I feel almost human again...

Tough summer down here, what with the "crack whore", Sara's "Crack Daddy", freight lift fiasco, personal elevator fiasco, and a heat index of 110 degrees. But the weather for the last few days has been delightful...O.K., the temps are down and it's been overcast for a great part of the day, but that just means we sit inside and stitch so what do we care? While I do get tired of hearing the bitching from the non-stitchers about not being able to go on the beach...well, they can go on it they just won't get a tan...I don't see the problem here. Anyway, I'm back at work after a week of resting...alright I wasn't resting but we had a mini retreat. Debbie L. & Phyllis Y. came down and we sat and stitched everyday, and then they came to work with me and we stitched while I worked. I got so much done on my ornament exchange piece I know I'll be done with it soon (you don't have to applaud me, I'll do it myself). So I'm rested and thrilled to just to be here. Now will be a true test of my endurance however, as the foreign students leave us to run the 4 stores and the hotel by ourselves (thanks alot kids...!)...but we're use to this end rush and while we bitch and complain we always get through it. I had a "Come to Jesus" meeting with the head honchos of the elevator company. That was an exercise in futility. I wrote the company a letter explaining what I thought of them (I spare you that profanity here)...and so they called and wanted a sit down with Vernon, Sara and myself. I can't tell you how unproductive that was. While P.J. was repentent...Bo who is actually the one that comes on site to check on things was one of those people who wouldn't take responsibility for anything that went wrong. I started by restating what I had already said in my letter. I thought they had nerve, were unprofessional, and were just plain "stinky" (O.K., perhaps stinky was never muttered. but it should have been. When I said what nerve they had to send me a notorized copy of the final bill asking for payment on the private elevator...Bo said, "notorized, what is that about...I didn't know they notorized the bills." More importantly I mentioned to this idiot, "You didn't finish the work!" I said, "out of the six items to be done on the contract, you had only done 2, and you never replaced the gates which was part of the contract." And now, folks...here is what that jackass said to me...hold on to your hat cause you aren't going to believe this...Bo said, "I thought we had finished it...and as far as the gates go, that company has gone out of business so we aren't able to get them." First asshole, you are the company that installed them so find them..and secondly, I noticed you didn't reduce the bill because of that or any of the other shit you didn't do. Honestly, if I had a gun, well, let's just say it wouldn't have been pretty. I finally said, "I'm done here" and left. But the saga continues. Today I got a letter stating that my July invoice (the notorized bill that said the work was completed) has not been paid. You think? Well guess what folks...it's not getting paid anytime soon. These men might think I'll give up but they so don't know me. I'll go down with the ship. Instead of seeing a light at the end of the tunnel...I'm starting to envision the bottom of the sea. We'll see who cracks first. After a summer of dealing with the likes of the "crack whore"...well these elevator people just don't stand a chance. The Labor Day weekend is upon us and while that is usually a tame time due to lack of thousands of people, this year we do have plenty of people to take up my parking...oops, I mean to occupy the rooms. It helps us that the Americana, just 2 blocks away, is still condemned because they didn't bother to give their reservations much notice so by last week when they were informed they didn't have a place to stay...well let's just say we went on the call list. So Thank you Americana, sorry you had to close, but we thank you for your tenants. The weather has warmed up for the weekend so folks, Ocean City is the place to be...warm temps, beautiful ocean and a clean beach. Does it get any better? I pray you have a safe and fun holiday weekend. While the shop is still open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:55 p.m. (I close 5 minutes early so I'm not there until 11:00 p.m.)...this might change at any minute. Usually our foreign students are gone by the 2nd week of September, but this year we have some until the end of September. Since I've always blamed their not being here for my going back to our winter schedule of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m....I'm having mixed emotions here. I'm pooped and so ready to go home at 4:00 p.m. so I can get that nap in. I miss that 4:00 nap so I'm looking forward to it again. Well, if you are down here...call to check on our closing time at this point. I hate hearing about people who came all the way to the shop at night only to find me gone!!!! Talk to you soon...have a great weekend.