Deliver(ance)

Well Black Friday gave way to Cyber Monday and our trucks are full. Delivering packages goes further into the earlier-darkening night. I spend the last hour or more running packages with a headlamp on. It is a good thing my driver knows the neighborhood so well as so few of the houses have lights on by their house numbers. Our house, like too many others, doesn't have house numbers at all. We didn't like the ones on there before the paint job, and haven't replaced them yet. Take pity on your poor delivery people and put those numbers where we can see them (day or night).

We actually received a UPS package yesterday, and my driver handed it to me as I hopped on the truck. I ran it back inside and wondered all day what it might be. A Christmas anticipation (Thanks Kevin!).

The shelves of our truck are full and the floor stacked four feet high with packages. UPS survives only with incredible amounts of organization, and tis the season when they need it the most. Unfortunately when systems get overloaded, organization takes a beating. A half empty garage is easy to organize with shelves, bins and labels, but when it starts getting filled to capacity, you tend to give in and just toss any additional items anywhere.

I'm still enjoying the job, but I am taking a bit of a beating. Walking is a great way to recover from a full or half marathon - running and climbing stairs all day, not so much. I decided to wear a pedometer to see how far I was running each day, but unfortunately the bouncing of the van adds to the clicking off of miles. I stashed it in the van yesterday instead of on my belt to do a little subtraction, and it looks like I am running between five and seven miles in short sprints each day.

There were lots of flat screen tv's from Costco on the van yesterday, so there must have been a good sale I missed. Guitar Hero III is popular this year, and yesterday marked the release of the Harry Potter lite book The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Amazon had some clever muggle packaging to mark the occasion.

Riding around with Paul has been another nice change of pace. The last four or five years I have been working largely alone. Without daily social interaction, an already introverted personality has turned farther inward. This has taken a toll on friendships and on the wife. I often describe myself as a loner who happens to have a large number of friends, but that isn't really accurate. It isn't that I prefer to be alone, it is just that I can be content without others around. But content isn't happy, and I need to aim a little higher.

The sunset was beautiful last night as I ran around my town. Have a great weekend everybody.