Cooler, breezier, and barely any sweat--yeah, today was solid. Well not completely solid. Solid enough to be passable. The unfortunate part is that I had to say goodbye to my downtown section I was fortunate enough to deliver at for the past three or so days.

On an off topic, delivering mail to foreign students apartment complexes sucks. They move so much and some of them I feel fail to put in their change of address. Therefore I end up delivering about 1/2 of my stack of mail originally for said apartment building. The rest either gets forwarded or recycled.

Oh, and I had my key get stuck in the ignition today in my van. Fun times, fun times.

Beautiful weather though--it's about time! Too bad it'll only last for about a day and then it'll be back to Indiana summer all over again! Ha!

95 degrees was the projected forecast for today. I didn't catch the actual temps mid day, but I can say that this was probably the hottest day I've delivered. The cool thing is if you are delivering around businesses, 1. They have amazing air conditioning, and 2. They have ice cold water that they willingly give ya. Not to mention today I got to drive the USPS minivan, which has some rocking A/C. I can't imagine what it's like driving in a postal truck/oven in this heat, but I'm sure I'll have the experience of doing so once the summer is over. Ugh.

Looking back at me delivering today, I now realize I was probably a sight to see. Having to go in and out of businesses, the bright sunlight often had me squinting. With the bursts of heat encountered from leaving A/C equipped buildings, I was often grimacing at the uncomfortable conditions. I'm pretty sure I overheard one construction worker say to his friend that I looked quite miserable.

Was that far from the truth? Not really. My body overheats quite a deal, causing me to sweat profusely. As long as I keep on pumping water in me, I'm fine. Believe me, even if that water is warm, it's a welcome feeling. It's almost like putting out a fire inside of me--that water is an instant relief when drunken, almost like magic. It definitely makes me appreciate water in general and having access to good drinking water wherever.

So, do I still want to be a mailman? Yeah. Sure spending 8+ hours a day in 90 degree heat (+humidity) is not ideal, but it definitely grows some hair on your chest. It's a good feeling, too, to know that you succeeded delivering the mail despite the elements. How's that USPS slogan go? Nor rain, nor snow, nor dusk of night.... blah blah blah.... the mail will get delivered? It's a pretty satisfying feeling, knowing that I am now one of the many mail-carriers who look at that slogan and say, "Yeah, I've done that."

Then again, carrying mail in them nasty conditions still sucks.

A lot.

But I still like it and will keep at it.

As for interesting events today, I got a free cookie on Kirkwood. Score! Plus I delivered a box that had the words "Happy Tent" printed on it. I obviously figured a tent was inside it but nevertheless, a tent called "Happy Tent" seemed a little peculiar. After recently Googling it, it is apparently a brand name or something. Still, got quite a chuckle out of the peculiar labeling on the box.

Today was a blast of heat. It wasn't as bad as it will get later in the summer, but it was highly unpleasant at points. That being said, it's quite amazing how a few swigs of water will refresh yourself when you feel overheated. It's quite a simple feeling and really makes you thankful for the water you have. I've went through about 64oz of water today--not sure how many gallons that makes. Apparently, according to Google, that's a half-gallon of water. Not too shabby, considering the ridiculous amount I sweat in the heat.

That being said, Tuesdays are not too bad. Usually. Three routes down today plus political ads that had to go to every house and cluster box--that equaled quite an above-average work load for today. But eh, it wasn't that bad.

Anyways, I am going to bed due to my trying to get more sleep. This heat is sapping in both energy and spirit. A good recharge is more than necessary after today. Tomorrow is Red Plum day, too.... oh joys!

Happy Moonday!

Today was pretty eventful, as I got to deliver downtown--a solid route on any given day. Being able to deliver mail to businesses and talk to people is always a plus--as I mentioned to a business proprietor, I'm usually talking to animals and myself if I'm not delivering to businesses so the change is always welcome!

Being downtown, there are always sights to behold--also numerous places for coffee purchasing and consumption. I discovered a couple of weeks ago a way to hold flats (magazines, non-envelope-sized mail), letters, and coffee all in one arm. Precarious, yes, but quite practical for the coffee drinker.

Anyways, I met up with Tom, another carrier who took the week off, who was downtown biking. I chatted with him for a few minutes and we were approached by a crazy homeless man who claimed to be Jesus. He then told Tom to hit him because he was obviously the son of God and thus impervious to harm. We kind of look at him for a moment and he starts to grow hostile in voice. I'd write what he said in verbatim, but that would require me to be fluent in crazy-homeless-man speech, a course that was not offered to me in my schooling. Fortunately, he left us alone and preceded to spout nonsense dribble so some people enjoying a lunch outside of a cafe on the sidewalk. It was then Tom and I decided we should part ways, just in case the "second-coming" came back to make us feel uncomfortable.

Back to work, I noticed that the old post office that was downtown was getting demolished.

                                  

Now I knew this was happening a few days ago, but I didn't see it till today. Such carnage--all that history being smashed to rubble. Meh. Sometimes change isn't a bad thing--sure it depends on the change--but that building was derelict and abandoned by the USPS for quite some time. Hopefully Bloomington builds something worthy in its spot the next year or so.

With little rain and sunshine, the day was looking out to be pretty good. Well as good as mail delivery can be on a Monday. Mondays you are usually looking at a two days-worth of mail I never expect to be home early. Man, and if we get rid of Saturday delivery.... ugh, don't want to think of that for now.

Anyways, the day was looking aight. What could make it better? Cookies of course.

Shower's Inn in Bloomington almost always has home-baked chocolate-chip cookies with almonds. So good!!!! Plus they keep em in a glass jar so they are always relatively fresh. And yes, I am allowed as a mail carrier to take one or two as I deliver the mail to the inn.

Of course, being a Monday, I had much more mail to carry after my assigned route, but hey, that was expected. End result was a 10.75 hour day, not too shabby for a Monday. My record is about 11.75 hours so far.

Finally! Sunday! My only day off of the week!

I must say, it's weird not working after six days of doing so. Still, no complaints!

Saturday was one of those days where I was able to complete my route in a very fast time, only to have much more work on other routes when I finished. I did get to do some walking delivery in a nice neighborhood in southern Bloomington, but by that point, I was ready to crash. I ended up going to bed at an early 11:30 pm to sleep a solid 12 hours--I believe that was my body saying that it was lacking a certain something this past week.

                                                      

I encountered some wildlife Saturday as well. Deer love roaming Bloomington and can even be seen in the most residential areas or even on IU campus. You have to keep in mind that Bloomington was once mostly forest before it slowly became the large college town it is. With that in mind, the deer apparently still haven't realized that Bloomington is not the forest it was before and still reside in the midst of the city. It's neat actually to see deer here and there, especially while on a route--this one was particularly not very skittish as I was able to get within 15 feet of it. Unfortunately with all these deer, Bloomington residents like to install gadgetry in their yard to keep away the large rat-like herbivores, such as this motion-activated sprinkler system:

                                                      

The unfortunate thing is that mail carriers, such as myself, are suspect to falling into said traps as well as we love to cut through yards. I am shamed to say that I got soaked one day by said sprinkler in the about photo because I momentarily blanked about the existence of said water gadget. I guess the sprinklers are an effective yard defense though for I no longer cross said yard and instead take the extra five seconds taking the sidewalk.

Man, today was a short day! Given that I can only work 56 hours a week, I was only allowed to work 7.5 hours today. Well actually I can work more than 56 hours in a week but that would put me in double-time, something management would not want. I don't mind though--an early day is awesome! Got a nap in, did some laundry, and got a haircut--time well spent!

Today was slightly uneventful though I did run into an old friend I used to work with back in the day! I used to work back at Read Quad food court and was constantly placed in the hectic dish room there during lunch. Another guy in there, Danny, worked the dish unloader and he and I became pals. He obviously had some sort of developmental disability but was a great guy--he would always go on about IU sports and how he thought the women's basketball team was much better than the guy's team (this was when this was true, during the early Tom Crean days). I went to a couple of games with the guy and had a blast--as life goes though I lost track of Danny after I moved in life.

So you could imagine my surprise when I saw him again during my first mail stop on my route today. I chatted with him about IU sports and we then went our separate ways. I don't know if he remembers me--it'd be neat if he did--but I'm glad to have seen good ole' Danny again. What a nice guy!

Nothing else of note today. A fallen tree branch, some sub-par mulberries, and a super-friendly dog at a barber shop I delivered to. Oh, and there's this sign on the door of  student-rental home on the route I've been carrying that cracks me up every time I pass it.

Hehe, go Hoosiers!

So I've almost been a mail carrier in Bloomington, Indiana, for three months now. Its been a wild ride, but I've been hitting a snag--it's hard for me to prevent my days from molding into one. It's hard to pick out certain parts or events I found entertaining during my postal adventures cause, as I said, my days tend to mold together.

I hope to remedy that with this blog, writing about my daily occurrences and musings bout my life in the Postal Service. Some may be funny, some may be "meh", but that's not the point exactly. I want to avoid my experiences getting lost in the unfortunate redundancy of work and life, that way I can look back on them and enjoy them and you can, too!

With that being said, first post, GO!

Worked on route 33 today and had to deliver the Red Plum adverts. Ugh.... did I mention how I hated those things? Obviously not since this is my first post on the matter. Great little adverts, nice coupons, they are all good. Carrying them is another thing. The weight of them can add up in your satchel if you have at least 10 of them. Plus it's just another extra thing to carry, adding to your mail-load as it is already.

Anyways, didn't get that much sleep last night. Plus I arrived at work to discover bird shit on my shirt. As a co-worker noticed, it looked like a bird ate a raspberry and then pooped the remnants on my shirt. Ha! Not a usual start to a day, eh?

The highlight of my day was the robin's nest I usually walk under while delivering mail to a box on Atwater. I dubbed the bird Momma Robin, as she was always in her nest nursing her young when I approached. Of course, as the nest is right above the mailbox on the porch, I inherently make her quite angry every time I deliver the mail. She was a sight to see! Momma Robin would start chirping at me madly, flying around near some trees, and then would just perch on a branch and give me the evil eye all while chirping madly at me.

Today however I was greeted with silence when I approached the mailbox. The nest was empty and Momma Robin and her young have moved on. I couldn't help but feel a little sad--the usual encounter I had with the proud momma became routine and to have that cease, well yeah.... that's nature for ya and the circle of life and all that crap. I'm sure I'll have many other notable encounters with wildlife in the future while out delivering.

Here is a picture of the baby robins before they all grew up and flew off. No pics of Momma Robin on my phone--just imagine her in a nearby branch chirping wildly at me while I took this picture. My camera on my phone is pretty bad compared to most phones--I may get a better phone eventually but in the meantime, just gonna have to settle with my current phone and it's bad camera.

Well, post #1 down. Hopefully I can keep this updated daily--that'd be nice (in a perfect world). Who knows but I hope to have at least a daily entry or once every couple of days. Anyways, hope you enjoy this and take pleasure from viewing life as a postal carrier through my experiences. Lata!