Thursday, February 11, 2010

At Home and Working???


Escaping onto the snow-lined freeway at 70mph.

I've been sitting at home these past 24 hours doing nothing too productive except digging out from the snow and fielding some calls from vendors on the West Coast.

It's kinda odd to be sitting there while the world around you is at a complete standstill and receive calls from people going about their daily business. They're working and making money. You're not. They're ready to work and get things done. You can't do anything except sit there watching back episodes of Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24.

When the phone rang and the caller ID read "Lee" from our POS vendor, I first couldn't comprehend what I was seeing. What is this guy calling for in the middle of a blizzard? Of course, he's in Seattle where they're having their typical grey day and he wants to know which location they should ship the equipment to and which location will be up and running first.

At the moment, none of the locations are up and running. Hampden has passed inspections but need permits - permits that cannot be filed or processed because the government is essentially shut down. And since the government has shut down the building the espresso bar is located, there's not much happening there either.

Both locations shut down due to snow, no revenue, no work hours, how is anyone making money in this storm? Since Friday, we've had 1.5 days of operations and the last .5 day was pretty slow. My Hampden crew has been out of work for a week. I worry about them. Tomorrow is work come hell or high water. People need to eat.

Meanwhile, I've been dealing with a particular issue that's been nagging at me for weeks (months). Something I've been kinda putting off that came to a head with the snow shutting the city down and nothing else to divert the attention. Didn't handle it in quite the way I planned, but Full Speed Ahead. Not quite the outcome I would have preferred but probably the best and most logical outcome, and certainly not the worst. I feel better and stronger about it and I'll just have to see how it plays out.

Plow Watch - Late Night!


The Avenue - 4:07am, Thursday, Februrary 11, 2010.

My JHU Genius is at it once again with the cel phone camera. Hampden is still snow-covered but not as bad as I was expecting it to be. Definitely no work in the morning.