This week has been taxing. It all started with having to play all roles on Monday and Tuesday. Today I had to deal with researching Canadian imports, taxes, the FDA and vendors.
Vendors. Ugghhhh… Government agencies. Double ugghhhh. My company carries 159 SKUs. Two of said top-selling SKUs are on backorder. I have 400 customers who need product.
Ever try getting someone on the phone from the FDA who can actually answer a question? That’s fun, let me tell you.
I need a vacation.
I showed Alexandra’s website to Elise this evening. She said “don’t even think about it… that’s like having the hots for your cousin… You know you’re related somewhere down the line.”
I’m thinking about moving to Arkansas.
Here’s a recipe that turned out alright. I thought it was going to be a waste of time since it’s based on a Weight Watchers recipe.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet on high heat. Add shrimp and cook for 3-5 minutes until pink. Transfer to plate.
Add carrots to skillet and cook until tender crisp. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, green pepper, onion, poblano and chiles.
Add chicken broth, soy sauce, peanut oil and sesame oil. Heat thoroughly.
Stir in shrimp and serve over brown rice.
Secret to cooking an otherwise bland Weight Watchers meal: pungent spices and heat!
Here’s a recipe that turned out alright. I thought it was going to be a waste of time since it’s based on a Weight Watchers recipe.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet on high heat. Add shrimp and cook for 3-5 minutes until pink. Transfer to plate.
Add carrots to skillet and cook until tender crisp. Cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes.
Add garlic, ginger, green pepper, onion, poblano and chiles.
Add chicken broth, soy sauce, peanut oil and sesame oil. Heat thoroughly.
Stir in shrimp and serve over brown rice.
Secret to cooking an otherwise bland Weight Watchers meal: pungent spices and heat!
I’m not a big fan of Dell. It’s not so much Dell’s products as it is the customer service (requires login). We use Dell desktops and two servers at the office.
I’d much rather shave my head with a cheese grater and chew on foil than deal with Dell.
This week has been challenging thus far, to say the least. I’ve had three employees out. That means Peggy and I have been holding down the fort alone. It’s been tough. I can tell you this – When reliable employees have to miss work, I appreciate what they do while at work that much more. I’m bad about complimenting people. I need to make it a point to verbalize my appreciation more often.
Holding down the fort means handling fulfillment, shipping and receiving and answering the phones. Those are just the high points. I’ve been very stressed the past two days, but it’s been a great learning experience. Being on the front line has helped me get a better grasp on how I should manage inventory (which is something that I’ve been trying to figure out for the past six months).
“Inventory and payroll can kill a business”. That’s one of the many things that I’ve retained from meetings with my boss. I’ve become fairly comfortable with payroll and staffing, but haven’t yet had the chance to really figure out how to manage inventory. Now I’m learning and ‘inventory management’ has moved up to the number one spot on my hit parade to review with my boss.
In other news: I finally watched 90% of “The Last Samurai” DVD that John loaned me a few months ago. Awesome movie. I don’t know why I haven’t finished it yet. On the way home from work yesterday I picked up “Anchorman” and “Blue Collar Comedy Tour 2” from Blockbuster. “Anchorman” was stupid (I’ve officially given up on Will Farrell movies). “Blue Collar” was okay – not as funny as the first.
I came home from TKD tonight in a flustered and frustrated mood. I heated up dinner, snapped at Elise, installed the cabinet doors onto the dining room hutch, apologized to Elise, kissed, made up, played Halo 2 (I’m an addict now). That’s my outlet. Killing aliens.
Adrian came down from San Antonio to spend the weekend with us on Friday evening. We had a little get together at the house. Adrian, Allen, Kirk, Lanessa, Victor, Philip, Rob and Frank came over and we spent the evening eating pizza, playing dominos, poker and darts.
Elise had to work early (and all day) on Saturday. Adrian and I got up, played a little Halo 2, replaced the battery in his car, took the top down on the Jeep and took it out for some quick shopping at Best Buy and lunch at Freebirds. We got back to the house just before a quick and brutal hail storm.
I whipped up a mole sauce for the tamales that Adrian brought so we had dinner and then met Kirk and Lanessa at Flores for margaritas. Holli and her boyfriend met us at the restaurant and Philip and Frank later showed up. After a couple margaritas, we headed over to Carlos and Charlies where we all turned into dancing queens. We all danced and danced and danced to a great cover band (couldn’t tell you their name to save my life). Kirk one the award for King of Queens. After our damage at Carlos and Charlies, we headed over to Philip’s and Rob’s apartment where we engaged in a heated game of beach ball kickball. We stayed out way too late!
I didn’t wake up until around noon to the smell of Elise cooking pancakes and potatoes. The three of us hung out and talked until Adrian left around 3 p.m.
We decided to cook mahi mahi for dinner that turned out horrible. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach fish for a while. Other than the bad fish, we had a great weekend.
I can’t help but laugh at this error in communication. Yesterday I asked Jenny to order packing peanuts. We also needed to order bubble wrap but I waited on Sue to determine how many rolls I needed to buy. Sue and Jenny were going to coordinate our purchase order with our vendor. I left the office and forgot to ask if and what they ordered.
This afternoon Lacee asked if bubble wrap and packing peanuts had been ordered. I didn’t know. I wasn’t made aware if Sue and Jenny had coordinated their order. I had Lacee place the order with our vendor.
We accidentally double ordered. Our vendor is so great that if you place an order before 6 p.m., you’ll receive your order the next day.
I have close to 700 cubic feet of biodegradable starch packing peanuts and 4500 feet (that’s 700 feet short of a mile) of 48″ wide bubble wrap in the warehouse.
Elise caught up shortly after.
“Drop Dead Sexy” is a very funny movie. It’s a dark comedy about two friends, Eddie (Crispin Glover), a “subterranean architect” and Frank (Jason Lee), a recently-fired used car lot mascot who are commission by Spider to smuggle cigarettes into Mexico by means of a pickup truck.
Needless to say, the plan doesn’t quite work out and Eddie and Frank owe a large amount of money to Spider. The duo exhume the body of Crystal, a recently buried ex-stripper who was also the wife of Harkness, a wealthy bigwig in the local trucking business. Eddie remembered seeing a “beautiful” diamond necklace on the neck of the deceased at the wake. Eddie was also the one who buried the body.
The two dig the body from her grave only to find no necklace. They decide to keep the body for ransom and get their money from Harkness to pay off Spider. Hilarity ensues and Eddie begins to have feelings for the corpse. It’s a twisted and hilarious film. Oh yeah, and then there’s the Coors Light twins who also make a couple appearances.
I can’t remember the last time I laughed outloud while watching a movie. Crispin Glover is a riot – he’s such a unique actor.
So… we stayed to watch the credits roll after the movie had ended. Half the audience left. Elise and I sat patiently in our seats and sure enough…
Elise Janicek is in the credits. It actually went something like this:
“Special thanks to Clay “Thunder” McPhail, Elise Janicek, Rob Olvera and El Arroyo”.
It’s really cool to see your wife’s name in movie credits. Now I’m going to have to focus my efforts on convincing Elise that it’s not necessary for her to wear sunglasses everywhere she goes.
15 seconds of fame so far. 14 minutes and 45 seconds to go…
I own and operate HartzVictims.org. I’ve been doing so for almost three years. Once a week I get someone who sends me an email:
I recently put hartz flea drops on my two cats. Within minutes of doing so they were having seizures and eyes rolled back in the head and walking around like they were drunk. They couldn’t even stand up by themselves. I called the vet right away who told me to wash it off immediately. My cats are my babies and would have been distrot had something happened to them. I have been told never to use your products again and my vet said that this is not an uncommon thing. I think that if you have any respect for animals you will take these products off the shelves immediately. I am very regretful that I bought your products and will never do it again!
It’s getting so hard for me to bite my lip and respectfully respond. I understand that people are upset and looking for a punching bag… uggghhhh. It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because 1) Hartz is an evil corporation and 2) I’m not the punching bag they’re looking for.
I suck at Halo 2. I suck at all video games. Well, except for Contra on the original NES. Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start.
I wanted Halo 2 when it first came out. I thought it would be one of those fun, action packed and easy games where you just cruise around and blow stuff up and kill aliens. Yeah, it’s kind of like that, but you have to have three hands and seven thumbs to do so. I don’t understand how people can get anywhere in these games. One would need to train for hours on a daily basis. Do these people not have jobs? Do they not have classes to attend? Is a professional Halo 2 player a vocaton?
Sunday night I made crab cakes from the left over lump crab meat from Friday night’s meal. I just remembered that while I was making Friday’s meal, I stuck my pan with vegetables into the oven while I grilled the salmon. When it was time to plate up, I grabbed the pan in the oven with my bare hand. That hurt.
While cooking my crab cakes on Sunday, I somehow managed to stick my finger into the pan that contained 400-some-odd degree vegetable oil. That hurt.
Almost one year ago to the date I grabbed a piping hot pizza stone from the oven with my bare hand. That hurt.
Last night I lobbed off a chunk of my left thumb with my old chef’s knife while cutting squash.
Elise is getting back on her Weight Watchers thing again. I’m going to avoid the kitchen for the rest of March and let her cook.
Elise and I went for a relaxing boat ride on Lake Austin with Kirk and Lanessa this afternoon. After touring lakeside properties, we headed to Hula Hut for lunch.
Lunch was great and hanging out with Kirk and Lanessa always makes for a ton of laughs. Lanessa brought along some old pictures of me from a student council trip that we took circa 1993. Rebels sit in the back of the bus. Alice’s Hard Rock star. How to eat French fries.
