Every day I get to work at 1:00.

This is the sequence of events.

I walk in.

I put my lunch in the fridge.

I put milk in the espresso machine.

I put me phone and red cup in the chefs table.

I adjust heat and air conditioning.

I go to my office.

I hit okay and listen to the messages.

Today there were 12.

I write down the messages. I am very good at it now. Lots of short hand that I now know.

I them take the iPad, the cordless phone, my notebook, my laptop all to the chefs table.

I make my double cappuccino.

And I start returning calls.

A year ago 12 calls would have taken an hour.

Today it was about ten minutes. Some people answer I process their requests. I leave messages for the rest.

Very. Very. Generic messages.

I learned a year ago if you leave specifics they think they have a reservation. And I won’t process the reservation unless o speak to you.

My standard message is:

Hi this is Jeff from __. You can reach us back at 555-555-5555.

This is the schedule of events today.

Only one thing differed.

I call a number today. Voicemail picks up.

The message that followed was 45 minutes long.

Seriously? The person I called had a voicemail that listed 17,453 different phone calls depending on who was calling.

Full disclosure. It was a business cell phone. But seriously, I waited forever to leave the message above.

It was really funny because a sales person had come in and he’s sitting there watching me listen to a 45 minute phone message.

Eventually I leave the message.

Not long after the person calls back. And I make her reservation.

Fast forward a few hours.

I get a text messages apologizing for the long message.

I thought so.

I recognized the name on the call. But they didn’t say anything when they left the message nor when they called back.

She worked for me years ago. I consider her a friend.

She texts and apologized that I had to listen to her 45 minute voicemail.

I texted back and teased her and told her I was going to write about her.

So here is a post about my friend Kim who has the longest voicemail in the history of voicemails. Next time, tell me who you are.

Also. Can’t wait to see you.