Down Time - not exactly

Remember when you were in school, and thought the Thanksgiving break would be the ideal time to finish a paper or project and then the week would fly by, and you'd get to Saturday and not have really gotten much done. I felt that way, but my project had been to relax and do nothing.

Today I was supposed to be up at 4 to leave at 5 for an inventory in Joliet at 6.
I set the alarm for 4, but must not have properly switched to the alarm function,
because I woke at 5. So, I hurried out the door and down the road getting to Joliet an hour late.

The count crew seemed sufficient when I arrived, but people kept dropping out for one reason or another and by the time the counting was done at 1 PM what remained was 3 controllers (plant, area, and regional), one billing clerk, a nice girl whose father works for the company who helps out on school vacations and holidays, and me.

We're finding what must amount to hundreds of variances, which can result from miscounts, cutoff problems, or other kinds of errors, and by 1:30 I'm late for the door, and my boss is saying things like. "Nobody else can leave until we're all done"
At 1:45 I announce, "We're having guests at home this afternoon and I have to leave now." My boss looked very sad. She knew her two bosses weren't going to be happy if every variance wasn't recounted this afternoon, and I knew with or without me, that would take four or five hours.

I said the first thing I was going to do was stop someplace and grab a lunch for the road, and that I would feel bad eating, knowing that they were all still working and hungry, so I offered to bring lunch back before I left for Elgin. Folks were appreciative, even though the closest fast food spot was a White Castle. So I picked up a variety of sliders and a lot of them, because we were keeping warehouse personnel there late as well.

It was 4 when I got home and I stopped downstairs to talk for a few minutes with Jose. I finally got upstairs to see Janett who had been expecting me home at any minute since 1. She was a little stressed, trying to decide who to call first the children or the state police. I finally apologized without self-justification (awkward situation at work, cell phone dead, no pay phones any more), and things got a little better.

Now we've ordered a pizza and I get to watch ND vs USC, which could prove to be another ordeal. Love