Sunday Sunday

It’s possible that I have too many favorites; I haven’t kept up with them very well.  I have been a poor Favorite to others.

***

This time of year, the papers get later and later.  Maybe they needed to cut down more trees for all the ads the papers are stuffed with.  My projected loading time was 1:15 am this morning, and as we were next to last on the list, I figured it’d be 2 before I saw any papers, but since I don’t really like to get them off the floor, I set my alarm for 12:30 and got up then (although I really really wanted to stay in bed).  I called the paper and they told me, to no great surprise, that things were running S L O W and that I had another hour at least.  By that time, I had made coffee and was sipping some, and thought, "nah, I won’t go back to bed".

Shoulda done it though.  I left here at 1:30ish and stood around until 2:55, when my number finally came up, and it was well after three when I got out of there.  I had to meet the other driver and give her her 58 bundles (out of the 150 I got) so it wasn’t until very late that I got started on my route.  That’s good, in a way, because it was hours after the bars close, and the drunk drivers are mostly off the streets by then, but it was bad too, because it means that the sun might come up before I finish.

It did, kind of, but it was still mostly dark when I got back to the store where I park the stepvan, and I was sort of pleased to find the other driver there; she’d just finished her route.

Heh.  I’ve got nearly twice as many papers to deliver and still I finished about the same time.  The papers were in bundles of sevens this weekend; the Thanksgiving papers were in bundles of 8, and I had to get 188 bundles of those; it’s our biggest draw of the year.  It was definately daylight by the time I finished those!

About five more weeks of this holiday shit to deal with and then the papers will get thin again.  The papers in January are often in bundles of nine; it makes a huge difference.  I’ve never bought into the go into debt to buy presents thing; perhaps this year I’ll print up some 8×10’s of my pictures and give them out; they are good pics, and maybe I can find frames in the Dollar stores.  I’ve been dirt poor the last nine years, since the car wreck thing, and friends have vanished in that time, so I don’t have a huge list of them anyway. I really should go buy a box or two of Christmas cards; since beginning Open Diary, I have more to send.

***

Looking out my windows, it’s a beautiful day out there.  It was below freezing this morning, and doesn’t look too much warmer, but the sun is out, my balcony door is open for the fresh air, and I don’t have to do anything today.

(oh but the laundry!  damn)

I actually had papers left over this morning; two of my street racks got stolen.  We blame the tweakers for it; deparate for money of any kind, they steal my racks for the nickles and dimes and quarters in them.  Dumb fucks.  They should wait until Monday, after the Sunday papers sell.  They are a dollar fifty; the dailies are fifty cents.  My racks have ended up in far north Portland, at metal recyclers, on misc. street corners, or have vanished altogether.  We blame tweakers (meth users) because that drug makes people stupid and assholish; it is the Devil’s Drug.

Lately there’s been a lot of scary commercials on TV regarding meth and what it does to you – people looking like death warmed over saying "don’t do it!".  They’ve been saying that about drugs all my life, but most all of that were lies; meth is BAD stuff though; no lies about that at all.

***

Ahh, but it’s STILL a nice day out there.  I got about two hours of sleep this morning and got up to answer the phone; I’m not at my best after so little sleep; I hope it wasn’t a disappointing call for my caller.

*****