cameo...

well, i got word of this video from a couple of my messengers...thanks twenty-one! there's a few cameo's from chicago's soldiers. it's no surprise that dre got the biggest interview...he loves to talk...ha! 6646 is in the background with the yellow shirt, beard, and no helmet!?! silly four-six. also, i remember emily from cbf telling us about this story ways back but never saw it...looking good lady. anywhoo, ride safe people...peace.

buses, tables, and prank calls...

the day was going fine. we were kinda busy but everything was flowing just about right. i had a couple runs on the west end of the loop but i knew 6721 was around the area and the man is good so i wasn't too worried. i noticed he was taking a bit longer than i had expected...i usually can tell how messengers are flowing. you work with these cats long enough you know how long deliveries take them and you begin to realize how much you can push them. 6721 is one of those cats that i can load up and call in between drops to reload.

i started to wonder what was going on...building delay, stop to take a breather, got hit? i call him but no response...i tried a few times but nothing. well, what do i do? im not out there and not sure exactly what route he is taking so i can' tell cats to check on him...i decide to wait it out. im sure everything is fine and i'll hear from him soon enough.

a few minutes go by and i get the call...

6721...two-one!

j.dot...yoooooo, what up?

6721...im sorry im taking forever. this bus almost hit me. it pushed me all the way to the curb and i had to jump off the bike. im a bit shook up...i just needed a minute.

j.dot...o.man.umm...do you need longer? i understand if you do.

6721...naw, i think im ok now. the lady didn't even apologize. she said she honked her horn and that should have been enough.

j.dot...that sucks kid. like i said, if you need more time just let me know.

...he decided to keep rocking and after the jitters went away he as back to his usual self. it sucks...our soldiers constantly have to deal with buses or cabs or just cars in general that don't realize that their vehicle is much bigger and more dangerous than a bicycle. it always amazes me how many messengers deal with near injury/death and just continue to rock as if it didn't happen.

the same day i had 6706 head over to 1 south wack to help the car board...it was slowing down a bit and the order said it was one piece at 11 pounds. 11 pounds?! thats nothing...i know 6706 can handle that noise.

6706...o-6, o-6

j.dot...what up kid?

6706...yo maaan, this thing is a table. umm...it's got wheels though and the drop is just up the street. i can take it if you want?

j.dot...umm, well...the car board is slammed. well, if you promise me that the table wont be damaged and you'll be careful i say take it.

6706...no problem. the table doesn't look like it's in great shape anyway.

...i told him to put it on his back anyway but i doubt he did. although, i should state that i've given the man all kinds of heavy sh*t and he's rocked it without hesitation and/or problems. again, im amazed the stuff messengers deliver sometimes. in no way should he or anyone else be delivering tables or printer size boxes via bicycle but if the money is right...these cats will do the job.

one last thing...lately we've been getting hit with a prank caller. it's no big deal cause the cat only talks to the ladies. something about he'll wear an apron, cook, clean, and do anything they want. if he misbehaves they can spank him. i thought it was quite funny...disturbing but funny. i know everyone at the base appreciated the call...you know, as long as the cat doesn't show up to work it's funny...ha!

sometimes, people in general amaze me...the things that they will do or say...i know, i said one last thing but i'll leave you cats with this...it snowed in certain parts of the chicagoland area...SNOWED!! wtf?! here we go...peace.

sick...

yup...i called in sick today. it's that time of year...flu and colds hit everyone, especially in our office conditions. im sure scott was able to take care of business in my absence. i hope when i wake up in the morning all i have is a soar throat so that i am able to get back to work. the pocket is running kinda thin...ha! anyway, i don't have anything to report but i did get a hello from a familiar face. o.b.1. has dropped me a line and has sent us yet another video all the way from colombia...



i've always enjoyed his vids...simon, he's in columbia. how come you can't get your hands on a track bike? silly venezuela.

smack in the middle there's a nice trick portion. anyway, o.b.1. are you cats flying up and down the express way?!?! holy sh*t! always good to hear from you...peace.

what to do...

6752...five-two.

j.dot...what-up, what-up?

6752...is it slow right now?

j.dot...yeah but i was just about to call you. why? whats up?

6752...umm, nothing really. just wanted to go do some early voting.

...it's a double edge sword for me. i want the man to vote cause it's one of the most important elections of my life but i also want to give him this round trip to put cash in his pocket. i/we decide voting can wait a few minutes...i send him the r/t and as soon as he's done we're still slow enough for him to do his american duty...ha! seriously folks...there's exactly two weeks left...it doesn't matter who you vote for as long as you do...

image from hipster nascar...he's got all the proper links.

well...i guess it matters a little bit. vote obama...peace.

interview...

do you cats have any idea how hard it is to get people to interview?! it's like pulling teeth. i was planning on doing an interview once a month but that didn't quite work out. thats right...im looking at you forty. i forgot that the only thing messengers are fast at is delivering packages and drinking...ha! just jazzin' people...don't take that one to heart. anyway, this last interview forty-one radios me...

1141...im finished with your little questions. umm, they're all one word answers...(slight laugh), actually the questions are kinda boring.

j.dot...it doesn't matter bro. just let me get it. it's not a big deal.

...kinda boring?!! actually, they are kinda boring. im not good at this interview sh*t. i should start asking questions like..."who's the hottest receptionist?" or something like that. anyway, if any of you cats have suggestions that would be great. now, without further bitching...i present to you...1141...

1.why did you decide to messenger?

needed a job. liked to ride!

2.when did you start? has the time been off/on or straight?

10/15/93...straight.

3.what bike did you start on? what do you ride today?

trek road bike...kona cross bike.

4.you've seen many come and go, any stick out in your mind?

vince & gumbis(i can't understand the mans writting...ha! i'll find out what the names are).

5.what your greatest day messengering? worst?

all pretty much the same!

6.if you weren't messengering what would you be doing?

"you want fries with that!"

7.you've been around for a while, what kind of changes have you seen for this industry?

less paper, more technology! tighter security! post 9-11.

8.what kind of changes would you like to see?

more benefits!

9.if you had only one drink...what would it be?

root beerfloat

10.advice for rookies?

don't get killed!

...there you have it. a man of very, very, very few words. i would have thought it would be the opposite the way he talks on the radio(that joke is for scott). gotta say, the answers make alot of sense. i wish i had a picture of him but not only is he a man of few words but he's also very shy...awww! hey, forty-one, whats with the quotation marks after all the answers? i ask but don't expect the answwer...the man is ol'school and doesn't believe in computers...o.man, im a jerk!

anyway, he's been around for 15 years and knows his sh*t. he's our main city board biker...we could run him anywhere in the city. he's also a giant man so i hope my sillyness hasn't offended him cause the last thing i need is forty-one angry at me. well, thank you forty-one...although short, your input is actually right on...peace.

only the strong...

well, the weather is changing. it rained today. it was cold today. it was busy today. we had one cat come in to apply today...wtf?! he's been around for a minute and probably understands that messengers that show up to apply in this weather usually get hired. as for our crew...they did their thing. hustling from package to package as if it wasn't cold and wet out. i know most of them will tough it out this year but i always wonder who will stay and who will go. who will decide...this is the last year. as long as we stay busy most cats will stay and play.

thank you to all our crew today...we got our as*es handed to us. work all over the city on a crappy day. then again, i should have known...most busy days are crappy weather wise...peace.

no love...

yet again the car board gets all the love. we have guests come in and as they make their way into our office they immediately notice that the bike board has run 88 and 89% in the past couple of days and the city board has run 92 and 95%. now what they don't see is that monday was a holiday so some cats took the day off and some cats left early leaving me to handle the late rush with half-a-crew. even scott left me...in all fairness we had no idea it would all of a sudden pick up. he wouldn't leave unless we were super slow...unlike me(ha!).

i was left to deal with solo after solo cause companies were trying to get last minute deliveries done before other companies closed. one company in particular called in 16 solo's...this means 16 orders that all have to be done in a half hour...wtf?! i call up five-two cause he's holding a hat trick headed north. i dish him 3 solos going in his direction. 6721 is cleaning up around cityfront so i tell him to hustle over the river to pick-up five going southwest...the solos are popping out of 233 north michigan. im running out of options when 6718 calls me at the mart holding a jackson. i run him all the way across for a set of five going right where his jackson is headed...i didnt feel so bad running him across cause at least they are solos and they are going with the one he's holding. 6731 is holding a mart around 20 mich...perfect..."go grab the rest headed towards the apparel center". right next door to the mart...voila.

when it flows right it feels soooo good. not all the packages made it on time but it sure was close. the day we got 89% well, there were over 750 orders on that day with over 350 orders on the bike board...oh yeah, almost forgot, on both days we helped the car board.

as usual i always thank my crew for the hustle. especially on the days when i run them wild. i know its not me out there and the least i can do is thank them for hustling. i also know that good dispatching makes the day flow just right...ha! look at me...making myself look good again...peace.

video.video.video...

why do messengers have to shave? seriously. san francisco has 15 minute runs?! holy sh*t! there's no way we could do that. it's funny how clients want work done fast but at the same time messengers are supposed to obey traffic laws.





...if you watch closely you'll see a guest appearance from joey love.







ok...so i know most of you probably have seen these videos but they're new to me and i thought they were funny. "the greek" is a funny dude. f*cking ladies on the 15th floor...come on! give me a break. did you guys hear the rates?! holy sh*t...messenger were rich as f*ck back in the day? the x-men are a badass crew...joey love migrated to chicago and still is the best cling-on i have ever seen. i saw that dude hook off of one skitch going west and then right into another going north...that sh*t was bananas. the dispatcher dude is funny as hell to...we're not all jaded the way he is...wait, we might be?

oh yeah...thank you messmedia.org for keeping these vids up for us to view. after watching them...maybe messengering isn't just a job?

in the end...

friday was much different than thursday was. the crew all came out to play. even two-nine who sometimes doesn't show up and when he does he shows up at ten, one, two, well...you get where im going with that one, showed up bright and early around 8ish. it was nice to have everyone especially cause we had a pretty busy day on our hands. it wasn't an insanely busy day but it was steady...i love steady. keeps the crew moving and prevents me from looking at my fantasy football page for the 23rd time in a day.

the weather was great, the work flowed, we were even able to help out the car board and give our guys some of that loot. oh yeah, today, oct. 11th, 2008 is my birthday. we celebrated yesterday which is another reason why yesterday was so nice. also, friday is payday and the start of the weekend. things could not have gone better to kick off my b-day celebration.

well, enough about me(ha!)...i invited some messengers to come out and join me in celebration. i even told 5-8 who i have only known now for about two weeks or so to come thru...im glad i did. the man is a rookie and it was cool talking to him about the job. he has no idea what an alley-cat is, no idea that there are national messenger championships let alone, world messenger championships. he literally just views this job as...well, a job. huh?!

he goes to school on the far northwest side of chicago and bikes in right after school. he's a late start but will stay late with me. he also has class at night on certain days so he bikes in from school...works...then bikes back to school. holy sh*t! thats dedication. he wants to get faster so that he can make more money. he notices cats are starting to say hello to him but doesn't really think much of it...it's cool. he's lost his radio, keys, and had a bike stolen already but he's still needs a job so he keeps trucking. i should state that his keys and radio were found.

it's refreshing to talk to a cat like this because in the end this is just a job. sure it's one of the more dangerous jobs out there but it's still just a job. it's a means to an end. all my bitching and moaning about cats not showing up, irate customers, angry bosses, and stuff like that is just part of the job. i asked him why he decided to messenger which is something i ask alot of cats and he simply responds..."i just needed a job". he's not pissed off at the world...yet. i've seen many come in with this mentality...let's see how long it holds up. if this industry comes close to breaking him im going to try and remind him that this is just a job...peace.

what about the dispatcher?

well...as you may or may not know, today was bike messenger appreciation day. our company set up a basket with apples, candy, chocolate, and silly stuff like that for the cats that came to work. not much but a nice gesture. i punched in and made my way to my desk and logged into my computer.

everything seemed ok until i logged on to the bike board...wtf?!! work all over the place with the first page of work slowly making itself red. whats red? red is bad...very bad. it doesn't quite mean that it's late but it definitely doesn't mean we have a great chance of making the package on time. turns out that most of the crew decided to take messenger appreciation day as a holiday. from 8 to 11 or so we had about 4 cats...thats right FOUR! the car board was asking us for helpers and all we did was laugh at them. do you people know how big chicago is?! you can't cover the damn city with only four bikers. thats just ridiculous.

well, there we were, patiently sitting and waiting for our riders to show up. minutes turned into hours and nothing. thank God we at least had four cats to work with...at about 9ish i got a call from 6706...

6706...o-6, o-6.

j.dot...yo, what up? good morning.

6706...hey, im good to go at the thompson center. i just finished being appreciated.

...after he called me i was hoping the rest of the crew was taking advantage of the breakfast cdot set up for the bike messengers of chicago. that wasn't the case. o-6 took advantage of it but the rest...well, they f*cked us over. turns out bike messenger appreciation day = f*ck your dispatcher as hard as possible day. slowly the calls started coming in..."where's my package? when are they going to pick up my package? whats going on today?" we had no answers except to let everyone know that we were short staffed today.

well, we did what we could with the soldiers that showed up to play in traffic. slowly they started showing up but only because management started calling them at home...ha! i didn't tell them to call them but they knew we were in trouble if we didn't. im glad they did. by 1400 we finally leveled out. work slowed up again and instead of it being crazy it was just steady. we were even able to help the car board out a bit.

sometimes i love my crew but today wasn't one of those days. today the love/hate struggle with messengers continued. i won't forget the cats that showed up to help. i also won't forget the cats that showed up late or didn't show up. it doesn't make any sense...it was beautiful out. not too hot, not too cold, sun shinning, and, well, perfect. i should have known by the weather that something was wrong. for now i leave you today...not with my usual "peace" but with...

now thats appreciation...

it's official...from the mayor himself...

click on pic to enlarge...

sure they have a nice breakfast set up but somehow a cold brew after work always tasted better...

Why? Because 10-9 is the radio code for “please repeat” and messengers should be appreciated for their year-round work.

Bike messenger appreciation will start with free breakfast from 8 to 9 a.m. at the Thompson Center courtesy of Mayor Daley and the City of Chicago. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation will host a happy hour after work at Mother Hubbard’s (State/Hubbard) where the first 150 messengers who show their company ID will receive a free beer.

Spread the word to any messengers you know about these events and that you appreciate their work!

thank you cbf but lets hope my crew doesn't get too happy...we still have to work on friday...peace.

old news...new...

well, i talked about an anti-dooring campaign that chicago had started a while back. well...they are trying to make another run with a new and improved sticker to spread the news about looking out for cyclist...

click here to help donate...

once again i must thank the cbf and especially chris ege(spelling?) for the heads up on this. i posted it and saw the stickers throughout chicago and was wondering if it would continue. it's cool to know that it has. thank you to any and all for this campaign...for more info visit their site at anti-dooring.org. remember people, keep two eyes on the road at all times. especially in the downtown areas...my soldiers are out there trying to make a living...peace.

bike messenger appreciation day...

you know...every year i feel like it happens on a different date. sh*t...i thought this was in the summer...is there more than one? in any case...cdot have put together a nice breakfast for chicago messengers...



...so far it looks like it's shaping up to be nice messenger appreciation day. you know, weather wise...lets hope that keeps up. i hope our crew knows how much me and scott look out for them and appreciate all their work on a daily basis. sh*t...i wouldn't have a job without you cats out there. you guys are truly "the wind beneath our wings"...



In messenger radio code, 10/9 means repeat the message. This week, 10/9 meant the start of Messenger Courier Appreciation Week, a time to recognize the contributions of a group that more often than not is criticized for its traffic-dodging, stoplight-running and pedestrian-frightening ways.

...the rest of the article could be found at messmedia. btw...you take your chances saying "happy messenger day" to messengers. some will say thank you. some will look at you funny. some will tell you to f*ck off. in my opinion...just give them a dollar to show your appreciation...ha!

thank you to steve vance and emily willobee(did i spell your name right?) for the heads up on the breakfast and their hard work at the chicago bike federation...peace.

i don't want trouble but...

this story is pretty good. at least i think so. anywhoo, this doesn't have to do anything with bicycles but it does pertain to messengers. we received a call for a car run...pick up in fond du lac, wisconsin or somewhere way up there. i don't remember the actual place but it's probably best. well...it's a cash call and it's paying very good money. the man agrees to the price and now we have to figure out how the hell we're going to get a driver to go all the way there. i guess it isn't hard but you have to be willing to lose the driver for the rest of the day cause it's a long a$$ drive.

they call up 6518 and give him the news. he gladly accepts it because he knows the pay will be worth it. cool...no big deal. he heads out for the pick up but it's getting really late in the day. calls begin to go back and forth with the person who placed the the order. he wanted the package to come to our base and he would pick it up around 3am or so. not a big deal because there's someone at the building at any given hour...we're a 24hr, 365 days a year, operation. time goes on and a few more phone calls begin to take place...this time, it wasn't the man who placed the order on the other line.

the dispatcher on staff at the time had no idea what was happening. she was under the impression that this order was like any other pain in the butt cash order...ugh! well, come to find out...the people that were calling the base to check on this order were part of a national law enforcement agency...i rather not say which one but while on my honeymoon i saw a shirt that said...Female Body Inspector(*wink-wink*). well, it turns out they thought the actual person who placed the order would be the one showing up to pick up the package. when they saw that it was one of our guys they immediately called our company to see what we were doing with it and where it was going. they didn't question the driver...instead they kept the whole thing going as if nothing was happening.

well...some of them showed up to the base to get more details. they sat inside with our dispatcher telling her that this whole thing was part of some sting operation to bust a credit fraud thief for some sh*t. while they sat in the office talking to the dispatcher there were others following the package down from wisconsin. our driver had no idea...

agent...can i ask you something?

dispatcher...sure.

agent...is it common for your drivers to get off the highway?

dispatcher...what? sure? you know, sometimes they need a bite to eat, they get sleepy and want some coffee, they need to use the bathroom, they need gas...there's a bunch of reasons, why?

...they were tailing our driver the entire way all while keeping communication with the cat that was at base with our dispatcher. holy sh*t!! this is the type of sillyness you see on t.v...how exciting?!?! anyway, the agents want our dispatcher to see if she could get the man who placed the call to come to our base sooner rather than later. she calls him and notifies him that the building will shut down at midnight and it would be in his best interest to come and get the package. he argued that he was told he come and get it whenever but the dispatcher quickly convinced him that he was given the wrong info.

well...time goes by and the driver pulls up. the package is at base and the man is coming to get his order. the agents want the dispatcher to keep him busy inside the building while they tag the car...wtf?! what the hell is she supposed to do? offer the man coffee? anyway, she takes her time with the receipt for the cash call but the agents don't do a very good job or something goes wrong. they are under the impression that the person who has arrived to pick up the package isn't who they want but somehow the dispatcher convinces them that it is. so now...she gets him to come back inside while they set up...he comes out and they all run and arrest the guy.

dispatcher...i felt so bad. the kid was so stupid. there's no way he was older than 25...wtf is he thinking? ugh...it was exciting. the agents asked me how im so good at this and i said, "i watch alot of csi".

God i love t.v...peace.