2/9/08

I went out for dinner last night. I didn't leave the terminal Thursday night. That night, I bought food from the guys who show up at the yard to peddle their wares. Now, if you usually tune in here for the hard-hitting news topics like crowded fuel stops or senile motorists, you might be wondering why I would bother with such mundane trivia as my dining habits. Well, the thing is - If I had gone out Thursday night, I would have learned of my most recent shitty luck a day sooner.

I don't know what those degenerates did to my truck, but it's way more fucked up than it was when I took it to the shop Wednesday morning. On my way here, I had trouble breaking 55mph with a 31,000 pound load against a strong headwind. Last night, it stalled whenever I reached 30mph, with no trailer at all. So I had to call CTL last night and tell 'em the truck ain't making it to Joplin. And I got to go back to the Kenworth dealer this morning. Nice.

I got there right when they opened. Then, shortly before they closed for the day, they told me I might as well get another room for the weekend. The truck ain't getting fixed until Monday. The CTL road service guys were testy about the fact that my truck is still broken, the Kenworth guys were testy about the fact that the CTL guys are testy, and I'm just basically pissed at the whole lot of them. If I had never been told to go to that shop, they wouldn't have broken whatever they broke. I should have been bobtailed to Joplin as soon as I got here, but we've already covered that.

When I talked to road service, they mentioned that they are supposed to assign me to an open truck after three days off the road. Well, fuckin' A man, let's do it. Get me the hell out of here. I was transferred to some dude who checked the Laredo inventory. No empty trucks. Story of my life. So I called the Laredo terminal to have them unassign me from my load and change my status back to 'shop.' Then it was back to the motel. I got the same room I had on Wednesday, so that's pretty exciting I guess.

I went out and watched Charlie Wilson's War after I got here. It was fairly entertaining, but didn't really make any permanent improvements to my mood. I guess it's time to grab a two-four and go old school style. Slainte!