The Birds!

I'll assume you've seen Hitchcocks "The Birds", as I had a similar experience the other day. We're having the shop exterior painted right now, and the door is being left open so it's easier to be painted, and so people don't get stuck to it trying to get in. Anyway, yesterday this resulted in no less than six seagulls coming into the shop! They thought the doorstop was food of some sort, and kept pecking at it, and didn't leave until I ran at them! Very embarassing, and kind of scary. I'm pretty sure the gulls were in a gang.

So, I fear that this blog will become a countdown for the trip from now on.
This week is a busy one for me, as I'm working today and tomorrow. I have a doctors appointment outrageously early on Thursday morning, then I leave for a weekend in Edinburgh on Friday, returning on Sunday. The flight to Phoenix is on Monday, and I shall again be waking outrageously early for it. I am, however, really looking forward to all of this. Thursday shall be spent packing, as I won't get a chance on the weekend (since I'll be at my friends 21st birthday bash). I've already started laying things aside, and I'm planning on vacuum sealing them, just to save more room in the suitcase. I'm actually not taking that much, as most of my clothing consists of linen and bikinis. Had a momentary panic last night when I was informed that some places in the States are much more conservative as we are, and that some of my clothes won't be appropriate! I was shocked. What I love about this country is our ability to adopt an "anything goes" policy, something that I have taken advantage of in creating my own individual style. Kat politely informed me that she'll let me know before wherever we go if what I'm wearing is inappropriate. Considering I'm going to be the palest person in the entire state, perhaps covering up is a good idea..

I've been working non-stop for the past 2 weeks, trying to raise a bit of cash for my trip to America. It's done quite well, and I've clocked up around 70 hours which will help me to splurge!
Went into town shopping last night to get some bits and bobs, and ended up unable to cope with the weight of the bags! To be fair, most of what I got was for America, but I did pick up some tees for everyday wear over here.

Kat had a good idea - that we all maintain a blog/journal whilst holidaying together, and then we can compile it alongside our photos into a book/memoir type thing. Sounds good. I shall attempt to do this. It may have to be scrawled in a book, as we're plotting on hiking, camping and roadtripping, which doesn't hold much hope of there being wi-fi around..

Well, the shops dead today. The only people through the door have been my dad, who I took into town this morning, and the window cleaner, getting his money. Not a good day for dresses.

High as a kite.

There's a man painting the exterior of the shop, and he's started working on the door, so he's inside the shop. I can honestly say that the fumes are making me feel a bit woozy...

My dress.

I've found it. The dress that calls my name, that is waiting for me to own it and to wear it proudly..

Scottish Temperament.

It's known as the Scottish Temperamentality of the weather. It was cloudy this morning, so I bundled up in a long coat and scarf. It sunnied up mid-morning, which was nice as it brought a flock of customers out. But then it downpoured with such gusto that the rain and hail was literally beating off the windows and the door. Poor people walking past were thrown aside by the force of the hail, and umbrellas were whipped out of nowhere. At least people know to prepare for diversity, I suppose.

Arizona.

I'm flying to Arizona in a week and a half. I booked it last night. Kind of a whirlwind experience, but an exciting rush nonetheless. I'm going to stay with a good friend of mine, who I've actually only met once. That sounds strange, but its a Transatlantic friendship which we maintain online. I'm really looking forward to it, as it's my first holiday since I went to Sweden two years ago, and that was an epic disaster. Basically lost a best friend, but we've since made up.
Hopefully that won't happen this time, as a friend of mine is going over there with me, so it'll be a "three musketeers" type holiday, and apparently, three's a crowd. That's certainly what happened last time, but as long as two of us don't appear to be shacking up, it should be all good.
So the plan is to see the Grand Canyon and to roadtrip to California. It's so incredibly exciting! The temperature is such that I shouldn't be able to avoid tanning, no matter what I'm doing! I tan deeply and awesomely, thanks to four years in the desert, so I'm hoping I will be unrecognizable on my return! I'm currenly pale as a piece of paper, and as I have black hair, I look kind of ill. The sun should do me the world of good! I just found out that there's a London Bridge in Arizona...how strange! Will have to check it out, and see whether it's structurally sound or it its really falling down..

Life.

Allow me to branch out and share some more about my life.

I am a student, currently on summer holiday. I study English Literature and Film and Visual Culture, which essentially means that I read books and I watch films.
Next year I'm hoping to start making films, but its doubtful that I'll get into the course, as I haven't exactly proven myself to be a worthy candidate in terms of attendance or grades...
I'm also going to be studying olde-English, in the hopes of being able to read Chaucer in the most eloquent and understanding way. We'll see how that goes.
I suffered some heartache around the time of my exams, so if I don't quite make it into Honours, I'll know why and who to blame. I should be okay, however, as I was able to focus my efforts onto studying, and the exams were a breeze. Fingers crossed.

"This job would be great, if it weren't for all the customers.."

I love our customers, but the phone keeps ringing today and it's driving me insane. Every single call is looking for my boss, and they seem hugely disappointed that it's just me today, and that I can't help them whatsoever, other than penning their number and promising to pass on their messages.
When there's a customer in the shop, it always annoys me that I have to abandon them mid-conversation in order to answer the phone; if I don't do this, the phone rings continuously through our conversation, until the customer finds this so awkward that they ask tentatively...."you can answer it, you know.."..
It even rang when I dashed to the toilet. I'm not Stretch-Armstrong, and I can't flop my limbs around to grab the phone from the bathroom. Nor was I bothered enough - it's just irritating that I missed someone with a potentially important query because they phoned the exact moment I needed the toilet!

Rant over. I'm sitting in the shop regretting my choice in woolly cape (it's sweltering) and eating beef flavoured Monster Munch, and wondering why nobody is shopping. There are the opposite ends of who we target - the schoolchildren, who have no money aside from their pocket money funds - and the older gentlemen, who don't want to pay for fickle things such as dresses, unless they're for themselves. I worry because a massive shopping centre is about to open here in the Autumn, which will create a vacuum for most shoppers and lure them in. There will be no need for shoppers to make the walk up to our area of town, and pretty soon we'll be a ghost town. Boarded up windows will be the norm, and tumbleweed wouldn't look out of place. I'm scared that we're going to lose business; even though we're still a niche market, people are going to head to the big centre with the 8-storey car park, air conditioning and Starbucks. We only have a kettle.

Can you say RECESSION?

I'll explain what's going on. The world is in an economic landslide, as we have suddenly realised that we've got no money and that we rely far too heavily on the bank.
As soon as these stories became news headlines, things took a turn for the worse, and things other than petrol and food were considered luxuries, and it would be reckless to spend on such fickle things.
And thus, it saddens me to say that dress shopping has been hit badly. Companies that are firing people left, right and centre cannot afford a lavish affair for their corporate event, and so our usual clientele are finding themselves with nowhere to go, and no need for a new dress.
Our prom girls were spawned from people who suddenly don't want to spend £200 on a dress that their daughter will logically wear once, and either spill drinks down it or vomit down it. It's fair enough, really.

So it's been a bit slow, to be honest. Today, a Saturday, we sold one dress. In seven hours. All of the customers seemed to want awkward things; a dress for a funeral; a size 22 cocktail dress with a jacket; a size 20 mother-of-the-bride outfit; shoes; hats.. Mental.

And so my bitterness has grown. I thought the recession would spell the end for the wedding market, but its booming. Every day brings a new group of hopeful guests and mothers, trekking through the throng of people trying to find the perfect outfit. They seem shocked that we don't stock mother-of-the-bride/groom for some reason, and as they stare around the shop as though we're lying to them, I question whether my pay is worth the people I encounter.