This past couple of weeks in the new job have been excellent... until yesterday, but we'll get to that.
As my supervisor noted on Wednesday, "You're coming in later and later and getting back earlier and earlier." This is a good thing. The object is to make that outgoing truck, which shows at 5:45 on weekdays and 4:45 on Saturdays.
I mentioned earlier that Jim Regular had to finish his oral surgery process on Wednesday. What he hadn't counted on was that his daughter would become dehydrated from excessive vomiting (the result of a virus) and have to be hospitalized overnight. This happened on Wednesday. The same day that the brakes went out on my wife on her way home from work. She's fine, no accident. The car has a brake fluid leak.
What this means is 1. Jim Regular needed someone to deliver the route for him on Thursday, and 2. Jim Sub (that's me) was not available to do it becuase he had no car.
Unfortunately for all involved, no other subs were available either. And on Thursday morning I found myself having to deliver all manner of mail out of a postal vehicle, the famed LLV (Long Life Vehicle). You've seen them before. They're those stylin' white boxy trucklike things. They're designed for mail delivery and they are very well thought out. However, they are not designed for icy, snowy, slippery surfaces.
Oh, and we had an ice storm on Thursday as well. Did I mention that?
Well, after three good to great days on the job, I had a horrible day yesterday. I still feel bad about the multiple missed deliveries; mailboxes that I, unaccountably, drove right past. It sounds silly but the change in perspective from being three or four feet higher in the LLV than in a car makes a big and disorienting difference.
I made the truck though (yes, only because the truck was late, but I did make it). Jim Regular was back today (I think) but I don't know what happened with his daughter. I hope she's okay, and that he's not too upset with me for making hash of his route.
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