|
|
|
Got sidetracked this last few days with a wild workweek. Went from feeling really really up to just abut as low as I care to go. Involves the worst guy I deal with to the best kind of person at my favorite customer.
Brought my tank truck into the shipper Monday morning at dawn and found an outside carrier already positioned at the railroad tank cars. For those that don't know, I drive an 18-wheel tank truck in the Portland, OR. area and presently haul vegatable oil to various food processers and a lot of bakeries. Queried the outside driver and found he had driven 750 miles to take a load from this railcar to the Safeway bread plant a half mile away. Great, except that is actually my haul and my $70 - $90 pay. Investigating this skulduggery, I find that the receiver at Safeway, a repellent jerk named Rick has decided that he wanted the shipper to use a different carrier on this load. Our company has quite a rocky history dealing with Safeway and recently had addresssed some technical concerns that Rick had had. Definatly unfair treatment but on the other hand, I wouldn't have to deal with this t*rd for the next week or so. 
I had no animosity to the other driver and gave him a map of the peculierities of dealing with this fussy delivery. Finished out my day without event. Understand that when it comes to what I do, I am an absolute expert. I'm the guy you want to load, move and deliver your product. I have customers that get upset when I'm not part of the process. They don't want to see a company relief driver. I work hard to provide excellent service and take a lot of pride in what I do. In bulk situations, mistakes and misques are costly... as Safeway, Rick and his confederacy of back stabbing weasles were soon to find out!
So anyway, I arrived at the outskirts of Reno about 9am Sunday morning and I was pretty hungry. Sometimes I'll stop at the Bonanza on N. Virginia St. Nothing remarkable about the place or the food, just the first bit of gaming "action" to be had after a long drive. Get seated and order up. Great! Plenty of breakfast fixin's from the grease, salt and caffeen food groups. Get full and head into the casino for some blackjack. Bonanza has a big Hot August Nights participation every year. One year I took a fancy to their HAN issue and asked for some at the cage. Not Helpful At All. So I've always had a bit of chip on my shoulder abut the place. They have a U.S.Cavelry pretension to their player's cards and such. Bought in and started playing red chips. Do these folks even have an ordinary house chip? It seemed every chip I recieved was a HAN or Street Vibration issue. Probably could have put together eight different HANs. None were the one I had been after that one time! 
Talked to the dealer about the reason for my Reno trip and the Fitz closing and all. Even got the pit critter in on it and another dealer. Weird attitude I thought. May have been some rivalry between the "downtown" workers and the rest of the Reno gaming employees that I was unaware of. Thought these guys were uncaring about their dealer brothers and sisters as to me, they face the same circumstances that are hurting the entire town. thinking abut it later, perhaps it was really a case of "whistling past the graveyard". Just tough talk during scary times?
On my way to work Tuesday morning, I took a route that allows me to observe the safeway bread plant and as I looked down, I see the outside pirate tanker still in the unload area. Whip my rig around the bread plant and find the Idaho driver. His product pump had failed the day before at Safeway. He'd gotten it repaired (at the most expensive shop in the state!) and when he attempted unload this morning, the pump had failed once again, which also explained the cussing mechanic banging wrenches under the ailing Freightliner. So he'd been about 30 hours at this point trying to complete the delivery. About this time Rick, the back stabbing Rat pops out I take off. Didn't mention at all that with a little rerouting of product hoses and fittings, it would have been possible to use my pump to complete the dielivery. Well, for a not-so-modest fee.
Left the Bonanza and pulled out the camera to take a pic of the place. Like they say, there is no "there" there. They've got it fixed as a silly faux western movie set motif. U.S. Cavelry? Don't think Henry Fonda, Larry Storch instead. Decided to skip the freeway and head into the casino district south on Virgina St. as I had never done that before. Okay sightseeing, you go past UNR. I'd like to find their press office as they publish a lot of really interesting sounding Nevada hisory stuff. Get almost to the fitz parking structure and guess what! For what seems like the eight our of last ten visits, they've got virginia St. closed! Dopes, no wonder no one wants to come to your Mayberry RFD town anymore. Jog around by where New China Club was but not so far as Bill Harrah's garage, a few more false turns and I've only wasted 10 mins trying to hit the parking ticket gizmo at fitzgeralds for the last time.
It's now Wednesday and the other driver is finally out of Safeway. However, when I cruise by the bread plant on another nosy mission, I spy the remnants of a significant product spill! You don't want to get this stuff on a paved yard. It's nasty to clean and it won't "go away" by itself. Likes to degrade the paving as well. So Rick thought he knew it all. Going to cost you some for cleanup and big time ill-will and is that egg on your stupid face Rick? Don't try this at home Sonny, let this dumb ol trucker hold your hand from here on out. Put your whole bakery operation at peril there. I know I was sorta "busy" if you had been thinking of getting help from me.
So now I'm in full Gloat Mode after seeing my most hated individual take a big pratfall. I pull into my abosolute favorite customer to deliver oil so he can make mayonaise to whip up potato salad so good, you'll slap your mama over the stuff she's been making you eat all these years. Park and they tell me that my friend Tom who works there has lost his wife unexpectedly that very morning. Tom was just the best kind of person and everyone who knew him in any regard is just profondly sad at his sorrow. Give your loved ones an extra squeeze every now and then. All the way up and all the way down in just hours. Sometimes...
Lets give Greg and Janice an extra tonight also. Thanks for sticking with this. Hoping to write about Linda and Linda, Sandy and Sandy, and that blond over at the Clown. Bagged the guest services notebook but I'll need some pointers from Pam G as I was thwarted in a framed picture "harvest" that I attempted.
|
|
