We spent Labor Day weekend in Detroit Lakes with Dave’s family. Last night when Dave and I went to bed we noticed Noah wedge up against one end of his pack n’ play. We didn’t think too much of it until later when we took a closer look. He was sleeping with one arm and one leg under the mattress and his head, other leg and arm were above the mattress. As you can see from the picture he was snoring away.
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.
I’ve been intently listening to the debate over the health care reform bill currently under discussion in the legislature. Thus far, I’ve concluded that this bill would do more harm than good. I read an interesting article on CNN.com which illustrated the backwards nature of this bill. I highly recommend you read it and then write your legislators regarding this issue. The article is called 5 freedoms you’d lose in health care reform.
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.
While waiting at a light in Fridley tonight, I was amazed to see another incidence of gas station stupidity. Tonight’s genius was exiting the gas station. I’ll set the stage.
I was stopped at the light on 73rd at Hwy 65. 73rd has three lanes as you approach the intersection: left turn, straight and right turn. The light was red and there were about five cars or so in front of me in the straight lane. The left lane was empty and the right lane had maybe one or two cars waiting. On my left, a couple car-lengths ahead, was a truck waiting to leave a gas station and turn left onto 73rd, which would send him the same direction I was pointed.
He pulled out of the station into the left turn lane, cutting off a car that was headed for the light. The other car laid on the horn and locked up the brakes. Then, rather than hurrying up to the light, the truck just sat there a few car lengths away from the light, blocking the vehicle behind who wanted to turn left. He continued to sit there even after the green arrow disappeared and the straight green came on. A few cars went straight, giving the truck’s driver his chance. He cut in front of the third or fourth car in the straight lane and proceeded to wait for the cars in the right turn lane to go. He finally turned right onto Hwy 65 and sped away.
The dumbest thing about this is the lack of thought on the truck driver’s part. The gas station had another exit further back on 73rd, which would have allowed the truck to get behind all the stopped cars and into the right turn lane with ease. That’s one of those spots where the city needs to do the thinking for the drivers by putting a median between the lanes, thereby blocking that exit from turning left onto 73rd. The day after they did that I’d probably see some rube drive over the median to turn left.
The Burlingames 