Fringe Benefits!

When you're up early there are some things you get to experience that most people are sleeping through!  Today the truck was late -- it was election day yesterday so I'm going to forgive the plant and assume they were waiting for last minute election results.  The silver lining was I was just getting home as the sky started to lighten.  These were taken with my phone -- wish I'd gone in the house and grabbed my better camera but I was afraid if I got warm I'd never go back out.  The song that keeps playing in my head..."For the Beauty of the Earth..."  

And snow it begins

There were snowflakes mixed in with the rain this morning.... big slushy snowflakes. I might not have seen them if I  weren't driving. But the weatherman nailed it, predawn snowflakes. 

I'm so happy and relieved that I'm on just a motor route now... this would have been a miserable morning for walking. Feel a little guilty about the new guy though, my relief is his grief,

I'm not really ready for snow yet... afterall it was really nice just last week! Regardless it's still pretty coming down from the sky!

This is kind of what it looked like before dawn!

You know it's bad when you need these

It's been crazy this last week... part of why I haven't posted. My newspaper life is only part of my craziness but it definitely affects all other aspects and tends to take over.

So for some time...well really since I did the math the first week I started my route... I've been gently campaigning for a motor route. Not because I don't want to walk... there's part of the walking I really like, but also dread with winter coming on. My fear of falling is ever present too. But mostly it's about time and money... like so many things in life! Motor routes pay better... and you can deliver more papers with less effort in the same amount of time... it means a bigger paycheck :-) 

Last week I got a motor route! The only catch is I was asked to continue with the walking route at the same time... hmmm. So I said yes.... what was I thinkinong? Raise! I didn't fully appreciate that it takes 3 hours to do the walking route... and not knowing the new route makes it hard to hurry without a lot of errors.  So it's been a long, stressful, sleepless,frustrating week. I know it's going to get better... for one thing I'm shedding the walking route tomorrow (I hope)!  And I already know the other route much better so that's getting better... but my original customers are not happy with the late deliveries and it makes me sad and frustrated. Plus we've now missed church two weeks in a row... urgh!

So what's with my title and pic? Well my"day" starts at 1:00 a.m....and I'm supposed to be done on Sunday by 8 (usually we're done by7) so the approaching dawn is not my friend... it means I'm LATE!  I don't want to need those sunglasses! That's the way it's been all week... depressing...even if it's beyond my control.

Here's hoping for a better report next week!

It's beginning to look at lot like... Halloween!

The neighborhood I deliver to is starting to look quite festive! If they get this ramped up for Halloween, I can't wait to see what they'll do for Christmas!!


That mummy in the window is soo cool!!  It's like a plastic trash back covering the window -- but when the light is on in the room it back lights the lighter parts of the picture -- plus the hand and being so large creates a cool 3D effect.  I wonder where they bought it??

This was just a small sampling that I snapped on Saturday morning -- I'll try to snap a few more  in the coming weeks!

The Government Shutdown is Already Affecting Me

The newspaper truck didn't come in until 4 a.m. because they waited for all the late breaking news.... urgh. The writing was on the wall all day yesterday... I'm going to have some unhappy customers! 

Gearing up for Sunday!

The comics are in... and the advertising inserts will be at my tables when I go in tonight... let the fun begin!

The Morning Routine

So here's the run down -- I wake up at 1:30 a.m. leave the house around 2 a.m. -- sometimes I have to stop for gas, sometimes there's train that slows me down.  Then when I arrive at the distribution center I have to grab one of these!

That's my cart -- I have to put it in line to save my place -- then I put my name on a paper to also mark my place in line -- the white curled up paper has my name written on it to mark my cart.  Believe it or not, fights can happen about where you are/were in line.  I've even, in my short time here, had my cart moved out of line, my name removed from my cart -- it's kind of nuts but you have defend your turf!!  

So we go through all this so that when the truck comes in (whenever that is -- 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 3 hours later) we can all get our papers in an orderly manner -- and hit the road.  Sooo much depends on when the truck rolls in -- the papers are printed about an hour away.  So even though I'm up at the same time, in at the same time and it usually takes about the same amount of time to do the route...I can finish anywhere from 4:45 to 6:30 a.m (that's my daily time -- not my Sunday time!). 

See you in the morning Mr. Cart!

That's the morning drill! 

Why would anyone sign up for this???

Today marks the start of my fifth week as a newspaper carrier. I decided to start this blog to journal my journey on this adventure.  Things I'm learning about myself, my family and this group of people who work through the night to bring you the paper that rests at your door or in your newspaper tube each morning.  So here we go... Today's post is a little of the back story...how I got to this place and why would anyone sign up for this?!!  

So about a year ago we moved back to my hometown.  After 25 years of being away, fate stepped in a took a hand and we're back!  In this first year of adjusting I haven't really looked too closely at working outside the home.  I did almost take a seasonal job at Kohl's but in the end I found we just weren't ready for me to take that leap again.  I'll probably post more about that later -- but let's just say there were certain emotional issues involved for all of us that needed to be healed before I put myself at the mercy of an uncaring employer again.  

One of my childhood friends who I attend church with has been a newspaper carrier for many years.  We've talked from time to time about their crazy schedule and the constant demands a newspaper route entails.  Then one day when we were talking the thought kept coming to me that this might be something I could do and still be a Stay-at-Home-Mom (SAHM) and also be available to help my mother with her projects...and maybe even start a few of my own.  I asked Jane (name changed to protect the guilty - LOL - just kidding "Jane") a lot of questions especially concerning compensation, the hours required and the schedule.  I asked to put my name to her supervisor as someone interested in doing a route.  After I said that -- I got really excited and anxious to get started -- after all Christmas is coming -- it really doesn't matter what time of the year it is...Christmas is always coming!!!  About a week later I got an early morning text that there was a route that had come open and I should call her supervisor -- which I did right away even though it was only 6:30 in the morning.  Ha -- little did I know that's kind of late for a newspaper person.  I thought I'd jumped all over it but in the end that route went to another carrier who was looking for a bigger route.  But the good news was I got his old route.  Bad news was I started that same day with no chance to look it over or map it out....so that first day was a doozie!  More about that later.  

So the big motivation for starting in this adventure was of course money!!  But I had some conditions -- I still wanted my freedom -- don't we all?!  Our big goal is to become debt free.  We still have a house to sell in our old state -- and a renter in place -- but it's not a comfortable spot to be in.  The real truth is I'm not sure we would qualify for a mortgage even if our old house sold tomorrow.  We really need to pay some stuff down (and close it out!).  So this money is ear marked!!  

Here's the reality though...I need sleep.  So I have my freedom but it's been hindered by body's need for sleep.  I get up at 1:30 and am usually home by 6:30 (that's an average and certain uncontrollable factors are the real determiners).  Then I crash -- I've been crashing until 10:30 or 11 -- but I'm hoping to start getting up a bit earlier.  But the hardest part is getting to sleep for a couple of hours in the evening.  Jane's family goes to bed at 8 pm whenever possible, and gets up at 2 -- and she doesn't go back to bed in the morning.  She's learned how to do this on 6 hours of sleep -- I'm a 7 hour a night girl myself -- but I think I can train my body to go on less it's just going to take some adjusting.  Try as I might I'm not quite in bed by 8 -- I kind of start to get ready for bed then but my lights aren't out until 9 or 9:30.  Then there's the activities that keep us out until after 8 -- and unfortunately they've been numerous. 

The other reality check is the money.  There's not a lot of it with a walking route.  It's more than I had before starting the route though.  So I'm going to take it as a blessing -- hope for a better paying route (SOON!) and a true learning experience.  I'll get in to more of the particulars later -- but let's just say on a per hour basis, I haven't been paid this little in a LONG time.  But I can turn that around and say I'm being paid to go to the gym every day then it's not so bad.  It's all in how you look at it :-)