Valentine'z Day!

So, just when I thought free lunch and beverages were like amaaaaaazing... I got this crazy memo in my email:  Hyundai W. Sahara has come to an agreement to offer EMPLOYEE PRICING to all Zappos employees as well as their friends and family.  There is a "Dedicated Zappos Liaison" at this dealership who serves as a contact for this purpose.  I had looked into getting one of their hybrid cars a while ago when I was on my Smart Car kick... maybe now it will be a more viable option for the future.

And then just when I thought that memo was craaaaaaazy... my sanity got served again like two hours later!  Zappos.com Employees can now buy a car easier than ever before at Henderson Nissan with PICK and PULL PRICING!  We can show our Zappos badge and "pick" a new Nissan, then they will "pull" the invoice and we will pay the dealer's price.  Nissan Leaf was also something I was looking at... hmmm...

I'm definitely not getting a new car for like the next 5 years, so if anyone wants a new Hyundai or Nissan... it would be interesting to see exactly how pimp these employee hookups are.  So, if you don't mind buying a car in Las Vegas and driving it back, let me know!  And if it's totally a sham and sucks, then at least we will have tested it out!

Back to the lunch and beverages... I get free Soup, Salad, and Sandwiches every day.  So far I've tried the following soups:  Mushroom Barley & Beef, Clam Chowder, Chicken Noodle Soup, Tomato Basil, Cheddar Broccoli, Autumn Squash, Chicken & Orzo, and White Bean & Beef.  They were all delicious!  Hot lunches are $3.00 and we always have 3 options to choose from each day, one being vegetarian.  I've only tried 2 dishes: Vegan Falafel and Pork Loin.  I also had the VALENTINE'Z DAY LUNCH SPECIAL... it was $3.00 for Sirloin Steak, $5.00 for Lobster Tail, or $7.00 for Surf & Turf (both).  I had the Lobster Tail w. lemon butter, creamy mashed potatoes, and broccoli.  Heavenly!

Valentine'z Day is pretty awesome at Zappos.  They created a mini-festival with a game booth for raffle prizes, a photo booth w. fun props, one for free valentine's card grams to send to fellow employees, one with delicious berries, and one with PUPPIES!!  Yes!  There were 2 little puppies from a local shelter who needed to be adopted and after spending a day in the arms of doting Zapponians, both of the little guys found new loving homes!  There was also a horse drawn carriage that gave out free rides all day to employees & visitors (we have like 3 tour groups a day or something like that).  Oh, and the awesome love songs being blasted all day long at the festival and the live Boy Band created by a group of team leads dressed up in wild outfits... the video's on my facebook wall.

Anyway, suffice it to say... I have survived Week 2 as well.  I have Monday off since it's a holiday and on Wednesday I'll be taking our infamous New Hire Training Final Exam - 90% to pass... or (you guessed it) termination.  I'm going to study my butt off, don't any of you worry.  Have a great long weekend!!!

Zippidy Doo Dah!

Wow, what a whirlwind!!!  I've officially survived the first week of Zappos New Hire Training.  I say survived only because there are some very, very strict rules about attendance - if you're even ONE MINUTE LATE coming to work, returning from lunch, or returning from a break... you are terminated!  Of course, it's only if you're a slacker and decided willy nilly to be irresponsible and unaccountable...  For example, one of my classmates was over an hour late to work because his brakes suddenly stopped working while he was driving at full speed on the freeway.  Obviously, he was not fired.

 

I preselected my first day's outfit months ago.  I decided to come right out of the gate and display my love for dinosaurs.  The sweater is Zara and I completed the outfit with black skinny jeans and a pair of calf length black boots!  I'm not sure what everyone thought about it but I felt pretty great!!

 

I might have been feeling so wonderful because I was riding high on adrenaline from the excitement of my very first day!!  I met so many awesome people who are all really interesting and unique.  It's neat because every single person who works at Zappos goes through the same Customer Loyalty Training... and they're not lying, joking, or exaggerating.  In my class are a bunch of tech peeps / developers, merchandise buyers, an information security officer, 2 foot models (yeah, for reals) and a cook.  New Hire Training is designed this way because we're all integrated as one company and everyone gets the great Customer Service knowledge and skills that are the very foundation of Zappos.

 

Going above and beyond her call of duty is one of our trainers, Stephanie, who is shown in tjis photo dressed as a penguin for her presentation on CORE VALUE#3 - Create Fun and A Little Weirdness.  One of the misconceptions of Zappos is that we're ALL fun, ALL weird, ALL the time.  But, that's really not true.  We work so hard - but it's just sometimes hard to accept because in between all the hard work is all the team building, parades, free food/beverages, and general fun/weirdness.

However, every department that's come by to speak to us - even for dry topics like Human Resources and Risk Management - make their presentations really interesting and fun for us.  My new hire paperwork included a form where I fill out my shoe and shirt size... why???  Sometimes, the vendors will give away "swag" (Souvenirs, Wearables, and Gifts) to our entire company as a promotion and they want to make sure we all get our appropriate sizes.  Ummm... how amaZing is that?!?! =)

And there is a fake economy inside Zappos... a z-economy?  We get fake money called Zollars for doing things correctly, achievements, and answering question.  There is a Zollar Store where we can buy little fun knick-knacks like blankets, hats, visors, business card holders... all tagged with 'Zappos' of course... but you can also buy a donation for one of our charities where Zappos will change your Zollars into real money.  I'm saving up for a beanie to give to Will - it costs 45 Zollars and I'm only 3 away!  Gonna get that tomorrow Fo'Shizzle!  There's always a movie quote in all 3 of our lobbies and each one you get right gives you 2 Zollars...here are the ones I've guessed so far:

40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN: You know what? I respect women! I love women! I respect them so much that I completely stay away from them!

MEAN GIRLS: I have this theory, that if you cut off all her hair she'd look like a British man.

FIGHT CLUB: Hey, you created me. I didn't create some loser alter-ego to make myself feel better. Take some responsibility!

VALENTINE'S DAY: What's the greates love song of all time? 'Rock and Roll All Night,' by Kiss. That's a stripper song.

TRON: The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see.

Still not convinced that I work in a crazy wonderland?  Randomly last week, a group of employees came into our classroom wearing superhero masks and rolled in a giant cooler on a cart... while playing Ice Cream Truck music!!  We all got free ice cream for being our little awesome selves.  *sigh of happiness*

And it was announced on Monday morning that tomorrow is Pajama Day.  In true Zapponian fashion... haha... I jumped onto my VIP account, ordered a set of super cool PJ's, applied my sweet sweet discount, submitted my order before the cutoff time for 1-business day shipping, and got it delivered to me at work, to my very seat, today!!  I'm all set to join in the festivities tomorrow!  I can't wait!!!!

I'll update more on the rest of my life out and about in Las Vegas at a later time.  I'm going to go to bed now so I can wake up refreshed and ready to Zoom Zoom Zoom to another Zippidy Doo Dah Day! =P

Whole Foods and a Sanctuary

Right after Christmas I started doing Pilates on the Reformer (machine illustrated in silhouette) regularly about 2-3 times a week.  It totally strengthened my entire body, especially my core.  I stood taller with greater posture and I felt so much stronger each day.  Anyway, I lost the momentum during the big move and I didn't want to fall back into my old lethargic ways.

I started looking right away for Pilates studios in LV but I didn't see any that I either liked or could afford... so then I searched for my 2nd favorite mind/body practice - Yoga.  I found BAREFOOT SANCTUARY online and decided to give them a try since they offered a first time student special pass for $40 - unlimited classes for one month.  Last night, I attended the Beginner Yoga & Meditation class to get back in the swing of things and the small studio was a very tranquil space and the class did the trick by straightening me out from my computer desk slouch (that's the sacrifice of writing these highly thoughtful and entertaining posts, duh).

It's located inside the biggest Whole Foods I've ever been to in my entire life.  This place is decked out!  It has a Pho Station (Vietnamese noodles) as one of their Hot Food Bars and their usual deli station is expanded to an entire side of the enormous market and offers a fresh Juice Bar, Asian Cuisine, Italian Station, and picnic tables by the seafood section... like you're going to buy a a whole fish and then enjoy some fresh Sashimi on the spot??  Hmmmm

At the end of the Yoga/Meditation class we each drew a card from a deck that contained our Animal Spirit Totems.  I was the Sausage Fruit Tree.  I am NOT making this up.  It's apparently a card of passion and creativity... so, hopefully I can embrace those two qualities and excel in my new job on Monday, yay!

I also spoke to one of the other students at the end of my first class and she is actually the caretaker of the large reptiles at the Shark Reef in the Mandalay Bay!  Yeah, she feeds the crocodile and komodo dragon in the exhibits by the front entrance of the aquarium.  Meeting her was like meeting a celebrity (for me) the coolest thing that's ever happened to me at Yoga!  Woohoo... LOL

So my first night in the room was a little rough because I wasn't used to sleeping with all these electronic gadgets all around me... so each time I woke up I had to turn something off to keep the lights from keeping me up.  Next, I got rid of the rickety bed frame that kept waking me up in the first place... something's gone loose in it and I'm not handy enough to go all DIY, so I removed it and put my box spring on the floor.  Problem solved.  New problem: I totally forgot that the wood grain gnarls in a way that seems to make this creepy insectoid face... like a possessed praying mantis demon creature, riiiiiiight???

Now I just have to ignore the fact that it will be watching me in my sleep.  No problem at all!  I got my butt handed to me in Expressive Yoga tonight, so I think it's time to call it a night to get ready for my 5:30am wake up call & practice run to Zappos office tomorrow morning.  Sweet dreams time!  =)