Maybe Burger King would be better:

Occasion #2: Driving for McDonalds
I had a week day run to the Island (Long) and I was in a bad mood due to running behind. My objective was to get all stops off by noon time but this trip I arrived at 12:05, the manger, a most arrogant fellow, came out to tell me I had to wait until 14:00, plus I could not park in his parking lot. I asked where was I going to park until then, he just said it was my problem. With that said I looked across the street and noticed the Burger King had a HUGE lot, so I drove over to BK, parked and had lunch while I waited for the magic hour. Needless to say the McDonalds manager called the warehouse on me.
When I got back I was told not to park in a competitors store again, I laughed and walked out. What were they going to do take my birthday away???

page 11

 

Last one:

Occasion #3
Another week day run this time to Shamokin Dam, Pa. This run included a layover and a pick up on the way back; also the stops were spread far apart so a lot of driving was involved.
I was blessed with a Brockway which had a 13 speed tied to a SCREAMING 318 Detroit, really not a bad truck until it came to a hill, well, anyone who knows about the 318 gets the picture.

The first two stops were a breeze to unload, however the Dam was another story. I arrived late in the afternoon got everything set up so the crew could unload. After waiting for 10 minutes a very petite young lady came out saying she was to unload the truck I thought she was kidding, she wasn?t. I sent a few items down the rollers she struggled to catch them and place them on the hand cart. We tried having her send the freight down and me catch, that didn?t work either. I went to the manager telling him the girl couldn?t do the job. All he said was he had no one else which I knew was bullshit just by looking at the back line crew, he also said that the young lady should be able to do it if she wanted to compete in a mans world. That pissed me off. I walked back to the truck and sent a 63lb case of fish down the rollers and it knocked the young lady over. I went back in the store to call the warehouse, as luck would have it; some of the big wheels from McDonald?s home office were on a tour. I talked to one of the main people telling her what was going on including the managers sexist statement. I handed the manager the phone, as I walked away I thought I saw a blue flame shooting from the receiver. 5 minutes later four big guys came out to finish unloading the truck.

A month later I had the honour of going to Shamokin Dam again. When I arrived four guys were at the door ready to unload, however the best part was the petite young lady had become the manager. She told me a few of the ?wheels? paid a visit to the store and handed the old manager his walking papers. Couldn?t have happened to a nicer person?
Good to see justice was served!!!

 

Thanks for the fix doc.
That should hold me for a week or two.
The last story is almost a tear jerker. :cry:
I like it when when some big wheels do right for a change!
Well I am done for now. 8)

 

Life as a Red Cross volunteer:

As I have mentioned on page 10 I have to volunteer for my supper or I will be deemed uncooperative. Also was mentioned that I have volunteered my services to the American Red Cross as a Special Support Person and it has been a very humbling, quite educational and without a doubt the oddest trucking job I have ever had PERIOD!!!!!!

My first week as a volunteer had me assisting a family of five whose house had burned on December 17. The house was destroyed as well as all of the family?s possessions, which did include all the Christmas gifts. It is extremely difficult not to get emotionally involved while helping the victims of such a devastating situation. We did manage to salvage a Christmas for the children at least, some good Samaritans donated and bought the three young boys toys and clothes. I did get my 15 seconds of fame when the Disaster Coordinator shoved me in front of a news reporters? camera while I had my arms full of toys. I should mention the husband is a volunteer firefighter and he heard the call on his scanner while he was at work. A very unnerving feeling!
We finally got the family settled into a new dwelling and hopefully they can get the lives back on track. I will also state I worked Christmas Eve, Christmas, Friday after Christmas and right through the weekend. The coordinator promised I could have New Years Eve off? WRONG!!!!!

December 31 my Red Cross C-phone played its obnoxious tune and I knew it meant trouble and I was right, a single parent with two children lost their apartment due to a kitchen fire. I forgot to mention that part of my ?job? is to do a DAMAGE ASSESSMENT, which means I have to go into the burned out structure and survey the damage and fill out a report to determine the amount of assistance the victims will receive. This family lost just about everything, again it was difficult not to get emotionally involved but this time I found how ungrateful people can become. This fire was determined suspicious and now has become a case of fraud?
Yeah I did work New Years Eve and New Years Day. As I have heard quoted often: ?No good deed goes unpunished!? I really wonder if there is any truth in those words?
Saturday, January 3 found us, the coordinator, an intern, and me responding to yet another apartment fire. This was the first fire for the intern and she was overwhelmed, yet she had to learn the paper work involved. She is graduating from the local college with a degree in Social Work and the internship counts towards her graduation. No rest for us that weekend.
January, 9 and yet another fire in a small crossroads town way out in another county had us hauling ass on icy back country roads at night. When we arrived we discovered the house had burned earlier in the day and the victims were safe at another location. A trek back to that county on Monday was in order to render assistance to the family?

The Red Cross C-phones obnoxious tune woke me at 0130 to hear an excited voice on the other end telling me there was a multiple family dwelling on fire and I was to meet him there. When I arrived, which took all of 10 minutes I saw it was Flea Bag type motel, which was used as a boarding house for transients. The fire had started in a room that housed a family of four and quickly spread to two adjoining rooms. There were 15 people in all affected by this fire. We moved most of the victims to a rescue squad building, which was turned into a temporary shelter. When the sun came up the task of finding new places for these folks began in earnest, obviously the family was the first priority. After many phone calls and hours of driving we (the Red Cross) found them a place to live, a two bedroom house. The Executive Director pulled a lot of strings to get that done. Two churches offered to pay the rent deposit on the home and one donated some furniture. Needless to say it is a Hell of a lot better than what they were living in. Meanwhile all the victims were set up at the 301 Travel Lodge for a few nights until they could get their lives in order. By 1800 that we were extremely wore out and ready to get home only to have one of the victims get belligerent with us. I had to grab the coordinator and hold him down before he beat the crap out of the asshole. It was no easy task since the coordinator weighs in at 325lbs!!!!! I told the guy he?d better be grateful he and his dog weren?t sleeping on the street or back in the dump he was staying in. The manager of the Travel Lodge said she would toss his ass out if he caused one bit of trouble and she did!! I finally finished up at 1930 and had to be back at the office at 0730 Thursday to start the process all over again. Now the fun really began, all the folks who were grateful the day before were now becoming arrogant and extremely demanding plus, the Director found out that the male half of the family of four was a Crack Dealer. I told her I wasn?t too surprised and I also informed her that the female was turning tricks while her kids were there so they could pay the rent on the room they were living in. The Director Lady was shocked, I wasn?t! Thursday ended the same way Wednesday did at 1930! I doubt very much the DOT would approve my log book according to Hours of Service!!
Friday was the best (?) day yet. The dude and chick with the kids decided they were going to create a problem because the ARC will not pay the deposit on utilities. They were told, in no uncertain terms, that they were extended enough courtesy and that they were now on their own. For the record, that conversation was still going on when I left Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, we had a group of three, two brothers and a skinny blonde thing, who needed a new place to stay, again many hours of riding and begging and dealing this group finally had an apartment to call their own. We gave them some furniture and other items to set up their pad. As the coordinator had said: they were beginning to grow on him and I guess they did on me too! These three were so grateful for all the assistance we gave them they were going to start volunteering at the ARC. Can?t beat that. Oh, for all who read this, the emotional part has worn away!!!

As of now, as I type this, the RC phone has not made a sound and I?m hoping it don?t I can use a few days off, the entire weekend and Robert E. Lee?s Birthday.
I was wrong; there was a house fire in the other county which has displaced four people so much for a quiet weekend? I should also mention the last of the ?boarding house? fire victims is still giving us trouble plus, I will have to work on Robert E. Lee?s birthday just to get caught up on all the paperwork, no one ever said it was going to be boring!!!
If anyone kept count, there have been 6 fires in a month, Dec 17 to Jan 17 and the sad part is the chapter used up its allotted money for disaster relief? The tune on the phone tells me it?s time to ride once again? I told the coordinator that having the phone is a great form of BIRTH CONTROL? ?til the next time?.

Not so much an amusing story however, this is a testament to what has been going on for the past month!!!!

 

Wow...and just think, you had to give up trucking for this. Hope all is well with you, Doc.

 

Yeah isn't though.. I'll call you when I get the chance it has been so BLOODY busy and would you believe there have 2 more fires since I wrote that!!!

 

Sleet, snow and freezing rain what a fun Sunday it has been. Roads here are sh*t to put it mildly. 3 of us had spent the night at the Red Cross building and 6 more manned a shelter at the local high school. To add to the Ice Capades we had to respond to yet another house fire which displaced a young mother and her two daughters. Nothing like driving on empassable and impossible streets to help this family. We did end up putting them up in a motel for the night.

It is now 0745 and a promise of more freezing rain to come by noon, looks as though it's going to be another 24 hours in this office before we can go home.

Did I mention just how much fun it is to be a "VOLUNTEER"??????

 

The Iceman cometh and totally f**ks up an entire state?

I have mentioned being kept hostage in the Red Cross building for 48 hours, well I was wrong it turned into 72 hours and a lot of those were at a rescue shelter for the stranded motorists who were stuck on I- 95 due in part to a herd of 18 wheelers that were tangled together creating a huge 25 mile traffic jam, not to mention all the minor wrecks caused by YANKEES, who thought they could drive on ice better than anyone else!!!!
The call to open the shelter came Monday afternoon after the snow/sleet storm turned into a fun ice event. The Governor had issued a State of Emergency order, which for the unaware, means all citizens stay off the roads so road crews and emergency services could get their respective jobs done but no, the ever faithful ?I?m not letting anyone tell me what to do!!? crowd just kept right on clogging the highways.
The first shelter was set up at a rescue squad building at 1500 Monday afternoon however, by 1800 the Emergency Management people asked us to move the shelter to a high school closer to 95. Fortunately we had the foresight to spot a trailer there on Saturday. The down side to this move was the roads leading to the shelter were covered with ice and impassable at best. I kept telling the EM honcho that the shelter should have remained at the rescue squad building. After the second day at the high school he agreed with me!!!
Back to the fun!
We started out with 5 volunteers and I drove the van towards the high school, I should mention one of the other volunteers was an ordained minister, I had made the turn on to the road leading to the school when the van slid sideways it did scare the shit out of me I managed to get it back under control only to be confronted with a hill and a curve which canted to the left. The van went sideways again and I actually managed to spin it all the way around, the pastor started praying, I heard the name Jesus more in one sentence than in the past 5 years!!! I guess the prayers worked I managed to get the van straightened out and into the school parking lot. Maryanne, our intern, rubbed my shoulders as I sank back into the drivers? seat and asked me if I was scared, my silence answered her question!
With the shelter set up the first of the stranded were brought in by EMTs and firefighters followed by what was left of the National Guard. I forgot to mention that all the hotels, motels and the pay by the hour places were all booked up. Everyone involved in the transportation of storm victims had one Hell of a time getting to the shelter. Calls went out for the D.O.T crews to sand, salt or scrape the road however, the general consensus was it just wasn?t important enough; needless to say a lot of asses are going to be on the line over the ?mismanagement? of transportation and the safety of the travelers.
One of the travelers suffered an injury before arriving at the shelter, EMS was called and it took 2 hours before anyone arrived.
The last of the travelers, a young sailor and her 6 month old son, arrived at 0345 Tuesday morning. The shelter was not at capacity, which was quite surprising considering the length of the traffic jam on 95. Calls kept coming in telling us there were supposed to be more on the way plus, several EMS wagons slid off the road. Still not enough incentive for the DOT to render any assistance!!!
The volunteer firefighters were wore out, so we set up cots for them to catch a few minutes of much needed rest and gave them coffee to keep themselves warm.
0800 Tuesday: The freezing rain still fell from the sky and the promise that the temperature would not get out of the 20?s making a bad situation worse; well actually, discovering that there was no way any hot food was going to get to the shelter made it worse. Quite a few phone calls were made and we finally managed to persuade one of the schools kitchen staff to come in and cook for the shelter. We sent the National Guard people get her. Her agreeing saved us a lot of trouble and quelled a potential hostile situation it was bad enough one of the travelers kept calling us a ?Bunch of backwoods Rednecks!? He kept it up until I wandered over to him and matter of factly explained that I was from Brooklyn and that the big Santa Claus looking guy and I would be just tickled to rearrange his attitude and then show him the finer points of a North Carolina ice storm. Nothing like a motivational speech before breakfast to calm the moronic beast.
10:00 and the lady pastor and her fianc?, the disaster relief vice chairperson, wanted to go home. I argued against it but I lost, so off we rode in the van back down the ice covered road. This time the hill wasn?t so bad, the intersection was, a YAHOO in a Chevy pickup made the turn way to fast for conditions and started to slide towards our van, the pastor lady screamed and prayed some more while the chairperson grabbed my arm; I was getting a tad concerned myself. I will admit I thought we bought it and I did something I swore I would never do; I yanked the wheel to the right, popped the transmission into neutral, applied the brakes and wrestled the van towards the ditch. Fortunately nothing serious came of it, I did tell the driver of the pickup he was #1 and questioned his parentage!!! We did manage to get back to the ARC office without further incident.
On the way back I wasn?t so lucky, I decided to try another route in, and it wasn?t so bad for about the first mile or so. I did get a bit complacent and ended up jack knifing the van hitting the sign in front of the high school, there wasn?t any damage and I did manage to get going again. I will also state that the principal of the school had slid in the same spot after I did. When I walked back into the shelter I found a few of the travelers decided to leave and attempt to get back on the interstate. A few made it, others didn?t. The real good news was the cook had arrived and said she would save us from another full day of eating Lance crackers?
I had also found that the 6 month old was the main source of entertainment and someone had found a basketball, not so conducive for getting much needed sleep it did however, keep the anger level down..
I must mention that according to Red Cross guidelines there has to be at least 5 people manning a shelter, well there was only three and no one else would come in to help. Not exactly by the book now was it. Oh, the other rule is at least 2 have to be awake at all times, I did manage to get to sleep Tuesday night.
Wednesday morning: The sun finally decided to make an appearance with a promise of warmer temperatures. All the travelers left by 10:00, we had everything packed up and in the trailer and van by 11:00!!!
Did I get to go home??? NO! The Relief Coordinator and I had to attend a FEMA meeting! I finally managed to see my own bed at 1900 Wednesday!!!
Thursday: I totaled up my hours for the week and the powers that be had a fit when I told them I had 90 hours as of Wednesday. I wonder if I can legally log that.
Damn, I really miss trucking!!!!

As I wrote this another call to another house fire.... That makes #11

 

Suppose there was a disaster and no one came!!!!

Details to follow in yet another installment of "Adventures in light duty work!!!"

One thing I forgot to mention in the last installments was the public speaking I have to do. We have to speak at an Emergency Management meeting tonight and I'm presenting a brief talk on haz-mat. This will be the fourth such meeting I've had to speak at plus, I represented the Disaster Relief Coordinator at a FEMA meeting on Thursday Feb. 5 in a failed attempt to obtain more operating funds.
Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought I would be standing in front of a room full of influential people giving a lecture and actually having them listen to what I had to say!!!! :shock: :shock:

 

Well, if you're wearing your pink hat and feather boa, I'm sure their attention isn't the only thing you have.