I am officially an employee of The Home Depot.
It is a completely new experience for me. The whole corporate mentality, the constant repetition of their core values, I can see people working for Disney might get this sort of indoctrination.
Don't get me wrong, this my be the better thing to happen for me.
I had orientation for 4 hours on Saturday (2/10) with about a dozen other people. Met the General manager of the store, the HR lady, one of the assistant managers... they were all in there pitching the welcome wagon. Videos were watched, they supplied donuts and tangerines which I think I was the only one that took advantage of them. 8am and I think I was the only one with a spark of energy in that group. I was one of the oldest ones too!
My schedule for the next three weeks is M/T/F 10-4 and two of those weeks will be training.
Video/computer training.
For five and a half hours a day.
Everyone is friendly and helpful, they are really eager to welcome new employees to the company and it truly is different than my previous job. I can't remember having this much attention and acceptance ever at the nursery. Different people I'm sure but it's a mental attitude too.
So today was the video/online training. Dozens of videos about safety, core values, taking orders, even two videos on how to water plants in the garden section!
Oh and there was a video about why they were non-union and how to handle union solicitors.
But the highlight.. the truly spectacular point was ... I caught a bat.
The room for the training/meetings is about 40x20 with tables in the middle in a long rectangle. I'm in the far upper corner doing my training, it's around 3 in the afternoon, and I hear all the voices behind me. ALL the department heads and the upper management are having a meeting because inventory was coming up. So I turned up the volume a little on my headset and continue my video watching.
I hear a commotion behind me and some shadow passed overhead. I thought, oh geez a bird got in here! The heck? I turned around and two of the women are ducking and I look up and discover it's a small BAT!!! A BAT!
Holy Crap! How the hell did this thing get in the room! There's only two doors and they lead to a hallway, one end is a closed external door and the other is open to the rest of the store.
I pause the video and take off the headset, tell everyone to calm down but some are trying to stop it holding up a folder and stuff. I'm just like 'come on bubbus... poor thing' it flew around then landed against one of the walls and gripped a poster that was there. I holler that we need a net and one of the leads runs out to the POOL section to get a net. SMH. Of course as soon as I moved toward it, it took off. I suddenly realize this is a BAT! Teeth! Possible other stuff and take off my light jacket. A couple of rounds around the room and we finally downed the poor thing on a table against the wall. Little thing has a short tail and is smaller than the palm of my hand, a bit bigger for the wingspan. I carefully pick it up in the hood of my jacket and it's got its mouth open panting poor thing. One of the leads comes over and wants to get a picture of it. Need to find her tomorrow and ask her to send me the picture. One of the managers actually got video.
I take it to the exit door which one of the leads is holding open and I release it behind some dumpsters where it promptly flew off.
Wow.
A bat.
I go back inside and the guy returns with a net.
I have no idea where it came from, could have been in the ceiling and something spooked it, not sure if it came through the door.
A bat.
Oh at one point after I had captured it I said, 'Aren't you glad you hired me?'
I'm being watched by the ENTIRE management crew!
I went back to my corner and continued watching the video.
Wow.
I will have to do some research to find out what species it was. I saw a separated tail so that says a 'free tail bat' which I think there's only a Mexican variety locally.
ANyway... I'm pooped.
That was sooo exciting!
Oh I will be getting a look at my prospective car this week on Thursday. Hoping my tax money hits the bank within a week or two and then will likely update with pictures then.
Oh, Katie has picked out a dress, it was only the third one she tried on and it looks stunning on her!
More details on that later too, I'm really whooped gee it's after midnight and I've been awake since 6. Rain woke me up.
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt
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