Yβall know what tomorrow is. I have a lot to be thankful for.
A home. A family. A good job. So very blessed to have all I have.
I complain to much about what happens and not the results of what happens good or bad.
I need to change that. I will change that.
The boss called me today about my new part-timer, and she’s the lady I mentioned the other day.
He asked me if I was going to talk her up to him. I told him I didn’t need to. Sheβll show him. I have all the faith in the world in that. She impressed me when we worked together years ago.
I’m thankful Iβll be getting some help.
I’m thankful that at fifty-three years old, I’m still working and learning.
I learn little things to make my days easier at work every day.
Tomorrow morning I’m learning yet another thing on the truckβoxygen sensors.
I have splurged and bought ze fancy French onez.
Bank 2 Sensor 1 is failing, causing the fuel system to work in a closed-loop, according to the log.
I don’t understand all of it, but I know where that oxygen sensor is and how to change it.
This is causing misfires. I can’t feel them but the OBD can read them. The truck starts a little rough but settles in quickly after starting out if the drive. My MPG has actually increased by .5 miles per gallon.
If it weren’t for the OBD reader and a check engine light, I probably wouldn’t notice.
It’s good to learn new things. I feel like I’m tweaking this here and there and I can’t really complain about twenty-two year old parts failing.
I’ve been without help at work for about a month, maybe a month and a half.
Today I stopped by one of my stores in the way home. I wasn’t supposed to be there but I got lucky.
I ran into Deena.
Deena was the department manager over wireless when I first started working that store. She’s always on time, a hard worker, neat and presentable. Great with people.
She had a few health problems, which luckily she has overcome.
And lucky for me, she’s looking for part-time work.
We were a good team as vendor and department manager. We would be great working together in the same capacity.
Building relationships in business, not just because of business, can play out pretty well for you sometimes.
Over time we became friends. Good friends. Friends who might even end up in trouble with HR together. We have a similar dark sense of humor.
I’m hoping this works out.
Sometimes you have to go through some crap to get to where you need to be.
We have a βregularβ shipment each week to be worked at each store. In it are all the minor parts and pieces, demos, signage, and such that you see but never really think about as a customer.
Last week it was late, really late. Like it showed up on Friday late. So there is a scramble to get work done from last week because of that. And now the shipment for this week hasn’t arrived. It’s Wednesday.
Next week is a short week due to Thanksgiving. I would be thankful if my gear would show up.
I’m not a perfectionist, but I do the job to my satisfaction which is above what is expected of me by my company.
The signs are there for direction, safety, important things happening right now. They aren’t just to add a splash of color to the roadside.
Yes, please do speed up and merge safely; that’s appreciated.
I know you could see me. I don’t know where you were hurrying to. But I’ll bet it wasn’t worth my life.
Also, I can guarantee you in the battle between metal truck and plastic minivan; I know who would have been coming out to the better.
And for the love of God, don’t sit at a stoplight with traffic blocking you in screaming and cursing at a complete stranger. There’s no strategic advantage. At the best of times, it’s a bad idea. Nowadays, it’s the absolute worse thing to do.
If I were a βbadβ guy, I could have done you serious harm. You had no way out of your position.
But I’m not. You’re lucky it was me.
Also, way to speak in front of your two kids in the back.
PSA TIME
On the inside of your car, these turn signals usually appear as green arrows facing the direction of the intended turn. On most cars, the turn signal lever is located to the left of the steering wheel. Shifting the lever up indicates a right turn and shifting it down indicates a left turn.
And here’s a neat trick. On the outside of your vehicle, some lights indicate which way you intend to go so that the rest of us won’t be ignorant of your actions and not just ignorant like you.
I’ll let you figure out the speed limit signs. Here’s a hint. They aren’t suggestions.
I was outside taking a mid-morning break when an older gentleman walked out of the store.
I watch the people around me and notice things. It’s a good habit.
This gentleman was wearing a heavy coat, red baseball cap, grey running shorts reminiscent of Army PT gear, flip flops, and socks. His gait wasn’t the steadiest. I thought that better footwear would be a good thing for him the way he was walking because one little slip off the curb and…
There he went. Straight to his right side, luckily not hitting his head but knocking the glasses from his face. The chicken and book he was carrying went flying. Embarrassing for anyone but for a man, especially older, this is a strike to the ego.
And I did something I’m ashamed of, and you’re thinking I laughed.
I didn’t.
I hesitated.
And if youβve been reading this blog for long, you’ll know why I hesitated.
People. I don’t like being around people much, but I enjoy peopleβespecially the elderly because they have so many stories and a lifetime of those stories to tell.
They’ve existed, like I have, in a time before social media and things like smartphones. We were connected to a world that didn’t have a signal. We were connected through actual relationships to people. Some of us still are.
I hesitated because, in this litigious society, you can have the best of intentions and still end up neck-deep in trouble you don’t want just by doing the right thing.
I don’t care; I still do the right thing. I just hate that I hesitated for a fraction of a second.
I ran over, and after a couple of tries, we got him back on his feet.
βAre you okay?βI asked.
βYeah. That’s the second time this week.β
I’m thinking it’s only Monday.
βThanks for helping. People don’t anymore,β he said.
People should. Maybe if we all did, it would make the world a better place.
People see what you do. Positive things people see others do can have a positive influence.
Someone’s always watching. You might think I’m talking about God, which is true.
Him.
But I’ve got someone else watching and learning from me. I can’t let him down.
I’m finished writing about the workweek for now. I did more than my share. I won’t say fair share because I signed on to complete a task, and that’s what I do. Not once this week did I let thoughts of βthis is too muchβ or βthis isn’t my jobβ come into my head.
The workweek is done. It is behind me.
My son received a Character Award. Below is what was said about him. I was unable to be there because of work, but his mother and grandmother attended the event.
Understandably I’ve left his name out. There were a few other lines that might identify him, but this is something a parent wants to hear about their child.
He ended up on the A/B honor roll, and I told him when we received his report card that he needed to apply himself a bit more.
Today as I rethink that he could have gotten straight Cβs and I could not be more proud of him.
He reminds me in his actions that life isn’t about grades and money. It’s all about who you are and how you treat people. That you make life better and the world around you better.
We aren’t done raising him, but perhaps we’re doing something right.
It has been a challenging week. I’ve just put my head down and pulled through it. The more I get done, the faster the time goes by.
I’m at thirty-eight hours and some change. Itβs Wednesday. It feels like Thursday desperately wanting to be Friday.
All I got is my work ethic and a reputation for getting it all done. That’s what I’m going to use, and that’s what I’m going to do.
I cannot wait for Saturday.
I’m going to sit here and binge action movies for the morning and drink my coffee.
And then I’m going to do some necessary maintenance on the truck. Getting a misfire. Probably a bad plug or wire. Easy fix, but I get to dirty my hands and do some real work.
And now I’m going to bed.
I need to read some more of the book I’ve been trying to finish.
Yep. It’s the book that was made into Infinite. The book is so much better than the movie, as they often are.
I started out today dropping Sam off at school so that takes care of mile seven as well.
The car drop off line at our middle school is ridiculous in the first place. The problem was exacerbated by the new elementary school opening next door last week.
The country crowding all of these schools together with the high school right across the road is nothing but a headache for parents, teachers, bus drivers, and police.
As usual, the local government doesn’t care about the consequences, just what looks good on paper for them.
I think about this every time I have to go through it. The time and stress on all involved could have been avoided with proper planning of roads and such. But they just want to have that picture of them standing there with a hard hat and a shovel at the ground breaking.
Mile 36
The first store that I visited today ranks and ties as one of my least favorites to work in any day of the week. Unorganized, and it’s always rough trying to find and work the product that is needed.
Their ineptitude is always factored into the plan.
It really shouldn’t be like that. But it is.
Mile 61
I’m sitting here now waiting on my car. Yesterday’s adventure turned into today’s bill. An unfortunate price to pay to work and get where I need to be, but here I am. Safety for my family and myself (why would I deprive them of me?) is most important.
Completely unsolicited ad.
I always use the same place for my tires; itβs a family-run business, and they are good people. There is no rip-off here. They aim to do good work take care of people and keep you safe. Iβve got no problem with that.
And that was quite a chunk of change.
Mile 90
The miles are stacking up quickly, arenβt they?
The next store I have to stop at is easily my favorite. I wrote about the people here and the manager last night. They take care of me, and I take care of them.
Today’s a plus because Kevin will be working. He makes Tuesday, usually the most demanding day of our week, enjoyable. We both have a sense of humor that plays well off the others. Almost nothing is off the table when we joke around. And no one.
They say good people are hard to find in business. I say your good people are hard to find because they’re usually working their asses off covering for other people.
And that is Kevin in a nutshell.
Mile 106
The next store is also enjoyable. Morgan will be there, and she’s another of my favorite associates. As a matter of fact, we are the last two from the original group of folks that were there when I came to the store almost seven years agoβthe last of the old guard.
Andβ¦she called out today. Lol.
Oh well.
Mile 129
The last of my stores today and tied with the first for all the same reasons. I had to hurry kind of. It has been a long day on the road. Nothing much to say about this place.
Mile 190
Home. Right back where I started.
Itβs not the work or even the extra work that bothers me. People have lost the sense of dignity that goes with actually earning whatβs theirs. They want things handed to them. And large companies are doing it. I watch people keep jobs and get paid that find every way possible not to do the job they were hired to do. It sickens me.
I’m writing this after a regular day that isn’t in a regular week.
Nothingβs off about this. Today at end of business I was at about twenty-one hours for the week.
Yes. It’s Monday.
Reset weeks are where you see what the people around you can do and a little of what they think of you.
I have people I consider friends at my stores. I watch out for them. They watch out for me.
When I walk into a store on a Monday and some of the resets are already done because βwe know you’re doing this by yourself,β it touches me.
I’m just a vendor. But I like to think of myself as part of the store. I spend a great deal of my time with these folks. They are my every day.
Days like today prove to me that I am a part of the store.
A couple of weeks ago, when I ended up in the ER, the day I came back, the store manager brought me to her office and had a word with me. She wanted to know why she had to find out second-hand that I had to go to the hospital from work. She had called and checked on me while I was out. She was genuinely concerned about me. Again, I was touched. It’s unusual for a vendor to even be thought of in passing by management.
As much as I would love to move on some days, I would miss the camaraderie. I would miss being a small part of their lives.
I think it’s because all of us affect other people for good or bad. I like to think that, for the most part, I affect the people around me for good. I try to lead without leading. I have a lead by example mentality. When it’s my team, I put in the extra and let them see me doing it. And in most of the ones that have been under me, it shows.
I watch the people around me, and they change me as well. I adopt good habits from them. I watch how kind they can be when they have absolutely no reason to be.
It’s good for me, the work thing. I hope it’s good for them as well.
And would it be a Monday without a bit of hiccup?
I ain’t even mad. How can you be mad at worn-out rubber? It has served its purpose. I definitely got my money’s worth.
Tomorrow will be a little longer because of a pit stop for new tires. All of them are worn enough to replace. I practically live on the road.
SeegarsInSC 