10/7/07

I learned a valuable lesson today. But first, the background for the lesson...

1. The truck stop where I spent the night had a belt for me. It's a little on the hillbilly side for my taste, but it holds my pants up.
2. The weather was beautiful all day.
3. I got to the shipper seven hours early and my load was ready
4. The drop lot had plenty of room to set up and drop my empty without much effort.
5. Despite sending my loaded call early, I was still dispatched for the original relay time, allowing for a nap and a nice relaxing ride down to Knoxville
6. The load was only 12,000 pounds, making me King of the mountains.
7. My 'Skins put a beating on the Lions.
8. There was no line at the fuel desk of the Pilot in Waynesville, and the restroom didn't smell like rotten ass. Nice change of pace there.
9. The Billy Big Rig that sped past me in the 'no trucks' lane heading out of North Carolina got pulled over. I smiled and waved as I drove by, but it was dark so he probably didn't see me.
10. I was going a bit faster than I should have been as I approached the construction in Knoxville. The cop sitting with his lights off gave me the "slow down jackass" flash of his lights, but didn't pull me over. Thanks man.
11. The whore who just approached my truck skipped the "need any company" line and showed me her tits instead. It wasn't a pretty sight, but I always appreciate a good laugh.
12. The weather is cool enough and no trucks are idling near me, so I'll hopefully get a quiet night of rest.

The lesson in all of this? The world is a better place after a Notre Dame victory. I owe a big thanks to the guys who showed me how to work around the ESPN360 restrictions and get the game on my laptop. It was well worth the effort.

That's not to say it was a perfect day, by any means. The cord to my cooler quit working and they didn't have a replacement at the Pilot, so I need to work on that one. I'm also having trouble deciding who is more of a genius - my company for setting up a relay at a crowded truck stop with 90% Idleaire parking or the outbound driver who is parked nose-in. Pretty tough to drop a trailer from that spot. There are plenty of spaces down here by me where he could have backed in.

I sent a message as soon as I got rolling, asking the folks in Joplin to let the other driver know I would be a few hours early. I didn't want to wake him up at 1am if he was planning to get up at 4am, but I wanted him to know I would be here. That way, if he preferred to get rolling early, he could be ready. I received a reply a little while later - "That driver is 21 miles out right now." Huh? What in the hell does that have to do with anything? Whatever dude, I tried. After I got here and found the (nose-in) truck to whom I'll be giving this load, I sent another message. I told them to wait until 4am, as the other driver is sleeping and parked nose-in, then send a message telling him I'm backed in near the truck wash. Anybody want to give me odds on whether or not that message gets sent? I won't hold my breath.

One week into the month, let's see how the paycheck is looking: 2,951 miles, $50-60 in northeast pay, and $25 in Canada pay so far. Tough to complain about that I suppose. I have a couple of hours until this guy is supposed to take this relay, so I guess I'll start a movie and relax a bit. Cheers.