Surprisingly eventful evening...
Jul. 7th, 2008 12:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
candylandI can sum up the big point of excitement at work tonight in two little words.
TORNADO SIREN.
When I got to work a few minutes before four (when I started), it was cloudy out. Not terribly unusual for this time of year 'round these parts. I went in, clocked in, and headed down.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kaitodoushi was my co-worker for the evening, which always makes for a fun night because even if work sucks, we can talk and joke and have a good time regardless.
I'd been in for about ten minutes when Cook wandered in from one of his (many, many, MANY) breaks and said that it was dark outside. We scampered over and looked--the sky was just this side of BLACK. Clouds had rolled in very quickly, and the wind was picking up. Translation: one of those lovely summer storms was on its way. And I loves me a good storm :D
About ten minutes later, we went to look again. We opened the door...and promptly jumped back with a squawk as we got partially soaked from the rain blowing in. It was POURING. A few of us kinda hung around the door and held it open a little bit and watched the rain and talked for a couple of minutes before we went back to work. Kat and I were making pizzas--there weren't a lot of customers for Chinese.
It was a little after five, and the rain had been going on full-force for an unusually long time. Usually storms like this burn themselves out fairly quickly with the hard rain and die down to light rain or drizzling within about ten minutes. But it was still pouring pretty hard.
Then one of the shift managers got on the in-store intercom and asked all customers to please leave their groceries where they were and for all people in the store to move to the back because the tornado sirens were going off and we were taking shelter. So Kat and I grabbed our purses (I wanted my phone) and got Cook off the phone and told him to move it (pretty much those words exactly) and headed to the back.
This is the second time in my employment there that I've been herded back to that area because of weather. I'll try to describe it--if you walk in the main doors and go straight back, there's a short hallway that sticks out between the deli area and the meat department. If you go down that hallway, the bathrooms are on your immediate right, and there's a set of swinging doors in front of you. Those lead back into the stock-rooms, the coolers for produce and the meat counter, the preparation area for the salad bar, the loading docks, and the stairs that lead up to the employee area where the time clock and offices and break-room are.
So we all went back there. And of course everyone is already whipping out their cell phones. We're really not supposed to have our phones with us at work, but even the shift managers were on their phones, so we figured it was okay. Texted the family, made sure they were okay--Mom said she and Dad were in the basement.
And then Kat decided to be funny: "Okay, everyone! I spy, with my little eye, something that is brown!" Mind you, we're in a store-room. That is full of merchandise. NINETY PERCENT OF IT IN BROWN BOXES! I pretended to bonk her, and several people laughed. ILU, KAT ~♥♥♥
We weren't back there very long--maybe ten or fifteen minutes, TOPS. Then they said we could all go back to work or shopping. Maybe five minutes later they announced that the tornado had touched down in North Sioux near Stone Park--which is where Kat's mom works (and also not too far from where my dad's warehouse is o_O). Kat's mom wasn't at work, but there was a receptionist there, so Kat made a quick call. Everything's okay up there ^_^
So we didn't get tornado-ed, but we did get swamped with customers after that. Apparently everyone went, "Oh my god, there's a tornado. I MUST HAVE CHINESE FOOD!" Because yeah, we were freakin' NUTS after that happened...and they still let us start closing a half an hour early ^^;;
After we got done closing, Kat and I went and grabbed a bite and played more Phoenix Wright. We're done with the first part of the last case. Only about twelve more hours of play to go before we're done with the game, WHEE!
Then we went to Wal-Mart. I needed a new pillow--both of the ones on my bed are FLAT. One is worse than the other, so I want to pitch that one and shift the slightly-fluffier one down to the place of "secondary pillow" and have a new squishy one to actually sleep on~ I also got a binder and some shiny new markers and a couple of things to add to the gift-box I'm putting together forcherelle_holmes. I'm not stopping until it's full!
...and now I'm at home. And staring at my computer screen. And feeling very compelled to write, even though I don't exactly know what to write. Ideas are there in droves, motivation is still hiding under my bed and biting me when I try to coax it out.
I should really get to bed, shouldn't I? It's one AM. G'night!
TORNADO SIREN.
When I got to work a few minutes before four (when I started), it was cloudy out. Not terribly unusual for this time of year 'round these parts. I went in, clocked in, and headed down.
kaitodoushi was my co-worker for the evening, which always makes for a fun night because even if work sucks, we can talk and joke and have a good time regardless.I'd been in for about ten minutes when Cook wandered in from one of his (many, many, MANY) breaks and said that it was dark outside. We scampered over and looked--the sky was just this side of BLACK. Clouds had rolled in very quickly, and the wind was picking up. Translation: one of those lovely summer storms was on its way. And I loves me a good storm :D
About ten minutes later, we went to look again. We opened the door...and promptly jumped back with a squawk as we got partially soaked from the rain blowing in. It was POURING. A few of us kinda hung around the door and held it open a little bit and watched the rain and talked for a couple of minutes before we went back to work. Kat and I were making pizzas--there weren't a lot of customers for Chinese.
It was a little after five, and the rain had been going on full-force for an unusually long time. Usually storms like this burn themselves out fairly quickly with the hard rain and die down to light rain or drizzling within about ten minutes. But it was still pouring pretty hard.
Then one of the shift managers got on the in-store intercom and asked all customers to please leave their groceries where they were and for all people in the store to move to the back because the tornado sirens were going off and we were taking shelter. So Kat and I grabbed our purses (I wanted my phone) and got Cook off the phone and told him to move it (pretty much those words exactly) and headed to the back.
This is the second time in my employment there that I've been herded back to that area because of weather. I'll try to describe it--if you walk in the main doors and go straight back, there's a short hallway that sticks out between the deli area and the meat department. If you go down that hallway, the bathrooms are on your immediate right, and there's a set of swinging doors in front of you. Those lead back into the stock-rooms, the coolers for produce and the meat counter, the preparation area for the salad bar, the loading docks, and the stairs that lead up to the employee area where the time clock and offices and break-room are.
So we all went back there. And of course everyone is already whipping out their cell phones. We're really not supposed to have our phones with us at work, but even the shift managers were on their phones, so we figured it was okay. Texted the family, made sure they were okay--Mom said she and Dad were in the basement.
And then Kat decided to be funny: "Okay, everyone! I spy, with my little eye, something that is brown!" Mind you, we're in a store-room. That is full of merchandise. NINETY PERCENT OF IT IN BROWN BOXES! I pretended to bonk her, and several people laughed. ILU, KAT ~♥♥♥
We weren't back there very long--maybe ten or fifteen minutes, TOPS. Then they said we could all go back to work or shopping. Maybe five minutes later they announced that the tornado had touched down in North Sioux near Stone Park--which is where Kat's mom works (and also not too far from where my dad's warehouse is o_O). Kat's mom wasn't at work, but there was a receptionist there, so Kat made a quick call. Everything's okay up there ^_^
So we didn't get tornado-ed, but we did get swamped with customers after that. Apparently everyone went, "Oh my god, there's a tornado. I MUST HAVE CHINESE FOOD!" Because yeah, we were freakin' NUTS after that happened...and they still let us start closing a half an hour early ^^;;
After we got done closing, Kat and I went and grabbed a bite and played more Phoenix Wright. We're done with the first part of the last case. Only about twelve more hours of play to go before we're done with the game, WHEE!
Then we went to Wal-Mart. I needed a new pillow--both of the ones on my bed are FLAT. One is worse than the other, so I want to pitch that one and shift the slightly-fluffier one down to the place of "secondary pillow" and have a new squishy one to actually sleep on~ I also got a binder and some shiny new markers and a couple of things to add to the gift-box I'm putting together for
cherelle_holmes. I'm not stopping until it's full!...and now I'm at home. And staring at my computer screen. And feeling very compelled to write, even though I don't exactly know what to write. Ideas are there in droves, motivation is still hiding under my bed and biting me when I try to coax it out.
I should really get to bed, shouldn't I? It's one AM. G'night!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 06:10 am (UTC)And wow on the adventure!! *I find people are always hungry after taking shelter, I think it's just an instinct thing XDDDDD*
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 06:14 am (UTC)...really? My reaction is usually more along the lines of "I WANT TO GO HOME NOW PLEEZ!" XDD Maybe I'm just a freak of nature or something...BIG SURPRISE! *shot*
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 07:03 am (UTC)But seriously, choosing hot food to take home after a freak storm? Maybe it's just cause you were working XDDD *glomples*
Candy is candy ^^
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 08:42 pm (UTC)That's the thing, though--most of these people came in AFTER the alarms went off and the danger passed. A lot of them were drenched. And...wait, why would me working have anything to do with it? Are you suggesting something? *hoists mallet*
Yes. Candy is candy. What else would she be? *confused*
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 03:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 08:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 04:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 08:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 10:43 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-09 12:59 am (UTC)That happened once in middle school--there were tornadoes all over the place, and they herded everyone down to the big gym to wait it out. I wasn't in school that day, though--I was gone on a trip. Flying out of an airport in Omaha. I understand we were one of the last planes to make it out of the airport before they shut it down ^^;;
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-08 02:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-09 01:00 am (UTC)surprisingly
Date: 2008-07-08 12:34 pm (UTC)Re: surprisingly
Date: 2008-07-09 01:01 am (UTC)