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  • Giant mutant newspapers

    The Thanksgiving Day newspaper is the largest newspaper of the year due to all the Black Friday ads. Last year, we barely squeezed the newspapers into the large Sunday plastic sleeves. A few years ago, they wouldn't even fit, forcing us to split them into two bags and tie them together creating "newspaper nunchucks".

    Now, in a past life, when we received Sunday newspapers (typically comparable to the Thanksgiving Day papers), they would be already assembled so we could just bag 'em and throw 'em. Then they couldn't afford to keep enough inserters, so the newspapers now come with the news sections and ad sections bundled separately, which we must unbundle and assemble before delivering. It's annoying and takes a lot longer, but you can still fit them side by side on your car seat so you can assemble as you go.

    This Thanksgiving, we've been told that we will have not one separate ad bundle but two separate ad bundles. That's three different sections for us to assemble total. That's just an obscenely huge newspaper right there. Just kill me now. My car is already loaded to the limit as it is on Sundays...I have no clue how to even fit an extra set of bundles in, let alone how to organize and arrange them for easy assembly. I'm also dubious as to if they'll even fit into the newspaper boxes for my customers that have them.

    I placed my order for the extra-large bags they're offering for the day, and I also tried to requisition a bus to carry it all. I plan on having pumpkin pie and booze on stand-by for when I finally finish the route (you think I can write those off as a business expense?). It's gonna take forever trying to juggle three sections. Oof.

    On the plus side, the newspapers are going to be super heavy, and they'll probably wake up and freak out some customers when they start landing on porches at 4am. (That's a "plus side" because I'm a bit of a sadistic bitch like that.)
    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

  • #2
    Don't suppose you're in my neck of the woods? I've a full sized van and 20 years delivery experience including working a single copy route (pre-assembly required), and work for food.
    Seph
    Taur10
    "You're supposed to be the head of covert intelligence. Right now, I'm not seeing a hell of a lot of intelligence. Covert, overt, or otherwise!"-Lochley, B5, A View from the Gallery

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    • #3
      Quoth Javarod View Post
      Don't suppose you're in my neck of the woods?
      Ask any tourist... The Gateway Arch is right next to the Space Needle.
      I am not an a**hole. I am a hemorrhoid. I irritate a**holes!
      Procrastination: Forward planning to insure there is something to do tomorrow.
      Derails threads faster than a pocket nuke.

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      • #4
        Quoth bhskittykatt View Post
        On the plus side, the newspapers are going to be super heavy, and they'll probably wake up and freak out some customers when they start landing on porches at 4am. (That's a "plus side" because I'm a bit of a sadistic bitch like that.)
        *whipwhipwhipwhipwhip* *THOOM* *creeeeeeeeeeeeeak*

        custy> Hon, what was that? and why does it feel like the house is caving in...?
        "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like using Crayola Crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola Crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." - Jeremy Jahns (re: "Dancing Mad")
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        • #5
          newspaper nunchucks is my new favorite phrase.
          "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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          • #6
            Ah, holiday edition newspapers. Hated them. Most "insert days" weren't too bad. They were just a page or two and could easily be carried atop the regular papers. When I had my route, it wasn't too difficult to stuff papers en route to customers. Drop one of each in the door, and you're good.

            Not so with the ones that came between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Those things had so much crap, that they were multiple times thicker than the rest of the paper. Anywhere from 45-50 pages of ads, coupons, and other crap Crap, which would *not* fit behind several of my customers' screen doors!

            With all that crap, it was no wonder that the '58 Radio-Flyer "station wagon" groaned under the increased weight...and why I soon grew to hate those stupid inserts. At least during the holidays I'd clear a couple hundred bucks in tips
            Aerodynamics are for people who can't build engines. --Enzo Ferrari

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            • #7
              As a newspaper employee, may I offer my sincere condolences?

              Yeah, the Thursday papes are going to be ginormous. Probably need a forklift to pick one up.

              Whenever somebody says print is dead, I just point to one of those.
              When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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              • #8
                Quoth EricKei View Post
                *whipwhipwhipwhipwhip* *THOOM* *creeeeeeeeeeeeeak*

                custy> Hon, what was that? and why does it feel like the house is caving in...?
                The homeowner goes out to get the paper and finds a rather large dent in the front wall...and the wall is made of brick!
                I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
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