08:27 – We ended up getting 20 kit orders yesterday–including one custom order for 30 sets of six chemicals that aren’t stock items–and shipping 14 kits. We’ll ship three of the outstanding six orders today, plus whatever orders come in today that we have in stock, but the others will have to wait until Tuesday.
We’re down to two each of the CK01A and CK01B chemistry kits and the FK01A forensic kits, one of the FK01C forensic kits, and zero of the FK01B forensic kits. Fortunately, we still have 30 or so BK01 biology kits in stock. At least we have the next three days available to build up stocks before Tuesday.
We probably won’t quite match August 2013 revenues this month, but even so we’re running well over last year’s YTD revenues through August. As of now, we’re only a few thousand dollars short of matching total 2013 revenues, with a full third of the year remaining.
11:15 – This is the time of year when our usually-reliable inventory system descends into OMGWO! (OH MY GOD WE’RE OUT!).
The most recent incident took place a few minutes ago when I went down to get a bunch of 24-well reaction plates. I thought we had 10 or 15 10-packs left in stock, but the shelf was bare. OMGWO! Fortunately, after my pulse fell back into the double figures, I noticed the large box at my feet that I’d almost tripped over. Turns out it contains 15 10-packs of the reaction plates. I’d put the box there when the shelf space for the reaction plates was full so that I’d remember I had more. So much for remembering.
So I just issued an $1,800 PO to one of our vendors for stuff we’re running short of. They’ll get it Tuesday and probably ship Wednesday or Thursday, which means I should have the stuff by early the following week.
Oh, I forgot to mention. When we were at Costco last Sunday, one of the attorneys from Barbara’s firm saw us in the parking lot. She asked Barbara if those were our kids with us. Barbara told her that they were our friends, Mary and Paul. I told Barbara she missed an opportunity. I would have said something like, “That was our son Paul and our daughter-in-law Mary. Or was it our daughter Mary and our son-in-law Paul?”
Paul and Mary are half a generation younger than we are, so I suppose it’s remotely possible that I could be their parents, assuming I’d started fathering children when I was in my mid-teens. But the one Barbara and I still laugh about happened soon after Barbara and I were married. I was 31 years old. We were out to dinner with our friend Vicky Epley, who was 27 years old. Barbara ordered a glass of wine, as did Vicky. The waiter turned to me and asked if it was okay to serve Vicky. Mistaken at age 31 for the father of a 27-year-old woman. Geez.