Sunday Morning Blog

November 20, 2005

Small Rodents, Taking Inventory, and Ass Over Tea Kettle

Do strange things happen at every family's birthday parties? Last weekend we had a birthday celebration at an elder family member's house, and the bizarre happenings continued. The oddity of the day was when Brady (the cat) went bounding through the room with what appeared to be a gigantic ball of lint hanging from his mouth. The curious little boy in me immediately went to investigate said lint ball and its origins, only to find the ball was actually a mouse nest (with no current occupants). For the record, it should be noted that I was chastised for explaining that my evidence of the lint ball's being a mouse house was "terds." Although I am sure in eighty plus years, our birthday celebrant had heard worse than "terds," apparently you do not say "terds" at grandparent's birthday parties... lesson learned. So, from this evidence it was established that mice had somehow infiltrated the previously impenetrable lair of Brady. Brady the cat was predictably perturbed by this, and has been spending the majority of his waking hours in pursuit of the invaders. He is inconsolable.

This past week, the family member noted above took it upon herself to purchase some mouse traps at the local hardware store (and no, they are not Have-a-Heart traps-- I already asked). On Tuesday, she prepared the upstairs guest bedroom for a one night visit from Brady. It should be noted that one stair is a feat for this individual, never mind climbing up and down the stairs twice: once to prepare the room, and another trip with Brady under arm. She closed him in the room, strategically placed the traps about the house and went to bed for the evening. The following morning, she gathered up the traps (all empty) and went about her day. The dish water from the previous night's dinner dishes was still in the sink, and when she went to drain the water, there was something obstructing the drain. She reached into the water, and removed the blockage. There, in her fingers, was one of the mice who had successfully avoided the many traps. Yes, another successful mouse trap invented: we will call it the Have-a-Pool. Just remember, to prevent escape, never leave the sink to counter ladder in place... the mouse will eventually tire of its swim, and the Grim Mouser will come. Drowning is supposedly a very peaceful way to go. Don't forget the bleach for the post-death sink and counter cleaning.

Yes, one would expect it to be difficult to top off a week with such excitement, but not to fear. There was more excitement to be had. This weekend was the biannual inventory at my place of work. Yippee! In this business, it seems we all inventory to a different drummer. I would like to say our inventory management is an exact science, but I am afraid it is only as good as the tired employees who perform it. In my opinion, an inventory should be a shelf by shelf, row by row, accounting of just what is present. I have yet to see one performed this way by everyone involved. Instead, in my industry, you have pairs of people walking around with computer print outs, often in search of what is on the sheets in front of them. If you are only looking for what is on the sheets, it is not a complete inventory-- you aren't catching everything that is present. Sure, with most products you are counting everything in the particular section that is on your count sheet, but you are not going from one corner of the store to another counting everything in the building. Also, with something as repetitive as reading off endless rows of consecutive numbers, there is always room for error by the reader whose eyes go cross-eyed as the day wears on. The person marking the count sheets can not possibly pay perfect attention to such repetitive recitation of numbers either. Aside from the big box stores, bar code scanners have been slow to catch on in the retail side of my business, but most warehouses use them to advantage (again, only as good as the operators). I look forward to the day when we enter the modern era, and bar code scanners can be used for store inventories. Shuffling around, rattling off numbers to someone, who nine times out of ten is unfamiliar with the numbering system to begin with, is monotonous, tiring, and error prone. The joys of retail...

The finale to the week was the phone call I received from home toward the end of inventory day. The same family member who I noted has trouble simply climbing stairs managed to venture to a local mall for some Saturday shopping. It seems the adventure took a turn for the worse, when she was plowed down by an inattentive driver who came around the end of an aisle without looking for people crossing the road. Plenty of passers-by came rushing to her aid, and luckily some bruising and swelling were the only results (not sure if her cane suffered any from its blow from the car as she shouted at the driver to stop). Of course, she stubbornly refused a trip to the hospital. She is now at home, using a borrowed walker that someone brought her, and feels more comfortable sitting than standing. We are just grateful that it wasn't worse.

While we wish we had been there with her, it is probably best that we were not. Unbelievably, she was just grateful nobody she knew was there to see her sprawled out on the pavement. Had we been there, I would have been more concerned about losing my cool at having yet another in an endless series of run ins with Cape Cod drivers not paying attention. You can tell the holidays are in the air, as more drivers seem to be suffering from cranial inversion. Open your eyes people, there are others sharing the road with you (and some of these get out and walk and ride bicycles once in a while). Parking lots are not extensions of our roads... very little gas pedal should be applied when navigating them. Mass. Law Flash: Pedestrians and cyclists have the same rights to the road that automobiles do (except pedestrian's ALWAYS have the right of way); please drive accordingly.

Another entertaining week...

Posted by capecodcyclist at November 20, 2005 05:19 PM