Multiply 365 Day 208 - I am not on the flow chart

Just got back from week #3 of volleyball, it wasn't too bad. I think I am slowly getting better, though I still am to slow for my tastes and I did manage to catch myself out of position at least once where I got burned by cheating to far in. I could hear my old volleyball coach in my brain, wondering why I didn't drop to my spot and then come in, instead taking a short cut trying to get there and watching a ball go right where I should have been. For the most part though, the two things that bothered me were that I was a half step slow to some balls and my receive of serve still needs lots of work. It is something that would get better with repetition, but given I am only playing one day a week, I am not sure I will get that repetition.

On the plus side, I don't feel nearly as beaten up as I did the first two weeks, though I think tomorrow will be the big determiner for that. I did take a dive for a ball where my leg squeaked across the floor, leaving one of those “this is going to hurt in the morning” type floor burn marks. But my setting was vastly improved, I would argue I was one of the better setters there tonight, which given we had a big turnout (27 people) is saying a little something. And my serve is getting better and better. The dance on the float serve was definitely there, and I was able to hit it with some authority without blowing any. Another cardinal rule from my high school days, never give away your serve, at least put it in play and give yourself a chance. Tonight that wasn't an issue, they were all in.

And all things considered, I am quite happy with how my body feels right now. Considering the day I had at work, the fact I am still relatively functional I think is a good thing. We had two big deliveries today, one for 100 cases from Arizona Tea and another for 228 cases from Pepsi (we ordered 250, but again out of stock issues cut into that). Plus I had my orders to do with Sledd at two of our stores, so my day had the makings of being quite busy.

What messed up the timing was a manager's meeting. And I think I learned something, I am not a manager. Woohoo!!!!! I couldn't be more happy. Actually what happened was Brian came in and gave me a cigarette order he wanted placed. No problem. But as I was getting ready to do that the Arizona order arrived, so I ended up being pulled away from the cigarette order while I caught those cases. When I got back to the office to work on the cigarette order and get my stuff to run down to our other store and start their grocery order for tomorrow I see Ed is conducting a manager's meeting, he has John and Dee around his desk (or Brian's desk, I can never tell who actually claims it) and Brian is sitting at my desk. Ed is talking about how there are some things he isn't happy about, the specifics are not important to the overall story, so we will not delve into them. Anyone who has worked there long enough has had at least one of those meetings with Ed. Just part of the business. Anyway, he starts talking about the synthetic marijuana crap we sell, which may or may not be leaving the store in the near future, depending on how the final law written about it is interpreted. Because of that we need to make sure our ordering is as close to being perfect as is possible. If it becomes illegal we obviously don't want to be caught with thousands of dollars of useless merchandise. By the same token, while I find the stuff repugnant and the class of people it draws to the store to be useless crackheads that serve to prove Darwin wrong, we make some significant coin on the stuff, so it is important to have on site until we get a determination one way or the other on how the law will be enforced.

Anyway, Ed is discussing how we are going to approach the next couple of weeks with these products, how to make sure we are tracking what we sell, getting orders right and what not, when Dee says she has something to say, but in private. Ed asks if she needs him to clear the room, she says no. Then he asks if there is anyone who should be asked to leave and she says, yes, Matt. Thank you. Thank you very much. To be honest, I hate being in meetings like that, ignorance is indeed bliss on such occasions, I was only in the room because I was hoping it would be a short meeting and I could get my stuff done. So the less I know, the less I am personally responsible for and I really do have enough on my plate already. Sometimes I think maybe too much, so keeping me out of the loop on some things is just doing me a favor. Of course the fact they had close to an hour long meeting just fucked with my routine severely, as a result I still have invoices on my desk that I didn't get to (and I hate leaving behind paperwork) and I volunteered myself for additional work this weekend, so it is looking like I will be there both Saturday and Sunday. Which is good, I can use the extra money, though Ed is worried I will burn myself out. But I would rather do what he asked and make sure it is done right than delegate it to someone, have it done half assed and then I get the honor of fixing it. Just let me do it right the first time and be done with it.

Well, we are closing in on the witching hour here on the east coast, 27 minutes until the 365 project becomes a pumpkin yet again, so I will instead call in a night for my ramblings. Be back manana, same Bat time, same Bat channel.