Well, just a little over a year after I wrote this downer of a blog post, I have completed my last day at FedEx. While FedEx is a great company and they have offer a higher earnings capacity than my new career of teaching, and possibly my old career of pastoring, it's just not what I want to do with my life. Clocking in and out to deliver packages is a fine way to earn a living, but it's not for me.
So today was the last day. And while I'm nervous about my new career, going to be living off savings for a couple months while I train with TFA and stepping out into the unknown, I'm glad to be moving on to something different. While I felt like a bit of a failure, returning to the place I left 6 years ago, overall it was a good experience. FedEx was certainly a wonderful opportunity that God provided for my family's financial health, a pretty miraculous one, really. Read about it here.
But to top it all off, the guy who worked next to me during the morning sort, bought me a cake with "Good Luck" written on it. It was a really, really nice gesture. And since I didn't actually get a similar send-off during my last "last day", it was quite appreciated. My (former) coworker joked, "for your next last day, we'll throw you a cook-out."
Showing posts with label fedex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fedex. Show all posts
Friday, June 17, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Snow
While waiting for the snow forecast for the end of the weekend, I had a rather funny thought. 
When I worked as a courier at FedEx, I preferred that it snowed over the weekend because snow made my job very difficult. When I quit FedEx and went full-time at TFC, I hoped for snows to hit during the week, since snow made it difficult to pull our trailer and meant that we needed to fork out some cash just to have the parking lots cleared.
When I worked as a courier at FedEx, I preferred that it snowed over the weekend because snow made my job very difficult. When I quit FedEx and went full-time at TFC, I hoped for snows to hit during the week, since snow made it difficult to pull our trailer and meant that we needed to fork out some cash just to have the parking lots cleared.
Now I work at FedEx and TFC. Now I wish it would never snow. But it started snowing Monday morning.
Oh yeah, I also don't enjoy shovelling the driveway. And as you can tell from this video, it's going to be a few years before I can make my boy go do the shovelling. And the grunt you hear from Erin was from me hitting her with the shovel - I had no peripheral vision with my hood on.
Monday, September 20, 2010
God's Provision
A few months ago, Erin and were jumping with joy at this news, the chance for Erin to do a jobshare at her school. What we didn't know at the time was that I was about 3 months away from taking a 45% paycut in my pastoral salary. So what went from being a family income that would be just what we needed, we suddenly had a pretty big crises in the family budget. So to make up the difference, I took a position as a part-time package handler at FedEx in Lenexa, my former place of employment from 2000-2005.
A few months after starting this unfortunate job of being a package handler, I've now been moved onroad, as I've blogged about earlier. My job is easier (at least, physically) but I'm working a total of 4 hours a day.
Because I'm a nerd like that, I recently ran the numbers for our monthly budget. When you combine the hourly salary I'm making at FedEx (working 4 hours a day), the money we're saving by being on the FedEx insurance plan rather than the Olathe School District plan and the salary I am getting from the church, I'm making the same amount of money I was making before the paycut. Almost exactly to the dollar.
What I'm losing, of course, is time. But Sara Armstrong is graciously watching Dawson some half-days at her home daycare for way less than we should be paying her, so I earn back some time there. I've also gained the opportunity to renew old friendships, hang out with people who don't know the love of Jesus and even get to talk about that love every once in awhile. And being part-time has allowed me to relax, let some stuff go and enjoy pastoring without the self-inflicted pressure to produce. It's a great place to be.
And one more example of God's provision that is too specific to be just a coincidence. When I was in the process of being hired, FedEx was having some issues with the lab where I had done my DOT required drug test. No, it wasn't because there were drugs found in my system, but because some paperwork got messed up. I kept showing up at the FedEx station only to be sent home again and told to come back the next day, when "the paperwork should be finished." I even worked one day before being told I shouldn't be there.
So my hire date got pushed back three weeks longer than it should've been. With FedEx's policy of not being eligible for benefits until 90 days after the initial hire date, it looked like we were going to 1) be without health insurance for a little while or 2) pay an exorbitant amount of money to COBRA Erin's insurance for a short while. I actually pushed the issue with the manager who hired me, trying to get her to post-date my hiring date, since the paperwork had been messed up.
Well, turns out the 31 days in both July and August and the Olathe School District's agreement to let Erin stay on one her insurance plan an extra month was some more divine provision. We recently received a letter from Blue Cross / Blue Shield saying our insurance plan expired on September 1st. That letter was followed by a letter from Cigna saying our FedEx insurance plan was beginning on September 2nd.
Sometimes I wonder whether my worries make God chuckle, similar to how I laugh when Dawson gets frustrated with something that requires little effort from his dad.
A few months after starting this unfortunate job of being a package handler, I've now been moved onroad, as I've blogged about earlier. My job is easier (at least, physically) but I'm working a total of 4 hours a day.
Because I'm a nerd like that, I recently ran the numbers for our monthly budget. When you combine the hourly salary I'm making at FedEx (working 4 hours a day), the money we're saving by being on the FedEx insurance plan rather than the Olathe School District plan and the salary I am getting from the church, I'm making the same amount of money I was making before the paycut. Almost exactly to the dollar.
What I'm losing, of course, is time. But Sara Armstrong is graciously watching Dawson some half-days at her home daycare for way less than we should be paying her, so I earn back some time there. I've also gained the opportunity to renew old friendships, hang out with people who don't know the love of Jesus and even get to talk about that love every once in awhile. And being part-time has allowed me to relax, let some stuff go and enjoy pastoring without the self-inflicted pressure to produce. It's a great place to be.
And one more example of God's provision that is too specific to be just a coincidence. When I was in the process of being hired, FedEx was having some issues with the lab where I had done my DOT required drug test. No, it wasn't because there were drugs found in my system, but because some paperwork got messed up. I kept showing up at the FedEx station only to be sent home again and told to come back the next day, when "the paperwork should be finished." I even worked one day before being told I shouldn't be there.
So my hire date got pushed back three weeks longer than it should've been. With FedEx's policy of not being eligible for benefits until 90 days after the initial hire date, it looked like we were going to 1) be without health insurance for a little while or 2) pay an exorbitant amount of money to COBRA Erin's insurance for a short while. I actually pushed the issue with the manager who hired me, trying to get her to post-date my hiring date, since the paperwork had been messed up.
Well, turns out the 31 days in both July and August and the Olathe School District's agreement to let Erin stay on one her insurance plan an extra month was some more divine provision. We recently received a letter from Blue Cross / Blue Shield saying our insurance plan expired on September 1st. That letter was followed by a letter from Cigna saying our FedEx insurance plan was beginning on September 2nd.
Sometimes I wonder whether my worries make God chuckle, similar to how I laugh when Dawson gets frustrated with something that requires little effort from his dad.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
On the Road Again
What you're seeing here is a picture from my last day as a Courier at FedEx, in August of 2005. As I've shared before, I've had to come back to FedEx for a part-time job. I've spent the last three months unloading packages in the early morning, before the delivery couriers go on-road. As I was being welcomed back by the old crew, I kept assuring everyone I was not going to become a Courier.Well, I'm not a Courier (don't get paid as well as they do and am keeping that part of the promise) but I am now what they call a "DOT Handler," meaning I've passed the Defensive Driving course (had to take it again) and can go on-road. So I'm now doing what's called a "bulk route," in which I deliver to some places that get about 100 or so packages per day.
It was a bit surreal to get behind the wheel of the W700 again. I've been fighting feelings of discouragement, embarrassment and defeat as I've been working at FedEx again but this morning was a bit nostalgic. "I can't believe I'm doing this again" kept running through my head. That same thought was also running through my head the first time I put the uniform back on. Oh well, at least I left on good terms so they could hire me back. At least my family is still being provided for (God has yet to fail us). And while I'm doing a scaled down version of Courier work for Handler pay, at least I'm not having to unload the cans anymore. Three months and several trips to the chiropractor and I'm glad to have moved back on-road again.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
John Deere Green and other pictures
We took some great pictures of Dawson during the month of July and I love sharing them in my own little piece of Al Gore's invention.
These pictures are from a trip to a produce farm a few miles south of Gardner.
The rest of these pictures are from Erin and Dawson's time spent last week on my parent's farm. Unfortunately, due to my new job at FedEx, I wasn't able to join them. But these are some great pictures.
Dawson and his cousin, Dani.
This is a great picture.
My dad is as crazy about John Deere tractors as I am about Hawkeye football. Dad and I are a lot alike in personality, but we differ in how we live out our personalities.
I've watched many sunsets from this spot in my parent's lawn.
A little water park called Fun City that was built just a few years ago.
For ten years, I was sat on this piano bench and not allowed to get up until I'd finished my half hour of practicing the piano.
I also played in the water coming from that faucet many times as a kid.
Another great picture.
Dad is going to need to buy Dawson a helmet when he gets a bit older, so he can tear through the fields like I used to do.
Dawson doing his 'lining-up' hobby.
The dangerously steep stairs leading to the upstairs in my parent's farmhouse. I fell down those stairs a few too many times and even (allegedly) peed from the top of them while being potty-trained - which is about to happen to my son (the training, hopefully not the peeing on the stairs).
That was my truck as a kid. Yes, I love seeing Dawson do the same things his daddy used to do.
Really, does it get much cuter than this?
Everything is green on the Miller farm.
This is the type of picture that makes my dad say, "that's my boy."
Getting cleaned up after a long day playing outside.
These pictures are from a trip to a produce farm a few miles south of Gardner.
The rest of these pictures are from Erin and Dawson's time spent last week on my parent's farm. Unfortunately, due to my new job at FedEx, I wasn't able to join them. But these are some great pictures.
Dawson and his cousin, Dani.
This is a great picture.
My dad is as crazy about John Deere tractors as I am about Hawkeye football. Dad and I are a lot alike in personality, but we differ in how we live out our personalities.
I've watched many sunsets from this spot in my parent's lawn.
A little water park called Fun City that was built just a few years ago.
For ten years, I was sat on this piano bench and not allowed to get up until I'd finished my half hour of practicing the piano.
I also played in the water coming from that faucet many times as a kid.
Another great picture.
Dad is going to need to buy Dawson a helmet when he gets a bit older, so he can tear through the fields like I used to do.
Dawson doing his 'lining-up' hobby.
The dangerously steep stairs leading to the upstairs in my parent's farmhouse. I fell down those stairs a few too many times and even (allegedly) peed from the top of them while being potty-trained - which is about to happen to my son (the training, hopefully not the peeing on the stairs).
That was my truck as a kid. Yes, I love seeing Dawson do the same things his daddy used to do.
Really, does it get much cuter than this?
Everything is green on the Miller farm.
This is the type of picture that makes my dad say, "that's my boy."
Getting cleaned up after a long day playing outside.
Friday, May 28, 2010
1096; not so much
From 2000 to 2005, I was a courier at FedEx. I ran the same route for all five of those years, the industrial park just north of Oak Park Mall. For four of those five years, I was a student at NTS. The last year, I was working to gather a core group to launch Trinity Family.
I also learned a lot of codes during those five years as a courier; FedEx loves codes. Probably my favorite code was "1096." It was a code we would send to dispatch when we'd finished all of our assigned pickups, the code meant "request clearance." Dispatch would check to make sure we'd gotten all of our stops, then check to see if any routes around us needed help. If everything was clear, they'd approve the request and send us and our freight back to the station.
I can still remember my final 1096, it was hot day in early August. TFC was one week from going public with our worship gatherings and I was quitting FedEx to go full time at TFC. Rather than sending a message to dispatch, I actually got on the radio so all the other couriers could hear. I gleefully called out, "1096 - for the REST OF MY LIFE!"
FedEx was a good company to work for but I was done, I was ready to go full-time in living out God's calling in my life for pastoral ministry. For years, I've claimed I'll never go back, no more bi-vocational ministry, I like doing this thing full-time.
_____________________________________________________
Tuesday was my first day back at FedEx. I've got the same employee number but I'm starting over in seniority. TFC has dipped to the point in which we can no longer pay a full-time salary so I have no choice but to take a second job to support my family. A couple months ago, before I knew I'd be taking an approximately 40% pay cut, we jumped at the chance for Erin to go part-time as a jobshare. My former salary combined with Erin's part-time salary would've been enough to cover our basic needs, but two part-time jobs isn't enough. While I'm doing much better with it than I was when I wrote this post (which I actually buried so it wouldn't be on the front page) I'm still not too excited about working two jobs. I'm not doing my old job of courier, though I'm actually working as a package handler. While being a courier pays more, it also adds a level of stress I'm not able to take into my life at this point. I'm also working a different shift, while a courier starts an evening shift, I'm working from 6 - 9 in the morning. I'm going to have to work Saturdays, which I'm not excited about and will have one day off during the week.
There are however, some clear signs of God's guidance in all of this.
- When you combine the hourly wage, insurance and tuition reimbursement, the pay from FedEx will come within a couple thousand dollars of making up for the reduction in pay from TFC.
- At first, we were bummed Erin had to work every afternoon in her jobshare rather than working every other day. Well, it's sure working out good now.
- My new manager told me on Tuesday that he takes care of us guys with two jobs, he'll do his best to get us out before 9 every morning.
- I've already met some cool new guys and reconnected with old friends/ coworkers.
- The physical labor will be a good boost for my slowing metabolism.
- While working Saturdays will mean I'll never get a weekend, there are some Saturdays open for me to take personal days.
- I found out FedEx can give times of unpaid leave. So while I'm only going to have two weeks of vacation, starting next summer I could take some unpaid leave for some mission trips I'm looking into. More info coming on that, but it would be trips with this group.
- While I was bummed that I had to start working at FedEx while being on vacation from TFC this week, after working on Tuesday I was told my paperwork hadn't come through yet so I couldn't actually start. So I've had the rest of the week off to relax with my family. We've had a low-key week of vacation.
If I had a choice of 1) take a 40% pay cut and become a bi-vocational pastor or 2) continue on full-time at TFC with the same salary, I'd take #2 in a heartbeat. But that's not reality right now, so I'm learning to live out what Paul wrote from prison in Philippians, "... for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."
And as a side note, that final verse is often taken out of context but the "everything" is referring to having contentment in difficult financial times.
Working a second job while also going to school is going to require some changes in what I do and how I lead. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what those changes will look like yet but I know I've gotta (to quote Nate Warren) find a "new rhythm." I hope to be sharing what those changes will look like at some all-church meetings on June 20th and 27th.
I also learned a lot of codes during those five years as a courier; FedEx loves codes. Probably my favorite code was "1096." It was a code we would send to dispatch when we'd finished all of our assigned pickups, the code meant "request clearance." Dispatch would check to make sure we'd gotten all of our stops, then check to see if any routes around us needed help. If everything was clear, they'd approve the request and send us and our freight back to the station.
I can still remember my final 1096, it was hot day in early August. TFC was one week from going public with our worship gatherings and I was quitting FedEx to go full time at TFC. Rather than sending a message to dispatch, I actually got on the radio so all the other couriers could hear. I gleefully called out, "1096 - for the REST OF MY LIFE!"
FedEx was a good company to work for but I was done, I was ready to go full-time in living out God's calling in my life for pastoral ministry. For years, I've claimed I'll never go back, no more bi-vocational ministry, I like doing this thing full-time.
_____________________________________________________
Tuesday was my first day back at FedEx. I've got the same employee number but I'm starting over in seniority. TFC has dipped to the point in which we can no longer pay a full-time salary so I have no choice but to take a second job to support my family. A couple months ago, before I knew I'd be taking an approximately 40% pay cut, we jumped at the chance for Erin to go part-time as a jobshare. My former salary combined with Erin's part-time salary would've been enough to cover our basic needs, but two part-time jobs isn't enough. While I'm doing much better with it than I was when I wrote this post (which I actually buried so it wouldn't be on the front page) I'm still not too excited about working two jobs. I'm not doing my old job of courier, though I'm actually working as a package handler. While being a courier pays more, it also adds a level of stress I'm not able to take into my life at this point. I'm also working a different shift, while a courier starts an evening shift, I'm working from 6 - 9 in the morning. I'm going to have to work Saturdays, which I'm not excited about and will have one day off during the week.
There are however, some clear signs of God's guidance in all of this.
- When you combine the hourly wage, insurance and tuition reimbursement, the pay from FedEx will come within a couple thousand dollars of making up for the reduction in pay from TFC.
- At first, we were bummed Erin had to work every afternoon in her jobshare rather than working every other day. Well, it's sure working out good now.
- My new manager told me on Tuesday that he takes care of us guys with two jobs, he'll do his best to get us out before 9 every morning.
- I've already met some cool new guys and reconnected with old friends/ coworkers.
- The physical labor will be a good boost for my slowing metabolism.
- While working Saturdays will mean I'll never get a weekend, there are some Saturdays open for me to take personal days.
- I found out FedEx can give times of unpaid leave. So while I'm only going to have two weeks of vacation, starting next summer I could take some unpaid leave for some mission trips I'm looking into. More info coming on that, but it would be trips with this group.
- While I was bummed that I had to start working at FedEx while being on vacation from TFC this week, after working on Tuesday I was told my paperwork hadn't come through yet so I couldn't actually start. So I've had the rest of the week off to relax with my family. We've had a low-key week of vacation.
If I had a choice of 1) take a 40% pay cut and become a bi-vocational pastor or 2) continue on full-time at TFC with the same salary, I'd take #2 in a heartbeat. But that's not reality right now, so I'm learning to live out what Paul wrote from prison in Philippians, "... for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."
And as a side note, that final verse is often taken out of context but the "everything" is referring to having contentment in difficult financial times.
Working a second job while also going to school is going to require some changes in what I do and how I lead. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what those changes will look like yet but I know I've gotta (to quote Nate Warren) find a "new rhythm." I hope to be sharing what those changes will look like at some all-church meetings on June 20th and 27th.
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