Life in Portland Area

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Recently I have been using the tractors (this one with a sleeper) to move the containerized cargo trailers around the lot.
Here is a short tractor (no sleeper) attached to a long container. Shipments from overseas come in in 'cans' like these which we unload at the destination. Normally we are expected to unpack the items and so end up with a container full of packing material. We unload the used packing material into a large dumpster which we recycle (paper products only). If the boxes or paper pads are in good condition, we reuse them. Otherwise it all gets recycled. The smaller dumpster at the end is for palstics and other trash (not recycled).
Here is a short trailer. When making turns shorter trailers and shorter tractors are better. When backing up, longer trailers and shorter tractors are easiest. Often when I practicing in the yard (moving cans to the dock, the dumpster, or out of the way) I am stuck with the long tractor and short trailers which is the worst for backing up.
Along the side of Karyn's backyard, about two feet from the fence, there was a willow tree. The neighbor on that side did not like it very much (it appears) and had trimmed it back wherever it went over the fence, making it pretty lopsided. When the rains started this year (and the leaves got heavy and the soil muddy) it fell toward the center of the yard (winds may have helped, too). Anyway, on Thanksgiving I borrowed a chain saw from Karyn's dad.
On Sunday, November 30, 2003, it was sunny in the morning so I cut up the willow tree and displosed of the parts. Here you can also see the pear tree that I use to make green pear pies from (on left) as well as Alex's new sand box.
On December 30, 2003, there wasn't a lot of work. I was sent out to Intel to pick up three boxes to add to a shipment that we had picked up earlier. He was a nice Indian man who was headed back to his home in Bangladore to manage a software team there. It turned out to be five boxes, but then I was sent to a closed Home Depot to pick up the telephone system (two computer systems and five boxes of phones).
That closed Home Depot had been moved to a new one just a half mile away. However, it was right next to Krispy Kreme that Karyn, Alex and I had visited a few weeks ago as Krispy is just expanding into our area.
The next morning we awoke to snow. This is what the house looked like as I left shortly after 7AM (it was actually lit enough to see OK, though this picture doesn't look that way).
By the time I got to work (7:40AM), things had brightened up quite a lot.
We only worked a half day on the 31st, so the last two weeks of the year were pretty light. However, I am now a regular employee and get medical and paid holidays, so it wasn't too bad. They even paid me for Thanksgiving which was really nice. It snowed most of the day and this is what I came home to.
This is Bob. He was one of the first driver's who helped train me on how to do moves. He specializes in international moves with American International (called A&I) and I have always enjoyed working with him. Here he is putting some stuff into our trash dumpster.
This is Geoff. He is ussually on the road as long haul driver, but has been working locally during the holidays. He is much happier on the road.
This is Bruce who mostly works in the warehouse. He looks a little sinister in this picture, but is actually quite nice. However, the lighting in the warehouse is quite stark and varies from place to place making work there a little harder (and the cold in the winter definitely doesn't help either).
This is Bruce in the driver's room. Doesn't he look much nicer in good lighting.
This is Mike, our dispatcher, at his desk in front of his computer as seen through the window from the dirver's room into the dispatch office. He spends a lot of time on the phone, but likes to get out and do moves (taking on the toughtest jobs).
Here is Betty in the dispatch office as seen from the driver's room. She joined us this summer during the summer crunch (when we were getting really swamped) and helped a lot in keeping the dispatches better organized.
This is Jack talking on the phone while in the dispatch office. He is the long haul truck driver who hauls cars Active moving. We don't see him around very much.
This is Jack's dog, Snoopy. Whenever Jack is around you are pretty sure to see Snoopy, so I assume that Snoopy keeps Jack company on the road.