Doesn't "manic" belong to Monday??

When I go into Job 3 every weekend (aka, the vet's office), it's a toss up as to what kind of day it will be. It could be so slow we're literally sitting around with nothing to do but twiddle our thumbs. It could be just busy enough to keep us going with a few minutes here and there to breathe. Or it could be a pull-your-hair-out kind of crazy busy day with your lunch hour being the only breathing time  you'll get until you clock out.

Two weekends ago, it was so slow. Like agonizingly slow.

Last weekend I could barely remember my own name it was so crazy busy.

I walked in just before 8am and set my stuff down. I glanced at the appointment book and my jaw dropped. We were double-booked for nearly every appointment. I went from shock to annoyance as I went to get the money from the safe. The doctor came in and started treating the parvo pups we have in quarantine. After awhile I asked him if he knew he had two ranch calls between 8 and 10 to vaccinate and de-worm a bunch of horses. He knew nothing about it. It was that time that his first ranch call phoned us and asked when the vet was coming out . . . yeah. He finished treatments and ran off. We then get a phone call for the tech to take him a bunch of stuff as the owner didn't have it on hand.

Our regular appointments started showing up before the vet got back. And the phone rang off the hook - with people who wanted an appointment that day. *sigh* We were just lucky that people were understanding of how busy we were.

Of course, as annoying or difficult it can be to get a client in with a sick pet or a pet with a nasty fox tail in some orifice, at least they call ahead of time. It's the people that show up without calling and no appointment that can be a little more frustrating. One family brought in a sick pup - after having been sick for several days post surgery and having been tested for parvo numerous times, guess what it finally tested positive for? Parvo. She joined the ranks. This is a nasty time for parvo.

In the afternoon we had some travelers pop in saying there were spots in the dog's eye. Now, if your just passing through, I can sort of understand stopping by the vet if something funky arises. But it would nice if they found the number and called us first. Then about an hour before we closed some guy pulls up with a stock trailer. I had nothing else scheduled as I figured we'd still be working on our appointments (which we were). This guy comes in and asks if the doc could Bangs 6 heifers ("bangs" is a vaccine for cattle). I gave a face and went to ask the vet. He just looked at me, like "are you serious?!" But he said okay, asked to have the cows ready in the chute for him out back. Not 10 minutes later, some gal drives up with a horse trailer saying her horse is lame and she needs to have the doc look at her mare's leg. No appointment. The vet was still in back treating a patient, so I went back there and told him about the gal and her horse. He asked if they had an appointment, and I said they didn't they just showed up. He shook his head and sighed saying that they'd just have to wait. Turns out it's a chronic issue with that horse, not an acute sudden issue. *sigh*

Or there was the young gentlemen who brought a puppy in for it's first set of puppy shots. And no, Jewels, they aren't up to par for dating material. They came in saying they had an appointment for 10:30, and when I asked their last name, it wasn't on the book. They claimed they had been there yesterday and the gal had told them to stop by the next day at 10:30. Yeah, I got the whole story from the high school helper later. Anyway, I had them fill out new client stuff so I could get them all entered in. Apparently while I was slammed with checking people in and had my back to the other side of the room, those two dimwits left without paying! I know it was on purpose and it annoyed me.

I was never so happy to see closing time hit. I literally ran to lock the front doors so no one else could walk in and ruin our peace. I spoke with the tech about the booking issue. She told me that just before closing on Friday, she had noticed we were tripled booked for Saturday. All day long. Well, for a good portion of the day, we still would up triple booked. Poor doctor never had a chance. The issue is that there are two new receptionists during the week. The one that trained me has recently decided to leave to be nearer to her family. So that left two new people with no real trainer.

Even today, I called them to verify appointments for Wednesday in Sticksville. Those girls had started booking us appointments at 9 a.m.! The doctor doesn't get in until around 8:30 and then we're typically doing surgery until near 10. After we verified appointments, I told the girl, "FYI, I wouldn't schedule appointments for us until 10 as the vet doesn't get here until closer to 8:30 and then we unload his truck and then he's in surgery." She said okay and that she was still new. I told her very nicely, "Oh I know, and I know it's daunting. I'm still fairly new myself - only been with the clinic a couple months. But just for future reference...." Turns out my surgeries cancelled so, the early appointments work out this week. Sheer luck.

Now, I like being busy at my jobs, it makes the day go by faster. Well, typically. But there's this fine line between twiddling one's thumbs and wanting to dive into a vat of chocolate to relieve stress.