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You know, there is an easy way to tell how my day has gone, look at my Mountain Dew. Last year, Boss #1 (the brother) had a falling out with Pepsi so now I bring a bottle of Mt Dew with me to work. How long it takes me to finish that bottle is a very good measure of just how my day is going.
Today it lasted into the afternoon, late in the afternoon.
I had non-stop paint customers all morning and was relaxing in the back with my lunch when I noticed water on the floor. I traced it back to a series of PVC pipes that drain one of the air conditioner units on the roof. Now my store is over 50 years old, so it’s utilities have been added to, repaired and renovated so many times that they have evolved like a drunk pokeman on acid.
The AC drains are an over complicated series of pipes that looks like that one screen saver on your computer and guess who gets to fix it?
First we must drain it, it’s a good thing I play D&D because I know how to deal with the Green Slime that comes out of the drain. It’s also lucky that the three dead mice in the bucket did not animate as undead and attack me.
Next, find and clear the clog. Yeah right! Where the maze of PVC gets to the wall, it joins with the ancient steel plumbing. I don’t know if the made elbows with 10 degree angles back then, but I barely get the snake down one and there is no chance of getting it around the other. OK, lets attack this problem from the other side. There is an access opening in the alley on the other side of the wall, I’ll get it there. But here is where those D&D mapmaking skills come into play, as I realize this sewer line is 4 feet from the one I was working on. An older manager confirms there are two lines, the one I want is under the alley.
At this point there is only one thing I can do, break something! And I choose the wall, well a small part of it. A hammer drill, a cold iron chisel and a hammer named Mjolnir later and I have a hole big enough to send a water hose thru, connect it to the pipe, run the hose into the access to the other sewer and yes! We have a quick fix to the problem!!!
I need an easy job to relax and oh look the update to the paint computer has finally arrived. A month ago, True Value added 6 new color sample books, but did not have the update ready for the computer. Yes, for a month I have been color matching our own colors. But now that’s over, I have the update and everyone knows there are never any problems with installing an update.
After installation, I get an error message “Formulas for vendor True Value can not be found” Did I mention we are a True Value store? When they remodeled the store, I asked them to hook up the paint computer to the network so I could use it to look stuff up for customers and to put a phone next to it so I could call for help. They did neither. So now I have to run a phone cord across two isles, adding CAUTION signs for people so I can call tech support. Oh but I can’t call, someone has changed the phones on the floor so we can’t call out on them.
So now I have to call from the office hoping it will put me on hold long enough for me to put them on hold and get over to the paint dept. Hmmm two phones on hold, maybe that is where Skynet came from? Wait for a live person, tell him my problem, with emphasis on “I can’t mix paint for paying customers”, he says he will have to check with a supervisor who will call me right back.
One Hour Intermission with “please be careful about the phone cord” acrobatics later.
Ok, call again (from the office and run to the paint dept while on hold, Skynet becomes self aware) and wait for another live person to answer, but this time I get that one guy who knows what he is doing (1,000,000 to 1 odds) and while he cannot fix the update he guides me into restoring my paint computer where it was when I started so I can still use it. Wind up my phone cord and save it for when someone calls back (Skynet willing) go in the back to see if I have any leaks (None!) And at 4:30 in the afternoon,....
Finish my Morning Mt Dew.
Today it lasted into the afternoon, late in the afternoon.
I had non-stop paint customers all morning and was relaxing in the back with my lunch when I noticed water on the floor. I traced it back to a series of PVC pipes that drain one of the air conditioner units on the roof. Now my store is over 50 years old, so it’s utilities have been added to, repaired and renovated so many times that they have evolved like a drunk pokeman on acid.
The AC drains are an over complicated series of pipes that looks like that one screen saver on your computer and guess who gets to fix it?
First we must drain it, it’s a good thing I play D&D because I know how to deal with the Green Slime that comes out of the drain. It’s also lucky that the three dead mice in the bucket did not animate as undead and attack me.
Next, find and clear the clog. Yeah right! Where the maze of PVC gets to the wall, it joins with the ancient steel plumbing. I don’t know if the made elbows with 10 degree angles back then, but I barely get the snake down one and there is no chance of getting it around the other. OK, lets attack this problem from the other side. There is an access opening in the alley on the other side of the wall, I’ll get it there. But here is where those D&D mapmaking skills come into play, as I realize this sewer line is 4 feet from the one I was working on. An older manager confirms there are two lines, the one I want is under the alley.
At this point there is only one thing I can do, break something! And I choose the wall, well a small part of it. A hammer drill, a cold iron chisel and a hammer named Mjolnir later and I have a hole big enough to send a water hose thru, connect it to the pipe, run the hose into the access to the other sewer and yes! We have a quick fix to the problem!!!
I need an easy job to relax and oh look the update to the paint computer has finally arrived. A month ago, True Value added 6 new color sample books, but did not have the update ready for the computer. Yes, for a month I have been color matching our own colors. But now that’s over, I have the update and everyone knows there are never any problems with installing an update.
After installation, I get an error message “Formulas for vendor True Value can not be found” Did I mention we are a True Value store? When they remodeled the store, I asked them to hook up the paint computer to the network so I could use it to look stuff up for customers and to put a phone next to it so I could call for help. They did neither. So now I have to run a phone cord across two isles, adding CAUTION signs for people so I can call tech support. Oh but I can’t call, someone has changed the phones on the floor so we can’t call out on them.
So now I have to call from the office hoping it will put me on hold long enough for me to put them on hold and get over to the paint dept. Hmmm two phones on hold, maybe that is where Skynet came from? Wait for a live person, tell him my problem, with emphasis on “I can’t mix paint for paying customers”, he says he will have to check with a supervisor who will call me right back.
One Hour Intermission with “please be careful about the phone cord” acrobatics later.
Ok, call again (from the office and run to the paint dept while on hold, Skynet becomes self aware) and wait for another live person to answer, but this time I get that one guy who knows what he is doing (1,000,000 to 1 odds) and while he cannot fix the update he guides me into restoring my paint computer where it was when I started so I can still use it. Wind up my phone cord and save it for when someone calls back (Skynet willing) go in the back to see if I have any leaks (None!) And at 4:30 in the afternoon,....
Finish my Morning Mt Dew.
