My descent into Inventory Hell

That's right, it starts today.  At 3 this afternoon I and all of the other department managers will gather in the lumber department and begin counting wood, which is sold by either the inch... or the foot.  And I'm not talking about the 'fun' kind of wood.  Nope.  I'm talking trim, and molding, and soft woods and hardwoods; I'm talking cherry, and hickory and popular and the always sturdy oak.
Tomorrow I will again start at 3 in the afternoon and spend over 8 hours climbing through the racking of my department searching for that stray tube of caulk, and that errant pint of paint which has managed to tip itself over in order to obscure itself from the eager eyes of the counters.
Then I get 5 hours off to nap before I'm back in the store for an 11 hour shift.  That's it, just 5 hours.  And then Regis takes over, they're the company we hire to do our inventory.  During that time we follow their counters, verifying what they do, making sure they don't count a product twice, or, and this happens a lot, fail to count a product at all.  They will actually finish the counting around noon, but we all have to wait until the final totals are solidified (and even then there will be changes done for the next 2 months).  After that, I can go home.

There is a bright spot on the inventory horizon, however, because we are a high volume / low shrink store, and Wall Street is taking notice.  When yearly sales are over $50 million, and shrink is around $275 thousand, is it necessary to spend around $30 thousand in payroll just to prep for inventory?  Most analysts say 'no.'  So, this will probably be our last actual physical inventory for several years, which is fine and dandy with me.  Once my house is paid for, I'm going to step down from the management position and that means my schedule will be more normal.  Believe me, I can't wait.