Doctors

WHEW!

I have now called and talked to 4 different doctor’s offices.  I got 3 children scheduled with the new family physician – hope they are good.  They came recommended by a friend.   The 2 needing sports physicals won’t like it that the appointment is actually at 7am on a day we have a 2 hour delay start.  Sorry… that is the only time I could get you in.

Child #1 has to fast for her appointment because she is now an adult and they will do blood test.  Probably cholesterol and stuff.  After she is done at that dr. she gets the pleasure of going to the oral surgeon for a consultation to have her wisdom teeth removed.  She is so wise she doesn’t need them.   🙂

Then I had to call the neurologist (she hates the neurologist) and cancel that appointment because since she is at school the one we scheduled won’t work anyways.    We are hoping that the family dr. will help her more than the neurologists have after almost 4 years and only “treating the symptoms” and not giving us any real help in resolving her issues.

I then called the orthodontist to see if I can make the next appointment since Grandma will be doing that run this afternoon, but no.  So I’ll call them back tomorrow.

This is just a calm morning at home taking care of family business before I start out for the day with a Market Day sale, then rush home to get the samples to go to a Market Day open house.

Thank goodness for the Grandma Taxi!  She is picking up at school(children #2 and #3) and taking to the orthodontist (child #4).  Of course that is all after she does her own volunteer work this morning and then visits her older sister in the hospital at noon.

Anyone have a spare car, child #2 could have dealt with some of this herself if we had a car.   😛

What do I do?

I know you have all been wondering what exactly does my job as a Market Day Account Rep do?  So, today I took some photos to show you.  It is oh so exciting.   🙂

First of all, I am responsible for 13 different schools.  I have schools in Canton, Massillon, Barberton, Louisville, North Canton, Carrollton, Mogadore, and Alliance.  More than half of them are Catholic schools, all the good saints:  Thomas, Peter, Paul, Barbara, Augustine, Regina, Joseph.   I visit each of the schools for their sale each month (unless I have a conflict and need to find a substitute).

After I arrive at the school (the gas mileage of which I do not get paid for), I unload my bag of “goodies.”  My bag of supplies probably weighs at least 25 pounds… maybe more.  In it are grocery bags, table signs, money box, check stamps, pens & pencils, tape, scissors, staplers, and other paper supplies that I might need.

I also have to unload the yard sign and find a place to put it into the ground.  Other things in my car include a table sign with posters on it promoting upcoming new products and/or promotions.

Once I have carted everything into the school building, checked in at the office so they know I am there, and headed to the correct location – usually a cafeteria, sometimes a hallways, sometimes a classroom, occasionally a kitchen – I head back outside to wait for the truck and the school volunteers.  Sometimes the volunteers are already there, sometimes I beat them to the school.  I am supposed to be to the school at least 15 minutes prior to the scheduled truck time.

My truck arrives.  Sometimes it is this truck.  There are bigger ones and there is a really cute little minivan too.  I greet the driver and he gives me the paperwork and I sign off that I have received it.  Then I direct him to where he needs to back up or pull up to begin to unload.  If  I have something that needs to go back to the office I give it to the driver to take back.   The drivers are all nice guys and fun to visit with.   They are usually either headed someplace else from my sale or have just left some other school.  Usually there are 2-4 schools per truck.

On the truck, everything is divided up on pallets per school and the frozen food is at the back (further from the doors) in a more refrigerated space.  I think they told me that it is kept at 0º.  At the doorway the “fresh” foods are also separated by school as well as the order forms for next month.  Depending on the vehicle the driver will set up some rollers to help with the unloading or just hand it to me to put on dollies.

The dollies are a trip!  Some of them have issues with rust and opening – mainly because they are kept in a freezer all the time and they get condensation on them as they go in and out of schools.  Some of them have flat tires or worn tires.  There is one that has a really badly worn small wheel that bumps and clacks when you drive it down a school hallway – reminds me of a crappy shopping cart.   I unload the food onto the dollies (the volunteers are not supposed to take it off the truck for safety reasons) and then the school volunteers take into the school to be unloaded and sorted.  Some of the boxes are heavy.  They are all different sizes.  A few are really weird sizes.  Occasionally the warehouse sends an empty box or a box with only 1 item in it or even an item not in a box… I really wonder what goes on at the warehouse sometimes.   🙂     The truck driver takes the dollies and leaves.  I need to stay outside to watch him leave to ensure that he gets off school property safely.  If there would be an incident then both of us (truck driver and myself) would have to “pee in a cup.”  No one wants to do that.

After the boxes are all moved into the school.  The volunteers (and I) start unpacking the boxes and sorting the food by category (meat, seafood, veggies, breakfast, snacks, beverages, etc).The more volunteers the quicker this goes.  Children often help with this step.  It is educational… they have to match a letter on the food box to the letter on the table signs to know which category it goes to.    Once all the food is out of the boxes, we inventory it based on the lists provided in my paperwork, to be certain everything is present and accounted for.

Meanwhile, I prepare the receipts.  I have to tear them apart. The larger one is the one that will be given to the customer and will be used to collect all the products for them.  The smaller one is for me to use to collect their money and to balance the sale.    If there are items that are sold by weight (only a few things are- like the baby back ribs in the photo) I have to calculate the cost and add it to the receipt’s total.

Once all the food is inventoried and the receipts are ready to go, then we start filling the orders.

Matching the item number and description on the receipt with the number on the box.  Then it is double checked by someone.  Not all schools double check as they go, this particular school does.  Some schools fill all the orders and if there is a discrepancy – items still on the table or missing – then we double check to figure out the error.

Once the order is filled and double checked it is packed into one of the boxes and the customer name written on the flap.  Smaller orders use those grocery bags I carry with me.  Some schools carefully alphabetize the boxes, some separate them by pre-paid or not, some just fill them and randomly set them wherever there is open table space.

Now we wait for the customers to come pick them up.  At this point, most of the volunteers are free to go home, leaving just the chairperson and me to visit and help the customers as they arrive.

I usually have posters/signs with the promotions for everyone to see.  The pink sheet is their profit sheet that tells them how much money they raised that month as well as the cumulative total for the school year.  If we have samples or extras they would be on the table as well.

As customers arrive, they can pay with check which I stamp on the back with deposit and check retrieval information or they can pay with cash.  I keep a money box with change for that.  Other fun things in my money box are some box cutters to open any boxes that are sealed and a plethora of rubberbands that I have removed from the paperwork.  Every so often I send the rubberbands back to the office.   A customer can also pay with the Ohio Direction Card (food stamps).  That is  a process.  If they pay with food stamps, I have to call it in and enter a bunch of numbers and wait for the computer to give me a confirmation code.  It takes at least 5 minutes if the computer is cooperative.  Another snag that I run in to is that most school cafeterias are either in the basement or were built to be bomb shelters so I don’t get a phone signal which means I have to go outside or up the stairs/down the hall to call it in.  That is a pain.  (That is also another reason to get rid of these tracfones… but that was a whole other post and rant.)

When it gets down to the last 15 minutes or so of the scheduled pick up time, either the chairperson or I call the missing people to see where they are and what we are doing with their food.  If it is prepaid, then the chairperson can store it in a freezer for the customer to get later.  If it is not prepaid and we can’t get hold of them we have a couple options.  1.  The school can pay for it out of their profit and then get hold of the customer and they will pay the school.  2.  The chairperson can decide to send it back, especially if they don’t know the person or have no way to get hold of them.  If it is sent back, it comes to my freezer to use as gifts and/or samples.

Once all food is picked up or stored or dealt with, I pack my bag, pick up my signs and head home.  At home, I store any food I had to bring home and then collapse.

Either that evening or in the morning, I have to get online and balance the sale.  Enter all the check totals, food stamp information, and cash into the computer program.  Once it is balanced, I take the checks and cash to the bank to deposit.  The food stamp receipts I send to the office at the end of each month.

I think that about covers what I do.  It isn’t hard work.  It is definitely just part time but I do enjoy it.  Even the mild upper body workout I get lifting and moving boxes at each sale.   😉