Of Weekly Crisis, and Ulcers...

Spoke with my bosses boss today. Nice fellow. If he grew a beard and walked around wearing baggy red pants and a wife beater you would swear he was Santa Clause.

But I digress.

While speaking to my bosses boss, he made the comment that my division (which is brand spankin' new) was going to give him an ulcer (something that is not entirely a joking matter for a man of his size and stress level).

It was at this point that I realized something. My division has a huge crisis every week, sometimes twice a week. Believe me, I try to plan ahead and keep everything organized, but we started off trying to do way more than we were capable of, causing us to fall more and more behind as the weeks go on. How unhealthy is this?

Every week I reach the point where I jump every time the phone rings, just knowing that it's our largest customer telling us that they have decided to go with another supplier, or perhaps an irate contractor wondering why his job has been delayed due to material shortages. Getting chewed out ever now and then is normal, comes with the territory, but every week? Multiple times? I don't think so.

Ever get the feeling you are on a sinking ship? My division has the ability to make so much money, as the market in Florida is completely untapped, but we suffer from poor planning, and poor planning has the ability to kill an operation.

So I sit here at my desk, hoping and praying that things work out for the best, and we somehow pull ahead and have a chance to take a breath.

Is that wishful thinking?

Yes.

Do I really believe it's possible?

Um...sure.

Why I Love Walgreen's...

Seriously, where else can you purchase an assortment of necessary items, while being highly entertained by your fellow patrons?

I swear this story is true, every bit of it.

So I'm in line to purchase some ice cream, when I notice a very odd gentlemen causing a scene in the check-out line next to me. As I got closer, I realized he was trying to purchase half a box of hearing aid batteries. There was much carrying on until the manager showed up and figured out how he could sell the nice gentlemen half a box of hearing aid batteries. As the manager was ringing him up, the nice older gentle man began to explain why he needs the batteries. In a very difficult to understand and somewhat stuttery voice, he started talking about his mother whom he lives with. I will spare you the gory details, sufficed to say, he has a very odd but sweet relationship with his partially deaf mother.

As I was checking out, the odd little lady behind the counter began to rave about the wonderful deal I was getting on Blue Bell Ice Cream. She proceeded to tell everyone in line how amazing this deal was, and I kid you not, everyone in the line echoed what she said word for word. "Two for one special? What an amazing deal!" It reminded me of one of those cheesy advertisements you see on TV for some kind of cleaning product that is simply amazing, and everyone keeps repeating how amazing the product is.

Another thing I noticed was the diversity of people who utilize the various services Walgreen's has to offer. At any given moment you will see samples of people from every level of society. From the harried looking businessman with his cell phone surgically attached to his ear, to the financially challenged single mother and her screaming infant, all come together to partake of the low prices and flexible hours.

So that was my trip to Walgreen's.

The ice cream was pretty amazing.

Of Mistakes, and How They Can Ruin One's Day

It was going to be a good day, I could just tell. The air was crisp, the sun was shining, and everything seemed to be falling into place.

Amazing how what seemed to be the beginnings of a great day, could be ruined by one simple phone call. Maybe I'm not quite as tough as I thought, or maybe my emotional walls have been weakened as of late---either way---I was vulnerable enough to be destroyed emotionally by a single phone call, and that is just sad.

It didn't even turn out to be something uber awful, just a careless mistake on my part that can be fixed with minimal pain and suffering.

Maybe it's a pride thing, but I do not deal with personal mistakes very well---or failure of any kind for that matter. Private mistakes are bad enough, but publicly broadcasted mistakes? I would rather undergo any torture imaginable than for a stupid mistake to be unveiled for all the world to see.

A bit of a character flaw?

Sure.

Am I working on it?

Sure.

Am I making any headway?

Not so much.