Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Catching up

Ok fam.... get comfy, get some popcorn, get some soda, & get ready to read!

First off, props to the bro & sis-in-law for hooking this up; I think it's fantastic! Hopefully I'll be better at this than I am at responding to emails!!

Well, tomorrow is my one month anniversary at my new job. To refresh everyone's memory, I am now a Customer Solutions Specialist for Pacer Global Logistics in Dublin. For those of you interested in browsing, our website is www.pacer.com. Under "Logistics" on the right, click Pacer Global Logistics & you'll see what we do. Basically we are a 3rd party logistics company that provides transportation for freight. We do moves by truck, moves by truck AND rail combined (called InterModal) & moves by rail. We work with many, many companies in Ohio, throughout the U.S., & we also go into Canada & Mexico.

I've been on the floor full-time about 2 weeks now. The first week was solid training in classrooms; the 2nd week was 1/2 day on the floor, 1/2 day with the On the Job training coach, going more in-depth into the system. And let me tell you, I've never been so tired in my life as I was after those first two weeks!! I learned SO much information & felt like I was back in school, b/c we had to pass quizzes! And I'm sure you'll be glad to know that I'm now HazMat certified, so I am now able to handle HazMat loads that come through!

The Customer Solutions department is broken up into large teams, comprised of about 5-10 people apiece per shift (we're open 24-7, 364 1/2 days a year). I'm on first shift, 8-5. Each team is broken up into 2 areas: pick-ups & deliveries. And each person has a certain number of accounts to work with, depending on the size & scope of the customer. Some customers run 10-15 loads PER DAY, some customers load 10-15 per week, etc. etc. I'm on the pick-up side of things for my team, Team 10. I started out with about 7 accounts, 4 of which aren't going to be any big deal. One of my accounts goes in & out of Mexico, so I've had the joy of learning & dealing with brokers. I have to admit, things have been pretty slow, at least for me. I've mainly been helping out other people on the pick-up side of my team, b/c my accounts haven't been very busy lately.

Until Monday afternoon/Tuesday a.m. One of the girls on my team was fired after 6 years with the company & she had some pretty large accounts, 2 of which are White Glove. Now, White Glove accounts mean one of two things: they're either really anal retentive about their orders, demanding things just-so; or we've had some problems with these accounts in the past & we have to watch them every day. Each team has at least 4-5 White Glove accounts. I'd been helping her with one of the accounts, ConAgra Foods, since I started working on the floor, mainly scheduling the pick-ups. And I can tell you that from what I heard her deal with, I was REALLY glad I didn't have that account.

But be careful what you think.... she was let go on Monday afternoon, & I was informed that I'm being trusted with her accounts, including the White Gloves! Now, I guess to have 2 White Gloves handed to someone brand new is almost unheard of, so I know I should feel good about that; & I do. But it's been a definite shift going from asking for stuff to do to having TOO much to do! :-)

But I'm not complaining. I am SO much happier here than I was at Everest, & LOVE going into work each day! I love my co-workers & am really enjoying getting to know other members of the company.

Other than that, things are good here. I'm still working part-time at Things Remembered, but obviously the hours have cut back. Things will probably pick up here in a few weeks though, I'm sure.

That's really all that's going on with me. I hope everyone is doing well, & if I've confused any of you with what I do, please don't hesitate to ask!

I look forward to checking this out & seeing what everyone's up to!!!

Much love to everyone,

Erin


Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Ahoy!



So this is it!

A few months ago, Liz and I were commenting in the car that it has been so hard for us to stay in touch with everyone because of our ridiculous work schedules. Then we thought that since we're all plugged in to the World Wide Web, why not start a blog for the extended family so that we could all post messages, links, and photos! Plus, with the kids off at college these days, they could post as well since they're so internet savvy.

I thought I would start things off with a BANG! The boxers you see above are Iron Mike Tyson (on the left) and Buster Douglas. Buster Douglas was the first man to ever defeat Mike Tyson, and he was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. I learned all of this after he strolled into the Northstar Cafe last Friday and ate his weight in freshly-prepared organic food. A couple of guys that I worked with pointed out Mr. Douglas to me, and apparently he still lives in the area. I'm trying to decide who the bigger celebrity from the past week was: Buster Douglas, or Mayor Mike Coleman.

In other news, Liz has been working hard at baking at the new Northstar for just over a month now. She enjoys baking and is trying to do her best to get into the speed and stress of the restaurant world. If you travel over to the Northstar Cafe website, you won't find much information yet, but you will get a suave look at the new cafe in Clintonville, about one mile south of our house.

I've put the S-10 pickup truck into that big junkyard in the sky and now drive a black '05 Honda Civic. At the start of the NHL season, I became a rabid Columbus BlueJackets fan and I am now playing drums in a punk band called REFLECT.

So here's to a fresh start on this blog and everyone should send me their e-mails, which I will add to the permissions and you can all start posting. If any of you need help getting started, just e-mail me or call your offspring. It's as easy as falling off a horse.