A little less drama

Today found me literally throwing myself between Soda #3 and a pallet jack. 

I didn't sleep as well as I would have liked, but I DID have Torbie in my bed, which makes even a crappy night's sleep even better.  I got up and did my usual morning routine.  I grimly ate one of my "new" peanut butter protein bars.  They are awful.  They have a gummy texture and aren't crunchy enough.  I am having a battle of the cheap, so I grimly finish them off, or do I throw them out and call it a loss? 

The Dark Chocolate mint version is much better, by the way.  I took my pills, drank my Diet Mountain Dew, and took my shower, shaving my legs. 

Our driver came on time.  She needed to use a bathroom so I directed her to the "nice bathroom" gas station near our home.  Then we headed off to work. 

I knew something was up when we walked in the door, they had a huge poster with a head shot of the plant manager, saying "Thank you".  OK. 

We got into the cafeteria and they had all the tables set up like they do when they are having a cake-and-punch event.  OK, we can work around that. 

We were asked when we were leaving, we told them 9:50.  They were staring at 10:30 so we would be clear. 

We told them, if you just call us and tell us in advance, we'll stay home. 

I took the recycle dumpsters out of the stockroom and was instructed by a manager to put them back, the custodians needed to mop.  OK, I shoved them back in the stockroom, in the other vendor's area, where they normally live when we're not working.  I got my cart and loaded it up with snacks and got to work.  I helped Ron navigate around the tables so he could stock canned sodas. 

I saw them drag in a pallet jack, I wondered what it was for but didn't think much of it at the time.  The custodians were in a cleaning frenzy, vacuuming, mopping, and sweeping.  Then I saw the guy run a pallet jack and take aim at Soda #3.  I went running over there and dove between the jack and the machine. 

The man got annoyed at me, said they needed to move the vending machines so they could clean around them.  I said that was a problem, because the machines belong to Dr Pepper and can only be moved by Dr Pepper movers.  They said "Then call Dr Pepper".  I told them, they won't come out today. 

A manager showed up and said she wanted to move all the other machines so they could clean around them.  Many of the machines are balanced on  legs, if you drop them down on the floor the balance will go off and you'll have trouble with the doors.  Not to mention, they could drop it altogether and break them. 

Vending machines cost thousands of dollars.  Each.  They belong to the State of Texas, and a State of Texas moving team will have to move the machines, I explained.  If they gave me advance notice, I could have someone come in and move the machines, so they could clean, and then my guys could put them back, but I could not, under our contract, allow them to move the machines. 

Then the manager tried to tell me I would have to clean their floor.  I took her to Ron, who said NO in a very authoritative way.  He was working, too, which I think raised him a little in her estimation. 

She finally left us alone.  But I didn't know, while I had been focusing on the 7 machines on the south wall, she was having her lackeys move the coffee machine and the food machine on the west wall. 

Do you know how much a food machine costs?  And they just left it sitting on the pallet jack.  I was horrified and kept cringing at every bang, thinking it was the food machine falling down. 

I did tease one of the guys.  He plugged in the coffee machine and it didn't start.  "It's not working" he said "I don't know what happened". 

I told him it wasn't working, so I turned it off.  Then I proceeded, with a grin, to castigate him.  "You broke it!  How could you?  You're gonna pay for this, buddy!"   We had a good laugh. 

Ugh.  It's a good thing I take mood stabilizers.  If I were a drinker I would have needed a drink after all that. 

The repairman came, and had to lay on the floor to work on the door hinge.  The bolt that holds the doorstop was broken, it actually broke in his hand, but it's not necessary to the operation of the machine.  He had me open and close it several times, I was happy, it made a little pop at the far end of the arc but it works fine. 

Then Ron had him give the bill changer a tune-up.  Basically a component is taken out, screws are removed, something is taken off, and a chain is scrubbed with a giant metal toothbrush.  It worked much better after he finished. 

Good, all done.  Ron and I decided, with the frenzy in the cafeteria, to leave a half hour early.  We did that. 

We spent some time in the other vendor's breakroom.  I bought a bag of Tater Skins Bacon and Cheddar.  Those are good, but you don't get a heck of a lot in the bag.  Ron tried some popcorn and he liked that.  He got a couple bags of stuff and we split a cold diet Dr Pepper. 

I am, currently, out of caffeine free diet sodas at work.  I need to buy some on Saturday.  I drank a couple extra (for me) caffeinated sodas and I had a very hard time sleeping during my nap today. 

The circus wasn't over yet.  When we went outside, an overweight woman in skintight jeans was sitting spread eagled on the bench, one leg on either side of the bench.  Not a very modest position. 

My first thought was "Didn't your mother ever teach you to sit like a lady?"  Then I started thinking about the kind of mother she must have had, to teach her that sitting spread-eagled in skintight jeans is an acceptable position.  I found it very sad. 

She was on the phone, someone eventually came and got her.  She had a folder with papers in her hand, so I think she got fired.  They weren't doing any trainings today. 

Work is always putting out memos on the proper dress code and people are always breaking them.  If Ron saw half of what I've seen his eyes would fall out. 

Our ride finally came.  We went to the bank. 

Our teller was a pretty black lady with her hair in twists.  I complimented her hair and we got down to business. 

I do wonder, sometimes, when I go to the bank, should we bring them a snack?  I need to talk to Ron about it. 

Anyway, I got paid and Ron gave me a bonus, I think for last week.  We made our deposit and Ron called Lou the cab driver. 

The nice thing about Lou: we can go through a drive-through.  A paratransit driver would probably get fired for that.  I got some chicken nuggets and Ron got fries. 

He ate them, in the cab, straight out of the bag like a starving man.  I guess he didn't eat any breakfast. 

Ron doesn't like me fixing food for him, except on special occasions.  We got home and I got Ron in the house. 

I ate my food and took my pills.  Chicken Nuggets + lithium and friends = OK.  I have figured out some food combinations.   If I try it with chicken strips I'll get very sick.  Go figure that one out. 

While we were waiting at work, I found a new taqueria on my cell phone.  It has 4.6 stars out of 5, tremendous reviews, and some really good looking photos of their food.  They are also pretty close by so easy access, too.  Ron made a trip to go there tomorrow. 

We'll see how we like it.  I sure hope tomorrow is quiet and boring.  I need a rest.