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Every day I get in a little further over my head. Here’s what I’ve been told: We need to bill the tenants at The Kennel between the 15th and the 20th of the month, so that they can pay by the 5th of the following month. Here’s what I don’t know: The names and addresses of the tenants, and how much to bill them.
Every day a little piece of the puzzle comes together, but there’s no way I’m going to have a full billing ready by November 20 (whenever that is). Even if I get names and addresses tomorrow and set up a mail merge data base, I’m lacking basic information. The cages are different sizes. The dogs are different breeds. (Oh yes, that matters.) Some of them have extra charges (chew toys and the like).
And then there’s the matter of the electrical fees. Someone faxed to me today a list of meter readings for the beginning and end of the billing period. I don’t know what rates to apply to those readings. I do know that some tenants pay a flat rate, but I don’t know who or how much. I’m getting seriously dizzy with all the uncertainty, and every time I ask a question, someone has to check with someone else. They can promise to get back to me, oh yes, but until they do it, I don’t have to believe it.
Whatever they expect of me, nothing is getting done either well or on time. It’s eating at me, so much that I found myself spending most of the afternoon in the recliner with an afghan over my knees and with my eyes closed, hoping for some kind of release. Mostly hoping, frankly, that the phone wouldn’t ring.
The phone could bring either the answers to my questions, which would mean I’d have to get to work, or more questions, which would mean I’d have to explain again why I’m not getting the work done. Either way, nothing good could come of the phone ringing on a day like this. | 
