Date: 2009-03-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I haven't had a chance to update in a while.   I don't even know where to start.   My life is feeling very surreal lately. I feel like Alice and I have been transported to an even bizarre wonderland than she.Work was bad enough a month or so ago. Spending days cleaning out other people's filing cabinets. And, because we couldn't throw the stuff away - we had to pack it into banker's boxes. Now, I didn't really mind packing stuff for people who got laid off right away.   But, people who were here a month or so ago - they should have cleaned out their stuff.   What a total PITA.Last week I had even more fun - I became what we are calling at work the phone B*tch. I spent three days finding, collecting, and cataloguing them. Who knew there were so many freakin models of phones. Plus, a zillion assessories. Some liquidator is coming tomorrow to get them.   So, we have to box them up and put them on a pallet. Can't wait.From Phones, I went on to become the FFE B*tch.   Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment. More fun than I can take.   A bank was going to take over our building and with it - all of the FFE. Well, maybe not all. We counted that stuff and cataloged it at least 5 times.   They were going to take over the building on April 1st and we would have a month to get rid of all of our stuff - mainly the mainframe and other stuff.   Well, the deal fell through and there wasn't/isn't enough time to find someone else.   So, we have been scrambling to get rid of all of the building's contents.   And, the building just happens to be more than 44K square feet.   A week ago Thursday, we started letting people into buy anything and everything.   At first it was just a few local business.   They bought a lot, but didn't even put a dent into it. Last Tuesday, we opened it up to the public - it was crazy.   For the past 4 days I (and the other poor 12 people who are left) have been escorting people around to pick up their stuff. We tried to let the first few people in without escorts on Weds - but they ended up stealing stuff or changing the tag with their name to another piece of furniture which pissed off the person who bought the original. We now have to escort them and watch them struggle to get their stuff out. They show up with cars with now equipment and expect that they will get a 5 foot tall metal filing cabinet up on their roof. Crazy.   Now, I am all about a good bargain - but the stuff was basically being given away yet people still had to be low-lifes about it.   It is times like these that are so discouraging. Saturday was the last day for pickups.   We sold a lot of stuff, but their is still more stuff.   We are going to try to move as much as we can to storage in an attempt to sell it later, but more than likely it will be abandoned in the building.   We have to be out by April 1st.   So, tomorrow we will move as much as we can. By Friday, there will only be about 10 people left. They will be moving to a very small space a couple of miles away. We will move some of the stuff up to the new office.   Tuesday, we will try to clean up as much as possible.The courts finally ruled on document destruction so the hundreds of bankers boxes that we filled we had to empty them into a secure recycling system. It took weeks to fill them up and we had about 2 days to empty them. As much fun as the phones were - the supplies were even more fun.   We had literally buckets of staplers, footrests, probably over 100 banker boxes filled with every size binder you could imagine. When we look around and see the waste - we are not surprised that we are bankrupt.   Pathetic. And nobody wanted the stuff.   We donated as much as we could to the local schools.OK - on to hiking matters.   I ended up finding my boots - but I ordered the wrong size. Don't ask.   Then I reordered the right size and they told me they had to backorder and they wouldn't be in for 8 weeks.   Canceled that order. I did find them on another site and ordered them and they got here in 3 days.   They fit and now, I will start to wear them with the hopes of having them broken in by the time I am ready to leave. Even if I decide not to take them with me - I will keep them for day hikes.I also ordered a new nalgene bladder, but got the wrong one. The bladder is fine, but the fill piece is the wrong size.   So, I need to find another one. I want to be able to fill right from my filter. I am not having much luck. More than likely it is that I have just not had enough time to sit down and concentrate. By the time I get home at night I am wasted.   This week it was pretty much 11 hour days including weekends. And, it was physically grueling. All I keep saying is it will be over in 1 week. I don't know if it was worse being one of the last ones to go or one of the first ones to go.   My foot is killing me. The orthotics are ok. No more blisters, but my metatarsalgia is acting up. I called the foot guy, he suggested pads. Not helping. I will call again tomorrow and tell him I want to try a shot of cortisone. The SQ is not being very supportive either.   Well, she is, but she keeps laughing. She thinks it is funny that I have tried every over the counter therapy. I have tried everything. I refuse to believe that there is not a solution to this problem. I will find it. Vitamin I isn't doing anything. I am even thinking about trying acupuncture.One more week of hell and then I can get down to the business of really getting ready to hike. I can't wait. The weather is starting to get nice here which means it is definitely getting nice down south. Until next time -