I don't seem to have a lot of time to blog lately. Not a lot of time to do anything really. We're really busy at work, although the dollars show us being a lot slower than last year. I think our measurement system is flawed.

Getting pretty depressed and frustrated at work. Finding it very difficult to concentrate. We're not communicating as much as we should, as we need to be. It's very frustrating. And I feel inadequate when I can't seem to stay on top of things. Depressing. Distressing.

I gotta talk to the Doc and up my meds. Maybe switch to something with an anti-anxiety component.

Shit's going down at work. The new Manager in our Guelph store quit. The owner was SHOCKED that no one, absolutely no one within the company has ANY interest in being the new manager. Well, let's see. That's the store the owner works out of. The owner is the salesman for that store. He goes through the garbage to check up on you. So, at what point does the salesman report to the manager and when does the manager report to the owner? Whose store is it? Who's running it? If I were managing it, I'd need it to be MY store. That's what you've hired me for, to MANAGE. Not to babysit and carry out your orders. I delegate the work to my employees. The salesman does not. The owner does not. You need something done, you go through me.

ROLE DEFINITION is needed. The owner should never need to speak directly to the employees. It should go through the manager at all times. With some exceptions for harassment etc.

Anyway, it all boils down to no one wants to have to put up with the constant second-guessing of everything they do, the back-seat driving.

This isn't what I wanted to talk about. It is perhaps a symptom though. 2 months ago, I was told we'd be getting new computers. I was understandably curious and excited about this. Alex's PC can barely do the work required of it. This is sort of a theme of our office. We WANT to do the work, but it seems like we're having to fight with all of our machines and computers to get it done. It's ridiculous.

You know what it takes for me to do an invoice? If I haven't memorized the seemingly arbitrary 4 digit code for the customer's account, I have to do a search for it. Lord help me if it's a name like L & O Widgets. Is it L-space-&-space-O? L&O? L-space-AND-space-O? Each search can take anywhere from 4-30 seconds. While the customer is waiting for their bill.
Now I have to fill in my location, 1 mouse click and 3 keystrokes, now switch tabs to put in my 4 digit CSR code, making sure the sales percentage is filled in correctly, 1 mouse click and 9 keystrokes. Now, switch to your PO number tab, enter the PO number. 1 mouse click and various keystrokes. Then you get to the actual entering of the items purchased. Be sure to remember codes like V6777865003650 which is plotter bond, not to be confused with V6777BOND3650 which is plotter bond. Keep in mind, with the exception of my manager, I am the most knowledgable person on staff about paper. None of it makes a lot of sense to me. SO, once you've entered your item code(s), fill in your quantity, and the shipping quantity, then figure out what the unit cost is (infinitely variable, possibly based on lunar calendar). NOW! Assuming they're only getting one item, you're done. RIGHT?

WRONG! Now you tell the system to post the invoice, 1 mouse click, then you tell it again, 1 mouse click. Now you need to authorize the posting of the invoice because their account is not up to date, fastest way to do this? 14 keystrokes. Then you have two more mouse clicks to actually send the invoice to the printer.

Now you wait. The invoice will be printed in a mere 10-15 seconds on a good day. There seem to be fewer and fewer good days. On a bad day it can take several minutes.

What a productive system we have!

So, they're finally replacing the invoicing system. It's supposed to be awesome. Traditionally, I expect it won't live up to the hype, even if I dumb it down by half.

So, two months later and still haven't got the new systems. Oh, they're in the office. Sitting in the back ready to be installed for the last 2 weeks now. There simply hasn't been time to get to installing them. Our IT guy is also the head of our service department and they are crazy busy trying to keep all our equipment running and doing service calls for customers. And I don't think they're turning a profit on much of it.

See, we used to have an IT guy. He was also our Payroll and HR department. He quit after 15 years, got a better job, one where he feels appreciated and respected. As an indication of how vital he was perceived to be, we didn't bother to replace him. His duties were foisted onto our head of service and the Guelph manager. She quit within 3 months of that, after having been with the company 20 years.

Hmm. How's that working for you?

Basically, everyone's getting frustrated. I gotta get to bed.

Buster