Monday, Monday

Well,

It's hard to believe that I have been down here for 3 weeks now. Sometimes it feels like much less and sometimes it feels like more. I talked with Chris (the owner's wife) today and we are going to sit down later this week and go over the marketing calendar for 2008 and prepare for the next upcoming event: Back-to-School. This past weekend, Dave and the other Operations managers took a chance on advice from Kenny and I concerning Teacher Appreciation Day. For the past 3 years The School Box had held this event in May near the actual calendar day named Teacher Appreciation Day. The past few years have had dismal results, and Kenny and I asked if we could move the event to an earlier time in the year. We commented that we coordinated a promotion much like their Teacher Appreciation Day in January and it was a huge success. They took a chance on our advice... history repeated itself. We posted huge numbers in sales throughout the whole company. Knoxville had the highest sales of the day beating out the usual winner of Town Center (corporate store). That news was and exciting way to start off the week. Work was the usual mix of graphics, signs, and phone calls.

I watched the Lady Vols Basketball team finally beat Duke tonight. It was a hard fought game, but the end result was what I had wanted so the close calls and suspense till the end was worth the experience. I went to the weight room after I ate dinner and found it to be rather crowded. All the treadmills were occupied so I stuck to 30 minutes on the exercise bike for my workout. I created my own custom inserts for my Boy Meets World DVD set, and am now considering turning in early to gain some more sleep for another day. I will see you all this weekend when I come into town. Until then, have a great week!

Chatt-Town USA

I'll quickly re-cap Friday for you. I worked on some graphics stuff most of the day and spoke with a lady for WBXX (the CW) in Knoxville about their station promotions for education and how we might fit in to it. I ultimately told her to send me the station and programing guide through email and I would look it over and get back with her if we were interested. It was pretty quiet around the office Friday because all the buyers were in a meeting from 9-noon and then another meeting from 1-3. I left work and came home, fixed and ate dinner, and watched a new episode of Psych on USA. I went to bed around Midnight and quickly drifted off to sleep...

Now for Chattanooga. It was the first time I have ever met Whitney's Aunt Amy. She is one cool lady! We met at The School Box in Chattanooga (cause that's the only thing I know how to find) and then I followed her to Tony's where we ate lunch. I have heard a lot about Tony's over the years from Whitney, but this was my first time ever eating there. It was located in the Bluff Art District and was in an old house on the corner near the Hunter Art Museum. The food was great! Especially the homemade bread and oil to dip it in. I also found out that they make their own pasta too! After we ate we went to The Hunter Museum of Art. It was actually in 3 adjoining buildings that have been update somewhat over the years. It was really nice (and sorry to say this K-ville but it was far better than the Knoxville Museum of Art). We got to see some paintings from Andy Warhol, Grandma Moses, and many others. One of the sections was actually 2 floors of the 1900 Mansion that was donated by Mr. Hunter to house the original part of the museum. The 2nd addition was constructed in 1975, and the final additional, which housed the special exhibits, was constructed in 2005. The special exhibit was kind of cool, but very odd (as a lot of art is). We then went to the gift shop where Whitney stumbled upon small replicas of many famous chairs. We opened each box to make sure that what was larked as being in the box was correct. She got almost every one they had, and was vibrating with excitement the entire time! We then went into an art gallery near the museum and looked at what they had for sale. The result: lots of beautiful works of art and outrageous prices. After that it was time for me to head back to Kennesaw. I went home, fixed dinner, put together 2 floor lamps I had Whitney pick up for me a the Target in Knoxville, watched some TV and then went to bed. Good night all!

R.I.P. Saturday Morning Cartoons

Seeing as how I went to bed at my normal time of 11:00pm last night and didn't have to get up early for work this morning, I found myself unable to sleep past 8:00am this morning. So instead of lay awake hoping to slip back into the coma of sleep I was enjoying earlier I decided to get up and watch some TV. That is when I decided that someone needs to write an obituary for Sturday morning cartoons. Whatever happened to the days of G.I. Joe, Tennage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-man, The Uncanny X-Men, Thundercats, Transformers, and so many more that were responsible for teaching America's youth that Saturday mornings deserve to be taken advantage of instead of sleeping the day away? I turned on the TV this morning only to find Japanimation series that really didn't matter what they were called because you could flip to the next channel and see the same plot and the same characters (the only difference being the color of their hair,clothes, and their name). We need to write our congressmen about this problem as it will surely lead to a generation of uncreative, been there done that, methodology that will force us, the ones who remember what good TV was, to simply go quietly into the night (or morning) and suffer through whatever we are unlucky enough to find on the Tele'. That's all for now. Check back later today for a recap of Friday and my adventures in Chattanooga later today!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Today at work was more like a usual day will be (I hope). I handled a few phone calls today, but I mostly worked on retail signs as well as packing up stuff for a show we are doing next week. Stacy and I met with Dave this morning to discuss putting together a 12 page sales flyer to promote lower priced art supplies and classroom furniture. I think that Stacy will select the items to be promoted in the flyer and I will be responsible for the layout and art of the flyer. I also went to lunch today at Olive Garden. The purchasers were in town for a 2 day buyers meeting. So Peggy, Judy, Corey, Stacy, Carrie, Michelle, Linda, Dave, Vickie, and I ate lunch together. It was fun to get to know them better and even better when Dave picked up the check! The rest of the afternoon was mostly spent in front of the computer, but I did meet with Mike to discuss some changes and improvements to the website. I think it was very productive, and we have developed a contest to let employees contribute to part of the website's updating. We were supposed to get our new color copier today, but when the tech came to set it up for us, we discovered that the shop neglected to install the fax part of the copier. So the tech took it back with him and they will install the missing components and re-deliver on Monday or Tuesday.

That's all for now. I'm going to go try and motivate myself to go the weight room for a quick run!

It Feels Like Home To Me

Well,

I handled even more phone calls today than yesterday. I even handled one that wanted our involvement in a festival at a Children's Theater at no cost to us (I thought that was unheard of). I starting making my list of signs that needed to be made or new ones updated for the sales floor. It was a giant list that was a mixture of signs that I had already made for the Knoxville store and signs that someone had made in Kennesaw about 5 years ago (faded & old looking). I worked briefly on some new signs today, but the majority of my work will begin tomorrow as far as the signs project goes. I also am meeting with David and Stacy tomorrow morning to put together a sales flyer to be inserted in newspapers in Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Knoxville. We are supposed to get a brand new full sized color-copier tomorrow and I will break it in by printing 350 copies of a flyer for Sue in Knoxville and 200 copies of a flyer for a show next Thursday.

On to the title for this blog. I came home and was inspired to do some more "decorating". I hung up my poster that goes over the entertainment center, A Fine Frenzy poster, my diploma from UT, and the mirror in my bedroom. I felt like I accomplished something, and got to use my new screwdriver, hammer, level, tape measure, and parts kit that I got for my birthday (thanks Dad and Amy!). I am going to go do some more breaking down of boxes now that I have eaten dinner and blogged for the day. More on life in Georgia tomorrow!

A Walk in the Park

Today at work was rather uneventful. I made a few more signs and figured out how to connect to Sum/IT which is what we use to run our point of sale and purchasing. I ate real food for lunch today thanks to my Walmart trip last night. I did plan and coordinate a promotion with Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta. They are doing an exhibit to promote field trip opportunities to teachers in metro Atlanta with their exhibit Wild About Plants! The School Box will be providing bags, pens, pads, and door prizes for teachers in attendance.

I got home and decided to eat before checking out the weight room at my apartments. After eating I went down to the clubhouse to see if the weight room was deserted or crowded. It was deserted when I got there and since the entire back wall is mostly windows, it was COLD! I walked on the treadmill for about 20 minutes and kept my hoodie on the entire time. I got back to the apartment and remembered that Tennessee Men's Basketball was on TV at 9:00 vs. Kentucky. That is what I'm watching right now and Tennessee is doing a prety good job containing the Wildcats. Well, that is all for now. Stay tuned for future broadcasts.

I Found Walmart!

Well,

I know I said I would update this blog daily, but this past week has been rather unconventional in my allotment of time both near a computer and away from the people who may read this blog. I have now officially met with David (the owner of School Box) and have a much clearer picture of what I am to be doing on a daily basis. I still find myself sometimes looking for things to do, but I know that as Chris and I spend more time together, and I receive more calls for marketing outlets and sponsorship opportunities, my time will fill itself up much quicker than I expect. I have made at least 5 signs to be distributed to all the retail locations and have put together some promo pieces for Teacher Appreciation Day (Jan. 26th). I also have redone some original signs that were fading and looked rather outdated. Now on to my big news as eluded to in the title of this blog...
I FOUND WALMART! It really wasn't very difficult. (I would like to thank Google maps, the Walmart store website, and Google Satellite photos for my success) It is located on Chastain Meadows Rd. about 6 minutes from my apartment. I actually had real food for dinner tonight. I fixed some mixed cheese pasta shells with a breaded chicken breast. The Walmart here is quite different from Knoxville's store. It is actually bigger (if that was possible) and has a larger produce and meat section than I'm used to. I also noticed that the ethnic distribution is skewed less to the Caucasians and more to the African Americans than Knoxville. Never fear though, there is still a large show of support from the Mexicans as they were pushing their multiple buggies followed by multiple children. I like it though. It doesn't feel the same as Knoxville, but the nice cashier that checked my out at the register was just as nice as the folks in your neck of the woods. Well, I don't have much else to report other than I am convinced that one day this week I will actually remember to bring a blank check to work to have Tausha in payroll update my direct deposit info so I can access my money here in Kennesaw. I will try to write again tomorrow night (but no promises). I hope all is well in Knoxville and know that I miss you all very much. (It gets a little lonely sometimes)