Empire Building

13 March - Despite the man saying it was going to rain it was sunny all day. The fact that I was wearing three layers to fend off the lies of the weatherman made me overheat rather unpleasantly though. It's not like a hot sweaty heat where you sweat pours all over you and can be quite exhilirating but its dull and sticky and everything is held in close to the body, tightly bound by the waterproof gear that is supposed to keep moisture out not in. While I was getting my morning pickmeup I was approached by the Dynamex Dude (real name Glen) who was keen for a chat with a view to recruiting me for the Dynamex team (after commenting sarcastically on the elaborate instructions on making my coffee - skim latte with no foam and one raw sugar - it's hardly a mouthful, is it???). He can be pretty friendly at times but he seems to have such a quick fuse and can be pretty explosive so I’m definitely goingto keep my distance. It seems every company is trying to poach bikers at the moment - one thing's for sure, I don’t think ill ever lack for work in this city should I ever return. A new guy started with us today, Thaine. He's a bit older and is a bike mechanic as well. He's a very friendly guy, can certainly ride at a decent clip and has no qualms about bouncing kerbs, riding the wrongway down one way streets and committing other little misdemeanours of the job. Every time i've had a trainee i've been slowed down a bit but I get paid extra for doing it and it all works out in the end. It certainly wasn't too hectic today so the day was serene enough. Thaine may have a bit of a history though - he's staying in a downtown hostel and may have flitted from job to job for some time. But, this job's all about meeting interesting people so I look forward to what I may find from this particular gentleman. One thingthat absolutely infuriated me today though was the crap quality of the stuff that THaine was given to dohis job wit - his courier bag was broken and not even of the meagre and inadequate size that mine is (it was Rick's old bag and he'd never used it once), the uniform was comically too small (an honest mistake but there are no replacements and ALL of our uniforms are looking very battered and threadbare) and his radio works half the time and the clip is busted. This job is hard enough to do without shoddy equipment. In any event, my army of bikers seems to ebb and flow - of the six riders we now have four of them have been trained by me (Jason, Flowers, Thaine and myself if you accept the fact that i was never trained), three of my apprentices haven't stuck around (Dimitri was just unsuited to the business, Crystal never couldnt stand our old dispatcher Chris and was always planning to stay a short time anyway) and Thomas has succumbed to a skating injury although he hopes to come back at some stage). Stu started a few months before me and Owen returned to the industry after a long absence - i'm hoping that when i leave this place my bad habits will remain in the lessons i have given my trainees. Such a legacy would be a great thing indeed.