no clever name

I was too tired and sore to post last night after my first full day of riding. I pinched a nerve (or something like that) in my lower back right at the end of the day. Luckily I had a chiropractor appointment after work. Following the adjustment, the pain just vanished. I was very happy about that. When I got back on my bike to ride home, it came back in full force. I was much less happy about that. I had a hard time sleeping, and couldn't really stand up this morning. Following the chiro's instructions, I've been putting ice on it. It feels fine now. Oh, I didn't go to work today. Anyways, I'm sure I'll be back on track for tomorrow.

Other than that, and one other mishap at the end of the day I had a great day. I did 40 deliveries, 9 of which were 'emergencies'. Emergency is our fastest (and most profitable) service. They must be delivered within 30 minutes or 45 if they cross the river to/from Quebec. I'll have to wait until my first paycheque to find out how much I make for each type of delivery (I guess I could ask, but whatever). We get a deatiled breakdown of all our work with each pay.

It took me a little while to get all the paperwork figured out and remembering when to make entries on my pager, but by the end of the day I had it down. I learned where a lot of mailrooms were, and that's going to save me a lot of time down the road. (pun) In some places, you'll get there, lock up your bike, dig the package out of your bag and head into the lobby to be greeted by a security guard who informs you that the mailroom is around the block, down the ramp and through the tunnel.

A security guard in Hull looked at me and asked if it was my first day. He said he could tell by looking at me, but wouldn't elaborate...

Oh, and it's amazing how quickly my aversion to riding on the sidewalk went out the window. I don't even think twice about using it when a one-way street doesn't face the same direction as me.

Day 4. (Still in the mail-room)

I was offered a full time job in the mail room today, but turned it down. I figured that if I was going to spend all day in an office building I could probably do better than $7.50/hr. I got into the courier thing for the sake of riding my bike. The other biker who has been in the mail room a bit this week decided that he liked it, and he did take the job. They said that whenever they were short and needed someone to come in, that they would request that I be the one who is sent in. It's nice to know that I'm going to get a break every now and then and have a chance to work indoors.

I think I also earned some brownie points with my regular manager for deciding to stay with him.

I got my Ortlieb bag today. It's red.

Day 3.

Well, my first day of working on my own wasn't at all what I expected. I didn't get my pager on the first day so I had to go to the hub first thing yesterday. When I got there, I was told that a mailroom which our company operates was severly short-staffed and that I would be working there for the day. So, I worked in a mail room sorting mail and doing address lookups wearing a jersey, cleats, etc...

They decided that they were going to need someone in there all week, so, I'm there all week. Our company is short on bikers right now, so as their least experience and least effective biker I've been sacraficed.

Rumor has it that the hurricane Isabel is going to dump on Ottawa on Friday, so maybe it's best that I'm not out there. I want to make sure that I'm not in this mail room long term though. I'm sure that if I had been on the road for a while that it would be a welcome change, but when I have myself all worked up for my new job it's a little disappointing. The people I'm working with are nice and the atmosphere couldn't be better. It's very casual and friendly.

The Ortlieb bag that I orded came today when I wasn't home, so I have to go pick it up tomorrow at the post office. I'm eager to get my hands on it. I got my pager on Tuesday, but you can't do much without logging in, and I'm not sure that I should log in when I'm not doing deliveries. Oh well. I'll have to wait until tomorrow and play with my backpack instead.

Well, my first day is over. I finished up early (2:30) because there wasn't much for me to do. On your first day you shadow another courier and learn how to do everything. You don't get paid on your first day, but the courier showing you around gets a bit of a bonus because you slow them down. I'm paid per delivery and I'll have more details on that when I actually start making some money.

The courier I shadowed (Paul) was a good guy. I was worried that it was going to be somebody who felt the need to initiate me and drive me as hard as they could. He was nice and easy to get along with. It certainly made the day an easy one.

It's going to take a while to get to know where all of the addresses are and where the mailrooms are hidden in each of the buildings.

I got a bit wet, but I'm totally fine with that as long as it's not too cold. I'm going to need some wet weather gear.

I'll be outfitted with a pager tomorrow (a RIM Blackberry). The company I'm working for doesn't use radio's at all, only the pagers. We have to rent them from the courier company. They're about $85/month. Worse than that is that if you break it you have to pay around $140 to replace it. They're easy to break, especially because they don't hold up to water very well at all.

It's day 1.

The weather forecast:
- Morning: 21 degrees, scattered showers (40%)
- Afternoon: 27 degrees, chance of thunder-showers (60%)

The sun just came out while I'm typing this. At least it won't be cold.

Okay, so I start work on Monday at Quick Messenger Service here in Ottawa. Getting a job there was pretty easy. I handed in a resume/application at around 3:00pm, and without even looking at it, the receptionist asked me to come back for an interview at 4:15. I think to pass the interview, you need to be able to talk. I think having a face may also have worked to my advantage. I guess I'll never get that half-hour back that I spent writing up a brilliant cover-letter, but I have a job now, and that's what counts.

For those of you who don't know me, I just graduated with a degree in computer science (minor in business (ack!)) and I've wanted to be a bike courier ever since I was a kid. I wanted to start up a courier business when I was a kid, but there's no demand (or need) for it in the small town where I grew up. I did deliver one package for a friend of my parents, but that was charity. Anyways... "Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake. Beefcake!"

I followed one of my courier friends around for a day while he was working a few weeks ago. It was pretty much what I expected and I enjoyed it.

For those who are curious, my bike is a (1996?) Specialized Stumpjumper. I have some skinny road tires on it and I think it will serve me well at least until winter when I might want to change things up.

My concerns/apprehensions about my new job include:
- making sure I eat enough over the course of the day.
- staying warm/dry on cold rainy days.

I think my daytime food will mostly be sandwiches and fruit in tupperware that I can carry around suplemented with takeout when I have the time. Oh, and energy bars and smoothies (Booster Juice!!).

I'm still trying to figure out the rain thing. As long as it's warm, I don't mind being wet, but it will be getting a little cool outside soon.

(Oh, and I aplogise for spelling/gramatical errors. I'm an awful speller, and probably won't be proof-reading too thoroughly.)

okay, here is the obligatory 'first post'.

i've just been hired as a bike messenger, and i'm interested in documenting the experience, mainly for the benefit of other newbies and so that i can look back on it some day with fond, fond memories... :)