Pseudoephedrine runs my life

Oi...I'm sick again. Sinus Infection. It hurts. My nose. My throat. It all hurts. Bad.

Today I had to work, while not really working. I get into the lab about 30 minutes early to pick up my check and grab some pain relieving medicine, only to find one of my co-workers completely frantic, and running back and forth between the film processor and the phone. She was talking to Noritsu (the company that maintains our machines) and was being instructed on how to save the three rolls of film that were stuck in the chemistry.

At the time, I had just taken a lot of medication to prepare me for my shift, so when I saw her running around all crazy-like, I just ducked past her and grabbed my check. When I got back to the lab, she was behaving more normal. Probably because she put up a sign that read "ONE HOUR OUT OF ORDER" right next to the envelopes. Hell, it made me smile when I saw it.

Apparently, a leader card got bent up at the very end of the processing cycle and jammed the rollers. The roll of film that was coming in behind the first two rolled on top of the first leader card, worstened the jam, and totally fucked our machine up.

Naturally, my co-worker left promptly at 3 o'clock, leaving me to deal with all this. Though this move was pretty shitty on her part, I'm kinda glad she called the people whose film may, or may not, be totally fucked. I didn't want to deal with THAT too.

Assured in the fact that I could turn away one hour requests, I rolled up my sleeves (figuratively) and wrestled the machine (literally) until about 6 pm. I was only interrupted twice by customers who needed reprints made (not counting the countless amount of people that came in wanting one hours done). 3 hours. 2 customers. It doesn't take a fucking degree in business management to know that we were dead. Quite fortunate if you ask me, the sick and over-labored employee. So, I got all the film out. It was ruined. Residual chemicals formed a gooey layer on either side of all three rolls. Attempting to clean them just made it worse. The only thought that ran through my head when I realized the futility in trying to clean the film: "At least I don't have to tell the customer." Is that bad?

So, there I am. 6 o'clock with nothing to do, and 3 more hours left to do it. I was reduced to humming catchy tunes, and reading decades old photography books.

I call my boss around 7:30 to see if I can close the lab down at 8 (an hour before typical closing. Not an unreasonable question, considering the circumstances). He said no.

No amount of nouns, adjectives, or verbs can describe the anger and hatred I felt toward that man, at that point in time. I sucked it up, though, and said "*Napoleon sigh* Alright." followed by a very abrupt slamming down of the receiver.

Needless to say, I made it through until 9. I rushed back to my apartment where, as sure as the Sun doth shine, my glorious computer was waiting for me.

So, here I am. 10 o'clock with just enough to do, and tonight and tomorrow (day off bitch!) left to do it.

Next time on Net_Eric: Vietnam Vet, and the Irish Setter.