A conspiracy theory of the fentanyl kind

Update:  A call came in from the parent company of Canada Safeway:  Sobey's Loss & Prevention manager this afternoon (Mon Jan 30 2017) to follow up reporting this matter.  It sounds like the person needed some allergy medication and was short the cash.  Regardless, we should all be vigilant reporting odd behavior to avoid prices climbing due to employee fraud or theft.



If you've read my blog at least once before, like most of you here right now, you recognize that I am an avid reader, knowledge junkie who is testing her writing and learning as she moves along into the #soME (aka social MEdia).

 I have never written or bitten into conspiracy theories.  The closest I can admit is a devotee of JFK and Marilyn Monroe conspiracy folklore, or truth, one can never decide whether it is fact or fake, fiction or folklore.  We can agree that conspiracy theories are what legends in viral social media attention are dreamed of.    This evening, I have one of my own.  Not experienced first hand, but vicariously to my anchor and steadfast "Hunkster Hubster" Rob.  This is when I favor the New York Times font that bespeaks serious journalism and trusted credibility.  

After a beautiful weekend the past two weeks, with family, birthdays, anniversary, it is pretty quiet this last January of 2017.  I bid "adieu" to you.  With the mindset and blogposts revolving around mindfulness and being present.  Perhaps I'm ultra tuned into the moment because of that.  

Nothing unusual when the Hunkster Hubster heads out to do our weekly grocery shopping:  whereby I am forever loving that he likes to get the groceries.  For fear of a detour that I may take, coming home with a couple of extra shopping bags from the ungrocery kind, he shoulders on every week faithfully with this task.  I'm at peace at home with our faithful hound and companion Buddy, able to click on these keys uninterrupted or distracted from the quest I am on:  putting words to thoughts to expunge them from my mind.  A mind that can get cluttered with ideas or memento scribe to capture the idea machine that is what my brain fosters up, never quite quiet as the evening wears on.

Rob comes home and looks mighty strong, as he can carry 4 or 6 bags at once, to remind me how impressive that is.  What is not unusual to this story either is the fact that he has this tendency to proclaim what he will accomplish this day, to be later forgotten as he slumbers away as the afternoon wanes.  

He always comes up with decoys to distract me from paying attention to the fact that I am putting all the items away and dinner started, waiting for the finishing touches he will gather asunder and bring home.  Today, it was he said he wanted to call the local Safeway (only payment will have the name removed, as I become TRUMPed up in the capital world).  Apparently, my calm, steady husband made an observance that was so that he was disturbed.  He said he watched the cashier, with a black apron on, and an avid description should the Calgary Police Service would want to investigate, after the company does, whom he was assured would be following up.  (We will have to see won't we?)




The cashier leading star in this sega was trying to secretly pull out a slip of paper and scan it and sneak back into her pocket.  It registered with him that the scan gesture was odd, so he took careful notice, looking at the screen where he saw some sort of allergy medication appear.  (Neither of us need any sort of allergy medication, nor was it on the list that this time I did write up.)   

He observed this quietly and then it was apparent that the starlet realized she'd been watched.  Thinking, like most people doing something dishonest do, that she was free and clear.  She slipped that bar code on cardboard or whatever it was and he noticed a red amount signifying subtraction on the screen.  

Upon returning home, it was curious and curiouser that the item that was scanned and removed did not appear on the bill (a factor some techno guru devised, without comprehending that something considered for convenience could be twisted into something of crime).  

He called the store and immediately reported it after asking to speak to the duty manager, who took in the details, with a promise of follow up within the next 24 hours (we shall see, right?)




We are known to watch some great movies and I am a fan of thrillers and novels that snag me for hours.  We started to exchange ideas on what the scan meant:  was it outright theft?  This woman is scanning things in on to unsuspecting patrons bills, where how many actually review each and every one?  (Certainly, the customers I bravely face every day in my quest for loyalty and retention wouldn't hesitate I can guarantee you.)

"Well, no" Rob protests:  "I didn't pay for my purchase with cash, so she can't be skimming from the cash register because all the money has been accounted for, even if not the smucks who are scammed, with payments by credit cards or ATM receipts.  

"What about Fentanyl?" I jazzed up and asked.  Thinking out loud in a fashion James Patterson may consider a worthy plot:  How do you get an arsenal of ingredients for Fentanyl without setting off alarms by large volumes?  

The plot thickens in my own mind.  Why not be a cashier at Safeway, and scan in products fictiously that can be emptied off the shelves because they were scanned, paid for by a number of unsuspecting people.  A fair exchange of trust with deceit? That remains to be seen, read or heard about.  Or a great plot for the book that everyone will write in their lifetime, waiting for the turn of the engrossing pages.




I will be sharing this post with the Calgary Police Service, Canada Safeway, and a couple of notable Canadian news media outlets for online content.  Maybe someone will pay me to post this blog and follow the story, in a journalistic spirit of freedom.

Those we have known merely by name
Setting the world afire with the flicker of their flame

Those who have been weakened by fame
Weakened by addiction where they don't know their name

Long lost souls collectively mourned the loss
Addiction is a weary road traveled at great cost


Prince



Whitney Houston


Amy Winehouse



Jim Morrison


Philip Seymour Hoffman


http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/comedians
Chris Farley


Judy Garland

Heath Ledger

Jimi Hendrix

Oh dear, oh my .... my give a damn meter is turned OFF!


This post was originally written on  The Publisher blog where I've tripped over and trickled past some interesting things to write about or share that is off the radar usually.  I decided it was worth a share here.  I see where the insight can be used in sales and business scenarios to which I will expand and explain better in a sales-oriented blog.  I still dream in sales and think of ways to sell better.  I just have expanded my interests and want to test new theories or ideas.  Stretching my creative scope even farther than I thought possible.  I referenced my optioneerjm.blogspot.com already and meanderingsabout.blogspot.ca before, now I guess I'm flogging The Publisher (link below) because what I wrote really spoke to me and about me.  Thank you for reading if you are still with me this far.  I owe you my gratitude.
Sincerely.  Jeannette 


SOURCE

There are a few things that are really annoying me, but I am really trying to focus on trying to withdraw something positive from this whole experience.  One of the gifts wisdom has so wonderfully bestowed upon me is to try to turn EVERYTHING from wine (or whine) to vinegar (rinse out the anguish) to champagne!  (Pop, let it out.  Let er RIP!)  

Well, giggle, snort ... very few people even read my blogs.  Like today, for instance!!  Geez, what a day of a hell on a week bouncing around WIRED.  This really young chap where I work came sauntering in today (yes, that is a great word even for someone not writing a novel or a script ... to be made into a play or a movie ... where she stars opposite that guy who plays the latest Superman and Man from U.N.C.L.E. dreamboat of "if I were 10 or 20 younger....).  I complimented him on his advancement which his chest puffed right out of when he then introduced his brother, whom he was escorting and showing around his new workplace.  Timing is everything ... timing things right is a gift isn't it?  

He said:  "Ah, yes, and Jeannette is a writer of a blog and has many many followers on social media."  WOW, I got a zinger:  "I said, aw, thanks, so you've read it then?"  This young whipper-snapper politely referred to as a chap.  (NOW, you GET IT).   He was too young, and still blinded by the glory of the compliment, through the glow came the honest answer:  "Uh, no".

Someone older and wiser would giggle, snort or gleefully snicker at the big trap the chap had just handed to them.  Like forcing a speeder with a strong tendency to get off on police car chases, disciples of Fast and Furious fame to go lay a tire popper track thinga majiggy then back his car up a few blocks away, start a cop car chase, being hunted and pursued.  Then go exactly the familiar way, and driving over that popper track thinga majiggy that blows up tires contraption.  

I was forced to exude my frustration and humility in writing here.  Unencumbered.  Fairly alone with my harmonious strokes of my thoughts, my fingers, to the keys.  Hardly read.  Maybe there is freedom in that.  I admit, I've been peeking around writing about nothing more than experimenting with styles and topics that appeal to me.  Even for me, it is getting a little confusing.  

SOURCE


I trust a champion will emerge or a gust of more than a few readers, or maybe five on a good day.  I know it can happen.  It has happened to me a couple of times on my optioneerjm.blogspot.ca blog where a particular post would bounce around a lot and jiggle with some spikes in readership.  It was a glorious two times that resonate.  The elusive reward of actually resonating with a certain group of people, under any number of topics, or a singular interest or passion shared.  A nice feeling when you're more used to a horseshoe curve, more like a wish or a hope to be blessed with a little traction.  It is really great.

I couldn't imagine being one of those bloggers who just blogs, turning a passion into writing or writing into a passion with uninhibited ability to express oneself in whatever fashion they want.  I got a hint last weekend, a great weekend.  In fact, one of my greatest or most favorite weekends I can remember from a very long time.  Maybe it WAS 10 years ago when I got married to the love of my life, Rob.  My affectionate version being "the Hunkster Hubster" mostly in my tweets as @optioneerJM .  My whole family was together.  It has been only since August when we were all together, but for a wedding, it was clouded with intricacies of varying family dynamics is not any definition of quality family time!

I had the nerve to send this email to an organization, whom I edited out for obvious and legal reasons:


SOURCE

Why do your communications not include a website link what-so-EVER?  Not even a paragraph as to who represents "communications@------------,ca" ? along with an alternative contact internal IMMEDIATE contact encrypted to hide for privacy but also someone where it can get IMMEDIATE attention.  Also include the time frame in which a person can anticipate a reply .. be realistic, but be sure you are really really close to following that rule or you will sink your trust in your attentiveness (or lack thereof), lose loyalty faster than the price of oil, to any messages you send out.  

 ~ Jeannette 
    @optioneerJM
"you need my help" . calm

FIGHT procrastination: turn thinking into doing



Quora invited me to answer this question:

I'm a thinker. How can I also become a doer?
I am creative, intelligent, innovative and philosophical. But I find it incredibly hard to actually get something done. 
How can I find a balance between doing and thinking? I want to become a doer. 



I am both a thinker and a doer and wouldn’t say that I am more one than the other. However, I also admit that I am weakened by procrastination.  Personally, I find the best way of resisting the temptation of putting off tasks is by creating a TO DO list, using tools like OUTLOOK or other relationship management systems when they are aligned with a customer. 

I adopt my TO DOs with actionable items that are not vague. Take into account that broad task statements are less likely to be completed if you don’t factor that there may be steps to complete the item. Be realistic as to the timelines that it should take to accomplish the almighty check mark on being DONE.




As a thinker, you may want to start off by specifying what your desired outcome is. You can do this by framing the ultimate outcome with bullets on the steps to arrive at the final destination. For example:

I found this to include after I wrote this article/answered question


Complete 2016 taxes (desired outcome)
  1. Purchase accordion file and label according to tax filings:
  • Income
    • Invoices
    • Pay statements
  • Investments
  • Expenses
    • Home office (square footage divided by total square footage=percentage of expense
3. Retrieve government forms
  • Update mailing address
  • Employer forms (received by mail or retrieved by company HR intranet site)
  • Benefits (awards, trips, recovered expenses)
4. Organize receipts by allowable expenses
  • Home office
    • Percentage of square footage x mortgage
    • % of insurance
    • % of heating
    • % of electrical
  • Internet
  • Home office telephone
    • long distance expenses
    • monthly fees x percentage of business use
5. Automobile
  • Track usage throughout the year:
    • Beginning of the year/end of former year auto kilometer/miles
    • Business trips
  1. Miles/km to client office from starting point
  • Purpose of visit/meeting: (i.e. introduction, networking, proposal, presentation)
6. Capital costs
  • Computer purchase: financing, payments, cash outlay
  • Automobile:  deposit, financing, lease payments

FINISHED, DONE, COMPLETED!
  • Identify what it will mean when you have completed the task
  • How will you reward yourself when you are finished?
  • What reward will you reap when you are done?

Hopefully, as a thinker, you can map out what needs to be done starting with the final destination in mind and then itemize the detailed steps.

Imagine the sense of accomplishment you will have as you tackle and check off those items. You can keep editing as you go along. Keep in mind to be flexible and fluid because it isn’t unusual to have new items  surface as you are drilling down to finish a task. The beauty could be a template to follow for the next year: doing the tasks as you go along and when the time is right!  That would be considered being proactive!