Hey and yo driver! Still didn’t get enough of that road today, about to turn back out again, but pulled a pit stop to materialize some thoughts. Also had to crunch some numbers, and that started this little thought train. Counting in the twilight zone. Not to worry, this one isn’t about trying to balance your checkbook while enjoying a nice glass of Cabernet. Although that can be interesting, especially the next day.
This topic was touched on briefly in the post, nighttime tricks for tips. Apartment complexes, man oh man, can they be a pain in the butt! It’s as though they’re made to suit their name. Apartment Complex. Complex, complicated, or a pain in the butt. Once you visit a particular complex a few dozen times, it starts to get a little more familiar. It’s the first ten trips that slow your roll, as you get through the learning curve, and that’s where some solid intel can come in handy.
After careful and exhaustive research (insane number of complex deliveries) I’ve come to the conclusion, there isn’t a set numbering scheme that can apply to every apartment complex design. The reasons for unusual numbering systems, are as varied as the numbering systems are unusual. And, truthfully driver, they’re only complex until you learn them. Still, it would be good to have some ‘best practices’ to use, when you encounter a complex the first time, to save you some time, in the twilight zone.
These ‘best practices’ are from my experience, and are techniques I use everyday. I continue to seek ways to improve.
Find your building. Deceptively simple, in some cases. Having an aerial view of the entire complex will help in locating your building. Many complexes have a map that you can request from the leasing office for free. Get it and use it, after the first dozen trips or so, you’ll have it memorized. Some of these maps also have the apartment numbering key. That makes it possible to determine which side of the building to access, without walking up several flights of stairs carrying cargo, only to discover you need to be on the other side of the building. Get yo cardio driver!
The wrong side of the building cardio! Super good exercise, and free. Eight flights up, eight flights down, move to the other side of the building, and repeat. After doing that ten or twelve times a night, one will get snappy at memorizing some stuff.
Left to right, for the most part. Buildings that count apartments across, usually do so left to right, when facing the front of the building. Even buildings that count from bottom to top in a stack, still number low to high as left to right. Then there are those that count front to rear, up one, then rear to front, up one, while maintaining the left to right ascending order. And then there’s the twilight zone.
As you can see, it can get fairly, complex. And, when you’re spending ten minutes per complex, running up and down the wrong flights of stairs searching, it can become costly. Even with the free cardio.
Pattern searching. Are you beginning to sense a pattern here? I feel it too. It’s not much, but has saved me some time, in the past. Look for the pattern, and memorize it. Do the first set of apartments belong in the group on that floor, or are the first two a part of another group that counts upward? Choose left to start, go up one flight, notice the next group, and there’s a snippet of your pattern, with minimal free cardio. No twilight zone hocus pocus, either.
Sometimes it’s down to the legwork. You just have to do it. And when you’re standing in front of the building, trying to decide left or right, remember you have an absolute fifty percent chance of choosing correctly. Positive vibes driver!
Gated communities, gate codes, coded elevators, vip elevators and hospitals. I’m making a separate post on these. Particularly hospital deliveries and covid protocols, and how to quickly and safely complete your delivery. From my experiences, since the beginning of the new normal. And that wraps this.
