First day as a POD person.

Was cut short because my boss Sergio (who I really like, he's great) simply had too much going on to deal with two newbies. So we ran trough the orientation, filled out paperwork, and got a look at some of the toys I'll get to use.

Some details. Pay is $12.00, with COL raises in October and biannual reviews. There are also bonuses for things like safe driving and taking extra work. Full benefits with a variety of packages. Pay is weekly, with direct deposit (yay!)

Tomorrow on through Friday, I'm riding along with an experienced driver to get a feel for the job. Then Sunday I fly down to San Diego for training. Details as soon as I get them.

Musical thoughts...

Is it just me, or does metal get the really short end of the stick when it comes to discussing lyrics. Everyone assumes that because it's loud, and tends to be shouted, that the lyrics never rise above the "Glory to the Dark Lord, eat raw meat!" level (and there are bands that do that, but most of the good ones write surprisingly deep and well-informed songs.

For example, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Iron Maiden. Compare it to the original poem by Coleridge. The literary connections don't stop there! Metallica does Hemmingway and Lovecraft and do it quite well. The also wrote a song based on the greatest antiwar novel of all time, Johnny Got His Gun

Speaking of war, and back to Iron Maiden, we have Aces High, a tribute to the pilots of the Battle of Britain. Maiden opened the album and their concerts with Churchills "We Shall Never Surrender Speech, and then played this tune. Very effective. They also wrote a song about the Indian Wars, Run To The Hills which manages to show both sides of the conflict.

Just saying, don't diss metal under you've heard and understood what they are singing about. Some of it is very, very good.