The Burlingames » Work

New work schedule…

Dave — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:25:03 +0000

Yesterday, Dave and I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to decide what we wanted his new work schedule to be at FedEx. Things are currently light and rather than laying off/firing people they are reducing hours and changing some routes around. At first I was a bit apprehensive about his new schedule, but I think it will work out in our favor and now I’m getting more excited about it.

Dave’s new schedule…Tuesday – Saturday – 10:15-6:30pm, with Sunday and Monday off.

He believes his Saturday route will end a bit earlier, maybe early afternoon. He’s looking forward to having Mondays off, now he can schedule appointments on his day off rather than trying to make them all for 8am and hope he’s done in time for work or use a personal day. He plans to either keep the boys home with him or send them to daycare for a few hours. We’ll have our evenings together.

At first I wasn’t real excited about him working on Saturdays but if he happens to get done earlier, we’ll still get some time together. I’m also excited about having more time with him in the evenings. Right now he gets home between 8:15-9pm and he basically eats, plays with Eli for a few minutes, one of us puts Eli to bed and then I go to bed. Such an exciting time.

Needless to say, I’m getting more pumped about his new schedule. I’m sure it will dawn on him several times over the next few days that he has 3 days off right now being as his new schedule starts on Monday and he doesn’t work Mondays anymore. ;-)

Filed under: Family, Work

Getting Busier

Dave — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 02:46:15 +0000

Today was a great day. Not only did my long-awaited amp arrive, but I also accepted an upgrade at work to move to full time (I’m currently working part time). I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not I wanted to work full time for several reasons. I’ve greatly enjoyed hanging out with Eli during the day and it’s been good to only have to pay for a couple hours of daycare each day. On the other hand, it’s getting trickier to spend money on making the necessary repairs to the house, not to mention the upgrades we’d like to make when the funds become available.

One interesting thing about being part time at FedEx is I could always say no if they asked me to come in a few hours early or need help during the busy times. As a full time employee, they now own me. If there aren’t enough volunteers to cover extra work (there usually are, so it’s mostly a non-issue), they go down a seniority list and assign people to do things. It’s not a big deal, but something to consider.

Another reason to take this chance is the relative rarity of it, especially given the state of the economy. I’ve been at FedEx for nearly 2.5 years and only in the last several months have any full time positions become available to part-timers. Who knows how long it would be before I got another chance.

I’m glad for the opportunity. I started at FedEx thinking of it as a stopgap job while waiting for another design gig. I’ve been there almost 2.5 years and I’m not in any hurry to go somewhere else. Honestly, I don’t really miss design all that much. Who knows: maybe I’ll work my way up the chain at FedEx and do something besides being a courier with them. They hire almost exclusively from within, so there’s definitely a chance. Perhaps I’ll learn some valuable skills along the way that will help me achieve my ultimate dream of owning a guitar store. We’ll see.

Filed under: Work

Santa Drives a Fire Truck

Dave — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:04:28 +0000

I was driving through Fridley today for work and saw a fire truck ahead of me. It didn’t take long to catch up as the truck was only going about 20 mph. As I closed in on the fire truck, I was a bit confused by what I saw. The truck was a ladder truck that appeared to have small lights all over it. It also looked like there was a person standing on top of it. I couldn’t get close enough to clearly make things out as there were several cars between me and the fire truck.

Finally, the fire truck turned a corner and my suspicions were confirmed; the ladder was decorated with Christmas lights and there was a guy dressed up as Santa standing the bucket of the ladder. He was just standing up there, waving to the oncoming cars. I’m not sure if that’s some sort of rookie hazing or just something weird the Fridley fire department likes to do when it snows. Either way, it was certainly interesting.

Posted in Random, Work

Long Day

Dave — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:43:54 +0000

To say I’m tired would be a gross understatement. Work was busy today, so I was called in early to help with deliveries. I drove around Shoreview, Lino Lakes and Circle Pines. After my lunch break I did my normal night route in Fridley and Spring Lake Park. I had a lot more stops than usual and definitely a lot more packages. All that added up to me hanging out in my area way too long: long enough that I wouldn’t have made it back to my station in time to get my freight on the truck headed to the airport. So, I headed off directly to the airport.

After off-loading everything I drove back to the station in White Bear Lake. I saw way too much of the metro today: 135 miles of roads. I started this morning about 10:30 and finished this evening around 9:30. And I’m gonna do it again tomorrow. Hopefully I’m not so busy that I need go to the airport again. That’s always so time consuming.

Posted in Work

Almost Accident (Followed by an Accident)

Dave — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:41:40 +0000

I narrowly escaped yet another accident in Fridley this week. I was driving my work truck on a city street, passing a gas station on my right. A woman coming from the opposite direction signalled a left turn, wanting to turn into the gas station I was approaching. She appeared to be slowing down like she was going to wait to turn until I had gone by. As I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, she did not wait; she turned in front of me very late. I layed on the horn and slammed on the brakes, skidding on the pavement. She then realized her error and hit the gas harder to get out of my way. She just made it; I couldn’t have missed her by more than a foot or two.

However, the story doesn’t end there. In her haste to get out of my way, she ran straight into the front of a car coming out of the gas station because she was too busy looking at me and not where she was going. Oops.

Posted in Bad/Stupid Drivers, Work

Busy, Busy

Dave — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:31:46 +0000

You may have noticed a lull in posting lately. It is due, for the most part, thanks to all the people trying to get their gifts to people at the last minute. Work has been nutty; I’ve been working 10- and 12-hour days for the last week. That tends to get in the way of other activities. Today is the last day of insanity for me as I’ll be going back to a more normal schedule.

As a testament to how busy FedEx Express has been, consider this: Monday of last week was the most single-day volume ever for the company (11.4 million packages), beating the previous record of about 9.8 million. This week, especially Tuesday, was projected to be even more volume. We’ll see how it shakes out when the numbers come in.

Posted in Work

Today's Idiot Report

Dave — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:51:21 +0000

I’ve been back at work since Wednesday of last week. My ankle was a bit sketchy last week, but has been improving by leaps and bounds this week. Praise God for good progress.

I was sitting at a light today in the right-turn lane behind another car, waiting for my turn to go. Suddenly, a motorcycle passed me (and the next car) on the right. There was no gap in the traffic, but he pulled out and turned right anyway, racing up the shoulder until he matched speeds with the cars next to him. He cut in front of one car, causing them to brake, and then cut into the next lane as well.

After he had gone, I looked to see how much space I had left between the curb and my truck. The side was only about 2 feet from the curb. I don’t know how he made it through without rubbing the curb and eating it. What a moron. Perhaps even more amazing is that the guy wasn’t some young punk on a crotchrocket, but an old, ZZ Top-looking guy on a medium-size cruiser.

I Wouldn't Say I've Been Missing It, Bob

Dave — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:06:33 +0000

The big softball tourney was fun, but it ended prematurely for me; toward the end of the first game I slid into third base and sprained my ankle pretty badly. I went to the ER for x-rays after the games were over. They said my bones and ligaments looked fine and gave me a brace to wear during and after recovery. That put a quick end to my plans to go camping after the games.

Since my job requires me to walk and lift heavy things, I’ve been calling in sick all this week. As much as I enjoy not working, sitting around the house is getting a bit old.

I’m hoping my ankle gets better soon since Megan and I are going out of town this weekend. It’s our anniversary week and we’re headed to the cheese-land for a Packer game at Lambeau. I’d rather not have to hobble around Green Bay.

New Route

Dave — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:36:20 +0000

I started a new route yesterday at work. The guy I was filling in for (he was out with a back injury) came back. Hopefully this move is permanent as it takes awhile to learn a new route, and the thought of changing again right when I get things figured out is a bit annoying. We’ll see how it goes.

Fun at FedEx

Dave — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:26:07 +0000

I spent today learning some defensive driving skills as well as familiarizing myself with the standard delivery truck at FedEx’s airport facility. One of the things they taught us (which, by the way, we’re not supposed to actually do if we can help it) is how to parallel park. It’s not as difficult as it first seemed. But, really, when am I ever going to find a spot large enough for the truck?

On my way to Wendy’s for lunch (in my personal car, that is) I encountered a roundabout. Having limited experience with them, I made sure to take a good look at the intersection to make sure I didn’t do something stupid. It was then that I realized another car was going the wrong direction in the roundabout. Genius. Fortunately there was only one other car going the proper direction. I have a feeling that, as a courier, I’m going to be seeing a lot of stupid driving. I’ll be sure to share the really special stories here with you.