Riding shotgun with The Pony would not be very comfortable. You'd be perched on a shelf, probably holding mail for The Pony to reach for as he delivers it curbside. Of course you'd be on the left side of the LLV (Long Life Vehicle), on the center line of the road, since it's a right-hand-drive vehicle. Since it's not really feasible to ride shotgun with The Pony while he's on the job, we'll let you experience it vicariously, through The Pony's following three photos, from three different days this work week.
This is the Magical Mystery Switch that The Pony found last Friday. Just a random switch. No label. I wonder if he was adventurous enough to flip that switch. Just to see what it would do. I'm guessing maybe not, because he's still here. He didn't get transported to another dimension. Hold the presses! Upon further interrogation, The Pony admitted he DID flip that switch. It turned on the fan that is mounted on the dash. The only form of "air conditioning" built into the LLV.
I found this one to be particularly artistic. The Pony said it was a dangling car charger. Not to charge a car, but one of those things like a cigarette lighter. A hollow tube used to plug in a cable to charge an electronic gewgaw. Or as Hick termed it, a "hanging female receptacle." Which absolutely horrified The Pony!
On Monday, The Pony was loading in this LLV his part of the 12,000 packages his office received, when another worker said, "Oh, I brought that one back. I think it might have a problem." When The Pony got started, he saw this gauge was redlined. So he drove back onto the lot and called his supervisor to report it. She said,
"Oh, it's okay to drive. I think that's one of the two that show they're overheated when they're not. Let me call the repair shop."
Yes. That was indeed one of the two LLVs that show they're overheated when they're not. Hick says it's a broken "temperature sending unit." I thought maybe it should be a temperature sensing unit. But he said it twice. Three times. Because I couldn't remember it. Hick doesn't understand why, if the repair people KNOW the gauge is broken, that they don't fix it. In fact, The Pony said this LLV was actually delivered to the parking lot THAT MORNING as being repaired and ready to go.
The Pony also says his new acting manager says that if anybody knows of a good repair shop there in Sis-Town that can tow cars and work on them... to let him know!
It was scheduled to be fixed in the Build Back Better plan, but I guess it is on hold for now.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling it's going to be on hold for quite a while longer!
DeleteGood grief! If they DO find a repair shop they might find one that cleans vehicles, too.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, Hick worked in a service station that had a contract with the USPS and the electric company. He said they only pay at the end of the month. So some businesses might have trouble with that arrangement.
DeleteHick also said that they used to wash the vehicles and return them in good shape. That made The Pony laugh. Then he said even IF the LLVs got washed, they just be dirty again within hours, because a lot of them are also used on rural routes that are dusty and muddy. That doesn't really excuse the INSIDE!
I am truly stumped at the non-repairing that goes on there. They might just as well go back to the pony express days, or maybe a bit more modern, the days of bicycle deliveries, although you couldn't fit many packages on either method.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the Pony Express method would be an improvement. We've seen how they have no problem waiting TWO WEEKS to provide approval for treatment of a broken-ankled Pony!
DeleteThis is unacceptable for a country that is supposed to be the very best. It is just plain sad!
ReplyDeleteThis situation is actually making Young Genius's bright idea seem plausible! Genius thought that every house should have its own pneumatic tube (like a bank drive-thru) from which they could get their mail every day.
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