8:00AM - arrive at work and ensure everything is arranged for the big high-level meeting with members from our corporate headquarters.
8:15AM - boss calls. He didn't receive itinerary for one leg of his flight for September 25th.
9:00AM - travel agency opens. Call and get message that the agency isn't open yet.
9:15AM - call travel agency and get put on hold. Five minutes later, bounce back to operator, who puts me in priority queue. Ten minutes later get connected with someone named Debbie. She tells me that they didn't have an email address to send the e-ticket to. Funny...we use this agency for all our corporate travel, and both my boss and I have always received our e-tickets via email before. But, I give her my email address, she assures me she will send it immediately.
10:00AM - still haven't received email. Boss comes in. Says "we" will need to get lunches brought in for everyone in meeting.
10:10AM - I knock on conference room door and interrupt with list of sandwich choices.
10:12AM - Take coffee, cups, sugar, cream, and stirrers into meeting and set up. Collect lunch orders.
10:20AM - call to place pick up order for box lunches. Ask if I can pick them up at 11:15. Nope. Won't be able to have them ready until 11:30. Okay. Place order.
10:30AM - still haven't received email.
10:45AM - receive email from office manager. The vending machines are being removed. If anyone wants anything now is the time to get it! Nice to get advance notice. WHEN are they being removed and WHY? Well, the man isn't making enough money off us, so he's in the process of removing the machines right now in the warehouse, so he'll be in the office next. GREAT! I have big-wigs from our Dallas corporate office in here for a meeting, they are expecting to get drinks from the machine for lunch...and instead they will see a man REPOSSESSING THE MACHINES!!!!
11:00AM - go to Marketing manager and beg for samples of FIJI water for corporate lunch. Got lucky. Put 12 bottles in refrigerator to cool.
11:15AM - leave to pick up lunches. It has been raining and I have on shoes with no backs and toes out. Wade through puddles and enter restaurant. Glasses fog up. Wave them in the air until they clear and I can walk without bumping into things. Go to pick up counter - clearly marked as such. Several minutes later, clerk working register on my left says there is no drawer in the register at the pick up. Walk to end of long line of people waiting to place their lunch orders. Two minutes later another clerk inserts a drawer in the register for pick ups. I leave line and go back to register just in time for this person to walk away. Nope, I'm not moving again! Same gal that questioned me the first time now asks, "Are you here to pick up an order?" Well, duh! No, I'm here to see how long it takes to get annoyed enough to get arrested for battery. Here's your sign!!! So I tell her yes, give her my name and finally she brings my two huge shopping bags full of box lunches. I hand her my boss' credit card, forge his signature and leave. Okay, now I've got both hands loaded down with these heavy bags, my purse, and my keys hanging on one finger. I can't sit the bags down because it's wet and the bottoms will come out. I step back, my shoe comes off and my foot is in a puddle. Great! Finally I get the car unlocked and put the bags in the back seat...and realize both bags seem to be even. Umm, I ordered eleven lunches. Take a count. Sure enough only ten lunches. Gather bags, walk back into store, fuming. Same clerk: "Is something wrong?" Duh! "Nope, I'm just practicing my model runway walk. Here's your sign!" So, I tell her that I ordered 11 lunches and only have ten. She gets the recept and waves it in my face. Nope, see "she" wrote ten lunches. Me: I don't care what she wrote. I ordered eleven lunches and I NEED eleven lunches. I grab the receipt and look at the written order. I point out the vegetarian sandwich, which is not in my bags nor on the ring up sheet. She reads it and says "I'll go check." CHECK WHAT????? Just get me a vegetarian box lunch!!! Seven minutes later I get a vegetarian box lunch. Clerk rings up the additional order. I forge my boss' signature again. Stomp out of the restaurant, forgetting about the wet puddles until the water begins to seep into my stockings. Finally get the bags back in the car. Drive to work. Park. Get out. It begins to rain. Time now: 12:20.
12:20 - Set up lunches in lunch room. Receptionist tells me that our office vending machines aren't being removed after all. **sigh** Get bottled water from fridge and put on tables with lunches.
12:22 - One of the corporate bigwigs stops me in lunch room to tell me that when he arrived at the Hilton late, tired, and ready to crash they had given away his "guaranteed" room because someone had called to cancel it because his plane was cancelled!!! He raised a big ruckus, and got the general manager involved. They offered him a smoking room. Not acceptable. Finally they put him up at the Marriott and paid for the room. He just wanted me to know. **sigh**
12:30 - still haven't received email. Call the Hilton to complain. Accounting asks ME if I figured out who cancelled the room. Well, duh! Yeah. I figured it out. Someone in YOUR organization gave the room away for no earthly reason, or one of your incredible dumb reservation clerks cancelled the wrong freaking room!! Just make sure we receive NO charges on the credit card I used to guarantee the room.
Go to lunch.
1:30 - still haven't received email. Man walks into my office and introduces himself. He begins to talk about the products he wants to have on his table at our holiday shows (which I'm neck deep in coordinating). I pleasantly smile and give him the forms to fill out. The first form is the one which was due to me on JUNE 15 to reserve space!!! Now I have to go back to the venues and change my contract to add a table.
2:00 - still haven't received email. Spend the next two hours frustrated with trying to work out all the details on the holiday show late responses. By now, I'm starting to lose my hair. My feet are killing me. I'm thirsty and in too much pain to hobble to the vending machine which is still standing in the lunch room.
4:00 - still haven't receive email. Call travel agency again. Get put on hold for five minutes. Bounce back to receptionist. Put in priority queue. Five minutes later am connected with a rep, not the one I spoke with earlier. Repeat my quest for an email confirmation and e-ticket. "We received a message that your email came back with an invalid address." Okay, so they left the "t" off my name. Fix. It.
4:30 - FINALLY RECEIVE EMAIL. Forward it to my boss.
4:45 - Chat with marketing manager about lack of response from two of his vendors. Receive multiple excuses. I insist that if I don't get the list of wines, then I'm giving their table to the new guy. Hah! Then I won't have to change that contract.
4:55 - Receive the list of wines from the two vendors. Still have to change that contract. Also receive a nice bottle of Cylcel Gladiator Rose Wine.
5:00 - Leave work determined to come home and drink the entire bottle of wine.
But I didn't. I did take a picture of this cute little piggy bank I got from my RWA writing group on Saturday. Isnt' it cute!!
And that's about when I'll have the funding to actually retire...when pigs fly!!!
So, how was your day???
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