Christmas Eve Day - Wednesday

A few things have occurred since the last time  I posted which was admittedly a "minute" ago.  

Today was take the boys all over the place looking for a present for their dad, who was finally able to come home after almost 2 months of being gone and spend Christmas with us!  We were out for 4 or so hours, it took a while to find specifically what he wants and needs for his truck.  He's OTR CDL driver now, pulling a flatbed and driving a very nice truck if I do say so myself. 

He is just getting back on his feet so I helped a fellow driver start out his new career with the presents I bought.  These are things to make his life easier and more manageable.  A microwave that also has an air fryer and acts as a convection oven.  A 32 inch TV with bluetooth for the time he's sitting in his sleeper and able to watch something. And a nice bluetooth headset so he can talk to his lady on the phone (and whoever else, but they talk frequently) with ease and comfort. I splurged on that one for I had plenty of points on my Love's card.  

It was a little spendy, but I know what it's like being out on the road for long periods of time and not having the right equipment to make life easier, manageable and a little nicer.  His truck has a fridge and some other people are giving him some other cookware he wants/needs, so he need only carry with him the food to cook. And I can tell you from ample experience, you can pack a small fridge full of the stuff you want to eat and have to cook that can last 4 to 6 days anyway depending on the size of the fridge.  

Tomorrow is Christmas, of course.

Now let's go back to yesterday.  I was in Arkansas attempting to deliver a load of glue. It was the super early load, I got up at 4:00 am and I was up there at 7:15 am.  When I got to the scale, the scalemaster informed me that "you are going to have to wait a minute, that other driver just got here".  Which other driver, I thought? I am the first load, I am scheduled to be here at this time, NO ONE ELSE IS.  

By the time I got fully engulfed in this ordeal, I was admittedly having a full blown meltdown.  This dude, an OTR driver, was scheduled to be there at 11:00 am or later, NOT 7:15 AM.  I contact dispatch, why the HELL is this driver here, now?  My manager was doing the dispatch so he called me.  He at first tried to offer an excuse about this dude needing to go home for Christmas but speedily remembered who he was talking to,  a person that doesn't want to hear lies and doctored stories. Yes, he was scheduled to be there at 11:00 am.  

This dude.  He shows up LONG before his appointment time and then? I waited 3 HOURS for him to unload! I should have gotten out of the truck and gone to the office, if I had, I would have found out he didn't have the COA (it's a purity statement for the product that the plant requires before they will allow a driver to unload and there is no way the plant forgot it, he must have lost it somewhere).  I did not know that 2/3rds of that wait was waiting on a piece of paper.  I could have unloaded and been out of there if that jackass would have just moved his truck out of the way and I wouldn't have held him up at all.  

Not that I would have cared considering HE WAS THERE IN MY TIME SLOT.  The glue pit manager said if he had known, he would have forced the dude to move and let my offload.  So, I was there welll over 4 hours and got home MUCH later than I should have, by several hours.  Not only did he push me out of my time slot AND hold me up for hours because of a piece of paper, he also violated several safety protocols. Namely, getting up on the trailer, the plant up there strictly forbids it and there are signs all over the place saying don't do it in huge letters.  Second, no Hi Viz safety vest.  They want those on at all times.  When he left?  He spilled product on the ground. He did nothing to clean it up and he is required to report it.  

So, me being in the bad mood that he put me in, I took pics of him on the truck without a safety vest and a video and pics of the spill that was all over the place.  I also reported it to a manager up there - my manager wanted me to, I asked him if I should for tho I would love to see this dude get canned for his actions, I don't want to put the contract at risk At the same, the plant REQUIRES us to report spills, so that's what I did.

I think our days in that plant are numbered and I will end up having to find another job anyway.  The general manager of the plant doesn't like us - for good reason I might add with these screwup drivers that both break their rules AND our company rules on safety.  I despise people who take no pride in their job and don't give a damn about anyone but themselves. They make everyone else look bad and they can screw up the works for everyone.  I got so undone over this I demanded my manager dock his pay for $200 and give it to me for wasting my time.  

It isn't likely they'll do that of course, but they did give me money for this nonsense.  If it isn't enough - I'll find out on the next paycheck, I have no qualms calling up the manager and demanding more.   If they are going allow this kind of shit to go on, they can pay the people that actually care and if they don't, I'll probably get myself fired over it and seriously shrugs shoulders.  I blew up the manager's phone with texts, I will freely admit that and he didn't mess with me, he knew I was pissed and I had the right to be upset over this nonsense. 

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The evening progresses. We went out to eat and now we are going to watch Polar Express, an animated movie about a train that takes certain kids to the north pole to visit Santa personally. It's a cool movie starring Tom Hanks, who I used to really like until I heard him some years ago moaning, groaning and carrying on like a child about his hatred for all things Trump. I have never understood why Hollywood stars think people want to hear their views on politics, I certainly don't.  It's ruined my view of stars that I used to really like.  I will watch it anyway and try to forget the ridiculous nonsense I have seen coming drooling out of his mouth like so much maggot infested trash...

I don't CARE what you think about Trump. I don't worship him, I don't exalt him, I don't even think he's that good of a man in the moral department, but he is FAR better than anything democrats have had to offer up in quite a long time.  

Anyway, that's enough for one post and plus, the movie is starting shortly and I want to join with family to watch it. It's more about the people you love and care about than anything.  

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Fast forward many hours, late night Christmas Eve.  We watched the Polar Express movie and then the kids were put to bed.  I wrapped all of the presents I had bought, lots of them and it took me over an hour to do it lol.  The Christmas tree lights were turned off, I didn't much care for that but I left them off. I did, however, put a plate of cookies out and I munched one of them and left a huge bite mark on it and another that was all crumbled up, like Santa had eaten some and left a little behind.  The 8 year old still believes, the 10 year old still sort of believes, but with the caveat that after he said he didn't believe anymore?

It was the spirit of giving that was explained to him.  In a biblical context, it is more blessed to give than to receive. Give and it shall be given unto you.  Christ gave his life, which is really what we are celebrating here, not only His birth but what he did for all of mankind.  Do unto others as you would have done unto you. At least, that was the context I explained it in and also the fact that it originated from a Greek bishop from the 4th century, St. Nicholas who was known for helping the poor and that Christ stressed that we should help the poor and needy as well? That lit a spark in him that changed his whole view of it around.  

He has been in love with the whole concept of Christmas this year.  We have seen Santa 4 separate times I think and really, just in love with the idea of the real concept.  

With that, I am off to bed.  Merry Christmas Eve!

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