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That psychic urge...
Jan. 17th, 2001 06:23 amMonday was a relatively light day at the store. The biggest hassle turned out to be the fact that, in the store's capacity as a Post Office, we observing the federal holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday) and therefore could not sell any postage. This explanation was of minor interest to people whose apparent sole purpose on Monday was to come to the store to buy a 1-cent stamp to add to the 33-cent stamp already on the envelope with their car payment. The grocery store next door, which sells stamps as a service, was not so encumbered by regulations, and could sell stamps willy-nilly on Monday.
The stamp issue aside, Galina got a fairly light introduction to life at the store on Monday.
I got up at 4 am yesterday to try to get a bunch of stuff done before going to open the store with the family, help them get started with the day, and then leaving around noon for the long ride to Houston. A couple of things were worrying me about the impending trip, however. First, there are some daily reports that have to be done in connection with the store, and I did not relish the idea of doing a daily telephone conference to walk folks through the process. Second, and perhaps more immediate, was the fact that the weather prognosticators had promised a couple of inches of snow overnight, or at least that's what I heard. What they should have said was a couple of inches of snow per hour.
Getting to the store was a chore, punctuated by some nerve-wracking moments. A check of the weather showed snow falling all the way down to Albuquerque, which meant that the first half of my trip would be - if I actually left - a slow, stressful drive over icy roads. (As it turned out, later in the day I went downtown to the post office to pick up the day's mail, and the 12-mile round trip was done at speeds of no higher than 25 mph on snow-packed roads.)
For some inexplicable reason, around 8:15 am it occurred to me to call down to Houston to ask if everything was still on for a launch on the 19th. Amazingly, the person I spoke to had just heard that the mission had been put off until no earlier than February 6.
This meant, of course, that I didn't have to go to Houston, but I wasn't so overjoyed that I didn't wonder what it was that caused me to lift the phone and call Houston at that particular time. Some psychic urge, perhaps...?
Well, as it turned out, it was a very busy day at the store, and the weather was miserable, and we all went home pretty tuckered out. I'd put chains on the car before returning home, and we still slid right past our turnoff on the highway. Once home, we had a nice dinner, and I hit the sack early, around 9 pm.
Thinking about my work at the store, one interesting characteristic I am noticing is that now that I am The Boss, the prospect of a customer complaint tends to blind me to the need to make sure I have all the facts. I find this an interesting spin, because making sure of the facts surrounding a customer complaint was a hallmark of my job performance down in Houston, where I had to contend with management that routinely jumped to pessimistic conclusions whenever a customer complained.
Having noticed this trend, I can combat it. This is a good thing.
Still a ton of things to get done, but it's all for a worthwhile purpose.
The photo (manipulated to a 4K JPG) was taken a few days ago, by the way, before the snows came again. It is a shot from near the top of my (infamous) driveway, looking north toward Pagosa Peak early in the morning.
Ah, Colorado!
Cheers...
The stamp issue aside, Galina got a fairly light introduction to life at the store on Monday.
I got up at 4 am yesterday to try to get a bunch of stuff done before going to open the store with the family, help them get started with the day, and then leaving around noon for the long ride to Houston. A couple of things were worrying me about the impending trip, however. First, there are some daily reports that have to be done in connection with the store, and I did not relish the idea of doing a daily telephone conference to walk folks through the process. Second, and perhaps more immediate, was the fact that the weather prognosticators had promised a couple of inches of snow overnight, or at least that's what I heard. What they should have said was a couple of inches of snow per hour.
Getting to the store was a chore, punctuated by some nerve-wracking moments. A check of the weather showed snow falling all the way down to Albuquerque, which meant that the first half of my trip would be - if I actually left - a slow, stressful drive over icy roads. (As it turned out, later in the day I went downtown to the post office to pick up the day's mail, and the 12-mile round trip was done at speeds of no higher than 25 mph on snow-packed roads.)
For some inexplicable reason, around 8:15 am it occurred to me to call down to Houston to ask if everything was still on for a launch on the 19th. Amazingly, the person I spoke to had just heard that the mission had been put off until no earlier than February 6.
This meant, of course, that I didn't have to go to Houston, but I wasn't so overjoyed that I didn't wonder what it was that caused me to lift the phone and call Houston at that particular time. Some psychic urge, perhaps...?
Well, as it turned out, it was a very busy day at the store, and the weather was miserable, and we all went home pretty tuckered out. I'd put chains on the car before returning home, and we still slid right past our turnoff on the highway. Once home, we had a nice dinner, and I hit the sack early, around 9 pm.
Thinking about my work at the store, one interesting characteristic I am noticing is that now that I am The Boss, the prospect of a customer complaint tends to blind me to the need to make sure I have all the facts. I find this an interesting spin, because making sure of the facts surrounding a customer complaint was a hallmark of my job performance down in Houston, where I had to contend with management that routinely jumped to pessimistic conclusions whenever a customer complained.
Having noticed this trend, I can combat it. This is a good thing.
Still a ton of things to get done, but it's all for a worthwhile purpose.The photo (manipulated to a 4K JPG) was taken a few days ago, by the way, before the snows came again. It is a shot from near the top of my (infamous) driveway, looking north toward Pagosa Peak early in the morning.
Ah, Colorado!
Cheers...
