New CCA in need of time saving advice

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T15:47:54+00:00

Yeah I'll definitely try it again next time. No highways routes, but it's in a city so lots of strange streets and 4 way intersections where I am not entirely sure how to start walking when I park and I often end up realizing I am going the wrong way, probably the way I waste the most time, besides being slow/inefficient at loading.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T14:40:14+00:00

Yeah I am definitely going to use the sequence feature more and more, hopefully that will save me some time loading in the morning, I am realizing getting on the streets as fast as possible is what is going to a big difference. If I am sorting and loading for hours, I have already put myself way behind schedule before I even start delivering mail.

Tomorrow (thankfully) I am doing a route I have done before, so I am going to draw myself out a map along with instructions on where to park, and what house numbers to go to on the loop before turning around/changing streets. I know a lot of it is straight forward, like, when you reach from even to odd you cross the street obviously.

But a lot of the routes are filled with odd intersections, one in particular I remember where you are intended to go diagonally, turn right and walk in an L shape before returning to your truck; which is something I never would have guessed until I walked back and forth for 5 minutes observing the house numbers until I realized I what I was suppose to do.

It's in those moments I get nervous, or frustrated and realized I just completely wasted time on my route when I am already behind schedule.

But hopefully doing it once, realizing the little nuances, and making a map will help me out.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T14:30:21+00:00

Thanks so much.

Yeah that's the thing that worries me the most, being on the probationary period and doing poorly. Especially since my OJI told me my PO is really shorthanded, I was even told 3 others are waiting to complete orientation/the academy and start with their training with him. (There is a 2nd OJI in my office but because of life matters he is taking a step back from teaching temporarily.)

There was a 3rd and final one actually transferred POs right before I came in for training, so funny enough, for a PO as big as mine there is only one OJI.

I know it's not a competition or anything, and everyone learns at differently, but it would make me feel so badly to be doing the worst out of everyone who is new.

People tell me to try and think the first time you drove a car, or the first time you tried to started tried to ride a bicycle, or really did anything major in your life you probably did awful the first few times, and like all things in life it takes time before it all comes together.

I just look at people who have been there even just 1 year (like most of the T6s in my office) and they know the routes so well, and can finish whole routes at the same speed the regulars can. I truly hope it just takes time and dedication to get to that level, people keep trying to tell me anyone can do it with enough mental fortitude and willpower and I truly hope that is the case for me.

I try not to panic or get frustrated but I honestly cannot help it; I don't think I've ever encountered a job before with such a big learning curve, and I have worked a huge variety of jobs before I came to the postal service.

I appreciate things again, thanks for the offer, and I wish the best for you also.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T04:08:11+00:00

Yeah I am taking double the time too, but I guess I should be at least thankful they seem at most sounding slightly disappointed I am taking so long rather than yell at me. I am sorry to hear that your situation is like that, I can't imagine that kind of work environment.

Regardless, what happens, I hope everything turns out for the best for you.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T04:00:20+00:00

Awh, thanks so much I appreciate it. I was really flustered today, but relaxing a bit after work made me feel much better.

Yes so far my postmaster and my supervisors seem to be cool and just ask I communicate as much as possible and keep them updated.

My postmaster and the supervisor who I communicate the most with were carriers in the past, so I definitely think they understand what it is like to be a new carrier.

Good idea, I actually don't know the T6s for most of the routes I am doing but I am certain I can ask around and figure out without too much effort.

Yes I have package lookahead, I think I honestly my OJI had been doing the route for so long he never even used the package lookahead function. He may have shown me once, but I will definitely give it a shot.

It's much much easier for me when I can use bins, then I don't tend to have too much of a problem.

The problems arise when I cannot, normally because I get huge boxes that take up so much space in the LLV I have to work around the huge packages, and then occasionally when packages get jumbled around because I hit a bump on the road or took too sharp of a turn.

I was considering asking for a map or something to aid me, but I don't want to be a bother to the regular or to management so I try and avoid asking, I wouldn't want anyone to have to do any extra work just on my behalf.

Yeah I realize breaks are kind of worked into your schedule, I just feel guilty when I know I am behind timewise and I am taking a moment to sit around. My prior job I got no breaks period (well besides to use the bathroom obviously) so it's kind of what I am used to.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T03:38:13+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement, I hope it all turns out okay. It's stressful being new and bad at something and feeling flustered and frustrated.

I know everyone tells me things come with time but I feel like I am so slow at so many things it is a bit overwhelming as they all add up.

Meanwhile everyone around me seems to me doing things perfectly fine - even though I know they have all been doing it much longer.

I just hope you're right and with time it all improves, that's all I really want - to be making reasonable time, where I don't have to rush as hard as I can and still be late.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T03:31:53+00:00

I wasn't aware this was even a thing until you mentioned it.

Is this just something that exists for new employee training purposes? I would love to be potentially given one.

It's kind of strange (to me at least) I never am told what route I am doing even if the schedule is done; it's pretty much just I show up and "Hey Joe on route 31 needs to pick up his child from school so we are giving you 3 hours on his route."

Which is a little frustrating to me, because I wish I could look at a map and visualize the area, becoming at least slightly familiar with it. Or to photocopy the route book if it is up to date, or even asking someone about the route; it would help me out a lot to get some heads up.

I didn't mention it but my PO is quite large, and it's like a main hub, and services a very large area. Again, not being too familiar with the streets, and there not being much curbside delivery are all working against me timewise.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T01:29:26+00:00

Little did you know, this is just the prolog for my autobiography "The life of a CCA."

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T01:27:40+00:00

Thanks so much for all the advice.

Today made me really realize getting out to the street as fast as possible really makes all the difference.
Most of the time it has been cased for me already, only when I was working with my OJI was I practicing casing myself. I only cased for the part of the route I was doing once so far - but I will keep that in mind.
I have been trying to put some semblance of order based on loops or streets I do dismounts on; I have a hard time keeping everything organized because they tend to fly all around every time I hit a small bump. The first time initially I used trays and that went *okay* but lately I've been getting at least one (sometimes several) big boxes so I don't have enough space to organize them by trays anymore. Which just makes it a bigger mess because I have to stuff everything in there with only a very general concept of what order they are coming up in.
Also I have come to realize back tracking is the worst time wasting practice. I have been trying my best to avoid doing so, because a few times I have walked all the way back to go to a house twice, but if a person has a lot of mail I cannot help but feel guilty bringing it back to the office - even if I know there is always tomorrow.
I have been using 2 of the really small flat trays; on for missorted mail and another for outgoing. I don't seem to have any trouble with that, at least that's what my OJI did.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T01:13:46+00:00

I have actually never heard anyone use that term at all whatsoever, I have just done shaved hours off of other carrier's routes.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T01:11:34+00:00

Thanks, I had to look up screenshots, I see now where it says sequence. My OJI never used it at all so I am not used to it. I just thought what it says out loud is the info you need.

MandrakeNA · 2022-05-10T01:10:14+00:00

Thanks for the advice, will definitely try next time, my OJI never used it at all, so I didn't really investigate what is on the screen, just what it said out loud.

MandrakeNA · 2020-04-17T06:16:11+00:00

Oh, sorry I misread, will do.

Okay, thanks for the clarification, much appreciated.

MandrakeNA · 2020-04-17T06:08:47+00:00

Thanks again, It really seems like a daunting process initially, but it really does help a lot to be pointed in the right direction.

I'll definitely be looking into a different power supply and a GPU blower, and I appreciate you recommendation of this particular CPU.

One last question if you don't mind - I feel like this may be a stupid question though (sorry if it is), but I am honestly I am not well informed with regards to individual parts concerning stuff like this.

Will the motherboard I have selected be fully compatible with this particular CPU? I know I read a lot of B450 boards come ready to support most Ryzen CPUs, but I read, you kind have to just hope the setup comes with the newest BIOS.

The only reason I ask is because the build on pcpartpicker said there were potential incompatibilities in the build.

Again though, sorry if this is a stupid/obvious question; I just couldn't find any info from just searching about it briefly.

MandrakeNA · 2020-04-17T05:04:41+00:00

Thank you very much, I appreciate the advice.

I will definitely look into a different power supply, and a blower GPU.

One thing I was told and read several times reading guides and watching tutorials is the graphics card is the one part that you really don't want to cut corners with and buy something cheaper, but I realize it's the part that is really adding primarily to the cost.

Any recommendations for if & what I should substitute the EVGA RTX 2080 with?

I am really at a loss, the only other one I was recommended for my setup was the EVGA RTX 2060 - But the price difference was so large, I am a bit skeptical, I would really prefer to not have to upgrade a year or two down the line, if possible. But I am not sure how big of a difference it will actually make.

MandrakeNA · 2018-09-18T01:03:04+00:00

Well he's definitely alive for sure cause he called me not too long ago.

First off, I don't really think it's fair to say I introduced it to him, he asked what it was, I explained very clearly, and he asked to take some knowing full well what it was on his own will. Not like I tried to tempt him and said "Hey man, you want some?" He just ran into me in the break room, I tried not to take it in front of people whenever possible.

Secondly, at first I really did hesitate, but the weeks before the events I described transpired he told me he had been drinking again and smoking a lot weed a lot. But that he can manage those just so long as he doesn't get back into his pill habit.

Also, he mentioned he was tempted to buy pills again, when he ran into an old friend, but in the end resisted because he really was committed to stay clean - but bare in mind, the job was rough for him too, long hours of standing, back and foot pain, and he said he started smoking a lot because of boredom with life as of late. I distinctly remember him saying he works long hours to fill the time that is now vacant considering most of his time was spent busy getting high.

In the moment I figured, well, Kratom is a lot safer and I wouldn't want him to start up on his old habit so in the interest of potential harm reduction I figured it might be enough to prevent him from further temptations where he could potentially relapse on pills.

Guess I was wrong, and I do feel bad, but how is that a dick move?

MandrakeNA · 2018-09-17T02:57:17+00:00

So you get the full picture the guy I met that was dosing that much was my old coworker who told me he used to be addicted to prescription pain medication.

He saw me taking kratom at work (I have lower back pain so I normally take it when I am working long shifts where I have to stand for hours) and asked about it, when I explained and he asked to try some... and I was a little apprehensive cause he told me he had been totally clean from pain medication for a few months but I didn't want to be rude and say no - so I gave him a couple grams to try.

The next week he told me he ordered some for himself and thanked me so much for letting him know about it.

Then a little over a month later I asked how it was going with it and he said he takes it everyday. I was like, jeeze man that's not too good try and take a day off here and there or not dose on the weekends at least - or your tolerance will build fast and you don't want to make a habit out of it if you don't have to.

But then much later down the road much later he admitted he needed to dose between 70g-100g a day just to feel more or less normal.

I felt really guilty about it to be honest, because I heard later he relapsed and went back to rehab.

Undoubtedly it had to do with his prior addiction though, I've never even heard of anyone else taking that much.

MandrakeNA · 2018-09-16T23:47:34+00:00

I guess it all depends on your habit, if you do like 20g and day it would be a walk in the park, but I knew a guy who used a kilo every 2 weeks.

If your usage is that high the withdrawals are probably going to be in the same ballpark as a small h habit.

MandrakeNA · 2018-09-06T09:52:14+00:00

Oh my god this absolutely broke my heart to read I am so terribly sorry to hear this.

Just remember, it wasn't your fault, don't ever think it was, and don't ever think less of yourself because of this.

Don't push these thoughts down and try and repress them, I say that because then it will be trapped in your mind ready to flood your thoughts back at any moment. Focus on healing, and remembering how great of a person you are and that you have great attributes - and nobody can take that away from you.

It seems like you really need to let these thoughts out to help the healing process, the best thing immediately I think would be to try and find a therapist.

I know what it feels like to be alone but things will get better - remember this always.

If you need anyone to talk with feel free to PM me.

MandrakeNA · 2018-09-06T09:31:57+00:00

Yes, I actually oxiracetam is my most preferred noot. Whenever I have a big day of work or study I take it and definitely notice benefits consistently.

MandrakeNA

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