2/21/08

Just for the record: I've been proud of my country for my entire adult life and I probably would have hooked up with that lobbyist chick. It feels good to get that off my chest.

For about the first minute after I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I was. I had no idea where I was going. I had no idea when I had to get there. That seems to happen about once a month and it's not all that fun. Even after I looked outside, it took a few seconds for things to register.

So I headed inside the terminal to make a copy of my bill of lading, then decided to knock out my safety training while I was there. In order to get the safety bonus, we're required to complete safety training or attend a safety meeting at least once within the prior year. The bonus quarter ends with February, so I needed to get mine done before next week. That was a 100% retarded waste of an hour, but hey, now I know that I need to watch my trailer as I make a turn. So I've got that going for me.. which is nice.

The drive was a dreary and weary affair through Arkansas and eastern Texas, but it only took around seven hours. Lots of rain and a few slow patches, but not too bad overall. I found nobody in the guard shack at the customer, along with a locked gate. So I backed into the street and headed out to find a parking place. I wasn't in the mood to drive down to Lancaster, so I figured I would just park somewhere until morning and then check in. I saw that the employee entrance to my customer had an open gate and I was pretty sure I could squeeze through. So I did. I parked inside their lot and started to catch up my log book.

Then a security guard came out of the building and showed me where I could check in tonight. They had an empty, I did my drop/hook, and I got on the board tonight instead of tomorrow. #1, according to the website. Beauty. I've parked for the night at a neighboring warehouse that is still under construction. My last few pickups around here have been in the northern suburbs, so I'm not going to bother going to Lancaster tonight. I'll hang out here and see what the morning brings.

I just took a look at the paycheck that will hit the bank tomorrow morning. It has almost everything I expected, plus eighty bucks in detention pay for a load I pulled at the beginning of November. Sweet. They still owe me thirty-five bucks from that damn UPS load, but my fleet manager told me a few days ago that he was re-submitting that one. Maybe next week. Between the miles, northeast miles, detention, layover, and reimbursements, it's not a bad check at all. So far this week, I'm sitting at 1,634 miles plus some northeast pay and an extra stop. I could use a good weekend to make it a decent week, but it sounds like people have been getting short weekend runs lately. I'm going into tomorrow with pretty low expectations.