February 6, 2013

• Report # 969

  Hey everyone, I hope that you’ve all been having a fantastic week so far. On Sunday morning I went for a run and for the third day in a row I went to Cinépolis to see a movie. This time I went to see Alex Cross, which was about a detective trying to solve a case involving a very professional assassin… I always enjoy those types of movies. Afterwards I stopped at Subway and that was about it for the weekend.

  On Monday I was going to go to the Planetarium here with a friend, but on Sunday evening she informed me that she had to work on the holiday. (Monday was the day of the constitution here) This ruined my chance of ending my streak of not seeing anyone for two weeks, so I had to make some other plans. I decided I would go to La Estanzuela, which is a very beautiful park a bit out of the way in the southern reaches of the city.

  The problem was that it would be a little difficult to get there without a car and some people had told me it’s not the safest place in the world to go to. In fact I was even told that if someone was me they wouldn’t go at all. They said the park itself was not dangerous but it was the route to the park and there had been gang people who would steal cars and kidnap people or stuff like that. I figured though since I’d be going before noon on a super sunny and warm holiday, that it couldn’t really be that dangerous, so I decided to take my chances.

  I took the metro train downtown and I caught a bus to take me across the river and to the Valle Oriente mall. There I found a taxi and I paid just over 80 pesos (over 6 dollars) for him to take me to the park. It wasn’t as far away to go or super high up in the mountains like Chipinque, so it ended up being cheaper. The entrance fee was only 5 pesos, (like 40 cents) so I was super impressed with that. I arrived at the park just after 12:00 pm and I started walking and it was just like I imagined.

  There were lots of other people and families there, so it was a pretty safe day to be there. While the road to get there was rocky and somewhat secluded I didn’t feel unsafe on that road either. After hearing the park was jut 3 km I thought I would be in and out in just over and hour, as I was just taking pictures alongside a stream where there were many tall trees, paths and some bridges, but little did I know I would arrive at a part that got super steep and I really got a workout.

  Luckily after scaling some very steep and difficult hills there were some pools of very fresh water with little waterfalls as well, so I was able to drink and cool off. There were even some people swimming, and while it was a pretty warm day, around 30 C (86 F) the water was super cold and refreshing. After drinking and washing my face I continued walking for another 40 minutes or so and I finally reached the end of the line where there was a larger waterfall and cliff part with people having lunch.

  There was one lookout with a great view of the mountains though that part was earlier and here it was just to enjoy another small waterfall. I rested for a few minutes and then made my way back. I didn’t take as many pictures on my return trip as I did heading up so I got back pretty quickly, arriving at the around at around 3:45 pm. I asked the guy working the gates if there were taxis there and he told me no, but said that it was just a half hour walking down, so I decided just to walk down.

  I did the same with Chipinque, and that was a lot longer of a walk, so this would be easy. I got all the way through the park and to the HEB plaza where I was able to take a taxi to San Agustin. I had some lasagna to eat at Focaccia and then afterwards I picked up some donuts from Krispy Kreme and I took the bus and the metro train home. It was a super exhausting day and I definitely slept well that night. I went for a run yesterday morning and as I was walking to the metro station after my run, I got a text from a friend saying that she would be at Las Galerias and that if I had nothing better to do I could meet her there.

  I headed home and had a shower and walked to the mall and called her when I was in the Liverpool store, though she ended up being right in front of me which was very surprising seeing as she could have been anywhere in the whole mall. It was actually her 27th birthday so I said Happy Birthday and we went to the movie theatre to see Broken City. It was a pretty good movie though I hadn’t thought about seeing it before. I didn’t plan on seeing any more movies until Friday, so that idea went out the window, but I definitely won’t be going today or tomorrow to the movie theatre.

  Afterwards I just got something to eat from Carl’s Jr. and we sat and talked for two hours and so before we headed outside and she took the bus home. It was good to see someone for the first time in too long and we might do something on Friday as well. I still want to go to the Planetarium but I think I’ll save that for tomorrow, today will be a nice and relaxing day.

  I try and read the news online to keep up with what is happening with at home and I stumbled upon some news that Best Buy has closed 15 stores across Canada and as a result over 900 employees have lost their jobs. Here are two articles about this story if anyone wants to read in fuller detail:

  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/best-buy-closing-15-canadian-stores-cutting-800-workers/article8033164/

  http://www.theprovince.com/news/Nanaimo+Best+employees+arrive+work+find+doors+closed/7906773/story.html

  Now this sort of thing tragically happens at times. Sometimes stores just aren’t making money and they just haven’t been able to turn things around and they will have to close it’s door eventually. So clearly Best Buy decided it will be better to close the 15 stores that are really struggling and focus it’s efforts on conserving and strengthening the remaining stores. And while it’s super sad that so many capable people lost their jobs, the thing that really got to me was reading about how it was done.

  I read online that many people showed up for work only to find out that the store was closed. So obviously this was not some plan that was thought up for a while, the stores more or less just closed doors very suddenly. Maybe in some cases this sort of closure is necessary, but with a multi-billion dollar corporation like Best Buy, I really don’t think that was the case. They should have been able to see the trends and if they really didn’t think things would improve, they should have given all of those employees a couple of months of notice.

  And in the worst case scenario that a few months ago they didn’t think about shutting down any stores and it really was a sudden decision, in my opinion they still should have given the employees at least the standard two weeks notice. From what I read though, the people at the Best Buy office were not too cold hearted though and they did offer the laid off employees salary for eight weeks in addition to one week extra based on how many years the people have been with the company.

  So while I think the company could have definitely handed the situation better in terms of advising the employees, eight weeks is basically two months and that is plenty of time for those employees to find another job. So if I put myself in the employees shoes, if I was working there for a year and a half and showed up to work to find out I had no more job anymore, it would be disappointing if it was a job I really enjoyed, but if not, I would certainly not complain with getting paid for 9 weeks.

  It would actually create the ideal situation to look for a new job. I’d have so much time to search every single day and I wouldn’t have to worry about finding something right away as I’d have two months of salary coming. Of course the other side of it is for the people who truly loved working there and maybe for some of them it would be hard to find another job, but I really would think most of them would be able to find something soon.

  So overall Best Buy certainly could have given some notice about their store closure plans, and it’s unfortunate the only way employees found out is by going to work and seeing that the stores were closed, but I don’t think anyone can complain with receiving a paid salary for basically two months… it certainly is fair. For the next question:

  Did Best Buy handle this situation in the right way ? How would you have handled the situation ?

  I will leave you all with pictures that I took from my trip to La Estanzuela. Take care and I’ll talk to you all on Saturday, bye for now.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Sources: theprovince.com. Nanaimo Best Buy employees arrive at work to find doors closed. By Ben Ingram, Nanaimo Daily News. February 1, 2013.

  globeandmail.com. Best Buy scales back as tablets take over and Target looms. By Marina Strauss. January 31, 2013.

  • 12:08 pm
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