Re-Retired

I have spent some time over the past few months helping set up and test the new automated parcel sortation system at the Post Office. Boy that sounds like I had something important to do, which I did not. I was filling boxes, taping boxes, labelling boxes and moving boxes time and time again, and some times I actually knew why I was doing it.

 

I was getting paid and that is really all that I cared about. Like any big organization, there was little or no communication between the folks that should have been communicating. I did what I was told and tried to avoid making any decisions or taking any initiative at all. They paid me to do donkey work, not to think.

They call it “Postal Transformation” and it is Post Office history. They were testing a parcel sortation system which passed with flying colours yesterday. Strangely enough, it also broke down for about five and a half hours yesterday as well. I guess that is how Canada Post defines success. The system does everything that people used to do without those pesky people being involved. There are people involved, but only in a supporting role and the jobs seemed to me to be more mind numbingly boring than the jobs that were there before all of the conveyor belts and electronics came in.

It is costing the Post Office millions and millions of dollars to set this up. Hopefully for the employees this new system will guarantee jobs well into the future. Well, I hope that it keeps people working, because someone has to keep contributing towards my pension.

The Post Office is going away from letter mail and seems to be focusing on an increased online parcel service and of course advertising mail which we all call Junk mail. They are trying very hard to improve the service to the point that people just don’t notice it at all. I do hope they can succeed, because I think a good, healthy country needs a functioning Post Office.

So, as of today, I am unemployed, or as I like to say, I just re-retired. So, if you know of some place that is willing to overpay a guy that does the minimum required work, has a less than high opinion of management, expects little and is happy with less, I am willing to consider the position. I will need time off every now and then to “recharge”, more time to look after Hurricane and Tornado when they need it and I don’t like to drive in bad weather.

You know, don’t bother. If you know of some place that is willing to send money to a guy for doing nothing, then I am your man. Yep, that works…