How was your weekend?

Monday, July 15, 2024

 Welcome to Monday. It was so nice to have what was essentially a two-and-a-half-day weekend. Our facility was shut down to facilitate an inventory audit. Order Processing began to shut down mid-day Thursday and by the time I got into work, about 2:30 Friday afternoon the shipping floor was nearly empty. 

  Our 'Freight Carrier Partners' were alerted that we would close at 7:00 on Friday, and our company gave most of the second shift staff the day off. That also meant that there were no loaders to load the trucks that did show up after 3:00, in addition, nobody alerted our inbound team that there would be nobody to unload shipping containers after that hour and they proceeded to operate normally. So between 3:00 and 5:00, there were three trucks to load, two containers to unload, and no forklift drivers. Three supervisors were pulled off of the inventory prep duties to facilitate this. So now there was less prep work done for the 'one-day' inventory audit. 

  By the time the 7:30 dinner break came, almost everyone was waiting to be released for the night. Nobody had alerted the caterers and they sent the regular order of 37 pizzas with maybe 200 chicken wings and two giant trays of salad (one garden and one Caesar). There was more than one pie per person to take home, not that I was complaining! I was on my couch with a couple of slices by 8:15! 

  Our Phoenix, Arizona area warehouse was on its normal schedule and one colleague who spent the shift supporting them remotely from home and she was wrapped up by 8:30. I had said that I would go home and complete the remaining tasks and end-of-day reports remotely, but was told by my supervisor that I should just enjoy the evening. 

 On Wednesday I had to go to Trenton in the morning, then went to a vendor event at Noon, and then worked until Midnight. Thursday I left my place at 8:15 AM and served at our church's Food Pantry Ministry until 1:30 then went to work until Midnight, so by the time Friday Night came I was very behind in the laundry. After an after-pizza cat nap, I went to the laundromat by the time I was back home and all the laundry was put away it was my usual 2:00 AM bedtime.

  Saturday I tried to catch up on writing and housework, but I did get out to go to Sam's Club to get things for church and myself. It was quite hot out but it was good to get out of the house for a while. Das Rhinegold was the weekly opera on the radio and it was worthwhile to listen to (even if it was pre-recorded and not live)  both at home and in the car. I was hoping that over the next few weeks, they would have been playing the other productions of the Ring Cycle, but according to what the announcer said at the end of the broadcast this would not be the case.

  I had gotten the rotisserie ribs at Sam's Club and had some for dinner. They were OK, and you get a good quantity for $12. I enjoyed them with some microwaved brown rice and the last ear of corn I had gotten at the Farmer's Market last week while watching TV. Went to bed at about 9:00 PM in preparation for an early Sunday.

  Drifted into wakefulness just before the alarm rang at 5:00 AM. Took my time and crammed in the Sunday School lesson work with my morning coffee which I should have been doing in bite-sized chunks throughout the week. (I must do better next week when I am going to be teaching). I left my place at about 8:00 and got to the church at about 8:30 (near zero traffic at this hour on a Sunday Morning).

  There were a few things to do at the church and it was great that I could get them all done before anyone was there. I don't mind vacuuming, but it is so much easier when I can do so without anyone or anything being in the way.

  Although the weather forecast called for rain at about noon, it did not happen. With a nearby forest fire and all the normal airborne pollutants, the air quality is very poor, and many people, including myself, have difficulty breathing in the heat, humidity, and poor air combination. After church, I went straight home and by 3:00 I was in a tee shirt and shorts, laying on the couch trying to find a way to watch both the Euro and Copa America finals, I was not successful, but using some Google-Fu I found a solution which could get this in the future if I was so inclined to bypass copyright restrictions and such.  I tried to stay up to my usual 2:00 AM bedtime to get back into rhythm for the upcoming week but barely got past 1:00 before I was in bed.