The Joys of Third Shift

For the past four days I have been on third shift.  It can really screw with your sleep patterns.  Allow me to tell you about my excitingly awesome day.  I left work around 8:30 a.m. and went to Wal-Mart for an oil change and to see if they could repair my tire which has a hole in it.

I pull up to the tire/lube section and head inside to the counter.  I weight there for ten minutes before someone comes over.  The lady says she cannot help me, but she will find someone who can.  The department manager comes back and says that I need to pull my car up to the door and come in and talk to the service guys.  Seems like an odd way of doing things.

I do what I am told and the guy says that it will take about an hour and a half.  So I wonder around Wal-Mart for awhile and when it is time I head back to the counter.  The department manager lady is there with the service guy and they have my tire.  He explains that it cannot be patched because the hole is in an odd place.  They seem to be confused by what I could possibly want.  I tell them to just replace the tire.

Oh wait, my car is so freakin' small that they do not have that kind of tire in stock and they will have to order it from Georgia (I am assuming the state, not the country).  The lady then asks if I want them to order it.  Umm, yeah?  She made it seem like such a problem and that it would be better for me to go elsewhere.  She says that it will take between three to six days to get here.  I keep saying that it is not a big deal, I am used to stopping at Sheetz to put air in the tire, another few days will not kill me.  She just does not get it.  I guess she wanted me to go to a competitor.  How did Wal-Mart become one of the largest retailers in the world if this is their corporate strategy?

I leave Wal-Mart and head to a few other stores in search of a certain Christmas present.  Unfortunately, everywhere is sold out of it, but they all tell me the same thing:  "we can order it for you, it should be here about two weeks after Christmas."  What the hell good would that do me?  I felt like I was in some kind of nightmare.  Want a tire?  You should go elsewhere, want a simple Christmas present?  We can order it for you, but not in time for when you need it.  Ugh.

I then get a phone call from the Summerhill post office.  They have a package for me (probably one of the other gifts I ordered) and they want to know if I will be home or if I would like to pick it up.  I say that I'll be home and she says she will give it to our mail carrier. 

I get home and talk to Lindsey for a bit.  She gets ready for work and I sit down to watch TV and wait for the mail.  He usually comes around 2:30 and I figured I could stay up for another hour.  Well sadly, I start dozing off and must have missed him.  I finally head to bed around 4:00.  I figured a little nap would be good and then I would be able to go to bed at a normal time.

I woke up at 11:45 p.m.  Now it is 3:00 a.m. and I am wide awake.  This is why third shift is so much fun.