So you wanna deliver papers?

We have been looking in to all sorts of things to help us earn a little extra money in order to pay down debt. I saw an ad that said "Newspaper carriers wanted". So I called. I thought, "I could do this. The money earned would be incentive enough. The kids and I could adjust to a more tired mommy."

I went in the very next day. I found out things were quite different from the newspaper delivery days of the 1980's (the last time I had any experience with it). 2:30 am. Just a little on the early side. And that was just the beginning.

We met at the warehouse where all the bundles are delivered. ALL different newspapers are put together into a single route in a single area, so the carrier could be delivering the local paper, several regional papers, and any or all of the nationals. They let you pull only those papers that are needed for your route that particular day. So no more extra papers and ads. You prep all your papers there at the warehouse and then load them in to your car. You are given a printout of the "best" way to do the route based on starts, stops, holds for vacations, etc. for each day.

Then you have to complete the route by 6 am weekdays and 7 am weekends. Some routes are big enough that you will be gone the entire 4-5 hours.

I found out a few things:

• 2:00 or so is too early
• 4-5 hours missing from your normal sleep is not good for you, especially if you have no way of taking a nap later in the day
• The air is just chilly enough to set off my asthma
• Matthew is not ready for me to leave him for that long in the middle of the night yet
• The routes are too far away. (A Provo or Orem route would have been better)

Maybe I could be a night "stalker" at a store in a month or two when he starts sleeping through the nights.