Freezer Tetris Champion

[rikibeth]

Monday is, of course, one of our delivery days.

We didn't have a ton of produce coming in, or that much meat, so putting things away in the walk-in was pretty easy. Although there was that case of pork butt. Not that it was hard finding a space for it -- I'd ground the last two butts from the previous case first thing this morning, so the designated space was all empty for it. No, the problem with the case of pork butt is that it weighs about 70 pounds, which is beyond my ability to lift and carry right now. I had to drag it. Boo.

The FROZEN stuff, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Seven boxes of sweet potato fries. Eight boxes of burger buns. A box of pretzel buns and another of rustic rolls. Ten boxes of shoestrings. Clams, shrimp, and lobster. Huge tub of vanilla ice cream (3 gallon? 4? Don't think it was 5). Two cases of bacon. Pretzel nuggets. Ready-to-fry potato chips. Dear LORD. Derek even apologized for Tom ordering maybe too much when he placed the order.

Dear readers, I MADE IT ALL FIT. I only had to put two boxes of shoestrings on the center floor (where, of course, they aren't supposed to go, but Derek said they'd use them up during tonight's service, so no big deal at all) and, even with those boxes there, nothing on the back shelves was blocked, everything was findable, like was grouped with like and everything even sort of made SENSE. Everyone was very impressed.

I credit the years spent watching my dad pack the station wagon for a month at a beach cottage.

Comments

[sambear.livejournal.com]

I love hearing about your exploits at work. There is this lovely symmetry to it when you explain how you save food to make other food. I get this warm and fuzzy glow just thinking about it.

Anyway, I hope your cut is healing nicely!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm already at the "no bandage" stage for the cut, and, while it's ugly, it's clean.

[bunnygoth.livejournal.com]

I've always admired that skill, as it is one I suck at. *applause*

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

Did you hum the music from Tetris as you did this?

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

You try humming when you're humping 25-pound boxes onto shelves higher than your head.

[flewellyn.livejournal.com]

That'd be a "no", then.

[princejvstin.livejournal.com]

It's the 25th anniversary of the original version of Tetris, as it so happens. There was an NPR/PRI interview with the creator on the radio that I caught yesterday.

[tyedboyne.livejournal.com]

Next time you need help disposing of excess seafood (clams, shrimp, and Lahhhhhbster....:-) just remember, I'm here for you!

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha right. When I'm portioning the thawed lobster for the lobster sliders, if Adam-the-manager walks by, he'll just say "This one's short" and SNITCH a nugget!

[head-shrinker.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's impressive! Both you and your dad have massive skills. When my dad packed the station wagon, it all FIT, but you couldn't get anything out without taking EVERYTHING out...

[rikibeth.livejournal.com]

Well, when my dad packed the station wagon, that was pretty much the same deal, because it was only meant to go from point A (home) to point B (the cottage, under 3 hours away) and get unloaded again. His impressive bit was that he would always leave a channel of empty space so that he could still use the rearview mirror!

The walk-in freezer is essentially a rectangle, with shelves along both long sides and the one short side that faces the door. And most of what's going on the shelves are square or rectangular boxes. So it's not QUITE as challenging as the random-shaped items for a station wagon. But there are a few not-in-a-box things that absolutely need ready access -- trays and tubs of prepared food that we hold frozen, like the breaded pork chops, and the stuffed chicken breasts, and the Philly cheesesteak portions. And the box of frozen puff pastry has to be accessible or I can't make the Wellington bites. Like that.

[head-shrinker.livejournal.com]

Damn, your dad is impressive! I remember riding with fishing rods poking me in the back of the head....

I think I'm kind of envious of your job, since you get to do fun things like freezer tetris! When I worked at the deli, our freezer and fridge were like that too. I never got to organize them, just use them. But whoever did usually did a nice job. Although in college, I used to have to tetris the freezer with my roommates' junk, since they believed in the Avalanche method of freezer packing...