Kinda think the only thing we can really do in regard to Wisdom Books is begin to make cut backs. That means less people working there and those that stay working there working for less. Simple as that really. Ya gotta look at the most obvious places for savings and for us that means first and foremost the payroll.
It will mean that Granty Boy in the packing department is gonna have to be given his marching orders which is gonna be tough as he has been with us for over seven years now and is well habituated to coming in and doing his stuff day in day out for the working week.
Will also mean that the recently implemented pay rise for all of us, keeping level with inflation, will have to be taken away and people will have to go back to last year's wage figures. We will have to insist that our star accountant, Jimmy the Legs Legon can only do a maximum of three days in the office each month plus payroll.
Finally Mikel de Gilmore will not be able to work sats from now on, there is no need as often no one comes in the shop and the phones can sometimes be dead.
When I mentioned all this to Tamdin last night over a beer she also said that Leigh could work less and take less as a result because he is in a similar position to me in that he doesn't have to work to survive. Don't know how that will go down however. It might then mean we can spare Granty Boy getting the chop completely but that decision is also kind of tied in with how much work there is to do in the first place.
If all those measures above are followed through it should result in savings of 1200 - 1300 quid a month and the way things are going we are going to most definitely need that money.
Best thing I think I can say to Garnty Boy if he does have to go is that we are laying him off and that if things get better after the summer he will be able to come back in Oct or something like that. Really dunno what else to say. If push comes to shove.
It will then be down to me, Mikel and Leo Boy to cover the bases left by Granty Boy's departure from the warehouse. That means going down and doing things like packing and booking in stock ourselves. There just aint no two ways about it. If we don't have this contingency measure in place then all of us will not have jobs to do a few more months down the line, let alone just one of us.
Best plan at the moment is to give things another month, till the end of May, and then see how things stand. If May is poor in terms of sales then we will have to tell Granty that as far as his career at Wisdom Books is concerned it is curtains for him at the end of June. Nuthin' else to be done, simple as that. Oh shit.
Hate it when work thoughts impede on things to the extent they do at the moment but that is just the way it is. Would like to be able to talk about so much more but my locker is empty at the moment, just ain't that much else I can see on the horizon. As a kind of stress relief I have picked up my copy of Lord of the Rings that I have never read before and have now begun to read it. Nice hardback edition of all three vols under one cover that I bought back in '94. Dip into it now and again and am enjoying it. Good to be able to get lost in the world of Tolkein. Top drawer imagination he had, aint no doubt about that. Dunno if I'll be able to stick with it to the end however as it aint half a hefty fucker.
Eve now still Sat. Hot day, for April really quite ridiculous, but as far as weather goes the ridiculous is now gonna be the norm so we just better get used to it. Aint no turning back now, man as a creature on this planet is soon gonna find out just how clever he really is.
Anyway besides all that crack o'doom shit which every tom dick an' harry wants ta write about these days I have to say that today has been a laid back kinda day, low key and really quite relaxing. Suits me. Tamdin has needed the rest as well.
Took up from where I left off after writing here earlier today and spent a fair part of the morning reading The Lordys in the garden, both in the sun and in the shade, depending on how hot it got. Kinda went on like that till lunch. Coupla times went down to the shops at the bottom of the hill. Once to get milk and bananas, once to post a package of medicine on behalf of Tamdin and get some rolls for lunch.
Ended up buying some pretty tasty looking organic ale as well on this second trip. A glass of which I will look forward to drinking tonight. I also stopped and had a chat with the Woodford Tramp. He usually hangs out in the doorway of the building next to Oddbins and on an average day he is there morning noon and night, occasionally hanging round other places in the immediate vicinity.
Today Woodford Tramp was by the bench across the road from Oddbins and underneath the trees. He often hangs round there at lunch time to eat his food. He was wearing a pretty bright yellow jumper today and there was a reason for it. He told me when I stopped to have a chat after posting the package that the day before a woman had come up to him and handed him a bag full o' designer clothes. For some reason he thought she was exactly 24 years of age. Apparently she told him her husband or partner had left her and the clothes belonged to him. Woodford Tramp was now welcome to have them she said. He told me it was beautiful clobber, designer stuff and worth a bob o' two. This morning however he became paranoid about putting any of it on in case the husband drove by, saw Woodford Tramp wearing his stuff, got his shooter out and let him have had. Stranger things have happened Woodford Tramp told me. So that was why he was now in a bright yellow jumper, so there could be no mistake that he was not wearing someone else's precious gear that he had no right to. Got the feelin' he was gonna bide his time on that one, let it blow over and start wearing it. As usual our little talk ended with me giving him 50p so he could go and get a Tango later on.
After lunch me and Tamdin went to Waitrose to do a bit of food shopping. Kinda pretty busy there as I was expecting. Sat afternoon and all that. We go there pretty damn often it has to be said and certainly plenty of the staff are familiar faces along with a few customers now as well. My favourite is the tall well built Japanese guy with a pony tail who I like to call Mr Fujihara. He is often in there at the same time as me and Tamdin. He is clearly a discerning customer, there aint no about that and he buys quality produce nearly all of it organic from what I can tell when I steal a glance at his basket. Clearly buying the right food, buying good food, is important to him and I guess I would be kinda curious to see exactly what it is that Mr Fujihara cooks up for himself in his ktichen. By the looks of things he is a bit of a ladies man as well as there is often a woman with him and I can't quite kinda work out whether it is the same one who just looks different all the time or just a whole string o' girlfriends he's got a bubblin'.
From Waitrose it was then down to Homebase in W'Stow for paint. Next w/end is a bank holiday and the plan at the moment is for me to paint the walls and ceiling of the landing. Ended up getting a tub of Dulux matt emulsion called Apricot Crush. The fuckin' names they have for things these days! Think it is gonna go on pretty well though, at least I kinda hope so. Painting is one of the very few DIY tasks with which I can acquit myself quite reasonably so all should be fine when it comes ta slapping it on.
We kinda hung round the Base for a while looking at garden furniture as well but thankfully this time we did not get into an argument with each other over whether or not to buy a parasol. Thing is we do need some shade for the garden and the decking but ya can't just buy a parasol on it's own it seems without running the risk that the thing will continually fall over every time the slightest breeze comes along. Ya have to get a table to stick it through and that just means more stuff out back 'coz if ya get a table then you will have to get chairs as well. We already have four garden chairs plus two white chairs and a little table so the whole area would get pretty damn choked if we went for more. Stuff. It's never ending. The ceaseless accumulation of it can exhaust ya, aint no doubt about that.
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