Noreen Manvell

No Surprise

November 1, 2008 on 11:17 am | In Work | No Comments

This morning’s email was really no surprise. The price of the USA Today’s are going up at the end of the month. This time not only do we have to change over all the coin mechanisms of the vending boxes in one day, but we don’t get paid even a dime to do it. That about pisses me off.

USA Today is not all that popular around here in the first place. Our biggest customers are the hotels that give the paper free to hotel guests. That makes sense - that people that aren’t “from here” are the only ones who read it.

Scored Some Cheap Gas

October 27, 2008 on 2:04 pm | In Work | No Comments

Finally scored some cheap gas - at a little independent station on the corner of the trucking terminals and warehouses by the airport. Only paid $3.29 a gallon. That’s a dollar a gallon less that 2 months ago. Plus the gas does not have any ethanol in it. Bonus! Real gas!

Huuzah!

Excuses Excuses

October 21, 2008 on 7:05 pm | In Work | No Comments

We thought about making a list of the most outrageous excuses that drivers have used as to why they are quitting or why they need a night off. Some of them are really out there.

Some of the ones that stand out in my memory are:

I can’t work tonight. I have to go to my doctor tomorrow to get my blood pressure checked and I can’t do anything that will make my blood pressure go up.
I have to quit. My wife says she can’t sleep in the bed without me.
(At midnight) I can’t work tonight. My boyfriend went downtown today to look for a job and he hasn’t come home yet and I’m too worried to come in.
I can’t work tonight. My boyfriend fell down the stairs.
I couldn’t come in last night because my husband fell asleep in the living room watching TV and didn’t wake me up. (Well, tell your husband it’s his fault YOU’RE FIRED!)

How Corporate

October 1, 2008 on 10:58 am | In Work | No Comments

On Sunday we spent the entire day taking apart the coin mechanisms of every paper rack and inserting little brackets to make the adjustment necessary to change the price of the papers. For the past 12 years the local daily paper has been 50 cents and the USA Today newspapers have been 75 cents for as long as I can remember.

But as of September 29 the price of the local daily went up to 75 cents. So all the vending racks had to be switched by Monday morning. That was a joy filled day fighting with 105 racks spread out all over Williamson County.

Then, today we got an email that says the size of the newspaper is about to get smaller. They are going to print on smaller sheets of paper, about an inch less on each side.

All I could think was, “How corporate. Raise the price and give them less!”

The No Drama Zone

September 30, 2008 on 11:39 pm | In Work | No Comments

Our best drivers are people who have their lives very stable and predictable. It is important for them to show up every morning, on time, and be ready to work. The people who have drama in their personal lives prove to be undependable and they frequently ask for time off or don’t show up with little or no notice. That just doesn’t work out well for us - we are a bare bones organization and we have to count on our people to do their jobs.

Drama in their personal lives includes jealous spouses, drug use, frequent mechanical trouble with their vehicles and health issues. As far as I’m concerned, if you have trouble with a jealous spouse, get rid of him or her and cut your losses. There’s no room for that type of behavior in your life and when it begins to interfere with your job, then it is a clear sign that the relationship is not healthy and your choice of partner is not good. Drug use - zero tolerance for that. In today’s world, you are stupid to even begin to get involved with drugs. If you have a problem - get help. Mechanical troubles - have access to a back up vehicle and get a used vehicle that will be more dependable. Your livelihood requires a dependable vehicle. Health issues - can’t help you. If your poor health interferes with your job performance, take a leave of absence and get yourself healthy or get another job where perfect attendance isn’t an issue.

If I could hang a “motivational” poster or sign over our door, I would use the one over the door in the Titans locker room that leads to the stadium:

“No Excuses.”

Rising Gas Costs

September 10, 2008 on 11:52 pm | In Work | No Comments

Our biggest expense is payroll and second to that is the cost of gasoline and other automotive expenses.

The cost of gas has gone up this past year by over $1 a gallon. That’s a huge price jump and we have no offset from the newspaper to help cover that. I had to run a spreadsheet to find out breaking point, as our profit margin was already slim. According to my calculations, if gasoline hits $5.00 a gallon we will have to shut our doors. It is already $4.09 locally. So at least we know what we have to do if it keep going up. At the current rate of increase we could easily hit $5 a gallon by late February. I hope that doesn’t happen.

Too Tired for Fireworks

July 4, 2008 on 1:39 am | In Holidays, Work | No Comments

The past week has been so exhausting that I don’t think we’ll be able to stay awake and watch any fireworks displays this year. Our town always has a great show, with free concerts and a great vantage point of sitting on the riverbank to watch them shoot over the river and across the bridge.

We had so many drivers out and routes down that we’ve been covering them ourselves and scrambling to get extra help for the past 3 weeks. I just can’t bounce back from double shifts like I used to. And since we work 7 days a week, there’s no rest for the weary.

But I hope that everyone who enjoys the fireworks this year has a wonderful time and stays safe. Happy Fourth of July America!

Monday is like Sunday

June 28, 2008 on 11:07 am | In Work | No Comments

Our days of the week are not the same as normal people’s days. Our week seems like it has 3 Sundays, and what stinks is that we don’t get Sundays off.

On everyone else’s Saturday we are going into work to handle the Sunday newspaper. The paper comes in different sections, usually around 5, that are delivered throughout the week and throughout the morning on Saturday. All except for the headlines, which still get printed at the latest possible minute - usually around 11:00 pm - and are sent out on trucks to arrive at the depot around 2:00 am.

On Saturday we have workers go in early to put together the sections that have been delivered already, to give the carriers a head start on bagging or bundling the full paper when the headlines arrive. Then, Saturday night/Sunday morning we put the inserts with the headlines and head out on the routes. The Sunday paper is so much bigger than the weekday paper, and we have so many more subscribers that take just the Sunday paper, AND we have a lot of locations that get a big bump on the number of Sunday papers that they sell that we have to bring in extra people to work and by the time we are finished everyone is exhausted.

On Sunday we have to handle complaints from the subscribers and redelivery requests, so we are again handling the Sunday paper. To be honest, we are usually so sick of looking at the Sunday paper while handling it at the depot and delivering it that we don’t even read the Sunday paper at home on Sunday. It’s more important to try to get some sleep, and we often grab a long nap in the afternoon. Since most places close early on Sundays if they are open at all we don’t get much done on Sundays.

Then on Monday, after we get back from handling the Monday paper and get a morning nap, we can actually relax a little. We might go out for a late breakfast and then actually read the Sunday paper. We might take the dogs to the park or try to get a few groceries or run some easy errands, and we’ll have an early dinner followed by an hour or two of TV, then it’s back to bed for a few hours.

So that’s why I feel like we have three Sundays each week.

Welcome to Noreen’s world!

April 28, 2007 on 10:03 pm | In General, Work | No Comments

This is going to be a fun time! Welcome aboard!

Today I’m in Nashville. We’ve been puttering about the house but had to make a quick trip to Brentwood to meet the guy, Michael, who fixes the paper dispensing boxes. Kary and I rode down with Buck and Crash. We try to take at least one or two of the dogs for each “field trip,” as they love to ride.

The coin mechanism on the paper box wasn’t working properly, so we weren’t able to sell any papers at that location. Michael met us at the McDonald’s and showed Kary how to fix it. Seemed easy enough - only took about 10 minutes. The dogs cheered him on from the car.

Then we drove down to the depot in Cool Springs to check on the guys handling tonight’s inserts. We have to make sure they show up and are working. I walked the dogs down to the berms while Kary spent a few minutes with our guys. Buck and Crash had a blast running and peeing on all the trees and bushes.

When we came back it was time for a nap, then dinner and a movie. We watched “Night at the Museum” and then hit the sack by 10. The movie was cute - easy to watch and a fun story.

We have to get up at 1:00 to go to work - Saturday is always “all hands on deck” because the Sunday paper is so many sections that have to be handled and the Sunday routes are always larger than the weekdays. So, it’s off to bed.

~N~