Meals on Wheels

My friend, Janell, and I have been delivering Meals on Wheels for a few years now (I think we figured it was back to 2009). We have volunteered one Friday a month, and enjoyed having that time to spend together and knowing that we would be able to catch up with each other.

With my retirement, and her work and new condo in Galveston, we reluctantly let the Meals on Wheels coordinator know that we would not be able to have a regular route, but that we would try to volunteer when a route needed to be covered. In addition, we knew the volunteer that did our "normal" route on other Fridays, so she knew she could call on us if she needed a substitute.

The other volunteer contacted me this week and asked if we could cover for her this Friday. I checked, and Janell was not available, but I asked Dwayne, and he agreed to do it with me. Technically, I could run the route by myself, but it is easier if there are more than one.

So, we ran the route on Friday; Dwayne went to the doors and I drove the vehicle. The route was pretty much the same as when we last ran it in July, with just one additional person - no big deal...

Until we got to the third client on the list...

Now, you need to understand that Janell and I have our own version of the client list. We have our own directions from client to client, we have additional notes, like "dog's name is Titus" for any client that has a pet with whom we have become acquainted. For the third client on the list, when we first started delivering, she had a large glider on the concrete area outside her front door - so we called her "glider lady" (between ourselves, not to her). A long time ago, she got rid of the glider, so then we called her "no glider lady". This particular client is not home more than any other to whom we deliver - it is always a challenge when they are not home - we call the client (frequently the number is no longer a working number as they have prepaid cell phones that have run out of minutes), then we call the MOW office to let them know. If it is a client that is usually home, sometimes we try back later before calling the office.

So, I pulled up in front of "no glider lady"s apartment and told Dwayne, "It's the one on the right."
He went up, didn't go to the door, just came back to the car.
"It isn't the right number," he said.
Huh? Did I pull up in front of the wrong building? At that point, I noticed that all the furniture that used to be by the front door was gone (no glider, no table, no chair, no flower pot). We compared the apartment number on the MOW manifest to the Janell/Patti spreadsheet - it had changed! Uh oh!
We changed into "search mode" - which is always fun in apartment complexes - there is a reason they are called "complexes" - whoever designs the layout of the buildings must get their jollies from random number generators. We found the new building, and Dwayne set out with the hot meal, cold bag, and two weekend boxes - but, couldn't find the apartment number in the building. Finally, after walking around the building to both the right and the left, he found her new apartment in the back of the new building.
(Note: if we had been delivering regularly, when the client got a new address, the first time we were to deliver to that new address, it would have been noted on the manifest, but since I was substituting for a regular volunteer, and probably the move was a while ago, it wasn't noted.)

The next couple of deliveries were no problem, and then we were to "new guy added". I had put the street address into our GPS, so it got us to the area, but not to the building (remember, apartment complexes are complex). I don't know whether the Garmin sent us to the wrong address, or whether I didn't pay close enough attention, but I turned into the wrong apartment complex. After a long search, we found "building 10", and Dwayne got out and went to find "apartment 1005". A few minutes later, he came back with the hot meal, cold bag, and two weekend boxes.
"Was he not there?"
"I knocked on the door, a lady answered. She said that she doesn't get Meals on Wheels."
Uh oh...
So, I called the new guy - the apartment complex he lived in was on the other side of the street. I drove over there... another search mission looking for building 10. My phone rings, "Are you still having problems finding me?" -- the client calling.
"I think we're in the right complex now."
"Don't go into the complex, my door is right on the main street, I'm standing outside, my car is red, didn't you see it?"
Hmmm... didn't look for the red car on the main street - so, back to the main street, found the client standing outside...

The rest of the clients were found uneventfully.

I think I need remedial MOW training!

I am SO thankful Dwayne was doing the delivery with me; Janell and I both thought that we may have ended up not finding "no glider lady" at all; when she didn't answer the door, we would have tried to call (probably not getting her) and then have reported her as not home to MOW - I am so thankful that Dwayne noticed that the apartment number was not correct.

Secondly, I am SO thankful that the lady was home at the wrong apartment complex; I guess if there had been no one home, we still would have tried calling the client and have eventually found him, but I think we might have been confused for a little longer.

It is still fun to deliver for MOW, and I'm glad we did it, but it sure was easier when we did it every month!