This week I have been mostly dodging the rain; walking the Ship’s Dog in between showers, picking the scant blueberries – more are dropping off than are ripening, dashing to work, timing the shopping and laundry… We’ve had the occasional downpour, short showers, and persistent drizzle. The rain is getting seriously tedious.

Last week work was not so good, and I was advised that whilst there had been no customer complaints, and that my picking was fine, I was too slow. For the first time, and remember, I’ve been there 5 weeks by this time, I was shown my ‘target’ pick rate on the scanner and was told what it meant. Somebody could have done this weeks ago! Anyway, the pick rate is shown, and your rate is colour coded. Red is not good and means you’re too slow which is what I have most of the time. Amber is better. Green is good. And blue is coveted.

Last week I managed a blue run though it was for a small shop. One day this week I’d done a few small shops which others seemed to be avoiding, then had a large shop to complete for my final run. Plenty of multibuys which are fantastic for speed. For example, a customer wants 6 of the same items in their crate. This makes the pick really fast and I noted my scanner was showing blue. Ooh, I started to get excited. The final few items I dropped into the correct tray but didn’t bag them (trying to be fast) and headed back to base with my chariot (shopping cart to you). This is where we sometimes lose speed due to others in the aisles. So, I quickly attached scythes to the chariot’s wheels, and pounded down the aisles screaming at customers and colleagues alike to get out of my way. As I made the turns at the ends of the aisles, I swear I saw smoke coming from the wheels. I made it back to the end-scan card, and by a stroke of good fortune, I was still in the ‘Blue.’ Ok, maybe I exaggerated the rush just a teensy bit, but the Blue run remains, and I was so pleased with myself. The supervisor commented on my speed and that my ‘pick-rate’ had soared. I was well over my target for the day. It’s a good thing because I was genuinely worried that they’d terminate my contract early. Hopefully I can keep this up for the remaining 5 weeks or so.

Last week I managed to get half hour overtime due to heavy workload. This week there was more on offer on a different section. A colleague had called in sick, and shelves needed to be replenished. What they wanted was someone to cover 5 hours and whilst the money would have been good, this would have been on top of my four hours. Nobody was particularly interested in that, so I offered to do 2 or 3 hours which they accepted, then others said they’d do same. In the end I was relieved after 2 hours which was fine as I was getting tired. I felt fine that day, did my 4 hours the following day and then did some shopping for myself, felt fine, but that evening, and the following morning I was shattered. It’s not a lot of hours but it’s quite physical in that we’re on our feet for almost 4 hours, shopping for 6 at a time (we have 6 crates to a cart) and pushing all that shopping around certainly gives you a workout. Anyway, the extra money will be well received, and I’ll do it again if I see another post advertised once my temp contract is over with.

The only downside of this job is that we always seem to be in somebody’s way. I start at 6am, and somebody I talk with starts at 5am. Despite the early start, we’re often competing for space with the guys stacking. This week one of them was complaining to me that there were too many of us at the same time. Well, there’s nothing I can do about that and it would make far more sense to complain to our supervisor, but that would take balls, I guess. Later, a shopper stated quite loudly to her companion that we shouldn’t be allowed on the shop-floor once the store opens. The shop is opening earlier than usual to allow shoppers more choice and ease of access. We shop for others who can’t or don’t want to come to the store, so we perform a useful service. Shoppers can’t have earlier opening AND the aisles to themselves as we’re driven by customer needs and orders. At least I hope the people who use online shopping are happy with us; somebody needs to be…

The dentist has cancelled our appointments, just the 6-monthly check-up – when we’ll get another is anybody’s guess. I’ve cancelled my eye appointment; it feels too soon for my liking and I don’t want the possible bill for new glasses at this time. The dog has his yearly check-up and inoculation next week, and I had a long-awaited haircut today. For the first time, the hairdresser cut it a bit too short but it’s literally quite a weight off and once it grows a little, it’ll be better.

Take care out there, keep safe, and hopefully the sunshine will return one day soon.