COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective

Hi Y'all,

Been reading all your comments and have read some of them to Redcoat. Thanks for all your support. I vote with all you guys in that I think he should get back into the truck and give it another go. I have emailed Covenant to see if they will give me contact information for the five people Rocks had suggested. Either that or pass along my contact information. I told the company that he will be ready to go back to work on the first of the month. I also told them that his learning style did not match his trainer's teaching style at all and that at this point he has very little confidence in his abilities and that he needs to get with somebody new in order to do right by himself and by the company.

The territory we are working right now is not as good as it was in Texas where I was for five months. The people here in Iowa are working their butts off to keep their houses and shelling out $180 for a picture isn't exactly in their budgets so I'm having a tough time too. I think most of these people (like us) are house poor. They have the nice houses but it's taking both husband and wife working to pay for it.

But I work from noon till dark on weekends and 5 hours weekdays and I'm pretty tenacious. Redcoat tends to give up too easily and takes rejection personally. I admit it can be tough. I might go through 20 no's to get to that one yes and it does tend to wear you down after a while. Coastie says you really have to enjoy selling in order to be good at it. I don't really enjoy selling per se -- BUT -- I do believe in my product so that helps. That plus the fact that I'm not pressured by my company to make a sale. I just let the customer have a look and if they want it fine, if not, fine. I probably spend all of 3 minutes at the most to determine if they are interested or not. It's not like I spend an hour demonstrating a product just to have them say no.

But Redcoat has been through 112 pictures with only 2 sales so far. He's going to go out Sunday and finish up his roll which will have him visiting every house at least twice trying to catch someone at home. The whole point (besides making a sale which is good for the cause) is to get *resolution.* You need some kind of decision on the homeowner's part be it a yes (cool $$$) or a no (drat - move on). He needs two more sales to pay for his car rental this week. If he doesn't get them, then we're going to turn it in Monday and I believe he has resigned himself to having to get back into the truck.

I have pointed out that the money he made this week from his truck driving (a little over $500 -- I can't remember the exact figure) saved our butts as we have a $600 insurance bill due in two weeks. PLUS I just can't blow off the benefits.

So I think he's working his way to the idea of maybe being with me and being broke is worse than being away from me and meeting our expenses. He admitted that the $500 paycheck was good but he reminded me that it was 7 days straight of nothing but drive/sleep/drive/sleep. And of course I reminded him that that kind of brutal schedule wouldn't be forever; just until he got done with training and the 6 months of team driving. Once he got certified, he could look for something a bit more 'normal'.

I only hope that Covenant won't pull a fast one and say they thought he quit or something. Hopefully I'll hear something from them next week on a new trainer.

Oh, and Honor Roll mentioned expiditing with a Class B license. Redcoat had definitely given it some consideration and if he can find a company that does that kind of work nationwide I know he'd definitely apply.

Finally, AfterShock mentioned putting down roots somewhere. The thought had occurred to me but that would mean that I'd have to find a new job also that's paying at least what I'm making now. I'm just kind of leary going back to the stationary thing after working so hard at my last job (it was kind of my life and it defined me) and then just getting fired without a second thought for something somebody else did so that all those years were for nothing and then having to sell my house and all my stuff......... That point in my life was pretty traumatic and I really don't care to set myself up like that again.

This is probably way more information than you guys care to hear about and it's probably way off topic too so I won't bore you with any of the gory details.

But I WILL let you know how it all shakes out and what I hear from Covenant (if anything). Hopefully that door hasn't closed and it's not too late.....

 

OK. First off let me tell you all that Redcoat has decided that he's ready to get back into the truck. Well, actually, he's not THAT ready but he kind of has no choice. I haven't heard anything from my email to Covenant so I'm going to have him call them tomorrow to see if he's still even got a job with them.

Now to all your great ideas that you've posted.

mt1trucker --

I don't doubt that it is a lot better in your own truck and I fully plan on hitting the road with Redcoat every once in a while when we get caught up on our bills. Hopefully he'll have a job with an outfit that will allow dogs because we have a pair of Shih Tzu and no way am I leaving my fur-children with anybody for that length of time. Plus I'll have to figure out a safe place to park the RV while we're gone.

Coastie I got your PM and yes, I've done the eBay thang in the past. That was when I actually had a house and STORAGE space as my ex and I were into diecast cars there for a while. Also did the flea market thang. But now that I live the gypsy lifestyle even just a couple boxes of frames take up almost one whole side of storage space under one of my slides. So trying to sell stuff on eBay is out because that implies that you have a place to put the things that you're trying to sell. Good idea though.

AfterShock and Wings2Wheels mentioned husband/wife teaming. I had given that some serious thought but there are two main things that are holding me back. First, Redcoat has this very annoying tendency of directing me where he thinks I should go in tight maneuvering situations. He even does it when we're in my truck and driving around in a parking lot looking for a parking space telling me which space to get. But he gets really bad in the rig and if I don't do exactly as he says he raises his voice which aggravates me to no end and one time it got so bad I banished him to the bed in the back and told him to hush. Prime example... if I miss a turn, sometimes I will drive many blocks looking for a place to turn around that has enough space that I feel comfortable with. And, yes, I probably pass up some places that I could have gotten in and out of but usually it's because I don't see them in time. I have to be able to see a place in enough time to evaluate it and determine if I can maneuver a 40-foot rig through it with an SUV in tow. One time I got jammed up at a TA (of all places) and had to disconnect my truck in order to get backed up and turned around; then go out and reconnect to get back on my way. So after that little fiasco, when I have to do some maneuvering, I like to make durn sure that I can make the turn. Redcoat, meanwhile, is in the right seat berating me on all the missed opportunities (in his mind) to get turned around and I'm sure you get the picture. I can just imagine what it would be like in a semi and that's not something I feel like putting up with. Redcoat is the nicest man but he and I in a big rig together with me driving just wouldn't work.

The second thing is I'm not sure I could pass a physical as my knees are "knackered" as Redcoat puts it. (British for 'worn out') I have a touch of arthritus in my knees and I can't squat down easily. Well, actually I probably can now (been taking joint supplements) but I'd have to have somebody take my hand or get something to grab onto to help pull me back up. So that's a consideration there.

Wings2Wheels, I have not heard the term FRED in many years.
Also thanks for the job offer although they'd probably never let me back into the guard/reserves because of my weight. Not sure 220 would cut it.
***yeah everybody that's what I actually weigh and I don't give a crap who knows it ***
But if you got a straight civilian job, now I might be interested..... maybe. Would have to be pretty lucrative to get me to park the rig.

But, hey, thanks for the well wishes! I had a decent weekend with the pictures. Sold 14 in three days (Thurs., Sat. & Sun.) so that's about $700. Not too bad but so much stuff needs to be paid like NOW that I just can't get caught up fast enough.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know that Redcoat is ready to try again. Will let you know if we hear anything from Covenant as to what his status is.