We started the day with parking spaces, which is unusual for a Saturday. I packed the parcels while the owner sorted the Large Trade Order (LTO). I have decided that as it will be with us for a while it justifies its own set of initials. “Pack the Parcel” sounds like a party game doesn’t it? My life is one long round of hobbies and party games. I may use that as a title for a post one day.

Elvis on a silver dollar – note the coin design underneath and the Elvis Presley Enterprises copyright notice. He is till a big earner in death.
We had no customers booked in but several rang or just turned up and we ended up with a reasonably busy day.ย I also had a big telephone order to pack, a couple of late eBay orders andย some things to post on eBay. I finished off and loaded several things I’d prepared during the week and started on another – a drop-down menu with 38 items. A lot of photographs. Oh, and there was a listing that needed alteration, and coins which had been put in the medallion cupboard (which meant they took a bit of finding). When you have three people, thirteen hundred items on eBay, limited space and a lot of other stock, things do go adrift.
We have passed words on this several times recently. My personal gripe is that three months ago I knew where everything was but the boss decided to have a tidy and things are now in different boxes or different cupboards, and it makes tracking them down very time-consuming. Yes, they are usually moved due to a logical reason, but that doesn’t really help. It’s like cupboard stacking. I stack cupboards so that I can see what is there and get to it with minimal fuss. When you have arthritis you tend to want ease of access.

A Half Puffin coin – see Coins of Lundy
He stacks cupboards like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle s that half of it has to be removed to get access and then put back in exactly the right way. It looks nice and it’s an efficient use of space. Unfortunately it misses the point of stock control, which is, to me, about knowing where things are and being able to get to them easily.
Nine times out of ten, we go to the right box and find the item. But if we don’t, I am always reminded of the words “time is money”. This is often the trigger for a rant, but today I am going to smile and pas on the chance. Anyway, it’s not my money, so why should I worry? I’m doing my best and being thwarted by someone squandering his own cash. Not my problem. Stock control is not one of those subjects that tends to crop up in poetry or creative writing classes. May be I should start, it can go with my funicular and Martin van Buren poems.
I now have another poem in mind and need to do that, so will close this and post.
I do like your stock photos. How about delegating finding to the boss?
Huh! It would just give him more incentive to move stuff round. ๐
Do you have labels on your storage boxes?
We do on some. We also have labels on some of the packets in the boxes. However, I have been told, in some cases, not to do that, as I am wasting time. There is a third member of the team who actually seems to delight in discarding labels and putting things back in the wrong box.
It takes all sorts . . .
You might think that they do these things just to annoy you.
The idea does sometimes occur to me, but I fear it is just that three middle-aged men with no discernible career path are the very definition of dysfunctional.
Reading this post, when I got to the puffin coin I thought it was pretty neat. When I got to the comments, I saw others are in agreement already. I am sure you will get a lot of comments about it. I agree also organization is very important, especially when you have to get to items for shipping. Having to move something to get to something and then put something back is definitely not time efficient. Doing that multiple times a day over weeks and months… If you really stop to think about it, it all adds up. Best not to think about and just do what your boss wants… ๐
It’s his own time he’s wasting, as generations of teachers have pointed out. ๐
I like that puffin coin, too! ๐
๐ Everyone likes a Puffin, apart from the British Government in 1930!
Glad I am not in charge of organizing the stock. Or finding specific items. Neither are my strong suit. ๐ That puffin coin is mighty cute.
Puffins are good subjects (in summer, at least, when they have the decorative beaks). ๐
Sorryโฆlove the half puffin
๐ It’s an interesting story