30/04/15

I am having the long wait at Cherry Tree Mill, Pollington.  It's not a new thing but it happens and you either wait or turn around and leave. Since I'd have to come back and I'd have over an hour's dry run back I'm waiting. I got in here at 12:53, it's now 2:18 and there's still an artic in front of me. Trouble is I daren't go to sleep, I might miss my turn. I've just moved up in the queue, I'm next. Perhaps I'm doing this job as a judgement, perhaps a higher authority thinks I need to learn patience and perhaps that's correct. See you tomorrow.

28/04/15

Nice view looking towards the river Ouse near Acaster Malbis. I'm waiting out my break. Don't want to contravene the European working time directive. Would I do that? More later.

28/04/15

Tuesday and the work didn't seem so bad. Surprisingly it wasn't bad either. The day was clear, if a little cold: a pleasure to be out and about in. Carlton store and five farm drops followed by a collection from Walden Stubbs or perhaps it's Stubbs Walden, I'm never sure. The deliveries went well with one to complete after the collection. I was told I would have to wait to load at the collection but the sun was shining and all was right with the world so I didn't care. I opened the sheets got back in the cab and fell asleep. I figured I'd wake as soon as they dropped the first pallet on but I woke just before. Being paid for sleeping, nice work if you can get it. See you tomorrow

27/04/15

Sorry I forgot about Thursday and Friday last week.  Truth to tell I was too tired to be bothered; not that anything interesting or particularly unusual happened.  Today I had to break off loading to attend a meeting of the agricultural drivers.  A toolbox meeting apparently, well it's a new one on me but that's what it was called.  Basically we have been given new fault reporting books which we have to fill in every day, fault or not.  The company has a new boss and he, apparently, expects his managers to manage.  Must be a new idea that someone has thought of. Our last boss had the same managers but seemed to believe in micro managing every situation.  He did seem to know everything that was going on even if no one thought he did, couldn't get a thing past that one.  I doubt that anyone will get a thing past this one either but the information will just take a different route to get there.  Interesting.  Back to the work.  The A63 has been partially shut round Selby for re-surfacing, much needed, but that isn't the point the portion that is shut is part of my regular route.  This will put an hour onto my regular day whichever way I approach it.I had two new drops on my list today, I found both easily enough with a little help from google, both were good drops and I wouldn't mind if I got either of them again.  Apart from and despite the A63 closure the day went well, it's been a bright but cold day and all considered a good one, though it was nearly six pm when I clocked off.  I haven't looked at tomorrows tickets yet but I am fourth in the queue, not a bad position.  See you tomorrow.

22/04/15

Today was a little different, going somewhere else with the first load.  Kirkby in Cleveland with a full load.  I haven't been there for over two years, its strange there are three stores that I haven't been to for over two years and before that I was there almost every week.   I had a good ride to my drop, its another clear bright day, a real pleasure to be out and about.  The load was taken off with no problem and I was on my way in about an hour.  Next stop was Kirkbymoorside store to collect a scissor lift to take to Carlton store to enable some maintenance.  Before going to Carlton I had to go back to base to collect the rest of my load.  Carlton store and six drops.  None of the drops were large but I still had the driving to do between drops and it was just before six pm when I got back to the yard.  Nothing to report about the drops, all went well with no problems.
   One comment on the day; I saw my first dead hedgehog of the year.  I feel sorry for these little animals they developed a good defence mechanism but it fails totally in the modern world.  Curling into a prickly ball doesn't help when a car is bearing down.  Their other problem is that it doesn't help them escape badgers.  The badger population has risen rapidly and the hedgehog population has dropped correspondingly.  I remarked on the dead hedgehog because the sight is now becoming a rarity; dead or alive  they are now uncommon.  The depredations of badgers are well known, a friend told me of removing a stack of straw that had been used by badgers and they found forty hedgehog skins in the remains of the den.  A large badger population isn't nice for other ground dwelling wildlife.  See you tomorrow.

21/04/15

Tuesday and it seemed that I had a very easy day.  But appearances can be deceiving and in the case of what appears to be an easy day they always are.  The day included a trip to Little Airmyn to collect yet more seed corn.  How I hate going down that road.  I had just completed my collection, only three bags of seed, two quarter tonne and one half tonne when I got a call.  Had I been to Carlton store yet?
Yes I had but I wasn't far away and could go back, and I did.  I had to collect four pallets of baler twine, it was needed for the morning.  No problem.  So back I went. I did take the picture below on the way back, sorry it's poor quality but perhaps you can make out the two wild gees with four gosling.

Not much power coming from the wind turbines today, I know you can't see movement in a picture but look at the water vapour from the cooling towers, hardly moving at all.

I delivered the seed, the first bag to Thronton le Dale and the last two to Riseborough near Pickering.  Then back to the yard though I didn't get into the queue, they shut the gates on me, miserable lot.  Oh well I'll wait until morning.  See you then.

20/04/15

Despite what the BBC weather forecast said it didn't rain, in fact it's been a beautiful day, not particularly hot but sunny and dry.  A good day to be out and about.  My working day has been simple, a delivery to Carlton store followed by a mill collection from Penistone and after that another collection from Walden Stubbs.  All was achieved by five pm and I was back in the yard.  My truck is now fixed and I'm back in it tomorrow for which I'm grateful.  I have no idea what I'm doing in the morning I couldn't work up the enthusiasm to check my tickets.  I have seen fore swallows today, they're late this year and I don't blame them it hasn't really warmed up yet.  I can think of nothing else noteworthy enough to mention and I haven't taken any pictures today; sorry.  I'll try to do better tomorrow.  See you then.

17/04/15

As it turned out its a good job I didn't deliver the last batch of seed yesterday.  I got into work this morning turned the key in my truck and nothing much happened.  Great!  I had to wait until seven for one of our mechanics to have a look only to be told that one of the injector pipes had cracked and they didn't have a spare.  No truck.  Since one or our artic drivers is off another driver was using the artic so I had the pleasure of his truck, a six wheel Man with a four on four gear box and a very touchy digital taco.  Its not bad to drive, the gear box apart but the ride is very spongy and the shaking about that I got on the M18 was enough to make anyone sea sick.  The drops weren't bad and included a trip to Goxhill on the other side of the Humber bridge.  I always enjoy crossing the bridge, there's no particular reason for my enjoyment, but I do, so there.  The most noteworthy event of the day occurred after my first drop and before my second drop.  I was turning off the about A19, which always very busy at that time of day when I noticed a double decker bus approaching me on the opposite carriageway slowing to a stop.  He had stopped to allow a duck with a clutch of ducklings to cross the road, she looked very proud of her brood as she did so.  She timed it exactly right, because I was turning off I was holding up the traffic behind me and the bus was able to stop the opposing traffic, she was a very lucky duck.  I wasn't able to get a picture and that's a great pity, it would have been a good one.  The rest of the day was unremarkable except for the touchy taco which didn't register my break thereby making me take another break, bloody thing!  Because of that I was too late for my collection, it will have to be done on Monday.  By the time I got back I was in a foul mood and I had to do the weekly shop on my own as my wife was out with friends.  By the time she got in I had soaked up my foul mood with beer, cider and a glass of wine but I didn't make a good impression as my wife brought her friends back for a coffee.  Not good!  But that's life sometimes. I found my foul mood had dissipated but I had a slight hang over this morning.  No I wasn't working or driving anywhere so it didn't matter to anyone except me and my humour is restored.  See you on Monday.

16/04/15

Thursday, not a very inspirational list of drops for today followed by a collection of seed barley from Little Airmyn.  I thought we had finished with that for the season; but no and I got landed with the pleasure of going to collect it.  All I can say is thank goodness that I drive one of the seed dressers it keeps me away from the damned place in the busiest season.  Its not that Little Airmyn is a horrible place, it's not but it is very bad to get to, a single track road with very few passing places and poor visibility but the road is used for goods in and out.  If you meet another truck on the way in or out someone has to back up.  It's not as if the line of sight is good so you often can't see another truck until you meet it.  But today I didn't meet anyone either going in or coming out.  I delivered the first two batches of seed but was told to bring the last one back to base.  Not a particularly interesting day.  See you tomorrow.

15/04/15

Busy, busy, busy.  But having said that it wasn't too bad, it was all doable and it got done.  Carlton and area with no local store drop first, that's always a good  start.  First drop was at Skipwith and I herd a cuckoo, that fact has nothing at all to do with the drop but it's one of the things I listen for every spring.  It's early to hear a cuckoo they don't usually start calling until next month.  I've seen five more swallows today so summer may arrive in their wake, eventually.  The trouble is our summer may only bring slightly warmer rain to the UK, our weather is as always, unpredictable, even to the BBC weather service.  Back to the work, the first drop done I went to Carlton store and unloaded over half my total load and yes I did manage to scrounge a coffee.  Then it was off to a farm on the edge of Selby with a 205 litre drum of creocote.  None there so I rolled the barrel off onto a dray mat then into a shed before standing it up, still no body in sight.  Next off to Burn to drop forty two bales of wood shavings for a poultry farmer, this is bi weekly drop.  Today I had help unloading from the start so the bales came off quickly.  The last drop was to a farm in Hive, again this is a regular drop once a month every month.  Just over a tonne of pig feed in bags and all lifted off with a loader.  Lunch time and I was passing my Mothers door so I scrounged another coffee and had a talk for three quarters of an hour.  She seems to be keeping well and is recovering from an operation on her wrist.  The good news is that it seems to have been successful.  A collection of Lithan from Howden Dyke next, a full load.  Delivery to Shipton by Benningbrough and then back to base just in time to pull into the queue before they shut the gates for the night, ready for a flying start tomorrow.  See you then.

14/04/15

Tuesday, the second day of the working week and its already over, only three more working days for the week.  It's amazing how fast time passes when you're busy or having fun.  Two loads today, first a full load to Kirkbymoorside store, it's only about seven miles from base and the load was picked so even though I was fourth in the queue I was at Kirkbymoorside by a quarter to eight.  At least I am able to get into position and open the sheets at this store.  I got the second load on and was on the road before ten.  I even managed to off load a troublesome drop onto another driver, I owe him now so I'll have to return the favour.  It wasn't that the drop was bad it was just that it was well out of my way and would have added nearly an hour to my day and would possibly have made me to late for my collection.  Carlton store followed by two farm drops and a mill drop before collecting from the same mill.  It doesn't sound bad and it isn't but it was still a quarter to five by the time I arrived back in the yard.  But on the good side I am second to load in the morning. See you tomorrow.

13/04/15

Today was warm and sunny, yesterday was wet, cold and windy.  I think it's time a law was passed against wet miserable weekends, perhaps that should be in the manifesto of one of the political parties, I'm sure it would be a vote winner.  And they would be just as likely to make it happen as most of the other things they promise before getting elected.  But back to today's work.  Getting loaded was even slower than usual, I was at the back of a queue of six, why do I always end up at the back of the queue?  I didn't have a lot to do, once again I had a long run round to complete the deliveries.  Aughton, Carlton store, Thorpe Willoughby, Leeds, Whitley Bridge and Throne. Doesn't sound much if you say it quickly and it isn't if it weren't for the distance in between.  But all went well, even the drop for the horsey people, though as usual, there was no help from horsey people.  They love work do horsey people, they could watch it all day.  The really bright spot of the last drop, apart from the fact that it was the last drop, was that I saw my first swallow of the year.  Finally I had a collection from a mill at Old Goole.  The collection was ten tonnes of soya meal and one tonne of fish oil and therein lay the problem, it totalled eleven tonnes I can only carry ten tonnes.  Eventually someone in our office will realise that the carrying capacity of a four wheel truck is ten tonnes, well perhaps they might.  I cut down by one tonne of soya meal and loaded the fish oil, I hope I did it correctly but there again you never know.  I was back in the yard by half past five and I suspect I'm at the back of the queue for tomorrow morning.  Again!  See you tomorrow.

11/04/15

Just look at these pictures.

The descent with a view of Robin Hoods Bay.

It was worth working on Saturday morning just for the ride down to my delivery.  Some of the North Yorkshire coast line really is stunning.  I love gorse, I've seen it in flower in every month of the year and it always cheers me up.  The pictures don't manage to convey the beauty and grandeur of the descent along the coast road to the customers farm.  I haven't been down here more than twice before but I was looking forward to the last few miles.  Yes the bends are slightly hairy and the road only just fits the truck and I could feel the wheels slipping on the loose chippings on the way out but it was worth it for the view. As for the load it was fertilizer, but as far as I'm concerned that was secondary to the view.  See you Monday.

10/04/15

I don't really have much to say about today other than it was better, by far, than the day before.  I had a long run round my usual area plus a side trip to Wakefield but I didn't have to go to one of the local stores first.  This being so I managed to get finished by just after six, still not good for a Friday.  Friday is the only day that I want to get finished by five, the rest of the week I don't really care what time I finish.  Our TC is still off work but we are kept going.  I got a late call to say we are working tomorrow so I'll see you then.

09/04/15

Today was bad. It's not that anything particularly bad happened, at least not to me. It was just a very difficult, long day. Firstly I had to run a full load into Malton store, it doesn't open until eight and I was loaded be seven. At least I had time to wash off the seed dresser, completing its clean down. I was unloaded and back in the yard by half past nine but it took two hours to load again and then they didn't have all the feed. I was to call into the Gate Helmsley store to collect the remainder. I got to three hundred yards of the store to find I could go no further due to an accident. Half an hour later I got turned round and planned a new route. Slower but better than waiting several hours. Anyhow I eventually got to Carlton store dropped their order and collected the five bags that I was short. The day didn't get any worse form then until the last drop, by now it was after seven pm. I hadn't done this drop before, I knew where the farm was but didn't know its name hence it could be said that I didn't know where I was going, but I got there without too much difficulty.  I was met by the customer who informed me that he was eighty six and the doctor had told him that he wasn't to lift anything heavy, by that I think he meant anything heavier than a small tea spoon.  Among the items he had ordered was an eighty kilo cattle lick and no he didn't have a loader.  Great!  If I pushed the damned think off the truck the bucket would smash, my options were take it back of lift it off on my own.  An eighty kilo bag off the side of the truck onto my shoulder is one thing but an eighty kilo bucket in my hands out front is something else.  I lifted the damned thing off, slid it onto my bent legs and then onto the floor.  All done without crippling myself or breaking the tub, but I am sick of our company selling these dangerous things to people who don't have loaders or aren't there.  I have had a word and I hope something will be done.  The product was invented by an idiot in an office at crystalyx who didn't consider that people would be expected to handle them.  I hope he has a bad back.

08/04/15

Look what I saw floating above me while at my first drop of the day at Acaster Malbis.  The passengers and pilot of this balloon must have had an early start, this was taken just before eight this morning.  I was loaded the night before and only had to wait to check if there had been any lamb finisher made during the night as I had a ticket for one tonne.  There wasn't any and I was told that there wouldn't be any until early afternoon at the soonest.  My second  at Colton wasn't a complete sucess.  The ticket was for a feed bin and it was marked urgent.  There was I carrying the bin into the drive thinking that everyone would be happy.  Not a bit of it, apparently there should have been a gate on the load and the customer was most put out that it wasn't there.  I explained that I can only load what I have the loading tickets for but the customer didn't seem to think this was a good enough excuse.  There's just no pleasing some people.  Carlton store next then Newport followed by a tonne of sheep feed for a farm at Dewsbury.  Then a collection from Penistone.  The collection wasn't successful, they didn't have most of what was ordered and I came away with just over three tonnes.  Not much of a load.  I got back into  the yard just before five and didn't have time to unload.  I didn't even bother to check my tickets for tomorrow, I'll find out where I'm going in the morning and that's soon enough.   I am told I might be working on Saturday.  Great.

See you tomorrow.

07/04/15

Back to work today.  Getting out of bed at a quarter to five wasn't easy and certainly not welcome.  But on the good side I got to listen to the dawn chorus as I walked out of the house.  The sound of the birds at that time in the morning is amazing.  As the daylight lengthens the timing of the chorus changes and it eventually occurs before I get out of bed and I am able to listen while waking up.  But slowly it gets earlier and earlier and I'm not awake in time to hear it until the following spring.  But that's enough of that, back to work.  The day was bright, sunny and mostly clear, all in all a pleasure to be up and about in.  I had a full load but it only compromised of three drops.  Two farm drops and Carlton store.  There was nothing unusual about either of the farm drops and both were accomplished easily enough.  The first was at Colton near Tadcaster and the second was at Escrick.  The drop at Carlton store took longer than usual, the store was very busy and it's only a one man store, the unloading went on in stops and starts between customers.  I had one collection from Walden Stubbs which totalled nine pallets but wouldn't amount to more than six tonnes.  I arrived just as they were stopping for lunch, not a problem, I had a sleep in the sunshine while they had their lunch.  It fitted in with my break so all was well.  The run back was without problem and I was back in the yard by about half past two.  I had time to unload and re-load for tomorrow by just after three, not bad.  So I even had time to clean down the seed dresser, I hadn't done it when I finished dressing seed.  When I opened the sheets on the seed dresser I found the weigh box had broken one of its support bolts and was hanging loose on one side.  Good job I decided to clean it, that would have delayed things if I'd left it till autumn.  That's it for the day and a good day it was too, I hope the weather stays fair for a while it makes being out and about such a pleasure.  See you tomorrow.

02/04/15

The mechanics want my truck to service it, they wanted it yesterday but no one told me and I'd got it  loaded before they found me.  Hard luck, perhaps today, if I'm back in time.  I got the look before I left the yard and the tapping of the watch.  So I started with a time limit, I had to be back by half past four,  perhaps they'll be lucky today.  I managed to palm one of my drops off one another driver, I wasn't anywhere near the place and he was and he made the mistake of letting me know.  I'd do the same for him, well perhaps maybe I would, that is unless I saw him coming.  No I'm not really that bad but nearly.  The load was a bit of a jigsaw and some of it came off and went on again three times before I was satisfied that it was secure and loaded to the best advantage.  And after all that I still had to hand back tickets totalling over five tonnes.  Our TC has an interesting idea of how many tonnes fit on an eighteen tonne truck.  Still the day went well and I had the fun of a trip over the Humber bridge and three deliveries on the other side.  I always enjoy a trip over the bridge it's like going on holiday without the expense.  Oh the simple things in life give such pleasure.  Well the day went well, although I managed to make a mistake with my digital taco and had ran out of hours when I didn't expect it.  Things got a little tight but I drove over the pit in the garage by half past four, what  a set of happy mechanics they were.  I like to see them happy, it stops them grumbling for a short while.  Four days off, yes a whole four days.  I used to hate bank holidays when I was self employed, now they're fun and I get paid.  See you Tuesday.

01/04/15

Another month ended and the year is only just started.  I have been driving today, Carlton and area as usual.  I should have had nine deliveries but we didn't have the feed made for one so I ended up with eight.  Apart from the fact that the day was windy and I hate wind there is really nothing to tell about the day so I'll say no more.  See you tomorrow.