Saturday, August 23, 2008

8/23/08

450 miles down, 400 to go. There were a few rainy spots, but overall it was a nice day of driving. I stopped about an hour short of Little Rock for the night and waited for the sun to go down before I broke out the weights. It's still as humid as a son of a gun outside though.

[Workout A]
Incline Press - Same weights, added one rep
French Press - Same weights, added four reps to second set, last set stayed the same
Side Lateral - Added five pounds to last set, lost three reps
Seated Calf Raise - Maxed out the weights (90lbs each) and kept 85 reps
Squat - Added ten pounds to each set, kept same reps

Another baby step I guess. I am now pretty certain that I won't make any huge strides until I get my body weight down. Then I can kick my calories and protein back up where they belong. For now though, cutting down will have to be the priority. If my ankles could hold up a little better I could rely more on the cardio end. I have shitty ankles though, so I have to lean more on the intake side of the equation.

Friday, August 22, 2008

8/22/08

The day got off to a good start with nice light traffic into Laredo. Then my broker was on the street right by the terminal. About eight or nine years ago, I could have gotten there with a driver and a three wood. These days we may have to add a five iron and maybe a wedge, but it was close nonetheless. Contrary to typical Laredo circumstances, the drop area was wide open and the place had no traffic at all. Probably the easiest drop I've ever made in Laredo.

I headed down the street to grab a delicious BMT with double meat and then drove back to the terminal. Along the way I received a message asking me to report to dispatch. Since I was #44 at the time, I was slightly puzzled. So I headed in and gave the guy my truck number. Hey, I'm a winner! I was chosen from among the dozens of contestants to drive into town for a piss test. That's a pretty cool way to burn an hour I guess.

The clinic was right next to WalMart, so at least I got a chance to stop in and grab a few supplies. By the time I got back to the yard I was up to #17. They were having some kind of 'driver appreciation' thing today. Free food and sodas and such. Do you suppose that breaking a commitment to yourself would be considered acceptable, since you would by default be giving yourself permission? Well, I stuck to my commitment and avoided the buffet. I've never been a big fan of relativism anyway. A commitment is a commitment and I will whip my ass into shape, one way or another.

After lounging around all afternoon my turn finally came up. There were loads available to Missouri, Tennessee, or Georgia. The Tennessee load looked the best to me, given our solid freight base in that area, so I took it. As an added bonus, it's a nice 5,000 pounder.

So then I had a choice to make. I could use the hours remaining on today's 14 (took ten hours off last night instead of eight) and make it past Austin tonight, or I could hang out in Laredo tonight and hope for the monsoon to be gone by tomorrow. A nighttime drive up Satan's Driveway sounded better than a daytime trip, so I headed northward. The slow 'rain drivers' were pretty sporadic in the Laredo area and then the weather cleared up just before San Antonio. Beauty.

Then there's Austin. Two lanes of slow (40mph) traffic for no apparent reason... No trucks allowed in the left lane... Slower traffic won't keep right... The left lane was completely open... I'm a broken record, I know. That's just one of my biggest beefs with the world in which we live - A government 'solution' in search of a problem. As usual, the so-called solution is far worse than the so-called problem ever would have been.

I got through there and then set up shop for the night. I'll have a nice steady weekend of work on my way to the Nashville area for a Monday morning delivery. This week (backing up last week's 3,044 miles) will end up at 3,348 miles plus a few bucks for my miles in the Northeast. Straight cash, Homey.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

8/21/08

"The uh... stuff that dreams are made of..."

I'll bet you thought that ole Bogie was talking about a falcon, didn't you? Oh no, my friends. He was talking about the possibility that the drive down Satan's Driveway (I-35) from Dallas to Laredo could be anything other than an absolute mess. Could those dreams become a reality today? No. No, they couldn't.

Rain for about twenty miles just south of Waco. We all know the rules of the road in Texas, don't we? Drive 20mph in the left lane any time some water falls from the sky. That was nice. Then it cleared up a little bit and we moved along to Austin. I don't even want to talk about Austin.

By the time I got down to San Marcos, I stopped for some dinner and hung out for a while instead of rolling into San Antonio for round three of that nonsense. That actually worked pretty well for me. The traffic cleared up before I got rolling again. I was able to blow through San Antonio at the speed limit, so at least the day ended on a more positive note.

I had more than two hours of down time in San Marcos, so an eight hour break will get me back enough hours to run the last hundred miles into Laredo tomorrow morning. I'll be bumping my 70 for the next few days but, since the weekend is coming, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[Workout C]
Concentration Curl
Standing Calf Raise
Forearm Curl
Reverse Crunch

No real changes from the first time for this one. It's low weight, slow negatives and all that, so the point is just to feel the burn. I'm feeling the burn. Oh hell, am I ever feeling the burn. Being out of shape sucks.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

8/20/08

Meh, 680 miles is pretty good I guess. I didn't get started as early as planned, but things still went fairly smoothly. No traffic in Cincinnati or Louisville. Then I hung a right on the Western Kentucky Parkway and took the whole I-65/Nashville/I-40 issue out of play. Things were a little slow coming into Memphis on US-51 but that was still 1,000% better than taking I-65 to I-40 and across.

Not a whole lot else going on today. I did get a job offer from another financial firm for the first time in quite a while. I'm pretty sure that my licenses expired a couple of months ago, but you know, details. Thanks but no thanks brother. I don't have the patience for moronic clients anymore.

I can't get to Laredo in one shot from here, so I guess I'll aim for another eleven hours tomorrow. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be a Monday-Friday broker. That would allow me to drop at the yard on Saturday instead of having to deliver the load. Then the good old Laredo weekend routine. I am still hopeful that I can jam at least one more dispatch onto my paycheck before Saturday night. We'll see.

Yeah, I just realized that today is only Wednesday. Wishful thinking on my part I guess. Either that or I'm just getting too old to know the difference.

(Tonight's workout has been postponed due to rain. I'll have to get to it tomorrow. So I have that going for me... which is nice.)

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

8/19/08

Yeah, we kicked off the day with another dickhead security guard, but that wasn't a huge deal. He got a little annoyed when I refused to leave his booth until he gave me, in complete sentences, instructions on where to go. Where to go - now that was a huge deal.

The road from last night, along the front of the apartment building, was the first turn. Okay, it was early and there was no traffic. Good enough. The next right turn... he said go where? Over there? Holy smokes. There was a wall on the left and a pole guarding the corner of the building on the right. It was like CDL school in the middle of Detroit, only my trailer is a little longer now. So I made that turn, having to essentially pass up the turn, back up to make an angle with the trailer, and then go back and forth a few times to swing the truck into the alley. I passed along the back of the building to a point where I was relieved to see the alley widen out near the loading docks.

I was empty in fifteen minutes and ready to find somewhere to park. Simply put, there were no good options. Pittsburgh isn't the most truck-friendly town in the world and I was right down in the middle of it. The lot where I spent the night was overfilled with trucks that arrived after I did. That wasn't an option. I decided to head eastward to the Turnpike and hope to find a spot at the service plaza. That way, wherever they sent me next, I could most likely find a reasonable route to head me in the right direction.

I don't mind telling you - I felt like a trucking grand champion when I slid into my parking spot at that service plaza. The people in the front row typically park a few yards forward of the lined spaces, leaving some room in front of the trucks in the back row. If both rows park within the lines, then the space in-between is impassable. I guess the lines must have been painted when trucks were twelve feet long or something. Anyhow, some folks (like the P Jax guy in the front row this morning) are not aware of this so they park all the way at the back of the row. I had to squeeze around his ass with about an inch or two to spare. There was only one available space and I was not too keen on the idea of wandering aimlessly down the turnpike when I may well have been picking up a load back to the west. So I was going to get in there. Oh yeah. I got in there.

About a half hour later I was assigned to pick up a load in Hermitage and head for Laredo. Yep, back in the wrong direction. Good thing I found a spot at the service plaza. It could have been worse. The ride to Hermitage took me up PA-60. What an awesome road that is. It's a toll road but there was nobody on it. Kinda like my own private drive. So I checked in up there and had some time to kill. Now I apparently own Notre Dame season tickets and a pass to the Joyce Lot for the Michigan game. (Sometimes it's best not to let me have too much free time.)

Once I was loaded and rolling south, things went pretty smoothly. I rolled down through Columbus and stopped off about an hour north of Cincinnati for the night. I think I'll crank up the A/C and try to refrigerate myself into sleeping tonight. As long as I can nod off pretty soon, I'll be able to get going before the roosters crow for the next couple of days and try to alleviate some of the aggravation that this route usually causes.

Monday, August 18, 2008

8/18/08

Yep, that security guy's voice was the first one that I heard again today. I woke up at 5:20am and saw the truck ahead of me leaving the dock. So I backed in. Once I got settled into the door, I started to update my hours in the CTL computer system. Then my phone rang. Homeboy told me that my door was available and I could go ahead and back in. Dumbass. I was in the first door, right outside his window.

So they got me unloaded quickly, charging me ten dollars more than they did the last time. It was a chick the last time and a fella this time. Maybe a coincidence or maybe not. Anyhow, before I was empty I received my next planned load information. I had to go down to the ConWay yard on the north edge of Charlotte and grab a load headed to Pittsburgh.

Once I was rolling, it was a pretty smooth trip to Charlotte. My loaded trailer was sitting on the yard with the paperwork in the nose of the trailer. Beauty. You see, I'm not what you would call a 'people person.' Any time I can skip the whole checking in and out process, that's a plus. Any time I have to haul a wicked heavy load through West Virginia, however, that's a minus. 45,000 pounds of sugar = big minus.

If trucks had civil rights, I would be getting sued for brutality right now. I can't recall a single hill from the Virginia line to Pittsburgh that didn't require at least one downshift. That was an absolutely miserable ride. Way too much work. I took a nap and got some lunch in Wytheville, hoping to improve my attitude, but that didn't work. The stretch of US-19 cutting the corner from I-77 to I-79 was at least a little amusing though. Robert Byrd Highway over the Robert Byrd Bridge and through the Robert Byrd intersection near the Robert Byrd Mall adjacent to the Robert Byrd Parking Lot... you get the point. Who says Americans don't love their pork projects?

Since both Presidential candidates are hellbent on taxing the coal industry out of business, what use will we have for West Virginia after this year? Sorry, I digress...

I don't have any mapping software on my new computer just yet. Streets & Trips was a casualty of the changeover and I haven't gotten around to replacing it. Ergo, I was relying on CTL's directions to my consignee right down on the waterfront in Pittsburgh. I have a passing familiarity with the area on account of a past romantic interest, but I don't know all of the streets well. When I took the prescribed exits, all was good. I got to the first light and started to turn left and things looked awfully bad. Some skinny ass little driveway/street thing leading to an apartment building. Then I had to take the next right. Crazy tight, but the cars weren't parked all the way to the corner so I got around there. Then down along the river. So the directions say to go to the far end of the building and enter the gate with the guard shack. I got to the end of the building. There was a gate. There was a guard shack. There were some loading docks. Okay then.

I turned into the driveway and started looking for some kind of intercom. As I was looking, the gate opened. I hopped in the truck and drove inside before anyone could change their minds and lock me out again. A fella in there told me that I needed to be at the far end of the next building. Okay then, no worries. We'll just spin her around and head back out. Then things got weird...

A guy in a personal vehicle came barrel-assing into the lot and jumped out. "Get that Goddamn thing out of here and get to the other end of the fucking building! Can't any of you guys follow Goddamn directions !?!" (I guess you could say he was a little worked up.)

I couldn't help but laugh, given that the alternative would definitely cost me my job and also likely win me a trip to the clink. I told him that I came to the end of the building and saw a gate with a guard shack, just like my directions said. Sorry fella, I'll be gone in a minute. No problemo.

"What about the directions I gave you when you were at the Goddamn gas station?" Dude, you got the wrong guy.

So I pulled back out and went to the far end of the next building, where I've settled in for the night. A short time later, the guy who was yelling at me escorted a coworker of mine into the lot. The angry old dude came over toward my truck as the other CTL guy was parking. Great, what now? "I just wanted to apologize for what happened over there. This guy was lost and I told him to wait there for me. When I got there, he was gone, so I thought you were him. He just said he was a CFI driver. I'm really sorry about that. It just pissed me off when I went to help him and he didn't listen to me." No sweat buddy. We're all good.

I am not entirely sure if I'll be able to get out of town the way I came in. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If there are any cars around, it could get ugly.

So... one last thing...

[Workout B]
One-arm Row - Added ten pounds to each set, maintained reps
Curl - Weights and reps stayed the same
Front Lateral - Added two and a half pounds to each set, maintained reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift - Added ten pounds to each set, maintained reps
Hammer Curl - Weight and reps stayed the same

That's some small progress in most areas, but damnit, chicks dig the biceps. They didn't go anywhere from last week to this week. The Cable of Death is up to 1:30, but I wheeze and gasp like a sicko every time I use it. Plus my ankle is killing me. I may have to go back to walking pretty soon here. Jumping rope is a kickass way to get my heart rate up though. Oh well, we'll play it by ear.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

8/17/08

I have a question for those of you on the East Coast: Don't they have amusement parks and carnivals and stuff around there? If so, why do you have to play bumper cars on I-95? Good grief man, what a long day. Aside from traffic, accidents, traffic, accidents, more traffic, and more accidents, not much to say really. I checked in with the security dude and gave him my phone number, so maybe I'll get yelled at again tomorrow morning. That would be pretty cool.

Oh, and I achieved a landmark today. Seven days without listening to any talk radio at all. No right wing talk. No NPR. No Air America. None of it. As a result, internal Fenian Godfather Institute polling finds that my confidence in my fellow Americans has gone from 6% to 8%. That's great news.
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