Happy Holidays!

Greetings!

It's been longer and longer in between posts here, my apologies, but the holiday season is here, and there is a lot to do. Besides the regular work, paying bills, groceries, etc., there's Christmas shopping! Yay! Actually, I did most of my shopping online, so I avoided much of the hassles of malls, crowds and traffic, but there is always that one or two items that either weren't available on Amazon, couldn't be delivered by Christmas, or just those things that popped up at the last minute. At first my wife said she didn't want anything, then, a couple of days before Christmas, she comes out and says "Oh, I'd like so-and-so's CD," which put the fear of God into me. I mean, not only am I working an altered schedule these two weeks (Christmas and New Years are the only two weeks my company changes it's delivery schedules), but now I have to run around trying to find last-minute gifts. Hooray!
Here's what happened the week of Christmas: I go out on Sunday night (as opposed to Monday) so I can be back on Tuesday, and have Christmas Eve Day (Wed) off. It was cold as a witch's tit outside (I'm talking 0 degrees as a high temperature). I actually picked up this ski mask the day before, the kind that covers all but the eyes and mouth, and I'm glad I did. It worked beautifully. I was already driving a substitute truck, because mine broke down the week before in Greencastle, IN (another story). Anyway, I get my deliveries done, go to the truckstop, and have to make a decision; do I let the truck run, go into the truckstop to eat, and risk the truck being stolen, or do I shut the truck off, and risk gelling the diesel? Had it been a regular company truck, we'd have more than one key, so the decision wouldn't have to be made, but, with a substitute, there was only one key, so I chose the latter. I shut the truck off, locked her up, and went in to eat. As I came back, however, the key wouldn't open the friggin lock! Damn! I thought I was gonna freeze out there! After trying the passenger side, and fiddling around with it for about 10 minutes (I always have the thought in mind, "Frostbite can occur in as little as 10 minutes in these temperatures"), I finally got the damn thing open. Not again, I said to myself.
So, I go to do my second night of deliveries, and, wouldn't you know it, when I arrive at the first store, there are construction guys there, remodeling the front lobby. I thought "Can you believe this F'ing s__t?" I asked the guy how long they'd be there, and he said "Oh, about an hour and a half, two hours tops." I said, "Ok , let me go deliver another store, and I'll come back" which I did, two hours later. Yep, you guessed it, they were still there. I sat there for another hour and a half, before telling my dispatcher I was blowing it off. Of course, it had started snowing by this time, and several inches had accumulated during the time I waited. For me, it was a real George Bailey moment ("It's a Wonderful Life" is my favorite movie). So, what to do?
The store is located in a small parking lot at the bottom of a hill, and, generally, once you make the commitment to go in there, you're commited. However, my frustration was such that I had to get outta there. So I carefully backed out onto the street, and, facing an uphill climb, spun my wheels, let my foot off the accelerator, and spun again, and again, until I finally climbed that sucker. Whew!
Needless to say, the rest of the night went about the same way: the bosses decided to have me skip the store entirely, go to my cheese pickup, and have them push the product still on my trailer foreward, putting a lesser number of pallets of cheese on behind. I still took 18 pallets (normally it's 20). So, to make a long story short, I got back to south-Chicagoland about 4:00pm
(I've been on duty, on paper, since midnight). Something was acting up on this truck too, so I had to have IT checked out. I got back to the base about 6:00 or so, got home by about 7. What a nightmare! And, I still have my wrapping, running around, etc. to take care of. See, this is the kind of thing that makes one lose the real meaning of Christmas. I try to take care of everything, so the family can have a nice holiday (heck, I even did most of the cooking), and, before you know it, it's gone...
I won't let that kind of thing happen ever again. If God is willing to have me around for another Christmas, I'll plan ahead, and WON'T be working that week!

More soon,


Steve

Early Chill

Hello, again!

It's early December, and we've already had a couple of snow storms here in Chicago. Today is Sunday, the 7th, and our high temperature is going to be about 19. Brrrrr! It's too damn early for this crap! Back in the deep freeze, already? You gotta be kiddin' me! It's almost a carbon-copy of last year (so far, at least). Let's just hope we don't get the snowfall like last year. I mean, I'm not in Madison this year, Thank God, but still, this is a bit ridiculous.

It wouldn't be so bad, except for the fact my company won't allow us do idle the truck unless in the berth. Shit, I do it anyway. I consider it a safety issue, and will not compromise when it comes to safety. I've heard that the company would rather pay however much for a jump start, rather than waste the fuel. Is that crazy, or what? What they don't realize, however, is that you have to sit and wait, in a frozen cab, for who knows how long, for the tow truck or jumpstart guy to come out, and that is not comfortable at all. It's downright dangerous.

So, what do you do? Just have to suck it up, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
Am I going to have to file a grievance with OSHA? I don't know yet, but I'm prepared to, believe me. Like I said, safety is something I don't compromise on; the company expects me to act in a safe and responsible manner, I think they should have the same obligation.

Time for more long johns.

More soon,

Steve