TGIF Ya'll!

Today was one of those days that adult cocktails were invented for. Things started out crappy (and I'm not talking about the fish), and went slightly downhill after that.



First thing that I need to do is get a new alarm clock. I've threatened to do that since I bought this one about a year ago. It has a severe design flaw. The snooze button is small and is right next to the alarm off button. Which Einstein at Durabrand signed off on that design. I know, I know, I should have noticed that when I snagged it at Wallyworld. But, how much time did you last spend studying the box of an alarm clock? You expect those things to be worked out by 2006. Anyway, I must have turned off the alarm instead of hitting the snooze button and woke up on my own an hour later. Luckily, I woke up early enough that I only had to skip the second cup of coffee, move my butt a smidge faster, and get to work 10 minutes early instead of the usual 20-30. No biggee, but an inauspicious way to start the day.



Next, I had a pre-arranged meeting at 10:00, 30 minutes away from work. At 9:00, I got a phone call from a customer telling me they had decided to buy the item I had quoted them on the day before. But only if they could get it before 1:00 that day. Uhhhh, okay, that's a $1700 item that I don't even know is in stock at the distributor, I don't know where the delivery guys are or when they'll be back, and I've got to be out the door in 30 minutes, tops. Quick phone call to distributor only gets me the dude's voicemail "Hi, this is ****, I'll be out of the office for a couple hours this morning, leave a message, blah, blah, blah." Crap! Call back to talk to the Mensa-member receptionist.



"Hi, this is X-RM at *****, I need to talk to someone about stock."



"Okay, let me transfer you to the salesman on duty."



"Hi, this is ****, I'll be out of the office....." Double crap. Tick-tock. I really should put this number on speed dial. Call again, this time another receptionist.



"Hi, this is X-RM at *****, I really, really, need to speak to a live person who can tell me if you have this item in stock!"



Finally, I get a real, live person, who tells me that, unfortunately, the item I need is not in stock, nor is it still in production! Say what? But we do have 2 of the newer replacement at a $100 difference. Call back the customer, fill him in, he's fine with that, when can the delivery be made? Well, here's the rub. Our delivery guys are 40 miles away and won't be back until early afternoon.



"Well, sir, if you really need it that fast, you can pick it up at our distributor. And luckily enough, our distributor is only 2 miles from you." He takes that option, thankfully, and that is that. I look at my watch, 30 minutes until my meeting. Okay. Pedal to the metal.



I arrive with 2 minutes to spare at the meeting at the new restaurant that needs a new high-capacity ice machine. I'd spent an hour of my time putting together a nice package with print-outs of 4 different options, spanning a full range of what they might need. During my call to his secretary the day before, she had said that he only wanted to meet in person, as he didn't want it e-mailed or faxed, it needed to be in person. Okay, fine, I can deal with that. We are talking about a $4000 purchase. I go in.



"Hi, I'm X-RM from ***** to see the boss about an ice machine."



"Boss isn't here, did you have an appointment?"



"Yes, I talked to his secretary yesterday and she said to be here at 10:00."



The MOD (Manager on Duty) gets on his cell phone, talks for a minute, and then hands it to me.



"Hi, I'm X-RM from ***** and I'm here with your quotes on an ice machine."



"Hello, well, I'm in Gulf Breeze and won't be there for a couple of hours. I don't recall having an appointment with anyone."



"That's funny, your secretary, Paula, said to be here at this time."



"Well, just leave the paperwork, or fax it to me, or e-mail it to me, we don't actually have to meet in person. I don't even know if we need a new one or not. The repairman should be there soon, and we'll know then if we need to buy a new one."



Needless to say, I hope Paula gets crabs the next time she goes potty.



So, to make my time out on that side of town worth something, I thought I'd go have lunch at a place I've been trying to get some business from. Show the owner, "Hey look, I want your business so much, I'll even eat here!" So I drive the extra 10 miles to her place, take a seat and proceed to enjoy lunch with the paper. As I'm sitting there with my average burger and so-so curly fries, she pops out to the bar to make change.



"Hey, *****, looks like they're working you pretty good!"



"Oh, hi X-RM, as you can see, we're really busy, so I can't talk to you right now."



One, I didn't come here to kiss your ass again, just to show my face. Two, duh!, it's the middle of lunch. Do you think I'm stupid enough to think you'd drop everything to talk about the price of beer mugs? Geesh.



The rest of the afternoon at work went pretty quickly, we were busy so the hours flew by. Then, at 30 minutes until close, I was taking a quick break out back when I was paged to the front. There at the counter, with brat in tow, was a woman who I had quoted some custom benches to months ago (so long ago that I had thrown out her paperwork).



"Hi, X-RM, remember those benches you quoted me on before?" Barely, but I remember you poo-poo'd my numbers against a fly-by-night web-site, where you'd get no service, questionable quality, and no recourse if it was all wrong. Put on big smile.



"Yes, hi, how are you?"



Well, she wanted to totally change all the dimensions and add some things, change the colors, and myriad other things. I dug out the catalogs again and realized we could be there for hours.



"Listen, ma'am, we're about to close, the vendor in Atlanta is gone for the day, so there's things I can't answer for you today. Let me do some investigating on Monday morning and I'll give you a call on Monday, okay?"



"Okay."



Needless to say, I was ready to go home. I hadn't accomplished squat at work, people had been less than professional to me, and I was in a mood.



But, I'm better now. I know those restaurant managers who blew me off are working their asses off this coming week-end. I've got a tall glass of liquid refreshment next to the keyboard. I've had some very nice comments on my blog this week. And I'm going to kick back and maybe watch a nice movie with said libation. For the first time in 17 years, I truly enjoy Fridays again. TGIF indeed!