Saturday, November 20, 2004

What do I do?

It has been pointed out that perhaps I haven't fully explained what I do. And since there are at least 3 people who read this and who aren't related to me or see me on a regular basis, I should explain:

I work for a company that makes, rents, and sells all manner of healthcare equipment: Wheelchairs, commodes, walkers, dopplers, DVTs, ICTs, and mattresses. My particular depot deals mainly in bed frames and mattresses.

When people get old and/or sick they develop bed sores, otherwise known as pressure ulcers. To heal the ulcers, or to avoid them in the first place, they need our mattresses. I clean, deliver, setup (set up?), trouble shoot, fix, and pick up these mattresses and pumps. I'm also the resident fixer of things. Today I mounted two fire extinguishers while one of my co-workers looked on in awe. (Two nuts, two bolts. Not hard. But then again it was the same co-worker that sets off his car alarm EVERY time he gets in his car.)

These mattresses are made of plastic, rubber, and/or foam and most of them are inflatable. Some have alternating cells, some just blow up and don't move. (Kind of like a ridiculously expensive sleep number bed.)

We deliver all this stuff out of a depot in San Rafael. There are, including me, four delivery drivers who bring all these things to the sick and old people of northern California. I drove roughly 3500 miles last month, and I've been just south of Monterey and as far north as Yuba City. We go father south and farther north than that, and I hear we have some beds in Reno, NV. Luckily I like driving. As an added bonus, driving a delivery van all day makes my little 4 cylinder manual transmission Camry feel like a racecar.

To explain the Grim Reaper thing: A lot of the patients we deliver to, especially in the Napa Valley, are hospice patients. They could be on one of our mattresses for years or days. We never know. But when I deliver to them, for whatever reason it tends to be days. So my boss has started calling me the Grim Reaper of Napa Valley. I've had lots of deliveries on Friday that I've had to go pick up on Monday, but the record was a delivery I did one morning and the hospice called us to pick it up that afternoon. I guess that's why there's a minimum 2 week rental price.

Other jobs I've had, in order from earliest to most recent (starting all the back in high school): Pizza cook, Telemarketer (1.5 days), Bakery Department Clerk, Software Intern/Y2K Updater (in Visual Basic), Engineering Intern/Programming Intern, Temp Worker (fundraiser, filing clerk, mover), Gap Employee, Valet, Best Buy Employee (sales, computer technician), Metal Worker (twice, but one was only for 3 days), Freelance IT person, Handyman, and now Rental Technician. Oddly enough my current job is in my top 4 most enjoyable jobs, and is by the best paying. I always suspected I was destined for a job that most people wouldn't like.

I wonder how many jobs the average person has by the time they are 26, because that list seems kind of long.

1 comment:

Peace Muffin said...

Eh, I've had that many jobs and i'm only 18, so if your list is long mine must be the song that never ends.
Anyways love hearing about your life, Norbert is awesome, she kicks (or should i say bites) Garfield's butt any day!