8/13/08

I got a beep this morning at 8:30am telling me to go get some tires and take them down to Lafayette. There was another run stacked behind it, so the day started right. At 8:34am, I was sitting in the front seat and wiping the crap out of my eyes when an old Armenian dude came up to my window. He started giving me shit about parking on private property and such. I told him that I was just writing down my directions and that I would be gone in a minute. He started on some rant about people parking overnight and how he needed to get the police involved and all that. Dude, a truck sitting on a lot next to a loading dock designed for trucks isn't going to hurt anyone. I think the Russians might need to skip over Ukraine and Estonia on their path to world domination, just to give that guy something better about which to worry. I'm glad I got my assignment and woke up before he showed up. He might have really been pissed if he knew I spent the night.

Down to Monee for a quick drop/hook. 39 miles... two hours. Guess that 'skipping Chicago rush hour' part didn't quite pan out. There was a truck flipped over on the ramp from I-55 to (I think) I-294 northbound, so everything was backed up on I-55. I saw trucks being forced to back down the serpentine ramp as the police stopped traffic in the right lane. Crazy. Then I got on I-294 southbound and it looked okay for at least a couple of minutes. Ten miles per hour max for the rest of the way until I hit I-57.

The drop/hook part was quick and easy though. Then I retraced my route down to Lafayette with a nice 6,000 pound load. Another quick drop/hook on that end had me headed to Kouts, Indiana for a pickup going to Massachusetts. Dude. There was a detour. That seemed easy enough. I don't know if signs were moved for the construction or if (more likely) I'm just an idiot or what exactly happened. Long story short... I got lost. Not 'out in the woods with no compass' lost. After all, the numbered routes are mainly north/south or east/west in that part of Indiana. I don't know what the hell was going on, but every time I thought I found another way to go, there was damn construction blocking my route. I got there eventually.

Obviously, I wasn't in the greatest of spirits when I got to my shipper. Then I realized where I was. That was the shipper at which an old CFI driver threatened to kick my ass. That memory put an instant smile on my face. Those guys had me loaded quickly like they always do. I thought about heading east on US-30 to save the company a few bucks on tolls and trim a few miles. I have to be in Massachusetts by 9am Friday though, so I'm not dicking around. I headed up to the Indiana Toll Road instead. Straight across I-90 from here the rest of the way.

Today added some pretty good miles to my week. I'll be at 2,172 (plus $35 stop pay and $24 northeast pay) when I get empty on Friday morning. With two days' worth of dispatches left, I should end up making a few bucks.

I was pretty jelly-legged this morning, so the jumprope got the day off. Hamstrings aren't exactly used to getting worked and I hit them pretty good last night. A day to let my pitiful body rest was probably a good idea anyway.