Robbing Peter to pay Paul

"Robbing Peter to pay Paul" is generally referring to taking money from one bill to pay another.

My "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" has to do with my job and my health. The harder my job (loading trucks, not the driving part) the more my heart rate rises and therefor the stronger my heart becomes and that in turns lowers my blood pressure, but the harder I work the more damage I do to my knees.

For years I have used a hook to just drag the stacks of milk. We stack milk crates five or six high and the stacks can vary greatly in the overall weight. I will use gallons of milk as an example: 4 gallons to the case, 8.5 lbs. per gallon= to approx 35 lbs. when you add in the weight of the case. Now a 5 high stack is about 175 lbs. or 6 high is 210 lbs. While your body is not carrying the 200 lbs., the weight is transferred to your knees.

The average stack is dragged about 50 feet multiplied by the number of stacks in the load (70 stacks in a really small load to over 200 stacks in a large one) and one starts to see that it can be quite a workout. A milkman's knees really take a beating but his heart is better for it.

Dragging the milk is faster than rolling the stacks on a two wheel dolly.

With a hook, you just hook the bottom case (while using the other hand to grab the top case to steady the stack), drag the stack (walking backward) and when you get it where you want it just sling it in place.

With the dolly, you have to pull the stack forward enough to tilt it backward so the dolly will go under it, then you have to turn the stack and dolly around and push it where it needs to be (you could walk backwards with it but you have to turn around when you get to the destination anyway), when the stack is where you want it you have to lean the stack forward to pull the dolly out, now you have to push the stack forward into its place tight against the rest of the stacks.

Walking with the stack on a dolly or dragging the stack takes about the same time as "walking is walking", but the extra steps with the dolly adds up. The real difference is the amount of energy between the two. One uses less energy but takes longer.

My knees are not what they used to be so I have been using a dolly for several months ( I am paid by the run so time is not a factor to the dairy). While helping my knees, my heart is not getting the workout several times a week that it needs.

My blood pressure has always been about 117/ 70 . By not exercising my heart my blood pressure is all the way to 147/83 on the high side and 142/76 on other days.

I think a trip to the doctor is close at hand.