Moving (all the things) day
'Tis the season. This is the second-busiest time of year, where things are constantly moving in and out. Part of what my business does is supply items to people, and there are times when the items are no longer needed for a while, so they are returned to us, we clean them up, and then we send them back out again. Unfortunately for us, everything borrowed is being returned at the exact same time. My boss picked up so many items from clients yesterday that he actually couldn't fit anything more into his vehicle, and had to tell someone he'd come visit them today. When I got in this morning, I had to finish sorting through yesterday's pile (YC made a valiant attempt, and had things separated out, so it was very easy to tell what was already done and what still needed work). There are proper ways to do things, and then there's triage; YC mainly performed triage, which was fine. It's obvious what things are and what needs to be done, so that's good. Also, in what she'd done in *not* doing it 100% properly (which would've taken twice as long), actually worked out for me--one client had borrowed items that I need to send to another client on Monday, the same set of things. The triage labels, for lack of a better term, still showed the original client name who'd had the items previously (as opposed to a generic label to show the items are available to anyone). This made it easy to go, okay, you're what I need for Monday; you can go in the general pile.
Oh, the piles. We have particular shelves where any incoming items go, but when you are getting loads of items at a time, there is no good place to put them. It doesn't help that BBC2 was off for most of this week, so the items that he specifically deals with were left on the incoming shelves for longer than necessary. (BBC and BBC2 are the people in charge of much of the prep work on certain things; this is why they are so integral to the operations. It's also why they're in another building because they need space and proper equipment to work, which won't fit up in the office area.) Anyway, the normal space was already packed. YC had triaged one pile in front of our shared workspace, and the to-do pile was immediately behind the workspace. Because I knew more items were coming, I cleared the front area and moved that stuff to a more centralized empty spot between the front area and the back cubicles. This is a place that is rather open and large and, well, it could hold a fair amount of stuff and still sort of be out of people's way. It took me an hour and a half to clear through it all and get it moved to the central area...just in time for my boss to return with the stuff he couldn't get yesterday. When that was done, I set about working on the items I needed to gather for Monday...but before I could get too far, here came my one coworker with another load (this was expected), which we put in front of my workspace. It was around 4:30 when I was just about done with that...and here comes a client (unexpectedly) with a baker's dozen items. He was very kind and apologetic for bringing it so late in our workday, but I already knew I wasn't leaving at five, when we close on Fridays (and remember...I'm only scheduled until 3). I didn't necessarily *have* to stay to finish all that up, and I doubt the manager expected me to (and he left before I did; everyone else was already gone), but it was easier for me to get everything in the system so we'd know it was here, and then move it all out to an area where it could stay together but still be out of everyone's way while we figure out a more permanent spot for it. And, I also had to find an out-of-the-way spot for the Monday equipment (it went into one of our rental rooms, which won't be used tomorrow), and because of the timing of everything, it was best that I get that all done today because the people who are going, they'll need to leave right at the start of the business day. We're basically doing a demonstration and have to bring a bunch of things. It should be interesting, but it couldn't come at a worse time. We all have way too many things going on, but the person who requested the demonstration, she's not just a regular client but also a room renter, so we see her weekly at the very least. (She rents on Tuesdays, so she and I have had several discussions about the demonstration already. I'm a little bummed I'm not going, in a way, but given everything that's going on it's not like I can leave.)
The main thing about having to move all this stuff around is it's *heavy*. Not everything, thankfully, but a fair amount of it. I don't do a whole lot of lifting of the heavier items, so between yesterday and today, I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow. I would guess the biggest items are in the 40-pound range, with some of the medium-large items in the 20- to 30-pound range; some of the mediums are more like 10-20 pounds, and a good amount is under 10 pounds, or even 5. It's all fairly bulky, though, and not everything is in a neat, square package. That would make life so much easier, but that's not the nature of the beast. It just takes a lot out of me. I worked an extra hour and a half yesterday, and over three hours today, and I certainly didn't get everything done. But I must admit I actually looked forward to five o'clock today because it meant I could lock the door and turn the phone off and actually get stuff done without interruptions. That's part of why I chose to just do that last-minute project; I could just get it done and YC wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow. It very well could be really busy tomorrow and she wouldn't have time anyway, so now all that stuff is at least out of her way.
There are other things to bring up about work this week, and I meant to do it all in one post, but I'm feeling pretty tweaky today and will likely be sore tomorrow. I think it's time to crank up the adjustable bed. But on the plus side, I think I got in my cardio for the month.
Oh, the piles. We have particular shelves where any incoming items go, but when you are getting loads of items at a time, there is no good place to put them. It doesn't help that BBC2 was off for most of this week, so the items that he specifically deals with were left on the incoming shelves for longer than necessary. (BBC and BBC2 are the people in charge of much of the prep work on certain things; this is why they are so integral to the operations. It's also why they're in another building because they need space and proper equipment to work, which won't fit up in the office area.) Anyway, the normal space was already packed. YC had triaged one pile in front of our shared workspace, and the to-do pile was immediately behind the workspace. Because I knew more items were coming, I cleared the front area and moved that stuff to a more centralized empty spot between the front area and the back cubicles. This is a place that is rather open and large and, well, it could hold a fair amount of stuff and still sort of be out of people's way. It took me an hour and a half to clear through it all and get it moved to the central area...just in time for my boss to return with the stuff he couldn't get yesterday. When that was done, I set about working on the items I needed to gather for Monday...but before I could get too far, here came my one coworker with another load (this was expected), which we put in front of my workspace. It was around 4:30 when I was just about done with that...and here comes a client (unexpectedly) with a baker's dozen items. He was very kind and apologetic for bringing it so late in our workday, but I already knew I wasn't leaving at five, when we close on Fridays (and remember...I'm only scheduled until 3). I didn't necessarily *have* to stay to finish all that up, and I doubt the manager expected me to (and he left before I did; everyone else was already gone), but it was easier for me to get everything in the system so we'd know it was here, and then move it all out to an area where it could stay together but still be out of everyone's way while we figure out a more permanent spot for it. And, I also had to find an out-of-the-way spot for the Monday equipment (it went into one of our rental rooms, which won't be used tomorrow), and because of the timing of everything, it was best that I get that all done today because the people who are going, they'll need to leave right at the start of the business day. We're basically doing a demonstration and have to bring a bunch of things. It should be interesting, but it couldn't come at a worse time. We all have way too many things going on, but the person who requested the demonstration, she's not just a regular client but also a room renter, so we see her weekly at the very least. (She rents on Tuesdays, so she and I have had several discussions about the demonstration already. I'm a little bummed I'm not going, in a way, but given everything that's going on it's not like I can leave.)
The main thing about having to move all this stuff around is it's *heavy*. Not everything, thankfully, but a fair amount of it. I don't do a whole lot of lifting of the heavier items, so between yesterday and today, I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow. I would guess the biggest items are in the 40-pound range, with some of the medium-large items in the 20- to 30-pound range; some of the mediums are more like 10-20 pounds, and a good amount is under 10 pounds, or even 5. It's all fairly bulky, though, and not everything is in a neat, square package. That would make life so much easier, but that's not the nature of the beast. It just takes a lot out of me. I worked an extra hour and a half yesterday, and over three hours today, and I certainly didn't get everything done. But I must admit I actually looked forward to five o'clock today because it meant I could lock the door and turn the phone off and actually get stuff done without interruptions. That's part of why I chose to just do that last-minute project; I could just get it done and YC wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow. It very well could be really busy tomorrow and she wouldn't have time anyway, so now all that stuff is at least out of her way.
There are other things to bring up about work this week, and I meant to do it all in one post, but I'm feeling pretty tweaky today and will likely be sore tomorrow. I think it's time to crank up the adjustable bed. But on the plus side, I think I got in my cardio for the month.