End of an Era!

'Nuff said about that...

Today was my last day! I have worked at Office Depot for about six full months now (that would be since mid-late February) and I must say that I am glad it has come to an end. My job was to be a 'stocker' of course.

When people ask what being a stocker at Office Depot is like (of course I get that all the time! haha), I tell them the entire job is simply to complete a never ending scavenger hunt. I get to work and either begin to stock things that were shipped in freight (evening/closing shift), or work on outs (opening shift). This is while constantly doing 'recovery', a.k.a. 'facing'. This basically means 'make things look nice'.

The routine for stocking all items is essentially the same:

1. Move items from pallet to u-boat (just a cart thing basically, as shown below)
   
   
2. Then, find where they all go and put them out (scavenger hunt)
   
3. Repeat...

The routine for working on outs is just a little different:

1. Go find the item that is out (good luck) (scavenger hunt)
2. Put the item out
3. Cross off list, repeat...

By the way, an 'out' is a place where an item's location is empty. Outs are possibly the best method of torture ever invented. Not only do items take forever to track down, but when you finally find the item you're looking for, you have to get a ladder and pull it down from the top-stock. The box you were looking for is almost always the one on the bottom of the stack of boxes. But hey, that's why they paid me so much, right? Outs have taken up the majority of my time over the past few weeks because I have been working the killer opening shifts (5am-1:30pm... that's Mon.-Fri.).

Anyways... I even bore myself with all this ranting! I will just let you imagine for yourself life as a stocker during back-to-school times at an office supply store...

I have, however, gained many great experiences from working at Office Depot, the first being the opportunity to genuinely help people. I get an enormous amount of satisfaction out of being able to give people honest advice and surpass their expectations. In the same way, people have surpassed my own expectations. I have found most people to be kind, considerate, and reasonable.

Well I could go on and on, but enough for tonight... Before I go, I do want to just say thanks to the people at the OD for a relatively good experience in retail. Alex, you rock man! Muahaha...

Thanks again,
Daniel

P.S. I lost power once during this post. We are currently experiencing the beauty of a lightning storm up here! I have the window open and am listening to the rain come down with a cool breeze coming into my room. Truly awesome stuff...

Friends...

When it comes down to friends, one thing to always keep in mind is the old adage "quality over quantity". These are words that I live by. For me, satisfaction comes from knowing that what I have is the best. I have two best friends: Steven and Ben. Both are like brothers to me. I thank God for both and regard their friendship as more valuable than life itself. This is something they know.

The reason I bring this to light is because exactly two weeks from this date, at this time, I will be packing to move out... forever! This is daunting for a number of obvious reasons, the biggest one being the absence of family and friends (Ben, I already miss you man!). More on this later, but for now let me leave you with the reason for late nights, great company, great food (garlic bread and potato things, yeah!), and a look at the indelible faces that are my best friends...

Ben

Steven

I could not be more lucky!

Guys... I will see you later,
Daniel