Pallet math and the case that shouldn't exist

Ran the counts twice this morning before the opener crew arrived. Started with the Horizon Amber — decent malt-forward ale, nothing fancy, moves okay on Fridays when people want something approachable.

Inventory system: eighteen cases.

Actual cooler: nine cases, back left, under the sours.

Distributor invoice from Monday: twenty-four cases delivered, signed by someone whose initials I can't read.

The missing math

Asked Mitch if we'd moved fifteen cases since Monday. He laughed and said we're lucky if we move three Horizon Ambers in a week. Checked Tuesday's walk-out log — two single bottles, no cases.

Called the distributor. They're sending the driver log. Pretty sure the pallet got split between us and the shop two blocks over, but the paperwork says it all landed here.

So now we either have nine cases of a beer we apparently ordered twenty-four of, or we have a phantom nine cases living in a parallel cooler I haven't found yet.

What actually happens now

We'll reconcile it Monday when the rep swings through. Until then, the system thinks we're flush with Horizon Amber. If someone orders a case for pickup, I'll let Mitch explain why we can only offer nine.

I'm writing this at 6:47 p.m. because the count bothered me enough that I stayed late. The pallet jack is back in the corner. The invoice is taped to the clipboard. The beer is definitely not here.

Tomorrow I'll check if the delivery photo on the driver's phone shows our dock or someone else's. That usually settles it.