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.

Messed Over

The Laurel Maryland Harley Davidson dealership did a nice number on me today. As any readers I have know, I was big time looking forward to taking the motorcycle safety course so I could get my license. The Laurel dealership was where I'd signed up for the course and paid $350 for it. I took 3 days of leave from work so I'd be able to do the course. I drove out to the dealership this morning and quickly noticed I was the only one waiting for the course. A man who worked at the dealership asked if he could help me. I told him I was here for the motorcycle safety course. He promptly called the lady that does the scheduling. I was let in and, she informed me that the course had been cancelled because the community college that has the range they use said they couldn't use their range until October 19th. All courses till then were cancelled. The dealership for unknown reasons never got around to telling me. Because of their mistake, I missed out working on my favorite route and who knows how many other hours. Worse, I'll have to take 3 more days off to try to take the course later. The dealership was kind enough to find me another dealership that is offering the course Monday through Wednesday. Still, I'm not too pleased with them for their snafu. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that I get to take the course next time. We'll see. Stay tuned.

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.

Future Bike

Yesterday, I went to Heyser Cycle to do some haggling and see what bike I would end up buying. Initially, I thought I was going to end up with either a Suzuki 400 or 650. Both of these offer more storage area than the Yamaha TMAX. Also, the 400 is $1,400 cheaper than the TMAX. Lastly, I knew I could work a deal on a 400 as one was on sale on Ebay for $5,300 or so. That was $1,300 below MSRP. However, Heyser offered me a deal on the TMAX and, the TMAX handles a lot better than the Suzuki bikes. The TMAX was designed as a scooter equivalent to a sport bike whereas the Suzukis were designed as scooters. When I had to make the call on which bike to get, that was what decided it for me. I plan to go fast on the thing when I get the nerve up and, I want to know I can rely on the bike handling well. With the TMAX, I shouldn't have any problems. So, I put a $500 deposit down on the TMAX and applied to Yamaha's financing. One deal I was able to get was 6 months interest free credit. I should have a large chunk of the bike paid off before that expires and, I should be able to pay the rest off when it does expire. Now, I have to wait for the motorcycle safety course so I can the license so I can ride the thing. I can't wait for that. Stay tuned for more updates.

2010 TMAX

I found out Yamaha's 2010 TMAX scooter will be coming out in February. From what I could see, the only change to the scooter is 2 different color schemes. You'll have a choice of all silver or red and silver. One bit of bad news on the 2010 bike is that the price going to go up almost $500. I definitely plan to get the cheaper 2009 model. I'm chomping at the bit to take the motorcycle safety course so I can get my license and get a TMAX. I drove out to Bowie today and, I held up traffic again going and coming. It was very annoying. When I get my TMAX, that won't happen any more. Plus, my bike won't be a joke like my Vino Classic is. 14 days and a wake up to my class. I can't wait.

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.

Facebook

I discovered the last few days that you can't contact Facebook's support people directly. They force you to try to find the answer to your problem through their FAQ. I couldn't even get the FAQ to work right so there wasn't any way I could fix my problem i.e. I wasn't able to make ANY entries on my wall or make comments on friends entries. I was ready to chuck the whole thing when I got a bit of lucky inspiration. I decided to clear my browsers history and cookies. To my surprise, that fixed the problem. I'll have to remember that from now and remember to clear those every once in a while.

Overall, I haven't been wiped out with Facebook. The nicest thing about it so far has been being able to keep in contact with couple guys I knew in the Air Force. It's nice to see what they're up to.

Problem Sub

One of our problem subs got me again. This sub is known for calling out on Mondays or the day after a holiday. I don't know whether it's because they don't want to deal with the higher amount of mail i.e. laziness or they are hungover from their partying i.e. excessive debauchery. Whatever the reason, I wasn't thrilled to get contacted at 5:30 this morning that I was needed to do their route. Grrrrrr! I wanted big time to do the same back but, it wouldn't have hurt the sub who called out. So, I went in and did the route. One blessing of sorts is that I got added for 2 more days on another route which means I'll hit my 40 hours this week and get paid for every thing I worked. On days after a holiday, it's impossible to hit the accessed time and, you end giving the Postal Service some free hours unless you hit your 40.

Longest Ride

I went on my longest ride on my scooter yesterday. I wanted the Mike and the Mechanics CD "Hits." The only Best Buy store that had it in my area was in Glen Burnie. I used Mapquest to see what local roads I could use to get there. There was a way I could ride there on my scooter though I wasn't sure the roads would stay to 50 mph or less. I decided to try it. The ride went all right though I ended up holding up traffic again at points. That made me wish I had the super scooter I want to get. I made it to the Best Buy store and, I was able to buy the CD I wanted. While there, I picked up a couple others. I've heard of the Jonas Brothers and, I decided to see if their music was any good so I bought one of their CDs. Also, I bought one called Celtic Thunder. The name sounds a bit over blown. We'll see if their music is any good.

After buying my CDs, I began make my way back home. I stopped at the Arundel Mills Mall Dave & Busters to play some Spin & Win. Yesterday was the last day of their 1/2 price games promotion. Without that promotion, it can be pretty expensive playing the games there. Luck and timing were with me yesterday. I hit the 1,000 ticket light 25 times! I ended up winning over 29,000 tickets. I have over 230,000 now. It was fun. Dave & Busters still didn't have any prizes I wanted. I didn't need a blender. I have one already. I didn't want a Digicam as I won't be going on any trips any time soon to video and, I don't play various games. So, I saved my tickets. Hopefully, they'll get some better prizes as it gets closer to Christmas. We'll see. I'm also curious to see what new promotions they come out with. They're going to have to come out with a good one to get me to go back. It's too expensive to play their games otherwise.

That's all for now. 25 days till I get to take the motorcycle safety course. I can't wait. Once I take that, I'll be able to get my super scooter. Annoyingly, I haven't seen any great deals on a TMAX on Ebay. That's going to be very important in helping me get a good deal on one. I hope I don't have to hold off. We'll see. Stay tuned.

Music and My MP3 Player

I continue to download music to my new Zune MP3 player. It is enormously more convenient to have it on the player as it saves me from having to go through scores of CDs and, I don't have to worry about the player accidentally skipping on whatever music I'm playing. One drawback I've been having is that music I bought on-line and downloaded on-line from other services didn't transfer to my Zune music library. One example was "The Best of Bill Cosby." I had to buy that again, this time from Zune Marketplace. Another excellent album I've had to buy AGAIN is Glen Campbell's Greatest Hits. I really like his "Galveston" and "Wichita Lineman" songs. In some cases, Zune Marketplace doesn't have music I want like Nickelback's latest album which has 2 really great songs - Somebody for Me and If Today was Your Last Day. Still, overall, the player has been really handy. I plan to take it on trips so I can listen to tunes when I'm on the tour bus and, we're between stops. It'll make the time go by faster. It would also be nice to listen to while waiting for flights in airports. Cheers all!

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!

End of an Era

To my shock, I found out Pastor R. B. Thieme Jr. died last Sunday. I've listened to Thieme's bible doctrine lessons for years. I found him an incredible teacher of the word. He was also very unique. Gruff, tough and times abrasive and yet, he was an incredible teacher. His teaching of the word has helped get through numerous personal crices. So many times when the crap was or seemed to be hitting the fan, his teaching would calm me down, give me hope and help me focus on the solution instead of the problem. I got to see him twice during a bible conference he held in Pensacola Beach some years ago. It was an experience to see him in the flesh. I wish I could've known him better. I was very saddened to hear of his death. In my opinion, he was an incredible man and pastor. My consolation is that he is "absent from the body and face to face with the Lord in a place of no more sorrow and no more tears." While his son Bobby carries on his great work of disseminating bible doctrine, I will miss him and I know other tapers will too.

Ouch!

I got my latest Baltimore Gas & Electric bill this morning. I was stunned. It was a whopping $156. That is the largest bill I've ever received from them. The kicker is I don't keep my apartment icy cold either. I'd hate to see some of the bills my friends are getting. Also, I dread what my bill is going to be like if Congress passes Cap and Trade. I've heard that will nearly double people's utility bills. They're expensive enough already. Jeez! Thankfully, I've been racking up lots of hours at the Post Office so I'll be able to pay it. I sure will be glad when the cooler weather gets here. This 90 degree plus stuff is for the birds. Cheers all!

Crazy Day

Yesterday, I had a crazy day at the Post Office. For starters, we were short one carrier for one of the routes so we had to break it up and, I had to take part of the route. Second, I tried to help case mail on the route. However, I don't know the mail case and, I ended going in circles trying to find addresses on the mail case. Lastly, the delivery to point service mail (DPS) got totally messed up. There were large amounts of mis-sorted mail in the DPS. This meant I had to go through all the DPS mail and find the mis-sorted mail for my route and the part of the other route I was taking. It was a real nuisance. Still, I managed and got through the day. Tomorrow promises to be worse as we'll be down 2 carriers and have to break up 2 routes. We'll see how long my day ends up being tomorrow. Cheers all!

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!

Motorcycle Course

I stopped by the local Harley Davidson dealership. They offered the motorcycle safety course you have to take in order to get your motorcycle license. Without that license, I can't ride the super scooter I want to buy very badly. So, I asked what September dates they'll have and if I could get into a class on short notice. It turns out I can't get in on short notice as their classes fill up quickly. Concerning dates, once it's likely I can get 3 days off to do the course, I'll have to check back with them when they'll be offering the course on Mondays through Wednesdays. They also offer the course Thursday through Sunday HOWEVER, if there is one day I can't take off, it's Saturday. Saturdays are always a mess at the Post Office where I work. So, I have to take the course Monday through Wednesday.

On something related to the course, I ordered myself some motorcycle boots. You need something that has thick soles and covers the ankle for adequate protection. These will do the trick WHEN I get them. To my annoyance, they got back ordered. I'm hoping they'll show up sometime around the 17th. We'll see. Stay tuned for more motorcycle adventure stuff.

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!