Hard Day

Yesterday, I had a hard day of work at an alternate post office I sometimes work at. One of their regular carriers injured his foot and, his doctor put him on mandatory rest for a week so it could heal better. The Postmaster at that post office asked for me to cover the route. I assumed I was going to get a day of training with the regular carrier and so took my time arriving at that post office. I got one huge shock when I found out I would have to do the route cold turkey. There wouldn't be any training and, because I'd taken my time getting to the post office, I'd wasted 20 minutes I could've been casing mail. It ended up being a slog. Normally, mail routes follow a path of right turns. This one did anything but that. Also, the directions weren't clear where I should deliver mail and where I shouldn't. I found myself doing a number of u-turns so I could go back and deliver to boxes I'd missed. Lastly, I had a time finding addresses on the mail case because I didn't know it.

I managed to get the mail delivered for the route and, I took some comfort knowing I'll do better tomorrow. I'm scheduled to work at the alternate post office today and Thursday. I hope things will go better. We'll see. Cheers all!

Holidays at the Post Office

If there is one place you pay work wise for a holiday, it's at the post office. This past week, I got to enjoy Columbus Day. The extra day off proved really useful as I was able to pick up my new Yamaha TMAX. However, I knew I would pay for that extra day off when I went back to work and, I did. All categories of mail were heavier because of the extra day. I ended up with just over 8 trays of mail, 24 packages, 15 or so small parcels and 8 accountables (1 Express Mail and 7 Certifieds). Because of all that mail and the route I was on, I ended up working almost 12 and 1/2 hours. I tried to work fast as I knew I was in a race with the sun. I needed to finish delivering the mail before the sun went down as that would make it harder to see inside the boxes and make sure I was delivering each person's mail to the right person. The sun ended up winning the race but, I only had to deliver the mail in the dark to 1 multi-box. I managed to use the mail truck's internal lights to shine some light into the box so I could see the address numbers and names. As it gets darker earlier later in the year, I'll make sure I take my miner's light just in case I have to deliver mail in the dark to multi-boxes. The light enables me to see inside the boxes in the dark. You wear the light on your head which makes it easier to use vice trying to hold a flashlight and stick mail in the boxes at the same time. Unfortunately, I didn't realize I was going to be out as late as I was and so, I didn't bring it with me. Considering all things, the day went all right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have to do that particular route again today. I don't like it because of all the multi-boxes and, I'm still slow at sorting the mail on its mail case. We'll see what works out. Cheers all!

Finished Up at Small Post Office

Yesterday, I finished up on a route at a small post office where I've worked the last 4 days. The regular carrier will be back to work Monday to do the route. I've really enjoyed working at that post office. There hasn't been any drama. No wondering who is going to call out just because they don't feel like going into work or they're hungover. Also, there hasn't been any bs like I can't do a bump because I have a prior commitment but, they won't tell you what the alleged commitment is. Instead, I've been able to concentrate on doing the route and enjoying chatting with the Postmaster and other carrier as I cased my mail. I found the customers on the route nice. One lady at a business was so pleased with me making sure she got her package, she called the Postmaster and gave me a compliment. The Postmaster was really pleased.

Today, I get to work at my regular post office. It should go well barring me having to take a bump off another route. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that won't happen. If it does, I'll remind myself I have my motorcycle safety course next week to look forward to. It looks like the course will definitely go. I can't wait. Cheers all!

Very Short Routes

Yesterday, I worked at the small post office I like so much. I've previously mentioned that this post office doesn't have any subs because their routes are so small. I found out HOW small yesterday. Out of curiousity, I checked the assessed time on the routes and, I found out they are rated at just 6 and 1/2 hours a day. Multiply that times 6 days and you get 39 hours. The carriers on these routes are just qualifying as full time carriers. A half hour less and they wouldn't be able to qualify for full time carriers. We have an auxiliary route at the post office where I regularly work that is rated at 6 hours that HAS to be carried by a substitute carrier as it doesn't have a enough hours for a full time carrier. Barring the low money, I suspect the carriers that do these 2 routes like them. Show time at their post office is 8:30 and they finish at 3 p.m. The only downside is they don't make lots of money and, they have problems if they want to take time off. The Postmaster at this post office has really been scrambling to get subs to cover their rural route 2 while the regular is gone. It creates a considerable headache for her if she allows one of her regulars to take a lot of time off. More so, as any sub that she gets can be pulled back at the last minute to their respective post office. A sub can work at any post office BUT, they belong to their primary post office. If their primary post office suddenly needs them, they MUST return to that post office. My primary post office has had problems with this too as we've been forced to use subs from other post offices.

Today, I hope to work at that small post office again. I'm getting the hang of the route they put me on BUT, I know there is the chance I may get called back to my primary post office. I told the Postmaster at the small one that though I do hope to get to work for her again. She is super nice and, there isn't the drama at her post office like there is at my main one. It makes for a more pleasant work environment. We'll see what works out.

Butt Kicked

As I previously reported, I found out I was supposed to work Wednesday and Thursday this week on a full route. The route I was supposed to do was my second favorite so it wasn't any super biggee. Then, that got changed. A regular carrier on another route asked for leave on short notice. It was the route another sub hates. I got tagged to do it. I don't know that route's case at all. My only saving grace was that I was familiar with parts of the route though I'd never worked the ENTIRE route. I got my butt kicked on it bad. At times, I thought I was going to go crossed eyed trying to find addresses on the mail case. Also, the route gets a LOT of mail. I hate cutting mail (that's where you leave mail that doesn't have to be delivered THAT day) but, I had little choice if I wanted to get on the street and deliver what I had at a decent hour. Once I delivered the mail I'd cased, I spent 2 and 1/2 hours trying to case the mail I'd cut. I ended up working over 12 and 1/2 hours. Realizing that I would have the same problem the next day, I went in at 5:15 in the morning. It was going in that early that enabled me to finish casing all the mail for the route and manage to get done by 5 p.m. So, I worked nearly 12 hours for a second day. I was seriously whooped. Thankfully, I got to do my favorite route yesterday though I got bit again. The small post office I worked at Monday asked if I could help there once I finished my route at my main post office. Normally, I would say NO WAY. But, I really like the Postmaster there and agreed to do it. So, after working over 8 hours at my post office, I drove to the other post office and worked another 2 hours. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I only have to do the route I'm assigned to today. We've had a lot of Saturdays lately where we had to break up a route. We'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I'm really going to enjoy my 3 days off for the motorcycle course after this grinding week. Cheers all!

Another Grinding Week

It looks like I'll have another grinding week at the post office. Yesterday, I was assigned to a different post office. This small post office which shall go unnamed doesn't have any substitute carriers so our post office provides them with subs when they can. That isn't often considering our own situation. One problem being assigned to this small post office is you don't get to do their routes very often so, you never really get to know them. Because of this, I arrived early so I could get a good jump on sorting the route's mail in its mail case. This enabled me to hit the street at a decent hour (approximately 1:15 p.m.). While working at this post office, my boss called and wanted me to help at the main post office afterwards. I said no way because I had no idea when I would get the route I was assigned to done. He then informed me that I would work full routes the rest of the week (I was supposed to deliver Express Mails Wednesday and Thursday). I sagged at that news as that means I'll have another grinding week at the post office. The only good thing about it is I'll earn a nice paycheck. I'm very much looking forward to the 3 day motorcycle safety course I'll get to take as it'll give me a breather from the grind and drama of the post office where I work. Stay tuned for updates on the motorcycle safety course.

Mail Load

We've been paying dearly for the Labor Day weekend at the post office where I work. Since the 3 day weekend, we've been playing catch up. The amount of mail we've had to carry has been significantly larger. Wednesday, when I returned from the route I was doing, I found 4 tubs of mail and flyers waiting for me for Thursday. To make sure I hit the street i.e. started delivering the mail at a decent time, I went in an hour early Thursday. It turned out to be a smart move. I had at least 4 more tubs of mail waiting when I arrived that morning. Thankfully, the route I was assigned to has a large mounted part so once I cased the mail on that portion, that was it. All I had to do was stick it in the box. On routes that have cluster boxes, I would have had to do a second casing and had to deal with lots of bad mail i.e. mail that wasn't deliverable. I'll be glad when we've caught up on the back log of mail.

Royally Messed Over

Yesterday, my fellow substitute rural carriers really did a number on me. We were down a route as usual. We've been down routes for 2 weeks now. I cased the down route so I didn't have to deliver any of it. That put me behind on the route I was assigned but, I managed to get out on the street in decent time and was doing a good job on it. I get a call from my boss. Apparently, other subs weren't taking their parts of the broken up route. I told him he needed to call them back in. He couldn't reach them. I finished my route and returned to the Post Office. There were 2 segments of the broken up route left.

One thing you must understand is that First and Second class mail MUST be delivered the day it is received. There are no exemptions on this rule. It MUST be delivered. Because one sub didn't take his segment, another sub would have to take 2. That sub wasn't going to go for that. The mail HAD to be delivered. So, I got tagged to deliver the segment the other sub SHIRKED. I deliver that segment. I'm the last rural carrier back because of it. The sub who was supposed to take the segment doesn't take it for unknown reasons. The mail MUST be delivered. I'm the only one at the Post Office who knows where this mail goes. Apparently, they won't call or can't reach any of the other subs. I'm made to deliver a SECOND bump that I shouldn't have had to deliver. I end up clocking out at 7:40 P.M.! Some subs who didn't do diddly got to leave at 1:30 P.M. I got royally messed over and, I was furious as I've been getting the shaft for the last 2 weeks. This crap must stop. I'll likely to filing my first grievance as otherwise it's almost certain to continue. I'd also like to retaliate on the subs who messed me over by calling out on their lazy asses. Then, they can pick up my shit for a change and see how they like it. We'll see what happens.

Old Sore

Yesterday, an old sore came back. I was hoping to have a normal day at the post office after a week and a half of having to take bumps or Express Mail in addition to having to do a full route. I wasn't going to be so lucky. 2 subs called out on one route. The sub that normally does the route called out sick. The sub that assigned to replace him called out as he had to work at his normal post office. That is always one of the problems with using a sub from another post office. So, we had to break the route up. It got worse. Someone needed to case the down route. The boss decided to have a sub who has another route to case it. This sub is a single parent. The sub has to be done by 2 p.m. so the sub can meet their kids when they get home from school. Fair enough right except, the rules state the sub should be able to do the job as any other sub which means if the sub has to stay late so be it. For months, the sub hasn't had to do that. So, that sub gets to go home by 2 p.m. while I'm slogging away at 7 p.m. delivering mail still. Unfair I say! Yet, nothing is done about it. So, I'm sore about the unfairness of it and having to stay out late. Another issue to add to my list with the seriously messed up post office.

Worse

I thought things couldn't get worse at the Post Office after Monday of last week's debacle where we were down 3 routes and had to do double routes. I was wrong. What is worse than that? Being down SIX routes! I couldn't believe it. A sub from another post office who was scheduled to work at ours got tagged to work at his on short notice. A regular carrier came down with chickenpox. One of our regular subs was still sick from his trip home. Another sub who was scheduled to work walked out and had to be persuaded to come back. Yet another sub had car problems and couldn't make it in. Lastly, we didn't have a sub to do the sixth route from the get go. It was the worst mess I've seen yet. I ended up casing mail on 5 different routes and, I ended delivering it on one till 8 p.m. I racked up 13 hours yesterday. Today, it looks like we'll ONLY be down 1 route. After yesterday, that'll be a cake walk. We'll see how it goes. Cheers!

The Heat

Yesterday was one of the days when I wish I didn't work for the Postal Service. The heat index hit 105 supposedly. The only thing that would've made it worse was if we'd had high humidity. I was sweating a bunch and having to make sure I kept tanking up on water. Luckily, the route I was assigned had places where I could run in and get drinks from water fountains. I plan to buy me a good water jug today so I'll be better prepared for the full route I have to do tomorrow. Cheers all!

Back to Work

I had to go back to work today. I can't say I was thrilled. When I met the U.S. Customs official at the Toronto Airport, he asked if I liked my job. I told him no BUT, I do like the money I make. I think that sums it up. My job at the Post Office is a royal pain BUT, it pays for my trips and my cool new toys. In a couple months, I hope to buy a Yamaha TMAX scooter. I'd like to get it now but, I wouldn't be able to ride the thing as you have to have a motorcycle license for a bike with an engine that large (499cc). My job at the Post Office will be paying for that TMAX scooter. It'll also be paying for my future trip to Ireland (I can't wait). So, I guess I can't bitch and moan too much about my job. Considering how things are job wise in the U.S., I should count my blessings I have one. Plus, tomorrow I'll get to do my favorite route. That's all for now. Cheers!

Worried

I'm a bit worried. My boss hasn't signed my leave form for my 2 Globus tours I'll be taking soon. My boss has assured me twice that I'll get to take my requested leave BUT, I know the jam we are in people wise. That jam got worse today when the regular carrier on one of our routes came down with chickenpox. He'll be out till Tuesday of next week. We don't have any spare subs to carry his route tomorrow so we will have to break it up among the subs. I don't know if we have any subs that will be able to carry it the other days he'll be gone. While that won't interfere with my trips, its things like that circumstance that I think could cause them to say I can't take my requested time off. If they do that, I'll be livid. I've been looking forward to these 2 tours for nearly 6 months. Also, I've been working my ass off at the Post Office. Out of the past 11 weeks, I've earned overtime 9 of them. I'm tired. I don't want to see the damn Post Office for a while. That is the biggest thing I'm looking forward to about the 2 tours. I won't be working at the damn Post Office. I doubt they would fire me if I went on the trips without their permission but, I'm former military. I NEVER EVER would've gone AWOL (absent without leave). To me, it would be same thing if I were to go on the 2 tours without an approved leave form. So, I'm worried and, I'll have to wait and see if my boss keeps his word. I hope fervently that he does. If he doesn't, I won't go on the trips BUT, I'll only be working there 1 day a week then because they can suck eggs as far as I'm concerned then. I really will be very pissed off. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned.

Egypt Travel Stories

Recently, I finished my travel stories on Egypt for the http://www.exchangetravelstories.com/ website. I wanted to let people know what to expect on the Avalon Waterways Grand Tour of Egypt. The Globus tour website gives nice basic information but, it doesn't go into great detail about some of the sights and, it isn't impartial. While I like Globus, I won't hesitate to say if something stinks in my opinion. If I like something, I'll say why I like it and maybe give examples. One thing I did on my Egypt stories was praised the tour guide Sami Hassan. He really was outstanding. Why was he outstanding? I showed a number of examples where he watched out for his group. A vendor tried to gouge us at the Alabaster Mosque and, Sami wouldn't let him get away with it. He told everyone not to buy the booties we had to buy so we wouldn't have to take our shoes off when we went inside the mosque. Another time he told me of something that would help settle my stomach when I caught some unknown bug during the tour. His remedy worked (coffee and lime juice) but, it tasted god awful. I was really sorry to say good-bye to Sami at the end of the tour. He was always cheerful and, he knew so much about Egypt. If I ever visit Egypt again, I hope to have him as my tour guide again.

After posting my stories, I had to wait for the site editors to rate them. I don't know why they do or what their criteria is. It can be a little frustrating at times. I confess I like getting a high standard rating on my stories but, I don't know what THEY think makes and high standard story. For some reason, they didn't like my Luxor story but, they loved my stories on Edfu and lunacy on the Nile. I wondered how they were going to like those as I said point blank I wasn't impressed with the horse drawn carriages in Edfu. They looked very rickety. I believe one bunch in our group had a wheel come off their carriage enroute to the Edfu Temple! In regards to lunacy on the Nile, I told of the crazy salesmen who tried to sell stuff to people on our cruise ship from ROWBOATS. It was ridiculous. The salesmen were real characters. Still, I guess they make money doing it. I doubt any in our group could have driven a better bargain than they could. They've been doing it all their lives. Plus, their living depends on it.

Overall, I was delighted that most of my stories got high standard ratings. Also, I'm glad I got them done before I start my next adventures with Globus. I'm impatiently counting the days down till I get to go on the back-to-back tours I'll get to do with them. I can't wait to go. I'm big time burned out at the Post Office. I'll earn overtime this week and next. I think out of the last 12 weeks I've worked at the Post Office, I've earned overtime 9 of them. The money is great but, it really wears you out. I'll be glad to get away from there and do some exciting travel again. Stay tuned for some interesting travel stories. Cheers all!

Small Post Office

Yesterday, I got to work at a different post office. This post office has been loaning my post office one of its regular carriers so we could have an evening watch supervisor. They asked for payback last week. They needed a body to carry mail yesterday, this Friday and this coming Monday. I was the only sub not working yesterday so I got asked if I'd work there. I was told the route I'd be assigned to was equal to an auxiliary route. If that was the case, I figured I could do it so I agreed to work there. I was assigned to the auxiliary route all of 5 minutes before they moved me to a regular route. I was not happy. Thankfully, they gave me help. I needed it as I didn't know the case or the area. I used my post office problem solving skills and managed to find out where the different parts of the route were. Between that and the help I got from the carrier who did do the auxiliary route, I managed to get it done. From what I can tell, the postmaster there was pleased with me. I don't know if I'll be going back or not. We have a carrier who left for her wedding and honeymoon and from what I understand, I'll be doing her route the next 2 weeks. We'll see what happens. If nothing else, it was interesting working at a different post office. Cheers all!

Hectic Day

I had a hectic day yesterday. To help my boss out, I clocked in shortly after 6 a.m. at the Post Office where I work. I planned to case most of the mail on the route he'd assigned a sub who had never worked that route. If that sub wanted any chance of hitting the street at a decent time, I was going to have to case most of that route's mail. On top of that, one of our 1 day a week subs called in and said he was sick. Saturday is our worst day people wise. My boss told him he had to come in. He refused. My boss subsequently had to case a lot of that route's mail and delivered half of it himself incredibly. I offered to take a bump on that route and asked repeatedly for a particular part that I knew I could knock out quickly. To my annoyance, he gave that bump to another who didn't do jack to help him. The bump he did give me took me an hour and 40 additional minutes to get done vice the hour at most on the bump I wanted. He really knew how to show his gratitude. Don't expect me to help you out of a jam again boss.

After that, I had to dash home, grab my new motorcycle helmet and have a friend give me a ride to the motorcycle dealership to pick up my new scooter. I get there and, there is a line out the wazoo in their service department. Finally, I asked the salesman I've been dealing with to get the scooter for me. He does. We go over various items on a checklist he had. He shows me how to start the thing as well as how to put the scooter on and off its kickstand. I promptly forget both and have to ask him again how to start the thing and how to raise the kickstand. DUH! Finally, I hit the road with my new scooter and find out the timing is bad on it. It shows a nasty tendency to stall out while idling. Crap! I was nervous enough riding the thing for the 1st time without that problem. I managed to get the thing home and had to dash to my apartment to meet the guy that was going to set up my new laptop.

The technician that Installinc sent ends out being outstanding. He did a fantastic job. However, I got more bad news. The Dell salesperson I dealt with when I ordered my new laptop apparently didn't know what he was talking about. I can't use my present Sprint PCS connection card and the Soundblaster Xtreme soundcard at the same time. There is only 1 PCM1A slot in my laptop so I can only use one of the cards at a time. Aaargh! Worse still, My present connection card won't fit in my new laptop (I believe it had 54 pins and the card slot uses a 38 pin card) so I can't connect to the Internet on it. Damn! So, at a minimum, I'll have to get an adapter from Sprint so the card will fit in the slot. Researching PCS connection cards later, I found out the cards are going to USB ports. I wonder if the Dell salesperson assumed I had one of those even though I mentioned PCM1A specifically. I don't know. I do know I may end up buying a new card as Sprint is coming out with what they call the 4G (4th generation cards) cards which will use improvements they're making on their network. The improvements on the network will offer Wifi like speeds. The minimum download speed will be 2 megs and it has the potential to hit 16 megs! The downside is the new 4G card will set me back over $300 unless I sign a new 2 year contract in which case it will cost me $79. I plan to visit Sprint today after church.

So, I have my new scooter which I plan to ride around the neighborhood tomorrow. Later this week, I'll have to take the scooter back so they can put a brand new tire on it to replace the one they patched. I plan to have them fix the idling problem at the same time. Also, I have my laptop which I can use sort of though I'll have to get a new PCS connection card adapter or just buy one of the new 4G cards. I still have a lot of programs I'll have to download like Mozilla Firefox. It's a bit frustrating that 2 of the things I looked forward greatly to getting and spent big bucks on have been somewhat disappointing. Still, the scooter will get fully fixed in time and, I'll eventually have my new laptop set up the way I want it. In regards to the Post Office, I don't know that things will get better there. I'm getting fed up with being spit in the face after going the extra mile for them. We have some that do the minimum and, nothing is done about it. I big time want to leave there but, my spending ensures I have to stay so I can pay the bills for those items. Any chance I can get a bailout too? Cheers all!

Payday

The past week has been a real grind at the Post Office. I got a lot more hours than I wanted. Thanks to that, I did get a nice paycheck this payday. The money will come in handy with the scooter, laptop and optional excursions I plan to do this summer with Globus. Still, the money was hard earned. I will definitely feel I earned this summer's tours as well as the scooter and laptop. Hopefully, after next week, things will slacken some and, I'll get some free time. We'll see. For now, I'll enjoy the fact it's payday and, I've got my hard earned cash. Cheers all!

Quiet

It's been quiet at my end of the woods. I haven't been doing anything exciting because I've been trying to save the money so I can pay off the scooter I'm in the process of buying. I paid $1,100 on that this past Tuesday. I still owe $1,070. I should have that paid off later this month. I'll be glad to finally get the thing and see what it's like to ride it. I found out that scooters can depreciate just like cars can. If I do decide to trade the thing in down the line for a bigger better scooter, I can expect to lose around $550 in depreciation in the first year (about a 1/4 of its initial value). Crap! Also, to my surprise, there is a value book put out on scooters by NADA. I found out about that from a friend at the Post Office. I didn't know there was such a thing. Scooters are sublisted under motorcycles in the book.

The Post Office continues to be filled with drama. For some reason, upper management has repeatedly visited the Post Office where I work. They seem to be looking for every little possible error. This is annoying as I have enough to worry about with trying to deliver the mail correctly and in time. It's anybody's guess what is going to happen to the Postal Service itself. The upper management folks keep saying we're going to run out of money. They say we're not bringing in enough. That's possible. I have definitely seen a drop in mail volume. Part of it is technology and part of it is the piss poor economy. I repeatedly receive notices from my credit union asking wouldn't I like to go to paperless statements. They even offer to put in for a drawing for a cash prize. I decline in part because of my job at the Post Office and in part because I like receiving a hard copy from them. I'm especially leery of going paperless with bills as it is very easy to forget an email notifying me of an upcoming payment. It's harder for me if I have something in paper I can see reminding me. The bad economy makes me leery of spending the money I earn. Especially, when I'm sure what is going to happen with my job at the Post Office.

I continue to slog away at my stories about my Egypt trip for the Globus exchange travel stories website. To my surprise, my last story which was about the day excursion to Alexandria received a superior rating. I liked that. I suspect I got that because I did some research which I included in the story like when Alexandria was created by Alexander the Great and some of the gods that had been worshipped at the Serapeum (temple complex) in Alexandria. I'm working on my next one about our visit to Saqqara and Old Memphis.

I finally finished off the boneless wings I bought from Cluck-U. I found them good. I'm pretty certain they weren't wings at all but, breasts coated like buffalo wings. While they were more expensive then the regular wings, you do get a LOT more meat with them. I thought the honey hickory flavor was good. I'd like to try the Caribbean jerk flavor and see if that is any good. We'll see on that.

Lastly, I've decided I'm going risk it (see previous comment about job insecurity) and order a new laptop at the end of this month from Dell. My current one is running fine but, it is getting old and the warranty is going to expire on this month. That scares me. I don't want any computer problems which I'd have to pay for. While I haven't had any major ones with my current Dell laptop, I'd like to play it safe and have a computer that is something goes wrong with it, they HAVE to fix it and pick up the tab. I haven't forgotten how expensive ($400) it was to replace the motherboard on my first laptop (a Sager). I plan to go with Dell again as the laptop I bought from them has had so few problems and their tech support has been great when there were glitches. I feel they're reliable. Also, Dell is offering a nice deal on certain models where I can get 12 months interest free credit. I'm certain I can pay the new laptop off in 12 months. I'll be excited to get the new laptop as it'll be a neat new toy I can play with. One thing I have found true is that as I've gotten older, my toys have gotten more expensive. Oh well.

That's all from my end of the woods. I think you can see why I'm not posting much. There isn't anything terribly exciting to blog about. I will have some neat future adventures to blog about in mid-summer. That's when I go on back-to-back tours with Globus. I can't wait to do that. I'm counting the days. I hope all is well with you reader of my blog. Take care and God bless.

Hard Week

It's been another hard week at the Post Office where I work. I managed to get something like 18 and 1/2 hours of overtime. I'll be delighted to get the money next week but earning it was a royal pain. The last 3 days, I was certain my alarm clock had it in for me. I've never seen 5:30 a.m. roll around so fast. Today was the short day of the week with just 8 and 1/2 hours. Monday, I worked over 12 hours. Next week, I'm supposed to actually have a day off. I'll believe it when I see it. I know I should be glad to get the work because once the route adjustments come out, my hours will drop but right now, I'm big time tired. Still, next week's paycheck should be sweet. I just wish it wasn't spent already. (sigh) Cheers all!

Hard Week

I had a hard week at the Post Office where I work. My shortest day was 9 hours. My longest was nearly 12 hours. I had 3 days in a row where I worked 11 and 1/2 hours each. I racked up around 23 hours of overtime. I doubt upper management was happy about that but, my boss didn't have anyone else to carry the route I did Monday through Wednesday. Thursday was really crazy. I had to train on one route, deliver 9 Express Mails and after I finished my training, I had to deliver an entire auxiliary route we have. I ended up working 10 hours that day. Normally, I wouldn't be thrilled to get so many hours but, I know I better count my blessings now. Once the route adjustments go through, my hours at the Post Office are going to drop. I'm hoping I'll be able to pay off all the big expenses I have before that happens. Today, I mailed my Federal and State income tax payments. In 2 weeks, I hope to have made enough this week and next to pay off the U.S. and Canada tours I want to take this summer. After that, all I'll have left to pay off is the scooter I plan to get. Once the scooter is paid off, I plan to cool my spending. I don't know what is going to happen with the Postal Service. The Postmaster General keeps talking about going to a 5 day week. That would be disaster for me as a sub. The Postal Service wouldn't be able to guarantee me any work then. And, they would want me to stand by the phone every morning just in case someone called out. It would be ridiculous. So, for now, I'll count my blessings and try to get as much work as I can at the Post Office where I work.