Long Weekend. Real Long.

Sorry for the sudden and unannounced lack of updates, but it's been a long weekend. Very long. How long? Try this: going in for work on Friday, expecting to work 6-12:30. Then, being asked to come in the next day a little early, because they were gonna be short a cashier and needed someone. How early, I asked. 9 a.m., I am told. They were asking me to work 9 a.m. to 5, get an hour break, then come back and work the rest of my scheduled shift, from 6-12:30. In essence, we're talking about a 15 1/2 hour shift on Saturday. Then, I was also scheduled for a 9:45-6 shift on Sunday. If I had even a shred of common sense, I woulda said no. But I don't, so I said yes.

What this amounts to is I was on the clock, working, almost literally every waking hour I had from Friday at 6 until Sunday afternoon at 4:30, when I finally clocked out. To say the least, it was grueling. Beyond the fact of being on my feet for so many hours straight, which was murder, we were also very busy since it was Incredibles opening weekend. Add it all up, and there were more than a few times during that 48-or-so-hour stretch when I was more than a bit cranky. I usually pride myself on holding up very well under pressure at work and not letting the customers see me as anything but cheerful, but around the 20-hour mark for the weekend, my patience was wearing thin. Luckily, around that time a few friends (Kurt and Hanna and Bob and Sarah) strolled on through, and it's always good to see friendly faces. Thanks for cheering me up, guys...

So, I sucked it up and made it through, and had an even drawer for most of the time I was on the clock, no less. By rough estimate, I ended up handling about $20,000 in cash and who knows how much more in credit card orders. I was a beaten man. I went home and crashed, staying the heck off my feet for the rest of the night, and also ordering the TNA PPV, which was fun. My mom got on my nerves a few times (for reasons I'll talk about some other time), but otherwise, it was a good night to end perhaps the longest weekend of my life.

But things were just getting started. You see, the next morning I had to be up to...nah, not yet. I'll wait to tell you all about that little thing later, when I know more myself. Just keep your fingers crossed for me, amigos...