Sunday, April 25, 2004
This past weekend was great. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. Hot but not too hot, able to take Sammy to the pool, play some basketball and drink a few beers. Just a little taste of summer. I'm looking forward to it. It even stayed warm in the evenings which is one of the things I miss about East Coast summers. Here in No Cal no matter how hot it is during the day, when night falls you lose 25 degrees off the days high temp. That means it gets chilly and the idea of sitting on the porch and reading or having a beer which seemed so great at 3 o'clock isn't nearly as comfortable at 9:30. Makes it a bit easier to sleep though.
Last week I worked on the road 2 days. 2 Days!! After going about 2 months without any days on the road at all. I've been seceding them to my business partner who works 5 days a week (as opposed to the 4 the rest of us work) and takes extra pay for the work he brings in on that 5th day. The poor guy is so broke (mostly due to the fact that he's getting divorced and has to pay child support, but also because he keeps buying cars when he shouldn't) that I give him the day that I might normally take on the road. It was really fun for a couple of different reasons. For one, I remembered how much I enjoy messengering and how good I am at it. There's something special about navigating the city. Not just riding in traffic, though I confess a certain joy from that foolishness, but knowing your way around and thinking about the best way to get from A to B, using shortcuts, accessing accumulated knowlege. We use free call dispatch and in that environment you can really feel when you're on the top of your game because you can sense that you're making all the other riders better by doing your job very efficiently. I also realized that I do miss the physical exertion of riding. The 2nd day I was on the road it was stupid busy. I don't know what happened but every client we have decided to call in a job between 9am and 1:30pm. I road my ass of for 4 hours. Just hammering. Taking on deliveries I had no business trying to do, stretching them to breaking and then getting in them in under the wire. It was fun. I remembered why I started a messenger business. The other reason that I really enjoyed being on the road was seeing the clients that I usually only speak with on the phone. Face to face time is a good thing. Shaking hands and asking how things are going is a good thing. It's also a great oppurtunity for sales. When you walk into a company you've never been in before with a package from a mutual client it's an easy "in". It's not like a true solicitation or a cold call because you're already in the office on business. I enjoyed that as well. The business partner I spoke of earlier broke his collarbone about 3 weeks ago and that opened up some slots on the bike. He's healed (or knitted as they like to say in England) and is ready to get back on the bike. However I think I'll carve a day or half day out of the schedule because I miss it.
Last week I worked on the road 2 days. 2 Days!! After going about 2 months without any days on the road at all. I've been seceding them to my business partner who works 5 days a week (as opposed to the 4 the rest of us work) and takes extra pay for the work he brings in on that 5th day. The poor guy is so broke (mostly due to the fact that he's getting divorced and has to pay child support, but also because he keeps buying cars when he shouldn't) that I give him the day that I might normally take on the road. It was really fun for a couple of different reasons. For one, I remembered how much I enjoy messengering and how good I am at it. There's something special about navigating the city. Not just riding in traffic, though I confess a certain joy from that foolishness, but knowing your way around and thinking about the best way to get from A to B, using shortcuts, accessing accumulated knowlege. We use free call dispatch and in that environment you can really feel when you're on the top of your game because you can sense that you're making all the other riders better by doing your job very efficiently. I also realized that I do miss the physical exertion of riding. The 2nd day I was on the road it was stupid busy. I don't know what happened but every client we have decided to call in a job between 9am and 1:30pm. I road my ass of for 4 hours. Just hammering. Taking on deliveries I had no business trying to do, stretching them to breaking and then getting in them in under the wire. It was fun. I remembered why I started a messenger business. The other reason that I really enjoyed being on the road was seeing the clients that I usually only speak with on the phone. Face to face time is a good thing. Shaking hands and asking how things are going is a good thing. It's also a great oppurtunity for sales. When you walk into a company you've never been in before with a package from a mutual client it's an easy "in". It's not like a true solicitation or a cold call because you're already in the office on business. I enjoyed that as well. The business partner I spoke of earlier broke his collarbone about 3 weeks ago and that opened up some slots on the bike. He's healed (or knitted as they like to say in England) and is ready to get back on the bike. However I think I'll carve a day or half day out of the schedule because I miss it.
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