MY LIFE - NOVEMBER

Thursday, November 9, 2000

We got hammered today. That doesn't do today justice though. We were slammed, and we were short on help as well since Steve wasn't able to come in and work due to a death in his family. So there was never any more than four people working at once, three of us techs. I was filling, Joanne was typing, Linda was on register, and Elizabeth, the lone pharmacist, was checking.

This was one day when drive-thru drove me crazy. Register was bad enough, but the drive-thru kept ringing and that meant I had to stop filling to clear it out. It was never just one car either. It was four, five, and six cars wrapping around the building. I just couldn't keep up all that well. The ones that were waiting and coming back in an hour, I was able to clear out fairly well. Everything else just kept stacking up. There was a stack about a quarter inch thick of scripts that needed to be filled most of the night.

We eventually got caught up around 8, which was also when I finally got to my break. That's how backed up we got though. I worked six hours before I got a break and that was only because Elizabeth told me that I should go while it was fairly quiet. It stayed relatively quiet the rest of the night and we were all able to catch our breathes for a little bit. One other tech, Jean, came in at 6 and allowed us to get things under control.

It probably could've been worse. Joanne could've left at 3:30 like she was scheduled to and left us really buried with all the typing that would have to be done. She stayed until 5 and that allowed me to continue filling and not worry about typing as well. That just made things a little more bearable for the rest of us, although Elizabeth had a long day and there will probably be more longer days.

As it stands right now, I'm supposed to be off tomorrow, but that could change in an instant. I don't know if I'll be home though since I have some things to do. If I am home and they really need the help, I'll be willing to come in for a few hours, although I don't know how long. I don't feel like losing my day off right now, especially if they don't really need me. But they might. Steve probably won't be working until the first part of next week and I doubt that it will be very easy even if it is the weekend.

Friday's are usually busy at the store, which is why I've been surprised to have that day off. I don't think I'm so lucky next week. I think I have Sunday and Wednesday off. But you never know. I do know that I work two 2-10's, two 3-11's, and a 10-6, which is on Saturday. But I like that schedule right now. No, it doesn't allow me much time after work to talk to anyone, since most people I talk to are already offline when I get home. But it's easy on me since I work hard for about five or six hours, then can just take it easy for a couple of hours.

I don't know how the schedule's going to work out over the long haul. I'm really not too picky on what it might be like either. I just don't really worry about it that much. I can work anytime during the day and I haven't run into anything that's made me think it's time to run for the hills.

Tonight wasn't fun, but I didn't get rattled. This was the biggest test I've face, and aside from a little mishap with one of the baker cells, it went by as well as I could hope for.

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I'm a klutz. You all know that by now. I talk about it all the time how I walk into something or bump my head on something. It happens all the time. I don't know why I'm like that. I know I walk into things because I don't ever walk in a straight line. I almost always veer off to the side a little bit. I'll sidestep either left or right after a couple of steps forward. It's just something I've always done. I don't understand it.

The only time I ever walk in a straight line is if I trip on my feet, preventing the sidestep. Or if I only have to go a couple steps. Even then I risk the chance of bumping into things. I must have bumped into someone at least every fifteen minutes or so at work today. Either that or I was walking into the shelves, knocking medication down. I've come close several times to knocking out the lazy susan and have come close to walking into a column of baker cells.

I'm always walking into doorways. It's understandable maybe when you're half asleep, which is when I usually do things like that, but I also do it in broad daylight. I'll just walk into the doorway as if I were trying to walk by someone and we bumped. It's always with my shoulder. I just cannot walk without bumping into things. It's absolutely amazing because I'm actually really coordinated for the most part.

I always drop things too. I'll be holding a pen and just drop it for no reason. Then I'll be an idiot and look at it lying on the ground for a moment before picking it up and invariably launching it across the room. Bottles, caps, anything I grab is liable to be thrown. I just do things like that. It's also infectious because people around me will start dropping things. I'll drop the same thing three times in a row.

I always drop the labels when I'm labeling prescription vials. I just can't keep a grip on them for some reason. Then they float down and I try to grab them. Sometimes I catch them, sometimes I don't. Scripts are the same way. I'll just drop it or knock it down, then try to catch it, usually a very feeble thing to watch.

I'm better than I used to be though. I don't miss steps like I used to and I don't smack my face into things that are right in front of me. I don't do that like I used to. God, I used to miss steps all the time, or my foot would just hit the edge of the step. Before I could react, I would already have shifted my balance onto that foot, then it would slip and I'd go down with the ship.

I have to really careful on the steps into the upper part of the house towards my room. We ripped the carpeting out so it's just hard wood there now. Slip there and it's really going to hurt.

It's amazing that I'm still alive in some regards. Don't worry though, I'll keep trying to get myself killed doing normal things.

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This weekend at some point I have to sand my steps and then seal them. They'd look really good if I did that, the problem is I don't have a whole lot of time to do that. I've had enough trouble getting simple things done since the transfer. I did my laundry just last night when I normally do it during the weekend. Of course, now my cat's sleeping on top of the clean clothes, spreading her white fur all over the place.

I still haven't vacuumed, although I hope to get that done tomorrow at some point. I still need to get to Tri-C to work out some things and I have to get my check, pick-up my film, and put my check in the bank tomorrow as well. So I'll be home, but it will be very sporadic at times, although lately I've been home on my days off after seven or eight. I don't go anywhere too often anymore.

Shit. I just remembered I need gas too. I hope my mom gives me the money for her medicine that I've already paid for. Why is it I always remember things like that at 2 in the morning after everyone's gone to bed?

Why don't I remember things like that when she's up and still willing to pay me back? I know that I have brain cramps, but sometimes I really wonder about myself. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get it from her tomorrow or something. In two weeks I have to pay my car payment so I have to be careful with money right now anyway. The extra money might give me incentive.

That's another thing I've gotten out of working at Berea. I don't take long breaks, which means I don't get a chance to go anywhere to eat. I have to bring something to munch on during my 15 minute break, which is a lot cheaper than spending $5 on food that's too greasy and not all that appealing after the fifth time in five days. I'm not exactly crying over not having Wendy's right now.

I just get sick of the fast food. When my mom suggested we get something to eat, that was the first thing I told her. No fast food. I just don't tolerate it as well as some people. I know people who can eat it every day (MIKE!) and I just can't do it. It makes me sick after a while.

I have a very fickle stomach. It don't like being messed with the same food all the time. It cramps up on me and makes me sick. So I don't eat fast food all the time.

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I guess the whole world knows I like Snoopy. I have three Snoopy toys and a Woodstock toy in the back window of my car as well as a little Snoopy ornament hanging in my room that will be going on a christmas tree that I intend to buy for my room this winter. I also have a Peanuts strip clipped featuring Snoopy. In it, he says that if you stare at the back door, your supper comes early. Then Charlie Brown calls out Snoopy's name and Snoopy's dancing singing "It worked!" repeatedly. Then Charlie Brown says that supper's going to be a little late. A dejected Snoopy says "It didn't work..."

Well, my mom and my sister decided to go a little further with the Snoopy thing. It's too early for Christmas stuff as far as I'm concerned, but they bought me a Snoopy stocking with an arm of Snoopy sticking out to hold a little Woodstock in place next to him. They also bought me another little toy to stick in my car and a pin that I'll wear on my tech jacket.

I like the stuff. I'll admit it. I have a soft spot for Snoopy. I've always liked "Peanuts" and Snoopy in particular. All the different characters he did. Charles Schultz was a genius with this comic strip and I just like Snoopy period. He's like the dog that you wish you had.

I'll never get enough of Snoopy.