12/26/07

I'm 31 years old. I'm not nearly old enough to have achieved that wisdom or enlightenment or whatever you old guys call it. I did, however, learn a pretty valuable lesson a long time ago. My reaction to various things in life will be almost entirely shaped by my expectations with respect to whatever those things are.

I fully expected to be dispatched to deliver in Great Falls sometime tomorrow morning. After I got unloaded at the first drop, I headed north. A little while later, my dispatch came through - 4pm today. No great shakes there. It was only a 320 mile drive. But, since I had expected tomorrow morning, I thought it was great. Getting empty today would allow me to go on the board and, even if not assigned a load today, get something first thing tomorrow. Excellent.

Ten minutes later I got a new appointment time. Tomorrow morning at 7:30. Bogus. If that had been the original dispatch I wouldn't have been thrilled but it wouldn't have bothered me. It would have met my expectations. Since I was given the expectation of getting empty today, the new dispatch time sucks. By the time I send in my empty call, the planners will already have started assigning freight. Maybe that costs me, maybe not. If I were on the board today though, I would have been sitting there waiting for them when they got to work in the morning. It's all in the expectations. It's one thing to sit here and acknowledge this. It's another to try not to be disappointed. Oh well, just another day I guess.

The drive was pretty easy today. Driving these U.S. Highways with no towns for 50 miles is actually better than driving the interstate as far as I'm concerned. There's hardly any congestion, the speed limits are more than adequate, and it just has a more relaxing feel to it. I got to the Flying J in Great Falls a little while ago. From here, it's about five miles to the place where I deliver in the morning.

I'm still a boy with a dream at this point, but I think by tomorrow I may have to discard my theory about getting great miles during the holidays. The year is quickly approaching its conclusion. Getting empty today, rather than tomorrow, would have made a pretty big difference. It wasn't meant to be. So, depending on what comes over the satellite in the morning, I'll either take a big step forward or just settle into a ho-hum pay period. I'm still hoping though...