How's everyone doing? I have a quick turnaround this morning, closing the store last night and back early this morning. This day affects me for several days down the road. Lots of coffee today, my last major vice besides overeating. Do you have to do quick turnarounds Inc in your new position?

I dream sometimes of the retired life, which is probably a good ten years away. I have two kids approaching college, and not much money put away for either one, so I know that I can't follow my father's footsteps and retire at 62. Well, 57 is the new 37 in my mind.

Have a good day guys!

Hey SG!

Been really busy at work the last couple of weeks. Tough times here as I've needed to cut back a couple of employees' hours. One woman has taken it very badly but I don't really have many options :/

Still, happy to be well and sober :)

Take care all!

Sorry that times are still challenging for your business Amp. It is a huge that you have been able to weather the difficult times without resorting to drinking. Well done!

Up early for work. I am usually pretty exhausted by my "Friday" and will be looking to catch back up on some sleep tomorrow with any luck.

Have a good day all!

Hope you manage to get some rest, SG! Challenging times alright, but I know that resorting to drink would be the nail in the coffin! Hopefully get some good news at work soon :/

I am supposedly heading for a week of vacation this weekend, but I have SO much work to get done at my job before I leave, it's totally draining any enthusiasm I might have. To top it off, I have to cover at another store Thursday, which will put me further behind. Yesterday, one of my top employees gave notice that she will be leaving. We are understaffed which is making the scheduling challenging and the economy is pretty good here, which means the quality of applicants has not been great.

Hope you guys are doing well!

Hey guys!

I hear ya SG with all the work before vacation. Hope you enjoy the time off!

Amp, I've been fortunate in my career not to have to deal with cutting people like that too much. Normally there's a person or two I'd rather have gone anyway.

What she doesn't understand is how much pressure is on at your end. It's not like you're trying to protect a crazy amount of profits. You are obviously the type to put your employees ahead of yourself. I'm sure some of your staff sees that, and yet the pessimists never will.

Life is going awesome over hear. The job is a blast and I'm already taking the store to new heights. I'm ranked #8 in the chain out of 1300 stores for customer service and top 10% for a few other metrics.

I am blessed with an awesome staff. Just a couple dead logs I need to upgrade. I was short one person, but just hired somebody who was literally the best interview I had in my career.

I have 3 more candidates to interview on Monday to replace somebody who is leaving in July. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to pick up 2 candidates so I can start the upgrades where need.

I've had the chance to meet a couple of my neighbors. Super nice people and real proud of myself for being social and meeting people like that.

Still doing the gym. I've gained over 25lbs of lean muscle and it shows. I focused on my posture so now my shoulders are back and I don't slouch over. I'm tall (6'2") and was self conscious about it for years. Not bad... Just a little. Now I stand tall and confident. Feels great.

Still eating Keto (low carb) and still blown away by how awesome it makes me feel. I'm telling ya... You guys gotta look into it. Better emotions, better focus, more energy, and no pains since its also an inflammatory.

I literally feel the best I've ever felt in my life!

Been reading "A Course in Miracles" which is super interesting. Pretty much ties together my spiritual journey so far. Its flavored with Law of Attraction, enlightenment, as well as Jesus. But in this case, Jesus is more of an older brother who is there to guide us.

Sometime in July last year I started a plan to get my act together. My plan was to go all in and involve my Mind, my body, and my spirit.

That's exactly what I did, and it worked better than anything I could have dreamed of. It's mind blowing really.

Wow Inc, sounds like you are firing on all cylinders! I am psyched that you are doing so well as a new store manager with a new company. Sometimes, it takes a while to learn a new company's corporate culture.

How long have you been doing the Keto diet? It is such an interesting mix of foods that you are allowed. Did it leave you feeling wiped out early on?

Off for a week "down the shore." It was 100 degrees back home yesterday, so I appreciated the lovely ocean breezes blowing yesterday. I just published a schedule this morning and that means that I don't really have to do any more work projects until I get back. Of course, I will be working ahead in my down time a little bit to help stay ahead of the curve. I had to work my tail off to get to the point where I could actually take a full week off.

Hi Amp! I hope the heat is not too bad on the Spanish coast.

Have a good day all!

Great to hear you guys doing so well! It's summer here but heat not to bad. I'm only working mornings (mostly) now so a little more relaxed but always have stuff to stress about...I can see how it might lead someone to drink! (Joke).

Don't know what it is about the pace of modern life but I just can't ever quite seem to get ahead... Not falling too far behind seems to be the trick these days :/

Amp, I can't tell you the amount of times I drank because I felt "bored." Not that I didn't have a million things to do, of course. Just the AV chattering away. I am glad that you have slowed down a bit in your work. I agree that it is difficult to actually get ahead with things. I always feel as though I am perpetually behind in life!

Been quite warm down here along the ocean, though at least a dozen degrees cooler than back home. I actually have been getting a lot of reading time in, which I never seem to find or allow myself when at home. It is a odd feeling not pushing all day long to get things done. I can see why folks look forward to time off. This is my only full week of vacation I usually take all year long, although I accrue about 5 weeks a year. I often just add a day or two next to my weekend days off and enjoy a long weekend. It is difficult to take a full week in my position because my coworkers also have a lot of vacation, and we need a minimum number of management to keep the store running. At least my vacation time rolls over, so maybe I can just retire early!

Have a good day all!

How is everyone?

Had a great week's vacation at the beach. The weather was beautiful and the water was warm, which doesn't always happen on vacation. I even read three books, which I never seem to have time to do while at home. I was proud that the family did not turn the tv on once the entire week. Of course, there was a lot of staring at phone screens.

Getting my wife's car inspected and doing errands before heading back to work later this week. Only had to spend about 15 minutes dealing with work while away, which was amazing in itself.

On the 4th, the town I stayed in shot fireworks from a barge off shore. It was cool watching the reflections of the cascading explosives glisten off the ocean. Plus, we could watch the neighboring town's displays also.

Have a good day guys!

It's a strange one for me right now. I feel like I'm half way in a lot of stuff. My wife and kids are on summer break now and I'm trying to keep my work only to the mornings (I'm being about 80% successful with this). That means I kind of feel like I'm on holiday but not quite. Also obsessively watching the football (soccer) world cup as England are through to the semi finals only for the third time ever. Trouble is there is no atmosphere here in Spain because Spain got eliminated ages ago so nobody is watching the games. Feel like I'm missing out as people back in the UK keep telling me about the amazing buzz around at the moment (England is a real football nation).

So... All halfway houses round here right now :)

Nice to hear you had a good vacation, SG! Sounds great! Take care all :)

I am definitely pulling for England to win it all. It's funny the nation that came up with football and is home to arguably the top league in the world, can't put together a consistent nation team like Brazil and Germany and others normally do. With the US not even qualifying this year, interest here is way down. Plus, lots of big names got knocked out early. A Brit on another thread said that this will be the summer of a lifetime, with consistently good weather in England this summer and the football team doing so well.

Fingers crossed!

Sorry Amp!

I hope the game was fun to watch at least.

The next World Cup will be here before you know it!

It's always a shame to lose, but semi finals is a good result so can't complain. Croatia were a bit more together on the night and we weren't able to capitalise and get a second goal when we were on top in the first half.

Maybe next time :)

Sorry the Brits fell short to Belgium again. It still was a heck of a run for England this World Cup. I am sorry that I barely got to see any of it. Full of great games and lots of upsets.

Day off today and just finished a schedule and now have to start my annual self review. Lots of laundry and grocery shopping to do also. Not a day off so much!

Have a good day guys!

Just stopping by to say hi.

Hope you guys are doing well!

hey SG :)

D

I'm doing ok! Kind of stressful day, today. Lots of things coming together at once, but nothing major. Hope you are ok SG. How are things, Inc?

Hiya Dee!

A manager from my company was gunned down by a random crazy whom ran into the store after crashing their car. She was 28 years old. Such a horrific end to a young life. The randomness of life has always baffled me and made me question things. I guess the adage about living each day to the fullest is true, as one never knows if there will be a make up day tomorrow.

Oh my God! That is so scary, SG! Thankfully in Europe there doesn't seem to be quite as much of that kind of madness. My heart goes out to all of you as her colleagues and her family. Tragic.