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[wombat]

That sounds like the kind of place it would be good to spend the summer at so you'd learn how to recognize a place you don't want to take a real job at. If they can't get a simple job interview right, what do you think the rest of it must be like?

[wombat]

You got better customer service than you're used to because they're Japanese. It has nothing to do with you.

[theinevitable]

Yeah, true. That was some insanely perfect service. And it definitely got me into a state where I was so wrapped up in the experience that I wanted to ignore price tags.

I think I also felt fancier because I was wearing a suit. It is not often that I shave two days in a row, much less shave two days in a row and put on a suit and tie.

Yes, I think working there for the summer would be fine and I would learn a lot. Even if part of what I learned was "how to recognize a train wreck of an organization."

[jay-ell]

I did some internet searches and found a company that other skinny tall guys said seems to stock a lot of skinny neck /long-arm shirts.

Do you have a link? Asking for a friend.

Thanks for creating a new thread just in time for me to come back from my ridiculous hiatus so that I can catch up all of your lives without having to page through the old one and try not to comment on things that are ridiculously outdated. That was considerate.

I got a job, I guess some of you know that from Facebook. It's pretty awesome. Right now it's about 12-15 hours a week but they tell me that I can expect that to increase after I'm trained to open and close and when we get into the busy season, which is June/July/August.

It's an education supply store, which makes people think of pencils and notebook paper, but we have traditionally catered more to teachers and home-school parents than to regular people. The store moved into a new, dedicated building last fall and the retail space is 17,000 square feet, plus a warehouse that serves the web store. We sell an amazing variety of stuff, from lesson planners, workbooks, and classroom posters to kid-appropriate lab equipment, math manipulatives, every kind of art supply you can think of and some you can't. The owners have devoted almost half the retail space in the new building to toys and games. They apparently hired me because of my experience at the board game shop, because they want to expand their game section (the selection seems random and not particularly balanced; I think they just ordered stuff from companies that would give them free display racks) and they are hoping I can advise them about what to order and how it should be marketed. Which, of course, I am more than happy to do.

It's pretty much the perfect job for me right now, except, I mean, it's retail pay. But it's mostly hours when my kids are at school, and a few weekends. I've got 2 whole weekends off in May, which was unexpected but nice.

[theinevitable]

The store I went to was Kamakura. They supposedly carefully studied men's shirts from mid-century preppy staples like J. Press and Brooks Brothers (who have changed their fits to be more "modern") to design theirs. Of course theirs have modern touches too (like not being super baggy) but they apparently kept some little things the other brands didn't? Who knows, the shirts are great either way.
I really wanted to buy a tie, they were all awesome, but I do not need any more ties. My dorky skinny 2009 ties will do for now.


They have 4 fits, "New York" "New York Slim" "Tokyo" and "Tokyo Slim."
I am not sure of the differences there. I tried on what the woman helping me suggested, and she and the guy at the counter agreed that the other ones would be too big around the shoulders. This shirt fits me like a glove. Maybe a little tighter than I would have gone for, but they told me to try it on with my jacket and... wow. It feels good. They are pricy ($75 each...) but I am a crazy spendthrift.
I do not know if the Japanese are known for their long arms, but I guess they tend to be less heavy than Americans? Anyway, at Macy's they only had a few shirts in my size, and here they had a whole bunch and all of the patterns were nice looking. No weird shiny "non-iron" shirts or funky colors. Just simple stripes or checks or plain colors.

(I know you all wanted tons of info about the fancy shirts I bought. So you're welcome.)

immediate edit: the different styles are described here.

[jay-ell]

That is actually super helpful. I happen to know a certain man of Slight Build and Long Arms, now the trick is to convince him that is is OK to occasionally buy clothing that has not been previously worn by strangers.

[wombat]

Japanese are not known for being tall. It looks like made those "New York" sizes specifically for Americans, they don't sell them on the Japanese site.

They say they take pride in creating shirts that bring bliss.

[wombat]

JL, I can't remember if we ever got the end of the story about the board game store. Did you quit or did it go out of business?

[theinevitable]

Yeah, reading a little further it looks like the "slim" version of each style is made for (gasp!) guys with longer bodies than you would expect from their neck size. I appreciate that.

Today I got an email explaining that one of my final projects is due a week later than I thought it was. I'll take it.

[jay-ell]

I quit because I thought he was making terrible business decisions, and they closed less than six months later. #vindicated

[theinevitable]

I am apparently the GIS Wizard because I know how to look up my questions on google. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed mapper is king.

There is one part of my final project left to do, and the instructions are vague in a way I can't figure out. "Use at least two tools from the _____ toolbox." I am pretty sure I used those tools to make every single map (they're the tools for... applying shapes to data) so I am at a loss here.

(my maps look so cool, but convey information that nobody wants or needs. All of my slides for my presentation are basically "I thought that ____ might have an influence on housing prices in this town nobody has heard of, but according to my data analysis it doesn't." Nothing is clustered in any way that seems meaningful. But my graphic designer buddy sent me a few pointers so my maps look acceptable.)

I hear tomorrow about that summer job I really want. Hopefully good news.

[AugustWest]

Wow.  There's actually a step down from Milwaukee's Best Lite Ice.  Who knew?

[Carlos del Vaca]

Holy shit Costco beer. It better be REAL cheap.

[theinevitable]

I found my favorite St Louis beer out here. It costs a lot more here. But I drink a lot less (at least, I drink less at home) here because of their crazy liquor store laws. So $9 for a six pack is OK, it lasts me a couple of weeks.

[theinevitable]

My professor said so many nice things about my final mapping project. I explained how I made the last map and he got a big grin on his face. That felt good.