Wed, 7:17: Dreamt of breaking news that another Omicron-level wave of infections was imminent, and it felt like somehow I was the last to know, and an acute feeling of dispiritedness washed over me. It just felt … so real. When I woke up I had to remind myself: that is not actually the position we’re in. At least not today.

Wed, 13:52: Ha! Today I was invited to the 20th anniversary lunch for Mary in IT (whose anniversary actually happened last November), and we got to talking about the infamous "Zebra Printer," which was supposed to print out our store herb and spice jar labels but never, ever worked. IT finally found a way to retire that godforsaken printer, and in December 2006 we had a joint party with Merchandising and IT, at which I was promised I could take the printer outside and smash it to pieces with a sledgehammer.
Our Director of IT at the time, Gary—who has since passed away—said he had a sledgehammer at home that he would bring for this. But on the day of the party, he forgot it. And I have never, ever forgotten this: Gary just went across the street from our central office location at the time, to Hardwick's Hardware store (which themselves closed after 88 years of business in 2020), and bought a brand new sledgehammer, just so I could still smash the hated printer! It remains one of my favorite moments in my own time at PCC, which will also be 20 years as of this August.
I have long since kept a cutout of the photo of me wielding that sledgehammer at my work station. I had totally forgotten that IT actually kept that sledgehammer—and Mary informed me today that they still have it! She took me to it in one of the IT supply rooms so I could get an updated picture. They've kept it for the past 15 years, with "IT SLEDGEHAMMER" stickered alongside the handle.
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