Ok so this mail carrying is harder than you think. It's not all sunshine and loveliness being outside in the day frolicking around with butterflies. Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy the job, but it's tough on you! Running up and down 3 flights of stairs in every single entryway (and trust me, there are hundreds of entryways on a daily route) really kills you! If you're not used to running up and down stairs every day for several hours on end. I think I'll purchase some knee braces because they're definitely taking some beatings, and rebelling at me for it.
Yesterday I was given, apparently, what is known as "slaktrundan" which I didn't know until I returned from it. Slaktrundan, translated, is The Slaughter Round. Each of us has a different round each day, of course. Apparently I got the short stick yesterday. No, what really makes a round difficult is not having done it before. You have your map to go by and you have to figure out where to go on top of figuring out how certain buildings work. It's amazing how seemingly stupid some buildings were built.
Two buildings in the very beginning of my route yesterday were built, I must say, in the stupidest way possible. There is an elevator, but it only lets you off on the 2nd, 5th and 8th floors of the building, though it has 11 floors. Then off the elevator is a main hall with maybe 4 apartment doors. Then there are 2 stairwells that go off of the main corridor, the right side and the left side. Off the stairwells are 2 apartment doors on each floor. How stupid can that be? So you have to run up and down the stairs on both sides of the building. It's an unnecessary extra amount of work and time for us mail folks. I spoke to a girl around my age yesterday in the building who clearly lives there, and she was totally in agreement with me about how stupid the building was. She suggested there should just be mailboxes down in the lobby. You know, where the resident can open it with their own little key. It would save us a ton of time and frustration.
But once you know a route, you can zoom through it much more easily and quickly. Currently I have one favorite route, simply because I've done it twice and now it's just easy as pie to do. It also has no "springtrappor" or "run stairs". You know, the buildings that have only 3 floors and you have to run up and down them to deliver the mail through the door slots. My favorite round just has some highrises where you take the elevator to the top then run down all the stairs to deliver the mail. Then it has a ton of row buildings, but they all have boxes on the ground floor so it's just go in, shoot the mail in the right boxes, go out and repeat.
Enough of that. Today I have the day off, as yesterday morning I was feeling dizzy/slightly feverish when sorting mail. Then, when out on my round, I only finished 3 of the 5 boxes of mail I needed to deliver and I was just completely worn. I'm not sure why I felt so poorly even from stepping out of bed yesterday, but I did, and it reflected in my performance on the round. Not to mention it was the slaughter round. I feel bad having not finished it, but I did my best. I guess I should really start doing some strength-training at home so I can build up muscles even more so that I can have even more stamina! It's only been 2.5 weeks though so I know I'm still adjusting.
It's almost September, can you believe it? Where has 2012 gone. A lot of changes have happened since the year started. It's almost strange to think about our previous home in Skövde. It's where I spent well over a year living and yet it seems like we've always lived here in our Gothenburg apartment. Life in Gothenburg is utterly different from how life was in Skövde. There, I never worked, and studied. Here, I've taken a distance course but it was never studying daily at school like I did in Skövde. I also have worked here, a lot, you could say, at least in comparison with in Skövde. I worked with J a ton from March through to June or so. Then I had that week-long stint as a personal assistant, and here I am as a freshly made mail carrier. My, how life can change so quickly! Began the year in Skövde, moved shortly thereafter to Gothenburg, and have worked 3 different jobs since, while acquiring Swedish B certification. I wonder how much more will happen before the year ends?
4 comments:
Just remember that you only get one pair of knees and that they are to last for quite a while. Jobs however are a different matter.
I agree with Fredrik, but there is a different perspective, too. I think, in between the lines, you mentioned it yourself. You just might need more physical training in order to be able to cope with the job ;-)
Just watch this documentary that was broadcasted on SVT some days ago. It shows you how far you can get with the right mentality and proper training. It's a great opportunity to test your Swedish, too.
Copy and paste the link:
http://www.svtplay.se/video/243386/jag-ar-inte-handikappad-jag-ar-hjulbent
I lived in Sweden for a couple years and just loved the sound of the brevlade opening up and hearing mail hit my apartment floor. It just isn't the same here in the States walking down the block and opening our box. Thanks for all you do mail carrier! www.worldfamilytravellers.blogspot.com
Thanks, to all 3 of you!
My knees have in face gotten better just from acclimating to being used so thoroughly on a regular basis. Some of the routes that killed my knees in the beginning don't seem to phase them much at all now.
Family Travellers - I'm glad we brought you such joy! Haha. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty, because if the person has a lot of mail, it makes a royal "thunk!".
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