Sweat. Sickness. Fluorescent Lighting. This is my day. I woke up still suffering from this cold, and phoned-in my morning workout routine. Then I hitched a ride to work, because my car was not in my possession. The next four hours consisted mostly of manual labor–filling garbage cans and plastic containers with “shag balls” for customers, and lugging them from the storage space to their vehicles. Then I got a call from the mechanic saying my car’s front right-side axle is busted, and it’s not something he could fix. So, I picked up the car and drove it slowly back to work. I called the Volvo place and made an appointment.
The office is stressful, even with the helping hands that come in each day and offer assistance. Before the closing (that is, the final sale of the property), tons of paperwork has to be accounted for and either placed in storage or handed off to the new land owners. I don’t know if all the papers are accounted for, and thus there is a high level of anxiety circulating amongst all who are there in support.
A frequent customer came in today, we’ll call him “Lefty Bob.” He brought along his new granddaughter, and shared with me stories of his growing up in the area and visiting the business as an adolescent. His stories were mostly baseball related, but they were insightful. Everyone who knocks on the front door and gets turned away with a stern, “we’re closed,” shares condolences. Some stick around long enough to offer their own eulogy. Then they disappear.
I put more items for sale on eBay, walked around the premises and handled the phones for the remainder of the afternoon. The bulldozers are encroaching. Consultants are surveying the land. At around 4pm the effects of my sickness started catching up with me, and I slunk my way through the last hour. Then I drove the car to Volvo and waited for a ride home. I’m exhausted.
