work, I’m processing a seemingly-unending line of filled shopping carts.

Like most commercial environments, our store must identify and hire hard-working individuals. New employees seeking an easy ride soon disappear, and we’re often shorthanded. The hard workers pull extra hours.

I worry that my horses need hay while I’m gone from home. I’m uncomfortable about working longer but have helped out for the last couple of evenings.

I’ll be rewarded, too. Today, the manager who asked me to stay will assign me to oversee the self-checkout area. I’ve wanted that opportunity, to keep moving around and learning more. It makes sense that future self-checkout areas will be larger in major retail sales environments. It reduces the need for electronic cash registers and employees and is more cost-effective.

The transition will be tough, as customers generally dislike and avoid self-checkout. Many trying it become frustrated and grumpy. Employees overseeing the process dislike customer attitudes.

I could work well in the environment. My long-ago formal education emphasized sales, customer relations, and teamwork. This will offer a path toward updating and relearning my skills while helping the store.

Dear Friends: Learning and adjusting require flexibility with kindness. Diana

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Did you happen to be where you could enjoy yesterday evening’s incredible moon? After my workday, it still was low and guided me home. A perfect globe, alight and beautiful, I wished to hug it.

A coworker whose birthday is today has invited me to her party. Today I must work, but if by the time I get off her celebration’s still on, I’ll stop in briefly. Years ago, she was in the Navy and toured the world. She holds those years special.

A few nights ago, the PBS Newshour interviewed an X-Navy woman. She’s the CEO of a defense firm employing some 80,000 workers, many are x-military. She’s concerned over the high suicide rate among those who are x-military, and actively promotes making available appropriate mental health care to those in need.

This CEO used to be a career officer and only reluctantly left the Navy. She did so to care for her middle daughter, who was born with a rare metabolic disorder. She now understands that unique disorder and supports research into it. Her daughter is doing well

That special woman made made me think of my hard-working “birthday” coworker. I once asked why she reluctantly left the Navy. She said she’d become pregnant when staying in the military, while pregnant, wasn’t an option.

I think she’ll enjoy the PBS interview. I’ll find and record it as a birthday gift to her.

The news often focuses on lives gone awry. Many others also in pursuing lifetime goals become irrevocably sidetracked. What seems to make a difference is the component we call optimism. Those who maintain optimism find ways to reset their life goals. They continue to live well and productively.

Dear Friends: Thankfully, we mostly enjoy our lives, relationships, and work. Diana

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

A homicide in my Los Serranos neighborhood! Early that morning in Los Serranos, a dead man was discovered. The police were hunting for his killer.

I was composing a blog, as sirens, one after another, had me guessing that somewhere must be a big fire. My assumption held, even on spotting police cars posted around when I left for work. When my neighbor, Frank, called to check on me, I learned that our neighborhood was in lockdown.

Frank is a sleuth. He had gone online, figured out where the homicide probably occurred, and maybe correctly identified the victim. Frank researched that person, discovering colorful hints of some of the individual’s activities.

Frank was close, whether or not he correctly identified the murdered person. Later, the news identified the man who had been shot and described him as being in real estate. What grabbed my imagination was learning that he owned the nearby township of Millican.

Millican always has interested me. It’s an unincorporated community on Bend’s eastern edge, and now a ghost town with a population of fifty. It long ago was a viable town, and in recent years has been listed for sale.

Often I have imagined, what it might be like to own an entire town? That one. And could an essentially deserted area like Millican be revitalized? To what end and how so?

Now I understand that someone in real estate had purchased Millican. Moreover, that owner was a nearby neighbor. Maybe I’d have looked him up, to ask about Millican’s potential and his plans.

Once again, the Millican territory captures my imagination. I’m wondering about its future. While disliking what makes it again on my mind, I enjoy knowing that someone could visualize its potential.

Dear Friends: An explosion in a neighborhood that’s generally very quiet. Diana

Monday, October 10, 2022

I love seeing cute Chipmunks running, hunting, and representing a summer of bounty. They’re sheer fun, but actually working hard, seeking baby food and building stores of winter-eats. this one is active on my ranch in this waning summer. It’s healthy-looking, alert, and only slightly cautious of me nearby with a camera.

Starting today, I will photograph with my newest camera. Success, following an hour of collaborating with a remote technical expert. Our complicated process was to identify a driver my computer needed to enable downloads from the camera.

Now, for the first time, I downloaded and viewed practice pictures from the camera on my laptop. All the shots are random but crisp and pleasing like this closeup of young carnations.

For the capture, my camera was set to focus automatically. If instead, I had manually focused, the outcome might reveal more background details. Continuing practice will teach me to tap into the camera’s potential.

Thus, my journey starts, toward maximizing this combo of a new camera and laptop. My photos tend generally to be good, but updated equipment offers a potential only dreamed of until now.

Dear Friends: Moving forward to learn, with hope and confidence. Diana

Sunday, October 09, 2022

Yesterday, I didn’t do anything on a growing list of to-do’s. Instead, my flooring person, Leroy, unexpectedly showed up to re-set my day. He finished changing the master bedroom’s flooring. That leaves only the guest bedroom to change from carpeting to vinyl.

The dogs and I had been sleeping in the guest bedroom. Yesterday was time to move back into the master.

What a mess! Items from the master bedroom stacked hurriedly around the house had me searching for them. I more or less had to refigure the master’s space. Meanwhile, Leroy started on the guest room, removing carpet to prepare the floor for vinyl.

My hardest job was making a smaller bed. Leroy had hauled off my old master bed frame. It was massive, years ago suiting my taste. Today, I prefer minimalistic furnishing. Leroy and I moved the guest bedroom bed over into the master’s space. Making the smaller bed meant also preparing for winter. To heat the bed, out came electrical cords and coverings. The home’s general disarray turned that bed into a big job.

By the time Leroy was leaving, the master bedroom had shaped up and changes were satisfying.

He’s planning to return today and work in the guest bedroom, probably completing it. Then all the downstairs floors will sport waterproof, impermeable, and Oh Joy!, dog-proof, vinyl.

What’s left for Leroy’s attention will be an upstairs loft. I have hope now of the whole house being done before freezing winter weather arrives.

My hard lesson learned: Living easier with multiple pets calls for engineered flooring.

Dear Friends: I can download pictures when my docking station arrives. Diana

Saturday, October 08, 2022

Today, I had issues with connecting to the internet. My complicated computer had some kind of glitch. Finally, I managed to connect through my phone to remote technical support. It’s incredibly reassuring to see moving across my screen a mouse that’s controlled by a technical expert. In my bit of computer world now all’s well again.

Ahead more is coming that’s new. A docking station on its way here will enable data downloads from external sources, like my new camera. That will let me view, analyze, and be creative with images. Last evening, I intended to photograph the full moon, only then realizing that my camera doesn’t have a built-in flash. I will order that component.

Step-by-step, the tools I’m assembling will enable more creativity with images. Hopefully, this will be a productive path. Maybe I’ll achieve a long-time goal, to combine seeing and dreaming.

Dear Friends: More ahead, and meanwhile enjoy this fine fall day. Diana

Friday, October 07, 2022

A brief good morning! Today is crowding in on me because of much that needs attention.

Our change to fall weather demands cleaning my barn, renewing horse-trough waters, and handling general property maintenance. Those are for tackling on this day off from my supermarket job.

Weeks ago while riding horseback, my saddle slipped. I fell off and cracked a rib. Finally, the injury has healed and I want to be in a saddle again. Today, there won’t be time, but tomorrow I will try to ride, that depends on how much I accomplish today. Otherwise, next week I’ll venture out on horseback.

There’s more on my list of “to-dos” for accomplishing while the weather’s nice. Once it feels too cold for working outdoors, my enthusiasm for doing will vanish.

Dear Friends: Have a good morning and enjoy this lovely fall day. Diana

Thursday, October 06, 2022

Today is the last of five days working until exhausted. The supermarket where I am a checker is shorthanded of employees. Those of us working constantly are busy and stressed. Ours is a price-cutting market that does a great job of keeping prices lower than other grocery stores. In today’s economy, our store daily seems busier.

Our market is part of a large chain. It’s one of the highest grossing stores.

I’m considering taking the coldest winter months off, maybe December through March. My dogs are inside-outside, which isn’t a problem in non-aggressive weather. While I’m at work, they can be outside, and when I’m home they’re inside. In extreme weather, they mostly should be inside, but not unsupervised for hours at a stretch.

I’m an hourly worker. Leaving temporarily might mean having to quit my job. That’s okay, for when I want to work again, there should be openings for my marketable skill of operating a cash register.

Thus, I’ve some flexibility now when tired and wanting a break. There’s also a safety net of future employment if I wish. Those make worthwhile my months-long effort in a busy retail environment to learn cash register operations.

Dear Friends: It’s about being in a larger world, meeting people, making friends. Diana

Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Sometimes, one casually sights something in passing that becomes an eye-opener. I vaguely recall seeing this injured tree without remembering its location.

Today, this photo is interesting enough, but also has symbology that could represent today’s world. Against the rubble of overcrowded populations, economic and political confusions, our human tendencies of optimism, discovery, and belief keep our faith in the known world viable and forward-moving. So it seems, although evidence suggests people must do much more and do it better.

Here’s another image that evokes similar imaginings. It contrasts a lost past to the doubtful present.

Long-time locals describe their growing-up days, when their grandfathers owned hundreds of acres, now just out of town, but back then located on way out country land. The family used to run hundreds of cattle there. Recently, the grandchildren sold the last few remaining acres to the city for a planned new subdivision.

As background, my work as a cashier in a local major supermarket gives me an ear to quick stories from passing customers. I am gaining a greater sense of this city’s “old days” when it was tiny. Everybody knew everybody and never dreamed it could grow as it has recently, and continues to do so.

Dear Friends: Representations of past and present are powerful reminders. Diana