The Costco Demo Diaries

I've had this post title floating around in my head for the past month or so that I've been cooking up little samples of delicious treats and snacks for the past month and a half. It isn't the most mentally stimulating job I've ever had, but it pays well enough for just standing there shelling out the goods. Yesterday I grilled tri-tip and came home smelling like a giant steak. Today was this ramen-esque shrimp soup. Not so good.

We don't technically work for Costco, but for an independent company called Warehouse Demo Services. I feel a little awkward when Costco employees are all busy around me getting their work done. We don't ever talk and I know very few of them by name. Its odd to me that we can be around each other all of the time and not take the time to know each other at all.  We co-habitate but never mix.

I do observe though. There are two employees (that I know of) who are deaf.  I can't imagine life without sound and finding work is one of the last things I would think about having to tackle with a disability like that! I think it's fantastic that the warehouse is somewhere that is open to all people for employment. Good job Costco. You make me proud to work for your sub company.

Seeing coworkers talk in sign language is pretty cool. All languages are cool really. I'm intrigued by the way we get what's going on inside our heads into the minds of who we are communicating with. Face to face is obviously my favorite form, but I'm a phone talker too. Texting is a little light in my day because it's a fast way to tell someone, "I'm thinking about you and I want you to know that".

I hope that in my few weeks left of work at Costco I can pick up a little bit of sign language to be more outgoing in a new social sphere. I want into that secret silent world.

Disappointment in My Generation.

At work today I overheard a mother chastising her son,
"Holden," she said curtly, "you have enough water, get over here now!"

Its always a little awkward to observe parenting so I try to make conversation with her. "So you're a big fan of literature?" I ask. She gives me a blank look. Just stares. "His name" I say, "Holden, like Holden Caulfield?" Her mother comes up and seems surprised. "That name is in a book??"

At this point I just feel dumbfounded. I read The Catcher in the Rye when I was 15 and between a husband, wife and her mother none of them even know that the name of their offspring comes from a great literary character?

I just kind of went about cutting their fabric and said, "well, if he grows up to be a crazy rebel of a teenager I guess now you know where he got it from." And I silently wept inside. Because they looked at me like I was crazy.

I Am A Procraftinator

I should be working right now. Or sleeping. Or working on my final design project. 

But no. I made this refashioned scarf! 

Well, not this one literally. I haven't taken pictures of it yet but I got the idea from Disney's blog Ruffles and Stuff. It was super super easy and I can't wait to wear it tomorrow! I'll hunt someone down that's good with a camera and get it up as soon as I can. I dare you to make one yourself!

For another moment of procraftination I'm planning on making these Regency Silhouette ornaments from The Magic Bean. They are so adorable and I'm a huge fan of silhouettes.

I haven't decided completely where they will be going after I make the ornaments. Some will be for my family and a few for friends, but I'm also participating in this great craft swap

Ornaments for everyone!!! If you would like to participate the deadline is tomorrow, November 19th.

Well Erika has fallen asleep on my couch watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but she's probably just avoiding the fact that I've been reciting the whole thing! Brent is watching it for the first time and I bet he wants to shove a pillow in my face. "WHAT's HAPPENING TO ME? I'm all toasty inside. And I'm LEAKING!!!"

I'm super proud of the effort that I put in at work today. I'm the designated seamstress for apparel in our fabric department so I reorganized our little girl patterns and made a nice display. I also wrote a little tutorial for making fabric roses but I'll share that in a separate post. I'm really getting into the handmade Christmas spirit so with all of the new projects for work, as well as my top secret project (that will be finished on Saturday) and gifts it's a wonder that I find time to breath! But I'm managing somehow. Five weeks until California!!!

The photo challenge today is a photo from one of your classes and I'm not in any right now (technically I am, but it's independent study) and I'm not using my computer right now. If I find one later I'll add it but I think I'm just going to skip this one. Boring.

Reasons I Love My Job

1. I get paid to help people match colors for quilts
2. I don't have to work at a register
3. I actually use what I learned in school on a daily basis. And I've done more math in the past month than in the past three years.
4. I get to hear the same Top 40 hits and Gloria Estefan on replay (oh wait, this is on the wrong list)
5. Friendship has no age limit and I have the best coworkers!
6. I meet the most interesting women who I enjoy talking to so much. What begins as quilt talk turns easily to family matters and aspects of life. I have never been more proud of my college education as when an older lady says that she regrets not finishing her degree.
7. I have met some of the most patient husbands ever. And laughed along as we agree that most men would rather sit in the car than be surrounded by endless craft projects.
8. I get some sense of satisfaction out of organization. Not just at work, but everywhere. But at work other people get to admire it. And I like to be praised for that effort.
9. I know exactly what the students coming in for supplies need and I can answer all of their questions.
10. I work for a local business and I'm helping the local economy!!!

I'll need this pep up list for days that I get frustrated. So come and visit me! Porter's on College Ave....

A Tiny History Lesson

During the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s textile workers spent shifts in the poorest conditions with poor ventilation and light. Machinery was loud, dangerous, and always in motion. Cotton fibers constantly floated through the muggy air and settled on absolutely everything. Although the situation seems dreary, employees of the factories did find one benefit to the poor air quality. Twelve hour shifts spent inhaling fibers led to a fuller stomach at the end of the day which meant more of the meager wages earned could be saved rather than spent on food!

Okay, so I know this little history lesson came out of the blue, but believe me it is completely relevant to my life today! I have become the designated "minkee kit cutter" at work. Now you might wonder what minkee is. It is one of the newest craze fabrics and absolutely a dream. Cutting it is like sliding a hot knife through butter, a swipe of the hand across it's smooth surface is like dipping into a pool of water (without that whole annoying wet part). Sewing with it can be a bit of a beezy since it is a knit and stretches like crazy, but the finished project is so worth it! How does this tie into factory life? Each cut leaves tiny fibers EVERYWHERE. I come home covered in it most every day. When minkee gets in the air and I start choking on the tiny fibers I think of the early textile factory workers and how their situation was much worse. I have to wonder though, how does polyester digest??

Check out some of the kits I've made here! Or just come into Porter's and I'll help you choose one!

Magazine Cover!

For Rhetorical Studies the four sections were split up into groups of about four people to be a publishing group producing a new magazine. I am the sponsoring editor for Gideon Publishing over crafts and hobbies, and health and beauty. Some of my other responsibilies were writing the cover article based on a paper we all contributed to and creating the magazine cover. I just finished the cover and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Its not going to actually be in print, just an online mag so I'll post a link once we have it ready to go! Tomorrow we present for the rest of our class. Wish us luck!

-Gideon Publishing

Just Another Manic Monday

As I was sitting in the break room at my minimum wage commercial "bullseye" store today I overheard some guys from the electronics section joking about the company's blogging policy. I remember back in the days when I worked at Borders there was a policy and I just never really cared about it. Do I now? thinking....no. I really don't. So here's the juicy cashier drama: nothing happens. But I did talk to a super cute boy today, with a snake bite piercing. Mmmmmm!

I used to make lists with my roommates of goals in life. Ileana would always say "My goal in life is to....see an opera...date John...clean the toilet." You know, pretty much everything :)
I came up with a list of serious goals I have for myself, and we'll get there in a minute, but back to Mr. Snake Piercing. Another roommate, Lindsey, and I added "kiss a boy with a lip piercing and tattoos" to our lists. If I don't find one soon I might resort to something drastic, like stalking John Vesely of Secondhand Serenade. Here's his latest song, but the video is kind of annoying, why would he have a half naked girl in it when obviously all of his fans are girls. We're just here to see/hear you John!
Enjoy it anyway :)



In other news:

For the past few nights I've had very obscure vivid dreams. The sort of dreams that blend in with what's been going on during the day. The subconsious kind. Freud would probably be proud of me for paying attention to them and trying to figure out what they mean. Not that I completely agree with Freudian thinking. While we're on the subject, of Freud that is, I'll share a little family story.
As I know it my Great Grandmother was having tea one day at a little shop and Mr. F comes up to her and asked if he could share her table. They had tea together and he told her that she had beautiful eyes. How's that for a compliment?

As I was sewing a felt dinosaur for the collection today I turned on the first season of The OC. I got the whole season from the library and I've been debating if I should start watching it. If I start I'll have to finish. One disc down and 5 to go.

I love Seth Cohen.