Like a well-oiled machine

If there's one thing Don and I remember all too well, it's shipping day. When we owned the tankard business, shipping days were frantically busy.

Now that the business belongs to Older Daughter, she's learned the stress associated with getting everything ready to go.

Today she had a medium-sized order of tankards shipping out (60 pieces) to a long-time customer in Ohio. FedEx, with whom she ships, always arrives at around 4 pm, if not later. Always. Always. Always.

For this reason, she took a chance with a dental appointment in the morning. She had pre-done many of the steps necessary to pack tankards for shipment – laid out newspapers (for wrapping), pulled in shipping boxes, fetched a bundle of bubble wrap, etc. – before attending her appointment. When she returned, she did some last-minute work on the pieces and got ready to pack the boxes.

Naturally, FedEx showed up at noon.

Older Daughter explained to the very nice driver that the boxes weren't yet packed, and was it possible for him to come back? When he asked how much time she needed, she told him ten minutes. He agreed, since it would take him that long to complete his deliveries around the neighborhood. He would swing in on his way back.

Ten minutes. The boxes weren't even assembled yet, much less lined with bubble wrap. But she came back into the house and announced, "All hands on deck!"

Don and I sprang into action, and we all slammed to get everything accomplished. Between the three of us, we got two large boxes assembled and taped, lined with bubble wrap, and packed with 60 tankards, each wrapped in newspaper. We got labels printed, boxes taped shut, labels affixed to the boxes, hand truck brought into the house, and boxes loaded up and brought out to the driveway.

The driver was actually back in fifteen minutes, not ten. Older Daughter says she looked at the clock when she came back into the house the first time and noted it was 12:02 pm. Using the hand truck, we wheeled the packed boxes out to the driveway at 12:14. We had three minutes to spare.

Older Daughter chuckled about it for hours afterward. "I still can't believe how well we all sprang into action like that," she commented a couple of times.

Like a well-oiled machine. Muscle memory. It sure helps.