Noreen Manvell

Too Tired for Fireworks

Noreen — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 06:39:38 +0000

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

Noreen — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 16:07:44 +0000

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!

Noreen — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 03:03:15 +0000

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~

New Blog Testing

Noreen — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:43:15 +0000

This is the new blog!

An updated version of wordpress! Hooray!

Welcome friends and family.