Sad Things

Today is HG's Last Day.

Really.

I am not making it up.

He is retiring.

He is over 70 so I guess it is time and all.

Click here to remember HG.

Sigh.
He told me he worked 65 hours a week for the first 35 years.

Then he dropped down to 46 for the last 9.
He said back in the day they used to sweep the floors EVERY DAY,
first thing in the morning
WITH A BROOM -- the ENTIRE STORE!!
I just can't imagine the store without HG.
I went down special this afternoon to heckle him for the last time.
OMG I am going to miss him!!! (there... 6... tada!)

I told HG to look happy and wanted to retake the photo but he said that this was close enough. I told Verne to look sad. I think he did a good job.

Ye Olde Groceree Carte Recentle Repairede With Plexiglasse

The Cart.

It gives me a warm cozy feeling.

In the old days I assume it was used with those old boxes
for shopping by customers.

Now we use the boxes for hauling recycle bottles down to the cellar
and groceries up from the cellar.
And we use the cart for pushing around
anything that is push-around-able.

This is under the bottle bell, across from the blue bench.

See the Moving Ramp? Doesn't it just scream "COME ON DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE!!" at you?

Upheaval

It was a disorienting autumn at the store. 

Huh? What is the meat dept stove doing in the screw room?

Huh? What is the meat dept hot box doing by the blue bench?

It's complicated.

It all has to do with the source of the Slime-ish Sea.
(Remember the Slime-ish Sea? Refresh your memory by clicking here!)

Gross.

 The drain in the bottom of the meat case was the culprit.

Every Tuesday, when Betty "cleaned" the meat case, it would rain in the basement.

The floor was so rotten and buckled it was difficult to walk on.

 The meat dept ladies are S A I N T S
 (I love to shout "Yo! Deli Bitches!" when I walk by but I don't think they like that appellation all so much)
 to have worked for so long with that miserable floor under their feet!!!

So the meat case was finally replaced.

It was a BIG DEAL.

What will people do without their McWhits??

EEEEEEWWWWWWWW.

Unusual sight.

It is downhill from the registers to the front door.

The hard part is done.

Now replace the floor.

My underworld exposed. Now you see why THIS was not an ordinary day.

All done.

Install the new one.

Oooooooo! Shiny! I suggested that someone crawl in there and look corpse-like for a photo before loading it up but Verne wasn't around and  no one else would do it.

 

Woo Hoo!! Secret looks at our bods can be had!!

The Deli Bitches acknowledge Shiny, but ultimately withhold approval.

The Conveyor

I love sending boxes up the conveyor. I used to be afraid of it but gradually my dread of carrying loaded boxes up the non-automatic wooden ramp by the wine cellar stairs outgrew my fear of the conveyor.

Bottle Returns

This sign hangs over the portal where the conveyor comes up from the basement, across from the blue bench. I answered the bottle bell once today. The returns were all Polar Seltzer bottles, different flavors. I try to follow the rules, but sometimes, when it is a really big eclectic bunch of  bottles, I get flummoxed, becuase I don't ever stock drinks and I never buy them either, and so I am not sure what we sell and what we don't.

The Blue Bench

The blue bench is in the paint room. It is a busy spot. Free food can usually be found on the blue bench. Plus, bottle returns take place there. (See the bottle bell rope in the right foreground?) Plus, the automatic conveyor ramp comes up from the basement right across from it. Plus, you have to walk past it to get to the green door. Another pic of the blue bench lives here.

The movement thrives.