Saturday, January 26, 2008

1/26/08

The coolest thing about spending yesterday in Virginia - being among fellow Redskins fans. It was refreshing to learn that I'm not the only one who would like to beat Dan Snyder about the neck and head. What in the hell is he trying to do?

So, dropped an empty, hooked to a loaded, and backtracked over my route from the last couple of days. 58 over to 664, up across the bay, 64 over to 295 and up 95, then around the Beltway and across 270 to 70 to 76 to 80. And now I'm in Ohio for the night. Wonderful, lovely Ohio. Fun.

My dispatch says that I have until Monday at 00:01 to make this delivery, but the paperwork says 18:02 tomorrow. What does that mean? Dunno. Maybe CTL just screwed up the dispatch. Maybe the paperwork is bullshit. Usually they set up these loads as relays, but this one is dispatched to me and me alone. I'm not going to have a problem making it by 6pm tomorrow anyway, so I guess there's no point in asking questions and getting people confused. Maybe I'll save my employer a few bucks, compared to what they would get paid if I rolled in at midnight. Either way, there's no point in wasting tomorrow night on this load. I'll get rid of it in the afternoon and hope to get something set up for Monday.

Today wraps up the week at 1,603 miles plus about $50 in northeast pay. Started Thursday, pay period ends Saturday, $640+ for the week. I can handle that. Now let's hope the next full week can stay at that pace. Ole Godfather spent a buck or two at home this month. I could use a couple of nice checks to get me back on track. Apparently my old business partner made it known to certain parties recently that my services could be useful in terms of an upcoming expansion. I would prefer to have a well-stocked bank account before I get home again, in order to prevent the temptation even to think about it.

Friday, January 25, 2008

1/25/08

Well, it was a little easier of a day that I had anticipated. I guess sometimes that's better than a hard day though, right? I made the drive down to Suffolk this morning and it was a beautiful day in Virginia. I hadn't been down I-64 in a while, but it's a pretty peaceful ride. There were even quite a few boats on the bay. That surprised me a little. Then I dropped down across the bay and into town. It's always a little disconcerting when your customer is located off a street with "No Thru Trucks" posted, but it was all good. Of course I passed the place up and had to spin back around in a parking lot with about a foot to spare in front and back. Story of my life out here.

I got there a couple of hours early and the forklift drivers were not in the mood to unload me at that time. Whatever. I got backed into a dock at 2:30pm and they did what they had to do. Suffolk isn't the kind of place to start driving and then figure out a route as you go. I don't imagine I have to tell everyone how I know this, but let's just say that I learned it a while back. So I asked the forklift guy what would be the best route to get to US-460 outside the west end of the loop. He told me to go straight through a light where I thought I would need to turn, then follow that street up to US-58. As I passed through the light, I wasn't feeling too good about his directions, but it worked out pretty well. The street that he told me to take is actually the street on which QVC, our most common Suffolk customer, is located. I pulled into the truck stop about a half mile outside town a few minutes later.

Thirty seconds after I parked at the truck stop, I got my next load assignment. I was right about the picking up at QVC part. I was wrong about the going west part. This load will go to the Chicago area. The delivery is at a UPS facility, so there's a pretty good chance that will be a pain in my ass. Otherwise though, these loads tend to be light, I know it's a drop/hook, and it will give me some pretty good miles for the weekend. I was also wrong about the leaving Suffolk today part. In a perfect world the load would have been good to go today, but I have to pick it up tomorrow. That's where the easier than expected day comes into play. I drove about three hours this morning and that's that.

So I guess I'll watch some movies and do some reading and have another relaxing evening. One unanticipated bonus about my truck's dead batteries in Michigan is that my XM radio works again, so I guess I might catch some political talk for a while too. So many choices... what to do? It's funny that I'm 700 miles from home but the only real difference is the company I keep (or in this case don't keep). Boredom, entertainment, diversions, it's all the same wherever I go. Believe it or not, I'm not even thinking I'm ready to go home and have a beer (yet).

No chance to slap the cuffs on me this time around Scott. I'll definitely make sure I pop a wheelie the next time I pass through town though.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

1/24/08

Jump back in with both feet. That's my motto. Some snow, some mountains, some DC traffic, and some decent miles. Not a bad first day.

I woke up early and called the terminal to have them put me on the board. The typical next step would be that they tell me I'm #15 and I go back to bed. Not today. I was #1, so I got my ass up and headed to work. During the five minute drive and five minute stop at McDonald's, I was assigned to a load. The only catch was that my truck batteries had no juice (8 days in the cold) so I couldn't see the load information. Obviously, I also could not start my truck.

So the dude from the terminal came out with the battery jumper machine thing and hooked it up. No dice. So he got some tools and pulled off the step and cover plate, so he could get at the battery. Then he hooked the machine directly to the battery. No dice, but it did start smoking and shit. That was pretty cool. Next he switched the input to 12 volts and tried it that way. No more smoke, but not enough juice to get it cranking. After a half hour of dicking around, we came up with a very scientific plan. He would re-connect the smoking 24 volt input and I would try to get the truck fired up before anything exploded. Then he could unplug it really fast and maybe nobody would get hurt. Yep, that worked. Sweet.

Hooked up, inspected, and fueled, it was back to the road time for me. After eight days without sitting in the driver's seat of this truck, it only took about twenty seconds to get back into the swing of things. I guess it's like riding a bike or something. I don't know.

I'm heading down to Suffolk, Virginia for a delivery tomorrow afternoon. I may or may not have been able to squeeze the full 706 miles into a single shift today, but the appointment is for 2:30pm tomorrow and I'm not in any hurry. The first day back is usually a little more tiring than most. I managed to knock out a little over eight hours of driving today so that's good enough. I've stopped at the scale/rest area just inside Virginia so I'll have a little more driving to do in the morning. Then maybe we can get something nice for the weekend and settle right back in.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

1/23/08

Well, it looks like all loose ends are tied up and we're ready to rumble in the morning. I would normally just get on the board tonight and then go to bed, but I've been keeping some pretty ludicrous hours this week. I think it will be best to get a good night's sleep, so I don't want to be on the board in the event that something hot comes up tonight.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

1/22/08

Do as I say, not as I do. We've all heard that one before. I do sincerely hope that the people who read this blog keep the concept in mind.

I say that you should read the manual before you take the hazmat test. What I do... or did... well it didn't involve reading the manual. I thought for sure I could use a little common sense and bullshit my way through it. It took two tries, but I got 'er done. After I got seven wrong the first time, I committed those seven questions to memory. Surely I could remember to adjust the answers and improve my score. Of course none of those questions appeared on the second test. Nice. So much for that idea. I actually had to feel my way through a whole new set of questions about things I've never seen. So it came down to questions 29 and 30. I could afford to miss one. Question 29 - some shit about radioactive stuff - 5, 10, or 50. It really doesn't matter what the question was, since I didn't have any idea what they were talking about anyway. I picked 10. Sounds like a nice metric sort of number, doesn't it? The answer was 50. Shit. So I had to get question 30 correct or I would have to take the test a third time. I don't even know if they allow you to take the test a third time, but it didn't matter. I got the question right. So I have the 'H' on my license now.

I think I need to be more bitter. Every day - online, at work, at home, wherever - I see so much bitterness that I just feel like I'm missing out on something. I have a bit of a hot temper sometimes, but the lingering bitching and whining... I just don't have what it takes to give a shit. I need to fix that. What am I babbling about? Oh, some of you guys are from Michigan. You'll nod your heads and say "yep" when this story is done.

I rolled down to Brownstown to visit the Secretary of State this morning. After the MLK Day thing yesterday, the place was predictably pretty busy. "Now serving" 39. I had number 82. Okay, we'll play some Tetris and it will be cool. A half hour later, no change. A half hour after that, still on #39. The bitching was intense, to say the least. Whatever man, I had nowhere to go today. I kept watching people leave and figured I was getting closer to the front of the line in the process. After I was there for a couple of hours, we the patrons were informed that the branch was being closed on account of a mysterious odor that had made the employees sick. We were given pink pieces of paper that would let us skip the line at a different branch.

So, up the road in Taylor, I stepped into the first line. The Taylor branch is set up so that the line along the front of the building is sort of an 'expediter' line. You get to the front very quickly, the lady gives you whatever forms you may need, you take a number, and then you wait. Ostensibly this cuts down on the time taken by waiting first, then starting on the forms. Makes sense to me. Once at the front of the line, the lady spotted my pink paper. "Sir, if you have the return pass, you go to that line over there." She directed me to the back of a line of about five people. I tried to explain that the pink pass didn't signify much and that I hadn't gotten started yet. "That line over there sir." Can we just pretend I don't have the pink pass then? I'm already at the front of this line. "Next."

So, after I stood in my new line for a little while, a guy asked me what I needed. I needed to take the hazmat test and add the endorsement. He gave me the forms that the first bitch... I mean lady... should have been able to give me. Then the testing scenario unfolded. Second time around, good to go, back to the guy's workstation. "That will be sixty dollars." Fuck me! Sixty bucks to add a hazmat endorsement that I don't even plan to use? This blows. I asked him if I had to pay an extra sixty dollars every year. "That's the current cost to renew with the endorsements you have." Yeah, but I'm not renewing anything. My license is good until a year from September. "Oh you were just adding hazmat? She should have given you a different form." She didn't give me any forms, dude. You did. So I filled out some other shit, he screwed around with the computer, I paid $23 (not $60), and now I'm certified. And, as the residents of my fair state nod their heads in sympathy, that was my four hour stint at the Secretary of State today. More technology, more internet shit, better processes, and things still manage to stay the same.

Oh yeah, the bitterness... As the day unfolded, I had a dumbass grin on my face like I was certain that someone was watching us on Candid Camera. The usual mass bitch-fest was unfolding right before my eyes and it was right on script. There was the central "bitch to anyone who will listen" ringleader. Then there was the "I'm gonna show them how pissed I am" loudmouth. Then the more cerebral "I'll call the 800 number" associate. And so on and so forth, right down the line. Every character was present and they stayed right on message. They were all so miserable. I wanted to be bitter. I wanted to be a part of this collective misery society. Why should I always have to be an outsider? But I just thought they were hilarious, the whole lot of them. I made the occasional smartass remark, as I tend to do. Obviously you wouldn't be able to know this, but in my own mind I'm pretty funny. My own mind isn't always on the same page as the commonly accepted reality though. Rather than amuse my neighbors, I generally just pissed them off even more. Yet my own bitterness level remained negligible. I never get to have any fun.

I was thinking about going to work in the morning, but nah. I'm taking tomorrow off. I don't feel like getting in my truck just yet.

Monday, January 21, 2008

1/21/08

I think today was a pretty good metaphor for my life. I procrastinated since I got home last week. I still hadn't taken the hazmat test. I still hadn't cleaned my truck. I still hadn't done any laundry. I still, to be perfectly honest, hadn't done anything productive other than pursue various forms of entertainment since I got here. So today I had big plans to get some things done, beginning with the hazmat test. I got in my car, drove to the Secretary of State branch office, and found a locked door. Martin Luther King Day. I had no idea. And thus summarizes my life - never in a hurry to do the things that need to be done and completely oblivious to the world around me. Yeah, I know, a regular Alvy Singer here.

In typical fashion, I wandered around and wasted time all day after I realized that the office was closed. I probably should have just done the laundry and the cleaning today, but that didn't sound fun at all. I did stop by and grab some stuff from my truck. My belongings are still there, so I guess they haven't found a reason to fire me yet. There's always tomorrow... for at least a couple more days. I suppose I'll have to go back to work sooner or later.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

1/20/08

I think I've come up with the best way to characterize these trips home. They're like condensed versions of whatever "normal" people do at home, on a much tighter timeline. In a given week, perhaps someone would visit the niece and nephew, visit the parents, watch football, meet a friend and his parents for dinner, watch some more football, have a few beers, and make a few calls to arrange the following day's itinerary. For me, that's a single day.

I guess we'll try to see about taking that hazmat test tomorrow. Might as well leave town in a few days having accomplished something tangible.
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