Hello!
The reason you're receiving this note is because you have a gun on my Waiting List. (If you've received multiple copies, it's because you have more than one gun on the list and I didn't catch the duplicate email.) You may have been on the list for a very short time, or a very long time. In either case, please read on for a status report.
Over the last couple of years my workload has become quite burdensome. To put it bluntly, I've been buried. No matter how much work I finished, it always seemed that I had more to do! I'm not complaining, mind you, but it seemed odd that (literally) the more I did, the further behind I got.
Now I know that most of you have experienced the same thing at your job, but mine was literally true - no matter how many revolvers came in or out, the number on my waiting list seemed to always grow - even after I closed the list to new entries!
I thought it was my imagination, but it turns out there's a reason.
Late last year something odd happened: I got in two guns with the same reservation number. In theory that shouldn't happen, since my terrific little computer program (which I wrote myself - keep that in mind) sends out notices for guns automatically. It does so without my having to compose and read them, so I didn't notice the duplicate. I chalked it up to a data entry error, but it happened again a couple of months ago.
That's when I started noticing something else that didn't seem right: I got emails from some people who said "gee, you got to me faster than I thought!" and others that said "when are you going to get to me?" Since my system calls for guns in order of their reservation number, that shouldn't happen either. I chalked that one up to people's varying perceptions of time.
When I recently got an email from someone I know was on the list for a long time, but had a very recent reservation number, I knew something was amiss. When I checked the list and couldn't find him I started digging through the database. At one point I manually issued a "show all records" command to the database.
OH-HOLY-CRAP! (Pardon my French.) There were two or three times the number of records in the database than the system was reporting to me! That explained why I've been working myself to death lately.
The system, which you'll remember I programmed myself, had been hiding some records from view because of an error I made in the automation routines. (Database experts in the audience will understand when I tell you that I have several search routines that I use on a daily basis. Many of them include a command to omit records from view which don't meet the criteria for whatever display form I'm using. The problem is that I didn't clear those omission flags when I should have! My best friend - a recognized expert on DB programming - just laughed at me when I told him what I'd done. I didn't find it quite so amusing.)
The bottom line is that there were apparently always a large number of records that weren't visible in any of the search result screens that the system uses, which meant that I had a lot more people on the list than I even knew about!
Worse still, the system dynamically assigned reservation numbers based on the records that were shown, which meant a) some numbers got reused, and b) some numbers actually changed - you'd have the one that I emailed you, but the system would assign it to someone else. That explains why I was getting guns in that seemed out of sequence with the dates - because they were.
The long and short of this is that my super system is screwed up beyond repair. Luckily every entry in the database is date-stamped on entry, so I still have a solid record of who's on the list and when they got there. That's why you've gotten this message.
Several things are going to happen to get things back on track. First, the reservation numbers are no longer valid. I've already deleted the reservation number tracker on the website. Instead, every quarter or so I'll be sending out an email to everyone showing that I'm working on reservations from such-and-such a date.
Second, I'm not adding anyone to the list for at least the next year. Hopefully this will give me some time to whittle down the number of guns that are waiting for my attention.
Finally, I'm asking for your help. I'm sure a number of you are tired of waiting for me, and I don't blame you. Here's what I'd like you to do:
- If you wish to be DELETED from the waiting list for any reason, DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Do not reply to this email in any manner, shape, or form. If I don't hear from you within 7 days, I'll assume that you're either dead, sold the gun, or just don't want to hire me to do your work. That's perfectly fine, and if you want me to recommend another quality gunsmith who can get to you faster I'll be happy to do so.
- If you wish to remain on my waiting list, simply reply to this email. DO NOT CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE, and do not send any messages - simply hit 'reply' and then 'send'. (If you got multiple copies, please do not make multiple replies - one is sufficient.) The return emails will automatically go into a special inbox folder, and I'll make sure that your spot on the waiting list is not deleted. The emails won't actually be read, so if you need to contact me for some other reason please send a separate email with a different subject line. DO NOT SEND A REPLY TO THIS EMAIL UNLESS YOU WISH TO REMAIN ON THE LIST!
The date that you got onto the list originally will be the date that I'll use to determine your place in line. Please don't ask for an estimate of when I'll get to your gun, because at this point I don't have a clue. I'm not even going to try playing that game until I've gotten a solid handle on the situation, and the only way I can do that is to find out how many people still want me to do their work!
If you choose to stick around, you can expect an occasional email with the aforementioned status update, and as things smooth out I'm hoping to get a decent estimate on time frames.
I wish it to be understood that I acknowledge this situation to be exclusively my fault. I'm the idiot who programmed what was supposed to be time-saving software, and I screwed up. I apologize profusely for unintentionally keeping you 'on the hook' longer than you might have expected, and if you wish that to no longer be the case I'll understand - and, as mentioned, I'll even refer you to someone whose work I respect if you so desire.
Mea culpa.
-=[ Grant Cunningham ]=-
