Messages

Thanks Mel, Jack and Coke hurts when it comes out my nose. ::trout::

Happy birthday Anthony!

Hope you had a good one old timer!

(Cody, we need and old man smilie named "Harley", and we need it before he gets back from the bar...er I mean hunting)

Don't get me wrong. It's a job, and I'm thankful for that. I know that the stores policies are designed to keep people safe. The newly installed netting for stock items stored in the overhead shelving is the direct result of an employee falling off a ladder and dying (not in Lapeer, try Mexico). But at some point, I feel Home Depot should back off and let Darwin do his work.
I also believe that at some point, the end consumer (aka homeowner) should realize that they are in over their head and call a licensed trade person. But this is a topic for another time as I must go do homework now.

Thanks! ::trout::

Thanks  to all that finished my post with bruised forheads from the keyboard.
Paul, the Depot did away with the box-cutter saftey video because they realized that even thier own employees were not smart enough to use real box cutters. Now they have the auto-retracting box cutters. I believe injuries from box-cutters are down about 75%, but stress induced hand and knuckle injuries (from punching the boxes that the box-cutters will not open) are way up.

You also bring up a good point. Training and being licensed to run any of the machinery seems to be the equivalent of the rich class at Home Depot. Those of us without a license (the poverty class), are shunned and pressganged into being the drooling, helmetwearing shlubs you see making sure none of the customers walk into the two aisles we MUST close off for any type of lift work. And yes, there is a video to watch so I could learn how to buckle up my helmet and make sure no one walked past the big orange gates with the warning signs on them.

Newride, I must disagree a bit. The public can be smart. I think Home Depot has some sort of sci-fi brain ray pointed at the front door of every store. People walk through the door ( and said brain ray) and it knocks 75-100 points off their IQ. (Also bad days and Home Depot are synonomous, i checked the dictionary)

Harley, I'm out for the mounds, gotta' go back and get another dose of meds today!! ::woot::

Mel, you may laugh at me, everyone does. I blame it on the apron. My journal is kept tucked safely under my gate-watchin' helmet

4x4x4JK, I believe Excedrin is kept in the garden area (I tell everyone that if I don't really know the answer)

Thanks to all again.

By the way, this post could become a bit of a journal as I think of more funny little tidbits to pass along. Just be fore-warned. Home Depot wants you to spend your money (lots of it) with them. And they will do what it takes to get you to spend as much as possible while your there

Not sure if anyone really cares, but after just over 6 months of indentured servitude at the Big Orange (Home Depot) I really feel compelled to give everyone an "insiders" view of working for a home improvement company.
   I have learned a lot about both the corporate view, and the typical home owner view of the home improvement retail business, and I must say, both sides scare me. Not just the type of scared like when someone peeks around a corner and says boo, but Amityville Horror, or The Exorcist scary.
   I'll start from the scary corporate view. To start my diatribe, let me say that we (the faithful sheep of Home Depot) must endure training by way of 15 minute videos on the computer that teach us about the products we are trying to sell. Some of these videos could be informative, but the people in charge of writing are really out of touch with the real questions that the consumer ask. Contrary to the writers belief, a little thing called price dictates what I sell more than quality, or long term savings ever will. As an 8 year veteran of the plumbing industry, I would HIGHLY recommend Delta fixtures, with Moen being a distant second. Of the products Home Depot sells, my list would then be Kohler, American Standard, Pegasus, Price Pfister, and LASTLY Glacier Bay. Trust me, price DOES reflect quality here. Yet despite all my "highly trained" experience, Glacier Bay is one of the best sellers in the plumbing department for Home Depot. Why, you may ask? Because you can buy a bathroom faucet for$19.99. But then you need to buy a $16.00 pop-up assembly for the drain to hook up to your existing piping. Now your at $35.00 and I will guarantee you that I will see you within 1 month to start replacing parts that are failing on your Glacier Bay faucet that you saved  a couple dollars on. The best part about that......Home Depot doesn't have ANY replacement parts for Glacier Bay fixtures. Guess what? Now your gonna buy another one. No you say, I will not. WRONG! No body listens to a Home Depot associate, because we are all flunkies. That's right, we are just people that couldn't master the spatula at Mc Donald's, so we are here at the big Orange selling you things to make your house work like new. All of the great training I am so privileged to view on the Home Depot super secure network tells me that the customer is the sheep and they will buy what I tell them to. The scary part about that is they are about 75% correct. Read on and we shall see what I mean.
   If you come into my department (Plumbing), and ask me a question about what you need to make your water quit staining your toilet or sink or tub, I will sell you two to three times as much crap as you need. Why? Because I can.  No, I won't do that to 98% of the people that come into my department, but the 2% that think they are God's gift to home improvement, I WILL HAMMER YOU with totally unnecessary crap because I interpret your "intelligence" as arrogance. If you come to my department and tell me how to do plumbing, I will NOT ask to see your master plumbing license. Instead, I WILL attempt to throw any and all unnecessary crap into your cart. No, I do not get paid commission. I don't even get an employee discount, but, I figure if you are really that smart, you will know that I am hosing you, and will call my bluff at some point. If you don't, SHAME ON YOU, and I will have proven my point. I will go back into the break room, and look at my license, and have a hearty belly laugh at your expense.
   So just what could a customer do that would warrant my insensitivity towards them. Gosh, where should I start. Well, if you come to my department, and ask me for a 2" fitting ( 90 degree elbow, 45 degree elbow, or any of the other 2" fittings we sell) and I walk over, and casually grab the fitting you ask for, DO NOT take it over to the 2" pipe and see if it will fit. IT WILL! I know the difference between 1.5", 2", 3", and 4" pipe and fittings. The same goes for any water distribution and gas pipe. If I catch you second guessing me, I WILL scare you to the point that you will not buy anything on that trip, go home, remeasure, and come back for the parts, all the while wasting your gas that you could have used for wheeling. As a side note to the last comment, please understand that ALL PIPING USED IN PLUMBING IS MEASURED IN INSIDE DIAMETER, NOT OUTSIDE DIAMETER. If you come to me and ask for 5" pvc pipe for a project you are working on I WILL LAUGH AT YOU!. Not only are 5" pipe and fittings EXTREMELY rare, I can guarantee that you do NOT have 5" in your home. You do not have 4" pipe in your home. I can put  your whole house on a 3" drain line and still be well under code.
   If your water supply piping in your house is not metal, it is some sort of what we in the business consider "plastic". You will either have Pex piping, or CPVC piping. If you have pex piping, we do have fittings and all the accessories needed to complete your job, but DO NOT complain about the price of the tool needed to crimp the ring on the fitting. Yes, it does cost $95.00. This is why the plumber you called was going to charge you a couple hundred bucks to fix the leak in your pex pipe. I'm sure it was a bit cheaper than having copper run in your house, but now you know why. Pex is not installed properly if there is not an 18" loop somewhere in your system. Due to the design of pex piping, the piping system will expand and contract enough that the 18' LOOP IS NEEDED. Without it, your system could be exposed to enough pressure to separate the pipe from the fittings, resulting in a new indoor swimming pool in your basement/crawl space. Also, do not think that a hose clamp will hold well enough to keep the pipe together at operating pressure. Hose clamps are for automobiles.
   The other type of plastic water supply piping used in plumbing is called CPVC. DO NOT ASK ME FOR PVC FITTINGS FOR THAT. If you ask me for pvc fittings, you will get pvc fittings, and I will see you in a little while, because you bought the wrong stuff. PVC IS FOR DRAINS! If you try to use  it for water supply, you will have problems. Pvc is not rated for hot water. CPVC (the tan colored pipe) is rated for 100 psi, and 180 degrees, there fore you can use it for water supply.
   Galvanized pipe is also ok for water supply. BLACK PIPE IS NOT. Black pipe is for gas. Like the gas to your furnace, dryer, range. Black pipe is not galvanized, therefore it will rust. QUICKLY!
   There are many things I know that I am forgetting (like calling a water heater a "hot water heater". It's not a hot water heater, hot water is already hot. It is just a water heater). Even though the duct work stuff is in my department, that doesn't mean I know a lot about it, or that we have enough stuff to completely heat your house. There are just so many things that we can sell. Some things you will need to call a heating contractor (I can get you a number to a great heating contractor, just think Camouflage). Also, yes we sell thermostats (even programmable ones), but my license says nothing about heating, therefore I refer you to someone that knows what is going on ( Re: Camouflage!).
   Finally, I work in the "PLUMBING" department, not the "How can I plumb a fuel line on my 1935 John Deere tractor to run off chicken poop so I don't have to buy Diesel fuel to till my 40 acres" department. If you come to me with that kind of problem, I may solve your problem, but it may be more cost-effective to just buy diesel fuel for the next twenty years than  buy all the crap I'm gonna put in your cart. You may even need two carts for that!

Cliffs notes:  Don't shop at the Lapeer Home Depot unless you have A LOT of money to blow. The jerk in the plumbing department will screw you!

Yeah, most of my summer classes were scheduled til 10, but were never there past 9:45 in the latest.

I was supposed to Have Morris Fulcher, but instead I got Richard Mohr.
Odd class tonight. He lectured for 35 minutes, gave a quiz and had us do our homework in class. Was done and gone by 7. Then I had to wait til 9:45 for the wife to get out.

Intro to Windows is on XP. Shouldn't have a problem with that.
Intro to OS is on Vista. As I get further into class, we'll see how that goes.
Intro to programming is Thursday night so I don't know what platform that is on yet. Vista isn't much of a problem either since my laptop has vista. Shouldn't be a real tough quarter, just don't know what to expect yet.

Thanks. I've got Bill Robson as an instructor.
Shouldn't need help in that class since I almost have all the homework done for the whole 5 weeks already. I might get with you on a few others though

Promise you won't laugh??


































Intro to windows
 ::ouch::

Might have been except he was missing his rose if it was him. ::poke::

Monday night. I was there for class. Had a nice long walk in the rain. When I got to Momma's truck (Yellow Colorado with "MRS MUD" plate) noticed I was parked next to ya'. Who was it and how far did YOU have to walk to get to class. Fall parking is a pain in the a$$!

[Bout' all these old bones can handle]

happy birthday ::woot::  

im sorry you have to be old like chris  ::ouch::

Old like him, not old AS him. ::ouch::

Thanks all. Spent the big 40 with my kids at school orientation ::gay::

As for the party, sorry. Spent last weekend on a lawnchair about 2' out in the water at Holloway. Bout' all these old bones can handle

that was after the tubing adventure, wasn't it?   :mrgreen:

Yep, but I think the tube came out worse than I did ::ouch::

Happy Birthday a few days late!!!!  (Hope you didn't miss the Denny's senior dinner special.  I'm sure that's what you did AFTER orientation, isn't it?   :mrgreen: )

They looked at me and laughed. They are still working on the decrepid menu.