Today at work they had the Human Resources guy from district level at our store holding meetings where we can bitch freely and he will try to respond to us. His job from what I can see is to relate the company's perspective to the associates with the most positive spin imaginable. Not that Wal-Mart is doing this, but if they were killing babies, he would find a way to make you forget your questions and objections while explaining how this was the only cost effective measure they could take against the babies.

I don't know why I suddenly forget all my questions and my mind becomes a butter knife suitable for only cutting the warmest of spreadable lipids whenever I get in front of the person I want to ask the questions to. This is why I need to write stuff down before hand. I would have done this but my hands were tied. The only cost effective method of writing this stuff down was to play Call of Duty 2 for three hours last night and then go to sleep. It would have been a nice thing to do but if you look at the big picture you are actually being selfish for expecting more from me. Obviously these two short paragraphs have been an effort for me to put you in my position in this meeting. I can say that we are evaluating the possibility of improving the effectiveness of this blog, and we'll definitely have something in place in the near future that will deal with this issue.

If you haven't figured it out yet, most of what I do here is complain about stuff. Sometimes I try to be funny, and sometimes it even works. On that note...

Here is an article about how Wal-Mart is shifting to a more part-time work force. To quote the article:

"Wal-Mart executives say they embraced the new policies for a large number of their 1.3 million workers to better serve customers, the newspaper said. But some Wal-Mart workers say the changes are further reducing their modest incomes and putting a strain on personal lives, the newspaper reported."

How would you feel if you had worked for Wal-Mart for the last 10 years, making $15/hour, and they suddenly change your position to part time? Also, with pay caps in force, if you are making more than the cap is, you can keep your rate of pay, but if you change positions, you have to accept the pay cap for that position. So, if they change your position to a part time position, you could be looking at a $4/hour paycut. They are honestly hoping that you will quit so they don't have to pay you anymore. To better serve customers they say? Sam Walton said that if you take care of your people, they will take care of the customer. How is this policy taking care of your people? If I just got a paycut because of restructuring, do you think I'm really going to give a shit if you can't find The Gilmore Girls Season 5 on DVD? Do you think I'm going to give you any information on that new laptop or talk to the Blue Bell vendor to see if he has that flavor of ice cream you want? Mull that one over Mr. Wal-Mart Decision Maker. You'll say I'm just not a dedicated associate. You're right, I'm a mercenary. I'm here working for you for money. I'm not working for the thrill of victory, or for the moral satisfaction of helping stupid people use amazingly easy to use products. I'm not here because I love the blue vest or because I want a date with a certain cashier. I'm here for the damned money. I would think this would be obvious. All other considerations are secondary. If I can't pay my bills, then it's awfully hard to keep my chin up and kick major ass at work.

Another Quote:

"Investment analysts and store managers say Wal-Mart executives have told them the company wants to transform its work force to 40 percent part-time from 20 percent, the Times reported.
Wal-Mart denies it has a goal of 40 percent part-time workers, although company officials said part-timers now comprise 25 percent to 30 percent of its workers, up from 20 percent last October, according to the newspaper."

You deny that is your goal? Are you saying that the store managers are lying? If they're such liars, why did you trust their character enough to make them store managers? Obviously the store managers got this information from somewhere. They didn't just make this up. I know this article is from the New York Times which is not the most reliable source these days, but seriously is this not just a line of crap they are feeding us?

Every day in the Wal-Mart daily news, which is a .pdf file of short news stories available to Wal-Mart associates on work computers, there are all these articles about how great Wal-Mart is doing and how they are being so environmentally aware these days. I don't deny this, but why couple this environmental move with a sudden hatred for your workers? I can smell a union coming on and you did it all to yourself there, hero. You feed us these lies and hope it will make us feel better about how much it is starting to suck to work here? Do you think I'm stupid or complacent enough to actually believe you? Do you actually believe the letters you get in your associates speak out section that talk about how great the company is, but they only ever some from District level management, distribution centers, or Home Office Associates? Regular store people don't talk about how great it is to work for Wal-Mart because it fucking isn't great to work for you. Prove me wrong, I really want you to. I will eat a half cup of Hellmans with no chaser if you prove me wrong. I'll eat a raw tomato with no water to wash it down with if you prove me wrong. I really hate tomatoes. Come on, feed me a tomato. I know you can do it, but you won't do it. You don't care enough to make me eat a tomato.

Two days ago we learned that our landlord decided to steal our security deposit from us. She also stole our lawnmower and a few of my power tools along with a worthless treadmill and a broken fan. As a result, we left the remaining mess in the back yard. She should have fun cleaning that up with her "broken foot." I would go into more detail, but it will just piss me off. Just don't rent from Debbie Moore of Bowie, Texas. I wonder if that's lawsuit material.

I was actually kind of happy to hear that she was a thieving whore because I really didn't want to clean up that shit out of the back yard, and I really didn't want to mow the lawn. There's a good side to everything. I was trying to figure out what the right response was to her crap, and I think the unexpected thing would be to clean the rest of the stuff, paint the house, and perhaps build some sort of garage, and also installing an inground pool. I no longer wonder why people leave their houses in shitty shape when they leave as renters. It seems that most landlords are worthless sons of bitches that lie and cheat and steal. I pledge, as a fledgling landlord, not to be this way. I'll even help you clean the house when you are moving out, and give you back your deposit with interest. I will shine like a Jesus among landlords. This is why I need to make more money, so I can buy all the houses from all the assmonger landlords in this town and make it a better place to live.

I am the landlord.