Holy Shit, Lions!
Aug. 29th, 2006 08:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreI had a "holy shit, lions" kind of day.
To begin with, I just got home. At 1915. I left work at 1805. After getting there at 0645. Just about all that time was spent on the road.
I'll begin by saying that it was a very busy day. I filled a route sheet with work (about 20 jobs) and that's only about the second time that's happened to me. I also had to go out to Tracy and Stockton, then come back by way of Highway 4, which always means a long day. But neither of those can explain a day that lasted nearly 11.5 hours!
So, what went wrong? To begin with, I was loaded last. For some reason we were down a couple of forklifts and everyone was being loaded by Russ, one of the Warehouse Gods. Then I had to deal with what I had to load:
22 boxes of varying size and weight, plus two small bundles of frames.
8 pallets, including four that weighed 1,500lbs each.
700 feet of 10-foot Unistrut in 2 bundles of 300', and two of 50'.
All of this had to be loaded so I could get to the correct item in the correct order. I also have to worry about weight distribution I don't want too much weight in the back with nothing up front, for example, or too much on one side. With all the shuffling and changes, I didn't leave the yard until 0830.. and immediately ran into traffic.
This was an ongoing theme for the day. Just assume that where ever I went there were accidents, construction crews, and one grass fire. Slowed me way down.
But three companies, three freaking stops managed to combine to add TWO FULL HOURS to my day.
Company 1, who we shall call "Gadgets for Talking" in Fremont: You fired the old Filipino who was running your shipping/receiving desk. Whatever, it's your company. But could you have hired a replacement who a: is over 12, and b: has a functional brain? All he had to do to get me out of your lot was take one pallet off my truck with your forklift, help me carry one of the 50' bundles of thread in, and give me the materials you are returning. That last one was the killer. He acted like he had never seen a RMA before, and called everyone but his mother to find out what was going on with what looked like it would be one box. Finally, he told me that the RMA "wasn't ready". WTF, over? You called us and said "we've rejected this, come and get it." How could it not be ready? Of course, my take on this place is that they're really saddened by the fact there isn't aren't more ISO certifications for them to use to generate more paperwork.
Company 2, who shall be known as "Alphabet Soup Electrical" at the Nummi Plant: I appreciate that it is the end of the month, and you want to clear the books. However, ordering everything you needed over several days and asking for today as the delivery date left me with a mess. Those 22 boxes? Ten went to Alphabet Soup. Along with one of the bundles and the frames. Now this isn't so bad, but when I show up on the day you requested deliver with all your crap, don't act surprised. And don't take 20 minutes to find a forklift! I could have unloaded that bundle by had in that time, but you insisted that you had to have it with the banding intact. Whatever dude.
Company 4, who we shall call "Total Smeghead Contractors": Oh, we have crossed swords before, Smegheads. Every single time I have a delivery for you at the high school you are building for wealthy kids who will sneak into the nearby ravine to smoke weed and fuck you act like it is the very first time a supplier has ever delivered something to you. Seriously. You stare at the order slip like I just handed you the Divine Comedy in the original Italian. The arrival of a box of hex nuts requires a meeting of several Very Serious People. Phone calls must be made, because, gasp, shock, Lord & Sons is here! With Stuff! After a whopping 40 minutes they finally find someone who can piss in jar without a eight hour course, and I get unloaded.
By the time I hit the Altamont Pass, it was already heading on towards 1300. Thankfully, I've been to my stop in Tracy before, and they are cool people. My stop in Stockton is also easy to find (though a bit off the freeway) and here I see a forklift actually burst into flames. After dousing the engine, the receiving guy calmly said "let me get another one." Points for him.
Then came Highway 4. Which has become one of my favorite drives... but not when some moron in a truck far too large for the road decides that since he ignored all the fucking signs saying "tractor trailers 34 feet from kingpin to bumper: about all hope ye who enter here" he's going to compensate by driving 30 miles an hour in a 55 zone! For 25 miles! Finally a CHP car roared up and pulled him over.
By the time I reached my penultimate stop, they had closed. Thankfully, the owner at All-States was still around so I could at least load my one pick up.
To top it all off, the Giants sucked today. Bonds did get two homeruns, putting him at 727.. 28 to tie Aaron!
Oh, bicycling stats:
Distance: 5.482 miles
Maximum Speed: 22.8 mph
Average Speed: 12.2 mph
Time: 27m 06s
Calories Burned: 172.4
Fat Burned: 19.8g
I slammed a beer when I got home, and am feeling it. I'm staying up long enough for nuke dinner and take a shower, then I am going to bed. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit shorter.
To begin with, I just got home. At 1915. I left work at 1805. After getting there at 0645. Just about all that time was spent on the road.
I'll begin by saying that it was a very busy day. I filled a route sheet with work (about 20 jobs) and that's only about the second time that's happened to me. I also had to go out to Tracy and Stockton, then come back by way of Highway 4, which always means a long day. But neither of those can explain a day that lasted nearly 11.5 hours!
So, what went wrong? To begin with, I was loaded last. For some reason we were down a couple of forklifts and everyone was being loaded by Russ, one of the Warehouse Gods. Then I had to deal with what I had to load:
22 boxes of varying size and weight, plus two small bundles of frames.
8 pallets, including four that weighed 1,500lbs each.
700 feet of 10-foot Unistrut in 2 bundles of 300', and two of 50'.
All of this had to be loaded so I could get to the correct item in the correct order. I also have to worry about weight distribution I don't want too much weight in the back with nothing up front, for example, or too much on one side. With all the shuffling and changes, I didn't leave the yard until 0830.. and immediately ran into traffic.
This was an ongoing theme for the day. Just assume that where ever I went there were accidents, construction crews, and one grass fire. Slowed me way down.
But three companies, three freaking stops managed to combine to add TWO FULL HOURS to my day.
Company 1, who we shall call "Gadgets for Talking" in Fremont: You fired the old Filipino who was running your shipping/receiving desk. Whatever, it's your company. But could you have hired a replacement who a: is over 12, and b: has a functional brain? All he had to do to get me out of your lot was take one pallet off my truck with your forklift, help me carry one of the 50' bundles of thread in, and give me the materials you are returning. That last one was the killer. He acted like he had never seen a RMA before, and called everyone but his mother to find out what was going on with what looked like it would be one box. Finally, he told me that the RMA "wasn't ready". WTF, over? You called us and said "we've rejected this, come and get it." How could it not be ready? Of course, my take on this place is that they're really saddened by the fact there isn't aren't more ISO certifications for them to use to generate more paperwork.
Company 2, who shall be known as "Alphabet Soup Electrical" at the Nummi Plant: I appreciate that it is the end of the month, and you want to clear the books. However, ordering everything you needed over several days and asking for today as the delivery date left me with a mess. Those 22 boxes? Ten went to Alphabet Soup. Along with one of the bundles and the frames. Now this isn't so bad, but when I show up on the day you requested deliver with all your crap, don't act surprised. And don't take 20 minutes to find a forklift! I could have unloaded that bundle by had in that time, but you insisted that you had to have it with the banding intact. Whatever dude.
Company 4, who we shall call "Total Smeghead Contractors": Oh, we have crossed swords before, Smegheads. Every single time I have a delivery for you at the high school you are building for wealthy kids who will sneak into the nearby ravine to smoke weed and fuck you act like it is the very first time a supplier has ever delivered something to you. Seriously. You stare at the order slip like I just handed you the Divine Comedy in the original Italian. The arrival of a box of hex nuts requires a meeting of several Very Serious People. Phone calls must be made, because, gasp, shock, Lord & Sons is here! With Stuff! After a whopping 40 minutes they finally find someone who can piss in jar without a eight hour course, and I get unloaded.
By the time I hit the Altamont Pass, it was already heading on towards 1300. Thankfully, I've been to my stop in Tracy before, and they are cool people. My stop in Stockton is also easy to find (though a bit off the freeway) and here I see a forklift actually burst into flames. After dousing the engine, the receiving guy calmly said "let me get another one." Points for him.
Then came Highway 4. Which has become one of my favorite drives... but not when some moron in a truck far too large for the road decides that since he ignored all the fucking signs saying "tractor trailers 34 feet from kingpin to bumper: about all hope ye who enter here" he's going to compensate by driving 30 miles an hour in a 55 zone! For 25 miles! Finally a CHP car roared up and pulled him over.
By the time I reached my penultimate stop, they had closed. Thankfully, the owner at All-States was still around so I could at least load my one pick up.
To top it all off, the Giants sucked today. Bonds did get two homeruns, putting him at 727.. 28 to tie Aaron!
Oh, bicycling stats:
Distance: 5.482 miles
Maximum Speed: 22.8 mph
Average Speed: 12.2 mph
Time: 27m 06s
Calories Burned: 172.4
Fat Burned: 19.8g
I slammed a beer when I got home, and am feeling it. I'm staying up long enough for nuke dinner and take a shower, then I am going to bed. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit shorter.
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no subject
Date: 30 Aug 2006 08:25 (UTC)Do you ever call ahead? Is there a time limit before you have to move on to the next clueless wonder?
no subject
Date: 30 Aug 2006 12:13 (UTC)There's no set time limit, but for the load I was delivering 10-15 minutes is a reasonable amount of time for the offload.
no subject
Date: 30 Aug 2006 13:40 (UTC)no subject
Date: 30 Aug 2006 16:57 (UTC)At least there's beer. ;)
no subject
Date: 30 Aug 2006 17:30 (UTC)(Only in Kenya.)