Larry Nugent

Larry Nugent.  "That's a funny name," I thought as I stared out the window of a car, sweating in the crazy hot weather.  Strangely enough it came up as a name successfully used in place of one's actual name.  Since it was kind of funny and it worked I laughed.

Sweating.  I do alot of that.  You see God has played a trick on us.  Well at least me.  For a while up until recently our apartment hasn't had an efficient air conditioning system.  We have a central air system but it was very hot.  Outside it was relatively cool at the time considering the time of year.  But inside it was hot all the time.  So we complained every day.  We bought thermometers and recorded the temperature indoors and outdoors every few hours for a few days.  We continued complaining and brought in our proof.  Now we each have a window unit in our rooms and I can tell you that mine works great.  I closed my room's door today before I left for work and left my AC on.  When I got home I had taken my shirt off and I went to go into my room and it was like the arctic in there.  I'm serious.  I should get a medal for going in there and making it to the window to turn off the AC.  I then went straight to the blanket.

So this trick God played on us.   Now that we are back into relatively cool weather....I deliver my pizza cruising along.  It's a little warm cause my car is quite hot if the AC is not on.  But it's not bad.  If you put your left leg up to hold the steering wheel and lean forward, then lift your left arm up and out of the window with your elbow at a 90 degree angle you can get a nice draft of air in your shirt.   The reason you are holding the wheel with your knee is because you take your right hand and pull your shirt sleeve open to get a better draft.  It's great.  I just heard a really crazy sound.  I'm not going to go see what that was.  If it comes in here, I will kill it.  OK.  So it is hot and I sweat a bit but I get the draft going as described and find something suitable to play on my ipod--which is conveniently connected to my car's stereo(for the win!)--and then listen to music.  I drive around and listen to music and take money from people.  It's not a bad way to be.  Anyways, so this trick.  

Now when I go out delivering pizza.  Especially the past week.  I have been suffering.  I'm not one to complain really.  I used to be but not so much anymore.   I think it's because my tolerance for stupid things has increased.  It's just easier to do it sometimes and not worry about it.  But the suffering is because it has been very hot.  I open alot.  So I will be driving out there in the hottest parts of the day.  And my car is already very hot inside w/o AC on.  So it's pretty brutal.  I need to stop drinking soda.  Water would really help for driving in the sun.  But the coke is so good sometimes and oddly enough more refreshing than water at times even though you know you really should be drinking the water and would probably even enjoy it.  But you drink the coke anyway.  So I drink coke while I deliver.  It's handy.  It's only 75 cents.  When I stop through gas stations I like to grab a dasani.  So the trick.  It used to be cold, we were in a false state of security.  Cold in July, who'd have thought it?  Now it's very hot.  And I'm growing my hair so that doesn't help keep the heat levels down.

The hair!  It's getting long now.  I've been away from the keyboard.  I kind of like to just sit down and type then come back later.  Anyways.  I'm sitting here with music coming through my headset.  I've found that it's alot better to listen through headphones.  I love music, it's a fact.  Me and my roommate might start a band.  First step, learn guitar.  Who knows?  So my hair is getting longer.  I haven't cut it since the first part of July(approximately).  The music has kind of a festive beat.  

So today.  I was at work.  Nothing was happening.  I was playing with this thing we use to get pizza out of the oven.  I like to flip the screens we put under the pizza in the oven.  I flip them with the thing we take the pizza out with.  Bonus points for extra complete revolutions in the air.  I can flip one about 3 complete flips.  I can flip two screens for 2 flips.  I think.  I know I tried it and I know I did two screens once.  I dropped them alot when I was first trying two screens.  It honestly is as they say, all in the wrist.  Anyways, I was at work, nothing was happening, etc. etc.  Then the phones started ringing.  It's amazing how many stories can start in exactly this way...."Then the phones started ringing."  It's business time.  And it's just me and Krista, my manager in the store.  Guess what?  Three delivery orders come in.  Two for the far south-west corner of our delivery area and one for the far south-east.

I'm not a bad driver.  I can move the pizza when I need to.  But all 3 of these orders are going to be due at about the same times....so someone's going to get a late pizza.  Cause I'm the only driver.  So I go.  On the first one, I already know it's bad news.  It's for a customer whose name on my delivery slip reads "Karine."  I have delivered to this particular customer many times.  Every time she will take the pizza, close the door and retreat back into her massive home.  Weeks later you are still waiting and she reappears.  She's already forgotten the total, so she asks again.  Then writes out a check and looks up and says "I left in one dollar for you."  Like she's doing me a favor.  Same thing every time.  This is like a 10 mile round trip delivery for her alone.  So I lose money on gas.  Next delivery is close but still late.

I get there and it's in a crazy rich community.  I will take pictures sometime and show you....anyways.  At the home, I see a bunch of middle and high school age kids on the porch.  I get out and a kid, maybe 14 years old, comes up with $20 in rolled quarters.  I give him the pizza and head out.  He says "Oh, by the way you were 20 minutes late."  I looked at him with all the apathy I could muster and said "I know."  It wasn't really what he said so much as how he said it.  Where have I heard that before?  I guess our parents really did know what they were talking about back then.  Anyways, I was mad at the kid.  He should learn some respect. I blame it on the heat.  It'll make you crazy.

Then I make the long trip to the last delivery of the run on the other side of the world.  I guess this lady wanted it delivered to the pool instead of her home.  She conveniently forgot to include the pool's address.  So after calling the store and finding out what was going on(she wouldn't answer her phone,) I drove around through the subdivision until I found the pool.  This was just the beginning of an interesting day.

I have other things to write about but if I do that now I won't have as much sure things to write about later:)  I have alot of things I want to write for a bit but once I'm done I'll try to resume a semi regular blogging schedule similar to what I had going in FL.