Friday, March 1, 2013

It's been a WEEK since I've been here?

Sorry!
Well, the dryer went out. I realized from looking back over old blogs- every year about this time, one major appliance or another seems to need to be fixed. The dryer sounded for all the world as if I were drying an entire load of sneakers in it... even if it was running empty. Mr C took it apart, and we concluded it needed new 'bearings'. A strange thing to call flat nylon strips backed by cork. (One site called them 'glides'.)
We sent for some from SearsPartsDirect.com. They were literally 1/3 the price through Sears than they were from any other source. We ordered Monday. Tuesday, the shipment tracker said our parts had left Mesquite Texas! That is fairly close by! On Wednesday, the shipment tracker said UPS had them in Springdale, a mere 25 miles away! Whoo Hoo! UPS drove right past our house without stopping Wednesday. I looked at the shipment tracker... it said the business was not open. WHAT? We were here... they didn't stop! Thursday, UPS drove right past the house. Thursday night, the tracker said that the package had been turned over to the USPS for processing and delivery. The USPS sends it through Little Rock (four hours southeast) for THEIR sorting.
 WHO is in charge of these things? Had Sears sent them by ordinary USPS mail, we would of had them Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, from Mesquite! Had UPS put the part on the truck that drove by our house (two days in a row!) We would of had the part Wednesday or Thursday! At least it arrived today. Mr C spent his lunch installing the part(s) and once I got home, I tackled Mt Washmore.

At work, the truck failed to show up on Friday due to the snow/ ice storms, which were worse in Missouri, where our warehouse is located. Saturday I not only got the freight for both Friday and Saturday, I got freight for the new Spring Planograms! I worked 7 1/2 hours. One pallet had 35 totes on it, another had 12+, as well as bulky items. Probably the second or third largest freight day our O'Reilly's has ever seen. I have barely been finishing 'regular' freight, and done very little towards getting the store back in order.
Some things just make me twitch... and I have to let them go for lack of time. I have yet to personally get to do a planogram. Everyone else HATES to work on them... I think they are fun. But they do have to BE done, and in a timely manner... without overtime. So the full timers have to grumble their way through them.

This weekend, I am headed to my Dad's.  His birthday is the middle of the week. His big 'surprise' party last year was the last time I ever saw Bill Joe... and it was at Dad's. That is NOT why I am going. I am going because I want to see my Dad.
But the one year mark looms large in my heart. One year ago, the 4th, the last time I saw Bill, last time I hugged him, last pictures. The 9th was the last time I talked to him, though we spoke nearly every day between the 4th and the 9th. Then, the 10th. Sunday. The one year mark. I knew it would come. I am glad I am off work that day.
I know I am 'better' than I was then. Not as prone to crying, every.single.day. But still grief hurts. My Baby brother Roger lost, two months now. My friend Laurie died due to complications of childbirth, her birthday is this weekend. It seems that the past year has been grief upon grief, sadness upon sadness.
At times, I didn't know how I could make it one year. But the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, and now the months approach a year. Family and friends who have lost children tell me that in time, the lump in your throat gets easier to swallow, but all say the same thing. You don't get 'over' it. Through it, get by, whatever. But it stays with you.


Thanks for reading, I will try to post more than once a week!

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