A Perfect Storm

So, I received a call Friday afternoon from my work scheduler and she says, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but as of Monday you no longer have your routes." Bwa?! She went on to say that my morning route was being combined with a short pharmacy route so if I wanted to keep my normal day, "I suggest you get a mini-van by Monday."

Bwahahaha!

Right, like I'm going to go out and buy a frickin' van on the promises of this company. Well, that just pissed me the hell off for the whole weekend since I really had no idea what I was doing Monday (except that I'd be starting my day at Lititz instead of Reading and travel to York and back--twice!). I knew I was going to quit when, after stopping at the warehouse en route to Lititz to get a key and my manifests, the scheduler said, "You'd better get a gps since you're going to be a floater." Whoa. First of all, I didn't sign up to not know what the hell I was doing from one day to the next. And by the end of that Monday I had put more miles on my car than on my previous normal days and at (I suspect) much less pay. In effect, the scheduler had screwed me so bad so I would then buy a mini-van. Wrong move.

I returned to the warehouse and turned in my stuff saying, "I'm done." Outlining my grievances with the nice dispatcher in the afternoon, he didn't blame me one bit. I returned home, jobless but pleased at not being bullied into van work. It may not sound like a big deal to you, dear reader, but I know that once a van is in my possession the company would have worked me mercilessly. I did say on Friday to the scheduler, "I don't want to work from 7am to 6pm." Her response: "Why not? You're young and can handle it."

In any case, I don't think an hour went by before the dispatcher I gave my stuff to called me. Seems he contacted the head honcho to say what had happened and, apparently, my (very lucrative) afternoon run of Sovereign banks was never to be taken from me in the first place--more evidence of the scheduler's plot to just piss me off into purchasing a van (it didn't make sense that I'd lose a route with no pharmacy attachment). So the dispatcher said if I wanted the pm route back then it was mine. Since it's enough for me to survive on, I jumped back on the courier bandwagon.

Yesterday, I did the same arduous morning route around York but told the scheduler that it would be my last morning work. Surprisingly, it looks like my wish was granted and today was my first day of having only afternoon work. I plan on using my mornings to work on Tricky Owlbear products and activities (about time, right?).

To sum up, after a stormy weekend of uncertainty, the perfect schedule has emerged. Sometimes, you really can win.