Wednesday, August 27, 2008

It's Real Life Part 5

Jessica is back at it with her It's Real Life Carnival! This weeks theme was How I Roll.



I thought I would do something a little different, seeing as how I drive for my job, and I spend more time in my work vehicle than I do driving anything else. Before I get started though, I want to let everyone know, especially Krystyn who commented about my pictures the other day, that we rural carriers get a whole 30 minutes for lunch, and since I wait until I get home to eat lunch (and I don't smoke), I usually have a few minutes to spare for picture taking.




So without further adieu, here are my pictures and commentary of how I roll....






The first picture pretty much speaks for itself, just exactly what you would see if you saw me driving down the street.
Wash day was on Monday, it rained Tuesday morning, so it's all covered with mud now, which is how it usually goes. It will be wash day again in another week and a half.





It's kind of hard to see, but the window is only halfway down. I learned early on that halfway is as far as it should go. You can read a little about that on this post, #20.










And there's the door latch that I have a love/hate relationship with. It loves to stick out that far, and I hate it that I have permanent bruises on my right arm from falling into it all the time. And also notice the Avoid Backing Whenever Possible sticker. I usually back up avoid backing about 12 times each day to manuver around people's cars and trashcans. So to avoid backing, I just curb my wheels, put it in park, set my brake, turn off the ignition and take the key out, take off my seatbelt, unlock and open my door, and get out to put the mail in the box. Then I get back in, put my seatbelt on, shut and lock my door, put the key in, start it, take the brake off, and put it in drive. Sounds like a lot, huh?

Here's what it all looks like when I've got it all loaded and ready to go. This particular day was exceptionally light on mail, so it doesn't look like I have much to deliver. It takes me between 2 and 3 hours to run my route. Usually closer to 2.

There's a 2 part seatbelt, you can un-latch the part across your chest so it doesn't choke you when you lean way far out the window to reach those pesky boxes that are just too far away.



And last but certainly not least, the answer to the ever burning question in everyone's mind..."Do you have air conditioning in that thing?"

No, but I gotta fan that will dry the sweat before it runs into my eyes. The trick is to blow enough hot air at you that the sweat just evaporates. We once had a guy who took a thermometer with him and according to that, it's about 8 degrees hotter in the vehicle than outside. So when it's 110 degrees out here in the summer, it's an oven in there.



So there you have it, that's how I roll, in a hot metal box with no air conditioning and no radio, just my thoughts of blogging delivering the mail to keep me company.
And when I go to the grocery store after work, while Seth stays home with the kids to make it easier on me, this is how I roll....

18 comments:

  1. My brother in law would love the audi!

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  2. Hey, no fair, you called me out!! I was totally kidding! I knew you were being safe:)

    I like the tour of your mail car! It's sort of like visiting the fire department. I can't believe you don't have AC when it's 110 outside. We need to have greater appreciation for our mail carriers don't we?

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  3. very interesting - why such a short route - my mailman (same one for 7 years now) works like 10 hour days!!!!! He's always on the phone - (in his ear piece).

    Like your other mode of transportation better! Lovely car!

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  4. This was so cool! I can certainly say I've never seen that much detail about those post office trucks - thanks for sharing that! And your car looks awesome btw

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  5. Kyrstyn- You're too funny. I knew you were kidding, buy hey, I gotta make a little fun. And doesn't everyone wonder?

    Tiaras- I'm a rural carrier, and we tend to do things different. City carriers get paid by the hour, and rural carriers get paid by "salary", so we get to go home when we're finished, they usually drag out the overtime, hence one of the reasons the post office is losing so much money. The rural carriers sort the mail more, and spend more time in the office, while city carriers take everything to the street to sort it.

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  6. That is a cool tour.

    Our rural carriers get to drive their own vehicles. I wonder why.

    I love how you avoid backing. Whew!

    Love how you roll.

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  7. I think I would ignore the avoid backing sticker. In my rural no one would see you anyways. I don't know how many times my mail carrier has "bumped" my trash can into the ditch:)

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  8. Love both of your rides...you roll well, my friend!

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  9. Love your post. I had a friend who delivered mail in Worcester on summer and she walked an eight hour route. She loved the weight she loss but was glad it was jsut a summer job- our winters are tough.


    Love your Audi- dreaming of the day I can fit in a car again...14 years at least. sigh.

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  10. The IRL ride definitely fits the "How I Roll" tag much better!

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  11. LOVE the mail truck! :)
    Feel like a bit of a voyeur...in a good tour kind of way! :)

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  12. Love your Audi! I always wondered what mail car looked like inside... not very lavish huh. Your car makes up for it!

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  13. So cool! What a unique perspective on how you roll! I love the view from the inside of the mail truck! I don't know how you survive in the heat! ugh. That's terrible!
    Love the Audi!

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  14. Really? No mail trucks have a/c anywhere? That really stinks. Okay, so the next summer day when my mail is late I guess I won't curse my letter carrier anymore ;).

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  15. Way to roll! Thanks for the tour of your "box"!

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  16. I've always wanted to see the inside of a mail truck. Now I can check that one off my list. Just got fire truck, ice cream truck, FedEx and police car left to go...

    Wait - scratch police car. Long story.

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  17. No AC or tunes! I think I'd pass on your job. You ever think of getting an ipod or something and a speaker set. Then you could at least listen to music. Thanks for sharing your ride.

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