It's the small things that make or break a day sometimes. I had three stops today - Howell, Flint, and Imlay City. My first stop in Howell was, as tends to be the case, nice and simple. The dairy manager works the day shift most of the time and today was no exception. He pulled his six pallets of milk out of my truck and then observed that he didn't think he had any empties for me to take back with me. I hadn't seen any in the staging area outside, so I concurred. He signed the bills, we exchanged best wishes for the weekend, and I was on my way.
Stop #2 was in a part of Flint that we could safely call 'the hood.' Now, plenty of you may be thinking to yourselves that all of Flint could be called 'the hood.' To an extent you may be right, but trust me. There are varying degrees. This neighborhood was rough. (As three sheriff's cars rolled down the street behind the store, I suggested that maybe they were going for coffee. "They don't go for coffee around here," the store manager replied, without any humor whatsoever. "That's an eviction.") I had to back in from the aforementioned street, which is always fun, but at least this store had a loading dock. Err, nevermind. There was a hole in the side of the building that kinda looked like a loading dock. It turns out that it was just a hole in the side of the building though. I had to get the milk to the tailgate so that the dairy guy could pull it off with his fancy machine, just as I had done at the no-dock store on my previous trip. Good thing I didn't have any empties to move around in there, eh? It's the small things.
The third stop (in Burton) seemed like it might go pretty quickly. The loading dock was a weird one to access, but it gets to the point where you don't even notice that stuff after a while. I was only dropping off three and a half pallets. How long could it take? Then I stood out in the sun for ten minutes waiting for someone to answer the door. After giving up and walking around through the front of the store, I found the dairy gal waiting at the loading dock. Typical. Then she piled her pallets of empty cases in the hallway where I had been putting the milk. Those hallways aren't very spacious, to say the least. So she couldn't get any milk and I couldn't get any empties. I wound up having to take some time to rearrange things, then pull all of the empties out of the hallway, and then put the milk back into the hallway. What a pain in the ass. It's the small things.
The stop at Imlay City was quick and easy, as it usually seems to be. I dropped off five pallets of milk and took seven pallets of empties within twenty minutes or so. The fortunate side effect of the Burton situation was that I had rotated the milk for Imlay City to the rear of the trailer. If that chick in Burton was content to waste my time, then at least I was going to get some benefit out of the delay. It's the small things.
I wasn't sure what to expect on my way back down to Livonia, but I knew that I would be passing Detroit on I-696. Tonight was one of the nights when the dorky old people gather and drive their dorky old cars up and down Woodward. There was a huge line of brake lights as far as I could see when I passed Woodward, but none of the traffic was affecting the freeway. Good deal. It's the small things.
My shoulder workout for tonight wasn't bad. I suspect that tomorrow might be a real SOB though. The next workout in my rotation is my leg workout. Nobody likes a leg workout to begin with, but it's a necessary evil for many of us. Then you add in the fact that my legs are essentially a physiological train wreck and I'm not feeling too eager. Then, to top it all off, tomorrow is Sunday. $291 on two loads with six total stops. That'll take me 12-13 hours or so. I'll bet you can name one thing that I don't want to do after such a shift, can't you? I may end up leaving the leg workout for Monday but, as long as I'm not too exhausted, I think I'll go ahead and do it tomorrow night. That way I can spend Monday lying on the couch and feeling sorry for myself. Yes indeed, lying on the couch is something to which I occasionally look forward these days. It's the small things.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
8/20/10
A Christmas Carol. You remember the Charles Dickens novel, right? After I typed last night's blog post and headed out for a while, I could have sworn that I was transported right into that story.
Before I could visit someone and degrade myself for the night, I needed to wash away whatever remnants of dignity I had left. A few beers oughtta do the trick. Two of the movies that I watched yesterday were Waiting and Still Waiting, so of course I was left with some subconscious inclination to have my few beers at Applebee's. I can't explain that sort of thing and neither can you. It is what it is. I'll just say to you what I've said to a lot of people over the years, and this is true. I've never seen anyone mess with a customer's food for any reason. Eight years of people treating me and my employees like shit - not one single solitary instance of revenge. For whatever that's worth.
I saw the ghosts of Thursdays past sitting all over the place. Pretty young girls and their pretty young boyfriends, stopping by for dinner and a drink after work. Ah yes, the optimism and the hope... heh. Been there.
The ghost of Thursdays present was at the bar. Me. Drinking alone and keeping my mouth shut. Nuff said.
The ghosts of Thursdays future were at the far end of the bar. Four porky old middle-aged dudes were hanging around, enjoying the cheap appetizers and beer while they chatted about how expensive Chuck's upcoming divorce was going to be. Oh goodie, I can't wait to be a part of that.
I think there's some kind of moral in the original Dickens story, but I haven't managed to find the one that applies to my version. I guess I am kind of an asshole, like ole Ebenezer. I'm far from miserly though. I would probably do well to spend a little less, in point of fact. Maybe I need to avoid having any friends named Chuck. That way I won't get dragged into such a depressing chat. Yes, I'm sure that's the lesson.
As for today, things seemed to go fairly well. I knocked out my four stops in around seven hours, including a quick lunch break. Probably not my most efficient shift ever, but it was good enough. Whenever there are no major controversies along the way, I have no complaints.
After checking into a few options, I've somehow managed to settle on the most expensive gym in Southeast Michigan. I'm not sure exactly how that happened. I just lift weights and mix in a little cardio work, meaning that I don't really take advantage of the full 'experience.' To be fair though, the place is pretty damned nice. Plus everybody there is far better looking than I am, so maybe I'll be able to keep up some of that motivation that seems to be so lacking in my life. For a month or two, at least. I hadn't lifted in a while, so I was surprised to find that my strength was still somewhat decent. My lung capacity on the other hand... oy. My time on the treadmill was enough to confirm that this fat gut of mine is a mofo. We're gonna have to work on that.
In an odd twist, I wound up being the lame friend tonight. A buddy of mine invited me to some broad's birthday party at a local dive bar. I took a pass. Drunk chicks are not really as fun as people seem to think they are. Usually quite obnoxious, actually. It is Friday though, so I did think about heading out for a bit. The only problem was that I actually wore myself out at the gym. I just wanted to get home and relax. Go figure.
One more trailer and four more stops for tomorrow. If it goes as smoothly as today went, I'll be a happy fella. The last few Saturdays have been nice and easy. I have no reason to expect anything different this time around. Then, in typical wild Saturday night fashion... shoulder workout. This getting old shit is a crock.
Before I could visit someone and degrade myself for the night, I needed to wash away whatever remnants of dignity I had left. A few beers oughtta do the trick. Two of the movies that I watched yesterday were Waiting and Still Waiting, so of course I was left with some subconscious inclination to have my few beers at Applebee's. I can't explain that sort of thing and neither can you. It is what it is. I'll just say to you what I've said to a lot of people over the years, and this is true. I've never seen anyone mess with a customer's food for any reason. Eight years of people treating me and my employees like shit - not one single solitary instance of revenge. For whatever that's worth.
I saw the ghosts of Thursdays past sitting all over the place. Pretty young girls and their pretty young boyfriends, stopping by for dinner and a drink after work. Ah yes, the optimism and the hope... heh. Been there.
The ghost of Thursdays present was at the bar. Me. Drinking alone and keeping my mouth shut. Nuff said.
The ghosts of Thursdays future were at the far end of the bar. Four porky old middle-aged dudes were hanging around, enjoying the cheap appetizers and beer while they chatted about how expensive Chuck's upcoming divorce was going to be. Oh goodie, I can't wait to be a part of that.
I think there's some kind of moral in the original Dickens story, but I haven't managed to find the one that applies to my version. I guess I am kind of an asshole, like ole Ebenezer. I'm far from miserly though. I would probably do well to spend a little less, in point of fact. Maybe I need to avoid having any friends named Chuck. That way I won't get dragged into such a depressing chat. Yes, I'm sure that's the lesson.
As for today, things seemed to go fairly well. I knocked out my four stops in around seven hours, including a quick lunch break. Probably not my most efficient shift ever, but it was good enough. Whenever there are no major controversies along the way, I have no complaints.
After checking into a few options, I've somehow managed to settle on the most expensive gym in Southeast Michigan. I'm not sure exactly how that happened. I just lift weights and mix in a little cardio work, meaning that I don't really take advantage of the full 'experience.' To be fair though, the place is pretty damned nice. Plus everybody there is far better looking than I am, so maybe I'll be able to keep up some of that motivation that seems to be so lacking in my life. For a month or two, at least. I hadn't lifted in a while, so I was surprised to find that my strength was still somewhat decent. My lung capacity on the other hand... oy. My time on the treadmill was enough to confirm that this fat gut of mine is a mofo. We're gonna have to work on that.
In an odd twist, I wound up being the lame friend tonight. A buddy of mine invited me to some broad's birthday party at a local dive bar. I took a pass. Drunk chicks are not really as fun as people seem to think they are. Usually quite obnoxious, actually. It is Friday though, so I did think about heading out for a bit. The only problem was that I actually wore myself out at the gym. I just wanted to get home and relax. Go figure.
One more trailer and four more stops for tomorrow. If it goes as smoothly as today went, I'll be a happy fella. The last few Saturdays have been nice and easy. I have no reason to expect anything different this time around. Then, in typical wild Saturday night fashion... shoulder workout. This getting old shit is a crock.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
8/19/10
Heh. This Politico article, last screen cap, last line. Aka 'stop lying' to people. Score one more for your humble blogging hatemonger. I know I wasn't supposed to say "I told you so" back when I was married, but now I'm just a solo dude here on the interwebs who can call it like he sees it. I'll go ahead and let you know when I get one right every now and then. (Probably a lot more than every now and then when it comes to money, as a matter of fact, but you know...) How long until they admit that $862 billion in exchange for a few thousand government jobs and a handful of political payoffs was a disastrous experiment? I guess I won't hold my breath on that one.
I may be forced to head out tonight and spend a little time with a non-friend, given that my friends have proven themselves to be quite lame. I'm not sure yet if that's where this evening is headed, but it's my day off so I might as well do something. I did manage to watch a few movies and get them off my hard drive this morning. When this passes for an accomplishment, it's time to look for a fresh perspective on things. "Must be nice to sleep in your own bed every night..." Bah.
I have to work at noon tomorrow, so I guess I shouldn't stay out too too late. I'll be heading back up to the Flint area (of course) for four stops. I've only been to one of the four stores previously, and the third stop doesn't have a loading dock, so this could end up being fairly interesting. I'm told that I'll have to get the milk to the tailgate and then the store people will pull it out of the trailer with some sort of gadget. This means that I'll need to have the milk rotated behind the empties before I get there. It also means that I won't be able to do much rotating with respect to my last stop. I don't know. The whole thing sounds like one big hassle, but we'll just see what happens.
At least I only have one load so I should be done somewhat early. Assuming that I don't get any social calls tomorrow (pretty safe assumption) or extra work thrown my way (pretty unsafe assumption), I think I'm going to check out a couple of new gyms and see where I feel like working out from now on. If the Tigers keep playing the way that they have been, I'm expecting a phone call before next season. Better get my ass in shape, just in case.
I may be forced to head out tonight and spend a little time with a non-friend, given that my friends have proven themselves to be quite lame. I'm not sure yet if that's where this evening is headed, but it's my day off so I might as well do something. I did manage to watch a few movies and get them off my hard drive this morning. When this passes for an accomplishment, it's time to look for a fresh perspective on things. "Must be nice to sleep in your own bed every night..." Bah.
I have to work at noon tomorrow, so I guess I shouldn't stay out too too late. I'll be heading back up to the Flint area (of course) for four stops. I've only been to one of the four stores previously, and the third stop doesn't have a loading dock, so this could end up being fairly interesting. I'm told that I'll have to get the milk to the tailgate and then the store people will pull it out of the trailer with some sort of gadget. This means that I'll need to have the milk rotated behind the empties before I get there. It also means that I won't be able to do much rotating with respect to my last stop. I don't know. The whole thing sounds like one big hassle, but we'll just see what happens.
At least I only have one load so I should be done somewhat early. Assuming that I don't get any social calls tomorrow (pretty safe assumption) or extra work thrown my way (pretty unsafe assumption), I think I'm going to check out a couple of new gyms and see where I feel like working out from now on. If the Tigers keep playing the way that they have been, I'm expecting a phone call before next season. Better get my ass in shape, just in case.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
8/18/10
I think I get to stay in the truckers' club as long as I punch my card every now and then. Therefore, having just driven 1,142 miles in a day and a half, my dues should be all caught up. I even bought fuel at Pilot and everything.
After checking the truck over and rolling out of Franklin, Kentucky just after midnight, I was relieved to hear that the mosque talk had subsided. Then I found that it had been replaced by... Brett Favre talk? Again? Every news update on every network? All night long? You've got to be shitting me.
My complete and utter loss of faith in humanity was tempered a little once I got onto I-71 though. I was getting a little hungry and what did my eyes behold? Was that a SubWay at the Love's truck stop in Sparta? Yes, yes it was a SubWay at the Love's truck stop in Sparta. As I sank my teeth into the delightful goodness of my Italian BMT with double meat, it occurred to me that I can't even remember the last time I had an Italian BMT with double meat. It's entirely possible that I haven't been to a SubWay since I got home in late June. We'll have to be careful not to let that happen again.
The timeline for my northbound trip was pretty favorable, getting me through Louisville and Cincinnati before the morning traffic started to get heavy. I caught just enough light rain to get the bugs off the windshield but not enough to cause any problems, so that was nice. About the only thing that went wrong, and this part is a little embarrassing, was that I missed my exit on the way back to the dairy.
I was listening to Drew & Mike on the radio. For those of you who are not from around here, they're a typical couple of morning goofballs on the local rock station. Drew plays the role of the more normal 'host' and Mike is just a silly pervert for the most part. Between the two of them and the quality of their guests, I can almost always enjoy some good laughs. So anyhow, they were interviewing this chick who apparently writes books teaching people how to masturbate. I thought that some things were self-explanatory, but you know, I guess she's doing important work or something. You know how these things go. The chick gets to plug her website a few times and the guys make a bunch of inappropriate wisecracks. Prior to that lady, they had interviewed a guy who sells books teaching guys how to score one-night stands with hot chicks or something. That guy was a douche and they had some fun with him, so I already was chuckling quite a bit. And even before that, they had replayed an old phone call that they made to the Captain & Tennille. That one was freaking hilarious.
Back on topic - I caught I-96 over toward the dairy as the guys were having their fun with ole Dr. Sadie. I managed to fight my way out of the merging lane (that is forced to exit at Newburgh) and then cruised the last few miles to Middlebelt. I don't recall exactly what was said or what happened, as I was a bit tired at the time. We had some combination of me laughing very hard, other traffic merging/exiting around me, and Mike trying to get the rather attractive author to reveal various things about her appearance. I drove right past Middlebelt without even realizing it. Fortunately I saw the sign for the Inkster Road exit and realized my mistake before I had driven all the way to Detroit. I just had to run Inkster down to Plymouth and double back for a mile. No biggie.
Once I dropped off my paperwork, the dispatcher told me that he didn't have anything for me tonight. This was obviously welcome news. I would have been able to finish a ten hour break by 7:30pm, but I really wouldn't have felt like going to work at that point anyway. That Tennessee run amounts to a busy Tuesday and a busy Wednesday, so I was glad to have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow is my regularly scheduled day off, so that's pretty nice as well. I told the guys that I'm available if they need me, but my guess is that they won't call unless they're in a real pinch. Life will be a lot easier on all of us if I go ahead and get a restart before the weekend comes around. I'm pretty sure they see things the same way.
After checking the truck over and rolling out of Franklin, Kentucky just after midnight, I was relieved to hear that the mosque talk had subsided. Then I found that it had been replaced by... Brett Favre talk? Again? Every news update on every network? All night long? You've got to be shitting me.
My complete and utter loss of faith in humanity was tempered a little once I got onto I-71 though. I was getting a little hungry and what did my eyes behold? Was that a SubWay at the Love's truck stop in Sparta? Yes, yes it was a SubWay at the Love's truck stop in Sparta. As I sank my teeth into the delightful goodness of my Italian BMT with double meat, it occurred to me that I can't even remember the last time I had an Italian BMT with double meat. It's entirely possible that I haven't been to a SubWay since I got home in late June. We'll have to be careful not to let that happen again.
The timeline for my northbound trip was pretty favorable, getting me through Louisville and Cincinnati before the morning traffic started to get heavy. I caught just enough light rain to get the bugs off the windshield but not enough to cause any problems, so that was nice. About the only thing that went wrong, and this part is a little embarrassing, was that I missed my exit on the way back to the dairy.
I was listening to Drew & Mike on the radio. For those of you who are not from around here, they're a typical couple of morning goofballs on the local rock station. Drew plays the role of the more normal 'host' and Mike is just a silly pervert for the most part. Between the two of them and the quality of their guests, I can almost always enjoy some good laughs. So anyhow, they were interviewing this chick who apparently writes books teaching people how to masturbate. I thought that some things were self-explanatory, but you know, I guess she's doing important work or something. You know how these things go. The chick gets to plug her website a few times and the guys make a bunch of inappropriate wisecracks. Prior to that lady, they had interviewed a guy who sells books teaching guys how to score one-night stands with hot chicks or something. That guy was a douche and they had some fun with him, so I already was chuckling quite a bit. And even before that, they had replayed an old phone call that they made to the Captain & Tennille. That one was freaking hilarious.
Back on topic - I caught I-96 over toward the dairy as the guys were having their fun with ole Dr. Sadie. I managed to fight my way out of the merging lane (that is forced to exit at Newburgh) and then cruised the last few miles to Middlebelt. I don't recall exactly what was said or what happened, as I was a bit tired at the time. We had some combination of me laughing very hard, other traffic merging/exiting around me, and Mike trying to get the rather attractive author to reveal various things about her appearance. I drove right past Middlebelt without even realizing it. Fortunately I saw the sign for the Inkster Road exit and realized my mistake before I had driven all the way to Detroit. I just had to run Inkster down to Plymouth and double back for a mile. No biggie.
Once I dropped off my paperwork, the dispatcher told me that he didn't have anything for me tonight. This was obviously welcome news. I would have been able to finish a ten hour break by 7:30pm, but I really wouldn't have felt like going to work at that point anyway. That Tennessee run amounts to a busy Tuesday and a busy Wednesday, so I was glad to have the rest of the day off. Tomorrow is my regularly scheduled day off, so that's pretty nice as well. I told the guys that I'm available if they need me, but my guess is that they won't call unless they're in a real pinch. Life will be a lot easier on all of us if I go ahead and get a restart before the weekend comes around. I'm pretty sure they see things the same way.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
8/17/10
If you ever happen to find yourself channel surfing the FM dial in the Nashville area, you'll find a couple of things. First is that there are some talk stations mixed among the excessive country music. Second is that those folks don't seem too thrilled about the mosque that has been proposed by our partners in religious tolerance. Oy.
I wound up getting the call at 1am last night, telling me that my load was ready to roll. By the time I headed up to work and then got out of town it was 2am. I left Livonia at midnight the last time I made this run and I think those two extra hours made things more of a pain in the ass. There was a bunch of traffic around Louisville this time, complete with accidents and cops and all the rest. Otherwise though, just a long freaking morning on the highway.
My drop/hook in Murfreesboro was quick and easy this afternoon, after which my 11 hours of driving had enough remaining to get me back into Kentucky. After a nice company-paid lunch at the Waffle House, it was time to get some rest in my company-paid motel room for a while. I even managed to sleep pretty soundly for seven hours today. Awesome.
Now, as our man Willie Nelson would say, "...on the road again..."
(One quick follow-up to yesterday's post, for the lovely rich gals out there. I never wax my chest or any crap like that. I ain't sayin', I'm just sayin'...)
I wound up getting the call at 1am last night, telling me that my load was ready to roll. By the time I headed up to work and then got out of town it was 2am. I left Livonia at midnight the last time I made this run and I think those two extra hours made things more of a pain in the ass. There was a bunch of traffic around Louisville this time, complete with accidents and cops and all the rest. Otherwise though, just a long freaking morning on the highway.
My drop/hook in Murfreesboro was quick and easy this afternoon, after which my 11 hours of driving had enough remaining to get me back into Kentucky. After a nice company-paid lunch at the Waffle House, it was time to get some rest in my company-paid motel room for a while. I even managed to sleep pretty soundly for seven hours today. Awesome.
Now, as our man Willie Nelson would say, "...on the road again..."
(One quick follow-up to yesterday's post, for the lovely rich gals out there. I never wax my chest or any crap like that. I ain't sayin', I'm just sayin'...)
Monday, August 16, 2010
8/16/10
If any of you ladies out there have a lot of money, then you need to know about this study. Guys will cheat on you in order to redeem their manhood. Not me though. I'm all set in the manhood department, so you should seriously consider being my sugar momma. I'll behave and everything. Otherwise I may eventually be reduced to seeking romance among geeks like these. We certainly wouldn't want that.
In the continued absence of my lovely meal ticket, it looks like I'll just have to keep plugging away at this work thing. I got a call from the dispatcher at work this afternoon. He was lining up tomorrow's schedule, but needed to get the okay from me before he proceeded. The dairy had called to arrange a run to Tennessee for tonight. Knowing that I probably would like to make $524 in the next day and a half, he was inclined to put me on the load. Given that today was my day off though, and given that the run was tentatively set to leave before midnight, I had the option to turn it down. I didn't turn it down. You know, still no sugar momma and so forth.
I managed to eat a big lunch and then catch a nice nap this evening, so I should be all set to do some hard driving. I haven't exactly logged a lot of miles on the highway over the last several weeks. A trip with 200 miles is considered a long one in my new line of work. We'll see how it goes. As of my latest update, the load of empty cases still was not ready to leave the dairy. It sounds like I'll be heading out of town some time between midnight and 1am. (Still an hour or so left for one of those wealthy lasses to drag me onto a different path before I head out...)
In the continued absence of my lovely meal ticket, it looks like I'll just have to keep plugging away at this work thing. I got a call from the dispatcher at work this afternoon. He was lining up tomorrow's schedule, but needed to get the okay from me before he proceeded. The dairy had called to arrange a run to Tennessee for tonight. Knowing that I probably would like to make $524 in the next day and a half, he was inclined to put me on the load. Given that today was my day off though, and given that the run was tentatively set to leave before midnight, I had the option to turn it down. I didn't turn it down. You know, still no sugar momma and so forth.
I managed to eat a big lunch and then catch a nice nap this evening, so I should be all set to do some hard driving. I haven't exactly logged a lot of miles on the highway over the last several weeks. A trip with 200 miles is considered a long one in my new line of work. We'll see how it goes. As of my latest update, the load of empty cases still was not ready to leave the dairy. It sounds like I'll be heading out of town some time between midnight and 1am. (Still an hour or so left for one of those wealthy lasses to drag me onto a different path before I head out...)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
8/15/10
What do people call you? A few different things, most likely. For instance, my given name is Joseph. My mother, my sister, a few of my aunts, and my grandmother all call me Joseph. Oh, and my buddy the reverand. I think he attaches some religious significance or something. Then there are the buddies who use nicknames for everyone. In my case it tends to be a truncated form of my last name, although I'll occasionally cross paths with one or two of the guys who started the old Godfather thing many years ago. Most people call me by the very common nickname Joe. Then there are a few broads who call me Joey, but we're not discussing them tonight.
Anyhow, as I rolled up US-23 this afternoon, I started to think that it was time for a new nickname - The Saginaw Kid or Doctor 989 or Genesee Joe or something along those lines. (Of course these are awful, but cut me a little slack here. I was working all day. It's merely the general concept that I'm trying to discuss.) It seems like every day at work, at least in recent memory, is bound to involve a trip up north to Flint or Saginaw or somewhere in that general neck of the woods. Today was no exception. One stop in Flint and two more in Saginaw. Captain Tri-Cities?
The first stop in Flint was quick and easy, after which I headed back up the freeway for my two stops in Saginaw. The first stop up there was at the nice and modern store on State Street. That store has a level loading dock, a maneuverable pallet jack, and a fair amount of space in the stock room, making it an ideal second stop. (The second stop on a three-stop load tends to be the one at which I try to get some or all of the milk rotated to the rear of the trailer, in order to set up for the final stop.) After taking a convoluted route to reach the store, on account of the ubiquitous road construction, I went through my usual sequence of events for that location.
I got a little sidetracked in giving you the blow-by-blow there, but now I can tell you that today's sequence of events came to a screeching halt at Step 4. I had half the milk in the hallway and I had half the empties in the nose of the trailer. When it was time to pull the rest of the milk and put it in the hallway, I walked over and checked on the dairy guys' progress. Err, lack of progress. I had placed six pallets of milk in the hallway to start my little process. Five of them were still in the hallway. Huh?
We wound up with a bit of old-fashioned controversy. It turns out that someone in the dairy department had ordered a shit-ton of milk for yesterday's delivery. Then someone else had ordered a shit-ton of milk for today's delivery. There was room in the cooler for three pallets. I was delivering eleven. Oops. There was room for two pallets in the meat cooler... but the meat truck comes early in the morning tomorrow. And there's room for... well shit... actually that was it. Condensed version - those guys were screwed. One of the storage trailers at the dock was a reefer, so the manager turned it on and I put the rest of their milk into it. Then I completed my rotation process, as outlined above, before handing over the pallet jack so that the milk from the hallway could be moved into the improvised dairy cooler. (That storage trailer was set to be pulled from the dock tonight at 9pm, so it was at best a temporary solution. Not my problem though. I was outta there.)
Quick and easy unload at the third stop though. You win some, you lose some. I was treated to an extra twenty minutes' worth of red lights and traffic on the way back to the dairy, since the ubiquitous road construction has claimed eastbound I-96 as its latest casualty. The ramp from I-275 was closed, so my best option was to come across on 6 Mile. Pain in the ass.
My second trip took me down to Toledo for two stops. Each of those stops went fairly well and I made it back to the dairy by 11:30pm, following another extra twenty minutes' worth of red lights and traffic. Again coming in on I-275, this time from the south, my route took me along Ann Arbor Road until it turned into Plymouth Road. Since I work right off I-96, I sure as hell hope they have this shit sorted out before I go back to work on Tuesday.
The snafu in Saginaw and the traffic issues in Livonia were enough to make today a 12-hour affair. I had hoped to get it done in 11 hours, but all's well that ends well. My $280 for the day is in the books and I delivered all of my milk without crashing or dumping any pallets. As simple as it may sound, that's all I really hope to achieve in a day on the job.
Tomorrow, I hope to achieve... I don't know. Total consciousness, or something.
Anyhow, as I rolled up US-23 this afternoon, I started to think that it was time for a new nickname - The Saginaw Kid or Doctor 989 or Genesee Joe or something along those lines. (Of course these are awful, but cut me a little slack here. I was working all day. It's merely the general concept that I'm trying to discuss.) It seems like every day at work, at least in recent memory, is bound to involve a trip up north to Flint or Saginaw or somewhere in that general neck of the woods. Today was no exception. One stop in Flint and two more in Saginaw. Captain Tri-Cities?
The first stop in Flint was quick and easy, after which I headed back up the freeway for my two stops in Saginaw. The first stop up there was at the nice and modern store on State Street. That store has a level loading dock, a maneuverable pallet jack, and a fair amount of space in the stock room, making it an ideal second stop. (The second stop on a three-stop load tends to be the one at which I try to get some or all of the milk rotated to the rear of the trailer, in order to set up for the final stop.) After taking a convoluted route to reach the store, on account of the ubiquitous road construction, I went through my usual sequence of events for that location.
- I pull off the empties from the rear of the trailer and set them to the side of the stock room.
- I work my way down the left side of the trailer, unloading pallets of milk. Once I've pulled the pallets for the present (second) stop and set them in the hallway, I proceed to pull the rest of the milk (for the third stop) from that side of the trailer and set it next to the empties at the side of the stock room.
- While the dairy guys drag their milk down to the cooler, I start piling pallets of empties into the now-vacant left side of the trailer.
- By the time I get half the empties in there, the dairy guys have usually made enough room for me to put the rest of their milk in the hallway. So I start pulling the loaded pallets from the right side of the trailer, placing the milk for my second stop in the hallway.
- Then I move the remaining milk (for my third stop) from the right side of the trailer to the position behind the empties that I've already loaded in the left side. This step is done entirely within the trailer.
- Now that the right side of the trailer is vacated, I shove the remaining empties into the nose.
- All that's left to do at this point is to take that milk that I had set off to the side of the stock room and put it behind the empties on the right side of the trailer.
I got a little sidetracked in giving you the blow-by-blow there, but now I can tell you that today's sequence of events came to a screeching halt at Step 4. I had half the milk in the hallway and I had half the empties in the nose of the trailer. When it was time to pull the rest of the milk and put it in the hallway, I walked over and checked on the dairy guys' progress. Err, lack of progress. I had placed six pallets of milk in the hallway to start my little process. Five of them were still in the hallway. Huh?
We wound up with a bit of old-fashioned controversy. It turns out that someone in the dairy department had ordered a shit-ton of milk for yesterday's delivery. Then someone else had ordered a shit-ton of milk for today's delivery. There was room in the cooler for three pallets. I was delivering eleven. Oops. There was room for two pallets in the meat cooler... but the meat truck comes early in the morning tomorrow. And there's room for... well shit... actually that was it. Condensed version - those guys were screwed. One of the storage trailers at the dock was a reefer, so the manager turned it on and I put the rest of their milk into it. Then I completed my rotation process, as outlined above, before handing over the pallet jack so that the milk from the hallway could be moved into the improvised dairy cooler. (That storage trailer was set to be pulled from the dock tonight at 9pm, so it was at best a temporary solution. Not my problem though. I was outta there.)
Quick and easy unload at the third stop though. You win some, you lose some. I was treated to an extra twenty minutes' worth of red lights and traffic on the way back to the dairy, since the ubiquitous road construction has claimed eastbound I-96 as its latest casualty. The ramp from I-275 was closed, so my best option was to come across on 6 Mile. Pain in the ass.
My second trip took me down to Toledo for two stops. Each of those stops went fairly well and I made it back to the dairy by 11:30pm, following another extra twenty minutes' worth of red lights and traffic. Again coming in on I-275, this time from the south, my route took me along Ann Arbor Road until it turned into Plymouth Road. Since I work right off I-96, I sure as hell hope they have this shit sorted out before I go back to work on Tuesday.
The snafu in Saginaw and the traffic issues in Livonia were enough to make today a 12-hour affair. I had hoped to get it done in 11 hours, but all's well that ends well. My $280 for the day is in the books and I delivered all of my milk without crashing or dumping any pallets. As simple as it may sound, that's all I really hope to achieve in a day on the job.
Tomorrow, I hope to achieve... I don't know. Total consciousness, or something.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)