9/20/08

If you are passing through Lancaster and the mood strikes, feel free to stop by. I am prepared to fight you. If you are a candyass or if you choose not to fight me on account of my post-workout jelly arms, I will instead insult your mother.

Yeah, that bullshit game came on the heels of a morning drive up Satan's Driveway. Austin can suck my balls too, since I'm already venting.

We wrap up the week with 2,861 miles, so just shy of $1,100. That'll do. I have tomorrow and Monday to cover the remaining miles for this trip. I guess we'll shoot for somewhere in Northeastern Missouri tomorrow.

[Workout B]
One-arm Row - Same weights & reps (Ladies? Strong back here.)
Curl - Same weights, lost one rep
Front Lateral - Added 2.5 pounds per set, same reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift - Same weights & reps
Hammer Curl - Same weights, added two reps

9/19/08

Eh, mixed bag today. I went over to the broker when I woke up this morning. I've been there before. This time it took about 45 minutes to get into the driveway. Fun. Once I got in and sat there being ignored by the security guard for a while, he told me that I needed to go to a different location. Nice. I got over there and made my drop, then headed back to the yard. And there goes my Friday.

I got called in a little while ago. There were a few loads, all in the 1,200+ mile neighborhood. I didn't really have a way to get into the coverage area for the football game by tomorrow afternoon at that point. Bummer. Since I'll be stuck in the South tomorrow either way, I took a load that delivers Tuesday morning instead of Monday morning. That way I can knock out seven hours tomorrow morning and then try to find an online stream of the game once I get up to Lancaster. A Monday morning delivery would have required two really long days of driving from here.

So, it was time for a workout and then some sleep. The swarm of bugs outside my truck was worse than a flabby gut though. I guess the next session with the weights will be tomorrow after the game instead.

9/18/08

I think I'm like a battered spouse or something. I really think I-35 loves me. I-35 just hasn't figured out how to show it yet. Like today, I-35 probably didn't want to have a pickup truck broken down in the center lane in the middle of Austin. It's probably my fault. We just need to talk things over, or whatever.

So yeah, that was that part of the drive. After my customary nap in San Marcos, I finished off the drive into Laredo at night and got on the board. #97 wasn't what I was hoping to hear, but we'll see how it goes. Anything dispatched by Saturday night will go on this week's pay so I'm not too concerned there. I'm already at 1,633 miles and I'm sure I'll be gone by Saturday. Any kind of decent weekend will have me in good shape. My concern is that ABC is airing the Notre Dame game everywhere in the country... 'cept the South. If I don't manage to find an internet stream, I'll need to get somewhere above the Mason-Dixon line by Saturday afternoon and try to catch a decent TV signal. #97 though... hmm. The lads have gone from 9.5 point dogs to 8.5 point dogs today, so the contrarian in me is inclined to think that they'll probably get their asses kicked anyway.

Who doesn't like a good soundboard prank call? I think my favorite had to be Col. Nathan R. Jessup from A Few Good Men hassling some chick, but I heard a new one today that was pretty decent...

9/17/08

I didn't pay much attention to where my route was going to take me today. I just assumed that I could get somewhere past Texarkana before the parking started to dry up. By the time I got into Texas, I realized that I would be able to get to Lancaster before my 11 hours were gone. Beauty. I'll get down to Laredo tomorrow night and see what's what.

[Workout A]
Incline Press - Added five pounds to each set, lost three reps
French Press - Added five pounds to each set, lost two reps
Side Lateral - Same weights, lost one rep
Seated Calf Raise - Up to 105 reps
Squat - Same weights and reps

9/16/08

Most financial advisors will tell you that finding new clients is the most frustrating part of the job. For me it was a little different. While I don't really like people much, I've always been able to understand them and communicate fairly well. Therefore I didn't have much trouble with the prospecting. I had plenty of clients. The frustrating part for me tended to come later in the process. I was paid for analysis, education, and advice. My analysis was always thorough and my clients were always given a detailed education on the things that they needed to understand. Then, half of them would fail to act on the advice that I provided for them. That was frustrating to me.

Given the financial news of late, I am thankful that I believe I made a difference for quite a few of those who did choose to follow up on what I taught them. I would expect that the worldwide capital situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. The "solutions" being tossed around are exactly the kinds of things that led us where we are. Thus, I'm thinking it might be a while before heads are removed from asses and money is allowed to work the way it should.

Times like these are exactly the reason for a sound and coherent personal strategy. For some of us, the downside has been pretty tame so far and the opportunities going forward are quite promising. From what I hear on the news though, many people cannot say the same. I would encourage everyone to do as much reading as possible regarding the relationship between financial risk and financial reward. I would venture to guess that the historical correlation isn't quite what you've been led to believe over the years. Only take on risk where appropriate, actively manage your allocations to maintain balance, and you can profit nicely while the lemmings cry for help.

Okay, enough of my public service announcement for the year.

I got on the board this morning and received an assignment shortly thereafter. I had to shoot over to Niles and make a drop/hook for a load headed to Laredo. Gotta love that NAFTA. When I started to roll westward with my loaded trailer, I saw that Chicago rush hour was waiting for me. Instead of dealing with that, I shot down through a good chunk of Indiana on US-421 and then over into Illinois. I think I made the right call on that one. It's hard to say exactly how the mileage and time would stack up, but my route brought light traffic and no delays. Good enough for me.

I made it down into Southern Illinois tonight and I should be able to reach Laredo in two shots from here. This will give me a decent chance of some more miles for the weekend. If things work out that way, all will be right with my little world. I'm tired and not quite adapted to the road tonight, so the weight training will resume tomorrow. I think it has been around a week, so I'm hoping to put up some nice gains. The extra rest should be helpful in that cause. Time will tell.

9/15/08

Bills paid - check.
Laundry done - check.
Throat healed - check.
Home cleaned up - check.
Dinner with friends - check.
New supermodel girlfriend - incomplete.
Bags packed - check.
Dudes making out during a news report - check.

I guess that's enough for today. Back to work in the morning.

9/14/08

I'm not a very good bowler anymore. Just one more item on my list. My niece's birthday party was today, at a bowling alley. My old 217 average... yeah, no. 140 today.

Otherwise it was just a dreary and nasty day around here. My throat is killing me, but I think that my vocal efforts led directly to one of the 83 Michigan fumbles yesterday. This hasn't been confirmed, but I have a hunch.

I guess I'll head down to the pub now and see if I can start some trouble. Slainte.