Tag Archives: Haggen Food and Pharmacy

Carry That Weight

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Tualatin Haggen Service Deli is a relief in contrast to my prior position as courtesy clerk. I am no longer zonked-out tired by the end of my shift – all I need to do is freshen up a bit and I’m good to go. Plus, pay is 33% higher. Tomorrow I learn how to operate and close the “back” of the deli. Responsibilities are generally dishes, hot food and rotisserie chicken shutdown and cleaning, fryer shutdown and filtering, chicken de-boning, and a lot more cleaning. But, I’m sure there’s a lot more than I even imagined. New challenge… GO!

But for some reason I’m fascinated by one popular, caffeine powerhouse called Starbucks. The small little store snuggled in the entrance of Haggen seems perfect. An acquaintance of mine, who also works as checker for Haggen, picks up the rest of her time as a Barista – and she says it’s awesome. Starbucks really is this social beat, and I have this desire to get in the circle. The Baristas seem to get along so well, and I sometimes feel I’m stranded in no-man’s land back in the Service Deli. Don’t get me wrong… My coworkers are overall nice, helpful, and easy to work with, but I think I would enjoy being in the social crave working as a Barista. If I wasn’t going back to Corvallis in the fall, I think I would most definitely try to get my foot in the door and work out a scheduling deal between both employers.

Hmmm… I’m torn. I want to stay true to my words and be “liv’n it up” as much as possible – follow my intuition – go for my goals… But perhaps I’m just not ready to carry that weight. It’s easy to be glorified by another’s simple-seeming job-hopping, but fulfilling the line of duty may take a little more desperation. I should enjoy the time I have off of work.

I’m picking blueberries at 8am – I have easily eaten about 9lbs. over the past three weeks and this will be our third time returning to the Nodaway Blues farm. I also look forward to hitting up Starbucks for my morning jolt – which reminds me!… My friend at Starbucks in Haggen… She made me this kicker of a drink custom-named Black and White Toffee Nut Doubleshot Mocha. Prior to having that venti-of-love, I was feeling pretty under-the-weather. The beverage fixed everything.

Need my sleep.

Out.

Liv’n It Up!

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On these welcomed summer days, I starkly find a moment’s opening to thoughtfully blog – it always comes to just an update, like this one. But despite this, I find it surely enjoyable to be able to blog on my iPhone and unglued from the computer.

As I write, the family and I are relishing Tualatin’s outstandingly comfortable 82 degree temperature outdoors at Zao Noodle Bar in iconically summer Bridgeport Village.

Yesterday, I got called into work to hold down a smaller four hour guest service shift for today. 9:30am to 1:30pm and I’m surprisingly exhausted. I’ve never opened that early, so I learned some new material. When it comes down to it all, I’m thankful for more experience. But because I worked today, by Saturday I will have worked a sixth day, meaning overtime! I’ve been given 10 more work hours than usual this week because several coworkers are on vacation. What I’m saying is that 37.5 hours this week – and 6.5 of those hours are going to be counted as overtime, I’m so excited for the next paycheck!

Anyway, by now I’ve finished this post and my Dan Dan Noodles with Chicken. Yum!… Balanced healthiness and enjoyement, with a side of perfect weather – can’t say much more than I’m liv’n it up!

Posted from my iPhone 3G.

Scribble23: A Thoroughly Blended Update… Enjoy!

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Hey devoted visitors and blog stumblers… Thought I’d give a blog update on life and summer happenings.

Let’s see… Still looking for housing with my roommate for this coming fall. We are pretty much in regular text messaging contact, regardless of the fact that we are a couple of states away. We have some ideas and very draft plans, but it’s looking a bit better than originally forcasted.

Working at Tualatin Haggen Food & Pharmacy Service Deli is going well. I’m pretty much used to it, with a few quirky times now and then I have to deal with – haven’t had to directly deal with food orders yet – especially over the phone (most difficult thing ever for me). Let’s hope that time doesn’t come quickly. Yesterday I just felt so out of it the last two hours. I had just gotten back from my lunch break and all I had eaten prior to that was a donut in the morning. Ugh! I think a lot of blood rushed to my stomach to process the food I had eaten. All day I was feeling a bit achy, but after lunch I thought I would be better… But it wasn’t. The rest of the shift I just felt so sunken in my mind – like I was on autopilot. I wasn’t bubbly like I usually am – I would snap out of it from time to time and realize how drone-like I was. It was all really strange.

Traveling has been on my mind (cue this post). I need to figure out if/when I can swing on down to San Francisco this summer – needing an escape from this enjoyable but monotonous routine and scenery. It is kind of important to get my Request Time Off (RTO) form in ASAP. Also, I still have aspirations to travel the world some day. Really, if I were to win the lottery, the first thing I’d do probably would not be to purchase some disposable item like a new car or some tech device – it would be a classy itinerary for places I’d be experiencing around this globe… Back in real life, I must note that each day seems to fizzle by faster and faster. Today I looked at the clock to expect it to read probably around 2 or 3pm… 6:15! Wow. What is going on?… Anyway, just got back from Busch Garden (a Japanese restaurant (nothing like Sushi Groove in SF)) just down the road. They have pretty good sushi and various other Japanese entrees compared to other locations in Tualatin (by the way… never get Washington Square shopping mall sushi or pre-packaged sushi sold in marketplaces… bleh!).

I’m working tomorrow morning again – all day 11am to 6pm!… But my schedule is really twisted this week. I then get Monday off, but work Tuesday. After that, I have Wednesday off, then work (although just the shorter closing shift) Thursday and Friday, but get Saturday off. Seriously… A household member providing for a whole family could probably not deal with it. But I like what I do, and don’t really mind the schedule fluctuating so much – I kinda think it’s fun.

Hmmm… Anything else?… I’m thinking…

56 days until Hawaii – that’s something to look forward to – really looking forward to doing some fantastic photography. I’m bringing my tripod, remote shutter release, and all that jazz – I’m stoked. Most likely (hopefully!) my roommate and I have a place to call home by then. Then, my parents and I return from the islands, I pack up, move in to the new place in Corvallis, and get ready for school. I think I’m pretty excited for this next school year – really looking forward to all the new things it can offer with new people. Sometimes I wonder how come other people are so successful with the formation of best friends – I’m talking about the kiddos that you see on Facebook, and although are wealthy, invite their friend on vacation with them, and party and forget boundaries. My emphasis is not on the money part, but rather on the idea that this extremely strong friendship can almost make you like family, and you couldnt really imagine living without this buddy anymore – and despite perhaps attending school apart, the quality and duration of that connection never fades. I never grew up like that. What/who do I blame?… My parents for sheltering me?… No one because we relocated from San Jose, California to Lake Oswego, Oregon and then to Tualatin, Oregon, or myself because I failed to take a chance outside the bubble created by my loving family? I mean… I had pretty good friends in Lake Oswego – two of my besties moved away, but there were still others. I sometimes stop and think what’d it be like if I never left. It seems that the longer you’ve known your best friend (especially from birth or a very young age like before double-digit years) the more exclusive, personal, and established the bond is. I recently found several elementary school friends from Lake O. on Facebook – all grown up they are! I even found my #1 bestie – he’s one of those jock types now (*jealous). But now that I look at the past, I see that if we still lived in the same town and still were the greatest friends, today we would be one of those permanent best friends – the never-ending #1′s. LOL… Then suddenly he stopped talking to me on the social networking site within a day of becoming friends. He never replied to my wall post, and even thereafter I asked him a simple question about one of our shared besties – no answer. Screw him… But I miss those times. We were exclusive best friends – something that hasn’t existed in the past 10 years. It’s a bummer.

On a lighter note… I really want to see Bruno in theatres. It looks hilarious – who can deny that?!

Going to try not to splurge on things to buy for the next school year. I had way too much stuff in the dorm this last freshman year. I think I’m going to be packing light, and adding as I need it. Although, I am considering an LCD TV – don’t know what yet or even if. I don’t know if I really need it – it all depends on if I can get a stupid DTV signal in Benton County. On the official DTV map for Oregon, the northwest portion of the state is covered very well… all the way until Benton County. Then it just stops. Sad day! I could not get a signal in the dorms, but my roommate could receive channels loud and clear – perhaps it’s his TV’s built in tuner. I really don’t know. Could it have to do with him being on the opposite side of the brick and concrete building as me? Clueless…

Just bought Battlefield 1943 – an Xbox 360 Arcade game – I really like it so far, but have to get used to the controls a bit. At first glance, I’ll just say it’s superb for an arcade game, which are usually dinky little puzzle-like games or strategy stuff. I think I’ll go play now.

That is all for the dialy dose…

Out.

Proofread and edited on my iPhone 3G.

C.A.R.D-tastrophy!

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Ok… So Haggen Food & Pharmacy (For those who don’t know, it’s where I work) has stopped using the membership-like cards (called the C.A.R.D) that customers use to receive the advertised deals. We have, as they say, “… gone cardless – it’s easier, faster, and you still get the same great savings.” So far, it seems guests (customers) are split-minded on this change. In my belief, people enjoy using a club card because they like the feeling of exclusivity when they use it. They want the feeling that, because they are a regular to the store, they get rewarded for it. But now everyone is treated with equal rewards. Sounds to me like it’s a way for Haggen to raise prices and offer less-dramatic discounts. Plus, guests will no longer be able to receive airline miles like we promote once a year for a limited time. I don’t know… Perhaps I’m wrong. At least I still get to use my Haggen Crew Club Card – 5% discount FTW!

Traveler’s Fever: An Instant Inspiration

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I suddenly feel so claustrophobic! Take it as a figure of speech… It is as though we, as individuals, are all so naive, but I shall explain my ideals. We live in our little homes, neighborhoods, communities, towns, and cities. We find a daily commute to work to be an exhausting trek, and the people we interact with as a routine of our lifestyle. We think of roadtrips to the other side of the state as a journey far beyond our borders of home. We consider taking an airplane to another location as either an established business trip or a moderate vacation, and we truly share to the world when we plan to leave the country, because that is something we consider worthy of headline news.

But the fundamental question is… Why do we get so focused on only the branches of our personal lives?

Look at who we are. We are individuals living in our own bubbles, whether they be large or small, constantly shifting around or staying fixed. It is overwhelming to try to think of how all the different people in the world simply “live”. While working a shift at the Tualatin Haggen Service Deli, I helped a couple of customers who were purchasing some fried food items because they were cleaning out their refrigerator in preparation for their travel to London, England. I was really taken back – kind of lost in the moment. I then realized how intriguing it is to expand your horizons, bring yourself out of that bubble of life we get so focused on.

Consider it. Where are you right now as you view this blog? Your home, your school, your job, your city? Is it anything new? We live like a broken record – we stick to routines like they are all we got.

My eyes are opening to new possibilities – just like Leeloo becoming exposed to all the elements of life by gazing at the supercomputer in The Fifth Element. I’m seeing this life outside of mine… This life that’s experiencing the world, traveling to new places, understanding culture, and capturing the moments of a lifetime. I find it kind of ironic. Back in 2008 (the second of three times I worked at Haggen), I befriended a guy working the seafood department named Rob. He gave me his words of wisdom and suggested that I travel my first year of being out of high school. He elaborated, describing how satisfying it is to see the places you want to see, experience it, and clear that desire to see what else is out there. I declined the idea at first, but now I really understand where he was coming from.

How did I get to writing about this?… Facebook! One of my acquaintances from middle school, who now goes to Oregon State University, traveled to Istanbul, Egypt, Dubai, and is now located in Johannesburg, South Africa. I’m so jealous! Apparently he’s out and about traveling with his father for a couple of weeks. That is quite the dream (and expensive) trip, thus this is why it’s an instant inspiration to discover the world.

Back in the Saddle

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Work starts up again for me tomorrow. I’ll be back at Haggen Food & Pharmacy in Tualatin. This will be the third time returning to the store. However, this time I will be working in Service Deli. I’m happy to report that I’m neither really excited nor nervous. I don’t know what that really means, but hopefully it’s just that I’m used to the store and know I can adapt to new things. Fortunately, I’ll be training with my two favorite people in the department! Other good news, though, is that the pay is much better. I’ll need it for off-campus housing next academic school year at Oregon State University. I’m nervous about that, though. My roomate and I haven’t found a place yet – we haven’t stalled in looking, so that’s good! Anyway, just updating the ‘ole blog.

Out.