Climbing out of the hole

[Gibbering]  It's been a rough couple days. 

Battling depression, for one. 

Two days ago, not a bad start: I got to sleep in and watch a couple episodes of Supernatural, after my shower and God Time. 

Then it all went to hell. 

Guy-with-a-truck-take-one.  NO COKES.  A vending business.  In Texas.  In the Summer.  And they don't have a single can of Coke on the premesis? 

I did buy snack items, and the OTHER drinks we needed.  I had already cleared off shelving (I have 2 shelving racks in my corner of the stockroom), so I'd have an easier time putting the drinks away.  We ended up buying about 15 cases of drinks, in addition to my snacks. 

We went in and worked third shift, putting things away.  Not a bad day overall.  Except for no Cokes. 

I like working third shift.  Ron and I agree we'll do it more often.  It's the afternoon/evening shift. 

I didn't sleep well.  I forget why. 

Woke up yesterday, a different guy-with-a-truck.  Got the Cokes.  The nice warehouse employee came over on his own and helped.  I tipped him. 

Got to work, unloaded everything myself (the driver had recent surgery and cannot do lifting, besides, it's my problem.  He drives).   Whoo.  My whole back half was feeling pretty worked today. 

LOTS of complaints.  Where have we been?  I made a joke about cheating with the third shift.  Bugs in the coffee machine.  Gnats. 

Time to blow the lid off: it's a very common problem.  Bugs in the coffee vending machine. It's very warm.  It has sugar and powders.  It has used coffee grounds.  It has moisture.  It's a bug's dream.  My repairman told me this.  "I've never seen a coffee machine without a bug problem". 

I had employees AND management very unhappy.  I explained we would fix it, and we did.  I put up some flypaper and a glue trap on the floor.  For obvious reasons, we cannot use poisons.  Ron did a deep clean on the machine itself, and I took out the used coffee grounds, the source of the "problem".  

I explained all this to the employees, management, and union rep who had gotten in on the problem.  Yike. 

Then I had various other complaints: one snack machine doesn't have all it's labels.  I explained they don't make the labels anymore.  She told me I "had" to put labels in there. 

She is in management, and it was her second complaint on the subject.  Not being stupid, I bought some stick on labels and "fixed" it.  Even though, when I told her I'd make labels, she said "Don't do that". 

If you want the labels, I have to make them.  It wasn't that hard.  The machine looks very happy now.  Especially stocked. 

Oh, yeah, TONS of stocking.  Of everything, except the coffee machine. 

For some reason, no one wanted coffee (laughing hysterically). 

I just had a lot of small, nibbling issues.  When I left I felt beat up, worn out, and very tired. 

We went to Walmart and I got my label supplies (I fixed the label issue today). 

I had a very hard time falling asleep last night.  Problems and worries kept running through my head.  I was exhausted and my illness amplifies when I'm sleep deprived. 

I had a rough night. 

I got up and did my God Time as best I could.  Shower and all that. 

I asked for some prayer support.  I figured I could use it.  One of my sponsors told me he's sending me a case of Bibles.  Someone else told me they are giving me something for "the work" but I can't reveal his name.  Or her name.  It could be a woman. 

Work.

Things were a lot better today. 

One of my customers told me "I can always count on you" (for a good meal/snack).  I was very touched.  I got everything stocked. 

People like my Fiber One Protein bars so much I need to buy more.  I'm very attentive when my customers are purchasing so I can fix problems, and I caught one as it happened. 

The other vendor and Ron had a great time hanging out in the stockroom.  Good.  Ron and I got everything done.  The guy from Dr Pepper came out and wrote up our old vending machine, aka "The Choker" - we may get another shiny new one like we did the old one. 

So, customers were happy.  Machines full.  Things good with the other vendors. 

Best of all, no trips after work - just going home.  We did that. 

I took a nice nap and feel a lot better, and finally have time to blog.