Wednesday January 20, 2009\u00a0\u00a0 As this morning began, I was going to start right away updating my mailing labels for the February Horizons and get all my post office paperwork started.\u00a0 Then I noticed it was about 34 degrees outside so I decided it was time for a new soup.
\nI took a small bag of split peas and rinsed them well.\u00a0 I diced up one large onion, one entire bulb of garlic, 2 carrots, and two stalks of fennel instead of celery.\u00a0 The veggies browned in the pot while I chopped a fresh tomato up with a handful of fresh parsley.\u00a0 Into the pot, along with a giant can of lowfat chicken broth and the split peas.\u00a0 A quick stir, then a teaspoon each of oregano, basil, coarse ground pepper , sea salt, cumino, thyme.\u00a0 I added a cinnamon stick to this soup also, as well as tarragon and rosemary, a flat teaspoon each.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be freaked out by the amount of spice, this is my typical blend, I like food with high flavor and this is NOT a hot spice combination.\u00a0 Ninety minutes later I had another really delicious soup.<\/p>\n
But, in the middle of making my soup – of course – the phone rang.\u00a0 It was the printer telling me I still had a problem with two ad pages they had not caught the day before.\u00a0 They gave me a couple of hours to make the fix, which I did, and I also was able to place a last minute ad and make an extra $200 *yay*\u00a0 I love when that happens!<\/p>\n
With the magazine, it\u2019s usually three weeks straight of work on it.\u00a0 I used to think that the day I got the magazine to press was when I had a few days off.\u00a0 Then there would always be a mad rush at the end and I just now figured out why.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always a Monday when I get the job in to press, and it is delivered the following Friday, 4 days later.<\/p>\n
That Monday and Tuesday I am on standby, waiting to hear from the printer if I need\u00a0to redo any pages.\u00a0 This is when I open all the last week\u2019s mail and log payments in and make up a deposit to drive in as soon as the printer says it’s a go.\u00a0 Then I get everyone paid.<\/p>\n
Tuesday and Wednesday I am going through\u00a0the month’s mail and emails and making down changes to the labels.\u00a0 Every change – from the number of magazines a store gets by mail, to someone changing their address – means there is a change in the labels.\u00a0 Every change in the labels means a change in the post office paperwork as well.\u00a0 It takes 5-6 hours to do\u00a0all the paperwork related to the labels.\u00a0 This doesn’t count\u00a0waiting for everyone\u00a0to call me back with their info.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u00a0 By now everyone has called me back, so I print out the labels.\u00a0 It takes about 2 hours to figure the\u00a0post office paperwork and then I order labels from the downtown post office and go to pick them up, along with mailsacks for the mags.<\/p>\n
So I tell my helpers that when they see me Friday morning to do the mailing, I have not had a day off for 3 weeks unless they see me some Sunday morning.\u00a0 They see me at my most human and grumpiest \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
Since the post office changed their rules for mailing bound printed matter, the new process I have to go through takes me two days rather than half of one.\u00a0 It used to take me just a few hours to update the labels and print them, and a few of us would spend 3 hours Friday morning packaging magazines and stacking them on a pallet for the post office to pick up.\u00a0 I was free by Noon on Friday.<\/p>\n
Now, I need 2 full days to get the updates and paperwork done since they now have to be sorted and sacked by zone and postage calculated by zip code.\u00a0 So on that Friday now I am not free from the post office and picking up magazines until after 3pm.<\/p>\n
I am wanting to reclaim more time to myself – wait, SOME time to myself – and to that end will look at other mailing options so I can be free of that job.\u00a0 I do it to myself.\u00a0 I admit it.\u00a0 I am still learning the lesson that I don\u2019t have to do everything myself.\u00a0 That\u2019s what gets me overworked.\u00a0 I hate to ask people to volunteer, because I think people should be paid for their time and I’ve seen too many people abuse the volunteer privilege and I never want to be one of them.<\/p>\n
Oops, sundown approaching, time for a quick bike ride to ride away this self imposed stress.\u00a0 I have my fuzzy acrylic jacket and warm hat, I feel like I am almost in disguise!\u00a0 Let\u2019s see what\u2019s happening in the neighborhood.\u00a0 Have a good evening.<\/p>\n
And hey, is it just me, or did today dawn just a little brighter and shinier?<\/p>\n