Escaping work for an escape room

I have roughly half a workday later on today. We have a team event in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to not working. I get to see most of my colleagues tomorrow. Two of them couldn't make it. I'm actually relieved because one is the diva and the other talks so much that he drowns everyone out.

We are doing an escape room. I've never done one before. I assembled a list of escape rooms for us to choose from and we have chosen one that is near my old neighbourhood.

My manager asked me for suggestions to have a drink and a snack afterwards. He quoted allotting $10 for each of us. I indicated that it would be fine to go over that amount and shell out ourselves for any overage. I would rather be satisfied with what I choose to eat and drink than abide by a sum that won't get me what I want.

That's just me, though. I like the flexibility to choose what I want to snack on and drink without a ridiculous restriction.

Here's hoping that the afternoon is fun and enjoyable.

Fitness reward, incompetence at work, and sushi

I am a part of a corporate fitness program. There is a fitness challenge every quarter. I achieved my challenge for this quarter, which consists of getting $75 towards anything at the online store.

I typically get an electronic gift card. It gets sent to my work e-mail. I had to log in to my work account to fetch the code and use my gift card.

The problem is that I ended up glancing at e-mails from work and I didn't want to. I noticed that one developer decided that since I was away for two days, he had to forward the work to my colleague.

First, his update isn't urgent. It was already assigned to me and I needed more details from him. Second, he sent the update to the wrong person who isn't my backup. She's the incompetent one that decided to forward a question to this developer's boss and take on this task. She didn't tell him that she isn't my backup.

I'll need to sort these issues out when I return. I have already told this developer in the past that this incompetent person isn't my backup. Some folks don't know better.

Anyway, today is Family Day. I hope to go out and pick up some sushi. I just looked at some photos and everything looks good. I shouldn't look at food before I go to bed. I need a snack now!

Weekend thoughts about cooking

Just like that, the weekend is over.

On Sunday, I made beef burger soup and meatballs with sauce. They both turned out well. I'm happy that I have leftovers that should last for most of this week.

I find cooking enjoyable on Sundays. It's simply sad that weekends tend to be shorter than we'd all like!

Lunar new year is next week. I placed an order for some snacks. I get to pick them up this Friday. Yay!

My rolling bag preserved since March 2020

I have a rolling computer bag that has enough room to also be an overnight bag. I haven't used it since early March 2020.

In a few days, I'll be travelling. I took my rolling bag out of hibernation.

It's like time had stood still. I have a few pens in there. They all work. They are there to fill out custom forms and more.

My bag doesn't have any candy or snacks. I was always good at making sure that they were consumed.

It feels both foreign and familiar to rummage through it again. I have missed travelling.

Popcorn

On Sunday, I went out to pick up a dessert order. I rarely go out on Sundays, so it felt weird.

I managed to drop by a popcorn store that I haven't visited in over a decade. I was so happy that it's still up and running.

I love popcorn. I bought three large bags. There was a special where you buy two bags and get your third for free.

My popcorn stash should last me another week. 

New snack store

A new snack store opened within a five-minute drive from where I live. It offers a number of exotic candy, chocolate, drinks, chips, and more.

I placed an order online. I decided to schedule it for pickup after work. When I got there, I was in sugar and snack heaven!

I just consumed a lemon KitKat bar from Brazil. I bought one and got another one for free. It was so good. It was white chocolate paired with a nice lemony taste, with the signature wafers, of course.

It's deadly that this store is so close to home. If you don't hear from me, I'm likely at this store.

Positivity snacks and a jerk who got what he deserved

Some places in the States do not ship to Canada. Recently, I contributed my thoughts about positivity on a company's Instagram account. This company ended up sending me a huge box of snacks as a gift. It was an extremely generous gesture.

Sadly, this place doesn't ship to Canada. However, I have a way to have items shipped up here through a shipping service.

There is one person at this shipping place who has been a pain to deal with. The first time I dealt with him, he asked for my ID. I was fine and asked if I needed to present it all the time, as none of the other staff members had asked me for it. He said no and that it was a one-time thing.

I dropped by a month later and he asked for ID. I reminded him that last time, he said it was a one-time thing. He made up a reason on-the-fly by saying that he will stop asking until he knows me. Um, I have been dealing with your business for four years. I'm a regular. You happen to be new and are making rules up as you go.

The third time I had to deal with him, he stopped asking me for my ID. Yay! The jerk, however, said my last name wrong. It's not a difficult last name or word to pronounce. I happily corrected him, staring sternly at hime. He actually apologized for a change.

On Saturday, I went in to pick up my box of snacks. This jerk was dealing with another customer who was yelling at him and dropped the f-word several times. I grinned. What goes around, comes around.

Luckily, I dealt with his female counterpart who was respectful and nice. She recognized me as a regular. I got my shipment, said thanks, wished her a good day, and left.

It helps to be kind to folks. If you're a jerk, there will be consequences to your attitude and behaviour.

Late checkout, noise, and customer service

It's December. Where did this year go?

I am at home, ending my staycation. My last evening at the hotel was nice. After work, I headed to the check-in counter and asked the man there if I could do a late checkout on Saturday. He asked when. I said 2 pm. He made it 3 pm. Nice!

He asked me how my stay was. I said that it was great. The only bad thing was construction along highway 401. Drilling and construction starts between 10 pm to 11 pm, and runs overnight. I said that it's rather disruptive. The good thing is that I come equipped with earplugs, so I'm good.

He apologized and advised that hotel management has asked the construction folks to change the time. It obviously hasn't helped. This construction is building a train line underground.

What I did expected was a knock on the door an hour after I had talked to him. He personally came up to my room to deliver some snacks and drinks, to apologize for the noise. I appreciated it and thanked him.

That's great customer service. Sadly, this construction goes until 2021.

Getting free stuff and making a cashier laugh

On Saturday, I went out to run a few errands. One of my stops was at Shoppers Drug Mart (SDM). It was having a points redemption offer.

Normally, if you have 100,000 PC Optimum points, you can redeem them towards $100 worth of items at SDM. For this entire weekend, you can get an additional $40 worth of free stuff when you redeem 100,000 points.

I took advantage of this offer. I ended up redeeming 110,000 and got $150 worth of free stuff.

I had an enthusiastic male cashier.

"It feels like I have won the jackpot today," I said.
"I wish that I had that many points. I only have 2,000," he admitted.
"It does take a bit of time to accumulate them," I noted.
"I get discounts towards snacks, so I'm getting there," he replied.
"I'd love your job!" I said, which made him laugh.

Seriously, getting discounts on snacks sounds heavenly to me.

I'm all packed and ready for another road trip

I feel like I haven't settled since I returned on Sunday. I'm packed at long last.

I am not bringing as much on this trip. Instead, after I get my rental car, I am buying pop, water, and soy beverage. I probably need some snacks.

On Friday, I used another two Groupons. I had a fantastic deli sandwich with fries and another dessert. Later on today, I use up my final Groupon. Yay!

My next post will be in Montreal. I hope that you have a great weekend!