Oct. 15, 2006 (4 nights on the "New" Wonder)

[Lindy Loo]

*bowl*


Jules, I see you are on, how did it go with your meeting??? did you get the salary sorted etc?

 

[SparKeLLy]

Super

Thanks for the compliments on the invitations. I'm almost done with addressing them today. I think the standard is to mail them about 2 months before the date, sooner if it's a destination wedding. As soon as I'm done though I'm going to want to send mine just to get them out of here!

I hope everything is working out like you want Jules

 

[TinkNanny]

I couldn't figure out how to get my reply onto this site, so I cut & pasted it. Hope it works... I am not very computer savy


Hi Everyone,

Thanks for finding me. I can't believe there are over 40 pages & 600 replies on this thread! I could spend hours reading.
We are really excited about the trip. We have never been on a cruise before. I'm a little scared to be out on that great big ocean! To far to swim back-lol
I guess we will be fine with the Mouse at the wheel!!
I hope we can dodge the Hurricanes. Start praying now!

 

[saratogagirl]

Wonderful

Sue - you must be working very hard at the moment, lovely to hear from you, and you must be very happy to have paid for the cruise, thanks for the explanation on Moon Pie.

I know what you mean about the invites Kelly I couldn't wait to get mine sent once they were ready, it is also once less job for you to think about it, you must have a lot on your mind at the moment !

Linda it is a nightmare, he finally came back to me yesterday afternoon, offered me slightly less than my current salary, but on an hourly rate, his justification was the more hours I work the more I will earn ! Fifiteen days holiday - I use that to go and see Mickey, no pension, no bonuses - as much as I loved the place me and Ian talked it over and it is going to have to be a no no, as Jane said yesterday I am so glad that you gave me that bit if advice yesterday morning and wised me up - maybe you could be recruitment consultant for Jane and I !!

Welcome Tink Nanny great to meet you, really pleased that you found us ... As you can see we love to chat about our upcoming adventure Please tell us all a bit about yourself, I dont know about the others but I am very nosy and would love to hear more about you

 

[Lindy Loo]

* cruise*

Hi Tinknanny so pleased you found us! To post on here just find our thread on the cruise meet section ( I think once you have posted once their is a little sign up to help you find the thread again) Click on the top right hand side of the page that says LAST, it goes to the last page, click submit reply, type your message and send im hopelss on the PC, and im now giving you help !
We havent cruise before either, however eveyone else here seems to have, so we are in good company ! and we have great chats ....

Jules, sorry your job didnt work out, however on reflection perhaps it wasnt such a bad thing. No pension etc is never good to go into. To have to pay the pension yourself (for an adequate pension) it would mean your hourly rate should be at least 10% higher than what you are currently on, just to cut even. I know a pension sounds a long way off, but hey the way the country is going, and people living longer, not saving so much,and less children being born, there will be NOTHING left when we get old!
I would carry on where you are and still apply for other jobs you fancy. It must have given you a well deserved boost to know another employer wants you!A tip I learnt about requesting salary, bonus etc is, in a new job, ask the question by linking it to a morgage review. I always say, we are considering moving soon, (express you are staying in the same area) my old employer is happy to give me a written document declaring my salary, for morgage purposes, please would you be able to do the same? most or any decent employer would be more than happy to do so.

Off to do the washing whilst its still sunny!

 

[saratogagirl]

Magic

Hi Linda - you are right, I really just couldn't take the risk with them, I am not too disappointed, and I am going to do as your suggestion stay here and keep looking ....

Are you all ready for the bi event tomorrow, do you have to work - what time, the people I work with are already discussing being there at five

Sorry everyone, else I am referring to the Next sale, which starts tomorrow and is where Linda works, I am sure it will be very busy for you .. I will be thinking of you

 

[Lindy Loo]

Yes im in work tonight 5pm till 11pm ,then back at 3am ( so NOT much sleep!) I finish at 11am though, so not toooooo bad. We are a large Nest, on the retail park, so we always have about a queue of 500 of so, when we open the doors at 5am. If there is anything special you ever need Jules, as long as you have the code number on the label, I can normally track it down for you. The best bonus to sale is we dont have to queue for the bargains, mind are all in my office, along with my mates shopping I et for her too. I guess im kind of kind, cos when we are all sorted tonight I let all my staff shop then, as a thank you for the crappy hours they work this weekend. They love this perk, so we are all happy! We are expected to take £411,000 tomorrow, and everthing b eing 50% thats a lot of gear!

Speak to you monday .............. Linda x

 

[saratogagirl]

That is really kind of you thanks Linda

Good Luck you sound as if you are going to need it, I bet the people who work for you really apprecaite that perk....

Hope all goes well and you dont get knocked over in the stampede.

love Jules

 

[Sue88]

WITCH

Welcome Tinknanny! We are so glad you are joining us! Please tell us about yourself and about where you live! We will be glad to answer question if you have any for us.

I did call DCL when I got home from work yesterday. It was nice to be paid up and the DCL person that I talked to was very nice. I am now all ready to go!

I am so glad it is Friday and I can sleep late tomorrow! Also glad that the weather is a bit cooler today.
Have a good weekend!

 

[SparKeLLy]

Broomstick

Welcome TinkNanny!

I made my final cruise payment last night too

Jules sorry it didn't work out for you but it's for the best I'm sure, you never know, something even better may come along!

I'm starting to figure out my outfits. I've been doing this on our last 2 vacations and it REALLY helps me from overpacking. I plan out every days outfits before we go, with one just one extra outfit. I take a picture of everything I want to take, then organize them into outifts on the computer and make it into a sort of clothing schedule with pictures! If I didn't do this I would pack my whole closet and wear about 1/3 of it! That's what happened on my first trip to Florida. I'm also a big fan of packing cubes! I'm not usually a very organized person but I like to be when packing for some reason hahaha.

Am I rambling?! LOL I'm getting excited can ya tell...

 

[Sue88]

Cauldron

How is the BIG sale going Linda? I hope everything is good.

Kelly, I am not very good at packing. I always wish I had packed more or less, I am never satisfied with what I have while on vacation. I try to pack very carefully and make lists of what I will need but I then usually wait to the last minute to get everything together.

I am feeling more excited about the cruise too, if that is possible. It is good that it is within a few months now. I can't wait until we are all sitting down to dinner together.

 

[Lindy Loo]

*spell*

Hello everyone. WHAT a weekend for me!.

I finished late Friday night, after being in work from 5pm till 11pm, gettng the store ready for sale. This invloves a team of 200 people moving 80,000 plus items, ready for sale day at 5am Sat.

I go into work at 3.30am, I take my neighbour in with me, so she doesn't have to join the big queue outside. She runs around like a mad thing, grabbing lots of clothes for her and her family.
By 5am there is a queue of about 400 people, and I open the door. We were expecting to take £411,000 on Saturday. and all was going very very well..... However after I leave at 12 noon, there was a really bad storm, with very very heavy rain. So heavy it flooded all the stores on the retail park.

We had to close the store, as part of the roof in our stockroom collapsed. The alarms were going off, the lights went out and water was dripping through the electrics for the lights, tills, power doors etc. Apparently customers wouldnt leave, cos they didnt want to loose their bargains. And my mananger had to vertually ( sp?) push them out !!! The fire brigade arrived to us, Asda Wal mart and Commet ( an electrical store) we were all closed for 4 hours!. Part of the store ceiling fell in, whilst we were evacuated! No one was hurt.

So today, we had to go in early at 8am to clear up, then we opened part of the store. We had massive queues again, and half the shop was closed and 5 tills out of action. So the queues to pay were really building up !
We did really well though, my area mamanger told us we took the 8th highest amount today on the Company ( out of 213 stores!) (£96,000) so we were very pleased! Thank goodness I got Wayne and Elouises holiday clothes up in my office, all safe!

It was really scarey for my staff, but at least no one was hurt. The electrical store lost over £200,000 of stock !
Even the BBC ( like CNN) were out the front of the store, asking for quotes ( which I had to decline,as we are not allowed to comment. All PR is done from HO )

So now im home .... dirty, with aching feet, and very tired! going to have a bath and open a large bottle of white wine and chill!

Hope you all had a better weekend than me! Still next weekend we are off on holiday with my Mum and Dad for a week. now this could be great, or very stressful. We havent holidayed as a family like this before, well not for a week! This is for Elouise ( well all of us I guess) but E is so excited we are going together, and we can take JAZZ ! our dog! We caught her telling Jazz, how to behave on holiday, the other day, it was so funny!! any way, good night for now ............. L X

 

[saratogagirl]

wand

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a good weekend

Kelly you are so organised with the packing, I am just like Sue, I am an awful packer, I always seem to take far more than I need, and then am sorry because I always forget one of my favourites, you will have to put a packing list together for me

Linda what a nightmare weekend you have had, the main thing that is everyone is safe, but you must have been so stressed. The store still took an incredible amount of money though - well done. Its a shame you could't make a statement on the news I could have sky plused you Where are you off to for your weeks holiday? are you camping ? that will be a nice break.

Now Linda I need your advise, went for an unexpected interview after work on Friday, as a Buyer for a cheese manufacturer ! well they have come back to me this morning and offered me 5k more than I earn now, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, pension and life assurance - advice on what you think please ? Also forgot to tell you that the guy at the travel place came back on Friday and increase the salary by 2k and offered 5 more holidays, Ian is not happy about it though, he feels that the guy was trying to pull a fast one and very much does not want me to go there. The cheese manufacturer have also promised to honour my Oct holidays. I would really appreciate your input as you are very knowledgeable on these things Thank you

 

[MJ5MOUSE]

magic

Hi all

Glad you found us tinknanny BTW if you notice the word at the begining of every post we are playing a word game. Everytime you post add a word that is related to the word before. It gives us somthing to post even when we have nothing to say and helps keep us on page one so newcomers can find us. Tell us about your vacation plans. Early or late seating (We are all late) Are you visiting Disney before or after? Are you driving down since you are from Ga.? Are you dressing up for pirate night? Also, I have never cruised before but my sister (SUE88) has.

Wow Kelly, you are an obsesive packer, pictures? I like to pack outfits too, I pack them in zip lock bags to keep them together then when I am on vacation I change my mind and wear them with somthing else. I love to overpack so I have more choices

Linda, sorry about the stressful weekend, glad no one was hurt. Relax and enjoy you holiday. That is so cute about Elouise and Jazz. I hope he behaves properly. She will have to punish him if he does not.

Jules, sorry the job didn't work out but the cheese mfg. job sounds pretty good.

I am planning to make my final pmnt today

 

[Lindy Loo]

Hi everyone, thanks for the kind words.... after a good nights sleep things look a little better,
im going into work tonight 5pm till midnight to try and do some damage limitation!!!! I will take my camer a to take some photos to show you.mind you the work men were due in today, so some of it might be cleaned up a bit now. You know what businesses are like, if we cant trade from that area,we loose money!!!! so we wont be hanging around for long. Plus new season stock will be in in 3 weeks time. Wow Autumn/winter 07. Seems far to hot to be thinking of selling jeans and jumpers!

Im not a very good packer, I always pack too uch, but then forget the very things I need! since having Elouise I always concentrate on her looking good, with her hair done, toe nails painted ( holiday treat only) etc, then I have about 5minutes to get ready myself, so always look a mess!!! Oh well.............. thats life!

Jules.... This cheese job looks interesting. I am kind of with Ian with the other job, if he could have offered 2K more etc at the start, then why didnt he? Was he trying to get you cheap? Well ok thats business, however it does show perhaps what ethics that company uses! The cheese deal sounds alot more professional and the package is better.Im guessing the pension isnt final salary pension, as these are definately the best to have, however hardly any company offers these now. They simply cost tooooo much to run. The life insurance is a good touch. Especaily if you would have to rely on your wages at present to meet morgage payments. Hopefully Ian would never have to manage without you, but if he did, the life insurance would make things easier on the financial side of things at least. Does it cover critical illness or just death? This can be important as more people, God forbid, come down with MS or Cancer, that means they cant work anymore, however you still have the same if not more bills. Not a big issue, but one to discuss. I feel any professional company should honour pre booked holidays, so this is a good sign.
How much notice do you need to give in your present job? One thing I did, before I resigned I went to work "free" for the day at my new employers.(Next) Just to double check that it was the right move for me. I took a days holiday from my old employer. Enjoyed my "insight" day as I called it, and handed my notice in the next day. One small point, the first job seemed to be your "dream" you were excited and full of how this is what you wanted to do. It seesm quite a change to go to a manufactoring job. What " excitiment" level is this job for you???? I wouldnt "jump" to another job,unless I was very unhappy in my presnet role or I was offered my " dream" job, or it was a 5K plus payrise. ( so at least the money is good! )

Not sure if ive helped or confussed you ????
I will be on line for about 30mins if you want to "chat" .... .L x

 

[Lindy Loo]

* black *


Ive just made my final payment today too !!


sorry just going a little crazy, as it means "WE ARE REALLY REALLY GOING!"

 

[saratogagirl]

white

Hi Thanks for the advice Linda, I apprecaite what you are saying about the Dream job, to be honest I really wanted to go into the travel industry, but I feel so let down about what he has done about the money, holidays etc, it makes me wonder what his morals are ?? He also mentioned that I could earn extra money by working lots of hours Ian is afraid he would work me like a dog.

I have always worked in maunfacturing, always as a buyer, or in logistics, for a plastic company, packaging company and in my present position. I cant say that I am unhappy here, it is just not very challenging, hence the reason I am able to spend so much time on the DIS during the day It is a very boring position, I basically just update a spreadsheet all day, which is something that I am definitely not used to. It is a very small company but the level of witching that goes on amongst the staff is astounding, if they have anything bad to say about each other you can guarantee it gets said, I tend to blank off because I am not interested in that sort of rubbish, I really appreciate your comments on this

 

[Lindy Loo]

Jules from the sound of things then, you really should think of the cheese job, as a good chance to move on wards and up wards.

Even if you use it as a stepping stone to other things.???

I know about working lots of hours to get more money. OK for a while, but you burn out, and become unhappy and tired. Not good for a couple. Remember money isnt everything .................emm well ......... no seriously I would discuss the cheese job with Ian again. It sounds to have the balance between work life ( challenges) and home life ( not too many hours and good holidays! )
As for all the *****ing, I try not to get involved in work place banter too much, as it tends to all come back and bite you on the bum! I have 2 close friends, who I trust with my life, the rest are just people who i may like or dislike, who i happen to be working with.

Now with that extra 5k, you could book the Oct 2007 Western with us !!!! Yer yer yer.............do it, you know you want to!!!!

 

[saratogagirl]

LOL Linda you crack me up

I am definately edging towards the cheese job, you will be able to know who I am on the ship, I will smell of stilton

The 5k would definately make a difference towards our holiday plans, we may join you Linda you never know Going to speak with Ian again tonight but thanks to your good advice I think my mind is almost made up. I block of from the bad mouthing also, I am not that sort Linda and dont want to hear it to be honest, I beleive that we all need to work and as grown women should be able to get through the day without sly comments

 

[SparKeLLy]

Bread

Jules congrats on all the job opportunities, that's great in itself!

I guess I am an obsesssive packer now. I wasn't always like I said, thats why I started this, I was a horrible overpacker and almost went over the weight limit on the airlines every time. It also saves me a lot of time deciding what I'll wear each day..I'm awful about this. I'll still bring extra stuff that I probably won't wear, but it won't be as bad as the past. The pictures really aren't as time consuming or obsessive as it sounds....at least I don't think it is. Most items I buy online and copy and save the picture in a folder so it's even easier.

Yay for final payments!

Linda sounds like you had one heck of a weekend! Is this the store you work for? http://www.next.co.uk/

It was the "Our Town" celebration where I live this weekend with a picnic, games & festivities and fireworks. Jacob and I picked up the BBQ chicken and ate at his apartment though while watching the movie Casanova. Then went out to the backyard to watch the fireworks as it's right across from where they shoot them off. It was fun as always.