three day weekend...

so they got me working every other saturday which means every other monday i have off cause of the whole overtime thing. friday was crazy...lots and lots of work. the car board was running about an hour or more behind. the bike board was running about 30 to an hour behind. i got to dispatch pretty much the entire crew which was nice cause i could figure out better routes and what not. i would load most guys up with five at a time and let them loose. called each guy every ten minutes to check on their location to see if i could reroute to pick other packages up. it was one of those days where you basically want to just pick up and worry about the drops later. most clients forget about their packages once its out of sight...

j.dot...just pick up and call me. i'll let you know the order i need them dropped.

i had to tell many of my guys the exact way i wanted them to drop mainly because i wanted to keep better track of where they would be in case of super emergencies. anyway...after a long friday its nice to know you have a three day weekend coming. im happy with my guys who came through for me on friday. very, very few clients called to complain about biked orders. not sure how it happens some days but when the flow is right no matter how silly the day is everyone is happy, even in miserable weather...peace.

misery loves company...

all day today was miserable. work was steady but the weather conditions were horrible enough to make the day very long. from the minute i woke up to the moment i left it was still raining. the rain itself is annoying but you throw in slush, cold weather, chicago wind and the day turns into a complete disaster. not too many orders got done on time today but i did not bother to try and make my guys hustle out a bit more...they had enough to deal with.

6682 quit...6653 and 6688 called in sick, sounded legit...6674 disappeared. 6674 said he lost his i.d. and his state i.d. so he could not access buildings anymore. he asked me to get a new work i.d. printed and he would show up and keep working...no problem. got the i.d. and waited...waited some more...then kept waiting. i tried calling him but his phone was off...he said he was frustrated and pissed off at the day so i am assuming that he decided to just call it a day. i couldn't afford to lose him but there wasn't much i could do.

1168 called me just to say hello. he was working with the other bike dispatcher today. that was super nice especially in a day when everyone is pissed off.


i gotta say...not sure if its nice of me to say that messengers/dispatchers are miserable but with all the complaining we do, today was appropriate. misery definitely loves company...peace.

turkey slows up everyone...

one of the longest days of the year. the day after thanksgiving everyone in the u.s. is busy shopping and not working. it's pretty much pointless for me to show up but it is payday for the bikers and there was still about five jobs that needed to get done. it'll be a quick day for me...i'll get off mid-day and then i'll head home to change and probably get rolling to join the crowds and the shopping.

on another note, wednesday was crazy. the weather was out of control...rain, snow, wind, and cold temps. took a while for bikers to show up...i dont blame them but it does make dispatching nearly impossible. anyway, by the time bikers came in we were slowly playing catch up the entire day. i pretty much was taken off dispatch...voluntarily(hope i spelled that right). i became an order taker and just watched the other dispatcher work. im sure i would've done the same but it was quite entertaining watching him tear the board apart. everytime he heard the magic word..."clean"...he dispatched about 7 to 9 jobs to the biker and left him alone until he heard that word again. meanwhile, i sat in front of a fan answering phones while my pants, tights, socks, and shoes dried. all the soldiers that showed up did an amazing job. im sure the other dispatcher will remember who was there for him...everyone gets hooked up...peace.

lets "talk"...

thursday all day was a giant headache...we had about five bikers and a couple of walkers all day. everything was fine and the work was getting done...although sometimes the work was getting done alot later than expected. we had it under control but i knew that around 1500 or so many companies were gonna start calling in all their last minute deliveries which means that all packages are to be done as soon as possible cause of the 1700 deadline. at this point i tell the operations manager to let the order takers know that we need to start buying 20 to 30 minutes on all deliveries.

everything is fine then around 1615 i had three loop runs headed north...way north but no one to do it. finally i hear those beautiful words..."clean". its 6589 clean around triple three south state which is perfect cause he's about three blocks from the deliveries headed north. he isn't happy at all with the work...

6589...you just made me drop all the way south and now you're gonna send me north?

j.dot...its one of those days. i got no one to rock'em plus its a set of three...it's not like you're going on a single run.

6589...you have no one else to do them?

j.dot...alright. tell me right now if you're gonna do them cause i literally have no one available but if you're gonna be like that i'll take off of you and you can sit.

silence over the radio. i ask again if he's taking them but no response...i assume he's going to rock them. about ten minutes go by and now there are three more up north coming back south. i talk to the other dispatcher about what to do with them and he suggests to dish them to 6589 cause he's headed north and it'll start sending him back towards where he lives. i agree and dispatch them...

6589...now i warned you about this.

j.dot...what are you talking about? you got three going north and three coming back...its a perfect set plus they are drops on your way home...its perfect.

6589...you ain't got no one else? i dare you to talk to me like that when i come pick up my check tomorrow.

j.dot...just get the work done and i'll call you when i get off of work. leave your radio on and i'll meet you so we can "talk" about it.

6589...im not gonna "talk".

j.dot...i didn't think you were but i am more than willing to meet up with you to "talk".

the night finally is over and 6589 calls me cause he needs help with one of the drops. i help him and ask him where he would like to meet. he doesn't want to so i let him know that i would "talk" with him on friday morning cause it would be nice to start the weekend on a good note. he shows up the next morning i go out to meet him and extend my hand...not to apologize or to say hello but just cause what else do i say? he looks at me and we exchange words...im just waiting for the first move but my boss quickly interrupts. he starts to complain about favoritism...how he seems to be the only one running around and he sees other fellow workers just sitting around eating and what not. this is his complaint...that he has too much work. messengers get paid by the delivery...if there is any favorites its him but he doesn't see it that way. not only that...he doesn't seem to remember that i just started with this new company about a month ago. i have no favorites cause i dont know any of them. i refuse to dispatch him...i want a crew that likes to work. i'll take a complaint here and there cause Lord knows i mess up at times but this cat has got problems. on a side note...the weekend was perfect.