Not again!

It wasn't the best morning. 

I had a hard time getting up, I'd had an awful time falling asleep last night.  I finally decided God did not want 10% devotion and worship, He'd rather wait until after work.  I just took my shower, threw my clothes on, and left. 

We went to the warehouse.  I got some candy (almost out of Snickers, eep!), etc.  We went to work. 

I saw the other vendor.  He asked me to get him a cup of coffee (I did) and told me, "Oh, the boss is here meeting with the plant manager about opening a snack bar." 

[sigh]  Here we go again.  Everyone wants a snack bar. 

I've talked about the deli period of our lives, how it was without a doubt the worst period of our lives, worse than cheating, verbal abuse, blackouts, the accident even... here's a link: http://houstonheather.blogspot.com/2011/06/when-are-you-going-to-open-deli.html

Short version: people really like the idea of a deli.  They like the idea of hot food made to order and a smiling face.  Some of them like the idea of someone to scream at and push around, verbally.  We saw a fair amount of that.  They don't like the idea of paying a market price.  They don't like the idea of limited hours.  Yes, the plant is open 24/7 but we're not robots.  We need to sleep and take care of our personal business.  They don't think about all the equipment required or the electricity required to run it.  They don't think about the cost to build the snack bar.  The cost of goods, very perishable goods, required to stock it. The very expensive repairs.   Sales Tax.  Payroll.  Cost of Goods.  They want to buy a lot in the beginning and never come back. 

You also have what I'll call the "milk" ers.  Years ago, we stopped selling milk.  We had a high food cost, low sales, and a very perishable product.  Months after we stopped selling it, we had baffled people looking in the food machine saying "Oh, where's the milk?  It was here last time!" 

Meaning, they only came in once every 3-4 months and wanted us to be on the ready, every time.  That's not feasible. 

We had great sales every night it rained, and terrible sales every other night.  In fact, months after we closed the deli people were still coming by the area on rainy nights, shocked we had closed. 

You haven't been here in 6 months, and you wonder why we closed? 

A lot of issues, a lot of emotions.  I went to work and did what Ron pays me to do: stock vending machines. 

I did that, helped Ron, and got the other vendor a couple more cups of coffee.  The boss came by.  I got Ron, and him, cups of coffee, and listened. 

I don't know who reads this, so I won't lay out any trade secrets:

Our management may or may not choose to open a snack bar. 

If they do, they might force us to run it. 

Or, they might open it up to another blind vendor (our preference if they do open a snack bar). 

You could say they have arguments for and against.  The last one didn't work.  But we have more people.  But we didn't have one built properly during the remodel.  They will have to cobble something together off in a corner.  They could.  We don't want it.  But other vendors would, absolutely. 

I could rip myself to pieces with anxiety.  I'm sure the devil would like that. 

If you believe Good exists, then you must believe in Evil.  Evil hates those who follow Good.  There, I took all the theology out of it. 

The devil would love to mess us up. 

I decided not to let that happen.  It's not like I had an epiphany and made a concrete decision, I just decided I didn't have time for bullshit.  I had machines to stock, and I'd do that. 

God's gotten me through so much, I know He has my back.  Whatever happens He'll help me deal. 

I serviced the coffee machine.  I serviced the food machines.  I serviced the snack machines.  I helped Ron with bottled soda.  I helped Ron with canned soda.  I rearranged the stockroom so he could get at the Hawaiian Punch.  I did meter readings (an A/R accountability feature so Ron can track sales, it's like a sales odometer). 

Somewhere in there, I drank a couple bottles of Diet Dr Pepper and had a bag of Cheetos.   I got the other vendor yet more coffees, on request.  He's going to be up all night! 

Good news, the coffee machine has been beautiful. 

All my machines have been great.  Right there, I could go to worrying about who will stock the vending machines if Ron and I "have" to run the deli.  Not going there. 

So, after all that we went outside.  We waited on our ride - we just went home after work. 

I took a nap. 

When I got up, I remembered something.  One whole wall in our cafeteria has no electricity.  Another area can't feed the microwave AND the employee fridge.  "They" wanted 8 microwaves, but only 7 can run at once.  The 8th is just unplugged sitting off in the corner. 

They don't have the electricity. 

If they don't have the "electric" to run a single fridge and microwave, how can they run a snack bar requiring, I'll say probably 150 amps? 

The fridge and "mike" only take 30, if that. 

I imagine management will have to change their tune, after talking to the contractor. 

Thanks for that, Lord. 

You notice He let me turn that over to Him and then told me.  :)