Groundhog Day in June!
Here Hoggy hoggy hoggy!!!
When our driver Dick Nolan came to work Monday morning, he brought along a special passenger in his engine compartment. It was a groundhog! He called the Humane Society when he noticed it and they promptly dispatched an animal rescue officer to help get it out.
Hi!!
After many trials and tribulations we got the little guy out and safely into a crate for transport. He was a fiesty little guy, but very cute!
Watch those fingers Jess!
We loaded him up in the back of one of our trusty Rangers and took him out to a field near where he hitched his ride to let him go.
C’mon get out of there!
It took a little coaxing, but we got him out of the crate and on his way. I didn’t know that the little buggers could run so fast, but he bolted right for the first tall grass he could see and was gone.
Bye Bye!!
Goodbye Rev!!
When Metro Delivery merged with ParaTransit in 2001, the most valuable thing we acquired wasn’t a client or a vehicle. It was a manager. Sebastian Wreford has been an unsurpassed resource when it comes to all of our needs, including art, sales, and most importantly being a center of stability whenever things become chaotic. Over his time here he has been the heart of our company, an avuncular figure who gives advice to anyone who asks. I’ve personally learned more lessons about work, management, and life in general from him than anyone else I’ve worked with.
Thank you Sebastian for all of your calm wisdom in wild times. Thank you for making this office a bright and colorful place full of art, soul, and one of the craziest assortments of musical taste that I’ve ever had fill my ears. Thank you for performing my wedding, and those of so many others of the staff. Thank you for years of hard lessons with a laid back attitude.
From all of us here at Metro: Thank You and Good Luck! Food Gatherers won the lottery and all of the people of our area are going to be better off because of it.
It’s Pheidippedes Friday!
The story of Pheidippides inspires us here at Metro Delivery, as it has inspired millions of other messengers over the past 2,503 years or so…
Pheidippides, a herald, was sent off running, all 26 miles and 385 yards from the Greek City Marathon to Athens, to announce the first victory of the Greeks over the invading Persians, at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
Yes, yes, this is where we get that “Marathon” thing that all your runner friends talk about- but that’s a secondary point for us here at Metro. The point is, the dude was a COURIER, and as such, prepared to give his all.
After proclaiming victory to the joyful crowd at the Acropolis (“Nike!” he gasped, forming a shoe company), he expired, tragically, from the exertion. That’s one sad version of the story (weeps).
In another variation, from Herodotus, Pheidippides completes a much more impressive feat of the feet, running round trip from Athens to Sparta and back again to request aid from the Spartans from the invading Persians. That story has him running around 145 miles over two days. The Spartans don’t actually get around to sending any aid and the Athenians have to handle the Persians themselves, but this more robust Pheippides does not die from the run.
Robert Browning, in his 1879 hit poem “Pheidippides,” tells a story that’s a popular confluence of events. Pheidippides runs from Athens to Sparta and back again, then actually fights in the battle of Marathon, and THEN runs from Marathon to the Acropolis in Athens to announce the victory and dies. That’s a total mileage of around 171 miles, and you know there weren’t any folding tables of Gatorade along the way.
Browning’s and Herodotus’s versions also feature a guest appearance by the Goat-God Pan, who Pheidippides happens across enroute from Sparta back to Athens, and who is persuaded to assist the Athenians, since the Spartans are of no immediate help.
Pan indicates his willingness to back the Athenians by handing Pheidippides a handful of fennel, a good portent for the battle, as the Greek word for fennel is Marathon. (Goat-Gods prefer metaphor to just plain saying something, as a general rule.)
So what do we, as messengers, learn from Pheidippides? First, we admire his resolution and dedication, and the sacrifice that he was prepared to make to see that his noble duty was fulfilled.
Secondarily, we recognize that if he really DID run himself to death, his dispatcher probably should have figured out a way to get the poor guy a lunch hour, and we have to suspect that under hours-of-service regulations the Athenians would probably be looking at some pretty steep fines…
Thirdly, they should have given Pheidippides an E250 van, like Metro Couriers drive, and then he could have carried a pallet or two of grapes and olives to drop to some other Greek city along the way, and improved his profit margin.
At least it hasn’t rained this much…
I
Image from Mlive: http://www.annarbor.com/news/ann-arbor-residents-capture-images-and-video-of-flooding/
Driver of the Month
Congratulations to Bryan Martz on his selection as Driver of the Month!!
Sarah says:
“Again, I will keep this low key because I know how much Bryan hates the limelight, so just a simple ‘Thank you, Bryan, for all that you do!!’”
We all know how hard Bryan works around here and truly appreciate it. So thanks Bryan, and congratulations again!!
Barrels and Cones; Cones and Barrels
State Street is currently closed for the rest of the week between Stimson and Granger due to some utility work.
Construction has started up on Fuller Rd right around the hospital, it is heading one way in each direction. I think our drivers and the construction workers are probably going to have a lot of time to get to know each other. Could there be a spring romance in the air?
Looks like all of Southbound Ann Arbor-Saline Rd is closed around 94, last week you could get off to get to Target from Eastbound, but I don’t think that doable any more.
I can only tell you guys what I’m seeing and hearing so let me know what kind of silliness you have to drive though!
http://www.a2gov.org/Alerts/Pages/EventRoadClosuresandDetours.aspx
Toll Roads
As a transportation company logging millions of miles in Michigan annually, here’s our considered opinion on toll roads:
(faints)
MASTER of PACZKI
This is very exciting. The previous Metro Delivery record, standing since at least 2005, for consumption of Paczki in a single shift has been broken, by our own resident superhero, J.P. who now holds the official Metro Delivery title: MASTER of PACZKI.
Congrats, J.P.!
Additionally, this year marks what we believe to be the speed record for eating a Paczek.
Christian was observed to completely consume and swallow an entire custard-filled deep-fried Manchester Bakery Paczek in 46.6 seconds, as timed by Dale with multiple witnesses. Without the aid of water or liquids whatsoever. It was an awesome sight to behold, and one that many of us will hold in our memories until the day we die.
Apart from individual standouts, the entire Metro Delivery Team performed admirably, with tremendous resolve and dedication.
Yesterday we started the day with 112 Paczki, and by 6:30 AM today we were reduced to merely approximately 7.67 remaining, as shown, for several employees who may choose to celebrate a Fat Wednesday.
Metro Delivery is, like every year, amazed and most impressed with the performance of all of our skilled employees in these Extreme Paczki Challenges. We look forward to Fat Tuesday 2015 (2/17/2015), and would remind all employees that it’s never too soon to start training for next year.
Nie mówię po polsku!
Happy Fat Tuesday!
Yes, it’s Michigan, and it’s Fat Tuesday, and while at warmer latitudes that means a giant bacchanal with wine and dancing and music, here in Michigan it means just this: PACZKI.
This year, we’re offering our staff Paczki Varietals, so that we can feel like they’re having different food groups at each meal.
From left to right in the picture below, you see 1. Paczki from Dom’s Bakery in Ypsilanti, 2. from Copernicus European Deli, in the South Main Market in Ann Arbor who get them shipped in from a Canadian Polish Bakery overnight, including authentic “rose” and “plum/prune” flavors, and 3. the powdered- sugar-coated ones on the right are via Washtenaw Dairy, made by the Manchester Bakery.
…honestly, we can’t say that our Couriers run their fastest on Fat Tuesdays.
No HAZMAT Allowed on the Ambassador Bridge
The Michigan Department of Transportation has decided that public safety would not be enhanced by allowing corrosive and flammable materials to be transported over the Ambassador Bridge.
This is the latest development in an ongoing petition from the owner of the bridge, Matty Maroun, who has been trying since 2008 to allow hazardous materials to cross his bridge.
Hazmat loads are currently carried across the Detroit River by a ferry, 30 to 50 loads a day.