The Fate of RiRi Nibblett

Let's get caught up on some stuff, kay?

The Asylum

It's business as usual at the crazy place. Twatwaffle's reign of terror and ignorance continues. We still don't have enough help, we're busier than a one legged man in an ass kickin' contest and angry sales reps are insulting me and my work ethic daily. The old me, the good salesperson me, would be understanding of their issues, work overtime to resolve them, take their verbal abuse. But now that I don't give five fecks if I get fired tomorrow, I just tell them, "Hey, I know it sucks. This is just how the company I work for chooses to do business."

There are limits to how much verbal abuse a person can take.

TW did decide to put Thelma back in charge of entering orders, which is fine, except that Thelma is the production control department. Thelma is also answering my phone, handling what she can, then paging me for the rest. Kat, the secretary for both plants, is also the HR liaison. Our actual HR person works at the other plant. Kat also helps Thelma with the overflow of production tasks. In TW's wisdom, she has now decided that Kat will process all the return paperwork, credit memos and miscellaneous clerical duties of the sales department, leaving me free to handle problems, quotes, new customers, reports and so on.

So I have help, but not really. The other day, when I laid a new order on Thelma's desk, she said, "Why don't I just do all your work? Is that what you want?" 

This, on a day when I was already pretty close to being fed up anyway,  I told her, "Would you? Would you really? Cuz I'd love to say eff it and go to the house."

Tiny, the Senior Engineer, spent half of yesterday loading trucks.  I had to manage the switchboard and take my own calls because Thelma and Lulu left at 10 and Kat took the day off. Thelma had to cover shipping on Thursday so that Squatch could be off.

We sent two flat bed trailers full of stuff, $300K worth to Utah last week. It's scary as hell when you consider we're doing business, flying by the seat of our pants. 

Last week we had a sales rep call and ask to be taken off our rep list because the service sucked so bad.  Six months ago, I would have been calling him and trying to smooth things over, anything to salvage a 20 year relationship. Instead, when TW gave me the news, I just shrugged and said, "Oh well. Expect more of that."

Back at the Trailer

I've re-thought the whole wood stove thing. The fact that we have a trailer and not an actual house makes it uber complicated to safely install a wood stove. There would be a lot of ripping shit out and buying expensive insulated pipe, not counting the cost of the actual stove. I've decided that instead, if I have enough of a tax refund, I'll admit defeat and get the oil tank filled. I can't afford to keep running electric heaters 24/7 when it gets really cold. If we use the fireplace, maybe I can make a tank of oil last longer. When Ma was here she ran the heat wide open all time, but me and TA tend to run more on the warm side. Our fireplace has a blower, but not much of one. I've got one of those little metal turbo fans, maybe I can just sit that in front of it and circulate the warmth a little better.

When The Amazon came home from job #2 at the Frog Pond Holler library today, an old Cutlass pulled in behind her, gray and rusted, the type of vehicle you expect crap to start falling off of every time it hits a pot hole. Driving the car was none other than RiRi Niblett, her hubby and their month old baby girl. Ya'll may remember RiRi, one of TA's school chums. RiRi got married about a year ago to Little Al, one of the guys from the plant. He's four foot nothing, spent his whole life on the backside of Loreli mountain, has about four teeth and is well in to his fifties. This is the same little feller that I may or may not have mentioned previously, let everyone at The Asylum know he was lookin' for him a woman with a big butt and that I'd suit his fancy. 

This is the dating pool I have to choose from. This is why I'll be forever alone.

I was later told, by Martha down at the campground store, that I should have went for it. She said she used to date him (she to possesses a sizable derriere and bodacious tattas) and that he was.. and this is a direct quote, "hung like a stallion."

Considering I have to see this man every Monday through Friday, this was information I could have lived without. 

Anywho, RiRi and Little Al came to look at the Blazer TA totaled when she rear ended the local state trooper. I don't know what kind of dealings went on between TA and Little Al, but he handed her a wad of cash and she handed him the title. I played with the baby, a month old and just 7 pounds, while I took note of RiRi and TA standing side by side. RiRi had no front teeth before she'd even turned 30, married to a man as old as her daddy, probably destined to popping out babies for the next decade. As much as I bitch about TA, at that I moment I was both proud, that my daughter was going to use her tax refund to take the GRE so she can go on to get her Masters and saddened by RiRi's fate. 

In Other News

Aunt Flo is still here and I'm whining like a 12 year old girl in gym class. I know ya'll care, I am the Queen of TMI. 

I haven't had colchicine in like.. a month. The fevers have started back, low grade, just enough to grace me with a nagging headache. The aches and pains.. Rice Krisy joints.. are a given. For a couple of years I've been getting colchicine from the manufacturer for free, but when I sent in my application for this year, it was denied, citing the health care act as the reason. There's insurance available to me, so I should be able to get it elsewhere. 

I have drug coverage, but it has a $300 deductible. The prescription costs almost that much. Even after I pay the deductible, I'd still have to pay $75 for a month's supply. I asked around on the FMF board to see what other people do and found that most of them order it from other countries. My first attempt was from Mexico, but their website seemed kinda shady and made me nervous, so I used a Canadian company recommended by some of the other board members. Apparently, you don't need a prescription to get colchicine from some countries, it's a common OTC drug. I paid $56 for 300 pills, a 100 day supply. I tracked it this morning, it's coming from India. 

I hope it works. I can afford less than $20 a month. 

I've got shit to do people. I can't be lying around whining all the damn time.

Wrappin' it Up

We're under four different weather advisories for the next three days in the holler. I made a gas station run earlier so I've got a carton of smokes and a bottle of wine. I'm ready for whatever happens.. or most likely does not. 

I'm meeting Ma at the doctor in Big City on Wednesday, so I'm taking off work that day. An extra day off from the madness at The Asylum for a couple of hours of madness with Ma. 

As for the rest of the weekend, I'll probably lay around and try to muster as much sympathy as I can from TA, for my aches and pains and what we've started calling, "The Granny Rag." Yeah I know, it's gross, I don't care. My granny was still having babies after she had grandchildren, so I must have inherited my fertility from her.

I found a website with the local paper archives back to 1912. I've found pictures of my Papaw and my dad in their tobacco field, the wedding announcement of Pappaw and his first wife from 1930 and mention of her with her darling little twins.. my aunts Irlene and Irene. I'll be digging around in there while I whine.. and wine. 

Ya'll have a good weekend. We'll talk again soon. 

Later Taters!