the last days of the smoke shop

[edenfalling]

Mr. Speakerphone and the landlords decided that there was no sense doing an expensive repair job on an air conditioner that is going to be torn out altogether in July, and since the smoke shop is unbearable in the summer without air conditioning... we are closing on Saturday the 21st. This is about two weeks earlier than planned, but so it goes.

This week will be for packing up the store, more or less. Today Melodrama and Boss Lady started by not putting up the weekly magazine shipment. They just checked the totes in, broke the big plastic seals, replaced them with our little plastic tote closing tags, and wrote up the exact same set of totes as a return. Tomorrow we will take down all the remaining magazines from the racks and pack them up the same way. (I am not clear whether the racks themselves will be picked up Tuesday or a later day.)

In the afternoon, Melodrama wrote up all our candles and candle-related products so Boss Lady could write an official transfer receipt, and I packed them up for shipment to our sister store down in Elmira. (That was six totes altogether.)

Boss Lady says we'll probably close at 5pm Thursday-Saturday; she has not yet decided about Tuesday and Wednesday. After she closes on Friday, we're all going to get cocktails at Viva Tacqueria, which is just around the corner. Saturday will be mostly her and me tidying up the last remnants, doing a bunch of paperwork, and bundling up the week's newspapers.

I have agreed to be on call next week for any other post-closing tasks -- like putting out the trash and recycling Monday night, or dealing with the people who will come remove the lottery terminal, or the ATM, or the remaining drinks coolers, or other tasks of that nature. But basically when Boss Lady and I leave on Saturday, that's it. Lights out. We're done.

...

It's a strange and vertiginous feeling. Kind of like stepping off a cliff after slogging your way up an interminable mountain, and not being sure you remember how to fly.

But I think it will be okay.

Comments

[branchandroot]

School coming in fall. You're just going to have an actual summer break.

[heliopausa]

I like branchandroot's way of seeing it! :)
And I hope you all enjoy the cocktails on Friday (Might there be a repeat on Saturday? You surely both deserve it and could do with it.)

[edenfalling]

Well, yes and no. I don't really want to do school full-time without simultaneously having a job -- that was one of the biggest things that exacerbated my depression the last two times I tried college. I kind of... drift, I guess, without something to arrange my life around, and classes don't cut it. I think the problem is that school is something I am doing for myself, whereas with a job, other people are relying on me to be in a certain place at a certain time. (Or at least get a certain task done by a deadline, if it's long-distance work.) The motivational structure is completely different.

And in order to get unemployment benefits, you have to prove that you're actively searching for a job. (Not to mention you have to apply in the first place.) So there is a LOT of paperwork in my future. *sigh* But still, I am officially giving myself the rest of this week off from dealing with any of that. Because I just do not have the spoons.

(I confess, I will not be hugely disappointed if I don't get a job for a few months. A summer break would be nice...)

[edenfalling]

There ARE a bunch of tasks I need to deal with, alas -- unemployment benefits don't magically drop from the sky if you don't apply for them, among other things -- but it will be nice (for a little while, anyway) to be free of major demands on my time.

As for a second evening of cocktails, I suspect Boss Lady will have other plans, possibly involving visiting her grandkids in Syracuse over the weekend. Besides, Friday is the day that Boss Lady, Sweetheart, Melodrama, Serenity, and I can all get to Viva at the designated time... and Ms. Conviviality (a former coworker, who has continued to pitch in for a shift here and there when we needed help) says she should also be able to make it. It would be tricky to coordinate that twice!

[askerian]

it does sound like it feels very strange. After such a long time to have it end... huh.

*hugs*

[branchandroot]

That's definitely a bit of a catch in the whole thing, yeah. A break before paperwork is good, though! These are good priorities, because paperwork kills the soul. and you need a nice re-charge first.

[autumnia]

Definitely enjoy the summer break as long as it lasts. :-) Now's the best time to enjoy the time off, with the long summer days and warm weather. It's far more preferable than taking a break during the middle of winter, cooped up inside.

I think what's going to be different is just the lack of a routine for the first few days/weeks.

And yes, filing for unemployment sucks. I did that once many years ago and it wasn't pleasant at all. Though, I always feel/suspect that it may be easier to deal with (the unemployment office) if I wasn't living in NYC.

[edenfalling]

*hugs you back*

Any big change is wrenching, no matter how good it may be from an objective standpoint.

Hmm. Maybe it's like being transplanted to a new and different pot. Hopefully a bigger one, with lots of room to grow, and maybe a pretty pattern painted around the rim. :-)

[edenfalling]

In all honesty, I am just as happy to spend a lot of those long, hot days indoors, with air conditioning. (I do not cope well with heat, especially not damp heat.) But the sun is definitely cheerful, and I do love a good thunderstorm when they sweep through. :-) Plus, gardening!

I think a lot of bureaucratic tasks are easier if you don't live in NYC. *wry*

[edenfalling]

Paperwork is one of the nine circles of hell. *nods firmly*

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry. I know it sucks. But yes, you will learn to fly. Give yourself a little time to grieve.

[edenfalling]

Thank you.

Yeah, I know I need to start working on a bunch of "what now???" stuff, but... next week. This week I am just trying to process, more or less. (And get my eyes checked and buy new glasses, and maybe get a haircut, because life won't stop to let me experience emotional turbulence in peace, but even so. *sigh*)