The Thursday, er... Saturday Dispatch - 30 August 2025

This week was a bit unorthodox. I spent the week in Grand Island, Nebraska, for work, helping put a new store together. It was an opportunity in many senses. There was the opportunity to earn overtime for once. I don’t get many chances at overtime, so to be able to pad the paycheck a bit is nice. Combined with the Labor Day holiday on Monday, my check two weeks out will be worth the extra effort.

There’s also the opportunity to be seen. I’m trying to move up in my career. But one issue I have is I’m not known outside my store much, unless I’ve worked with someone previously who promoted. So this was a networking opportunity for me. I feel like I’ve made a good impression, which feels good.

It’s interesting setting up a new store. For one, I get to see just how outdated my current location is. This new store is beautiful. There’s lots of natural light, and the wood paneling in the food area is a nice touch. Everything looks modern throughout. Even the break room was cozy, and there’s some good use of space. For the most part, these new stores are built with efficiency in mind, although due to the stockroom location, some areas of the store will have some long travel times. Given the location, though, I can see why they laid things out like they did.

I enjoyed traveling for work. It’s the first time I’ve done this. I always like seeing other locations, with how they’ve changed their approach over time. My store was built in the late 2000s, so seeing how things are being done now, I can at least imagine what a remodel would look like.

All this said, I’m tired. I have today off, but I’m right back at it early tomorrow morning. It was also a busy week. My store crew (six of us) all got together most nights to socialize, so I didn’t do the usual gathering of links and songs for my weekly post that I usually do.

Next week, I’ll return to regularly scheduled posting.