Best Buy: Update

     For those of you who read my first post about me getting a job at Best Buy. This post is an update of how it is going. I like my job in a way. I thought I hated to deal with people but I found that I am a people person. I would rather be behind the scenes, but it's ok for me to be on the floor sometimes. I think one of the reasons I like my job is because my supervisor is young and not too pushy, he is just one of the guys. I feel that I can help people find what they need and hope they are satisfied with the product I sell them.

     Now, for all the stuff I hate or well, dislike with a passion. The hours I requested to work when I got the job was 20-25 hours a week. After finding out that I make next to nothing an hour, I thought that if i worked 20 plus hours a week that I would have one paycheck go to rent and the rest for me to save. WRONG. The hours change so much, one week i could have 18 or 20 h0urs and the next I have 4. Do they not understand that their workers need to support themselves outside of work? I have bills to pay that my parents do not pay for. I have food to buy, and like everyone, some luxuries would be a nice perk as well. Now both of my checks that I get in a month go straight to rent and struggle to buy food. I cannot go on living like this. I want to be able to buy things without worrying how much money I have left. At my old job, I did not care if I spent 100$ on something, my checks were almost $1,000 each time.

     The last thing I am going to mention is how much I cannot stand how they want you to push the sale. I would like to think that I am a nice guy. I aim to please. I take the approach on customers on how I like it. I want to be acknowledged, but I don't want to be hassled. We have to greet a certain way and no one does that. We are supposed to shake everyones hand and get their names. To me, if someone is going to buy something, they will ask questions.I do think it's okay to go ask if the customers need some help because there are some people who are hesitant but really do want help. If they say they dont want help, then I just leave them. We are also supposed to push lots of accessories and plans with each and every sale. I have so many people say that they paid way more than they wanted just because we pushed them so hard. Customers leave feeling almost cheated at times.

It is my job to help the customers, and I enjoy it. But for the performance Best Buy is looking for from their employees, the compensation should be greater. If they truly want me to put myself out there and sell for their cause, I want good pay and I want to be treated with respect. I want the hours I need to survive and I want them consistently. A good company cares about all their employees, and when they don't show that respect, it's hard to translate it to good salesmanship.

Elections

Yesterday was my second time voting for the United States President. Now I hardly ever follow any of the canidates or watch their speeches and hear their ideals. Something about this years really sparked my interest more than before. I would watch a few minutes if I would happen to flip to a channel one of them were speaking on. I will openly admit that I voted for Obama. McCain had a lot of good ideals and how to solve problems. The thing that scared me the most was Palin. The things she said in some interviews really worried me. Now I do not want to be sexist or anything of that sort but she really seemed stupid. She could not even put together a decent response to any of the questions asked to her by some interviewers. In one interview she could not even answer to what the Vice Presidents job description was, and she was running for that position. My friends and I were talking and McCain is not young by any means and for some reason he may pass away, that means Palin would take over. When she talks, she brings church and state together, which is NOT a good idea. Mixing church with economic policies, in my opinion does not go well together. When you talk about religion and make decisions based on your belief, that is the wrong way to go. You should be making decisions based off the people, the way the economy is, anything but your beliefs. All in all, I am glad history was made yesterday with Obama becomming our President, congrats to him.

Ghosts

I do not really watch much tv. Some of you may wonder why I bought a new tv. Simple answer, it was too good of a deal to pass up. Anyways, of the few tv shows I watch in a week, one of them I really enjoy watching, which is Ghost Hunters. Laugh all you want, but this is a cool show. It is on Wednesday's on Sci-Fi. I do not believe in ghosts. This show, is a non proft based show. They are called and informed about a situation and asked to do an investigation on if the place is haunted or not. I guess the big thing that hooks me into watching the show, is that they try to disprove the sightings and claims people make. They try to recreate some things to see if there is some logical explanation instead of just saying it is ghosts. After the shows, they review all the video and audio recordings and try to debunk what some of them really are and not always claim it is a ghost.
There have been some very interesting finds on Ghost Hunters. I will place two links at the bottom of the page of two great episodes to show you some of the crazy things they have discovered. On one episode, one of the main guys was holding a flash light that you turn on by pushing the end button in. It was tossed out of his hands. He went over by it after being shocked by that, and asked if it could turn it on by pushing the button in. It turned on for a few seconds then it turned off. He picked up the flash light and showed the camera how hard it was to turn on and it was not just a easy button to press.
In another episode, the same guy who was holding the flashlight, took off his sandals before walking up some stairs to try and debunk some noises people claim. He thought he saw something upstairs, so his partner and the camera guy went after him. They could not catch whatever he saw so they went back down the stairs and one of his sandals was gone. They searched for twenty minutes until they checked the one room they were not shown in the initial tour of the house. The sandal was placed in the direct middle of the room. After they reviewed all of the cameras, no one had come into that room in the time they were upstairs.
Now, I still am not one to believe that there are ghosts but some of the video and audio clips are kind of creepy. Even after they show the clips of what they caught to the people, they do not always say its haunted, they just hint that there may be something there but no solid evidence. I think they only said a handful of places that were haunted. I would like to go on that show and do some investigations with them. I know initially I would be scared and probably pee my pants but it would be worth it.
I definately recommend watching this show, I bet you'll like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHfnamrQzY&feature=related - creepy vid of civil war soldier they found

BIG SCREEN TV!!!

So, as some of you know, I work at Best Buy. I am sure you all know or have heard on how great some of the discounts we recieve on things. Last friday night while I was working, I was talking to some of the other employees and they were telling me about the new accomodations that the employees get. They were offering a 50" or 42" Panasonic HDTV.
My girlfriend and I are planning on moving in together next June. We also planned on buying a television next summer when we had money saved up. I came home and told her about this deal and we decided that we would probably get the television in the time offered.
When I was at work that next night, the girl I had originally heard the deal from, was trying to buy the 50" and it was out of stock and we could no longer get it. She did manage to get one from another store but it took the supervisor an hour on the phone to get them to send it here. So when I got home, I told Ashley that we need to get on this now before we lose out on such a good deal. So we talked about it for awhile and decided to get the 42" 1080p Panasonic. We went in Sunday to order it and bought a few other things with the television. I am not sure if they want me telling everyone prices but lets just say that the television is posted for $1,299 and we got the four year warranty, new stand and some cables for $850. We are splitting the price so it is not that much money. It is arriving on Wednesday, so we can go pick it up and the fun will begin. I will have my xbox 360 hooked up in no time playing some games I have wanted to see in the best quality and big screen.
I have not always liked spending money like that and that quick but we felt this was a wise decision because we can have most of it paid off before the holidays come and we will be broke then. I will put up some picks of it when it is all set up.

Gaming

Ive always been a gamer. People tend to look down at gamers thinking they are nerds with no lives. I used to play computer games all the time and then playstation on the rest of my time. I was always nerdy though. I enjoyed playing on the computer, and it didn't have to include games. I was big into programming also. I saw myself not getting anywhere in life in high school, because I guess I spent too much time gaming. At one point, I almost let a game get in the way of my school work and friends. I decided that was it, I wanted to cut back on my geekness and get out and enjoy the world.
I started to hang out with my friends more, started to party more and meet lots of new people. Soon I missed gaming and bought myself an xbox360 for my birthday. I fell in love again with gaming, I spent most of my time playing Gears of War. As I started to game again, I tried really hard not to affect my life. I would go out and hang with friends, when I was done hanging out with them, I would come home and play games until late at night. Ive always been a night person. Soon I got most of my friends hooked on the xbox360. We would always play together or at my best friends uncles.
When I moved to LaCrosse, gaming became the regular since I did not know many people. All of my roommates had 360's so we all just kicked back a little too much and played games. I got them all hooked on a new game last year called Call of Duty 4. We all still play that game.
I guess the whole point of this ramble is saying, I have kind of kicked the habit of gaming, but when I am bored, I will play for hours. There are some new games coming out that I will buy. Hopefully we will all be good enough to play in some tournaments for money, I mean, we are good, and if were good, why not play for money?

All in all, I guess I still am a big nerd.

I Love Money!

Why is the whole world run off money? Well, I guess one easy answer would be, money equals power. People will do the stupidest things for money, and don't get me wrong, some of those things looks like a lot of fun, but thats just it, its all FUN things to do, why should you get paid 50k to jump through five holes in a wall that is moving towards you? That sounds like something my friends and I would do for FUN. All these television shows that are coming out and that are out give away so much money, not sure how they are obtaining these large sums of money. Theres reality shows (they all suck) that give away 250k just for not getting eliminated and playing dirty.. yea that helps our youth to respect people and work hard and honest for your pay. Wait, no it doesn't, it shows them how to lie, cheat and steal for it.

I used to have quiet a bit of money, and I am not gonna lie to you.. I loved it. I was making quiet a bit at my old job and I honestly did not care how much things were, if I wanted it, I bought it. I had to get a job here because my money was slowly decreasing with the rising prices. My new job, I hardly make any money. I actually have to be stingy on things and I hate it.

I wonder if they hosted all the "fun" shows but the top prize was a big hug or like a dollar, people would spend the money to travel there and play. I bet no one would be on that show and it would be taken off air. Instead people can play through a really fun obsticle course that looks like it was designed for teenagers and try to win thousands of dollars. Why don't they just take that money and either donate it to worthy charities, pay off our national debt, or just do something helpful to a community.

Something else I need to vent about, gas prices. What do they think we are? Money tree harvesters? If they do, well then I am a bad farmer cuz all my trees died. Four dollars almost a gallon.. my car used to fill up with $25.00, now im doubling that plus some. With the amount of money I make, i need to work a full days shift just to fill up my tank once, not to mention how much I drive just to get to work. Clothes prices are going up too. Who honestly pays $75.00 for a pair of pants or a sweatshirt? Even things at the Dollar Tree store have gone past a dollar, they need to rename it, The Slightly Above One Dollar Tree.

I guess all in all, I can't complain on how good I have it compared to some people. If only we cut prices down, I could afford to donate more than I am able to now. I can see why it is hard to come out of debt and poverty. Even a million dollars wont get you far these days.

We could all just be communists...I mean the idea of it.

Getting Somewhere In Life

Before I moved to La Crosse last fall, I worked at a hospital back home, making above average pay for a college student. I worked well over 40 hours a week and managed to save up enough money that I did not need a job for that next school year. As April came around last spring I was running low. Taxes came back and gave me enough for my bills until I moved back home for the summer. My girlfriend and I planned on living with our parents for the summer so we could be closer and both of us to make enough money. My credit card debt had a big number on it when work started but my goal was to get that paid off and save up. I succeeded in doing so, but when it came time to move back home I barely had enough saved up.

I was going to apply at Best Buy. I wanted to work in the Geek Squad, but was not sure of myself and my talents. I am going to school for computers and I would like to think I know more than the average person. Talking with my family and friends helped me to apply for that higher job, my girlfriend was my main courage. She applied to Best Buy with me so we could work together. Turns out, we both got the second interviews, same day, same time. The first person to interview me was the head of the Geek Squad. Since I never sold anything in retail, he said he would like to recommend me for computers and once I get the neck for selling, he would like to move me up to Geek Squad. I was ecstatic, I thought I was about to land the perfect job for myself to get some experience in with computers, learn more too. So onto the third and last interview to see if we would get the jobs. My girlfriend went first and I had the next interview. During my interview, the lady mentioned that the girl before me got the job, I was so excited for her. During the questioning process, she saw that I was recommended for computers and asked me if there was any other sections I would like to work in, i named almost every other department. At the end of the interview, she said she could not offer me a job in computers but could offer me a job in digital imaging (camers). I was not too happy but I accepted the job because she said she would try to get me moved to computers or geek squad. My girlfriend, who on the other hand, got an area that would have been second on my list.

There was a major problem in the decision to work there besides me not getting into any area I would have liked. I had to take a three dollar pay cut, compared to what I was making at the hospital back home, which I was still employeed.

While I waited for them to call me on my hours, I came to think. Maybe this is not the right move for me. Everyone told me to apply there so I can get some experience working with computers, learn some new things, get great people skills. Now I am making, a lot less money than I want, working in an area I know absolutly nothing about and not helping my future out one bit. I thought about just quitting right away and looking for a computer job from the schools website but then I thought, that is not me, I cannot just quit something I started. After talking with my girlfriend for awhile about the issue, she managed to convince me that I need to keep my head high, do the best I can do, and show them I deserve to be where I should have been.