I failed today

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion) 03/22/2020 at 00:30 • Filed to: None

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And yet, this is the first time I’ve felt like I’ve been deserving of my promotion.

What was already looking like a day requiring heroic efforts from our entire team became orders of magnitude worse when one driver decided not to show up due to Coronavirus concerns. I have no issue with that... If he would have given us notice.

Four drivers left to do what realistically would be the work of eight. Two of those drivers, fresh off less than a weeks training. The other two— managers— had other duties requiring attention throughout the day. It wasn’t enough. It couldn’t possibly be enough.

But it’s what we had.

Our new guys killed it. With a stop count that would make for a sizeable day even for a veteran on a familiar route, these guys stayed as late as it took. They even offered to do more. I’m incredibly proud of the work they put in.

6:00am. Arrived at terminal. T ook out a full truck on a route I’ve never done, after sorting through every package, getting them as organized as possible. An hour in the terminal saves two on the road.

Cup of coffee, 400mg of ibuprofen. Headphones in. Sprinting. Apartments, homes, businesses. You learn the route quick. You have to. Really, positivity is the secret. You need to stay upbeat, smile unbreakable in the face of any hardship. The moment you get down on yourself, productivity crashes. Quality of work drops of a cliff. The worse the outlook, the more necessary it is to s tay positive. Lesson of the day.

Calls taken throughout the day to help with little issues. Apartment codes. Signiture requirements. Gas station locations. Nothing major.

After the first full truckload, I returned to the terminal and picked up a second, even fuller route. no time to sort through the 200+ packages, just had to trust that the loaders had done a workable job. Again, completely new area. Banana. More ibuprofen. Knees and ankles seemed less willing to have their pain placated this time, but slowly... It became manageable.

Halfway through the second load, I realized I’d made several mistakes. The largest of which was being ill -prepared for a long night. IPad was almost dead, map and routing software along with it. Scanner, also nearing zero charge. In the second unfamiliar truck of the day, I’d failed to check for chargers that I’ve taken for granted in my usual rig.

6:00 pm. My trainee finished his route. W e met up, I grabbed his scanner charger and sent him off with a single package I’d missed miles back. He offered to do more, but I couldn’t ask that of him after the herculean effort he’d already put forth. For better or worse, I sent him off.

Darkness arriving, I realized two things. One, t he area I found myself in was unlit, with long driveways. Finding addresses became difficult.

Two, the interior lights in the truck shorted out. Finding packages became difficult as well.

At this point I arranged the remaining thirty stops in order as best as I could, finding home s one-by-one with Google maps on my phone, very much aware of the dwindling battery level.

Twenty five.

Twenty.

Fifteen.

Ten stops left. Split evenly, five around the backside of a lake, and the remaining five another ten miles further.

And then... I got the call. Terminal’s closing, stay out longer and you risk being locked out.

I finished the five by the lake in pitch black conditions.

Noticed I’d missed one twenty miles back. Fuck.

So with six remaining packages undelivered, I drove back to base, marking them 34'd. “needs further delivery”.

Throughout all of this, the other manager—and my boss—was an absolute superhero. Everything I did and then some , with managing the overall masterplan on top. We may not have met our goal, but we earned our paychecks today. Fifteen hours, and I know he’ll be looking over tomorrow’s route when he arrives home. Absolute monster. Somewhere along the line, I realized he’s been added to my very short list of people I’ve looked up to. It really helps having a boss like that.

Tomorrow I’ll show up, aches and pains, lack of sleep... masked by a smile on my face. I’ll have coffee for the team, jokes for the loaders working the belt, and an internal list of positive comments for my management team. Just another day.

This is a job I’ve come to care about, and I realize I’m going to need to adjust my workload . Especially now as the corona virus skyrockets delivery demand while simultaneously cutting down on skilled workers, I’ll be doing everything I can to lead by example. There’s absolutely no reason this little company can’t be one of the best in our terminal, and I count a lot of reasons why it will be.

Hope you have a good night oppo. I took seconds off fo r two things today. A beautiful Porsche...

And two kids who asked me to race them.

CB > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:37

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Good stuff. 

jminer > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:41

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Damn man- you’re today’s hero no doubt!

I want to send you and your team a heartfelt thanks on delivering all the essential and non-essential crap we’re ordering right now.

Don’t forget to take care of your self though too, the worlds getting pretty nutso these days.

jminer > jminer 03/22/2020 at 00:42

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Also you definitely did not fail, I worked on an old car all day which added nothing to society whereas you kicked ass!

boredalways > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:46

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Get some rest, buddy! Also, sweet Teal 944.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:49

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How you can put in three days work in one day and then slap some words together at the end that reads this well I may never know.

AestheticsInMotion > jminer 03/22/2020 at 00:49

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You know, an older lady thanked me for my service today. That certainly has never happened before, not even when I worked in an ER.

I'm hoping gyms will open up again. My body misses swimming, and I haven't been able to make myself go in the lake yet. 

Nom De Plume > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:50

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Ease into it. I know that sounds like incredulous advice. Don’t kill yourself in a week with what will take a heavy toll by the end of a month’s time.

Laundry and everything else that can possibly be farmed out.  Do it, don’t waste time and energy yourself.  ;)

AestheticsInMotion > boredalways 03/22/2020 at 00:51

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I thought red 944s were the best. Now I'm not so sure

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:51

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This reads to me much more lik e story of degrees of success. Good work!

RacinBob > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 00:52

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REO Speedwagon - Keep Pushing on...... Always

AestheticsInMotion > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 03/22/2020 at 00:52

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I sat down on the toilet, and realized if I kept writing I wouldn't have to stand up. Win-win? 

glemon > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 01:00

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Sounds like a hell of a day, nice color on that 944 too.  

jminer > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 01:07

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Same on the swimming - I will start kayaking as long as it stops raining enough for the rivers to drop to a safe level but it’s spring so that might take a while.

ClassicDatsunDebate > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 01:32

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If I catch a delivery guy when he’s dropping off, I try to be extra kind without being extra verbose.  You guys are definitely essential service in my mind.  

glemon > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 01:44

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Ok, won't  look at a day late delivery the same ever again.

RPM esq. > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 02:24

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I waded in with my dog this afternoon. It’s cold as hell still despite the sunny days this week . Too  cold for real swimming un less you have a wetsuit (and I am not a wimp about cold water...dips in alpine lakes and snowmelt swimming hole s are my favorite part of backpacking).

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 05:39

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mate...you have an amazing work ethic..if i was your boss i’d love you...

but im not...so dont overdo it eh?

take care of yourself mate....parcel post will fuck you up if you let it..

ST80MND > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 07:16

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I like your breakdown of a weird work day. I like even more your attitude. Right now it's up to folks like you to keep this Swiss cheese boat afloat, so keep that shit up, you are doing Hero's work for a lot of people.

pip bip - choose Corrour > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 07:23

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well done.

good luck with tomorrow

facw > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 10:22

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Always disappointing to be expecting a package and have it not make it, but hopefully people understand that package delivery is really stretched right now. Doesn’t affect you, but Amazon at least seems to have increased lead times on many items to give more cushion as to when things are promised (though they’ll still tell you when things are out for delivery, so it would still look a day late to the customer if it made it on a delivery truck but didn’t get delivered).

Did you read the FP article on UPS and COVID-19?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I’ve seen things indicating that Fedex is similar, but was curious if you feel safe? (Obviously don’t answer that if you think it would imperil your job or whatever)

Thomas Donohue > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 10:50

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How to make a great post better!  Hope you didn’t use too much TP.

AestheticsInMotion > facw 03/22/2020 at 11:46

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We’re still advertising on-time deliveries, even today we hit 98.5%. We'll see what happens moving forward. 

I feel safe because of my demographic and current health, but yes.. . The FP article was very much true across-the-board. 

Spaceball-Two > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 11:58

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I’ve seen that Porsche parked at my sister’s apartment complex in Issaquah. Nice job out there. We’re all in uncharted territory and we’ll get through it.

AestheticsInMotion > Thomas Donohue 03/22/2020 at 21:24

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I can’t wait to talk about the “TP crisis of 2020"

Back in my day.....

AestheticsInMotion > glemon 03/22/2020 at 21:26

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There's a lot that goes into getting a package somewhere in a timely fashion that doesn't get seen by the recipient. Buuuuuut the same can be said of any job. Until you do it or hear a hands-on account, you'd just never know. 

AestheticsInMotion > ClassicDatsunDebate 03/22/2020 at 21:27

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That is the ideal mix. It's rare we’ve got time to chat a bit, but we always appreciate a friendly face.

AestheticsInMotion > CB 03/22/2020 at 21:27

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How's your work treating you? CV shaking things up at all? 

CB > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 22:45

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People think that joking about having Covid-19 will get them out of trouble. They don’t know that they can get a several thousand dollar fine for breaking quarantine. So, loads of threats and “oh shits” from dumb people.

AestheticsInMotion > CB 03/22/2020 at 23:13

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Did I just finally find out what your job is?! This... Is a monumental moment.

I’m going to celebrate by breaking quarantine and streaking naked through the city while lighting fireworks with a Marijuana cigarette.

CB > AestheticsInMotion 03/22/2020 at 23:18

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I figured we all know what I do by this point.

One of those is legal here!

Thomas Donohue > AestheticsInMotion 03/23/2020 at 08:15

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“ And by 2022 every trailer in America had a bidet.....”