Just in case any of you were confused, the previous post was written by my husband.

I fell asleep sometime yesterday afternoon and didn't get up again until this morning. I didn't want to get up even then, but duty calls. Work is really annoying right now because I'm doing order-taking and dispatch, two things I never wanted to do, and which I told Robert time and time again that I didn't want to do. He has invested some time in talking me into it; this happens every week or so. The last time, I got a $0.50/hr raise, which unfortunately doesn't make it any more worth it to me.

It's not that I can't do it, I can--I just don't want to. I don't like having to drop everything and answer the phone in a cheery voice, and I don't like having to try and figure out who's where and how fast they can get whatever food to someplace else.

Compounding the issue are all the problems we've been having lately. We manage to pull it off, but it's by the skin of our teeth. I feel that we are severely unprepared for what we've gotten ourselves into, and since I'm the one answering the phone, I'm the one who's going to get to hear about it when we finally slip up. It's going to happen, if something doesn't change soon.

So far, people have been patient and understanding, and I've really appreciated that...but how long can it last?

A big issue is the fact that we don't have enough personnel. This is especially annoying today because I am really not in the mood to be at work, but I can't even have a lunch break because Robert is out of the office doing the deliveries. We need another delivery driver and we need another office worker.

In my dream world, we would have an order taker/dispatcher working during my shift, and not just coming in at 1 like Robert has planned. I would do backup order-taking only, and really I'd prefer that we have several people working from home taking orders during the day so that I would never have to it at all. I don't even really want to manage the order takers, but I guess that would be better than having to take the orders directly.

I don't know if my dream world will ever come to be.

The most hectic times are between 11 and 1, I've noticed. People seem to realize that they're hungry at 11, but by 1 they have probably made their arrangements. So things have calmed down a bit now.

I missed a call earlier due to being on the phone with someone else. Fortunately, she left a voice message, so I called her back. I missed another call due to not being logged in to receive calls, and I was distracted trying to do something anyway, so I just let it go.

I hate shoddy service. But that's all we can apparently provide at this point.

It just feels like we were never prepared to do this, and we're still not prepared, and I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever be prepared for anything. Mom and I tend to over-prepare well in advance...I like that system a lot better. It may not be business-savvy, because I guess you'd lose money more often than not that way, but at least you would know what you were doing before you had to do it.

I hope 2go-Box starts turning a huge profit so that we can do everything we need to do.

And I wish today was Friday! :P

You could say that all of this stress is good because it's distracting me from the issues weighing on my mind, and that might be true, but I'm not sure. I think it's more likely that the issues weighing on my mind are adding to the phenomenal stress that already exists. There's no way of telling for sure, because the delivery service and my "period" (or whatever) started at around the same time...but I think I would be annoyed and stressed about this kind of work regardless of anything else. I have never liked this sort of thing and I doubt I ever will.

I just want a job where I can work mostly by myself, maybe discussing things with a few others in person or through email/chat. I want to be able to do a wide variety of things, including menial tasks, because there are some days that I'm in the mood for that. I want to be challenged mentally in areas that are interesting to me. I want, ultimately, for my job to be a part of who I am--something that I do because I like to, and not because I have to because I need money in order to enjoy myself and take my mind off of work.

I thought I had that sort of job, but it sure hasn't been that way lately.