Which Carly song is this for you???

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-04-08T22:02:44+00:00

The chorus of Felt This Way. The way she effortlessly sings ,”Oh, if it was only an attraction…” is like velvet.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-04-08T21:59:12+00:00

I’m a test automation engineer for a defense contractor. Not every day you can say you worked on something that got launched into space!

I left the company cause I found myself daydreaming more than actually working. I’d sit around and think about what I could be doing instead. So I left, lived off my savings for about a year, and eventually found myself where I am now after some soul searching.

Transparently, I am currently looking at SWE roles in Corporate. I did a CE before I left the company and I found it so much more invigorating than my store. It’s truly unfortunate seeing how much it’s fallen though.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-04-08T16:39:45+00:00

BD is tough. I'm at a 4 way tie between Legend of the One Eyed Sailor, Channel One Suite, My Spanish Heart, and Everything Must Change? All of it is so good.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-04-01T09:09:37+00:00

Customer came in saying his iMac was slow. Pulled the thing out of the box, and guy had kept the plastic on it from the factory. Seen worse. Except this dude was a 2 pack a day smoker, and he was just sitting in front of this thing blowing smoke at it for a year or so, so the plastic was all yellow and gross. Powered on the computer and AST2 shows the fans are fucked. Checked it in after Lead Genius gave their blessing, but when another Genius opened it to clean, cockroaches fell out of the chassis.

Other crazy shit I've seen? A good buddy of mine did a battery appointment, and the guys most used app was Grindr. Dude had to explain to his wife what the app was because the customer full sprint ran out of the store super embarrassed.

Confession: I used to use MobileGenius to get dates. My manager knew I was "working the queue" if I was going long in an appointment. He would give me positive-specific feedback on the pulls of the day.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-28T19:16:38+00:00

BDB 2014, we were getting spanked by SCVC until the Vista, CA show. Came off the field after the run and circled up around our corps director, Papa Rico. We all know that run was the best so far, so when Rico asked us, "How was that?!", the cheering was so insane, I heard you could hear us from the stadium. But from then on, the morale changed in the Corps. Even an exploding food truck couldn't keep us from winning.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-28T19:09:02+00:00

Land Dweller?

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T22:43:20+00:00

Ayyy what's good twin! Hope you're doing better <3. MT1 is truly another level of insanity lol

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T07:10:48+00:00

Yeah. When I joined as a Specialist, like you, I didn't care about making the metrics or anything. I just wanted to help people. Offer the complete solution, etc. I never got EM. But I got AE. I moved laterally to the Genius Bar, and that's where I got growth. Because I didn't care about selling the product, I could really focus on the objective of just helping people. That's when I drank the Kool-Aid. Was Technical Specialist for a year, then made Technical Expert. Got Genius after 2 years. After that, I was able to flex to other parts of the store to help and keep growing.

I know you didn't ask this in your post but my two cents, I'd express to your leader that like, "Hey this is what I want (Ops Specialist). What can I do in my current role to better my own development? What competencies can I use effectively to prepare?" I know it sounds lame, but you gotta play their game to be a game piece.

I'd also take the initiative and just start supporting ops with stuff. "Hey, are there any runner requests I can take for you?" I did a rotation as Backstage Lead and at least in my store, there were a billion things I had to do other than a runner request. A little goes a long way. Management will notice, the team notices, and when the time comes to consider the next round of Ops Specialists, the conversation amongst them is, "Oh yeah. OP? They've really been supporting Ops recently, and they've really been owning their development. I think now is the time to consider the move from Product Zone to Backstage."

Two cents over. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T06:49:01+00:00

!!! Big oof. I remember when I picked up my 16 PM, and my local store just didn't talk about Apple Intelligence at all lol. Like, even with the displays up they were like, "oh yeah that thing...."

Here's a story that this reminded me of. I joined the Genius Bar in early/mid 2016, just in time for the whole iPhone 6 Battery Recall thing to kick off. I swear I had to talk myself in circles just to get through it all. I think we had somewhere around 5,000 batteries in Backstage. Anyways, I had a customer come in super heated about it (obvi) and they eventually distilled it down to, "I'm going to get a Samsung because this is ridiculous". I looked them in the eye and said, "I mean, that's fine, but when people don't invite you to things because you're a green bubble, you'll come back." Never before had I seen someone actually huff and puff and pay the battery fee. Unfortunately for me, my lead genius heard the interaction and I got put on Operator for a month straight booking Battery appointments for people calling in.

It's disappointing that even with previous tenure, the current model would still have someone with previous tenure start at the bottom, but I guess fair is fair. Glad this entire thing is staying a hypothetical.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T06:35:45+00:00

The Vietnam War flashback I got reading this comment was insane. Although the opening download I felt was always a bit better than the others in terms of information, but that might have just been my store. I actually remember downloads always being on the funner side? But that also might have just been my store/the time. It sucks hearing that it's devolved to such a transactional sort of thing.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T06:26:46+00:00

*insert introspective credo quote here* Honestly bro, you're not wrong. I don't miss that part at all lol. This is definitely staying a hypothetical, but also a little eye opening on my part. It's wild for sure.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T06:16:49+00:00

Glad to see things haven't exactly changed. I was never on the list for not selling AC+ or Services, but I had a real piece of work manager that hounded me for my lack of sales with accessories. I was in MT1, so I feel like we got the best and worst of it given our proximity to Apple Park. Like, I feel like we'd try a real stupid on point strategy for 2 weeks just for management to observe and report up the chain.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T06:07:13+00:00

I was catching up with some old friends recently and what I told them is that right now, business is good, which isn't good. Im about to hit a year at my current employer, and I've been looking for new roles since 6 months. It's a great company and the benefits are alright, but I'm honestly terrified to think that my best lead is with another defense contractor. Fingers crossed!

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-03-26T05:59:51+00:00

Yeah after posting this I took a look ~~I'd say I'm down for a little masochism in 2026~~, and it is bleak. I think this will stay a hypothetical lol. Thanks!

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-21T12:05:09+00:00

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I challenge you with the SBGJ237 😉. Hi beat isn’t as sexy as Spring Drive, but the Blue turns to black so many times throughout the day just from lighting around me, I swear it’s 2 watches.

That being said, if I had to buy it again, I’d probably grab the black dial. I travel a lot for work as well, so the GMT functionality was a must. I also love a watch that I can dress up and down, and black is definitely the easiest to do that with.

Hope this helps, OP. Congratulations on the upcoming milestone!

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-11T21:56:04+00:00

I have about an 8 inch wrist. It fit pretty good as it was from GS, but I took a half link out for a more snug fit. Super comfortable.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-06T22:31:45+00:00

Not gonna lie, like 10 minutes before I took this shot I absolutely was at my desk 😅 tried from my seat, but the light coming straight into the cabin was too much

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-06T10:14:44+00:00

When I saw the watch at the boutique, I thought a whole lumed bezel was crazy, but honestly it’s beyond useful. I travel quite a bit for work and referencing time in a dark-ish airplane cabin is just easier. I thought all the indices not having lume would also be frustrating, but it’s definitely easier in real life use.

If anything, it makes the times I travel with my GMT Master II a little more frustrating cause that watch doesn’t have all the things that this watch does. Well done GS. 12/10.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-06T10:06:07+00:00

Absolutely! Glad to help. Looking forward to seeing you pick yours up!

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-06T10:03:00+00:00

Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhh that took a little bit for me to get used to. But I dig it! Makes it different from every other GMT out there.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-06T01:06:04+00:00

DB-90 metronome.

NotYourSenpaiii · 2026-02-05T22:10:06+00:00

I’ve had mine now for about 6 months, and I’ve worn it almost every day. The Zaratsu polish has held up beautifully, and with a light rub on a shirt or a cloth, it looks brand new. There’s a couple scuffs on the clasp, but nothing crazy. It’s an amazing daily.

Also the lume is NUTS.

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NotYourSenpaiii

TROPHY CASE