MY LIFE - JANUARY

Friday, January 12, 2001

I'm spinning right now. I barely know my own name and what day it is at this point in time. We got hit so hard and had so many problems, I'm surprised I'm still able to walk. Just what is it with Friday's that things get so crazy? What is with people calling off on the worst possible days and me not knowing what I was getting into upon arriving for work?

Today was my turn to be on the register. I don't normally mind it because the time goes pretty quick and I'm pretty good on the register. That's on a normal day. Today wasn't normal.

It seems that every other prescription was either missing or not finished yet. I just could not find a damn thing tonight and I don't know what the problem was. Things were misfiled, not filled yet, or just missing. Others weren't even filled because they were either too early or out of refills. People were extra ornery tonight, so explaining these things to them was just about hopeless.

On top of it all, it was our truck day. I had people coming in all day to pick up medicine that was supposed to be ready by around 4pm, but because we hadn't gotten to either our wholesale order or warehouse order as of 5pm, nothing was ready. I think just about every day shift person stayed at least an extra hour to try and help catch up on things.

Then when they leave, we got hammered again. Lines in drive-thru, lines at the register, and just me working both of them because Linda was so backed up filling. So it was back and forth for about an hour while we tried to get everything caught up to no avail. When Velvet finally arrived at 7pm along with Regina, it was finally my chance to get a break. Steve asked me to work on the order, but I said I'd rather take a break first.

What a relief that was. I could breathe again.

When I got back, I helped out front, put away the regular order, and helped type and fill when needed. When all that was caught up around 9pm and we had finally slowed down, Regina told me to just relax and not worry about anything at all the rest of my shift. Then things got really weird, but I won't get into that because it was just too out there.

So right now I'm just in a daze. I'm trying to get my head to stop pounding and hoping that a couple other areas stop hurting as well.

I think I slept wrong last night because my back is really hurting right now. It's not as bad as it was when I first woke up though. When I first woke up, I could barely move around without intense pain. Now it's just when I bend over too much or for too long. I don't even really notice it right now because I'm sitting down and my back likes that.

I also have this strange sensation in the back of my thigh at the joint. It's the feeling I usually get in my knees that indicates something's about to give, only this is right below my ass. So in essence, my ass hurts everytime I move. I keep forgetting to move carefully too, so I get a jolt every time I adjust my position on this chair or anywhere else. How this happened, I have no clue.

I first noticed it about halfway through my shift when I was walking and my leg just gave out in that area right below my ass. It just completely gave out and continued to do so periodically for the rest of the night. It wouldn't bother me for a while, then boom, I'd have some pain and not know what to do. Then it would be fine again and I'd continue what I was doing. One customer noticed this and asked me what was wrong. I told him I couldn't say because of just how bad it would sound. He just smiled and said okay.

I hope that neither of these problems lasts longer than a day or two. I don't have another day off until Wednesday, and I have no idea when my next day off after that will be. I work six days next week because I'm one of the idiots who told Steve we'd give him six days. There are four of us with six days, but that's because one tech, Darlene, is going to Vegas next week.

So I'm now one of the six day workers at the store, which only addresses just how short of employees we really are. It's one thing if one or two people work a six day week to cover a vacation. It's another thing when you have two people or more covering six days every week just because you need the extra body. When you have four because of a vacation, it's downright stupid now.

So I have three night shifts and three day shifts (for an updated schedule, see Updates) next week and don't know when my next day off after Wednesday will be. It could be the following Sunday, or it might not be until Tuesday, Wednesday, or even Thursday. I have no idea and won't know until either Wednesday or Thursday this upcoming week. I also don't know if I'll be working six days the week after next either.

It doesn't really matter though. I agreed to this and could actually use the money at this point in time. I've been overwhelmed by bills again and am running a little short. This always happens when the car insurance comes in. It doesn't matter that it's more than $50 cheaper than it was. It's still expensive and it still takes a lot out of me when you get down to the point of the matter.

With any luck, I'll be able to put all this behind me and keep moving on. As long as I make it through the week ahead, I should be fine.