Full Time Weir Driver

At last I finally cracked my supervisor Verllyn and my dispatcher Donna to make me a full time driver for Weir in Red Bud. I drive what we call the M-1 or Michael 1 route. I drive Tuesday through Friday, I don't drive Monday because I have a Juvenile Delinquency class at SWIC. When I do my route I go down to Southern Missouri down by SEMO and Lambert's Cafe. I deliver parts to shops in Sikeston, Cape Girardeau, Scott City, Perryville, Advance, Jackson, and Marble Hill Missouri. I also deliver to shops in Ruma and Chester Illinois on my way to Missouri.
Driving at Weir consists of waiting for all of your invoices to print out, checking them off the invoices, and loading the parts into the truck. Lately I've been using the new box vans we just bought from Budget. After you deliver all the parts when you get back you have to fill out return slips if you have returns, paper work for the invoices, and deal with the customers who paid by check or cash, which you have to deposit into a safe box. Out of all the jobs Weir offers, and I've done almost all of them so far, I would say driving is the bread and butter job because it is so easy. No supervisors, no one telling you what to do, and you basically work at your own pace. If you don't make a stop one day you do it the next.

Upgrades to the Jeep

So I promised I would keep you updated on my recent activities that I’ve done to my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have fixed my headlights, bought new headlight assemblies, got new Xenon 9004 blue headlight bulbs, Xenon blue reverse lights, fixed my four wheel drive graphic display module, which shows you when you are in four wheel drive, got new wipers, and bought a Cobra police scanner, put deer whistles on the front bumper, I had my front driveshaft rebuilt and my transmission looked at all it need was the throttle cable adjusted.
To sum it all up I have replaced every single part on my Jeep Grand Cherokee except for the engine which I’ve done work to. So my Jeep is basically a brand new car. I have about 3500 dollars into it so far. I have been looking around lately for a new car but every time I actually stop and think about it I always change my mind about trading it in. Even though there is this bad ass 2006 Chevy Cobalt Coupe SS 5 speed transmission and only has 47,xxx miles on it. It is at Hi Way Motors right now but I don't know for how long. That is like the only car I've really considered trading the Beast in for.

Oakland Raiders 3.0

Last week the Oakland Raiders, "The Silver & Black", showed up to play the Kansas City Chiefs. Coming into the game the Raiders were 4-4 and the Chiefs were like 5-3. The Chiefs are pretty damn good this year, Cassel has definitely improved since last year and their receivers are pretty good also. But, McFadden and Campbell for the Raiders have finally remembered how to play football and showed up to play. They showed us why they were signed by the Oakland Raiders. McFadden had over 100 yards rushing and Campbell looked solid throughout the game. It was 20-20 after regulation so we went into overtime.
After a pretty short overtime possession by the Kansas City Chiefs the Raiders got the ball back and we drove it down the field and kicked the game winning field goal!!! The Raiders won 23-20 after about five minutes in overtime.
So the first time since 2003 Oakland has a winning record during a season and might have a chance to make the playoffs this year. Next week we have a bye week so we have plenty of time to rest up and practice to win against the Pittsburgh Steelers who are like 6-3 now.

The Past Weekend

So this past weekend my girlfriend, a friend, and I went to a few haunted houses over in MO. The first one we went to was the Drip, uhm yeah, a complete waste of time. It was like 10-15 minutes long and wasn't all that scary at all. On the radio they say its like the scariest one around, but the advertisers are deffinately wrong. We were going to go to Fear Factory on Saturday, but since it was only like half an hour away, we decided to go ahead and go. I'm kind of glad we did, but I do feel like kind of bad for how the night turned out. See my girlfriend has some odd fears, well one of them at least; the other is pretty common. Well anyway, two of her worst fears were kind of made into one and she witnessed it all in one night. I don't really want to say what it is because some people might be offended by it. Anyway she was pretty much hyperventilating and was scared out of her mind I basically had to drag her out of it. And plus at the end it sort of happened all over again. I felt really bad about it, because she was pretty upset. But she ended up laughing it off and everything turned out to be okay. She says she will never go back, but I know for a fact she will. We all had a blast, and the Fear Factory in Old Monroe was probably the best we had been to this year. We can't wait to go again next year!

Weir Driving cont.

This week I have started working alot more hours at my job at Weir, and let me tell you, it's starting to really catch up with me. I feel like a man thats been doing this for thirty years. I wake up at about 5 in the morning get to work by 5:30 or 6 and I don't get off until like 7 or 8, or later. load my truck up and head on my first route of the day. Lately I have been going to Missouri alot, which isn't so bad since most of it is city driving anyway. But they did have me going to like Marion and places farther south in Illinois like that. Those were okay but at the same not because they were kind of boring drives, because everything looks the same. I really enjoy the job though, it allows me to not have to do the same old thing everyday. Thats one of the best perks of the job. I don't get to do as much as I used to in my spare time with this job though, which kind of sucks, but the paycheck ends up being worth it. I don't mind putting in all those hours though, it keeps me out of trouble and gives me something to do. When I get off I'm always hanging out with my girlfriend, working on putting something new on my jeep, and sleeping.

Weir Driving!

So last week at Weir they asked me if I wanted to drive a route all the way down by Metropolis so I was like what the heck why not. I drove the long three hour drive down there and finally got back after a whole nine hours after all my stops when done. After that route Weir asked me if I would want to be a full time fill in driver, which means that whenever a driver calls in, which they all do at some point, I take their route for the day. There is always atleast one driver a day who cannot drive so I stay very busy. I also just recently bought a gps which made my driving life a whole lot easier on these routes. If I didn't have a gps I would be lost everyday of my life on these things. I've recently been as far as Jefferson City in Missouri, Metropolis in Illinois, and I'm going to Paducah Kentucky on tomarrow's route. My favorite of all of the routes that I have done would be the S-1 route to Metropolis.

The Oakland Raiders con't...

Alright well the Oakland Raiders are now 1-3 which is a bunch of bull crap because we should of won the last two games we have played in. We lost to the Arizona Cardinals and the Houston Texans both in the seven point range. We had the Cardinals but the bastards beat us by one point and the Texans beat us by a touchdown, they scored in like the last two minutes to take a lead. I think we will still be okay though for the rest of the season as long as our offense starts improving just a little bit. I also think that Bruce Gradkowski should start rest of the season and Jason Campbell should just sit for a while and Darren McFadden is definately improving this year. McFadden will gain well over 1200 yards this season without a doubt. For this Sunday's game i'm predicting that the Raiders will sadly lose by a touchdown but only because the San Diego Chargers are pretty good this year.

Lifted 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee

I own a lifted 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. It is light gray with dark gray trim on the bottom. I bought this jeep from Total Eclipse two years ago when it had 113,xxx miles on it and it now has 160,xxx on it but, I've been replacing almost every part slowly since then. On the interior I had a new headliner put in, I bought two 10" Alpine subwoofers, I put new back hinges on back hatch, It has a new head unit and I recently put in an alarm system. On the outside I Put a 3" suspension lift on it with new shocks, new rotors and brake pads, new 15x8 black American Racing wheels with chrome center caps, new chrome lugnuts, I had 20% tint put on 360 degrees including the eyebrow on the front, I have blacked out my front turn signals and tail lights, put new headlight assemblies in with new headlights, put vent visors and a bugshield on, just recently bought new 31x10.5x15 Hankook Dynapro ATM tires, I have a custom exhaust and the last thing I have done on the outside so far is replace all of the seals on my four wheel drive and front and rear differentials. Under the hood I have bought a K&N air filter and put a new battery in, and flushed out the radiator and put new anti-freeze in. I've also repainted the roof rack on it and had all the dents removed. It also has a Fox sticker on the back window. Altogether I have about two and a half grand put into my jeep for now. I will keep you updated on my modifications when they occur.

The Oakland Raiders

I have liked the Oakland Raiders since I was about six or seven years old. My dad was watching a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders and I just picked the Raiders and I remember telling my dad that's going to be my favorite team for now on and they have been ever since. even though the last like four years haven’t been the best for Oakland I think this year they will at least win eight to nine games, realistically. In my world I would love for them to win all sixteen games, but come on seriously that's asking a bit too much. This year they have started out 0-1, but we play the St. Louis Rams today (who are TERRIBLE!) so I’m thinking the first "W" will come today and that will be our first win this season.

Red Bud Weir

I'm sure most of you know about Red Bud Weir and what it is all about. Red Bud Weir is my current job now after "retiring" from Alco in Red Bud. Weir has dealerships, two warehouses, and an east building for all the extra parts for the ford warehouse. There are a ton of employees on the Pontiac side and only like fifteen on the Ford side. The owner Norm has recently purchased like 20 acres of land out towards Waterloo and is thinking about combining all of the parts buildings into one huge warehouse. Weir has been around for over 80 years and is still thriving today. They own about 100 give or take a few trucks and almost all of them have over 500,000 miles on them. Just the other day I drove a truck with 600,000 miles on it and we have a truck that has 849,xxx miles on it. Weir is half and half on male and female employess. Well that's about it when it comes to Weir.

Mizzou Vs Illini

     M-I-Z...Z-O-U is all I heard on Saturday when me and my friend went to the Edward Jones Dome for the Mizzou and Illini game. For starters i woke up late and had to race to the Swansea Metro Link Station, just to make it to the train. When we finally got on the train we both had realized we weren't sure which stop it was to get off at. Luckily I knew someone else that was going to the game who just so happened to be on the train, he told us it was the Conventional Center. To make matters even worse, my friend is a freaking Mizzou fan.
     Once we finally made it to the game, there was only three minutes left in the first quarter with Illini winning 3-0. We saw about three fights, people being escorted out, and a guy threw his cup of ice on me; which didn't end pretty. By half time the score was 10-3 Illini. One of the two letdowns of the whole day was I got stuck on the Mizzou side, and was the only Illini fan on the left side of the stadium. The other letdown was that Illini fell to Mizzou in the fourth quarter 23-13.

About Me...Xavior James

     My name is Xavior Barkley, I'm 18 years old and live in Prairie du Rocher. I have my ears pierced only because it made my dad mad. I have a tattoo on my right shoulder of my initials. I graduated from Red Bud High School. I drive a lifted 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee which I love to work on. I like to listen to rap/country/rock whatever as long as it is good. I'm currently attending SWIC to get my basics out of the way and I plan to transfer to SIUE to major in Criminal Justice. I currently work at Alco in Red Bud, but I just got a new job at Red Bud Weir which I start on Wednesday. I love sports, football, basketball, and baseball. My favorite teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, the Oakland Raiders, and the Denver Nuggets (until Carmelo Anthony gets traded).
    I still live at home for now even though I'm never even there. I'm currently in two classes this semester at SWIC. I'm taking this English class and also a juvenile delinquency class. I have a humongous collection of fitted hats and shoes. I'm pretty outgoing and very easy to get along with and I love to kid around. I'm looking forward to the rest of this semester of English.