SHARE Update 8/27/06

I worked at SHARE yesterday. I was delighted to get to work for them. They're really nice people there and the job is more laid back vice my jobs at Medieval Times and at the Post Office. The only hard thing about the job is when they start on Distribution Saturdays. I had to be there at 5 a.m. 5 a.m. isn't a hard hour for me to be up. What is hard about is that in order for me to be at SHARE at 5 a.m., I have to get up at 3:30 a.m. so I can rustle up some kind of breakfast (don't ask what I ate as you wouldn't be impressed by my eating habits), get dressed, and drive down there (the trip can take any where between 15 and 60 minutes depending on traffic on Interstate-295). After a long hard day at the Post Office, I wasn't keen about getting up super early. Still, I dragged myself out of bed, scoured the fridge for something readily eatable, and slapped on some clothes that were reasonably clean.

It was a typical distribution day in that things were busy all the way until 10:30 or so. After that, it slacked off and by 11:00, we had only a slight trickle of customers. We started cleaning up around 11:30. By 12:30, everything was pretty much done. I clocked out shortly afterwards and drove home. I planned to take a 2-hour nap but fate had other things in store for me. I had difficulty finding out what days I'd work at the Post Office next week and my former best friend Mark Morton called. Then, the folks at Medieval Times called and told me they'd like to come in early. Crap! It ended up being a very long day (I was up for over 19 hours) though it was a profitable one money wise.

One final note on this topic, I'll be glad when summer is over. I know some people love summer but I confess I don't. It is way too hot and humid in Maryland. I like cooler climes. Some where between 65 and 75 is just right for me. Anything above 80 gets annoying for me since I hate sweating. I particularly hate it when I break into a new sweat after I just got out of the shower. It makes me feel like I wasted my time in the shower. Yesterday, it was particularly hot at SHARE and my shirt was soaked with sweat by the time I left. I'll be happy when fall arrives. I like the beautiful colors and the slight chill in the air. (I also like spring with its refreshing rains. There is nothing like breathing the air after it has rained.)

On a different subject: just a reminder that the Maryland Renaissance Festival opened its doors yesterday. It really is a great renaissance festival with great facilities and wonderful acts. It's very affordable and not terribly difficult to get to. It runs until October 23rd (I think). If you have a free weekend, it would be worth your while to check it out. And make sure you try one of their smoked turkey legs! They are really good and fun to munch on.

Medieval Times Update

I walked into the Arundel Mills castle where I work and found out to my surprise that the castle was celebrating its third year anniversary. It opened on August 22, 2003. It claimed that over 750,000 had attended the show at the castle though I would dispute that figure. I know the castle gets a lot of repeat business. I personally attended the show several times. The reason I did that was it is a great place to take visiting friends and family for a fun night out. I know of school kids who went with their schools and later got their family to go. There is no question the castle has been a major success for the Medieval Times chain. Because the mall concept proved so successful with the Arundel Mills castle, Medieval Times has built a second castle in the Atlanta area attached to a mall. That castle opened this month.

The anniversary coincided with an anniversary of sorts for me with Medieval Times. I've now been working for the Arundel Mills castle for six months. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The time has really flown by. I definitely feel like an old hand now at the castle. I've enjoyed various aspects of working there while hating others. I will be prudent and won't illuminate the things I haven't enjoyed about working there. Overall, I've liked working there and would recommend Medieval Times as a potential second job employer. Money wise, it isn't something you could pay the rent on. I think it is an ideal job for a high school student or one just starting to attend college. You should earn enough to pay your car insurance and cell phone bill and have some money left over for spending money. I can't give any advice if you wanted to make a career at Medieval Times. I have no clue what the various managers make. I do know they have a manager training program. In order to apply, you must've worked at Medieval Times three years and have a Bachelor's degree. Right now, I don't see myself applying for that. I don't see myself staying at Medieval Times that long. Hopefully, I'll have a long term job set up some where else in three years. Right now, I'd guess it would be at the Post Office but we'll see. One thing I've learned during the past year is nothing is definite.

Lastly, in four days, I'll celebrate of sorts being retired from the Air Force. I can't say I'm happy about that. I liked the Air Force and miss it. I fear my years there will be the best ones of my life. I know I did a crappy job of preparing for life outside the Air Force. I believe I did that because I didn't want to face the prospect of life outside the Air Force. It was something I didn't want to think about. I remember every time I thought about it feeling a cold chill go down my spine. Not thinking about something doesn't prevent it happening, it only makes things worse. So, now I get to face the consequences of my fear. I scramble around blindly trying to make a new life for myself. With God's help, I'll hopefully make a new successful life for myself. We'll see how it goes.

A Week at the Post Office

I survived working five very long days at the Post Office this week. The primary carrier for route 10 decided to take 4 days off and I did my usual sub for route 2 today. By accident, I got to do all of route 10 by myself Monday. It took me almost 13 hours to sort, case, and deliver all the mail and packages. At the end of the day, I was having to strain to read the names on the boxes as it was getting dark outside. Management wasn't thrilled about how long it took me and sent me help on the route every day afterwards. As I kept working the route, I gradually got faster and believe I would've gotten it done Thursday in 11 and 1/2 hours. The reason route 10 takes so long is first, there are a lot of addresses to deliver mail to (729 if everyone received mail). Second, route 10 requires two sorts vice one on route 2. You do an initial sort at the Post Office then, you do a second sort into the individual boxes when you arrive at the multi-mail box. Since route 10 has a lot of apartments which people move into and out (route 2 has a lot of homes where people tend to stay put more), I found I'd have to do a third sort of all the undeliverable mail. All first class and periodicals would be forwarded whereas all standard mail is discarded. Lastly, I've had a hard time finding some of the apartments or row homes on route 10 which has further slowed me down. I think it's just going to take time.

One encouraging sign job wise is that I done route 2 three times by myself and twice I've gotten back to the Post Office before 5:30 p.m. For those of you who don't know, all outgoing mail must be in by 6 p.m. so it can be put on the truck that will take it to the processing and distribution center in Capitol Heights, Maryland. If a carrier arrives back late, the mail may fail to make the truck and not get out till the next morning. I suspect such late mail hurts the Post Office's stats as far as to how much of their outgoing mail they get out on time.

Overall, I'm pleased that I'm making progress and getting better. I can't wait to see the check I'll get for this week. I'll get paid according to how many hours it's been assessed that it takes to do the two different routes I did, not how many I actually worked. In the case of route 10, it's been assessed that it takes 9 hours to do the route. Route 2 takes 8 hours. So, I'll get paid for 36 hours (four days) for route 10 and 8 hours for route 2. If I understand it right, I may get 4 hours of overtime which would really be sweet as that would be $24 plus an hour. We'll see.

Lord of the Rings Musical

If you want to see the Lord of the Rings theatrical version in Toronto, you're going to have to hurry. The show will be doing its' last performance in Toronto September 3rd. After that, the show will move to London where it will open in May 2007. Supposedly, the show hasn't done that well (the Detroit Free Press reports it lost money). One of the the things that may have scared people off about the show was its' supposedly length. Initially, it was over 4 HOURS! The Detroit Free Press reports in the following article (http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060813/FEATURES07/608130515/1032) that they pared it down to just over 3 and 1/2 hours. That's a long time to be in a theater though it's incredible that they were able to cut the books down to that little time. It took Peter Jackson something like 10 hours to tell the whole tale in his three movies. I personally haven't seen the show but I did see a review by someone who did who said they did a nice job. I'd like to see the show just for curiousity sake. If anyone who reads my blog has seen the musical, please let me know what you thought of it.

On a different subject sort of, Alan Lee during an interview on 11 August said that he thought it likely The Hobbit would be made in the next three or four years. I hope he's right. I'd very much like to see it.

Book Review - The Heat of the Day

I've been meaning to write this review for a while. I've been busy so I didn't get it done till today. The book is one of the ones I had to read for the college class I was taking this summer. It is supposed to be a combination Graham Greene spy thriller with some of the insight of Virginia Woolf. I didn't find it terribly suspenseful and I found the dialogue in the novel tedious and melodramatic. The basic story line is our heroine (Stella Rodney) finds out from a shadowy character named Harrison that the man she loves (Robert Kelway) may be a spy for the Germans (the novel is set in London during the Blitz). The novel attempts to show how Stella slowly finds out that the man she thought she knew wasn't that person at all. In my opinion, it does a poor job of it. It is only at the climax that we find out for sure that her lover is a spy for the German's. The two lovers have their heartbreaking scene before Stella helps Robert make an attempt to avoid the authorities (yawn). The attempt fails of sorts as Robert falls to his death. We are given the impression that Harrison may have something to do with this though he later denies it.

Overall, I found the novel really boring. I also found the dialogue tedious. The only good thing I can say about the novel is it does give a snapshot of how things were in London during the Blitz. I definitely wouldn't recommend this novel to anyone. If you want a good spy novel, I would suggest you read John LeCarre who wrote Tailor, Tinker, Soldier, Spy and Smiley's People. I remember seeing Smiley's People and I thought it was really good. I think you'll be more pleased with LeCarre than you will be with Bowen's The Heat of the Night.

What I've Been Up To

Since I got back from Richmond, I've been working every day. I've been pleased about getting the work though the 7-days a week thing is a bit of a grind. I've also been pleased about my growing bank account. As I told my Dad yesterday, he definitely doesn't have to worry about me hitting him up for a loan.

Work wise, I did my second solo on route 10 this past Monday. Supposedly, we got more mail than usual that day. I don't know if that's true or not. I just know I ended up with 8 and 1/2 trays of mail plus packages and accountables (registered, certified, etc.) to deliver in just 5 hours. It wasn't going to happen. Clinton showed up around 5:00 (I think) and started helping. Still, I didn't get back to the Post Office till 7:25 p.m. There are a number of reasons why. First, I'm slow sorting the mail into the case at the Post Office though I'm getting better every time I do it (price of being a newbie). Second, I made various mistakes. I forgot there are certain addresses where we can drop off the packages at the apartment manager's office. I only remembered this after I'd bundled up all my mail in the trays. I decided to write the slips up for the packages and remember to drop them off in the boxes as I went later. This idea fell apart in the crunch when me and Clinton rushed to finish my route. Third, on route 10, I have three sorts. A lot of people move in and out of the apartments on this route which causes a lot of mail to be undeliverable. I have to take that mail back to my truck where I have to separate it into First Class/Periodicals (magazines, newspapers, etc.) and Standard Class (catalogs and flyers from Non-Profit organizations). The First Class stuff will be forwarded on while the Standard won't. This third sort costs more time and time in the enemy of the mail carrier. You're always in a battle to get the mail sorted (cased) as quickly as possible and delivered (this is one of the things that makes the job so stressful). Fourth, I'm still learning the area. I had a piece of postage due mail and it took me at least 10 minutes to find the row house where the person lived. This was during the crunch which made those 10 minutes costly.

Incredibly, I'll get to work 5 days for the Post Office next week. The regular carrier on route 10 is taking 4 days off so she can relax a little before she starts evening classes at Anne Arundel Community College. The fifth day will be when I sub on route 2. I look forward to getting to work those 5 days as it'll mean a fantastic paycheck (possibly as much at $1,000 gross). Plus, the more times I carrier the mail, the better I'll get. I'll learn better who is and who isn't on the route and where various homes are located. In the case of route 2, I'll continue to learn the case better which in turn will help my sorting speed. I'm to the point now where I can tell you based on the street name if the address is on either of my routes. This is useful as it keeps me from taking out mail that I can't deliver. I'll also learn better how things work at the Post Office. I learned yesterday where the forwarding service is located in our Post Office for the two different zip codes we handle. Still, those five days promise to be trying. Every time I finish working at the Post Office, I'm wiped. It really is a bit of battle to get the mail out. We'll see how it goes.

Richmond - Part III

It is always a bummer when it's time to leave. I very much enjoyed myself in Richmond and it was great seeing Harvey. He's a lot of fun. We've have similar interests and enjoy doing things together (don't get any wrong ideas about our friendship though). We just like doing stuff together. I've gone on a number of fun trips by myself and enjoyed them but I've found I enjoy them more when I do them with a group or someone I like. That was how I came to meet Harvey. I'd decided to do an escorted tour of Australia because I thought I'd enjoy it more that way. As luck would have it, Harvey signed up for the same tour. We were the two bachelors in the group so the tour guide paired us up. We hit it off and have been friends since.

Packing was easy since it'd only been a two day trip. I slapped a few shirts back in my bag and double checked my hotel room to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind. We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant as that was easiest plus their breakfast buffet was good.

We arrived at the Richmond Staples Road train station and waited for my train to pull in. There was a surprisingly long line for the train. We agreed to get together again the beginning of October when it would be his turn to come up to my neck of the woods (we take turns). We plan to see a show at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. We saw Beauty and the Beast there some time back and really enjoyed it. It was my first visit there and I was impressed with the place. The show was very good and the food was respectable. Also, you will get filled up unless you don't want to. We're also going to attend the Maryland Renaissance Festival. We did that last year and really enjoyed it. After that, we'll do a trip to NYC the end of November to see the Rockettes and a show on Broadway. It'll be nice to do that barring the $300 plus a night hotel (gasp!).

Finally, it was time to board. I gave Harvey a sad handshake and got in line. The conductor checked my ticket and directed me to the Business Class car. Five minutes later, the train pulled out of the station. The ride back was uneventful barring a problem they had after we left D.C. At Union Station in Washington D.C., they change the engines from diesel to electric as the line is electrified all the way to Boston. We pulled out of Union Station fine and we were making good time when the train unexpectedly slowed down. They made an announcement that the electric current on the line wasn't steady and it would take a few minutes to fix the problem. Because of this and a previous delay because of a freight train, I ended up arriving back at BWI Amtrak station at 11:30 a.m. which is about 30 minutes late.

Fortunately, I didn't have to be at Medieval Times till 3 p.m. I drove home and got ready for work. The show went fine and we had approximately 500 people attend that night. The next day, I'd get my last day of training on the postal route I'll be the substitute carrier for. That would be another adventure that I'll post about. This post is done as this concludes my fun trip to Richmond. Cheers all!

Richmond - Part II

I slept well at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The bed was very comfortable and they have a CD that helps you get a good night sleep. The last time I stayed at the hotel, I asked them if I could have a copy. They said sure and I've used it number of times since. The CD is made by some sleep specialists who help you relax so you can conk out quickly. I've found it really works and would highly recommend it.

Harvey and I had breakfast at the hotel. To my surprise, they gave me coupons for two free breakfasts. I found the breakfast buffet good. You'll be able to fill yourself up and may be able to even skip lunch.

After breakfast, we drove out to see Harvey's travel agent. His name was Joel and he works at the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit (Update 12/31/12: Joel no longer works for the Richmond Carlson Wagonlit as this company no longer exists in Richmond. He is a freelance travel agent now that works through 2 different travel companies - 1 in Richmond and 1 in Fredricksburg I think). The reason I was meeting him was he had gotten price information for us on a trip to New York City (NYC) to see the Rockettes. The last time we went to NYC, we discovered the Rockettes have certain seasons they perform. Late July wasn't one of them. We also discovered last year that you want to go to NYC during the prime season, you'd better book early. So, Joel was helping us put together a travel package for early December so we could see the Rockettes and another show on Broadway. Joel did a great job and found us a reasonable hotel though the price still made me gasp. It's going to cost over $300! a night at this hotel and that is one of the cheaper ones. The five-star hotels would go over $600 a night! I've never paid so much for a hotel. When they say NYC is expensive, they're not joking.

Another thing I checked into with Joel was doing a Scandanavia tour with Globus. I was really bummed when I had to cancel the planned tour this year. I found out Joel will be able to tell me if the tour has enough bookings to where it will go. He would also be able to help me if I had to cancel. I booked with another agency and found out I didn't know what credit card I used to charge me booking on so I couldn't get my money back when I cancelled since I couldn't prove I'd paid for the booking. It cost me over $200. Serious ouch! Hopefully, Harvey and I will be able to do the tour late-August of 2007. It would be a lot of fun to do another tour with Globus. We'll see if it happens.

After meeting with Joel, we travelled to the Virginia Museum of Art (VMA). It's a good art museum with an interesting exhibit on the famed Russian jeweler Faberge. Faberge didn't create the pieces he was renowned for but he did come up with the ideas for the renowned eggs. The famous Easter eggs were very beautiful. They also gave a poignant picture of the doomed Russian royal family. I found it really interesting viewing the various pieces of the collection. One painting the museum that I disliked greatly was a piece of modern art done I believe by a Dutch artist. It was a painting of a modern Black man dressed in modern clothes holding a sword. To me, it looked incredibly STUPID. I never would've wasted money on such a pathetic painting. I hope the museum got the painting cheap because in my opinion, it isn't worth much if anything. The museum also had the Mellon collection. The collection was donated by George Mellon and was nice. Mellon must've been into fox hunting as he had a lot of paintings on that. He also had three Renoirs, a Monet, and a bust of the apostle John by Rodin. I particularly enjoyed those. The Rodin piece was very impressive. I think Rodin was a great student of Michelangelo in that both emphasized the strength and majesty of the human body. Lastly, we saw an exhibit on Tiffany glass which was nice. The workmanship clearly shined through. The pieces were very beautiful.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend that if you like art and you're in Richmond, you check out the museum. We spent an easy four hours there.

After that, it was time to find a place to eat. Harvey remembered a place where he'd go for some noteworthy sausage sandwiches. I said lets go. We drove out to this mall only to find out the place had closed. Harvey then remembered a bar-b-que restaurant which was open. The bar-b-que however wasn't terribly impressive and it wasn't air conditioned. I would've rated it so-so.

I had a fun day and was pleased that we were able to make arrangements for future travels. The NYC trip should be a lot of fun. Sadly, I'd be returning home the next day. I was worried about Amtrak's timeliness as I was scheduled to work at Medieval Times from 3 to 11 p.m. Stay tune for the final installment of my Richmond trip and find out if Ditto makes it back in time or not.

Richmond Trip - Part I

As I mentioned in previous posts, I planned to take a train trip to Richmond, Virginia to see my friend Harvey who lives there. Last Wednesday, I finally made the trip. The following Richmond trip blog entries will concern the trip.

I woke up two hours earlier than planned. This was usual for me when I was going to be leaving on a trip. I was nervous about getting my bag packed, arriving at the train station in time, and being there when the train pulled in. I tried going back to sleep but it didn't work so I got up, got dressed, scrounged up some ready to eat food (I don't like to cook) for breakfast, and then packed my bag. The trip was only going to last a little over 2 days so it was easy to pack for. In no time, I was packed and ready. After wasting some time fiddling with some playing cards, I picked up my bags, stuck them in the car, and drove to the train station parking lot. The parking lot at the BWI Amtrak station is a large multi-level two garage lot. I suspect the vast majority of their customers are commuters who take the train into either Baltimore or Washington D.C. I know when I reached platform 3 that it was packed with people with no luggage who boarded the MARC (Maryland Railroad Corporation) train. There were only three of us left for the Amtrak train to D.C. and one of those worked for Amtrak. The train arrived about 10 minutes late which isn't any big deal. I found my seat in Business Class and settled down for the ride. I napped a little as I was a little tired. I didn't sleep great and as I mentioned, I woke up early. I also listened to some bible doctrine tapes to pass the time. The trip seem to go quickly and I arrived in Richmond at approximately 10 till 10 in the morning.

Harvey was waiting for me at the station. It was nice to see him again. He's a really nice person and a great person to chat with. We walked out to his car and started to catch up on the news. For some reason, it seems that though we've talked a number of times on the phone, there was always more to catch on (things we forget to mention on the phone perhaps?). We drove to the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Broad Street. I'd stayed at this hotel before and felt it was reasonably priced. It was also well placed in relation to the train station. Lastly, I was pleased with its service. The people there were always friendly and helpful. Check-in was easy and it was time to figure out what we wanted to do. There wasn't any set itinerary so the two of us hashed out ideas before finally coming up with a plan. We decided to see the Confederate White House, Museum of the Confederacy, and then go some place for dinner.

The Confederate White House is where Jefferson Davis and his family lived in Richmond during the time he was President of the Confederacy. It is a really nice house and the organization that runs the tours of the house has done a really nice job of restoring the house to the that time. Our guide showed us the rooms the rooms the Davis family lived in and told us stories about the family. During the time the family lived in the house, Davis had two children bringing the total to four. Davis believed children should be able to do whatever they want, not be disciplined, and should be listened to by adults. Not surprisingly, his children were unholy terrors and went through a number of nannies. The situation grew so grave that Mrs. Davis would post help wanted signs without her name so prospective employees wouldn't know what they were getting into. The house also had the rooms where Davis met with his generals including the legendary Robert E. Lee. It was something to stand in the same room where he, General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, and others met. Our tour guide was excellent and really helped make the house more alive to our group. After the house tour, it was time to see the museum.

The museum has three levels. One covers the history of the confederacy in general and the war. One covers the confederate navy which receives very little notice in most history books. And one covered the life of the conferate soldier. The confederacy in general floor helped explain the political maneuvering that took place and some of the painful choices those in the military had to make. One interesting thing that surprised me was how much the confederacy sought to draw upon from the U.S.'s founding fathers. They argued that the founding fathers approved of slavery and that made it right. In fact, a number of founding fathers disapproved of it but the issue was so contentious that for the sake of helping found the new nation they dropped the issue. Later, during the 1789 (I hope I have the year right) constitutional convention, the issue had to be dropped again as it again threatened to destroy the nation. The floor also had a number of interesting items including Brigadier George Armistead's sword that he used at Gettysburg. For those of you who don't know, it was Armistead who lead Pickett's famous charge. Armistead took off his hat, put it on the top of his sword, and then advanced toward the Union lines. Sadly, just as Armistead was reaching the Union lines, he was cut down by Union fire. The floor also showed how General Lee lived on campaign. Lee lived in the same conditions his soldiers lived. He believed it wrong for him to live better and it would bother him greatly if he did. He slept on a portable cot, used a simple mess kit, and slept inside a standard tent. The floor did a great job of covering the various issues and events. Harvey and I had no problem spending an hour and half there.

The floor covering the Confederate Navy was also interesting. It was the confederates who built the first iron-clad ship, the precursor to the modern navies of today. The ironclad C.S.S. Virginia could've helped break the Union blockade but the Union came up with its own ironclad the U.S.S. Monitor. The result was an epic battle. While the battle ended in a draw (neither side could penetrate the others iron armor), it marked the unquestioned end of the age of sail. Another interesting topic the exhibits help show is how critical the Confederate Navy was in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The South had precious little industry and had to import a large number of goods. Thanks to the Confederate Navy, they were able to get a number of the supplies they needed. Ultimately, the Union blockade slowly strangled the South but for a number of years, the Confederate Navy did its part in keeping the Confederacy in the war. The last thing of note that many people may not be aware of was that the confederacy helped further the development of the submarine. The Hunley was capable of diving and like modern submarines took in water to help it submerge. It used a harpoon connected to a barrel that contained as much as 135 pounds of gunpowder. The submarine would charge a ship, ramming the harpoon into the ship, set off the barrel containing the gunpowder which would either cripple or sink the ship. The idea actually worked and the Hunley became (as far as I know) the first submarine to sink an enemy ship when one sank the U.S.S. Housatonic outside Charleston, South Carolina. Sadly, the ship and crew that sank the ship were lost for unknown reasons. Later, the missing submarine was found just outside the Charleston harbor. It remains unknown what caused the submarine to sink. One last interesting note on the Hunley. The Hunley was human powered. It used eight men sitting cramped on a bench pushing and pulling a crank that powered the propeller which in turn powered the ship. The conditions the ship's crew lived in were appalling and speaks of the bravery and sacrifice the fighting men of the confederacy made for their cause.

The third floor on the life of a confederate soldier was interesting as it showed letters from the soldiers and told of the hardships they went through. It also showed art that done during the period. The quality of the art varied. Some of the paintings and drawings were well done while others weren't. The floor also has a painting of the last meeting between Lee and Jackson. It's a nice painting and has an interesting story behind it. The artist E.D.B. Julio planned to become the artist of the Confederacy but his grand plans went no where. His painting remained unsold for a number of years and he ended up going bankrupt. The painting was bought in the auction of his property and eventually donated to the museum. It was the only painting the artist did of the confederacy.

After seeing the Confederate White House and the Museum of the Confederacy, it was time to get something to eat. Harvey had heard of dining event that was being held at the Richmond NASCAR racetrack. Supposedly for $25, you could have all you could eat of crabs, corn on the cob, pie, and other various foods. It sounded really great. It was to be the beginning of our misadventures when it came to dining. We drove out to the racetrack only to find out that you had to buy tickets in advance. You couldn't buy them at the event. I still had a hunkering for crabs and Harvey thought he knew of a restaurant that would have them. After getting the address at his apartment, we drove out to Crabshack Louie's. Crabshack Louie's it turned out didn't have any steamed crabs though they did have soft-shelled crabs (which I tried). I was also frustrated when I tried to order something to drink. They didn't have lemonade or root beer and I ended settling for a ginger ale. I decided to try their calamari as a I really like the stuff. The waitress assured us it was enough for two. It wasn't. The only good thing I can say about their calamari was there weren't any big chunky pieces. Price wise, I thought it was a bit of rip-off. Overall, I thought the place was very pricey and I wouldn't recommend it.

After dinner, Harvey dropped me off at my hotel. The day had been a fun day and I looked forward to the next. The next day I would get to meet Harvey's travel agent, see the Virginia Museum of Art, and have another dining miss adventure. Stay tuned for Richmond Trip - Part II.

Neither Rain Nor Snow

I got to experience first hand yesterday one of the hard aspects of my new postal job. Yesterday, it hit 100 degrees and that didn't take into account the humidity. Summers tend to be very humid in Maryland. If you have high temperatures and low humidity, it isn't that bad being outside. When I was stationed in Texas, people would comment about it being a dry heat. They had a point as it was easier to deal with the high temperatures. Here in Maryland, we have a wet heat and it makes things worse. I wore the Seattle Sonics t-shirt my sister Ellie gave me for the first time. By the time I got back to the Post Office, it was soaked with sweat. Because I was sweating so much, I had to drink a lot of water otherwise I'd have become dehydrated. Lastly, the heat slowed me down in doing my job. When I'm hot and sweaty, I don't have the constant pep that I normally have. The result was it took me longer to deliver the mail. The mail delivery trucks don't have air conditioning which is a downer though to be honest, I don't know if it would help things much. A carrier is constantly getting in and out of the trucks or has the windows down so he/she can insert mail into the mail boxes through their driver side window. The trucks do come with a small fan with variable direction. The fan does help some in that it helps create some air circulation inside the truck. Still, the carrier for the most part is left to swelter. It is one of the aspects of his/her job that they must suck up in order to ensure the mail is delivered. As the old cliche goes, "neither heat nor snow nor driving rain or enormous heat will stop me from delivering the mail." For the Post Office that saying isn't cliche. It is a fact. The Post Office does its best to ensure that no matter what the weather, the mail will be delivered. As a carrier for the Post Office, it is something I'll just have to learn to deal with. Still, it'll be great when fall arrives (sigh).