Moving Day and Moving Day Plus One
Sorry. Took a blogger posting hiatus this weekend. Let's see if I can remember Friday, since it was so long ago.
I got there at 0800, sent an email out saying that we were losing phones and internet access (to remind everyone in the company - again) and shut down my computer and pulled the plugs. I had already emptied my desk into two boxes the day before.
Movers arrive at 0930. Two of Latin decent (one CUTIE), one immigrant from Israel (this isn't important). They discount the hourly rate right away, probably because there was supposed to be four of them. And then they move stuff. And move some more stuff. At one point, I was down at the new place and got a call on my cell phone from my supervisor. They were about to pack some boxes (that they provided) and were going to charge us $150 to pack six boxes. I told him to tell them to hold off, and I'd be right there.
Armed with a copy of the quote, I said no way. Packing boxes was included in the quote, and charging us $25 a box was completely unacceptable, since I'd asked how much "boxes" might cost (prior to the day of the move) and hadn't received an answer. Back and forth, back and forth, and it was determined that they would NOT be packing any boxes for us, we'd move the smaller stuff with our company van. Screw that.
Other than that little surprise, I thought they did a good job. Of course, If they'd picked up a stack of similar boxes, loaded them in the truck, unloaded them at the new place in that same stack of boxes, I would have felt better about it, but that didn't happen. Everything was stacked against the wall as it came off the truck. If "item A" was a box 3x5x5, then it was placed on the floor and "item B" was a .6x1x.6 box, it was placed on top of "item B", instead of a tower of "item A"s next to a tower of "item B"s. Did that make sense?
Goofy SalesGuy showed up. His only responsibility (other than his office/desk) was to remove the pictures from the old place, get them to the new place, and hang them AT the new placed. He showed up long enough to move the pictures that I HAD REMOVED and GATHERED in his car to the new place and PLACE THEM IN THE NEW PLACE. He said something to me about showing up, and I said "No need, we could have done without you". He pointed out to me that he'd been "selling product" all day. I asked if he'd brought a check, as usual. He said no, so I replied, "If you didn't bring a check, then you should have been here, and since you weren't, you are useless to me today, and you may as well leave." Someone piped up from the peanut gallery and said "Gosh, Mikell, tell us how you really feel." My response was "Do not step to me next time you need something and say it's for the good of "Team Orlando", as that phrase has lost it's meaning as of this moment.
If ANYTHING defines "Team Orlando", its moving from office to office. All hands should have been on deck from dusk to dawn, as necessary.
Lunch time rolled around, and the company provided. Actually, I did, using Petty Cash Funds. Pizza, of course, for a group this size. THIS is when I found out that one of the movers was from Israel. All of the pizzas I ordered had some sort of pork product on them... shoot me already. I didn't know. He picked off the pepperoni and ate the pizza plain. A man after my own heart, adapt and overcome.
They'd moved everything by 1530 or so. Then the very little stuff was left. Trash cans, tossing the leftover trash from the old place, other piddly stuff. I was still there for an extra hour that day. --Remember, my company frowns on me having overtime. They can't bill a customer for it.
Oh. Salesgirl showed up sometime during the afternoon and unloaded a box or two out of her car. I have no idea what, I couldn't get over the fact that she was wearing high heals and a cocktail dress. In black.
Saturday, TheHusband and I went to Home Depot to pick up some parts, and then went into work. He installed three electrical outlets so that people could connect their computers to, you know, electricity. Myself included. Two hours (of my time), not billed to the company. I tried to find the items for my desk so that I could work on Monday, and hung pictures in the office so that it would LOOK like we were open for business. Common areas: Done. Rest of the building: Not so much. Also, didn't charge the company for TheHusband's work, just the parts needed.
(I should also mention that TheHusband designed the layout for the new office, all five (count 'em) versions of it. At. No. Charge.
So then there was today.
My mission was to create order out of chaos. It wasn't easy, and I'm not actually done yet. Maybe by next Monday. I'll be patient.
But I had to find a product for install today. I didn't know the install was today, as NO ONE HAD TOLD ME. Fine, see this? Install it. I don't think it is the right product, but see THAT PILE OF PRODUCT? I think the right stuff is somewhere in there. Until I brake that all up, I don't know what else to tell you. If, sometime today when I sort through all this stuff I find the correct product, I'll call you.
I hated making that call. It was in the last box I put my hands on. Of course.
Also, this: "Where are my scissors?" Uhm, I don't know. Did you pack your desk? "No, someone else did." Oh. Then ask "someone else" where they put them. Of course, had you been here to pack your own desk, you'd KNOW where they were, wouldn't you?
Next: "I can't print to XX printer." Really? Neither can I. In fact, I've NEVER been able to print to XX printer, so I'd suggest calling the IT department, not me.
And: "Can I borrow your scissors/stapler/whatever?" You could, but I've been too busy trying to make sense out of this office to FIND THE BOX THAT HAS THESE ITEMS IN THEM, so no, you can't, as I don't know where they are yet. Remember, my thought process is "Team Orlando".
What? There isn't any toilet paper / paper towels in the bathrooms? Find the box.
You don't know where to throw out your trash? Find a trashcan that was moved from the old office and place it by your desk. Then you'll have a place.
Bitches/Bastards, all of them.
Call from the landlord's agent: "What are you doing about the shelves you left?" We discussed them. You said you were going to demolish the old office, walls and all, and I said we weren't taking them because of the way they were built and we wouldn't be able to break them down and put them back together in the new place.
Insert snippy comments from Mikell to landlord's curmudgenly 63 year old agent. End phone conversation (me adding in some stuff that was not complete prior to move in).
Next, I find out that the curmudgenly agent called the CEO, and having to swallow my pride and apologize. It was deserved, of course, I should not have taken my day out on her... but I'm still right.
There were other things, and I can't remember them all.
At the end of the day, someone said something to me (probably kidding), but I'd had enough. I gave in.
I grabbed my keys and my cigarettes, closed the open programs on my computer, and walked out the door. Without saying good-bye. I always say good-by to whatever worker is still there, everyday without fail.
I didn't feel guilty about it until I started this post, three hours later.
I got there at 0800, sent an email out saying that we were losing phones and internet access (to remind everyone in the company - again) and shut down my computer and pulled the plugs. I had already emptied my desk into two boxes the day before.
Movers arrive at 0930. Two of Latin decent (one CUTIE), one immigrant from Israel (this isn't important). They discount the hourly rate right away, probably because there was supposed to be four of them. And then they move stuff. And move some more stuff. At one point, I was down at the new place and got a call on my cell phone from my supervisor. They were about to pack some boxes (that they provided) and were going to charge us $150 to pack six boxes. I told him to tell them to hold off, and I'd be right there.
Armed with a copy of the quote, I said no way. Packing boxes was included in the quote, and charging us $25 a box was completely unacceptable, since I'd asked how much "boxes" might cost (prior to the day of the move) and hadn't received an answer. Back and forth, back and forth, and it was determined that they would NOT be packing any boxes for us, we'd move the smaller stuff with our company van. Screw that.
Other than that little surprise, I thought they did a good job. Of course, If they'd picked up a stack of similar boxes, loaded them in the truck, unloaded them at the new place in that same stack of boxes, I would have felt better about it, but that didn't happen. Everything was stacked against the wall as it came off the truck. If "item A" was a box 3x5x5, then it was placed on the floor and "item B" was a .6x1x.6 box, it was placed on top of "item B", instead of a tower of "item A"s next to a tower of "item B"s. Did that make sense?
Goofy SalesGuy showed up. His only responsibility (other than his office/desk) was to remove the pictures from the old place, get them to the new place, and hang them AT the new placed. He showed up long enough to move the pictures that I HAD REMOVED and GATHERED in his car to the new place and PLACE THEM IN THE NEW PLACE. He said something to me about showing up, and I said "No need, we could have done without you". He pointed out to me that he'd been "selling product" all day. I asked if he'd brought a check, as usual. He said no, so I replied, "If you didn't bring a check, then you should have been here, and since you weren't, you are useless to me today, and you may as well leave." Someone piped up from the peanut gallery and said "Gosh, Mikell, tell us how you really feel." My response was "Do not step to me next time you need something and say it's for the good of "Team Orlando", as that phrase has lost it's meaning as of this moment.
If ANYTHING defines "Team Orlando", its moving from office to office. All hands should have been on deck from dusk to dawn, as necessary.
Lunch time rolled around, and the company provided. Actually, I did, using Petty Cash Funds. Pizza, of course, for a group this size. THIS is when I found out that one of the movers was from Israel. All of the pizzas I ordered had some sort of pork product on them... shoot me already. I didn't know. He picked off the pepperoni and ate the pizza plain. A man after my own heart, adapt and overcome.
They'd moved everything by 1530 or so. Then the very little stuff was left. Trash cans, tossing the leftover trash from the old place, other piddly stuff. I was still there for an extra hour that day. --Remember, my company frowns on me having overtime. They can't bill a customer for it.
Oh. Salesgirl showed up sometime during the afternoon and unloaded a box or two out of her car. I have no idea what, I couldn't get over the fact that she was wearing high heals and a cocktail dress. In black.
Saturday, TheHusband and I went to Home Depot to pick up some parts, and then went into work. He installed three electrical outlets so that people could connect their computers to, you know, electricity. Myself included. Two hours (of my time), not billed to the company. I tried to find the items for my desk so that I could work on Monday, and hung pictures in the office so that it would LOOK like we were open for business. Common areas: Done. Rest of the building: Not so much. Also, didn't charge the company for TheHusband's work, just the parts needed.
(I should also mention that TheHusband designed the layout for the new office, all five (count 'em) versions of it. At. No. Charge.
So then there was today.
My mission was to create order out of chaos. It wasn't easy, and I'm not actually done yet. Maybe by next Monday. I'll be patient.
But I had to find a product for install today. I didn't know the install was today, as NO ONE HAD TOLD ME. Fine, see this? Install it. I don't think it is the right product, but see THAT PILE OF PRODUCT? I think the right stuff is somewhere in there. Until I brake that all up, I don't know what else to tell you. If, sometime today when I sort through all this stuff I find the correct product, I'll call you.
I hated making that call. It was in the last box I put my hands on. Of course.
Also, this: "Where are my scissors?" Uhm, I don't know. Did you pack your desk? "No, someone else did." Oh. Then ask "someone else" where they put them. Of course, had you been here to pack your own desk, you'd KNOW where they were, wouldn't you?
Next: "I can't print to XX printer." Really? Neither can I. In fact, I've NEVER been able to print to XX printer, so I'd suggest calling the IT department, not me.
And: "Can I borrow your scissors/stapler/whatever?" You could, but I've been too busy trying to make sense out of this office to FIND THE BOX THAT HAS THESE ITEMS IN THEM, so no, you can't, as I don't know where they are yet. Remember, my thought process is "Team Orlando".
What? There isn't any toilet paper / paper towels in the bathrooms? Find the box.
You don't know where to throw out your trash? Find a trashcan that was moved from the old office and place it by your desk. Then you'll have a place.
Bitches/Bastards, all of them.
Call from the landlord's agent: "What are you doing about the shelves you left?" We discussed them. You said you were going to demolish the old office, walls and all, and I said we weren't taking them because of the way they were built and we wouldn't be able to break them down and put them back together in the new place.
Insert snippy comments from Mikell to landlord's curmudgenly 63 year old agent. End phone conversation (me adding in some stuff that was not complete prior to move in).
Next, I find out that the curmudgenly agent called the CEO, and having to swallow my pride and apologize. It was deserved, of course, I should not have taken my day out on her... but I'm still right.
There were other things, and I can't remember them all.
At the end of the day, someone said something to me (probably kidding), but I'd had enough. I gave in.
I grabbed my keys and my cigarettes, closed the open programs on my computer, and walked out the door. Without saying good-bye. I always say good-by to whatever worker is still there, everyday without fail.
I didn't feel guilty about it until I started this post, three hours later.
posted by Mike at 6/05/2006 08:25:00 PM
1 Comments:
You sound like you have my patience level when it comes to whiny slackers. I love it.
Post a Comment
<< Home