Thursday, July 15, 2010

In the jungle

Cycle 11 today (Harry Wurzbach & Rittiman). I saw it coming earlier this week and knew that I wouldn't get to skip it this time. However, I made sure to warn two "superiors" that I probably wouldn't be able to finish a full assignment; that is, I would probably finish the full route, but not the partial that's always tacked onto it. I was right.

When I last did this route, in April, it took me 4 3/4 hours. That was 1/2 hour longer than the previous month and 45 minutes longer than the month before that.* I remember telling one of the supervisors that if it kept raining now and then, by the end of the summer it was going to be a 7-hour route. Today it took me 6 hours. So it looks like my prediction is on schedule. I had only about 20 minutes left to work on the partial route before I had to go back to the office.

In case anyone wonders, I am allowed two 15-minute breaks and one 45-minute lunch. I usually don't take any breaks or lunch, so I can finish sooner. On a day like today I took my lunch. It's almost impossible for someone in my line of work to take their 15-minute breaks, unless you just want to sit down and not move for 15 minutes, and there wouldn't be much point in that.

So anyway I decided that today's hard work justified cutting open my last stash of Bayou Night. I tore off a couple of hunks and re-sealed it. This is still my favorite pipe tobacco.

*I don't remember all these details. I have a small notebook that I keep this information in. It's helpful, sometimes.

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