Parcel Delivery Driver 1.0

 I love analysing processes and finding opportunities for improvement.  Back in the 90s there  was a "quality improvement" revolution in the corporate world.  These days you'd probably know it by the buzzword Six Sigma. So anyway, here I am now with a process job.  Because I think it is fun and I cannot resist myself, I try to analyse my tasks in terms of a work algorithm.  Basically how would I program an android to do my job.  

Before we get into it, allow me to walk you through what actually happens on my typical day as soon as I arrive at work:

Sorting

Before I even get there, trucks from the Eastern Creek hub would be arriving at the depot from 3AM to drop off all the mail and parcels for the Blue Mountains area. 

Forklift operators would pull out cage pallets from the trucks and deposit them into the bull pen. 

Workers in the bull pen would swarm each new cage, sort the parcels into the correct run cage.  By the time I get there at 6AM, most of the parcels have already been sorted.  My supervisor would tell me which run I am doing and give me my assigned cage.  That means all the packages that I will be delivering today is in this one cage (sometimes two on a busy day).

I would start pulling out each parcel and writing down the street number on my run sheet.  The run sheet is a tabulated list, with street names on each row, and I read and copy the address numbers of each package I pull out.  As I place each one on the floor, I try to arrange the packages in the same order of the streets on my run sheet. The idea is that I would load the packages into the van in reverse order, so that the last package I will deliver is at the very back of the van, while the first package is right next to the door.  This means I will spend less time rummaging through the van to find a parcel when I get to the address.

Scanning and Loading 

After I have emptied the cage and written down every address number on my run sheet, I have to scan the barcodes on each parcel. This tells the system that the package is loaded into my van and will be delivered today, sometimes the customer gets an email or text message triggered by the scan.

Then it's time to load the van.  I like to think of it as 3D tetris with extra objectives:

• trying to stack the packages so that they fit snuggly 

• trying not to crush the flimsy packages with heavier ones 

• allow me to see the labels to quickly find any package 

• keep packages for the same street together to make it easier to search

Delivering

 Drive to the first street on the list and stop at the first address.  Find the parcel, scan the parcel, drop off the parcel, take a geo-tagged photo, submit and cross off the address on my run sheet.  Go to the next address, repeat until van is empty.

Most of the deliveries are called safe-drops where we can leave it even if no one is home. However some packages require a signature, and that takes extra time because we have to wait for someone to answer the door.  And if there is no one to sign for it, I have to fill out a sorry-we-missed-you card, stick it in the door jamb and take the parcel back to the post office for self-collection.  

On a good day, everyone gets their parcels and I go home after the last delivery.  Unfortunately, most days I have to clock off only after I've dropped off the carded parcels at the local post office.

The best part is that after I clock off, there is no more mental residue from work that I take home with me. 

When I am done for the day, I am done for the day.  

Tomorrow is another cage, tomorrow is another run. 

 

 

 

    

Follow Your Road

Thank you COVID lockdown.
Thank you for getting me out of the kitchen and allowing me to homeschool my young daughters. 
Thank you for gifting me half of my winter basking in the warmth of my children.

Thank you for healing me.  The enforced pause in hospitality has given plenty of us time and space to consider why we do what we do.  Is it just a job? Is it also a calling? Would we rather be doing something else?

Two years ago, I was desperately looking for any job that would give me a stable economic base to live out my life.  I wasn't even considering a hospitality job in my search because I was already in hospitality and I knew the hospitality hours were not the best.  Neither was consistency nor security of employment.  But somehow I was found, recruited, and signed on because it was secure employment and I had no other offers.  

It saved me.

But it cost me dearly.  I had to move away from my children and missed out on time with them. I buckled down and did what needed to be done.  I worked the job hard and fought harder to get time with all my daughters.  Thank you for the struggle, thank you for the harvest, thank you for the growth.

It was really good until it wasn't.  Because of the dynamic and uncertain course of the COVID-19 pandemic, my roster was robbing me of time with my children. This was on top of the rising pressure in the kitchen as more and more work were being shouldered by the kitchen team. And ultimately this stress literally gave me ulcers.  By the time lockdown commenced, I was only too happy to not work a kitchen for a while.  

And now that we approach the end of lockdowns as vaccination rates are met, I have found the job that I started looking for two years ago.  Hay salamat.

Like many people of my generation, we have accumulated many skills and XP.  35 years earlier I earned a degree for a career in computing. 20 years ago I re-discovered my passion for dance and music. 12 years ago I earned a culinary certificate from TAFE to become a chef.  This week extends my journey from wearing suits and ties for work, to wearing Hi-VIS apparel. 

This week I'm a contract delivery driver for Australia Post.  

And since everyone at work knows I'm a newbie, I no longer suffer from impostor syndrome.  This is me and I will try my best every day.

Thank you.

This job makes it possible to have the kids every weekend if they want.  Gracias.

Lockdown 2021

 Ahh, seems I called it too soon. This COVID-19 pandemic has everyone scrambling again with the rise of the highly transmissible Delta variant.  Which in real terms, meant that I have not worked a kitchen in over 3 weeks.  Unlike last year when we still had students at Hogwarts to support and sustain, this time we have no students and no guests at all. When this lockdown is lifted, sometime in August optimistically, first thing we have to do at work is throw out all the expired food and make a big order to re-stock the hotel.

On the plus side, I have spent the past week on leave home-schooling  my young daughters.  It is a full time job with the youngest  who always seems to need help with every little detail.  Actually she is sneakily trying to get me to do her work for her, but since I'm on to her, I always try to push it back on her to get to the next step. 

her:    I don't understand.

me:     which part?

her:    All of it.

me:    Okay, read the first sentence.

her:    You read it.

me:    No, you read it.  So I can see you're trying.

her:    You read the first sentence, I'll read the next one.

me:    Oh darling, you read the first sentence and I can do the next one. 

... and back and forth goes the negotiation and tricky devious tactics she tries to get me to do her work for her.  

And then it hit me as I was prepping vegetables for the next meal, it's like I am back at work feeding a campus with just 2 students and 1 staff.  I cook what I like, but my students are picky -they'll happily eat burgers and nuggets but will suddenly declare themselves vegetarian if they don't like a meat dish I put up.  It sounds like I'm bitching and whining, but I'm chuffed to have them here with me for a whole week. For that I am most grateful for this lockdown.

Wellness Challenge

 I want to make this more positive so I will avoid using words that are of a negative association. So instead of saying I am sick, I will say I am having health issues.  Over the last 5 months I have had some wellness challenges.  First, I had a flare up with a slipped disc on my lower back when I was working a weekend stint. Then a couple of months ago I had an issue with my wrist tendon, also when I was doing a weekend.  Then over the last 3 weeks I have had abdominal pains at work.  On a few occasions I was in so much pain all I could do was curl up into a ball and shake waiting, no praying for it to pass.  Which eventually it does fade into a dull discomfort enough for me to resume work.

I chalked it up to work stress and came to the realisation that I was also depressed from missing out on time with my daughters.  I made a choice then that I had to find a job that allows me to see my children instead of limiting it.  I felt  a weight lift off my shoulders as soon as I made this decision.  So I tell my boss that though I'm not quitting yet, he should know that I am starting to look for a more family friendly roster kind of job.  I wasn't feeling so stressed anymore.

I still ended up presenting at hospital emergency with severe abdominal pain - on my day off no less. After 3 days of being processed through the public health system,  it seems I have gallstones as well as anaemia.  I still need to see a specialist for additional exploratory procedures and treatment.

All my life I have never been ill enough to warrant going to hospital.  Injuries yes, but never my body succumbing to sickness.  I may be looking at an endoscopy and a colonoscopy.  So far, these can be day procedures, so hopefully I never have to spend the night in hospital.  For that I am grateful.  

ps. I called my boss to update him and he was very supportive. He said "You look after you."

Building Cathedrals

Entering a cathedral brings out a sense of awe and wonder as the sheer scale of the edifice and it's hushed solemn atmosphere, mixed with faint smells of candles and incense overwhelms my senses.  These magnificent structures would have taken up to a century to finish, requiring multiple generations of workmen and craftsmen.  Apprentices who worked with their masters at the start have become masters themselves and trained the apprentices who will someday train the future masters who may see the Cathedral finished.  Our short human lives do not limit the scale of what human imagination can conceive, plan, and execute. 

I sometimes look at parenting as the Cathedral projects accessible to most people.  We are the masters at the start and our children are the apprentices who become masters once they are capable of having their own children. At the start we are heavily involved in their day to day lives, and as they move on to pre-school we let them make their own way a little at a time.  By the time they are in high school we spend even less time with them as they explore the world with their peers.  It is such a privilege to be witness and co-builder with our children, our time with them is ephemeral.  Unless for tragic circumstances, we parents will only be part of their beginning but we can never know how their life story ends. 

At the moment I find it hard to remain a relevant part of their life.  Let me rephrase that - I am attached to the notion that I should be part of their daily lives.  I am not making daily memories with them,  if I'm lucky I get to make fortnightly ones depending on how my work rosters me on.  I'm less of a co-builder and relegated to being witness and occasional companion.

I was involved in their foundation digging, but every day I do not spend time with them, another layer of masonry is being added. When I do see them again, there might be a column or a an arch that wasn't there the last time I saw them, though thankfully still recognisable.  Soon, the bell towers and stained glass windows will be too high for me to reach and they will have to be installed by my former apprentices with the help of the co-builders of their choosing.

Whew we made it!

 Welcome to 2021!  Where everything is pretty much the same as it was last month, except somehow there is a lot more hope and optimism.  Let's be honest, 2020 is the suckiest year of all our petty collective lives so it's a pretty low bar to clear for 2021.

I like attending personal development courses when I can, and on one of those -can't remember which, I picked up this parable about a prisoner on death row awaiting execution.  On the scheduled date, he was served his lunch.  It was as he imagined it.   A one inch thick pork chop, marinated and grilled with boiled baby potatoes, white wine braised cabbages, and a puree of beetroot. The warden started to say "Please enjoy your last meal-"  

"PLEASE. Just let me enjoy the rest of my time in silence."  The warden fixed him with a pained stare, and after a brief pause quietly retreated to respect his wishes.

As the prisoner ate his meal, he found he still couldn't enjoy it. He was looking forward to this meal but after this, there was nothing left to look forward to. About halfway through his meal, the warden noticed his darkening mood and decided now would be the best time to tell him.

"-IN PRISON. Ehem, what I was trying to tell you sir was that, this is your last meal in prison.  You have been pardoned. The governor's call came in after we had prepared your meal so I decided to serve it anyway and tell you but you wouldn't let me. "  The warden let that sink in before walking away,

"You are free to leave as soon as you finish dessert." 

The second half of his meal tasted nothing like the first half.  All the flavours and all the textures and smells were so intensely delicious.  Yet  it was still the same meal  served in the same prison cell.

2021 did not shape up to how I planned, but it turned into something better.  The plan was to visit friends on an interstate trip. But then the Avalon cluster happened then borders slammed shut.  Instead, we just road-tripped within the state and that worked out really well. 

On the last road trip, we had a tyre blow out, it was an inconvenience but more importantly an adventure.  My young daughters were incredulous that I had the skills to swap a spare.  To be honest I've been road-tripping for four decades and have changed my fair share of flat tyres in exotic places such as  halfway to Madrid from Barcelona.  The hassle was to have to  buy a pair of new tyres.  

And then after dropping off the kids, I had more car drama.  I was accelerating at the lights when I heard a WHOMP and then steam started pouring out of the bonnet.  Uh-oh, that's not good.  I pulled over and popped the bonnet for a look.  There was green fluorescent coolant all over the engine bay and underneath was a growing pool like blood from a trauma wound.  It was 430PM and I was able to nurse the car for over a kilometre to the closest mechanics.  I was lucky to find a sympathetic mechanic who stopped what he was working on and spent the last half hour of his work day getting me back on the road.  Divina Black was patched up but would not be reliable enough to make it back up the mountains. 

We instead took refuge with my kumpare and kumadre in Sydney where we spent the night.  It was a great chance to catch up and spend quality time together.

In the morning I took Divina Black to Nick my mechanic.  Lucky I'm still on holidays, the radiator needed replacing. So I left it with Subytech and decided to make my way back home via public transport wearing my mask.  The last bit was a 30 minute walk from the station through occasional fog and sprinkle.  But whew I made it home before noon.

The kicker was that I got a call that the car was ready to be picked up tomorrow.  So tomorrow I get to go back on public transport with a half hour hike included.  

Sometimes, things don't work out like I imagined, but if I treat each happenstance like an adventure it always works out for the best.