![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
There is not enough beer in the world.
Mar. 17th, 2010 05:43 pmI will spare you all the long tale of woe that was my day. Instead we shall focus on the sad saga of the Last Delivery.
The Last Delivery was a pallet of custom anchor bolts and big hex bolts. How big? Each one weighs about 1.5 lbs. I was carrying 179 of them. Along with about 75 of these bolts, each of which weighs about 45 lbs. One heavy pallet.
Anyway, I drove out to the address on the invoice, 123 Bog of Eternal Stench Dr., City A. This is a huge waste treatment plant, and since it is considered a possible terrorist target getting to anything requires getting through locked gates. Go to call the customer, and notice that all the phone numbers are not only not local, they aren't even in the same state. sigh. Office numbers. Just what i need when trying to find someone at a job site, the phone number of a purchasing agent in a cubicle 800 miles away. Call it anyway, and miracles of miracles get a contact phone number! Call that number, give my location, and get told that I need to call someone else, since this guy is working another site. Call that number, finally reach someone on-site, find out where he is, and drive over with Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing in my head.
Find the guy from Confused Construction, tell him what I'm carrying for him, and get a blank look. Not only does he have no idea who ordered it, he has no idea why such things would be needed for his job. Cue multiple cell phone calls as I contact my boss, he contacts his boss, and eventually (after blocking a lane at a household chemical waste drop off facility for 20 minutes) we learn the awful truth.
This material had been ordered by a third-party supplier. Sort of a super-contractor. This county had gotten a big bundle of cash from the stimulus program and was engaged in massive program of upgrading and new construction. 23 different projects across the entire county. The third-party supplier had put the address of the main waste treatment plant on every single order they processed for the Sanitation District. I was just the latest victim. Trucks had been showing up all day, some big rigs loaded with materials, for jobs that were up to fifty miles away.
Luckily for me, the actual job site was just down the freeway, and I knew exactly how to get there. But I shudder to think how many drivers like me are going to get screwed by this company's fail. Anyone surprised that this ended up being a hand off-load?
In better news, I got to listen to almost all of Giants Spring Training game against the A's. Giants-6. A's-1. I'm feeling very good about our depth this year. I think the Giants are going to have one of the strongest benches and bullpens in the National League.
The Last Delivery was a pallet of custom anchor bolts and big hex bolts. How big? Each one weighs about 1.5 lbs. I was carrying 179 of them. Along with about 75 of these bolts, each of which weighs about 45 lbs. One heavy pallet.
Anyway, I drove out to the address on the invoice, 123 Bog of Eternal Stench Dr., City A. This is a huge waste treatment plant, and since it is considered a possible terrorist target getting to anything requires getting through locked gates. Go to call the customer, and notice that all the phone numbers are not only not local, they aren't even in the same state. sigh. Office numbers. Just what i need when trying to find someone at a job site, the phone number of a purchasing agent in a cubicle 800 miles away. Call it anyway, and miracles of miracles get a contact phone number! Call that number, give my location, and get told that I need to call someone else, since this guy is working another site. Call that number, finally reach someone on-site, find out where he is, and drive over with Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing in my head.
Find the guy from Confused Construction, tell him what I'm carrying for him, and get a blank look. Not only does he have no idea who ordered it, he has no idea why such things would be needed for his job. Cue multiple cell phone calls as I contact my boss, he contacts his boss, and eventually (after blocking a lane at a household chemical waste drop off facility for 20 minutes) we learn the awful truth.
This material had been ordered by a third-party supplier. Sort of a super-contractor. This county had gotten a big bundle of cash from the stimulus program and was engaged in massive program of upgrading and new construction. 23 different projects across the entire county. The third-party supplier had put the address of the main waste treatment plant on every single order they processed for the Sanitation District. I was just the latest victim. Trucks had been showing up all day, some big rigs loaded with materials, for jobs that were up to fifty miles away.
Luckily for me, the actual job site was just down the freeway, and I knew exactly how to get there. But I shudder to think how many drivers like me are going to get screwed by this company's fail. Anyone surprised that this ended up being a hand off-load?
In better news, I got to listen to almost all of Giants Spring Training game against the A's. Giants-6. A's-1. I'm feeling very good about our depth this year. I think the Giants are going to have one of the strongest benches and bullpens in the National League.
