Good Wednesday Morning, Everybody!

[Clintmax]

:donut::hi:
How are you on this "hump day"? I hope all you Nighthawks had a great night! :bounce:
We begin extended hours at my store today, so instead of opening at 10 and closing at 9, we open at 8 and close at 10. For those of you who have worked in retail during the holiday season, I'm sure you remember THAT. x(

Question: Who's going to be here on DU on Christmas day? *Clintmax raises his hand*

[KitchenWitch]

1. I probably will

Good morning!

I have worked in retail...I do remember.

[Clintmax]

4. Hello, Miss Kitchen!

:hi::hug:
Good Morning to you too! I'm glad...I don't want to be alone here on DU either!

[billyskank]

2. Hi clint

:hi:

I may well be here Xmas morning.

[Clintmax]

5. Hello, hello, Billy!

:hi:
I'm glad, Man! You doing OK today? Anything exciting been going on?

[billyskank]

11. Apparently things are so unexciting here

that the guy sat next to me has fallen asleep! :rofl:

[Clintmax]

15. LOL! Wow.

Falling asleep at work...that concept is foreign to me. Then again, I am on my feet for the entire time. You probably need to wake his ass up before he gets himself into trouble!

[billyskank]

17. He woke up of his own accord

:)

[KitchenWitch]

22. dang

you did not get to try the warm water trick!

:evilgrin:

[billyskank]

27. That would have been jape of the decade

for sure. :rofl:

[tjwmason]

79. You're sounding worse than I now

Japes indeed.

Next thing you'll have lashings of ginger beer and lemonade. :P

[Clintmax]

25. Oh, OK...well good...

Now you can make fun of him! :woohoo:

[billyskank]

28. You're nearly as bad as KitchenWitch!

:rofl:

[Clintmax]

30. Maybe so...

But when someone does something dumb like that, they are just ASKING for it! :rofl:

[billyskank]

34. 'Specially in an open plan office

We don't even have cubes!

[Clintmax]

46. Oh, even better!

:rofl:
If I worked there, I'd give him hells the rest of the day! :rofl:

[tjwmason]

19. Morning billy

:hi:

Hope that all's well with you.

[billyskank]

29. Hi mason

:hi: I am ok. How are you? :pals:

[tjwmason]

39. All's well here thank you.

:pals:

Are you tormenting your somnolent neighbour?

[billyskank]

43. I haven't got it in me

I'm just not the tormenting type. :)

[tjwmason]

69. We need to change that matey.

You're just far too sweet now.

[Robeson]

3. Hey Clintmax. We have all been popping the cork to celebrate....

...Heidi's and primate1's 10K mark. Join the celebration!...:woohoo:

[Clintmax]

7. Hello, Robeson!

:hi:
I already have! I saw her 10,000 mark thread and posted to it immediately! You doing OK today?

[Robeson]

9. Doing as good as can be in Bush's America.....

...I'm trudging on. Incidentally, if you know of a rich benefactor, who would like to set my wife and I up in another country, say, New Zealand...then we're all ears!!....:-)

[Clintmax]

14. I hear ya, Mister!

I'm all for another country too! My vote? Italy of course. Rome specifically. I'll let you know if I find a rich benefactor...you let me know too if you find one, you hear?

[Robeson]

21. That sounds like a plan.....

...:thumbsup:

[Clintmax]

26. Sounds like it to me too!

:thumbsup:

[newyawker99]

6. Good morning everyone!

:hi: :donut:

[Clintmax]

8. Morning, Miss NewYawker!

:hi::hug:
It's always a pleasure to see you!

[newyawker99]

104. It is a pleasure to see you too!

:hi: :hug:

[MissHoneychurch]

10. Good morning Clintmax

poor you, that you have to work two hours more. Do you at least get more money for it???

[Clintmax]

12. Hello, Miss Honey!

:hi::hug:
Yes, and overtime is approved, so if I work over 40 hours (which I will), I won't be in trouble for getting time and a half! :woohoo:

[MissHoneychurch]

13. that is good to hear

at least something for working longer hours.


I don#t get my overtime paid but I can use it when I need it.

[Clintmax]

16. That's good for you too...

Overtime is a BIG no-no in retail. It is rare for them to approve it.

[MissHoneychurch]

64. we don't have to approve for taking over time

which is a good thing. And sometimes I work over time so that I have the time when I need to go to the doc or if I want to leave a bit early Fridays. Then the over time comes handy.

[Clintmax]

65. Yes, I'm sure it does!

I'd LOVE to be able to do that! Alas, they are SO strict about OT that this time of year is the only time they'll even THINK about it. Such is retail, I guess.

[MissHoneychurch]

68. yes, I have to admit

I work at a great place. :bounce:

[Clintmax]

73. I'm glad!

I love my store too...it's just some of the policies...

[MissHoneychurch]

74. Yeah I know what you mean

in my last job I had a shitty under-boss. He was mobbing everybody. He was a real asshole. I was looking for a new job already when he got fired. I stayed another year. And in that year a lot of shit hit the fan. It was a crazy but somehow interesting time. I did stuff in between that had nothing to do with my job as librarian but I loved it. But now I am more then glad to have a save job in a good work surrounding. That is very important in my eyes. That you get along with your co-workers. Then the work is more fun.

[Clintmax]

75. Yes, it sure is!

Getting along with your co-workers is VERY important!

[tjwmason]

18. Good Morning Clint.

:hi:

All's very jolly here thank you. I've got a dash of a Scottish theme for the music today, unfortunately there have only really been 2 Scots composers to have made any impression on the world at all (even then, not exactly widely known), at the moment I'm on Robert Carver/Carvor (1484/5 to some unknown date after 1568), and when he's done I've got some James Macmillan (born 1959). Macmillan was given an honourary degree (for his contribution to Scottish culture) at my graduation ceremony.

Here's a little attempt to help you through the long hours :hug: I've said many times that I couldn't cope with working in retail.

I very much doubt that I'll be here on Christmas Day, if I am it will be fairly late evening.

[Clintmax]

23. Hello, TJ!

:hi::hug:
Scottish theme today, huh? That's cool! I've never heard of those two composers though. I guess I'm just not very knowledgeable about classical music. :shrug:

Just having you and the rest of my friends here on DU helps with the long hours. Thank you for helping even more today! :hug::pals::loveya:

[tjwmason]

37. Glad to hear that we can bring you some happiness.

:hug: :loveya:

I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of them - plenty of folk who are into classical music won't have either. Carver produced some of the most gloriously ethereal sounds of the renaissance, but alas with so much else from that era it is left for the early-music loons like myself, plus his entire extant works would fit onto about 3 C.D.s.

Macmillan falls into the trap (perhaps inevitable) of most modern composers, in that his work is so removed from mainstream culture (due to the diverging development of classical music) that very few even start to get to know it. As he was getting a degree, they played one of his pieces at my graduation - quite frankly I think that most folk there found his music even more confusing that the fact that the whole ceremony was in Latin.

You should also know that having you here always perks up my mood in the late morning. :D :pals:

[Clintmax]

42. I'm glad I do!

You do for me too! :pals:

As far as classical music goes, I knew there were probably a lot of composers I'd never heard of. I have a few CD's, but they are all the well known composers with their most well known songs. I'll have to check out those two.

[tjwmason]

67. I would check out Carver

Though there won't be many C.D.s with his stuff on - but it is music that one can just sit down and listen to. I particularly like his motets O Bone Jesu (which is impressively for 19 voices) and Gaude Flore Virginali (5 voices).

Macmillan on the otherhand, is the sort of music which would just sound like random noise unless a person knows (for wont of a better term) something of the music language in which he is writing. As I said, my fellow graduates found Latin to be less disconcerting than his music, indeed they sang the Gaudeamus with great gusto.

[Clintmax]

71. Well, I subscribe to Rhapsody...

So I wouldn't have to go buy CD's...I can just pull them up and listen right through that service! :woohoo:

[tjwmason]

76. Did you manage to listen to the Paert I sent you?

You can be as brutal about it as you want.

He is a chap who seems to appeal to many who aren't otherwise into modern classical stuff - and his stuff has been used in some adverts over here too.

Neither of my parents had actually heard of Macmillan until they saw/heard him at my graduation - and my mother is a music teacher.

[Clintmax]

77. You know...I completely forgot about that!

I'll listen to it in a few minutes...then I'll let you know!

[tjwmason]

82. I'd be fascinated to hear what you think.

I'm a big fan of his (greatest composer currently living i.m.o.) - and it's always good to hear what folk with other musical tastes think.

[Clintmax]

85. Ok...give me a few more minutes... n/t

[tjwmason]

88. I'm not trying to rush you.

Just making conversation - you are more interesting than working afterall. :loveya:

[Clintmax]

90. So are you, Mister!

I know you're not rushing me...I just have a couple things going on here at the same time...

[Clintmax]

92. I'm listening to it right now...

It's almost 7 minutes long though....

[tjwmason]

95. 7 minutes isn't very long.

I'm listening to a 12 min motet now.

After lunch I'm going to put on Solomon by Handel - that's 2 1/2 hours.

Wagner's the real fun - an opera there can easily be over 4 hours long :bounce:

[Clintmax]

98. Ok...done...

Here we go...

I kept waiting for the song to start. It sounded to me like a 7 minute intro and the song never really got going. It didn't have any of the melody (If that's the right word) of the other classical songs I've heard. I wouldn't call that song "Classical"...it's New Age. At least that's what came to mind as I was listening to it. I kept thinking to myself; "Come on...DO something..." but it never did.

I don't know, TJ...it sounded like something that would put me to sleep if I were just sitting and listening.

[tjwmason]

118. I know exactly what you mean.

That's almost the essence of mystic minimalism.

There is no 'tune', the dichotomy of melody and harmony is abandoned by Paert in favour of the tintinabuli. You can't really look at the music in the terms of pop music, or indeed of most classical. Some love it, some don't - that's what always happens with art.

But Paert is definitely classical, in that he only fits into that 'stream'. But you have to remember that during the 20th century classical music has shed many of the styles which were applied to it during the late Baroque and Classical eras (misleading name there, Classical era is basically the latter half of the 18th century). If one looks at Stockhausen, he clashes violently with that which came before; Berio almost seems to leave music behind at many points. This process of development (including at times very radical changes) is nothing new, when the earliest composers started adding a second line of music to the Gregorian Chant they made a massive change, Bach made several enormous shifts with his devlopment of the "well-tempered" system and his famous 'cello suites were incredibly shocking at the time.

[Clintmax]

124. Hmmm...I think I prefer a "tune".

:rofl:
Waiting for a song to "do" something and then it never does is frustrating as hells! Still...the only thing that matters is that YOU like and enjoy it. That's good enough for me. :hug:

[swimboy]

115. Good morning, here! Good afternoon, there--

Good to see you this morning. :hug: I am dragging around today for lack of sleep :hangover: but cheered by all the happiness of the Clintmax Team. (Sad that I have missed our Captain.) I'll be up to speed before too long. :loveya:

[tjwmason]

119. Do you want me to give you something which will wake you?

As always - it's good to see you around. :loveya:

But you need to be getting to bed (or perhaps that should be getting to sleep) early tonight - that's a strict order.

[swimboy]

122. Yes, Sir.

I hear and obey. This time. :evilgrin:

[tjwmason]

126. Then check your inbox.

Sorry for the delay - I was busy running around giving away £25,000 (unfortunately to other folk who work for the company).

You'll always obey matey. :evilgrin:

[Clintmax]

123. Hello, Swimboy!

:hi:
I thought I'd check back in and here you are! :loveya: It's good to see you today! So you didn't get much sleep last night? Or you just got to bed WAY too late?

[swimboy]

125. Hurrah!

:hi: Good to see you, Clint! :hug:
Sadly, I was not so late to bed but woke up after 4 hours (not enough) and couldn't get back to sleep. I lurked with the Nighthawks but went back to bed for another attempt at sleep before the morning crew got going.

I read that book, Taliesin, that you mentioned. It was several years ago. Are the other books in the series good? I've read a lot of Arthurian literature.

Referring back to some earlier threads, I'm sorry you can't be with Greekspeak Christmas and New Year's. If Ensign Crusher gets the transporter working (Ensign Crusher to the bridge, immediately, bitch!) we sure would like for you to stop by and have some holiday goodies and fruit juice with us. But now I think about it, if you had a transporter, I think you would only be using one set of coordinates! Am I right? :rofl:

It turns out I'm a little chattier later in the day. Usually, I only manage a feeble greeting. Great to see you! :loveya: Have a fukngruvn day!

[In_The_Wind]

20. Joani raises her hand too. Happy Hump Day!

I'll be here Christmas Day.

You have my sympathy! I remember working extended holiday hours.

[Clintmax]

24. Hello, Miss Joan!

:hi:
I'm glad I'll have you here with me on Christmas Day too! I love your christmas smilies!

[In_The_Wind]

31. DU has become my family.

I've been here for a whole year.

[Clintmax]

33. So have I!

Amazing it seems! It's part of MY family too!

[In_The_Wind]

50. I'm glad billyskank is back.

I wish more of the old-timers would return.

My house mates get jealous of my time spent on line.
There are a few times a day that my friends are around - like you, like now and that's when I put everyone else on hold if I can.

[Clintmax]

52. Awww...that's so sweet!

:hug:
I love the early mornings with you and everyone here on DU! It's quiet here, I don't have to rush around, no stress, etc...

Greekspeak is kinda jealous of me too...he's been on DU a lot longer than I have and I've surpassed his post count now.

[billyskank]

54. Group hug!!

:grouphug:

[Clintmax]

66. We'd better watch it...

the Schmaltz Police will be after us! :rofl:

[In_The_Wind]

89. He must not visit the Lounge at the same time I do.

I've never met Greekspeak.

Supper time is an unavoidable absence from DU for me. The parrots become very demanding then. You cannot out shout a parrot so forget about polite conversation.

[Clintmax]

91. Well, he doesn't come into the lounge very much...

He stays in GD and GD:Politics.

[In_The_Wind]

93. THAT must give the two of you lots to talk about.

When I leave the Lounge, I head over to LBN. It's interesting. For me it's been a bit more friendly than GD. I like discussions but not flame wars. For a bad-ass, I'm a pacifist.

[Clintmax]

94. LOL!

"For a bad-ass, I'm a pacifist." :rofl:
He teases me all the time for only posting in the Lounge. He says DU is for politics, not the chit-chat that goes on in here. I DO sometimes go into GD, but I rarely post in there and hardly ever start posts in it.

[In_The_Wind]

109. I do understand his point.

If the Lounge weren't here, I wouldn't be round as much. I like it when other people acknowledge my existence. I tend to avoid posting in forums or threads where my post go ignored.

It's funny :sarcasm: that I still find a bit of cat and mouse games with some of the people here in the Lounge.
I don't care for being baited it seldom happens more than a few times.
However I do like to give people a second chance because cyber communications aren't always clear in their intent.

[Clintmax]

113. I wouldn't either...

Sounds like we're a pair, Miss Joan. I don't like being ignored either. Who does?

[KitchenWitch]

59. I have also been here just over a year!

:woohoo:

It was a year on either Nov 24, or 25...I was away from computers so I could not celebrate it properly.

[billyskank]

61. Oh man I was away then

otherwise I would certainly have posted about it. :)

[KitchenWitch]

70. I would not have been here to see it!

I was in SoCal, and away from my computer.

[billyskank]

72. That makes me feel better

:)

[In_The_Wind]

84. Happy 1st DU Anniversary KitchenWitch!

I'm glad you're here!


my 1st post was on 12/12/04

[KitchenWitch]

Woohoo, Joani

:yourock:

[In_The_Wind]

99. There should be a DU 1st Anniversary thread. Cause everybody missed mine.

[KitchenWitch]

100. Poor dear!

:hug:

[In_The_Wind]

107. Awww

:hug:

[Clintmax]

102. I think NewYawker tries to do an anniversary thread...

doesn't she? I'm sorry I missed yours, Miss Joan. :hug: Congratulations a little bit late! :party::bounce:

[In_The_Wind]

106. Thanks Clint.

It would be difficult for anyone who didn't know me from the beginning of my time on DU to remember that it is a year. I went through 2 name changes.

I didn't think about contacting newyawker because which date would she want to use.

[Clintmax]

108. Hmmmm...that makes it interesting...

I didn't know you've gone through a couple of name changes. Have you had this one for a year, or is the year mark from your original screen name?

[In_The_Wind]

117. My 1st post was on DU was as Freebird12004.

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=2818716

In my first three days at DU, I posted on 22 threads: 5 were in LBN, 3 were in GD AND then I found the Lounge ...

[swimboy]

116. Happy Anniversary, Joan!

I'm always happy to see your posts. I'll try to speak more often instead of sitting in the cybercorner. :hi:

[In_The_Wind]

120. Thanks swimboy!

It's always great to see you! *smoochies*

You have way too much to add to DU to just sit in the cybercorner and lurk. Jump in anytime and chat with me! I'd love that.

[swimboy]

121. Thank you! I will.

And I just have to say that you have the best smilies in this whole DU town! :hug:

[Heidi]

32. self delete

Wrong browser ...

[Clintmax]

36. Hello, Miss Heidi!

:hi::hug:
It's GREAT to see you here this morning! :rofl: Small horny dogs :rofl:

[Call Me Wesley]

41. Hey!

That was my line! :rofl:

[billyskank]

44. Wrong browser?

:rofl:

[Call Me Wesley]

48. Yup!

For a short second, I had over 10,000 posts! :woohoo:

[billyskank]

51. Oooo - careful not to fall foul of the sock puppet rule

Not that I think Heidi would be happy to hear herself described as your sock puppet. :rofl:

[Call Me Wesley]

55. I don't think so either ...

:rofl:

[billyskank]

57. You're going to call her that now, aren't you?

First time you see her. "Hello, my little sock puppet." :evilgrin:

[Call Me Wesley]

58. Hmmm,

NOT on a "hump day!" :rofl:

[billyskank]

60. ...

:spray:

[Call Me Wesley]

35. Good morning, Clintmax!

Good vibes for your extended work today!

"Hump day?" I'll be weary of small horny dogs today! :hide:

[Clintmax]

38. Heya, Wesley!

:hi:
Are you and Miss Heidi on the same computer? I see the first post was self deleted...forgot to change the log-on to YOUR account? :rofl:

[Call Me Wesley]

40. Yes,

it's the big workstation. But she's logged on on IE, and I'm on Fireworks.

Yes, there is a Heidi and a Call Me Wesley. ;)

[Clintmax]

45. LOL! Oh, I knew there were...

Greekspeak and I have done that before too.

[Call Me Wesley]

47. It easily can happen,

and it feels good to think I have 10,000 posts! :rofl:

[Clintmax]

49. LOL!

It will be YEARS before I will...although I'm approaching 5,000 now! :woohoo:

[Call Me Wesley]

53. Half way done then ...

And I've heard the other 5,000 are just a little walk in the park. :)

[Clintmax]

63. Maybe so...

We'll see...these first 5,000 have taken me over a year.

[LaurenG]

56. Good morning Clintmax

I only hope that you get overtime for working so many hours. I wish you a wonderful day. You are the one person I can always count on to respond to me, so just know I VALUE your morning threads!:hug:

[Clintmax]

62. Good Morning, OhioB!

:hi::hug:
It's always a pleasure to see you here in the mornings! I DO get overtime thank goodness! This is the one time of the year I can! :woohoo:

Thank you for your nice words! :hug: I count you among my friends here on DU! Anyone who doesn't respond to you is just silly. You'll never find that here in MY threads!

[LaurenG]

81. You are a good person

Thanks for spreading the love. Lord knows we could all use more of it. BTW, I didn't mean to sound like I was upset, sometimes I don't respond to others either. I can only get online at infrequent intervals so I miss some posts too. You are good, you always get back to a post, I bet you're an excellent customer service person too! Have an excellent day, that's my wish for you.

[Clintmax]

86. Well thank you, my dear!

:hug:
I hope you have an excellent day too!

[Callalily]

78. Mornin' all, mornin' Clint

Yes, I can certainly relate to your long hours. I worked retail as a part-time job during the holidays and didn't get home sometimes until after midnight. The store I worked at stayed open until 11p.m.
Going to another get-together after work again today. And please have no fear about the drinking, I NEVER drink and drive.
Well, I'll go unless the predicted snowstorm arrives. If that happens, I plan on leaving work early and just heading home!

[Clintmax]

80. Hello, SimplyF!

:hi:
I hope you had a good time the other day! Another party today, huh? You're just the party animal aren't you! :rofl: i'm glad to hear you don't drink and drive. That's just inviting disaster.

I remember one year, it started snowing at 10 in the morning (this is when I lived in Missouri) and when we had 20 inches on the ground, I left the store...luckily, I was driving the Jeep and had no trouble getting home. I didn't go in the next day either because the store stayed closed. I hate snow.

[Cannikin]

83. Good morning gang. I hope everyone is well today.

[Clintmax]

87. Heya, Cannikin!

:hi:
I'm cool today...good morning!

[tjwmason]

96. I'm well

and even better for seeing you here. :hi:

Hope that you're doing splendidly. :hug:

[swimboy]

112. Hey, man!

Have a great day today! :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

97. Good morning Clintmax!!!!

And I don't miss working at JC Penney's at all. I was a stylist in the salon, and they made us dress in the same dress code as the rest of the store (because another associate bitched about it). Standing in heels and a skirt doing foil highlights for 10 hours straight is no fun...especially when no clients are in a good mood... It irritated the hell out of us, because we had studied and paid money for our goddarned licenses, while they were selling shoes. Big difference in the work load.

Went shopping yesterday, and all of my "co shoppers" were positively hostile...So in saying that, my heart breaks for you.


I will not be here Christmas day (well, unless I can sneak off). I'll have a houseful. :hug: But, I'll be thinking of you guys.

[Clintmax]

101. Hello, Mrs.G!

:hi:
I can certainly see how that dress code was a hardship on you! High heels and everything! Jeebus! :rofl:
So far, everyone I have helped at my store has been in a pleasant mood. I've had a couple of people who wanted to argue with me about returns, but that's it. I hope it stays that way. People who like to abuse retail workers don't understand how hard that job is and would NOT act that way to us if they had ever worked a day in our shoes.

[ScreamingMeemie]

103. Agreed. If I'm not in the mood to put up with a little bit of discomfort,

I don't go shopping that day. Because I worked for tips, I always overtip...unless the hair cut is horrid or the service is awful. You guys really don't get the respect you deserve and work hard for. Know that I am out here and grateful to you.


P.S. I haven't worn heels since my last day at work in 1996. :hi:

[Clintmax]

105. I don't blame you even a LITTLE bit!

Thank you for understanding! We get some people in the store who come in just LOOKING for a fight. There's nothing you can do about their foul mood except try like hells to be nice as pie to them so they don't take their frustrations out on YOU.

[billyskank]

110. Hi MrsG!

:ih:

[ScreamingMeemie]

111. Hi Billy!!!

:hug: Good to see you!!! I am contemplating a nap...but DU always seems to get in the way. ;)

[Clintmax]

114. Well, i'm off to go have breakfast and get ready for work!

Thank you everyone for being here with me every morning! :hi:

[Rising Phoenix]

127. morning Clintmax!

how are you today?:hi:

[billyskank]

128. Afternoon Mrs. Sniffa!

:hi: