3/21/08

Holidays on the road are different, obviously, from holidays at home. It doesn't take a real Einstein to figure that one out. Once I got out here and realized what it's like though, I can't honestly say that I mind. At home, it's a shallow routine. Family, church, food, TV, whatever... Out here there's a lot more time for introspection and reflection on what the day really means. Is Good Friday an excuse for a fish fry or is it a chance to see how pathetic our own sacrifices really are in this lifetime? I don't know man.

So I crossed Louisiana and headed down into Texas this morning and afternoon. I took a few short breaks along the way, trying not to hit Houston right at rush hour. That actually worked out pretty well for me, in terms of avoiding delays. I think I had a broken truck the last time I made this drive, so obviously today was a lot better. I was planning to run out my full ten hours today, but after I stopped in Ganado for dinner I wasn't in the mood to drive anymore tonight.

I'll have around 225 miles from here tomorrow morning, then get on the board and hope to get out of Laredo before midnight in order to tack more miles onto this paycheck. I'm sitting a little over a thousand bucks for the week right now. Anything I get tomorrow will be gravy as far as I'm concerned.

Speaking of paychecks, the UPS money is now missing from check #8. I exchanged a couple of e-mails with my fleet manager, who is apparently handling it. I was reminded that the UPS pay is not subject to the two hour minimum (forgot about that), so I guess it will only be $17.50, but it's my $17.50 damnit. And my layover pay for the Kentucky to Texas run was a no-show. Apparently that's being entered today. I'm withholding judgment here, rather than make a bunch of generalizations, because I've honestly never had pay issues at this company before. Maybe it's just a case of a couple things being overlooked and the timing is merely a coincidence, but I'm not sure I like the trend that seems to be emerging. Do the work --> collect the pay. Isn't that the usual routine?

Anyway, time for bed now.