The Inmates Run the Asylum

Another driver bailed on us, leaving us scrambling to cover his loads for the week. I've got another driver nearly a day late because a) he broke down on the way home Friday and b) his load was done wrong and someone had to fix it (a reocurring problem at this particular plant).

So, I'm making late calls while fielding the typical It's Monday Where's My Stuff calls while trying to get last minute information to drivers on the road. And then there's the pile of regular phone calls that need to be made.

And the driver trip sheets that I have to review.

And the violations sheets that I have to compile even though I'm pretty sure that Chad doesn't look at them.

And the board needs updated.

And we've hired someone new, Crystal, to help us in the office. She spent the afternoon watching me make phone calls and explaining my job. Not that there's a lot to it, but she's sitting in my cube so I feel compelled to say something. She's going to be handling our drivers once we get her trained up. I imagine she'll be doing other things, too, but that's her main gig.

Starting next week, I'll be working 8-5 taking an hour lunch. Right now I'm working 7-4:30 taking a half hour lunch. I'm already hitting 5 o'clock a couple of days a week now. I look forward to hitting 5:30. Because I can't seem to get it all done in one shift.

They need to go back to that temp service and get someone to replace me. I can't hack this gig.

Sonny is doing fine. His surgery went well. They put some pins in his hip and discharged him yesterday. He's walking with a cane and/or walker. He thinks he'll be back to work by September.

Stephen and Mark finally made it home about 11:30 Friday night. Mark is still speaking to us. We'll see about Stephen. Heh.

When the you walk into work at 8am and the first thing your boss asks you to do is investigate a report that one of your drivers was driving the wrong way down a highway with cars flying into the ditch to avoid him, you know your day is going to be interesting.

I spent a big part of morning dealing with that in between making delivery phone calls. I'm happy to say that there seems to be no substance to this report and my drivers know how to drive on the highways.

Well, most of them.

The past couple of weeks have been like this. Every day it's something. For whatever reason, nothing will go smooth. There's got to be a hang up. It's starting to get tiresome.

Other than that work is pretty okay. I admit that I'm still not doing a lot (this week more than normal since we're covering two other plants) and I use that downtime to do things like read The Pantagraph and Chicago Tribune online as well as getting caught up on all my baseball news. I usually do that when I have time in the morning. Then in the afternoon, I listen to any ballgames that might be on and write, usually blog posts, but sometimes I work on short stories as well.

Sometimes I appreciate those days.

Sometimes I want to spork my eyes out from boredom.

Oh well. It's a living.

( Internet/Computer/Laptop Situation )
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( The A-Team Situation )

It's supposed to be hot as hell tomorrow (heat advisory in effect because the heat indices are going to hit 100) and my aunt has organized a family outing to see my great-aunt's horses and Haley and Diana want us to go out to their camp site to hang out.

These are two things that don't sound too pleasant in excessive heat. I'm just saying.

Went to Dad's retirement open house this afternoon. Actually, it was for him and Barney, who also retired. Either way, it was a do that neither of the guys really wanted, but the Chief insisted.

When I got up this morning I asked Dad if he was ready for his big day and he flipped me off. He did not appreciate the manic giddiness in my laugh, as it was a clear sign of me enjoying his suffering.

I rode with him to the police station and he ended up parking on the street right next to a big snowpile, so I had to climb over to the driver's side to get out. Yeah, he definitely didn't appreciate me taking pleasure in his suffering.

Really, it wasn't too bad of an event. Three car loads of family showed up, some of Barney's family, several of the other officers (including Smitty, who retired about five years ago), and some people from the city. I was suprised that no one Dad had ever arrested showed up. Of course, they might be in jail again.

He survived the party (the way he was talking and carrying on, you'd think he liked it *rolls eyes*). There was only a small formal part of the event when Dad and Barney were presented with busts engraved with their names and years of service. They also got ID cards certifying them as retired law enforcement and the other officers and members of the union got them shadow boxes with pictures and their badges. They're really nice.

I think it's finally sinking in that Dad's retired. Today was the final nail in the coffin. No matter how much he goes on about how happy he is to be done, I know there's a little part of him that's missing it. There's no way he doesn't. Not after 25 years. He can't help it.

After the party, Carrie bought Dad dinner (at Mickey D's 'cause we're fancy like that) and then she and I went to see Sherlock Holmes. Well, after the 85 trailers, we saw the movie. Seriously. I'm a woman who likes her previews. They're almost always of movies I'll never see and that pleases me. But, anything over four is excessive.

Also, I feel that showing a preview for Iron Man 2 before Sherlock Holmes is a little much. I'm just saying.

Anyway, Carrie and I both liked the movie. I'm not going to go into any kind of detailed analysis of what I liked and didn't like because I'm probably one of the last people in the States to see this movie. However, I will say the use of "Rocky Road to Dublin" pleased me muchly.

We went to Dairy Queen afterwards and got Blizzards. Unskilled people made them because all of the stuff was junked up on top. After I dropped ice cream on my pants not once, but twice, I determined that it was defective and possibly sabotaged.

Now, I'm exhausted. I'm not used to so much activity in one day.

This is turning into quite an active week.

After over a year without a hospital stay, Papa went back in today. He's got pneumonia. Dad says it can't be too bad because while Dad was on the phone with my great-aunt, Papa was in the background just a bitchin'. Heh. They've got him on antibiotics and he should only be in the hospital for a couple of days.

Tomorrow I've got to take Pete to the vet for her shots. Neither one of us are looking forward to this trip. Pete is good at the vet and good in the car, but she doesn't like it. I spend the whole time peeling a cat off of my shoulders. You don't realize how hard buckling your seatbelt can be until you have to do it around a cat.

(FYI: The reason why we don't use a cat carrier is because Pete can't be in an enclosed space like that. She spazzes out and hurts herself. When I first brought her home from my mother's house, she'd bloodied herself by the end of the trip.)

Thursday the police department is holding an open house to celebrate Dad's retirement after 25 years of service. He really doesn't want to go. He tried to talk them out of it, but no luck. If Papa is out of the hospital by then, he wants to go, too. I'm just going to watch my dad grump and to see how many people that he's arrested over the years show up. Should be a good time.

I hope there's punch and pie.