Mi Vida Loca

I am not opposed to overtime. I have worked it from time to time without a problem. That was primarily because it was one really long day once every three months. We called it quarter end.

I work in the retail distribution industry for a third part logistics provider. That means, our customers pay us to warehouse their product and then pay us to ship it out at their specifications and request. A lot of people call this fulfillment, and for some customers this is exactly what we do, but for others it is large shipments to a wholesaler. We have numerous customers, and everyone is different. Our facility is what is referred to as a shared public warehouse.

I love my job, and have been there eight and a half years. As I mentioned earlier, overtime happens. Especially with our seasonal accounts, and with all of them there is a huge quarter end push for sales and numbers, which always leads to OT. Only for about a week every three months though. Lately, this is not the case.

We have a new customer. This customer didn't give us any of the right figures from day one. Ten to twenty orders a day turned into hundreds. One or two floor-loaded inbound sea containers a month turned into one or two a week. Two thousand SKU's (parts) turned into over five thousand. The account has become a recurring bad dream for me. I went from working 42 hours in a five day work week to working over 50 in a six day work week. The problem, is this doesn't seem to be going away. It seems that this is going to be the norm for a very long time.

We keep hearing that this is start-up, and it will die down, but I am not thinking that is the case. I have been through many star-ups, and none were like this. My only saving grace is that my employers are seeking to hire more people, and have brought on ten new hires in the last few weeks. Things will get better, but it won't be because things will die down.

I had to resign my post as my son's den leader as it wasn't fair to the boys. I was no longer making the den meetings that I was scheduling and not finding enough time in the evenings to plan a decent one. I was short-changing the boys, and that wasn't fair. All I could say when I resigned was "I am sorry, and this is unfortunate, but one job pays the bills, and the other, although rewarding, can't". I am still going to be an active member of the pack, just in a different capacity. I have now found myself a job that I can do at two AM if need be. I am going to be the publicity chair. Wish me luck!

I am telling all of you this because I have been absent a great deal lately. I wanted all of you to know that I hope it won't be for long, and to please keep checking up on me!