8/14/07

"Rollin' down the street, smokin' indo, sippin' on gin & juice... Laid back, with my mind on my money and my money on my mind..."
XM 90's on 9 has had a pretty steady supply of songs lately that remind me of when the white boys in the suburbs were all gangstas. It was all so fun back then, before the guys actually started killing each other.

So anyway, first thing this morning, I got the knock to pull into the tractor shop. They replaced the shock and wheel seal and then sent me to the other end for MobileMax repairs. Apparently the issue with the MobileMax was that my unit was constantly sending gibberish over the satellite link and tying up CFI's system. Oh, and they didn't turn my truck down. So much for my conspiracy theory. Concerning the MobileMax, they didn't play any games today. I got a new transceiver dome, a new CPU, and a new software upgrade. So far, so good. All of the issues I've had before seem to be corrected.

I hightailed it from there over to driver services and got on the board. Lucky number... 31. Shit! I was hoping there wouldn't be that many people ahead of me. So, I took my time getting things done over the course of the day. My laundry is all April fresh. The washers and dryers in Joplin are fifty cents each and the company provides detergent, so it's always good to knock out a few loads whenever I pass through. I hauled my fat ass into the gym for a while. There is a pretty nice setup down there and nobody ever uses it. Maybe they should install more mirrors around the terminal. That might encourage some people, but I digress. I got my permit book updated, and they gave me a lovely new binder in place of the old one that I handed in. I got a long hot shower and a nice nap. I visited the wash bay, so my truck is no longer the filthiest on the highway. Overall, it was a productive day in every way except driving.

When my turn came up I was given three choices. I could deadhead to Kansas City and go on the board. I could deliver to Stillwater, Oklahoma for tomorrow morning. Or I could make two drops in the metro Dallas area for tomorrow morning. So, essentially, I had to choose whether to eat dogshit, catshit, or pigshit for dinner. I'm pretty sure none of them will taste good, but I have no idea which one will taste the best of the three. I was on the KC board a few days ago and there was not much freight. No thanks. People have been waiting around for quite a while in the Dallas area lately as well. No thanks. I chose the 180 mile run to Stillwater.

It was a nice mellow ride over, with very little traffic. When I got here tonight, I was told to go ahead and drop at the dock, then come back around to the drop lot and get an empty. "And you're welcome to spend the night out there," said the kind sir. Well thank you my good man. The paycheck, as it currently stands, is at $1,905, so I need 264 miles tomorrow in order to avoid a sub-$2,000 pay period. We shall see.