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July 18-19… 2005

The week has barely begun, and I have already had a crazy week!

Late Sunday night I drove back home from seeing Joy. Then I woke up Monday, unpacked, packed, did a few errands, and then left for work. When I was at work I was hoping to maybe get done early and get an early start on my drive back to my hometown. Instead, I got more overtime at UPS than any other night to date.

My drive that night was pretty good. I stopped at Burger King for dinner on the go and I got free fries somehow. Also, because I left from work, my drive only took two hours and forty minutes instead of the three and a half hours it has taken Joy and I in the past. (I did not speed on the way either, as I had just received a notice in the mail stating that I have 11 points on my record. So I am very paranoid about cops now.)

Once I was home, I couldn’t get into my neighborhood because my gate card was deprogrammed or something. I didn’t want to call my parents so I decided to jump over the gate, walk to my house, get a different gate card, walk back to my car, and then let myself in. This plan works fine and takes me roughly ten to fifteen minutes. Unfortunately, I was kinda tired at 2AM, and I put the car into reverse with the hand brake engaged. That was kind of thoughtless, but not as thoughtless as driving the car over and into this huge planter thing in front of my neighborhood. Right in view of a major, six-lane boulevard.

So, I got four hours of sleep that night. I woke up a little after 9AM, ate breakfast, got ready to go to my appointment, and then off I went. Unfortunately for me, the office had recently relocated. I knew this; I had the new address; and I even looked up directions. The problem was that the office didn’t have any signage yet. Also problematic were the roads in the vicinity of the new office location. I eventually found my way, but I was pretty late. Oh, and being really, really tired does things to frustration.

After that appointment I took care of a few more items of “hometown business,” and then I went to Crispers to grab some lunch. That took a long time, and there were reasons for it taking a long time, but the ordeal was comparatively uneventful.

Finally, I am at home. I am ready to eat. I only have about 50 minutes until I need to pack up again and get back on the road. Then Joy calls. My brother calls. I need to call my mother. It seems to never end, but I do get to eat. I do get going on time. I am tired. I am frustrated. I am on my way.

The trip is pretty nice and uneventful. I make great time. In fact, I am about twelve miles away on a toll-highway, and I feel like I might arrive at work 40 minutes early. A severe thunderstorm and a great deal of traffic later… I walk into work 15 minutes late.

Work was pretty good. I was paired with an exceptionally slow unloader. This means that I did about 2/3 of the work that I normally do. That was nice considering that I was tired. However, I foolishly agree to take on a double shift. It isn’t often that I am asked to do this, and I have been wondering what it is like. So, feeling quite caffeinated… I agreed.

This too proved to be a frustration. At the end of the night, I ended up straight-loading (that is when one guy checks and scans packages (and get credit for loading them) and then the other guy is supposed to load much quicker) on some really backlogged PD for over an hour. This netted me more over time than Monday night and thereby set a new personal record.

When I went back to the sort aisle for my second shift I found out that two other guys also agreed to work a double shift. They had more seniority than me and had done midnight’s sort before. So I was sent home. This was simultaneously frustrating and relieving.

Anyway, I am home now. I am showered. I am coming down from all caffeine I imbibed in anticipation of working more. I have read C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce at Conor’s suggestion. I spent an hour online, and I probably just spent twenty minutes writing this. Now to finally sleep.

Posted by David under What's Going On |