Collections Bloggy Blog - Unconventional Beauty

OK, here is the thing...the Collections Department here at the DPM cannot function on a daily basis without the use of a pallet jack. This may seem arbitrary, but now that we have moved to the new facility there are four rooms full of collections items, plus an entire creepy late-1800s basement full of pallets that are constantly being moved and reshuffled. Do I wish I didn't rely so heavily on this one piece of equipment? Yes, of course, because that would mean that the collections were stable and organized in some kind of permanent way, but that is just not the case at the moment. We use that darn pallet jack EVERY DAY, so imagine my heartbreak when it tried to commit heavy equipment suicide by splattering its hydraulic fluid out all over the floor after being forced to lift one extremely heavy pallet too many...

That actually happened a while ago, and since then we have been arguing our case for a new one to the boss man every day while gingerly using the pallet jack only when absolutely necessary. It has pulled through and the daily grind of this place has continued at a fairly normal pace, but I was still adamant that we needed a new one. Well, yesterday, with the generosity of our board member Wilton Lanning and the fine folks at Equipment Depot, my prayers were answered! Around 1:15 pm a shiny new pallet jack was delivered.

Again, this may seem really weird, but I am VERY EXCITED about this new pallet jack. I think the guys from Equipment Depot could sense my elation and kind of made a joke about it, like "Oooooh, yay, a pallet jack, whoopee!?!....." And I was all like "No, you don't understand, this is a big freakin' deal and you will exhibit some level of pomp and circumstance as you MAKE MY DAY." And also yesterday I was dressed especially fancy because Joy, Jennie and I did a TV interview for PBS, so I think my dressy business appearance in an otherwise industrial warehouse environment, coupled with my excitement over a pallet jack, was a little strange to see.

ANYWAY, other museum people out there, especially those who have experienced a move or the donation of a humongous collection, will understand and share my sentiments. This is just once aspect of the behind-the-scenes situation here that people don't get to see, but is essential to making this place run. So, those of you who have read this will secretly know that the newest addition to the collection isn't a bottle or can, but a beautiful new pallet jack that is helping to make the Museum even more fabulous.

The boys with the new pallet jack...They are impressed!

Out with the old and in with the new

Look at how beat up the old one is! I am not going to be able to bring myself to scratch the new one up like that...