Yes, the good old holiday season has started, on the wrong foot, as usual. Let's see. Who is involved in this conspiracy to assure that my holidays are as miserable as possible.
The USPS... I suppose that it goes without saying that the post office is one of the most miserable places in the world to be working at this time of year. Parcels a-plenty! You know that it really is no fun at all to have to carry that fifty pound exercise machine that you bought your wife for Christmas to your door in a blinding snowstorm! And you people who get all of those huge packages from J C Penney... GO TO THE FREAKING MALL!!!! This is the Pittsurgh area. There are malls all over the place and every damned one of them has a J C Penney.
My Boss...Yes, Mike is a really nice guy, one of the nicest postmasters that we've ever had, but even he is doing his part to assure my misery this holiday season. Allow me to explain. I have eight days of annual leave left this year. This is enough that I should not have to work on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving for those of you not in postal or retail work) or the week after Christmas. Unfortunately I was dragging all of those lovely parcels to people's doors on Black Friday and I'll be swimming in tax forms the week after Christmas. Why? I have no sub. Our contract says that each full time rural carrier is supposed to have his/her own sub regardless of route classification, but in the nearly six years that I have had this position I have never had a sub to call my own. Yes, it IS a six day route with no guaranteed days each pay period, but heck, most of us started out that way. I find it hard to believe that no one wants to be my sub, especially since I've not once seen them call anyone in for an interview for the position!
Verizon...Due to Stargate's bankruptcy, all of their DSL accounts have to be switched over to Earthlink by December first. This in itself is not a bad thing. The problem lies with the fact that Verizon, our telephone carrier, screws up the syncing for the DSL every time that a new connection is made. They claim that they will have the line ready on Wednesday, and I put the emphasis on the word claim. Where does this leave me, the sole owner of an unlimited dial-up account until (hopefully) then? Sharing my internet connection with three other people with only one of us being able to go online at any given time. ARGH!
For all of the forementioned people, I have created a new acronym. If you are offended by foul language, read no further. I feel the need to spell this one out to the letter.
My Acronym
F. O. A. D. - Fuck Off And Die!!!
Ah... That felt good. I sure do hope that stupid Google ad bar doesn't put Verizon ads in their little ad box as a result of this post. That would be just too ironic.
