It seems like it was just yesterday when I was happily drawing kitchens.

I sure miss those days. Weekends off, daytime working hours, seven to eight hours of sleep – at night! in a row! – and now, I just seem to be losing track of the days. Sleep deprivation has gotten the better of me. My accountant tells me that I am losing money in this contract, with having to pay a helper seven days a week. My internal clock tells me I’ve just lost track of the better part of a week. My mind and my body are on the verge of mutiny (on the “plus” side, I’m down to 196) and I am physically unable to keep up this pace. A typical day:

0000 hours: I’m driving towards the dock, to pick up the papers. I may stop for gasoline, if the tank is thirsty. It’s usually thirsty.
Between 0100 and 0200 hours: papers loaded, headed to the first stop.
Between 0430 and 0600 hours: route finished, heading home.
0600 to 0800 hours: paperwork, updating the online database, filing, sorting, getting things ready for tonight’s run.
0800 to whenever little Miss wakes up: nap. Feed little Miss, help her learn how to play, read to her, wait for her gorgeous blue eyes to get heavy and fall down. Nap for about an hour, while little Miss also naps. Repeat as needed, per little Miss’s schedule. Shower when possible. Shaving is an option, but only until TMBWitW gets home.
1700 hours: TMBWitW is home! Family time, dinner, conversation, TMBWitW catches up with little Miss.
2100 hours: print out new run sheet for that night.
2115 hours: lay head down for another nap.
2345 hours: get up, try to jangle the body into awareness, slam some caffeine. Cold water works well, also. Make sure everything is in order for the run tonight.

Yes, this is seven days a week. Sundays are a bit different; I need to pick up my helper and get the trailer, so my evening nap is cut short by thirty minutes or so.

Your mind plays tricks on you after not getting enough sleep. It’s hard enough for me to type, since I am slightly dyslexic, and I have to concentrate on every word to make sure it’s spelled correctly so these entries are legible. Bad spelling makes my reading slow way down, because then I’m not sure if what I’m reading is spelled correctly or not. When I have enough sleep, this process is almost seamless and I can operate at the same speed as most of the world. When I haven’t had enough sleep, though, it’s way tougher than normal.

If the schedule were consistent (notice the variable at the dock – you can’t count on when the papers are going to come off the line, so you can’t really sneak a nap while at the dock), or if there were days off for recovery built in, I think it wouldn’t be so bad. But, here I am, with a sleep schedule so out of whack with what God designed, that my whole being is disrupted.

Which brings me to this point: I won’t be doing this much longer. I have caught myself taking naps at red lights. Not a problem when I’m the only one on the road, but sometimes it’s during the day. Or during rush hour. Phoenix area drivers are notoriously impatient, so don’t even delay them getting to their oh-so-important destinations. I’m getting pretty good at identifying vehicle make and model by the sound of the horn… Anyway, July 29 will be my last day as a contractor. I am so looking forward to maybe getting some sleep after that…

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008

I had a goal, a while back, when I first put the “Religion of Peace” widget in my sidebar, that I would someday have more visitors according to my sitemeter, then there were islamic attacks counted since 9/11.

I recently surpassed that number.

Mostly, it was due to the article I crossposted from Warriors for Innocence. That managed to get the attention of over two hundred readers for two days. I’m sure that most of them won’t be returning since they came over here to see who dark_christian was talking about. (I’m not linking to dark_christian because I don’t believe he’s the kind of person I would hang out with, due to the topic(s) being defended.)

At any rate, I’m up past that goal. Now, my goal is 10,000 readers. If you happen to be the ten thousandth visitor, please drop me a comment or e-mail and I will announce your name. Sorry, no prizes for this one. Just fun and recognition for you!

In case you missed it, I was on Political Pistachio Radio this afternoon, please go and listen to the archive of the show. DVG promised he would e-mail the rest of the questions he didn’t get to ask, and I would post them and my answers. In the meantime, watch for a Monday Campaign Note.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, support Warriors for Innocence, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008

First, the good news: 201!!

One pound away from my first goal – that is, breaking 200.

Bad news – I don’t think the helper I hired is going to work out. It takes me 2 hours and 5 minutes to run that part of the route – I know, I timed myself this morning, after the helper “couldn’t make it” read: didn’t show up at the dock – and yesterday morning, it took the helper six hours to complete the route. Actually, not quite complete, since the last two racks didn’t get any papers. Such is life. There’s not a lot of traffic at those two racks anyway.

I know, I know – I’m familiar with the route. Heck, it’s just a big rectangle, with three stops at the first corner, three at the second, seven at the third corner, and eight stops at the last corner. The northern and southern sides of the rectangle are two miles long, with no stops. The east end is one mile, with the third of the the three stops on the second corner located about a quarter mile south of the first two. The route starts at the northwest corner, and proceeds clockwise from there, with the southwest corner being the last stops.

I think the helper fell asleep, and doesn’t want to admit it.

It’s OK, though. God has a plan for this, and I needed the exercise. I can’t believe I’ve lost twenty pounds in four weeks. That’s pretty awesome.

Campaign update: Really, I’m going to be sending out e-mails to those of you who are current supporters. I’m kind of waiting on a few states to reply with the requirements for a write-in candidate to be counted, and then I can really get moving on this.

Considering the hours and the effort I’m putting into this paper route, perhaps getting elected and running the most powerful country on earth for a few years would be a nice vacation. I know the sleep patterns would be more stable!

So – how are you all doing? I really miss not having the time to get out and cruise the blogs like I have in the past – are you all staying out of trouble and holding the Liberal Line up to the light of truth? Good – keep up the good work!

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008

As regular readers of this irregular blog may know, I recently started a new career path. I am an independent contractor, delivering bulk volumes of newspapers to retail outlets and also to news racks. This takes place between 2300 and 0600 hours, at least in theory.

The main publication is a statewide newspaper, with sections specifically printed for the different towns and cities in Arizona. The plant I pick up the bundles from also loads out to Yuma, Flagstaff, Tucson, and other areas.

Within the Phoenix metropolitan area, there are many zip codes. Each zip code, because of the density of the population here, is basically a retail route. The routes are grouped in zones. The zones that are further out from the loading dock are loaded first. My two routes (they used to be one, then they got split, then they got recombined, now they are split again – it’s complicated) are about five miles from the dock, each route is in a different zone, so I have two load schedules to watch and I am usually one of the last ones to load. Monday and Tuesday mornings are first come first served, so I get in line early so I can get home early.

The two routes take me about five hours to run. One of them is a two hour route, the other is two and a half hours. If I leave the dock no later than 0100 hours, then (this is where theory is proved wrong night after night) I can complete both routes by 0600. Otherwise, I need someone to run the shorter route in order to have both completed on time. Mondays and Tuesdays I can run the route myself; the rest of the week I’ve been finishing between 0700 and 0730 hours due to the late load times.

I pull a 4×8 utility trailer with my Infinity QX4. The trailer is rated at one ton. I push that limit every day.

Things I have learned this week:
1. Certain people think it’s a crime to pull a utility trailer with a “luxury” SUV. I keep telling them that it’s just a fancy Pathfinder.
2. I can get two route runs out of a tank of gas. Gas prices have been climbing all week. Ouch.
3. Before 0600 hours, or sunrise, whichever occurs first, certain traffic rules do not apply.
4. Like full stops.
5. And right on red after a full stop.
6. And Stop signs, No Left Turn signs, and those pesky “Speed Limit” signs.
7. And what exactly does “Exit Only” mean, when the drop box is right there?
8. Speed rules.
9. There is a difference between “speed” meaning velocity of travel and “speed” meaning efficiency of movement. Guess which one matters most when you have two hours to complete three hours of work?
10. Red lights are at least five times longer at 0230 than they are at 0800, and green lights are diametrically shorter.
11. Explaining the type of vehicle you have to the new lady guard working a graveyard shift since I’m retired and really haven’t had anything to do since my dear husband departed and just sitting around the house will kill you faster than anything especially of you don’t have family close by because my husband, God rest his soul, insisted that retiring to Arizona was a wonderful idea, since the weather was always pleasant and we both enjoyed golf so much and there are so many courses here to choose from; what kind of truck is that? An Infinity? I’ve never heard of that before my husband used to drive over the road in a Mack, have you ever heard of those and he would take me along sometimes and we would travel the country I would have to take vacation time to do that since my job at the county courthouse was pretty strict about taking time off on a regular basis to avoid burnout you know that will kill you faster than anything if you don’t take some time off to relax once in a while and what model is it? A QX4? I’ve never heard of that either but you know what it looks just like the Pathfinder our oldest grandson just bought, used of course, no sense spending that much money on something that won’t be worth half as much as soon as you drive it off the lot you know what I mean? it seems they entered the wrong information on your entry sheet is your license number ______? Yes, you see, they have it down as something else entirely here I swear it seems like no one takes pride in what they do any more. My husband was very proud of the fact that he never once had an accident in his Mack, not even a fender bender takes forever.

Number six probably surprises a lot of you, especially considering how adamant I am about speed limits during commutes and driving long distances. OK, just commuting time. When your stops are clustered about a mile apart, it takes f o r e v e r to get to the next one. Ten over takes some of the anxiety out of whether or not you’ll ever get there.

Things I have known, but have been refreshed this week:
1. Trailers pull easier with a little more weight in front of the axle.
2. Unloading a trailer unevenly is worse than loading it wrong in the first place – loading shows the problems when you pull away from the dock, unloading unevenly increases problems exponentially over time.
3. Backing a trailer with a shorter hitch-to-axle length than the tow vehicle’s wheelbase is touchy – one wrong move and the trailer gets crossed up very quickly.
4. Knives are sharp. Especially twine knives, which are worn like a ring on your cutting hand, and are handy to have when stocking store shelves. However, the non-cutting index finger needs to stay out of the way.
5. Sleep deprivation can produce auditory and visual hallucinations.
6. Policemen have NO sense of humor at 0430.
7. Getting adjusted to a night shift schedule makes sleeping interesting – the sleep you do get never lasts long enough.

Well, that about sums up why I haven’t written in so long. What’s up with you all?

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008

I got a notification from the Spanish Sweepstakes Lottery today. Seems I won! Isn’t that great? Only problem is, I never entered it, and I make it a habit not to reply to announcements that I won something when I don’t enter.

It’s drizzling again this morning. My neighbor is a little worried – she wanted to have a garage sale today, and it’s the kind of rain that settles in and goes on and on …

I figured out how to have the last word in any conversation: “Yes, Dear.”

Tomorrow NASCAR debuts the Car of Tomorrow at Bristol. Not the best track to showcase this innovation of safety and parity. Bristol’s the kind of track where you bring a tank, and hope no one else brought anything stronger. Beatin’ and bangin’ and rubbin’ paint – that place is rough. I love watching it. It’s like swimming in a jacuzzi with a dozen sharks.

An article in yesterday’s paper talked about Proposition 100 here in Arizona. The gist of it is that if a person who is in this country illegally commits a crime, then the court may not set bail or bond. One case in particular has caught the eye of some legislators recently – a female, illegally in this country, drove through a red light while under the influence and t-boned the car of a citizen. The citizen was killed. The invader, under questioning by the police at the scene, admitted to being too drunk to drive. She also told the police officers that the ID she offered was purchased, along with a Social Security number, so she could work in the states. The police officers notified ICE, and they confirmed the information.

Naturally, the judge set bond. Bond was met. I don’t know if the location of the invader is known.

The Department of Homeland Security had to bear down on the judge in order to get the bond revoked. This happened the same day some legislators talked about introducing laws that would remove judges that ignored Prop 100. The Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court assured the lawmakers that prop 100 was being followed, when all conditions were met. The CJ assured the lawmakers that during a recent 15 day audit period, there were 44 instances where the criminals did not qualify for bond or bail due to Proposition 100.

Great. On average, three illegal invaders per day are being arraigned in court. How many haven’t been arrested each day? I think I just figured out what jobs these illegals are doing that Americans aren’t – robbery, murder, assault, rape, and driving drunk! Not that there aren’t American citizens doing the same thing, but if national lawmakers continue to use that excuse while passing amnesty legislation, then they deserve to be removed from office also.

All together now, towards Washington D.C.: “Stop the invasion of this country by foreign nationals!”

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, Wear Red on Fridays, and write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008!

Tag: Write in Cary Cartter for President in 2008