10/27/08

Sometimes, if I really work at it, I can manage to convince myself that the world is out to get me. Usually though, I seem to lead something of a fortunate life. Today was a pretty good example.

When I woke up, I checked in with the receiving guy at my consignee. Not only had I found the correct building, but I was also parked at the only functional dock. The place was jammed up with trucks that had arrived after I did last night, so if I had been at the wrong dock I would have been shit out of luck until some other people got unloaded and moved. The guys after me had to maneuver around each other to get to the good dock, but I just had to open my doors since I was already lined up and ready to go.

Once I got empty, I headed out and looked for a place to park. No luck in the industrial area there, so I started off toward our Kansas City drop lot. The only trouble was that I didn't remember exactly where the drop lot was located. Of all of the people with exceptional IQ's that you may encounter, you can rest assured that I'm the dumbest one. I can jam out some particle physics, but I'll be damned if I can find my car keys. So I sent a message to Joplin asking for directions. I didn't receive a response right away. Most likely things were a little busy in the big house on a Monday morning. I left the customer's area and wandered up I-35. Nothing was ringing a bell there, so I looped south on I-435. Just when I started to see brake lights and a traffic jam ahead, I spotted a roller coaster. Hey, I know that roller coaster! Sweet. Our drop yard was off the next exit.

The lot at the drop yard was crawling with trucks and trailers, moving this way and that. I hung a quick left away from all of the traffic and circled around some trailers from other companies. I just had a hunch... yep. I found a nice easy pull-through parking space right on the main row of ConWay trailers. (After I parked and set the brakes, I received directions to the drop yard, incidentally.)

When I checked my status on the board, I was #21. Not too good, not too terrible. Aha though - I was highlighted for home. Too bad for those other suckers. The first run heading my way would belong to me. After a nice little nap I was assigned to take a load up to the Chicago suburbs for tomorrow morning. The trailer was on the yard so I headed over and hooked it up. Then the security guard couldn't find the damn paperwork. We've seen this movie before. After a review of a messy pile of papers on the desk, he actually found something. It's not a bill of lading, but it has some information about my load on it and it has the right trailer number. That'll have to do. I don't know exactly how heavy the load is (on account of the missing bills) but it's a light one. That's a nice change from yesterday.

The drive was pretty much an autopilot kind of deal today. Up to Des Moines and over into Illinois, the traffic was nice and light. The wind wasn't as bad as yesterday and it was more behind me than in my face anyway.

I promised you fine folks last week that the Irish would help Mr. Willingham into the unemployment line. And today he announced his resignation. A fitting end to a sick and twisted circle of college football fortunes. Say a quick prayer for whatever poor sap is unfortunate enough to follow him at U-dub. If it is possible to recruit more poorly than he did at Notre Dame, I think he might have done so at Washington.

My consignee for this trip doesn't allow overnight parking. Since I don't have any parking tricks up my sleeve tonight, I've stopped at the Petro in Rochelle. I'll have to cover about 70 miles or so in the morning once my ten hour break is over. Since I'll be approaching the Chicago area during rush hour, that should take about three hours. See there? The whole damn world is out to get me!