10/3/07

I wasn't sure what to expect as the wee hours of the morning rolled along. As seems to be the case all too often lately, I was driving overnight after being awake all day. I just drove along and figured I would stop whenever I got tired. I was hoping to, at the very least, get through Ohio. That way Auburn would be within reach in one driving shift and I could make my appointment. I was surprised when I got all the way past Knoxville before the eyelids started to get heavy. I had my eye on the rest area at mile marker 45, but it was closed. Rather than cruise along tired and hope to find something else, I pulled off and backed my way onto the side of the ramp leading out of the rest area and went to bed.

I woke up this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised to see that I had broadband internet speed on my Sprint card. It clocked in at over 600kbps, which ain't too shabby. I hung out and watched the latest videos from und.com and then did a few crossword puzzles before my ten hour break was up and I could get rolling again. The drive through the hills and mountains isn't nearly as tedious when you only have a few thousand pounds in the wagon, like I do right now.

I've made the trip down I-75 from Detroit to Atlanta numerous times in my life, but not so many times when I was actually driving. Two or three times a year, we'd pile into Dad's car and go down to visit my Mom's family in Georgia. You know how people play the little games - count the out of state license plates, look for signs starting with each letter of the alphabet, stuff like that? I think my favorite was always counting the number of times Dad threatened to pull over and beat the shit out of us. Good times, good times. Anyway, with me at the wheel, it's a pretty simple trip. Given the schedule that I ran, even the usual rough spots had pretty light traffic so all was well.

I pulled up to the customer a little before midnight local time and turned into their driveway. As I turned in, a Dart driver started to back up. I had my steering wheel in the turned position, so by holding it steady and backing up I went back out to the road from which I came. I backed a little ways down the street to make room for this guy to get out of the driveway, then sat and watched as it became clear what was going on.

The docks are situated in a screwy spot. To get a trailer to them, he had to leave the driveway, turn around, back into the driveway at a slight blindside angle, back over a grassy area, and jack the trailer back around a corner to his left. Always nice to know what I can look forward to. I went inside to let them know I was here and see where they wanted me to park. The fella inside said I could park at the other end of the building and go to sleep until morning or I could wait for the Dart guy to leave and assume the position at the dock. That would mean I was first to get unloaded in the morning. I don't really give a shit about getting unloaded first, as my hours are dwindling quickly, but the thought of doing what he just did while there is other traffic around sounds pretty lousy. I'd rather try it in the middle of the night, so I guess I'm staying awake for a while. My connection here is a hearty 1200kbps, so I guess I'll download some stuff.

I don't know what they have in store for me tomorrow, but for the first time I'm actually hoping I go west. I saw the coverage map for Saturday night's football game and 80% of the country is getting Ohio State and Purdue. Being 0-5 does have its disadvantages. As bad as Notre Dame sucks this year, I find it hard to believe that most of the country would rather see two Big Ten teams. Oh well, what can you do?