10/29/10

If I were to reflect on the last several years' experiences in my life, I think I would honestly conclude that I've become more patient with people than I once was.  Perhaps this is a natural consequence of growing older or perhaps it's a side benefit of having spent a few years more or less isolated from society.  Whatever the explanation behind this evolution may be though, I still have my limits.  When one of these limits is reached, I can sometimes be a little hasty in declaring that enough is enough.  Today... enough was enough.

I basically instituted a unilateral policy declaring that I will no longer answer questions about how my back is feeling or how my leg is feeling or any of that.  It's the same damned answer every day - I have no idea.  So, to the dispatcher at work, the security guard at the dairy, the receiving guy at my first stop, and anyone else who bothered to ask, I simply said that I don't want to talk about it anymore.  End of discussion.  Enough is enough.  In the unlikely event that there is some material change to the status quo, I'll be more than willing to tell people.  Otherwise, screw it.  Life with numb toes and random leg symptoms isn't the worst thing in the world.  You get used to it after a while.

Today's work schedule had the potential to be a challenge, but it turned out to be pretty easy in the end.  My load had four stops, with the third stop coming at a location with no loading dock.  The only way to make this kind of run work would be to leave the empties behind at my first two stops.  Then I could deal with the no-dock third delivery and the regular fourth delivery before circling back to the first two stores and picking up their empties.  It turned out that the second store only had two pallets of empties though, so I just took them with me and worked around them to deliver the milk at my third store.  And I still had plenty of room in my trailer for an easy delivery/pickup at the last stop.  This meant that, after completing my four stops, I only had to return to the first store to pick up empties.  That particular store is right on US-23 on the way back to the dairy anyway, meaning that stopping there at the end of my shift was no great inconvenience.  Good deal.

I've been pretty worn out lately and last night's sleep schedule wasn't helpful to the cause.  I may or may not have some sort of family gathering to attend tomorrow night though, so I had to man up and get to the gym after work tonight.  Not my most impressive workout by any stretch of the imagination, given the fatigue and general malaise that I was fighting.  I did manage to sling around enough weight to make it worth my while though.

Two loads tomorrow - a two-stopper and a one-stopper.  Assuming that I actually manage to sleep for a few solid hours tonight, this could be setting up to be the easiest $230 shift that I've had thus far.  I'll have to sneak a peek at my FloTV here and there to see how pathetic my Irish are, but I've concluded that they're hardly worth watching anyway.  Might as well make a few bucks.