it could be worse?

there's a few companies that still use open channel radio's...never worked with them so not sure how good they are or what the benefits would be. i'm sure it's like alot of other services where it has it's pros and cons. the main and noticeable feature is that everyone in the company can pretty much hear what goes on. this means messengers can hear everything you're dishing out and to who you're dishing it to. it's not that big of a deal, especially if you're a fair dispatcher...you know, spreading the love properly. i can see it becoming a problem for a few riders that might make them feel a bit left out and what not.

ever since i started my career in the delivery business we've used nextel. as a messenger it wasn't that big of a deal. we had pagers where the work would be, well...paged to. then we used the nextel to chirp the dispatcher to communicate that we received the page, that we picked up, and that we dropped off. usually the dispatcher had two phones cause when you work with more than 10 messengers it can be somewhat difficult for messengers to get through because others are tying up the phones. either way...not a big deal. nextel was alright...like i said, the only problem was trying to get through to the dispatcher at times but thats because other messengers were doing that as well. sometimes the phone would show that there was "no service"...again, not that huge of a deal. this was usually because of elevators or you were in a silly building of sorts.

well...nextel, as some of you may know, merged with sprint. not good...not good at all. for some reason the level of service went waaaaaaay down. not only that, messenger companies, especially the one i work at, got rid of the whole paging system. you know, no need for two contraptions for messengers to carry around...now you get the page through the phone and you get to talk to the dispatcher through the phone. it's like killing two birds with one stone...right?! well, although it sort of is killing two birds with one stone, it is also very problematic. once we page the jobs out the messenger gets his/her text. once the messenger begins reading his text he is in "data". if the messenger is in data then there is absolutely no way of communicating with him/her. the phone will not allow you to chirp and talk to the messenger. you have to keep pressing the chirp button till the nextel gods allow you to get through and communicate with the messenger. see...you have to try and talk to the messenger and let them know exactly what you are paging him/her. now, i know what you're thinking...why do you have to tell them if you're paging them? simple...not all the pages go through. so...i call my messengers and notify them that they have x amount of pick-ups and where they are. if i don't then i run the risk of the packages not being picked up which is not good for the client, the messenger, and me...yes, i get yelled at also. i know what you're thinking now...why don't you call the messenger before you page the jobs? well...i do but it doesn't work all the time. there's locations throughout chicago that for some reason will make the messenger unavailable...what?! now i can't call my messenger...wtf?! also, during down times our messengers go through their pages and make sure they got everything...you know, make sure no packages weren't picked up, make sure their manifests/log sheets are filled out properly, and so on. this means they are back in, you guessed it, "data". cant get a hold of them when they are in "data"...ugh! also, ever since the merger there are a lot more locations throughout chicago that nextel doesn't seem to service...well, as a delivery service for chicago this might be a problem...oh wells.

not sure what the solution could be. maybe if i write a letter to nextel to get them to separate from sprint things could go back to the way they were. at least then the only problem you would have getting through would be the fault of other messengers talking too much to the dispatcher. i could live with that one problem as opposed to the hundreds more i have with nextel/sprint. i guess things could be worse...we could go back to using pay phones...do those even exist anymore?

i can't breathe...

work has been work...nothing spectacular happening. nothing new to report. we lost another messenger...6700 or double-o as i called her. she wasn't the fastest but definitely wasn't bad either...oh wells. we didn't go ahead and hire anyone to replace her cause there just hasn't been enough work to keep cats happy. i find myself hooking cats up on a day to day basis...meaning, if 6723 got hooked up on tuesday then 6721 gets hooked up on wednesday. it's the best i can do...you give these cats one or two nice days then the week doesn't seem like to much of a waste(i hope).

6723 has been having some troubles as of late. not sure whats going on with the cat but things seem to be stacking up on him. he goes to school at night and works full-time hours...sometimes more. i work him hard but he doesn't mind at all. sure, he might fall asleep in class but needs the loot to be able to be at least present in class. today 6723 got a super late start...

6723...man. im sorry. got up late. shitty night and morning. im coming in.

j.dot...no worries kid. we could use your help right now.

...at the time we did have some steady work coming in so his presence would have been nice. i noticed it was taking him alot longer than usual to check in so i called him...

j.dot...yo kid. where you at?

6723...man. i told you im having a shitty day. forgot my damn lock at home and had to go back. im just not feeling it today. im sorry...i'll be in.

j.dot...no worries. umm, you coming in from the south end right? well...rock out this car run coming out the south for me.

...the whole day he was down and out. didn't know what to do. i mean, what should i do? i don't do anything but keep giving him work as it comes. he never bothers to call in saying he's clean...which is unusual for him. i can tell something is really bothering him but we're at work and now isn't the time to see what the deal is. after work over some brews i have no problem having heart to heart with cats(i'm a dispatcher/babysitter/friend/brother/father/who knows what) but when it's time to work...well, it's time to work. around two or so he tells me he needs a lunch break...no big deal. i tell him to give me a call when he's good to go...he says, "that'll be tomorrow around 830am"...those are the last words i heard. i also didn't bother calling him back cause i figured he needed the day to chill. the last thing i need is a messenger riding around without his head on straight...too dangerous for that.

on another note, we/i work in an office with no circulating air. there are three windows but they do not open. we can't get fresh air in there at all...it sucks. this is also the season for allergies and Lord knows i can't breathe at all during this season. my eyes have been very itchy and irritated and my nose is stuffed like crazy. i noticed at work we have two plants in the office. never really understood why...because they barely get sun-light and i don't think people water them. i heard from another dispatcher the other day that the reason for the plants is to provide fresh air for the office...wtf?! are you serious? im all for plants but all they have to do is make one of the three windows be able to open...it's common sense. well, looks like im gonna have to be popping pills to try and battle this allergy season...see, dispatchers have to deal with shitty conditions also...peace.

up, down, and sometimes...

well...what do i say? 6463 calls me...

6463...six three.

j.dot...what up?

6463...hey, im at the drop but can't drop it.

j.dot...what? why?

6463...im stuck in the elevator. don't know what to do.

...i start laughing. i mean, why not? there's nothing i can do but laugh at poor 6463's misfortune. the day was slow and the last thing he wanted was to get stuck in the elevator. you always hear stories but in my entire career in the delivery business i only recall one other person i know to get stuck. i asked six-three if he hit the emergency button and talked to security. i asked him if there was any nice looking ladies locked up with him but our phones started breaking up and didn't quite get a response.

i call up the company sending the package and inform them that their package might be late. the receptionist can't believe whats happening but understands. she calls the company it's going to so that they can call the security of the building to let my messenger out. i think he was locked up for a total of 20 minutes or so...might have been less. either way, as a messenger, even if it was only for 2 minutes it probably felt like 4 hours. he got out, delivered the package and all was good.

today wasn't a very busy day...it was somewhat steady at times but nothing to write home about. the good thing about today is that it finally seems like the good weather is here to stay...



sure it looks a bit rainy but warms days from here on in...peace.

day off...

i had the opportunity to take the day off on friday...finally. i've had days off before but it felt like a long time since my last day off. this one was especially nice cause the weather was great, i got to ride around town, and i got paid for it. i stopped by 4star to drop off some brews for helping me out the other day. it was good to talk to mike g...always a cool cat. didn't get to see any of the rest of them cause they were busy rocking out the work.

from there i took off towards madison and wacker were i got to say hello to the lovely gina. she loves and hates messengers as much as i do so it's always a great time talking to her. plus, i get to hear all the latest gossip going around town. you know, who's still working, what companies are rocking out work, who's locked up, who's dating who, and so on. always a great time with gina. while chilling there with her i was hoping to see some faces and taking pics of them...only two cats showed up that i knew.

jerry...i've known this cat for some time now. he works at arrow with me so he doesn't quite count as an old face. he doesn't look fast and his bike definitely doesn't either but this man is a horse...at least when he shows up(ha!). he's a good man and isn't afraid of me pushing him to the limit...did i just say that?





raul...i met raul way back when i used to messenger. he was always good to me...you know, always said hello, let me bum a smoke, and was just a chill cat. we always keep meaning to meet up and catch some fire games but never do...oh wells.



i rode towards thompson center where alot of cats hang out...didn't recognize anyone. didn't bump into anyone else the rest of the day. saw a few cats but they were busy riding and didn't want to disturb them. don't know what i was expecting...i should've known better. this industry has one of the highest turnover ratios that there's no way i would've recognized 50% of the riders out there. it was still cool to see gina and nice to see some old faces riding around.

it was also very nice to have the day to ride around downtown...why? cause i got to see all the construction going on...this is crucial for a dispatcher. now i know what streets to expect delays on and i get to see new buildings going up. the building thing is especially important cause sooner or later we're going to get work coming out of them and i need to be able to help my crew get to them. i need to be able to understand what my crew is dealing with. alot of times dispatchers lose touch with what goes on out there...sure, alot of things stay the same but if i can understand and witness new obstacles the crew has to deal with then i can be that much better at my job...peace.

stolen bike...reunited...

ok...on tuesday april the 15th i received a call from my fiancee. usually i get calls from her telling me how much she loves me...that day it was different. she tells me someone stole her bicyle...wtf?!! i try my best to console her but am failing. not much i can do...i probably would react the same way, tears and anger. we hang up with each other and now i go in to panic mode...so many emotions/feelings running through my head. i can't even dispatch properly...i start sending people to the wrong addresses and sometimes i just ignored calls.

i regain my cool...somewhat. i immediately start texting everyone i know that bikes...every single messenger who's saved in my phone gets a text. the other bike dispatcher sends out a mass text to our crew about what happened. i begin to get text messages back about how sorry they are that this happened and they will keep their eyes peeled. my crew calls me one at a time to get as many details as possible. her bicycle is so distinct that somehow i knew we would find it...we did!!

i get a phone call close to six o'clock. it's al(the whole time im calling him adam)...he tells me he has the bike at his house. i start freaking out...make some phone calls and my favorite person in the world, michelle, heads out with her car to retrieve the bike. the bike was fine...only the rear tube was missing. don't know why the tube was missing but it was. i'm very happy we got the bike back...still shady on the details on how the bike was stolen, who took it, and so on.

one of my messengers said that another messenger saw a man walking around with the bike...he approached the gentleman inquiring about the bike and the man asked for 100.oo bucks for it. the messenger then punched the man and took the bike back to his crib. this is when they realize who it belongs to and i get the bike back. i have also heard that it was another messenger who stole my sh*t...NOT COOL!! see, as much as i sit around defending you cats then you go around stealing other peoples property. i really hope that the first story is the way it went down. that messengers were heroes and not dipsh*ts. thank you to everyone...seriously...who helped me get my bike back. i owe you cats a brew or three...it's much appreciated. to the cat who stole it...messenger or not...i don't even know what to say. good luck in life kid...life has a tendency to take back what you're stealing.



this is the lovely miss casual's bicycle...



this is the lovely miss casual holding her bike...



she locks up at michigan and ohio...please, everyone...keep your eyes open for it. thank you.

what?!

when riding out there sometimes you have no choice but to come up with innovative ways to keep the bike rolling. i'm sure everyone who rides a bike knows the dollar bill trick...if there's a gash in your tire just fold up a dollar bill and place it between your tire and the tube and you should be ok(for a minute). sometimes you have to just deal with a slow leak so you pump your tire up every three drops or so. if you lose your lock you place the lock through the the wheels to make it look like it's locked and hope to God no one takes it. you can use tubes to tie up bigger packages on your back or on your bike. never have i seen this...





6723 swears he's been rocking his bike like this for quite some time now...it doesn't look safe and it doesn't look like it works but the man is fast and i won't question how or on what he does the work...peace.

tax season...

i am tired...tired, tired, tired. sure i wasn't the guy riding but today just got to me. from the minute i sat down to the a few minutes after i left...i'll explain. it's tax season in the u.s. and anyone that works in the messenger field knows that these are the busiest days in our lives. i worked with 6723, 6706, 6731, 6463, 6665, and 6629. occasionally i heard from others but mainly worked with these cats.

6723...he usually works the ten to six shift. no big deal. today, thank God he checked in an hour early. the minute he showed up i hit him with about four quick runs. didn't give him one break. around one o'clock he calls me that he needs to pound down a quick burger from mcdonald's or something...needs the energy. no problem...i worked him hard all day, the least i could do is give him 10 minutes to breathe. i gave him his break but called him every two minutes to see if he was ready to go...i know that must have been annoying but as he put it..."why are you apologizing? we're finally busy i just needed a quick minute...im ready to roll".

6706...worked him just as hard. the thing that sucks is that this kid kept getting stuck waiting at docks and the elevators were not kind. not to mention that at times his packages were not ready or people were taking their time signing for packages...you've got to be kidding me. it only takes two minutes tops to get a sig but for some reason some drops were just taking forever. i really wish that would've never happened to him. i wanted to hook him up all day but the elevator gods were against him.

6731...bless this mans soul. he was not feeling good at all...he called me after about 15 runs or so wanting to go home. he said he would rock out a few more but definitely was not feeling it. he would call me coughing up a lung and, at times, sounded like he was vomiting. holy sh*t!! he was a true soldier...i told him that i could really use his help as long as he could cause we were just stacked with work. the man stayed until about 430 when i dished him his last run. not one time did he say..."thats it, i just cant anymore". instead, he apologized for going so slow today...what?! i owe him big for today.

6463...his a bit older and not as quick as the three mentioned above but he rocked out the work for me as well. we did have a couple of orders that we(we meaning him and i) messed up on. there was some miscommunication and packages were not picked up or packages that were not supposed to be picked up were. really sucked...all we could do is apologize to the client and let them know that the next available messenger would fix the problem. i apologized to six-three for the communication problems because i could tell he was beginning to get frustrated...i hoped it worked cause we're gonna need him tomorrow.

6665...the minute she showed up she let me know that she was hurting bad. she knew we needed her and she stuck it out for as long as she could. she stuck around till about three and just couldn't bike anymore...oh wells.

6629...he's pretty slow. also a bit older but still works hard. the way i have to dispatch him is give him as many orders as i can and just hope he gets them done in time. i usually don't bother him until he calls me clean. other messengers i can take them off their routes but not two-nine...it messes everything up. he still rocks out work but at a different pace.

these last days for taxes can be very tiring both mentally and physically. yes, it is very tiring for the dispatcher also...i have to deal with alot of upset clients as well as dish out proper routes to get the work done in a timely manner. all while taking other orders and dealing with rechecks, meaning tracking down packages and looking for pod's.

the days have been slow so my crew doesn't seem to mind me keeping them rolling. i hope i didn't overdue it with them because we have another day of madness ahead of us and i will definitely need my crew to bring their "A" game...peace.