Winter's Wrath

Hey all...long time, no post!

I hope everyone is doing well, and staying warm this winter.

We are having one hell of a time here! This has been an unusual winter so far, and I can honestly say, I'm tired of it. Bring on the sun and warmer temperatures! I can't believe I'm saying that, I'm a winter lover....and I do still love it, especially the fresh coatings of snow, but this one has a hold on us, and I'm not seeing any end in sight. Things started out rough with tons of freezing rain, which made for impossible travel. We then went into snow mode, got like 5 inches, and then off and on snow showers for days. Oh yeah, and don't forget those below 0* days, those were fun! One night, the actually temperature was -18*, windchill was something like -35*. That's cold. Too cold!!! For those of you who don't know, I deliver newspapers. Not the greatest job in the world, but it allows for me to do everything that needs to be done and work. My route is 87.5 miles every night, plus a 15 mile drive to and from. The to and from isn't so bad, as it is state highway all the way, but my route is a country route, so the roads are naturally awful. I have been doing this same route for 8 years now and in that time, I have only been towed out 4 times. I don't think I'm doing too bad in that area, however, if the roads are bad, we are given the choice to use our best judgement and go home. I can only remember maybe 4 or 5 times in the 8 years pulling off my route and going home, even if it took me 3 times as long to deliver. Well, one of those days was Saturday the 10th, because of freezing rain. It was like driving on a mirror with water on it. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, go find a mirror and put a layer of water on it, see how dang slick it is. I am in constant contact with my District Manager, and that morning, I had just finished sliding down a hill sideways when I made the call to go home. She informed me that it was my call, and to put my safety first. So, I went home. I don't recieve customer information from the weekend until Tuesday morning (as no one works on Saturday or Sunday to print it.....grrrrrrrrrr), so, come Tuesday morning, I got a poor service stop. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? I couldn't keep my car on the road, and I got a poor service stop? So, whatever, I'm still angry, and probably will be for quite some time. I have been spending countless hours on those roads, fighting ice, snow, school buses, snowplows, and trash trucks through this nasty weather, most nights spending double the time out there, and a few spending triple the time. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, however, I'm trying to understand why it is that some people just don't get it. I mean, if YOU have to leave early to get to your destination, don't you think it's gonna take me some extra time to get to you? And yes, I know that 2 hours later than normal seems like a lot, but if you take into account the fact that I drive 87.5 miles, then that is about right. Of course, in order to understand that, then you would actually have to think that maybe I deliver more than just 1 or 2 roads. Right now, I have 165 customers daily and 188 on sunday. That's how many times I have to slide to a stop, spin to get going, and that's not even counting stop signs and turnarounds. Give me a break! Oh, and my favorite line....the mailman got here on time, why didn't you? Oh, MY GOD! Did it ever occur to you that the mailman is out in the daytime when it is 10-20* warmer, and the paper carrier has already made a PATH? Yeah, think about it....when I start, I usually am making a path through freshly fallen/plowed snow. Ergo, the mailman has a much easier time. Plus, the mailman only works 6 days a week and has freakin' holidays off! You wanna know when the last "real" day off I had was? August 16, 2004. I took 2 days off to get married. Oh yeah, and then there's that little thing called money. They make a LOT more than we do. I make 1.00 a week, per 7 day customer. It sounds cheap...in fact it is, especially knowing how much they pay for that stupid thing. It adds up nicely, plus I do get a gas allowance, so that helps too. So, anyone out there who is reading this, and mad at their paper carrier for not getting there on time....stop and put yourself in their shoes for a minute.

Wow, didn't know I needed to vent that badly! Sorry about that!

My purpose of this post was not to vent, honestly, but to say that I'm sorry for not being around as much as I expected to be this January. I have been so tired that all I want to do is sleep and eat and sleep some more. Plus, I'm trying this thing where I actually keep up with my work around the house.....so far so good. One of my resolutions this year! I do believe that I am getting in a groove with that and will be able to stay on top of things. However, on the same note, I'm getting sick again, so it may fall by the wayside this week. I hope I don't get that bad....but we'll see.

Also, I'm excited! K-mart is having Super Double Coupons this week! Doubled up to $3.00! Holy macaroni!!!!!!!!!! (wow, is this what my life has come to? Excited over double coupons.....) I have some coupons that I have been hanging on to for just such an occasion.....and they are good ones too, some are $2.00 and 2.50 each! WOO HOO!!!!!!! I'll be sure to let ya'll know when I get there how I did. I'll also be on the hunt for some good online coupons this week, so if you know of any, let me know too! I'm hoping to stock up on some essentials....and some not so essentials too. HA!

I still haven't had much time for my sewing, or well, anything, and that's gonna change this week, I hope. I know I still have my Christmas layout and music on here, and I'll get to that first, hopefully tonight. It takes me a few minutes to change it, unlike my MySpace page, I can change that in 30 seconds flat. And I will get to phone calls and emails this week too....I'm just learning to live on less sleep. LMAO, I don't know how much less I can do, but we'll see!

Alright, on that note, I'm off to bed, see ya'll soon!

Have a great Monday!
Christy