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.