Monday, March 14, 2022

A customer walked into the store….

He wanted to buy a few baby chicks to add to his mature flock. Also, he wondered if I might know where he could obtain a rooster.

Oh, yeah, happens I do know!

The fellow and I soon again will be in touch. When he’s ready to handle a rehoming, I’ll crate up my drop-dead-gorgeous Cuckoo Maran. My out-of-the-box plan is to gather the bird while he roosts and is half-asleep. I’ll examine the world of internet to learn how others do it.

I’ll also ask our chicken-experienced customers. Those who’ve “done it all” usually share and advise willingly.

Besides worrying that I have two roosters sharing too few hens, I’ve been eyeing one of my new baby chicks. It’s bigger than its brooder mates, and maybe its tail is growing upwards. “Oy vey,” I say.

The header picture shows Pansy, a most beautiful bantam. Pansy surprised me, first by crowing, and again when the little critter began relentlessly to attack me, without ever a thought and bent on protecting his hens. Fortunately, someone wanted Pansy, and off he went.

If and after my Mr. Cuckoo becomes transferred, I’ll listen for a possible new Crower. I’ll immediately start marketing the new guy if such a sound happens.

Customers sometimes arrive requesting help for re-homing their roosters and Toms. I’ve not thought much about that, and now it’ll change. I’ll collect pictures, if possible, and start putting out the word.

How cool to work where it’s possible to help facilitate unwanted bird exchanges.

Dear Friends: Beautiful roosters deserve their own flocks. Diana

Saturday, March 12, 2022

A customer walked into the store….

Said she has a rooster needing to be rehomed. Unfortunately, I have two roosters, one in the same boat as hers.

We talked more, and of course, about chickens. She described having a “broody hen,” a dedicated chick mom who raises adoptees. The customer took today’s header photo of that hen and a baby purchased from the feed store where I work. She had slipped that infant chick under the broody hen’s wing. The hen raised the baby.

I hear many stories about someone having slipped one or more live babies under a broody hen. An adopting hen eliminates needs to tub-brood. The same happens by slipping an egg or two under a broody hen. She will hatch and raise the chick(s).

Chickens are very cool. People “in the know” claim they’re smarter than the birds generally get credit for being. My experience agrees.

Maybe not, however, when it comes to roosters. They’re causes for wonder. Take my two, which have a great home, and always would, by getting along together and not treating me as an enemy. Roosters, so beautiful, but in my experience smart as “dingbats.”

Dear Friends: Don’t forget that clock-time has jumped forward an hour. Diana

Saturday, March 12, 2022

The setting moon’s brightness awakened me at two-something this morning. I went outside with the dogs and a camera. The sky was overcast and the moon fuzzy but appearing soft and lovely on its way to fullness next Friday.

On Friday, I must be working in the feed store exactly as that full moon first rises. So, on Thursday evening, I will go out and capture it rising as “almost max.” That’ll be plenty exciting.

When it’s about adorableness, Peaches is hard to top. Last night, he enjoyed a taquito dinner.

Years ago, a shrink told me that if I run away from conflicts, I will always run from them instead of learning to face them. Sometimes I face up, and did yesterday by lunching with a difficult supervisor. We needed to talk, were honest and friendly. We gained insight and respect, returning to work feeling optimistic about collaborating. Back at work, I increased my scope of doing what’s needed, stayed better in touch; and he spoke more kindly into my “radio ear.”

His feedback pointed out that my focus sometimes narrows and ignores mainstream activities. That because I don’t yet understand fully the working environment’s needs. I’ll correct that.

Yet again, Shakespeare said it best, in the year 1600, with “All’s well that ends well.”

Dear Friends: Early tomorrow, let’s remember to turn clocks forward an hour. Diana

Friday, March 11, 2022

On yesterday’s chilly morning, Peaches and I went out together for a short walk. We should have waited until the afternoon, which really warmed up. No matter, he was a happy camper in the chill.

I went briefly to the store that employs me to attend a mandatory team meeting. A lovely thing happened as the manager pulled and read aloud feedback notes from a suggestion box. There was a note from a customer complimenting the way I helped him and his children purchase chickens. I needed a kind note!

Today, I’ll have lunch with a supervisor who likes me not a whit better than I like him. We must discuss our differences, finding common ground to prevent our mutual dislike from intensifying. I don’t look forward to the event but will make an effort. Whichever way today’s discussion turns out, I’ll choose to continue working with him or to initiate one of several possible changes.

Some of my best conversations are with Peaches. Our experiences and viewpoints differ significantly but don’t come between us. Maybe that isn’t the best example, but it feels pretty good.

My two roosters, now nine months old, are beginning to fight with each other seriously. It’s not looking suitable for having both continue to live together. The subordinate rooster, a drop-dead gorgeous Cuckoo Maran, needs a new home. Does anybody out there want him?

Dear Friends: Now, I’ll get up and go on with this day. Diana

Thursday, March 10, 2022

Miles has been groomed and before long, will again be a matted mess. Whether it’s a stream or a puddle, he loves water. He jumps in, wallows, and his multi-layered coat captures residue.

Right now, he’s gorgeous.

He has a strong herding instinct and is very vocal, well actually very-creatively vocal, anytime I care for our horses without his assistance.

Yesterday, a customer in the store where I work part-time played for me a video of her Husky “talking” to her. Huskies are wonderful talkers, and hers made spectacular sounds.

A sudden snowstorm meant that lunching with a challenging supervisor was impossible. I needed during yesterday’s lunchtime to come home to let dogs outside and feed horses. We are targeting Friday for lunch.

We’re very different individuals. I’m an entrenched “people person”, he’s an entrenched “numbers guy” with an abrasive supervisorial style. To him, I spend too much time with customers, and to me often, too little time. I’m not optimistic for an hour of talking to gain better collaboration.

One tries and hopes for the best.

Dear Friends: Enjoy this sunny but very cold day. Diana

Wednesday, March 09, 2022

That’s my neighbor, Johnny, helping bring the horses home. He spoils them by letting them pause and graze on grassy spots. It’s okay because I’m happy leading just one of the three horses. Walking with all of them has me pulling Rosie back and tugging at Pimmy, the lagger. Thankfully, Sunni is easy and doesn’t care at what speed we move during our marches.

I met with the manager of the store where I work, to talk about a supervisor who upsets and angers me. It looks like I’ll have to continue working with the guy, but at least I said what I had to say. And guess what, I’m to invite that supervisor to lunch today! And the Store will pay for it.

That’s the last thing I want to do, but the manager is correct. If we talk, maybe there’s a path toward working together better. I will have to be a Big Girl and do my best with this task.

An accidental outcome from the meeting made me happy. The manager mentioned wanting to create a new employee orientation. That’s my specialty, employee training, and right up my alley. I went home, drafted a slide show, and returned to the store. I could tell that the draft helped the manager and co-manager organize more, to move forward on the orientation.

Ahead, I’m stuck with that supervisor, but might have opportunities to do more the kind of work I’m trained for. Otherwise, and most of the time, I like being employed in that store.

Dear Friends: Today, I must be at the store early, as new chicks are arriving. Diana

Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Yesterday, I couldn’t write against the thundering in my head after working a rough shift with a bullying supervisor on the previous day. Conflicts with him are shared among the employees. I’m a recent hire and don’t know how to escape his abusiveness. Periodically he supervises my shift, and I can’t ignore him.

I’m a retiree, choosing to work for the benefits of extra money and social opportunities. My employer emphasizes customer service and teamwork, both attitudes are up my alley. Regardless of their formal positions, employees are friendly, cooperative, and capable.

The supervisor who troubles me means well for the store, but his supervising style doesn’t suit the social environment. He intimates underlings by bullying and harassing, verbally and physically. Most workers understand their roles in the organization, so he infuriates.

My Sunday shift under his supervision raised conflicts over continuing to work there. The following day and still feeling overwhelmed, I wrote a summary of what was happening to the store’s manager. That became an essay; it ate my window for blogging.

Today, I’ll take my document to the store to discuss the situation. I’m not under the illusion that a disgruntled wonk-employee can avoid working with a higher-ranking employee. But, if leaving my job is the only way to avoid his mistreatment, top management needs to understand why I would.

Dear Friends: Now, with a plan, my head is clear, so is the next step. Diana

Monday, March 07, 2022

Friends: I’m sorry but unable to blog today. Time is too short, and tomorrow I can explain all.

All’s well here, and I hope that’s also true with you.

Diana

Sunday, March 05, 2022

Ahead is another morning of early to work, and I overslept. This is a quick hello.

I’ll see you tomorrow!

Dear Friends: Have a wonderful day. Diana

Saturday, March 05, 2022

A kind customer shared this irresistible photo of her pet pig and baby chicks.

I hear some of the best stories while at work from people in the store to buy or just pausing to look at the chickens. Everyone has chicken stories. Sometimes there’s only one, and it occurred long ago in a person’s childhood.

My current story is about losing one of the tykes I brought home a few days ago. She had been among the shipment of several hundred infants, lost by the Post Office and “stuck somewhere” in frigid weather for three days. Many of those babies were DOA, and others shortly after arriving at the store. Of my two survivors from that group, one continues to hold on.

Last night, I added that baby to a brooder containing the two chicks I brought home last week. A young customer’s landlord wouldn’t let him keep them, and the store doesn’t accept chicken returns. I adopted the two, tiny, cold, and weak, but they rallied. Although these chicks are older and bigger than their new brooder-mate, they accepted a newbie. This morning, all three are sleeping in a little pile.

That’s all, on another early-to-work morning.

Dear Friends: Pig stories are fun, too, making me want a pet pig! Diana