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My fiancee is a bona fide movie star.
My paramour is on the big screen
My fiancee is a bona fide movie star.
True Scary Camp Story (with 2013's cat pics)
Imagine the voice of Patton Oswalt is reading this. (Can't remember his voice? This sample is best.) I'm not saying my voice sounds like his—or that it doesn't, that's immaterial. But his tone, pacing, and inflections make this a much better story.
I like to camp. What I mean when I say this...is that I enjoy the desolation of what most would consider primitive camping, with a few comforts and amenities. Because—let's be honest—there are a couple-a-things I prefer to never do without.
For example, I love love love a place in the woods miles and miles away from any other people. No man-made noises. No vehicles. Just quiet filled with wonderous silence.
But I need a toilet. A sit-down, flushable toilet. I'll ass-grip my shit for days before I squat over a log. And, before I'll crawl out of my dry tent to stand in the rain and take a piss at four in the fuckin mornin, I'll tie a knot in my dick (I'm speakin figuratively, 'course it's too small for a knot). So a portable flush toilet is a requirement; a necessity, not a luxury. I wouldn't camp without one.
So . . . I'm camping my way. And lovin' it. And mostly. Mostly. You know why?
It's the lack of options—the freedom from all the usual "things to do"—which brings about, in me, an incredible peaceful rest-titude. A normal day-off...for most people...after you wake up, immediately your brain becomes aware of the immense variety of things available for itself to occupy itself.
Hummm, what'll I do? Go on the internet - check messages - play a video (is there a new game I wanted to play?) - watch a movie - maybe go to the movies (is there a new film I wanted to see?) - get something to eat (do I have anything I'm hungry for in the house? do I need to grocery shop?) - go shopping (do I wanna drive? I could just shop on Amazon. Is there a new book I wanted?) - maybe just go for a drive (where do I want to go? To the bookstore? Who else could go with? Is there a friend I wanna visit? We could go out to eat.) - How is the weather? Is it good enough to spend the day outside? Let's check . . . humm . . . the internet says it is going to be partly sunny and warm.
All that—inside two minutes. Still in bed. Head on the pillow, thumbing the phone.
I can cook whatever I have in the cooler on my Coleman grill. And if it's raining (which I'll know as soon as I wake up) I can either sit under the rainfly or stay in my tent where I have three choices: read, draw, or think. Yup. That's it. Oh, masturbate. So, four. But once you've cranked into a couple sheets of Bounty or Brawny (I prefer Viva) it's back to those three. If the weather's good, I have the added option of exploring the woods and/or hiking. With my cat. Or, do one of the other three, only in the sun.
So a couple weeks ago, I set up camp at my favorite spot in Clatsop, which is a medium-sized (350² mi/550² km) Oregon state forest used, almost exclusively, by loggers and hunters.
As the crow flies, about three miles from the nearest house (five, if sticking to roads and forest trails) my campsite was in a small clearing on the crest of a slight hill at the end of a two-rut track. I have a sign to dissuade hunters from using the cul-de-sac to park or turn around in. It works.
The second night I was woken, after midnight, by three bangs on the western face of my tent. Bash-sh, BAsh-Sh, BASH-Ish, followed by: nothin'. No receding footfalls. The cats (both Cecil and Pam's Aggie were with me) raised their heads from the blankets at my feet and intently listened for a few minutes, but soon lowered their heads and returned to slumber. I imagined a deer mustiv' tripped on one of my guylines, stumbled into the side of the tent, and caught a second leg on another guyline as it was trying to leap away. The crackling-shift 'Ish'-noise of the tarp-like tent's bottom making it sound louder than it really was. In the morning I discovered the tent had been disturbed enough to move the floor and spill their water bowl.
I picture a young elk strolling through the campsite with a couple others from its herd...
"Shite man! Feck! Gad-Dam, bout broke me bleedin bollacks!"
"We told ya to watch out for the big funny-smellin bush, Geoff."
"I did! But you didn't tell me about the invisible vines!"
"Heh heh. You sure that you just didn't eat too many squishy apples?"
"You wankers!"
A few nights later, I was startled awake by a loud, long, scream. This was an unusual scream. Unusual not only because it began very close to the tent, but because it continued for several full minutes as the rodent's or the bird's shrill, imminent-death-holler was carried deeper into the forest, down the steep southern slope, and gradually faded to silence.
JEEL!JEEL!JEEL!JEEL! with no breath between the jeel's. No footfalls in the grass or burst of wings in the air as it was carried away. I imagined an owl must have caught lunch and carried it away. Maybe it's like a built-in dinner bell for the little one's (*licks lips*. . . mom's comin' with ... what's it sound like? Squirrel? Vole?)
Of all the many quacks, squawks, yips, tweets, calls, cries, and cricks in the night, the only one more readily identifiable than the hoots and screeches of the owls are the trumpets from the occasional bull elk.
The cats were as startled as I and they stayed alert for over half of an hour. Both eventually got off the bed, ate something from their bowls, drank some water, and one of them used the litter box before they both settled back to sleep with me.
For over a week it rained on-and-off every night. We were all woken when rain struck the taught fabric over our heads in a deafeningly cacophonous hard-to-sleep-inside-a-drum kind of way. And, likewise, we were all woken when four hours of white-noise drizzle immediately turned into silence.
During the days we did what we do.
Read.
Pondered.
Explored.
Which is also what we did at night.
The red light on their collars.
For exploring the woods.
After the sun has set.
But not far away.
Because there are animals in the forest who are not comfortable with our funny smells (which is why all my garbage is bagged ten feet off the ground at night) and who steer clear because they are bothered by our bright spotlights and scared by our loud strange noises. (foreshadow much?)
One of the last nights, just after six in the morning, the rain woke us by stopping. The sky was beginning to lighten. Morning birds began to chirp. The cats decided to get up. I rolled over and waited for them to finish; if I went back to sleep they'd just wake me when they jumped back on the bed.
Aggie began to eat. A minute later, Cecil walked behind her towards the litter box.
The crash punched into us.
This crash, into the south side of the tent, was so loud . . . so clearly directed, and so specifically timed that I knew within a microsecond of its beginning . . . it was not an accident.
I began my shout at the volume one would use to call attention to yourself at a loud concert and increased my decibels to throat-harming level as I snapped my head toward it. I was still screaming at the absolute top of my lungs when I took in the final microseconds of the crash.
Aggie's back was to the crash and she was turning her head towards it.
Cecil was two feet away from the crash and he was turning his head towards me.
The south side of the tent was bowed in about two feet.
I finished yelling. The cats freaked the fuck right out and ran as far away from the crash and from me as they could possibly get (behind the cooler). I got my shotgun. I clapped my hands and shouted a little more. I listened. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
An hour later, the cats had calmed enough to come back on the bed. Not to sleep; but they trusted I was no longer going to make that scary noise again. I'd calmed enough by then to put down the shotgun.
During the light of day I discovered by climbing through the brush, broken branches, and weeds on the south side of the tent that grouse or quail were using that brush as cover. I learned this when one broke . . . WHUP - Whup - whup . . . and scared the piss outta me.
I downloaded this video from my infrared camera, positioned North of my campsite on the road. An edge of the back of my sign is just visible over the road in the distance.
Yes. That's right. A mountain lion. A young one, sure. Probably no more than 65 pounds (30kg). I imagine him stalking another one of those birds he caught from behind my tent a week ago, sitting there waiting for the rain to stop. And he hears a small click click noise (Aggie eating) could that be a bird on the other side of that dense brush? And then the swish-crunch of movement through weeds (Cecil walking) and he LEAPS. Only to plow headfirst into the side of one tough tent. A tent he probably banged into already!..when he was trying to get to the only thing I failed to conceal the smell of: dry cat food.
I still love camping. I learned from this trip. And I will learn from the next one.
I like to camp. What I mean when I say this...is that I enjoy the desolation of what most would consider primitive camping, with a few comforts and amenities. Because—let's be honest—there are a couple-a-things I prefer to never do without.
For example, I love love love a place in the woods miles and miles away from any other people. No man-made noises. No vehicles. Just quiet filled with wonderous silence.
But I need a toilet. A sit-down, flushable toilet. I'll ass-grip my shit for days before I squat over a log. And, before I'll crawl out of my dry tent to stand in the rain and take a piss at four in the fuckin mornin, I'll tie a knot in my dick (I'm speakin figuratively, 'course it's too small for a knot). So a portable flush toilet is a requirement; a necessity, not a luxury. I wouldn't camp without one.
So . . . I'm camping my way. And lovin' it. And mostly. Mostly. You know why?
It's the lack of options—the freedom from all the usual "things to do"—which brings about, in me, an incredible peaceful rest-titude. A normal day-off...for most people...after you wake up, immediately your brain becomes aware of the immense variety of things available for itself to occupy itself.
Hummm, what'll I do? Go on the internet - check messages - play a video (is there a new game I wanted to play?) - watch a movie - maybe go to the movies (is there a new film I wanted to see?) - get something to eat (do I have anything I'm hungry for in the house? do I need to grocery shop?) - go shopping (do I wanna drive? I could just shop on Amazon. Is there a new book I wanted?) - maybe just go for a drive (where do I want to go? To the bookstore? Who else could go with? Is there a friend I wanna visit? We could go out to eat.) - How is the weather? Is it good enough to spend the day outside? Let's check . . . humm . . . the internet says it is going to be partly sunny and warm.
All that—inside two minutes. Still in bed. Head on the pillow, thumbing the phone.
I can cook whatever I have in the cooler on my Coleman grill. And if it's raining (which I'll know as soon as I wake up) I can either sit under the rainfly or stay in my tent where I have three choices: read, draw, or think. Yup. That's it. Oh, masturbate. So, four. But once you've cranked into a couple sheets of Bounty or Brawny (I prefer Viva) it's back to those three. If the weather's good, I have the added option of exploring the woods and/or hiking. With my cat. Or, do one of the other three, only in the sun.
As the crow flies, about three miles from the nearest house (five, if sticking to roads and forest trails) my campsite was in a small clearing on the crest of a slight hill at the end of a two-rut track. I have a sign to dissuade hunters from using the cul-de-sac to park or turn around in. It works.
The second night I was woken, after midnight, by three bangs on the western face of my tent. Bash-sh, BAsh-Sh, BASH-Ish, followed by: nothin'. No receding footfalls. The cats (both Cecil and Pam's Aggie were with me) raised their heads from the blankets at my feet and intently listened for a few minutes, but soon lowered their heads and returned to slumber. I imagined a deer mustiv' tripped on one of my guylines, stumbled into the side of the tent, and caught a second leg on another guyline as it was trying to leap away. The crackling-shift 'Ish'-noise of the tarp-like tent's bottom making it sound louder than it really was. In the morning I discovered the tent had been disturbed enough to move the floor and spill their water bowl.
I picture a young elk strolling through the campsite with a couple others from its herd...
"Shite man! Feck! Gad-Dam, bout broke me bleedin bollacks!"
"We told ya to watch out for the big funny-smellin bush, Geoff."
"I did! But you didn't tell me about the invisible vines!"
"Heh heh. You sure that you just didn't eat too many squishy apples?"
"You wankers!"
JEEL!JEEL!JEEL!JEEL! with no breath between the jeel's. No footfalls in the grass or burst of wings in the air as it was carried away. I imagined an owl must have caught lunch and carried it away. Maybe it's like a built-in dinner bell for the little one's (*licks lips*. . . mom's comin' with ... what's it sound like? Squirrel? Vole?)
Of all the many quacks, squawks, yips, tweets, calls, cries, and cricks in the night, the only one more readily identifiable than the hoots and screeches of the owls are the trumpets from the occasional bull elk.
For over a week it rained on-and-off every night. We were all woken when rain struck the taught fabric over our heads in a deafeningly cacophonous hard-to-sleep-inside-a-drum kind of way. And, likewise, we were all woken when four hours of white-noise drizzle immediately turned into silence.
Read.
Pondered.
Explored.
Which is also what we did at night.
The red light on their collars.
For exploring the woods.
After the sun has set.
But not far away.
Because there are animals in the forest who are not comfortable with our funny smells (which is why all my garbage is bagged ten feet off the ground at night) and who steer clear because they are bothered by our bright spotlights and scared by our loud strange noises. (foreshadow much?)
One of the last nights, just after six in the morning, the rain woke us by stopping. The sky was beginning to lighten. Morning birds began to chirp. The cats decided to get up. I rolled over and waited for them to finish; if I went back to sleep they'd just wake me when they jumped back on the bed.
Aggie began to eat. A minute later, Cecil walked behind her towards the litter box.
The crash punched into us.
This crash, into the south side of the tent, was so loud . . . so clearly directed, and so specifically timed that I knew within a microsecond of its beginning . . . it was not an accident.
I began my shout at the volume one would use to call attention to yourself at a loud concert and increased my decibels to throat-harming level as I snapped my head toward it. I was still screaming at the absolute top of my lungs when I took in the final microseconds of the crash.
Aggie's back was to the crash and she was turning her head towards it.
Cecil was two feet away from the crash and he was turning his head towards me.
The south side of the tent was bowed in about two feet.
I finished yelling. The cats freaked the fuck right out and ran as far away from the crash and from me as they could possibly get (behind the cooler). I got my shotgun. I clapped my hands and shouted a little more. I listened. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
An hour later, the cats had calmed enough to come back on the bed. Not to sleep; but they trusted I was no longer going to make that scary noise again. I'd calmed enough by then to put down the shotgun.
During the light of day I discovered by climbing through the brush, broken branches, and weeds on the south side of the tent that grouse or quail were using that brush as cover. I learned this when one broke . . . WHUP - Whup - whup . . . and scared the piss outta me.
I downloaded this video from my infrared camera, positioned North of my campsite on the road. An edge of the back of my sign is just visible over the road in the distance.
Yes. That's right. A mountain lion. A young one, sure. Probably no more than 65 pounds (30kg). I imagine him stalking another one of those birds he caught from behind my tent a week ago, sitting there waiting for the rain to stop. And he hears a small click click noise (Aggie eating) could that be a bird on the other side of that dense brush? And then the swish-crunch of movement through weeds (Cecil walking) and he LEAPS. Only to plow headfirst into the side of one tough tent. A tent he probably banged into already!..when he was trying to get to the only thing I failed to conceal the smell of: dry cat food.
I still love camping. I learned from this trip. And I will learn from the next one.
Today is Someday: Book 7 - The World of Winnie-the-Pooh
This book shares something in common with two others, which I'd also previously put off until today (all found on many must-not-die-before-reading lists). I postponed reading A Clockwork Orange and The Princess Bride because I'd already watched the films. The Disney features from the 1960s with Winnie the Pooh (sans-hyphens) and his friends were my excuse for not reading the stories by A.A. Milne.
No, they are not filled with insights and tender life lessons with children in mind all-the-while tempered with humor and story-quality guaranteeing that adults reading these stories aloud will also enjoy them, they are all just plain boring.
If I had a precocious four year old who was capable of reading slightly above her age-level, I'd give her this book and—after she threw it so hard it dented the plaster of her bedroom wall—I'd ask her to explain why she despised it so much.
And her words would most likely include: unhappyfully filled-to-muchly with simple, dullish, sadness and...but...mostly, there never seems to be a beginning middle or end to the stories. She would then ask why I thought she would enjoy it and I'd have to apologize to her for assuming that any child born during the Obama administration would have even the slightest thing in common with someone who was born when Calvin Coolidge was president.
She would then ask how ninety years could sour these stories and I would have to explain that (like my first Today is Someday book, Watership Down) the stores were originally just told by the author—who in this case was a British man born in 1882—to his son. They were made up 'on the fly' as it were, with no polish and not a smattering of talent. Just a verbal slap-dash before we hie the young'un off ta bed...turned into similar words on a page. [I'm not saying Milne didn't know how to write, what I am saying is he didn't know how to tell a story.]
Disney made us care for the characters. Disney painted our emotions. Disney polished and made a beginning, middle, and end. Mostly, I hate Disney. Except when I don't.
A Scarecrow in the Backseat
This is my last week as a seven-days-a-week carrier for the Oregonian. Three days ago, I had a unique opportunity to pick the brain of the 43 year old guy who I was training to replace me, as I drove the 20-mile route.
"Hello. I'm Veach. I understand you're taking over this route?" (As I shake the guys hand).
"Hi. Yup. That's what they told me. How long have you been doing this?"
"Well... (pause; I tell myself to say 'I didn't catch your name' but instead I say) two years. Total. Almost five months on this route."
"Can I ask you wh... You're quittin right?"
"Yea."
"Can I ask why?"
"It's personal. I..."
"...That's OK..."
"...don't like to talk about it because..."
"...none o' my business..."
"...it's kinda embarrassing." (Which is what I tell everyone. There's no reason to explain my need to maintain sanity by camping, hiking and lazing on the beach.)
"So let me ask ya. I'm just doing this because I need the money. How much can I expect to make? If you don't mind my asking, how much did ya make last month?"
"Nobody does this job for any other reason. There's nobody delivering papers because it is a great work environment, or because the pay is great, or because of the fantastic benefits. We all are doing it for the money. Last month I made about $1,550."
"Yea? Great. That's perfect for how many hours of work?"
"It varies. Maybe 30 a week. More at the beginning until you learn how to speed up."
(Fast forward. Skipping the short cuts and how-to details of memorizing and paperwork.)
"So I recommend we load all these in your car; I'll ride in the back, navigate for you, and stuff the papers into bags, while you drive and deliver."
"Umm, would it be OK if we use your car? I, umm, don't have much gas. I'm pretty sure I can borrow some money for gas now that I've got a job and all."
"I guess that'll be OK, but it isn't the best way to learn a route...from the back seat that is."
(I should not have acquiesced. Skipping more boring stuff.)
"Veach, can I tell you something and you not tell anyone?"
"If you're a serial killer, I may feel compelled to inform someone."
"Ha! No. It's just. See. The real reason I didn't want to use my car is, umm, I don't have any insurance on it and all. I plan on getting some as soon as I get my first check. And I know they don't hire anybody without insurance so I fibbed and said I had it. Do you ever get pulled over by the cops?"
"Yes. I've been pulled over six times while delivering. Which is about average for someone driving with his high-beams constantly on, not wearing a seat-belt, thru stop signs, on the wrong side of the road, after the bars close. But I never get a ticket. They're just looking for drunk drivers. If you got pulled over with no insurance, you could get a ticket. Why take a job that requires driving every night if you don't have car insurance?
"I used to work construction. A few months ago I had a triple bypass. When I got out of the hospital my apartment was all padlocked and so I live in my brother's basement now his girlfriend is constantly up my ass and bitchin about me so I figured I could do this with their car an all. It's got plates on it and I got a license. It's just the insurance lapsed."
"A triple bypass? Someone your age? That's—I've got to say—a surprise. How long ago was this?"
"It's been nine weeks now."
"Nine. Weeks. Are you sure you can do this job? It. I walk three-four miles a day. On Tuesdays it is more like ten or twelve with the Food Day."
"Oh yea, they've got me running on a treadmill three times a week. The exercise is not a problem."
"But. You're young."
"Well it's because of all the drugs I did in the past and the cigarette smoking and it's also genetic. My brother is five years younger than me and he just got three stints put in!"
"Hunh."
(At this point he must be able to tell from my silence that I was recalling his cigarette before he got in my car.
I was also thinking about death panels—which he wouldn't have sussed.)"
"And I know. I need to stop smoking..."
"I think open heart surgery might have had an impact on you, yea."
"blah-de-blah yabba-go-dabba..."
(The only part of the next five minutes of rationalizations and explanations I need to include is the part
where he spoke of himself in third person)
"...and Tom is pretty good when it comes to math. Remind me again, how much will I make?"
"Depending on tips and how many extra papers you deliver you could average fourteen to fifteen hundred a week."
"How about when they change to...what's it going to be in October...three, four days a week?"
"It will be less, obviously. Two days off a week is—at a minimum—two thousand five hundred papers less a month, at ten cents a paper, how much less would that be? (Yea, I almost said 'how much will that be Tom.')
"And then you have to deduct for gas. How many hours a night?
"Fast nights, three. Busy nights, up to four or so."
"Sundays?"
"Sundays pay almost double, seventeen cents a paper, and you get more time to deliver, if the paper is huge it can take all of six hours.
"So, I know I keep asking about money...sorry...but that's about ten dollars an hour?"
"I don't think about it as an hourly job. It's a paid-to-complete-a-task job."
"Hunh?"
"I get an extra hundred dollars a week, four-hundred a month, to deliver Food Days on Monday nights and Tuesday mornings. Yes it's a lot of walking, but that means less money on gas. I listen to my music and toss papers. It's simple. No stress. Like getting paid to exercise. They are not paying me on the hours it takes to deliver them, they are paying me to put twelve hundred Food Days on twelve hundred porches."
"And you have to put them on every porch?"
"Nah. You don't give them to anyone who gets a paper at night, and th...
"...How come?"
"Because they get it inserted in their Tuesday paper. And there are a large amount of people who specifically ask not to get a Food Day. There are entire blocks where neighborhood associations ask none be delivered, and there are a bunch of apartment complexes who don't want them too."
"How do you know who gets them and who doesn't?"
"You'll get a list. It shows who gets them."
"Like this list? The one you updated before we left?"
"Nah, that is one I typed up myself. It has everything on it and it has all the driveway counts and.."
"Driveway counts. What's that?"
"See the numbers to the left? Before the house numbers?"
"Ahh can't read em. I'm gonna need to bring my glasses tomorrow. Anyway you could give me this list when you leave?"
"You see how I've made pencil changes and then erased and then made more?"
"Umm."
"Well, see how dogeared they are? And how some of the pages have already pulled out of the binder?"
"Yup."
"That's only six weeks of wear. I could download the entire thing I guess. You got a jump drive?"
"I don't have a computer."
"Yea, well, I don't know if the pages would do you much good with no way to update them."
"Sorry for continually asking the same question over and over, but what do you think I can make a month after the October changes?"
Tom asked two more times about money. He never asked about driveway numbers or the codes I use for the different types of customers. At the end of the night he asked me if I would be able to 'bum him a few bucks for gas'. I politely declined.
The next night he was given one hundred papers to deliver solo. The office received 30 complaints of missed papers the next day. He was unreachable. They fired him when he arrived the next night. An additional 8 customers complained the following day, and when I was delivering that night a lady told me she also didn't get a paper but didn't complain because she thought the Oregonian had already switched to three-days-a-week. Three days later there were still customers reporting he didn't deliver their paper.
To understand the title of this post read: So You Want to Deliver Newspapers. Even though he got a new heart, Tom was a scarecrow (of the tweaker variety) not a tin man. He weighed about 120 pounds, bad teeth, bad skin, bad eyesight (I understand meth wreaks havoc on the organs).
On a related note, under a socialized medicine system, all the Tom's would never become candidates for triple bypasses. They've been failing to commit slow-suicide; I say, let them succeed. Death panels? Sure! I'm all for them.
"Hello. I'm Veach. I understand you're taking over this route?" (As I shake the guys hand).
"Hi. Yup. That's what they told me. How long have you been doing this?"
"Well... (pause; I tell myself to say 'I didn't catch your name' but instead I say) two years. Total. Almost five months on this route."
"Can I ask you wh... You're quittin right?"
"Yea."
"Can I ask why?"
"It's personal. I..."
"...That's OK..."
"...don't like to talk about it because..."
"...none o' my business..."
"...it's kinda embarrassing." (Which is what I tell everyone. There's no reason to explain my need to maintain sanity by camping, hiking and lazing on the beach.)
"So let me ask ya. I'm just doing this because I need the money. How much can I expect to make? If you don't mind my asking, how much did ya make last month?"
"Nobody does this job for any other reason. There's nobody delivering papers because it is a great work environment, or because the pay is great, or because of the fantastic benefits. We all are doing it for the money. Last month I made about $1,550."
"Yea? Great. That's perfect for how many hours of work?"
"It varies. Maybe 30 a week. More at the beginning until you learn how to speed up."
(Fast forward. Skipping the short cuts and how-to details of memorizing and paperwork.)
"So I recommend we load all these in your car; I'll ride in the back, navigate for you, and stuff the papers into bags, while you drive and deliver."
"Umm, would it be OK if we use your car? I, umm, don't have much gas. I'm pretty sure I can borrow some money for gas now that I've got a job and all."
"I guess that'll be OK, but it isn't the best way to learn a route...from the back seat that is."
(I should not have acquiesced. Skipping more boring stuff.)
"Veach, can I tell you something and you not tell anyone?"
"If you're a serial killer, I may feel compelled to inform someone."
"Ha! No. It's just. See. The real reason I didn't want to use my car is, umm, I don't have any insurance on it and all. I plan on getting some as soon as I get my first check. And I know they don't hire anybody without insurance so I fibbed and said I had it. Do you ever get pulled over by the cops?"
"Yes. I've been pulled over six times while delivering. Which is about average for someone driving with his high-beams constantly on, not wearing a seat-belt, thru stop signs, on the wrong side of the road, after the bars close. But I never get a ticket. They're just looking for drunk drivers. If you got pulled over with no insurance, you could get a ticket. Why take a job that requires driving every night if you don't have car insurance?
"I used to work construction. A few months ago I had a triple bypass. When I got out of the hospital my apartment was all padlocked and so I live in my brother's basement now his girlfriend is constantly up my ass and bitchin about me so I figured I could do this with their car an all. It's got plates on it and I got a license. It's just the insurance lapsed."
"A triple bypass? Someone your age? That's—I've got to say—a surprise. How long ago was this?"
"It's been nine weeks now."
"Nine. Weeks. Are you sure you can do this job? It. I walk three-four miles a day. On Tuesdays it is more like ten or twelve with the Food Day."
"Oh yea, they've got me running on a treadmill three times a week. The exercise is not a problem."
"But. You're young."
"Well it's because of all the drugs I did in the past and the cigarette smoking and it's also genetic. My brother is five years younger than me and he just got three stints put in!"
"Hunh."
(At this point he must be able to tell from my silence that I was recalling his cigarette before he got in my car.
I was also thinking about death panels—which he wouldn't have sussed.)"
"And I know. I need to stop smoking..."
"I think open heart surgery might have had an impact on you, yea."
"blah-de-blah yabba-go-dabba..."
(The only part of the next five minutes of rationalizations and explanations I need to include is the part
where he spoke of himself in third person)
"...and Tom is pretty good when it comes to math. Remind me again, how much will I make?"
"Depending on tips and how many extra papers you deliver you could average fourteen to fifteen hundred a week."
"How about when they change to...what's it going to be in October...three, four days a week?"
"It will be less, obviously. Two days off a week is—at a minimum—two thousand five hundred papers less a month, at ten cents a paper, how much less would that be? (Yea, I almost said 'how much will that be Tom.')
"And then you have to deduct for gas. How many hours a night?
"Fast nights, three. Busy nights, up to four or so."
"Sundays?"
"Sundays pay almost double, seventeen cents a paper, and you get more time to deliver, if the paper is huge it can take all of six hours.
"So, I know I keep asking about money...sorry...but that's about ten dollars an hour?"
"I don't think about it as an hourly job. It's a paid-to-complete-a-task job."
"Hunh?"
"I get an extra hundred dollars a week, four-hundred a month, to deliver Food Days on Monday nights and Tuesday mornings. Yes it's a lot of walking, but that means less money on gas. I listen to my music and toss papers. It's simple. No stress. Like getting paid to exercise. They are not paying me on the hours it takes to deliver them, they are paying me to put twelve hundred Food Days on twelve hundred porches."
"And you have to put them on every porch?"
"Nah. You don't give them to anyone who gets a paper at night, and th...
"...How come?"
"Because they get it inserted in their Tuesday paper. And there are a large amount of people who specifically ask not to get a Food Day. There are entire blocks where neighborhood associations ask none be delivered, and there are a bunch of apartment complexes who don't want them too."
"How do you know who gets them and who doesn't?"
"You'll get a list. It shows who gets them."
"Like this list? The one you updated before we left?"
"Nah, that is one I typed up myself. It has everything on it and it has all the driveway counts and.."
"Driveway counts. What's that?"
"See the numbers to the left? Before the house numbers?"
"Ahh can't read em. I'm gonna need to bring my glasses tomorrow. Anyway you could give me this list when you leave?"
"You see how I've made pencil changes and then erased and then made more?"
"Umm."
"Well, see how dogeared they are? And how some of the pages have already pulled out of the binder?"
"Yup."
"That's only six weeks of wear. I could download the entire thing I guess. You got a jump drive?"
"I don't have a computer."
"Yea, well, I don't know if the pages would do you much good with no way to update them."
"Sorry for continually asking the same question over and over, but what do you think I can make a month after the October changes?"
Tom asked two more times about money. He never asked about driveway numbers or the codes I use for the different types of customers. At the end of the night he asked me if I would be able to 'bum him a few bucks for gas'. I politely declined.
The next night he was given one hundred papers to deliver solo. The office received 30 complaints of missed papers the next day. He was unreachable. They fired him when he arrived the next night. An additional 8 customers complained the following day, and when I was delivering that night a lady told me she also didn't get a paper but didn't complain because she thought the Oregonian had already switched to three-days-a-week. Three days later there were still customers reporting he didn't deliver their paper.
To understand the title of this post read: So You Want to Deliver Newspapers. Even though he got a new heart, Tom was a scarecrow (of the tweaker variety) not a tin man. He weighed about 120 pounds, bad teeth, bad skin, bad eyesight (I understand meth wreaks havoc on the organs).
On a related note, under a socialized medicine system, all the Tom's would never become candidates for triple bypasses. They've been failing to commit slow-suicide; I say, let them succeed. Death panels? Sure! I'm all for them.
New Adventures of Wading in the Amazon
I order a set of expensive, thick, sheets.
A set of cheap, thin, sheets is delivered.
Return reason: Different from website description Buyer comments: Very unhappy with product. Already have high thread count sheets and (unlike this set) they are dense, luxurious, and soft. This set is flimsy and coarse. Not as advertised.
** I receive a form letter with options. Return the item, preferably unwashed, to an address in Virginia for a full refund or get a 30% refund if I choose to keep the product (and a request to inform him which option I choose).
** I return and pay return postage. I don't send a follow-up email.
** After tracking number shows package received for 10 days:
I communicated with the seller about my displeasure with the sheets and returned the sheets in the condition directed (unwashed). Package tracking shows the seller has been in possession of the returned package for over a week. No refund. No communication.
My displeasure with this company is rapidly increasing. In the past, I have had to return a few items, that I purchased through Amazon, from other sellers. The sign of a good internet company is how they handle returns and dissatisfied customers. The very best sellers don't try to scam customers by foisting poor quality items on them in the first place (but that ship has sailed). The next lower level of seller provides a free shipping label to print out at home and then immediately processes the refund upon receipt of said returned item (it seems that ship has left the port as well).
Very disgruntled,
Veach Glines
I am sorry for the inconvenience. I was not aware the package was send back. In the email i requested you to please make sure to email me once the package was send back so that i could give 100% refund on those. i never received an email once send back. I have issued 100% refund on those today including shipping paid at the time of purchase. If you prefer i will also refund you the return shipping you paid. Please let me know the return shipping you paid and i will gladly do that.
Please advise,
Syed
Sayed,
I am confused as to why you would not be aware the package was received by your business. I included in the package my name, address, and the order number. I paid $16.14 shipping UPS.
Veach
Dear Veach,
Sorry for confusion. The package goes to the supplier where he gets returns from various drop shippers so that is why i request all my buyers to send me an email once package is send back so that i can promptly do the refund the same day the return was send. I have also issued refund of $16.14. Please let me know if you want me to do anything else. I apologize for all the inconvenience caused to you.
Regards
Syed
Dear Veach Glines,
You
left me a 2 star negative feedback today as you were disappointed in
the quality and return of the set and the way the
return was handled. I am a small seller online and work hard to receive
4 and up rating from my customers. I am sorry to have received a low
rating.
I would like to request you to work with me on this. Please allow me to explain here so you know what happens.
- REGARDING SHIPPING WEIGHT:
Please note that the shipping weight of 35 lb listed is a type error
that has to be corrected. It is impossible to have a 35lb sheet set
exist anywhere. I am going to contact amazon to correct his mistake.
The maximum weight a sheet set can have in 8-10lbs. If you want, you
can even walk into any retail store and check
the weight of their highest luxury set that may cost $300 and up. The
weight will be less than 10 lb. Please understand that even a heavy
weight 8 piece comforter bed in a bag will not 35 lb.
- REGARDING RETURN NOT HANDLED PROPERLY :
Please understand that I work with vendors for processing order.
So, when an order has to be returned, the vendor gets the the return
directly. They usually do not notify us because they expect the customer
to work with us for return authorization. That is why if you see in the
first email to you, I had requested you to kindly provide me with a
tracking number once you return or at the minimum inform me when you
return, but you never responded. This was only because I wanted to
follow through your return and do a prompt refund. However, because I
never knew that you returned, I was not able to do a prompt refund. But
if you notice, I issued you a full 100% refund including the shipping
fee as soon as you informed that you had returned and waiting for
refund. I did not even ask you for the tracking number because I wanted
to take the responsibility to trace the package with the vendor for my
refund. Since the vendors process orders and handle returns for several
sellers like us, they expect us to
know when an item is returned by an individual buyer.
-REGARDING QUALITY OF SET:
I am sorry if the set was not satisfactory. I am just a middle man
here and work with vendors. This arrangement is mostly to get
competitive prices so that I can pass the savings to my customers.
Please understand that I
do not have any intentions to send inferior quality set because at the
end as a seller, I am the one who will get burnt with returns and bad
feedback. I do not gain anything, it is a complete loss for me & my
feedback. However, since I have this arrangement to work with vendors, I
do not always have control on what get shipped. There may be an odd set
that is not up to the expectations and when this happens, I do
everything to work with my customers.
Since the quality was not satisfactory,
(1)
I would like to ship you a replacement set through another vendor.
This time, I will ensure that I also do a personal quality check so you
will not be
disappointed. I will also ship from a vendor that has very high quality
set that costs a lot even in the wholesale market. I will ensure that
the replacement is 2 ply thick set and will guarantee you that you will
like the thickness and quality of the set.
(2) AND, I will not charge you again for this set. Hope this can compensate for the
loss of time due to the first set.
Please
let me know if this is acceptable.
I
do have one humble request for you. At the end once you feel you are
100% satisfied and if you feel that I have attempted to work with you to
your satisfaction, I will kindly request you to please consider to
remove the 2 star negative feedback solely on the basis of my customer
service and efforts to fix the problem. Please understand that seller
feedback is not just for the product but for the most part for the
overall service of the seller and I hope that I can do everything
possible at my end to fix the problem we have on hand. Since I cannot
undo what already happened, I hope that you can please give me a chance
here to work with you to your
satisfaction. Since selling online is bread and butter for me and my
family, I will work hard to ensure I provide you with 100%
satisfaction.
I look forward to hear from you.
Syed,
I do not believe you are unaware of the inferior quality of some of your "vendor's" products. Obviously, not all of your products are poor quality, because many of your good reviews describe heavy, quality, sheets, but I strongly suspect that sending thin, sheer, low quality sheets is an intentional action in order to profit from people who don't know what a thick quality sheet set should look/feel like (or who don't want to hassle with returns). The only downside is convincing the dissatisfied customers (like me) who are familiar with thick 2ply high-thread count sheets to not post accurate reviews on Amazon.
You say you intend to work with Amazon on changing the "typo" of 35 pounds. But you aren't specific as to what the actual weight of a quality king size sheet set is? You write that it is 8-10 pounds.
Partly, my decision to purchase from you was because the weight was very heavy and some of your reviews said they were heavy. I would think you would know exactly what every size actually weighs because shipping charges vary based on weight.
If you are a legitimate businessman and aren't intentionally selling low quality sheets for high prices, then you will not have any problem changing all of the "typos" on all of your pages. There are other pages on your storefront where the weights for King 1500TC sets are: 10, 12, 16, 17, and 28 pounds (I did not look at them all). You say they all should be 8-10 pounds? Are you saying all of these are typos?
I don't want other people to have to go through what I have gone through, and having accurate weight information would be a good first step. Obviously, it is enticing to be offered a free set of sheets for removing my accurate review, but I am more concerned with other customers at this time.
Write to me when all these "typos" are corrected and then I will decide about removing my poor rating.
Veach
Dear Mr Glines,
Thank you for the note. Please allow me to explain further regarding how the edits happen to the listing page.
The
listing page that you see on Amazon, is not owned or maintained by one
individual seller, including myself. That is the reason why you see
more than one seller offering items for sale from one single
listing. That is the reason why individual seller do not have full
control of the content of the listing page because the detail page is
shared by more than one seller for selling the item. In our listing for
example, there are two sellers and previously at some point there may
have been several sellers. As a seller, I can only change item
description at my end of the listing edit page and wait for it to get
selected to get changed on the main listing page. So it is not likely
that all of the content that you see on the listing page including the
weight was updated by one individual seller. It is collection of
contributions from different sellers at some point in time and that is
why on other similar listings you may see different contents based on
what one individual seller may have submitted and was selected.
Please
see attached my listing edit page where I have entered the weight of
this specific item. Just to be conservative, I entered a lower of the
two weights as weight depends also on the type of packaging used by
individual vendor. However, the weight is not yet updated on Amazon.
I will give it few days and check again and if it does not change, I
will contact them to see if they can make the change manually for this
item.
Please
understand that feedback is completely your decision and I am not in
any way forcing you to change the feedback. I am only requesting you to
consider to revise the feedback only at the end if you feel that as a
seller I attempted to work with you to resolve
the problem and only if you are satisfied. Since feedback is not just
for the product but also for the seller experience I was requesting your
help and was hoping I can make it up to you though my customer
service. I only wanted to send you the replacement set to ensure you
receive a set that will be 100% satisfactory for you. It has nothing to
do with feedback. I will respect whatever you decide.
Syed
Syed,
To recap:
- I order 1500TC heavy sheets and pay you over $100.00 for them.
- Your wholesaler sends me low quality thin sheets without your knowledge.
- I return them to an address you provided but you don't know because I, nor your vendor, told you.
- I complain to Amazon.
- You refund all my money as well as all my shipping.
- I post a 2-star review explaining that you advertise heavy sheets and ship light ones.
- You claim the misleading weights are typos and offer a free set of personally inspected heavy sheets so I'll see you have provided the very best customer service.
- I request you alter the weights listed on your pages which lead people to believe you are offering very heavy sheets.
- You claim to request the typos be fixed, but state that because they are not solely edited by you, the final outcome is beyond your control.
Because of this "not my fault" constant, I decided to take a close look at your pages. I understand Amazon's constraints and enticements on you. "Enticement" is the word; clearly, you don't force dissatisfied customers to alter their reviews.
Here are some of your recent 4 or 5 star reviews. Notice anything?
- Seller was very reasonable for returns. Jamie S.
- Seller has done everything possible in his capacity to make this a satisfactory experience for me. Byrne H.
- Extraordinary Professional and immediate response to a problem. I recommend this company 100%. melysa s.
- I had a small problem with the fit of my sheets and to resolve the problem the seller gave me 3 options to choose from. This has never happened with any other seller...I received an immediate reply and credit to my account. I would buy from this seller again. Ina M.
- Seller was very responsive and helped to ensure I got the right product. Very happy with seller and would buy from again. Service outstanding. Matt P.
- Excellent costumer service. Recommended seller. A++++ Tammy L.
- Product was not for me but the customer service was exceptional. Adam
- Extremely wonderful to work with. The product I ordered, unfortunately did not work out for me, but Syed was willing to bend over backward to make me happy, and the return process seamless. Honest, fair and courteous. Natalie S.
- Due to a problem with the sheet thread count I contacted the seller. He handled the situation extremely well. His response to my question was made promptly and to my satisfaction. I would have every confidence in ordering products from this company again. Carol M.
- We did not like the sheets that we purchased after we washed them and tried them on our bed for a week. The seller accepted our return and gave us a full refund even though he cannot resell used sheets. Super service.
- The seller gets an A but the waterbed sheets get an F. Anyone with common sense would recognize the poor quality of this product but the seller went out of his way to make things right and that's good business. Dennis A.
- 5 stars because of exceptional service. These sheet sets are fine but just not up to the quality I was suspecting. The seller handled the return like a professional even paying for the return shipping. Thanks so much! Donald M.
The following are also your reviews. However, these customers—with
similar complaints as mine—chose to keep their sheets (either because
they didn't know better or because they just don't return things) and
post 4 or 5 star reviews:
I have decided to not accept your free set of sheets. I will find a trustworthy business somewhere else. It would feel like graft, and I suspect they would not be thick quality sheets and then I would be in the position of doing what? Feeling guilty for returning the free set?
I am going to refer all of this to Amazon's fraud department. I believe there are hundreds (if not thousands) of Amazon's customers who have been scammed by receiving low-quality, thin, one-ply, sheets from you (or one or more of the wholesalers you use) who paid for high-quality, thick, two-ply, sheets and didn't complain. I hope Amazon has the ability to go back and review those orders.
- These are the best sheets I have had in long time! Will be ordering more. I assume the wrinkles will disperse after the 2nd or 3rd washing! I am happy! Thank you! Leslie [Leslie is clearly an idiot because heavy 2-ply quality sheets do not stay wrinkled.]
- not as soft as I expected them to be. Dave
- sheets are way larger than i have ever bought before fits my pockets of my 24in mattress and gos under. same with the flat sheet plenty of sheet to tuck under the mattress so far i would have to say good deal a little hard but i have not washed them yet hopefully with fab softener they they will be softer. vinny NH [Also an idiot. Quality sheets are soft.]
- Items good; fabric thinner than I expected. Challenge now to find the right comforter to fit duvet w/o a lot of excess fabric hanging down. E. M.
- really soft but sheets thinner than expected.... which seems light and airy at first but it slips down during sleep and is pain to keep pulling it up feels nice but I've had better. Margaret S. [Clearly, Maggy didn't know she was supposed to receive the opposite of "light and airy".]
- I bought 1000tc sheets as was the description. I was expecting a softer feel sheet. These sheets feel like they are 200 tc. AJ
- they knowingly sent the wrong item and were difficult to get refund from. Lauren A. Hampton
- I have returned the item and still have not received a credit back. I would like Amazon Customer Service to step in and help here. Please advise. Sabrina [Obviously, she also didn't send an email]
- The product was not as advertised. I would not advise buying this product. I do not know if the seller's other products are worth buying. Edward M.
- The sheets were not what was described but the seller was more than willing to refund me 20% discount. I settled for 60% refund. They'll negotiate with you so they don't get negative feedback. I wouldn't shop here again. ImKim
- Product was not the quality nor the thread count the seller advertised. They refunded the money promptly but it was a waste of time and I had to pay for shipping the return. Avoid this seller, they are dishonest about their product and they know it. NewYorkRoger
- Poor Quality not what seller described. Creasyb
I have decided to not accept your free set of sheets. I will find a trustworthy business somewhere else. It would feel like graft, and I suspect they would not be thick quality sheets and then I would be in the position of doing what? Feeling guilty for returning the free set?
I am going to refer all of this to Amazon's fraud department. I believe there are hundreds (if not thousands) of Amazon's customers who have been scammed by receiving low-quality, thin, one-ply, sheets from you (or one or more of the wholesalers you use) who paid for high-quality, thick, two-ply, sheets and didn't complain. I hope Amazon has the ability to go back and review those orders.
Veach Glines
Hello,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Asking you to change the seller rating or feedback you submitted is a violation of our Community Rules posted here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=1161272
Violations of our Participation Agreement, of which these Community Rules are a part, can result in suspension of the seller's Amazon.com account.
I've filed a report to our Seller team on your behalf. Rest assured that each report they receive is investigated and appropriate action will be taken. If you'd like to send more details to this team, please use the form below and choose the "Report a violation of our rules" option:
(report hotlink) ... [filed report]
I appreciate the time you took to write to us about this. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us improve our store and offer better service to our customers. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best regards,
Shruthi N
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Asking you to change the seller rating or feedback you submitted is a violation of our Community Rules posted here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=1161272
Violations of our Participation Agreement, of which these Community Rules are a part, can result in suspension of the seller's Amazon.com account.
I've filed a report to our Seller team on your behalf. Rest assured that each report they receive is investigated and appropriate action will be taken. If you'd like to send more details to this team, please use the form below and choose the "Report a violation of our rules" option:
(report hotlink) ... [filed report]
I appreciate the time you took to write to us about this. Strong customer feedback like yours helps us improve our store and offer better service to our customers. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Best regards,
Shruthi N
Greetings from Amazon.com.
Thank you for submitting your report. All reports are reviewed by our investigations team. For privacy reasons, the results of our investigations cannot be disclosed, but please know that we will take any appropriate disciplinary actions.
...
Thank you again for bringing this matter to our attention.
Best Regards,
Seller Performance Team
Amazon.com
Hello,
Hello,
I'm truly sorry about the experience you had with the seller.
On priority, I've forwarded the details you sent us to our investigations team. Each report they receive is investigated and the appropriate action is taken on the seller. Further, I'd like to thank you for letting us know about the situation as I was able to escalate the problem and demand the seller for reasonable answers regarding this issue.
We always value this kind of feedback, as it helps us continue to improve our store and provide better service to our customers.
I am sorry that this experience has been a disappointment.
Rest assured, we’ll continue working hard to ensure that you receive accurate service, and to minimize the chances of anything like this occurring again.
Again, our sincerest apologies. We hope you'll give us another chance to prove the quality of our service and look forward to your next visit.
Best regards,
Ranjith.Devireddy
nearing the end of 700+ no-days off
During this time-frame most of you out there (friends, family, and acquaintances) have had 200-250 days off.
The Sager Creek campsite I enjoy overnighting at the most, cat-hiking from the best, and which recharges my batteries the fastest is located in the east-central portion of the Clatsop State Forest, down a overgrown ½-mile dirt track which spurrs off a three mile-long gravel logging road.
Looking forward. Peace. Desolatitude. Bliss.
Heading out in October for a most-needed break. Gave two-week notice today; last day will be 1 Sep—one month before the wicked witch shrinks from daily to 3-days a week (+ a couple of free-product deliveries).
Haven't been trying very hard to locate another job; mental health is more important.
The Sager Creek campsite I enjoy overnighting at the most, cat-hiking from the best, and which recharges my batteries the fastest is located in the east-central portion of the Clatsop State Forest, down a overgrown ½-mile dirt track which spurrs off a three mile-long gravel logging road.
Looking forward. Peace. Desolatitude. Bliss.
Heading out in October for a most-needed break. Gave two-week notice today; last day will be 1 Sep—one month before the wicked witch shrinks from daily to 3-days a week (+ a couple of free-product deliveries).
Haven't been trying very hard to locate another job; mental health is more important.
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