Sometimes I Get Fun Messages On Monday Mornings

'Cause Verne still works a couple hours on Saturday afternoons.

Seasonal Selections

We are unloading ice deliveries again.
George asked me to make this sign last summer.
I tried to make it really nice
becuase I like him.

George is in charge of ice.

He puts on his heavy coat,

his green and black plaid wool cap,

 his gloves
and if someone is there to hear him he says,

"Time to count the ice cubes."

And into the walk-in he goes.

It is cold in there.
(You probably don't remember that George is Dan's father
and the original Dan's son.
George is semi-retired
so that means he only works about 60 hours a week now.)

We also have an ice machine.

It is by the green door so you have seen it lots of times,

you just didn't know you were looking at it.

Story of my life, right?

 (Click here to see it and please notice the huge scoop and scales partially hidden behind the door.)

Anyway, teenage boys have to bag up the 10 lb. ice bags

and then stock this cooler with them.
Ice is Taxable Grocery.
You have to know that if you are cashiering.

The 5 lb. bags come in the sleeves we get from

Associated Grocers of New England.

I will tell you about them sometime.

AG deliveries used to be very fun.

Now they are just -- 

in the Brave New James-less Post-Verne World --

annoying.

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?

How To Communicate With Management In An Effective Manner or How I Learned To Cope With Being Stuck Behind The Register For Two Hours On Thursday Afternoons

Forced idleness can spark one's creative impulses.

Materials on hand can be used in myriad ways.

And remember, you can never have too much signage.

A Sugaring Drama

So the sugaring supplies were flying out of the store today

and I was all like,

"Oo! Oo! Lemme take a pic of your purchase please, Sir/M'am!"

I scored a hit with this filter and grading kit purchase.

A Minor Lid Purchase

All morning long there would be pleas over the loudspeaker for hardware to come up to the front for jug prices. Last year we had this quart syrup jug at the register that had all the prices written on it but it wasn't around this year. I guess the customer is supposed to notice the price and tell the cashier? Anyway, hardware eventually got tired of the confusion so one of the guys bustled up front and put this on the window by register #2.

 Then, a couple hours later, H.G. came up and announced that some of the prices were wrong. I tried to get him to stage a dramatic sign removal scene but he just laughed and told me I better be quick if I wanted my shot.

And that was it for the price sign for the rest of the day.
I bet it will be back tomorrow.

I Bet You Can't Wait See The Ammo Case

Sign Locator Clicky

A Surprise

Dan Dan!

aka Young Dan, Dan the Man, Simon Legree, The Boss

Things I Never Told You

There is an UPSTAIRS!

Turn left to go into the  the Screw Room. (Note the Surveyor's Tape Department over the doorway into the Screw Room.) Turn right to go upstairs. There are lots of things upstairs. Like the Chip Room. And the Baggie Backstock Room. Like Belts, Fan and the Spice Endcap Staging Area. But most importantly...

The Boot Room!

It is a wonderful place full of Venerable Old Stuff. It is usually quiet and empty and the floor creaks when you walk on it. You can hear things going on downstairs and it feels like you are all hidden and secret. It is a good place to go to be alone for a bit. Except it is cold in the winter. The wood stoves are, after all, a long ways away down in the basement.

My favorite boots. I like to visit them.

Sale Today. Yay!

New Chips

A Public Service Annoucement From The Grocery Czar

Why George doesn't care about the basement speaker being covered

  He doesn't care because the music, and more to the point, the announcements -- HARDWARE LINE TWO. QUESTION ABOUT LAMP WICKS. HARDWARE LINE TWO -- can still be heard. If you squeeze by Mr. Do Not Use,

then pass by the Special Empty Cardboard Box Storage Area, you merge into the next speaker zone and arrive at the Slime-ish Sea. I took this video on a special day: October 15th, 2012. You can't always look up into the meat department from the Slime-ish Sea. But that is a story I don't yet know how to tell.

Transatlantic Cardboard Intervention by OSM

Arrival

The Bottle Bell

\

Dont even think of removing this clock

Do NOT Cover Speaker

Music plays every moment of every day in every corner of The Store.

There are several styles of cardboard interventionism in The Store

Cardboard Artist : Perry, deposed Grocery Tzar
Creation date: circa 1999

A Culture of Cardboard Interventionism

 I am not the only cardboard interventionist in The Store.

omg i am a cardboard interventionist

The ever-changing Slime-ish Sea.

Dig more worms, please

The produce cooler door.

 The bait box, right where it is supposed to be.

 Empty.

Bait's in the produce cooler to your left