I got rolling as soon as my ten hour break was up this morning. If I had the choice I would have gotten rolling a little sooner and made it further before the football game, but the feds say "nay nay."
The drive through Oklahoma was a pretty simple one along I-40 to I-44. All of that bad weather that I missed for the last day or two found its way to me today. I got a message from CFI advising that a couple of the state highways in Missouri were closed due to flooding. I wasn't going that direction though, so I was fine. The only real danger were the cars driving with their headlights off. I think everyone knows that it's safer to turn on the headlights in the rain. Until I started driving a truck, I didn't realize just how much difference it makes. The trailers kick out so much spray that a car can be right next to me and, if its lights are off, that car is almost invisible.
At the start of the day today, the plan was to get into Missouri and find a place to connect to an IdleAire service station. Since the Irish were on ESPN, I would be able to plug into the unit and receive the satellite channels. Most weekends I can just park in a suburban area and watch the game. My truck's built-in antenna picks up most broadcast stations as long as I'm within a reasonable distance of a city. Not so for ESPN obviously. I checked the IdleAire website and found that they had no locations on I-44 in Missouri. Okay, so now it looks like another motel is in the future. Rolling through the Texas panhandle, there were tons of motels in the $20-30 range with truck parking. I wasn't staying in Texas. Rolling through Oklahoma, there were tons of motels in the $30-35 range with truck parking. I wasn't staying in Oklahoma. In Missouri I started looking for a billboard that had what I was looking for. And kept looking. And kept looking. Finally I saw a sign for a motel and truck stop at exit 61. Beauty.
"As long as you have ESPN, I'll take a room," said I.
"That's one of the channels we don't have," said he.
"What the hell? I was just making small talk. Who in the hell doesn't have ESPN?" asked I.
"ESPN is in a dispute with the motel industry," lied he.
"Screw it, I'll take a room and figure something out," said I.
"Okay, cash or credit?" asked he.
"American Express," said I.
"We take Visa or MasterCard," replied he.
"Seriously man, this is a motel. You don't have ESPN and you don't take American Express?" queried I.
"I guess," muttered he.
"Nevermind," said I as I walked back out to the truck.
So... I rolled down the road a ways and saw a sign for a couple of motels in Springfield. They didn't mention truck parking but game time was approaching. I had to take a shot. Neither one had enough room to park a truck, so I had to find a place to turn around and head back to the freeway. As I looked for a parking lot or a marked route that I could use, I saw a little Hindu place next to an abandoned restaurant. I parked the truck, walked inside, and got a room for $40 including taxes. Not great but not too bad either. The place is a little on the 'weathered' side, but fairly well-appointed. Unlike my EconoLodge room in El Paso, this one has enough electrical outlets to charge my gadgets, a dining table, and a sofa. Anyhow, I found a place to stay and watch some football.
When I went out to the truck to grab my things, my computer had some kind of error screen showing. I grabbed everything and headed inside. The computer issue was a lot more intense than I thought it would be. The computer wouldn't even start up, so finding the problem and attacking it proved to be quite difficult. At least it was a distraction from the bullshit on my TV screen. Three and a half hours later, another loss was in the books for the lads and my computer was still broken. By virtue of the fact that you're reading this, you can see that I eventually got the computer working. That's more than Mr. Weis can say about his offense, although Jimmy Clausen has me 100% convinced that he's the real deal.
Since I cut my day a little short today, I'll have to knock out a full 11 hours tomorrow. As long as I get rolling fairly early, I shouldn't have too much trouble finding a place to park. I'm going to have to do some maneuvering to get out of the parking lot here, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
9/7/07
The weather in New Mexico was cool enough to sleep with the truck off last night, so I managed to get a few hours of good sleep. Usually there are people around with their trucks idling at mach 5, but last night the truck stop in Alamorosa was quiet.
As I got rolling south, I had to pull into a weigh station on US-54. It was a little temporary setup, courtesy of the New Mexico DOT. They were rolling trucks across a portable scale and picking about every fourth one for a full-scale inspection. I just got the scale, thankfully. I don't imagine I would have had any major issues with an inspection, but you never know. On top of that I didn't allow myself a ton of extra time before my ETA in El Paso. Knowing that I would be going on the board once I was empty, I wanted to let my 14 hour clock run as late as possible. That way, if the consignee made me wait until the 11am appointment time, I wouldn't be burning hours as a result of arriving early. Anyhow, yeah, not much extra time so it was a good thing I didn't get inspected.
When I got to the customer in El Paso, they told me to park off to the side and wait for an open dock. At least that's what I was able to gather. My Spanish esta no bueno and the guy was speaking muy rapido. Between the little bit that I understood and the hand signals that we exchanged, I think I got the picture. When my turn came to back in, I found that it was a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated. The docks faced the street and, of course, there were cars on both sides. By cutting the trailer sharply in and then pulling into the driveway across the street, I was able to turn a difficult driver's side back into an easy blind side back. Sometimes I guess you have to think outside the box.
They unloaded me in a reasonable amount of time while I talked baseball with the guy next to me. He's a Cardinals fan from Albuquerque, so his recollection of the World Series is a little more favorable than mine. (On a related note, the Tigers officially ended my strike tonight.) The forklift guy was pulling the pallets off of my truck and putting them right onto a freight forwarder headed for Mexico. Call me stupid if you must, but I always assumed that the Mexicans grew their own beans. The thought of Colorado farmers exporting beans to Mexico would never have crossed my mind.
I headed back over to the yard and prepared to drop my trailer. Considering that I hauled 45,000 pounds of pinto beans, the trailer was a lot cleaner than I expected. It only took a minute to sweep. When I got back in the truck to pull out from under the trailer, I saw that I had a message. Already assigned to a load. Nice. I was to grab a trailer on the yard and head up to Groveport, Ohio for Monday morning. Can't complain there. 1,689 miles for the weekend to give my paycheck a much-needed kick in the ass and I get out of the desert. Plus it's only 13,000 pounds to boot. Damn, I must be living right.
When I ran the route through truckmiles.com I saw that they listed the practical mileage as 1,725. That route was all interstate but it looked like it went quite a bit out of the way. Since the load is light, I decided to check the shortest mileage - 1,599. That route didn't look too bad, so that's what I went with. I headed back up (my favorite road) US-54 to Tularosa, across to Roswell, and angled up through Amarillo. I'll run east into Oklahoma, then cut a pretty straight path northeast through Missouri and Illinois before heading back east toward my final destination.
Today's drive was a nice change of pace from the fully weighted ones I've been getting recently. I think my truck appreciates the break as well, seeing as it got around 7.5mpg for the day. There was ominous weather on the horizon all day, but apparently it was moving away from me. I caught a brief shower in the mountains east of Tularosa, but otherwise it was just windy and dry. The guard at the immigration checkpoint on 54 grilled me a little for some reason, but there were no real issues today.
I have to try one thing before I hit the sack for the night. In last night's post I concluded by writing, "Something to the midwest with enough miles to keep my weekend occupied would be nice." That's exactly what I got today. So...
A phone call from Julia Roberts, asking if she can tag along with me and learn about life on the road for a few weeks, would be nice.
As I got rolling south, I had to pull into a weigh station on US-54. It was a little temporary setup, courtesy of the New Mexico DOT. They were rolling trucks across a portable scale and picking about every fourth one for a full-scale inspection. I just got the scale, thankfully. I don't imagine I would have had any major issues with an inspection, but you never know. On top of that I didn't allow myself a ton of extra time before my ETA in El Paso. Knowing that I would be going on the board once I was empty, I wanted to let my 14 hour clock run as late as possible. That way, if the consignee made me wait until the 11am appointment time, I wouldn't be burning hours as a result of arriving early. Anyhow, yeah, not much extra time so it was a good thing I didn't get inspected.
When I got to the customer in El Paso, they told me to park off to the side and wait for an open dock. At least that's what I was able to gather. My Spanish esta no bueno and the guy was speaking muy rapido. Between the little bit that I understood and the hand signals that we exchanged, I think I got the picture. When my turn came to back in, I found that it was a bit more of a challenge than I anticipated. The docks faced the street and, of course, there were cars on both sides. By cutting the trailer sharply in and then pulling into the driveway across the street, I was able to turn a difficult driver's side back into an easy blind side back. Sometimes I guess you have to think outside the box.
They unloaded me in a reasonable amount of time while I talked baseball with the guy next to me. He's a Cardinals fan from Albuquerque, so his recollection of the World Series is a little more favorable than mine. (On a related note, the Tigers officially ended my strike tonight.) The forklift guy was pulling the pallets off of my truck and putting them right onto a freight forwarder headed for Mexico. Call me stupid if you must, but I always assumed that the Mexicans grew their own beans. The thought of Colorado farmers exporting beans to Mexico would never have crossed my mind.
I headed back over to the yard and prepared to drop my trailer. Considering that I hauled 45,000 pounds of pinto beans, the trailer was a lot cleaner than I expected. It only took a minute to sweep. When I got back in the truck to pull out from under the trailer, I saw that I had a message. Already assigned to a load. Nice. I was to grab a trailer on the yard and head up to Groveport, Ohio for Monday morning. Can't complain there. 1,689 miles for the weekend to give my paycheck a much-needed kick in the ass and I get out of the desert. Plus it's only 13,000 pounds to boot. Damn, I must be living right.
When I ran the route through truckmiles.com I saw that they listed the practical mileage as 1,725. That route was all interstate but it looked like it went quite a bit out of the way. Since the load is light, I decided to check the shortest mileage - 1,599. That route didn't look too bad, so that's what I went with. I headed back up (my favorite road) US-54 to Tularosa, across to Roswell, and angled up through Amarillo. I'll run east into Oklahoma, then cut a pretty straight path northeast through Missouri and Illinois before heading back east toward my final destination.
Today's drive was a nice change of pace from the fully weighted ones I've been getting recently. I think my truck appreciates the break as well, seeing as it got around 7.5mpg for the day. There was ominous weather on the horizon all day, but apparently it was moving away from me. I caught a brief shower in the mountains east of Tularosa, but otherwise it was just windy and dry. The guard at the immigration checkpoint on 54 grilled me a little for some reason, but there were no real issues today.
I have to try one thing before I hit the sack for the night. In last night's post I concluded by writing, "Something to the midwest with enough miles to keep my weekend occupied would be nice." That's exactly what I got today. So...
A phone call from Julia Roberts, asking if she can tag along with me and learn about life on the road for a few weeks, would be nice.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
9/6/07
Why do I get the feeling I've been here before? Oh, that's because I have. A few days ago. Hmm...
I thought I parked at the customer, a grain distributor, last night. I was mistaken. I parked at Grand Central Station. The trains roared by every couple of hours as I was trying to fall asleep. Then, when it seemed like the train traffic might be dying down, the trucks got going. Apparently grain haulers start early, as in real early. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
The loader knocked on my door this morning about a half hour before my alarm was set to go off, but I was awake anyway. I weighed my empty and the lady asked me how much fuel I had. That seemed like a weird question. I thought maybe the load had a crazy timeline with no time to stop for fuel or something. It turned out that she wanted to know exactly how much weight she could add within the 80,000 pound gross weight limit. I'm hauling pinto beans and they add as many 100 pound bags as they can once they figure out your empty weight. Beautiful, another maxed out load going through the mountains.
Heading south on US-85 I had to pull into the open scales. I had weighed before leaving the customer so I was 90% sure I was fine, but sometimes the DOT scales disagree. This time I had no issues though. I remembered the experience on US-6 and CO-2 on the way up through Denver to Nebraska, so I stayed on I-76 all the way to I-25 this time. The traffic just seems to be disproportionately heavy in Denver for some reason and today was no exception. South of Denver I got a red light on my PrePass and had to roll across another scale. Again, no issues. That's the first red light on my PrePass since... hell, I don't even remember the last red light.
After a fuel stop near Pueblo I was heading south into New Mexico when my truck decided to chime in on the day's events. Going up to Raton Pass I was thinking to myself, "This mountain bullshit really sucks." My truck apparently replied, "Yeah Godfather, I agree." The engine started to overheat, the alarms and lights and shit started going crazy, and the engine was losing power. Luckily I found a spot to pull off the road just before the guardrail began. I sat for about a half hour with the engine idling in order to bring the temperature back under control, then got back on my way.
I have to say something here. The following roads can kiss my ass. I-25, US-84, US-54. Lest they feel left out, the cities of Denver and El Paso can do likewise. There, that's better.
Rolling down through New Mexico tonight, I saw a bunch of animals along the side of the highway. Rabbits, field mice, wild dogs, deer, a kangaroo. What did I just say? Yeah that's right, I saw a freaking kangaroo on the side of the road tonight. I'm pretty sure there are no kangaroos in New Mexico, so obviously I have been spending too much time in the desert. Let's hope I get sent back toward civilization before it gets any worse.
I'll get up in the morning and have a couple of hours to El Paso. The customer is not far from our drop yard, so I guess I'll go there and wait for my next assignment once I'm empty. Something to the midwest with enough miles to keep my weekend occupied would be nice.
I thought I parked at the customer, a grain distributor, last night. I was mistaken. I parked at Grand Central Station. The trains roared by every couple of hours as I was trying to fall asleep. Then, when it seemed like the train traffic might be dying down, the trucks got going. Apparently grain haulers start early, as in real early. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
The loader knocked on my door this morning about a half hour before my alarm was set to go off, but I was awake anyway. I weighed my empty and the lady asked me how much fuel I had. That seemed like a weird question. I thought maybe the load had a crazy timeline with no time to stop for fuel or something. It turned out that she wanted to know exactly how much weight she could add within the 80,000 pound gross weight limit. I'm hauling pinto beans and they add as many 100 pound bags as they can once they figure out your empty weight. Beautiful, another maxed out load going through the mountains.
Heading south on US-85 I had to pull into the open scales. I had weighed before leaving the customer so I was 90% sure I was fine, but sometimes the DOT scales disagree. This time I had no issues though. I remembered the experience on US-6 and CO-2 on the way up through Denver to Nebraska, so I stayed on I-76 all the way to I-25 this time. The traffic just seems to be disproportionately heavy in Denver for some reason and today was no exception. South of Denver I got a red light on my PrePass and had to roll across another scale. Again, no issues. That's the first red light on my PrePass since... hell, I don't even remember the last red light.
After a fuel stop near Pueblo I was heading south into New Mexico when my truck decided to chime in on the day's events. Going up to Raton Pass I was thinking to myself, "This mountain bullshit really sucks." My truck apparently replied, "Yeah Godfather, I agree." The engine started to overheat, the alarms and lights and shit started going crazy, and the engine was losing power. Luckily I found a spot to pull off the road just before the guardrail began. I sat for about a half hour with the engine idling in order to bring the temperature back under control, then got back on my way.
I have to say something here. The following roads can kiss my ass. I-25, US-84, US-54. Lest they feel left out, the cities of Denver and El Paso can do likewise. There, that's better.
Rolling down through New Mexico tonight, I saw a bunch of animals along the side of the highway. Rabbits, field mice, wild dogs, deer, a kangaroo. What did I just say? Yeah that's right, I saw a freaking kangaroo on the side of the road tonight. I'm pretty sure there are no kangaroos in New Mexico, so obviously I have been spending too much time in the desert. Let's hope I get sent back toward civilization before it gets any worse.
I'll get up in the morning and have a couple of hours to El Paso. The customer is not far from our drop yard, so I guess I'll go there and wait for my next assignment once I'm empty. Something to the midwest with enough miles to keep my weekend occupied would be nice.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
9/5/07
Good news when I woke up. The paycheck was better than expected. I think this was my first one to net over $2,000 after taxes. Not too shabby. I got some detention pay for a couple of loads from last month. The funny thing is that, on the load for which I received the most pay, I don't even think I was detained. For the one where I was actually held up for a few hours, I got $10. Whatever. About the only negative thing was my health insurance premium. When I started last year it was a measly $14.50 per check. At the start of this year it went up to $19.50, but still quite cheap. On this check my premium was $28.50. I think it's related to the merger. The ConWay drivers like to think they have something wonderful because they pay roughly 1% of their wages for health insurance. Yeah, sounds great, except I paid less than 1%. Freaking ConWay bastards. I guess it's still pretty cheap, but when you're bulletproof like I am you like to pay as little as possible.
When I headed over to the customer this morning, I pulled into the driveway with the sign that said 'receiving.' As I sat there (6:30am locally) and sent in my forms, a guy came up and told me to go to the back of the building where I would find more docks. Okay, no sweat. My appointment was for 7am and they had me out by 7:10. Not too shabby. I headed back over to the truck stop where I spent the night and checked my board status. #1. Groovy.
After some breakfast at Mickey D's, I laid down to see if I would fall back asleep. Nope. Not a chance. So I got back onto the message boards for a while. The song and dance doesn't get any better, but it beats the hell out of radio about dog fighting/gay bathroom sex/troop withdrawals. After a couple of hours, I started to feel sluggish so I laid back down. There's the beep.
My next assignment picks up in Sterling, Colorado and goes to Lafayette, Indiana. That's not a bad run, but the load picks up tomorrow afternoon and Sterling is only 43 miles from Sidney. I headed down to Sidney and set up shop at a little truck stop here. It's across the street from the Best Western, so at least I have high-speed internet access.
Well shit, I guess this pay period isn't going to get off to the kind of start I had hoped for. I'm sitting at 922 miles right now, with another 992 coming on this next run. The plan summary says it delivers on 9/11, but that had better be bullshit. There is no delivery time listed, so I have to assume that the appointment will be set once I'm loaded. I can deliver either late on the 7th or first thing in the morning on the 8th. If I actually have to eat five days for a 992 mile run, I will be something other than a happy camper, to say the least. Feast and famine, feast and famine. For the second half of August, they ran me so hard I could barely keep up. For the first half of September, it looks like I'd better stock up on Ramen noodles. As long as I get rid of this one by the 8th, I'll have a chance to make up some ground before I take my time off. Here's hoping for the best.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: After sitting for a while in Sterling, apparently someone in Joplin came to his senses. I was taken off the load to Indiana and assigned to another one picking up tomorrow morning in Lucerne, a little ways north of Denver. I had time to get down here before my 14 hour clock ran out, which is always nice. Where do I get to go from here? Oh, El Paso of course. Another trek through the wasteland that is New Mexico. On a positive note though, this one will deliver on the 7th and it's only about a hundred miles less once you factor in the extra deadhead. That still won't leave me in great shape for the first week, but taking the holiday into account things could be worse.
When I headed over to the customer this morning, I pulled into the driveway with the sign that said 'receiving.' As I sat there (6:30am locally) and sent in my forms, a guy came up and told me to go to the back of the building where I would find more docks. Okay, no sweat. My appointment was for 7am and they had me out by 7:10. Not too shabby. I headed back over to the truck stop where I spent the night and checked my board status. #1. Groovy.
After some breakfast at Mickey D's, I laid down to see if I would fall back asleep. Nope. Not a chance. So I got back onto the message boards for a while. The song and dance doesn't get any better, but it beats the hell out of radio about dog fighting/gay bathroom sex/troop withdrawals. After a couple of hours, I started to feel sluggish so I laid back down. There's the beep.
My next assignment picks up in Sterling, Colorado and goes to Lafayette, Indiana. That's not a bad run, but the load picks up tomorrow afternoon and Sterling is only 43 miles from Sidney. I headed down to Sidney and set up shop at a little truck stop here. It's across the street from the Best Western, so at least I have high-speed internet access.
Well shit, I guess this pay period isn't going to get off to the kind of start I had hoped for. I'm sitting at 922 miles right now, with another 992 coming on this next run. The plan summary says it delivers on 9/11, but that had better be bullshit. There is no delivery time listed, so I have to assume that the appointment will be set once I'm loaded. I can deliver either late on the 7th or first thing in the morning on the 8th. If I actually have to eat five days for a 992 mile run, I will be something other than a happy camper, to say the least. Feast and famine, feast and famine. For the second half of August, they ran me so hard I could barely keep up. For the first half of September, it looks like I'd better stock up on Ramen noodles. As long as I get rid of this one by the 8th, I'll have a chance to make up some ground before I take my time off. Here's hoping for the best.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: After sitting for a while in Sterling, apparently someone in Joplin came to his senses. I was taken off the load to Indiana and assigned to another one picking up tomorrow morning in Lucerne, a little ways north of Denver. I had time to get down here before my 14 hour clock ran out, which is always nice. Where do I get to go from here? Oh, El Paso of course. Another trek through the wasteland that is New Mexico. On a positive note though, this one will deliver on the 7th and it's only about a hundred miles less once you factor in the extra deadhead. That still won't leave me in great shape for the first week, but taking the holiday into account things could be worse.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
9/4/07
tedium - n - dullness owing to length or slowness
If I ever become a celebrity truck driver and I have Drew Rosenhaus negotiating my next contract, the first stipulation will be that I don't run mountains with over 20,000 pounds of cargo. I lack the requisite patience to slog up a hill at 30mph in a 75mph zone.
Today's route took me up I-25 into Denver and over on 76 to the east. In Denver the traffic slowed to a crawl, so I thought I had a bright idea. I would cut the corner on state route 2, up US 6 to I-76, and get around the logjam. As with most of my bright ideas, this one sucked. There were red lights at almost every block and an inordinate amount of traffic for early afternoon. Oh well, such is life. Once I got out of there and caught 76 east, things shook out and it was a pretty mellow ride.
I made it to Sidney this afternoon and settled in at the Sapp Brothers truck stop. There aren't a ton of parking spots here, so I made sure to avoid the temptation to take a break along the way. Since I operate on Eastern time and out here it's Mountain time, I beat most of the other drivers off the road. Things are starting to fill up now, so if I had taken a break or two I may have run into some parking issues.
There are many things that I dislike about the west/southwest/any other generally unsettled area of the country. Among them is the sketchy or nonexistent wireless service. Wherever I am able to get internet access through my broadband card, I rarely find broadband speed. Most of the Sapp Brothers locations provide free wi-fi access so I have spent most of this evening catching up on things that I intended to do yesterday.
Once my business was handled I logged onto NBC.com and watched the replay of Saturday's game. With the high speed connection and plenty of time to kill, I may as well use the internet for all it's worth. Without commercial interruptions and with the time between plays condensed, you can go through a whole game in about a half hour. It's a pretty cool feature. In any case, as I watched the game Saturday the results left me thoroughly pissed off. It was hard to form any objective opinions when all that stood out were the blunders and the scoreboard. In light of today's announcement that Jimmy Clausen will start against Penn State, combined with my more objective review of the game, I think the lads will be fine this season, maybe losing two more games. I'm usually wrong though, so you might want to call your local bookie and bet the house on Penn State.
I'll make my drop early tomorrow morning right around the corner from here and then get on the board. After a holiday weekend of sitting around and blowing money, I need to keep the wheels rolling for a couple of weeks. I'm planning to highlight for home on the 14th, getting there sometime around the 19th or so. Between now and then I'd like to rack up one more solid paycheck. The paycheck that usually deposits on the 4th is a day behind on account of Labor Day, so it will hit my account after midnight tonight. That last August pay period was a good one, so I'll be able to bank a few bucks for my excursion to South Bend on the 22nd. As long as I can make some decent money between now and my trip home, the week I'll be spending at home shouldn't be too much of a problem.
If I ever become a celebrity truck driver and I have Drew Rosenhaus negotiating my next contract, the first stipulation will be that I don't run mountains with over 20,000 pounds of cargo. I lack the requisite patience to slog up a hill at 30mph in a 75mph zone.
Today's route took me up I-25 into Denver and over on 76 to the east. In Denver the traffic slowed to a crawl, so I thought I had a bright idea. I would cut the corner on state route 2, up US 6 to I-76, and get around the logjam. As with most of my bright ideas, this one sucked. There were red lights at almost every block and an inordinate amount of traffic for early afternoon. Oh well, such is life. Once I got out of there and caught 76 east, things shook out and it was a pretty mellow ride.
I made it to Sidney this afternoon and settled in at the Sapp Brothers truck stop. There aren't a ton of parking spots here, so I made sure to avoid the temptation to take a break along the way. Since I operate on Eastern time and out here it's Mountain time, I beat most of the other drivers off the road. Things are starting to fill up now, so if I had taken a break or two I may have run into some parking issues.
There are many things that I dislike about the west/southwest/any other generally unsettled area of the country. Among them is the sketchy or nonexistent wireless service. Wherever I am able to get internet access through my broadband card, I rarely find broadband speed. Most of the Sapp Brothers locations provide free wi-fi access so I have spent most of this evening catching up on things that I intended to do yesterday.
Once my business was handled I logged onto NBC.com and watched the replay of Saturday's game. With the high speed connection and plenty of time to kill, I may as well use the internet for all it's worth. Without commercial interruptions and with the time between plays condensed, you can go through a whole game in about a half hour. It's a pretty cool feature. In any case, as I watched the game Saturday the results left me thoroughly pissed off. It was hard to form any objective opinions when all that stood out were the blunders and the scoreboard. In light of today's announcement that Jimmy Clausen will start against Penn State, combined with my more objective review of the game, I think the lads will be fine this season, maybe losing two more games. I'm usually wrong though, so you might want to call your local bookie and bet the house on Penn State.
I'll make my drop early tomorrow morning right around the corner from here and then get on the board. After a holiday weekend of sitting around and blowing money, I need to keep the wheels rolling for a couple of weeks. I'm planning to highlight for home on the 14th, getting there sometime around the 19th or so. Between now and then I'd like to rack up one more solid paycheck. The paycheck that usually deposits on the 4th is a day behind on account of Labor Day, so it will hit my account after midnight tonight. That last August pay period was a good one, so I'll be able to bank a few bucks for my excursion to South Bend on the 22nd. As long as I can make some decent money between now and my trip home, the week I'll be spending at home shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Monday, September 3, 2007
9/3/07
Ah, to be awoken by the beep. It's truly an experience that everyone should have the pleasure of enjoying. I got my assignment earlier than expected today, which I think is a good thing. I was to head over to the yard and pick up a trailer headed for Sidney, Nebraska. Yeah, the trailer had been sitting there all weekend, but why bother giving me the chance to get a head start yesterday right? Don't even get me started on night/weekend dispatch.
So I got over to the yard and hooked to the beast. Ugh, 45,800 pounds. That's about as heavy as it gets for a 5-axle truck without any special permits. Factor in the elevation changes on my route and this drive is not a whole lot of fun. Labor Day is aptly named because my poor Kenworth has been laboring hard on this trip.
After the last couple of days were spent lounging around, I found myself feeling much like I do after time at home. I got about 200 miles into my trip and it was time for a nap. After the last two days were spent chowing down on restaurant food, I found myself feeling terribly hungry by the time I woke up. I stopped into a little truck stop and grabbed some grub, while managing to resist the temptation of the local casino. As bad as my luck has been for the last 31 years, I have to think I'm about due for a big payoff. But today was not the day. I had work to do, so it was back to the highway.
The last few times I've gone through New Mexico, I've had to wonder if there were any redeeming qualities about this state. The weather is atrocious, the terrain is a pain in the ass, and there are hundreds of miles of absolute nothingness. However, my trip to that little truck stop reminded me of the one thing that is excellent about New Mexico. Art's Sunflower Seeds are freaking awesome. As anyone else who grew up playing baseball, I enjoy grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and working on them for a while. The only thing is that the damn salt tears my cheeks and gums apart. These things are lightly salted and full of flavor. I grab a handful of bags every time I stop in New Mexico because I've never seen them anywhere else. The cashiers look at me like I'm nuts, but these seeds are honestly the only good thing about this wasteland of a state.
So I got into northern New Mexico and shut it down for the night. I'll have around nine hours or so to run in the morning, then drop off early Wednesday. There's a little truck stop in Sidney, so I'm hoping to find a parking spot tomorrow afternoon when I get there. The instructions for this load mentioned not delivering early at least four times, so I don't think they want me to deliver early.
So I got over to the yard and hooked to the beast. Ugh, 45,800 pounds. That's about as heavy as it gets for a 5-axle truck without any special permits. Factor in the elevation changes on my route and this drive is not a whole lot of fun. Labor Day is aptly named because my poor Kenworth has been laboring hard on this trip.
After the last couple of days were spent lounging around, I found myself feeling much like I do after time at home. I got about 200 miles into my trip and it was time for a nap. After the last two days were spent chowing down on restaurant food, I found myself feeling terribly hungry by the time I woke up. I stopped into a little truck stop and grabbed some grub, while managing to resist the temptation of the local casino. As bad as my luck has been for the last 31 years, I have to think I'm about due for a big payoff. But today was not the day. I had work to do, so it was back to the highway.
The last few times I've gone through New Mexico, I've had to wonder if there were any redeeming qualities about this state. The weather is atrocious, the terrain is a pain in the ass, and there are hundreds of miles of absolute nothingness. However, my trip to that little truck stop reminded me of the one thing that is excellent about New Mexico. Art's Sunflower Seeds are freaking awesome. As anyone else who grew up playing baseball, I enjoy grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and working on them for a while. The only thing is that the damn salt tears my cheeks and gums apart. These things are lightly salted and full of flavor. I grab a handful of bags every time I stop in New Mexico because I've never seen them anywhere else. The cashiers look at me like I'm nuts, but these seeds are honestly the only good thing about this wasteland of a state.
So I got into northern New Mexico and shut it down for the night. I'll have around nine hours or so to run in the morning, then drop off early Wednesday. There's a little truck stop in Sidney, so I'm hoping to find a parking spot tomorrow afternoon when I get there. The instructions for this load mentioned not delivering early at least four times, so I don't think they want me to deliver early.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
9/2/07
Well, what did today have in store? Woke up with a hangover, got on the board, #6, went back to sleep, woke up again, took a shower, still #6, went back to sleep, woke up again, checked out of the motel, still #6, went to Pizza Hut for lunch, parked outside a hotel and used their wi-fi service, still #6, spent the whole day arguing with people on Notre Dame message boards, returned some phone calls that I refused to take last night, still #6, watched a few movies, smoked a few cigars, hey I'm #5 now!
Holiday weekends, gotta love 'em.
And lest anyone think I'm on the "Willingham's recruiting left us in a hole" train, they can kiss my ass. That team has plenty of talent and it's about Goddamn time they started playing like it. But... at least we never lost to a 1-AA team. Michigan fans are unbearable enough as it is. The only way to get them to relax after an embarrassing ND loss is to have them endure an even more embarrassing loss of their own. Thanks Lloyd.
Holiday weekends, gotta love 'em.
And lest anyone think I'm on the "Willingham's recruiting left us in a hole" train, they can kiss my ass. That team has plenty of talent and it's about Goddamn time they started playing like it. But... at least we never lost to a 1-AA team. Michigan fans are unbearable enough as it is. The only way to get them to relax after an embarrassing ND loss is to have them endure an even more embarrassing loss of their own. Thanks Lloyd.
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