10/12/10

Okay. Maybe I'm not as awesome as that guy, but I did just deliver 43,000 pounds of assorted milk and dairy products from Livonia to three stores in the Toledo area, completing my round trip in less than four and a half hours. That's pretty freaking awesome. I don't mind telling you.

I really can't say that I was thrilled to find myself in the position of having to be so awesome though. My original assignment was simply a two-stop run to Midland and Mount Pleasant. I've had that run a handful of times before, so I know most of the Kroger employees that I'll encounter along the way. I know the route. I know the loading docks and the stock rooms. It's all good. Part of this familiarity includes the knowledge that the folks in Midland aren't too thrilled when I show up early in the afternoon. They're much more prepared for my arrival after 2pm or so.

My pull time was 10:45am today, for some reason. That's much earlier than I've ever pulled a Midland-Mount Pleasant run before. So, knowing that the folks at my first stop were in no hurry to see me, I took a long lunch break in Saginaw on my way up I-75. Who needs that extra hour, after all? I am allowed 14 hours by the feds. My run was going to take between 7 and 8 hours. At least six hours of wiggle room.  No problemo.

My morning/afternoon run went pretty well.  I had an occasional tendency to forget about my present injury situation, given that my ass and leg aren't hurting nearly as badly as they were over the weekend.  Then, when I moved a little too quickly in the wrong direction - ZAP!  Right back to reality in a hurry.  Guess I'm not out of the woods just yet.  I experienced more numbness than pain overall though.  If I have the choice, I'll take the numbness any day of the week.  The deliveries themselves went smoothly, so I had no major complaints.

As I rolled down US-127 on the way back home, having just finished my last stop in Mount Pleasant, I got a call from the dispatcher at work.  He needed to know what time I started work this morning, as there was a run to Toledo that had come up for one reason or another.  (We probably know the reason, don't we?  Teamsters...)  I had started at 10:30am so I was legal until 12:30am.  Then the calculations began.  How long until I would get back, how long until I would get to Toledo, how long would each stop take, how long would I drive between stops, etc.  The dispatcher posited that I should have just enough time to cover the run.  Although I was far from certain, I agreed that it should be okay.

I had a general outline in mind regarding how that second run would need to go.  After leaving the dairy at 7pm, I needed to be at my first stop by 8:15pm.  I got there at 8pm.  I needed to finish that stop within 45 minutes (►9pm).  It took 30 minutes (►8:30pm).  I needed to reach the next store within 30 minutes (►9:30pm).  I got there within 15 minutes (►8:45pm).  I needed to finish that stop within 45 minutes (►10:15pm).  It took 45 minutes (►9:30pm).

So, as I left my second stop, I was 45 minutes ahead of my self-imposed baseline.  I expected the trip to my last store, in Milan on the way back up US-23, to take 45 minutes (►11pm).  It took an hour, cutting into my buffer a little (►10:30pm).  I planned to finish that stop within a half hour (►11:30pm).  I did it in 15 minutes (►10:45pm).  Back to the 45 minutes of buffer time.  I thought the drive back to Livonia would be 45 minutes long, getting me off the road by 12:15am and beating the 12:30am deadline. It did take exactly 45 minutes but, since I was 45 minutes ahead of the projections, I was off the road by 11:30pm.  Plenty of time to spare.  I'm basically awesome.  Okay, not really.  I just got pretty lucky tonight.  The Kroger folks were on their game and there was nothing significant to slow me down.

That's not the only way I got lucky either.  No, I didn't convince another drunken lass to subjugate her moral code for the evening.  And no, I'm not talking about the first $300 Tuesday that I've had in quite a while.  I got lucky tonight by coming home and finding that my main man is back in the news.


His talking points are enough to make a fella grin, although I think I laughed hardest at Leftwing Larry's last quip.  He's a jagoff for the most part but at least he is a sarcastic jagoff.  A man after my own heart, as the saying goes.