i went postal err, i mean coastal today. NO! i mean POSTAL!!!

[danny_galaga]

the N64 happenstance continues. as some of you may know, i suddenly decided to buy an N64 off ebay a month or so back. well after buying a whole buncha stuff off ebay i thought 'why dont i check locally? maybe check the saturday paper.' so i buy the saturday paper and have a look in the classifieds. nothing at all N64 related.

while im at it i check out the careers section. i occasionally have a look at what jobs are going even though most advertised jobs always demand skills i dont have. every week in the careers section there is section where they look at the day in the life of... that weeks it was a postal delivery officer (id say postman except it was a chick!). reading it reminded that  this job had crossed my mind in the past. so i apply for a job online. the application is good for a year so i figured ill just renew it a year from then. two days later i get a phone call 'can i come for an interview'!

well, i was successful. i chucked in my current job and as of yesterday i am an employee of australia post. today we did the first of two days advanced motorcycle training. lots of slow manuevering, quick stops etc. only one guy fell over (",)

[Ed_McCarron]

Cool.  Just try not to let your housemate clean the mailbox too often.

[patrickl]

Cool. Why do you need advanced motorcycle training though? Are you delivering mail on a motorcycle?

[danny_galaga]

Cool. Why do you need advanced motorcycle training though? Are you delivering mail on a motorcycle?

yes

dont you feel silly for asking that now?

[patrickl]

Cool. Why do you need advanced motorcycle training though? Are you delivering mail on a motorcycle?

yes

dont you feel silly for asking that now?

Well I feel silly all the time   I've just never seen a postman delivering mail using a motorcycle before.

[Bones]

Really? All/most of the posties here are on bikes. If you call CT110 a bike that is......

Well done on the job man. Remember that all DVD shaped deliveries from Canberra should be redirect to my abode in Sydney.

[danny_galaga]

Really? All/most of the posties here are on bikes. If you call CT110 a bike that is......

Well done on the job man. Remember that all DVD shaped deliveries from Canberra should be redirect to my abode in Sydney.

waddaya mean? these rock (",)



actually, have you ever ridden one bones? i never did until yesterday. these things have an amazingly tight turning circle.

i wonder if i can do this to the one they issue me 



thats right. thats a supercharger!

patrickl has raised the issue though. us aussies have taken it for granted that the post use motorbikes. whats the scene in your countries guys? UK, Canada, USA, Eire, Nederlands, Singapore etc?

[cdbrown]

Coming from Aus I was used to seeing the postie on a motorbike riding across the front yard eventually creating a track in the grass between houses.  I think some peopl have complained as they now generally avoid riding across the lawn.  Here in the UK it's delivery by foot (well that's in London anyway).  The posties walk along with large trolleys and deliver that way or carry a shoulder bag with them, all depends on where they are.

[patrickl]

In the Netherlands regular mail is usually delivered on foot. We have similar trolleys in the Netherlands too. Or they take a bicycle (sometimes with a big box in front). But then maybe on the countryside they use someting mopeds or motorcycles.

Usually they walk with a shoulderbag or a trolly:


or they take a bike:


A while ago they used an electric bike called Roodrunner (not sure if they still do after the house style change to orange):

[RayB]

WHAT?! You mean the $5000 Segway didn't take over the postal world?! I'm shocked!

[Bones]

actually, have you ever ridden one bones? i never did until yesterday. these things have an amazingly tight turning circle.

No, I haven't.

I lost most of my dignity in 2004 and don't have much left to spare.

[DrewKaree]

Really? All/most of the posties here are on bikes. If you call CT110 a bike that is......

Well done on the job man. Remember that all DVD shaped deliveries from Canberra should be redirect to my abode in Sydney.

waddaya mean? these rock (",)

I never thought we'd ever find a person that even Paige could throw rocks at

[danny_galaga]

the difference is that i will be PAID to ride em (",) i wonder if paige has had a look in yet?

[ChadTower]

[danny_galaga]

is that how they deliver the mail where you live, chad?

[vorghagen]

Chad, What. The. ---fudgesicle---. Is. That?

[danny_galaga]

well, ive been a postie for i week. and i have to say, its been freakin great! maybe for the first time ever, im actually enjoying work. and being properly paid for it (the oldies grumble about the pay, but they havent been in private industry for a long time. damn green grass over that fence  )

job starts at 6:35am. get in and start sorting mail. this takes a hell of a lot of time. the guys that have been there a while are like robots, while i fumble along. lunch time depends on how many letters you have that day (seems to be about 1000-1500). but 10:30am seems about normal. WAY early for lunch for me (and only 30 mins) but i can live with it. out on the road by 10:30-11:00. it was my first day essentially on my own today so i got on the road about 12! You are paid for a certain amount of time. If you finish early and no one needs any help, you can go home! obviously today wasn't one of those days. yesterday, because someone was helping me we finished at 1:30! i went and saw a movie (bourne ultimatum, bloody good!)

so far this week on the road we helped a guy in an electric wheelchair who was stuck. i was chased by a corgi! i almost fell off my bike laughing ( i definitely drew the long straw. one girl i know is doing a really rough area. she had a freakin attack dog jump a fence and chase her  ) several magpies attacked me, and ive had a few lil chillen come out jumping up and down for the mail. thats a bit of a reward. so cute  one dissappointed little boy, upon not receiving any mail followed me to the next mail box to get that instead! daddy broke the news. not a happy camper that day!

oh, and it just so happens that im delivering to my own place! i better make sure im careful with the neighbours mail. dont want them complaining...

[shardian]

Good to hear mail service is an enjoyable job in aussieland, but I'll still ask you in a month or two if you still like it. here in the US, there is a reason they call a killing spree "going postal". Postmaster is a high turnover job. Nothing they ever do is good enough, always highly stressed. I've never even seen any of the postmasters I've known smile even away from work. Now the delivery people are hit and miss. Still a fairly high turnover, but they are well paid. I believe they make $17 an hour.

[danny_galaga]

initially it's less here, at about 17 an hour aussie. but each year for the next five years it goes up a buck so that in five years its about 22 an hour (",). and yes, ive copped a few postal jokes. a friend found this pic for me for instance. hmmm, i have been enjoying golden eye on my N64 lately. i especially like the sniping aspect and even though im not suppoesd to i find it satisfying to shoot the scientists when they run away 

[danny_galaga]

Good to hear mail service is an enjoyable job in aussieland, but I'll still ask you in a month or two if you still like it. here in the US, there is a reason they call a killing spree "going postal". Postmaster is a high turnover job. Nothing they ever do is good enough, always highly stressed. I've never even seen any of the postmasters I've known smile even away from work. Now the delivery people are hit and miss. Still a fairly high turnover, but they are well paid. I believe they make $17 an hour.

well, i really really suck at this job! but, since i've pretty much sucked at any job i've ever done and this one is the highest paying one so far i think i'll stick with it (unless they fire me of course).

should it be a concern that after work i like nothing better than to play goldeneye on the n64, climb a tower in the 'surface' mission and get sniping?

[billf]

So you truly are morphing into the picture above!?!   

[danny_galaga]

well, some good news and some bad news.

good news is they've put me on permanently 

bad news is i've made a few mistakes lately that all decided to catch up with me today- on my first day as a permanent employee  and in fact once the manager realised, he came and found me out on the run to set me straight and to tell me that two supervisors would now have to help me with the rest of the run to straighten it out 

i haven't found a job yet that i could fall into and this is one more! workwise i AM frank spencer! but if i can survive i'll stick with it since i have nothing better to do and it pays well. and iv'e gotta eat...

the only consolation is that i tend to keep my head down (kinda blew that today!) which means that at least i won't cop much flak from the other staff over my mistakes. you've probably seen it in your own workplace. its the loud-mouthed fools that no one likes that get hassled the most when they stuff up. people like me, if anyone says anything, it's 'hey, don't sweat it. could happen to anyone'.

boy, my first million is certainly taking its time...

edit: yeah, so this means they are going to be watching me like a hawk now. so much for keeping my head down...

[patrickl]

boy, my first million is certainly taking its time...