Saturday, October 4, 2008

10/4/08

Keep betting the line away from the Irish, you bunch of gambling degenerates. The only time this year that the line went the other way, Michigan State won the game.

I woke up a little later than I planned this morning. I got to Pocahontas before game time though. So I dropped off my truck at the yard and walked over to the motel next door. No vacancy? You've got to be shitting me. The other motel across the street had a room for me though. So I write to you this evening from the Corleone family's Illinois Estate.

Eighteen (undisclosed) beverages on ice, the Irish on TV this afternoon, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on TV now, more football on later, and a cozy bed from which to watch the action... life could be a whole lot worse.

I'll have right around 500 miles to drive tomorrow. I'm just going to drive to the industrial park where the consignee is located and look for somewhere to spend the night. I haven't decided whether or not to head home for a few days this month, so we'll just play it by ear. I have to be home by the beginning of November. Tickets to the Pitt game at Notre Dame on the 1st, election day on the 4th, and tickets to the BC game in Boston on the 8th. This means that I'll have to make the call pretty soon.

This OTR math can get complicated. 11/1/08 minus the five days of lead time to get home would be 10/27/08. Assuming that I took three days at home, this would take us back to 10/24/08. The ten days that I have to be on the road between trips home would back us up to 10/14/08. And then five days to get home from wherever I put in my request would be 10/9/08. So I guess I can grab at least one more load before I have to make the call.

UPATE (8:40pm ET): It probably makes me a vindictive prick, but I do sincerely enjoy watching Ty Willingham get his candy ass kicked. I'm just afraid he'll get fired before the lads roll into Seattle.

Friday, October 3, 2008

10/3/08

These peckerheads have been sending more inane messages than usual over the damn satellite in recent weeks and it's getting annoying. This morning I woke up to a message asking us not to use the phone unless it was necessary, on account of my fleet manager being gone today. Seriously.

After I tried to get back to sleep for a while and realized that I was out of luck, I got rolling. I knocked out a pretty easy 500 miles to the T/A in Eaton, Ohio. From here I have two days that won't be too long in order to get to Southern Kansas by Sunday night. I'm thinking I'll cross Indiana and Illinois tomorrow and then set up to watch some football. That will leave me somewhere under 500 miles for Sunday. The hockey game plans for next week fell through, so I might be in the mood to spend a few bucks on a hotel tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. The lads opened at -7, went up to -7.5, and recently dropped to -6.5. In this season's ongoing story of my contrarian views, we know that this is a good sign. I'm pretty sure that the movement has been in the wrong direction for every game so far. Prepare for the Fighting Irish to win this one going away.

I actually enjoyed a political debate for a change last night. As seems to be the pattern since 2000, the VP nominees did a much better job than the top guys did. Cheney/Lieberman was better than Bush/Gore. Cheney/Edwards was better than Bush/Kerry. Barracuda/Biden has been the highlight this year so far. Facts and exaggerations were interchangeable of course, but I think my favorite stretch was Biden suggesting that we should stop by a restaurant that he visits in Wilmington. So what if it closed 15 years ago? His story sounded legit at the time. Friend of the working man and whatnot.

Finally got some dry weather...
[Workout A]
Incline Press - Same weights & reps
French Press - Added five pounds to each set, lost three reps
Side Lateral - Same weights, lost one rep
Seated Calf Raise - Added five reps

Thursday, October 2, 2008

10/2/08

I was dreaming away as usual this afternoon. I think this time I was debating the merits of various political paradigms with Lindsay Lohan or something like that. Then my phone rang and woke me. Apparently the folks in Joplin had sent me a load assignment, but my truck was off and the Qualcomm thing had powered down. Since I hadn't responded, they gave me a call. I needed to be at my next shipper in 30 minutes... but it was only ten miles away.

The drive to the shipper turned out to be twenty miles and it took the full half hour. No harm, no foul. My directions said that Gate 2 was my entrance. Of course, you couldn't see the tiny little words on the signs from the street. I turned in at Gate 3. I found my way over to Gate 2 and checked with the security guard. Turns out I had to go back over by Gate 3, where I had entered in the first place. No harm, no foul.

It took a couple of hours for me to get loaded and rolling, after which I was once again headed across the Thruway. I was becoming accustomed to a steady string of 18-20,000 pound loads, but this one is a heavy mofo. A few days in the slow lane appear to be in store for me. I have a Monday morning delivery in Kansas, so this week will work out just fine. 2,633 miles plus $40+ in northeast pay... steady as she goes.

Another scheduled workout and another rainy night. Yep, it's a conspiracy.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

10/1/08

A decent looking woman was happy to see me a few minutes ago. That doesn't happen very often. Of course, she was just glad that I got to Albany early and she didn't have to wait around all night for my paperwork, but you know... small victories and such.

My relay showed up in Ohio a little early so I got rolling a little early. It was a pretty rainy and dreary drive, but traffic was nice and light all the way across. The time seemed to pass pretty quickly as I listened to the political talk on various channels through the evening. My mind got going, as it sometimes does, and I found that I was completely distracted from the monotony of the road.

Maybe somebody here can help me out with this. We're told that this bailout bill (or rescue package if that makes you feel better) is absolutely necessary. If it doesn't pass, we're told, all hell will break loose in a week or two. I'm just really trying to hear a convincing argument. Don't bother with all of the stuff about credit markets and such. I am thoroughly versed in economics and I understand very well how it all works. I also just might puke if I hear the phrases 'Wall Street' and 'Main Street' used in the same sentence one more time today. So if, as we're told, the credit markets are really this fragile, how will they keep working for the next week or two? Why haven't they crashed yet? Wouldn't they have been under more pressure when gasoline was $4.75 a gallon? The whole housing debacle has been underway for quite some time now. What exactly makes this week the absolute drop dead date for our economy?

Leaving that aside for a minute, we get to the bill itself. If you're a Republican, it's hard to imagine that you could be okay with up to $700 billion in taxpayer debt being used to turn our constitutionally limited government into the country's biggest landlord. If you're a Democrat, maybe the $700 billion in spending and the federal buyup wouldn't bother you, in and of themselves. You would have to be philosophically opposed to using the treasury to ease the pain on big money investment firms though, right? So it's easy enough to see why people on both sides of the aisle are walking around and talking about how much they hate the plan.

Yet, the plan moves forward. Why were the Democrats so quick to give up the handouts to their constituent unions and community groups? Why were the Republicans so quick to give up on market-based solutions and lower taxpayer exposure? How can both sides be so quick to say that "improvements" in the senate version will allow them to get behind the bill?

Higher FDIC insurance? Who gives a shit? If you had more than $100K in a single deposit account, you're an idiot. It's not hard to split your deposits among several banks if you have that kind of money. So now you can consolidate your funds a little. What about the banks from which you pull money? Wouldn't you weaken them at least as much as you would strengthen others? That's a stupid 'solution.' How can that provide any political cover?

Extensions to tax breaks that have existed forever? Who gives a shit? Those extensions were going to be passed eventually anyway. How can they provide any political cover?

Suspension of mark-to-market? Who gives a shit? The pain from that debacle has already made its way into the market. This provision would be helpful going forward, but for now it might just force the Komissar of the Treasury to pay more money for the bad debt.

Some of the people whom I trust on matters of finance are convinced that this bill completely misses the point, yet we're told that everybody knows we have to do it this way. Nothing addressing the tax structure to attract capital, as nearly as I can tell. Nothing addressing the GSE's to solidify the mortgage market, as nearly as I can tell. Nothing to prevent the federal government from going even further down the road to becoming the banker of last resort whenever the next domino falls.

I was driving along and trying to wade through the spin when these guys had some kind of press conference to pat each other on the back about what a great job they had done. What great job? I don't understand. They passed a bill that may or may not do any good. They passed a bill that may or may not cost the taxpayers $700 billion. They passed a bill that really doesn't make anyone on either side happy. Yet there they were, congratulating themselves. My suspicion level is at about a 9.6 on a ten point scale whenever this stuff happens.

I guess I'm just a cynic, but am I the only one who thinks that the urgency had more to do with crooked politicians covering their own asses than it had to do with the credit markets? Am I the only one who wonders why we aren't seeing CEO's marched off to prison like we did when (much smaller) previous accounting scandals occurred without directly screwing the taxpayers? Yeah, it's probably just me. After all, I'm sure that there must be a valid reason for the Speaker of the House to be assuring the majority whip that there won't be a "witch hunt" concerning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. No reason to try to get to the bottom of it. Just a $1 trillion boondoggle, nothing to see here... moving along now... I've been watching some archived CSPAN videos that have me thinking I'm not so far off, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Anyhow, that's enough of my angst for now. I'm #1 on the board right now and going into Thursday with 1,135 miles. Factoring in the northeast pay, I should have a decent week as long as tomorrow goes well for me. I'll probably put in for home time in a few days. My father called and asked if I wanted to go to the Red Wings' home opener on the 9th. There's a party bus deal leaving from my cousin's bar, so that sounds pretty fun.

Another scheduled workout, another rainy night. You don't think maybe... nah, there's no conspiracy. Tomorrow should be fine.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

9/30/08

Ahhh, 3am... that's early. The ConWay people had my trailer loaded and ready to go by the time I checked in, so that was nice. Leaving Tomah at 3:30am provides a nice little side benefit though. You get to hit Chicago during the morning rush.

Wh-wha-what!?! I took I-290 over to I-294 and went across on I-80. No delays. None. Stunning. Then it was a nice cruise controlled ride across the turnpikes to my relay point in Ohio. Just before I reached Indiana, I received my next planned load information. I'll be leaving from here tomorrow afternoon and taking the back half of the same relay to Albany. One might say that a pattern seems to be emerging.

That will be another 550 miles for tomorrow, plus some northeast pay. Plus I'll be away from I-80 in Pennsylvania. I was told a few days ago that I-80 makes for a long day crossing that state. Although I haven't done so recently, my memory seems to concur. The stop location information says that I can't park at the ConWay yard tomorrow night (one big happy company my ass), but that there is a vacant lot nearby. We'll just hope for the best.

For now, my computer's battery is about to die and I seem to have fried my little inverter. So that's all.

Monday, September 29, 2008

9/29/08

So it's the day after baseball season ended. I found a good internet stream of the Tigers, who by some weird twist of fate happen to be playing a meaningful game. Who would have guessed? If the Tigers have to completely suck, they might as well send the White Sox home for the winter while they have the chance.

That early morning drop was pretty uneventful. I did have to drive down a dark county road with just enough rain to make life difficult for me. The road was a little slick and the oncoming headlights were a little blinding. Otherwise though, no big deal. After I was empty I went back to the truck stop where I spent the night and crawled back in bed.

If you've read this blog for a while, you probably know what happens when my eyes close. Yep, the good old beep wakes me up. Not a whole lot going on today though. I had to drive about an hour back to the south and set up at the ConWay yard in Tomah for a load leaving tomorrow morning. I'll be passing it off along the Ohio Turnpike, so the trip will essentially be a retracing of my route from yesterday. 67 miles for today and 500-something for tomorrow won't have me on a record-breaking pace by any means, but at least I'll be ahead of where I was last week.

What sucks more ass than a 4am wakeup call? A 3am wakeup call. Oy. I guess I'll root for the spoilers and then try to get to sleep at some kind of reasonable hour. It's cool enough to leave the truck off, but the damn flies are about to make me roll up my windows and turn on the A/C.

Oh yeah, and it's not raining at the moment. So...

[Workout B]
One-arm row - Same weights (maximum available) & reps
Curl - Same weights & reps
Front lateral - Added 2.5lbs to 1st set, same reps, added 5lbs. to second set, same reps, added 2.5lbs to third set, lost four reps
Stiff-legged Deadlift - On indefinite hiatus due to knee issues
Hammer Curl - Added 2.5lbs to each set, same reps

Sunday, September 28, 2008

9/28/08

Man. I could tell you that I was dragging ass today, but that would be the mother of all understatements. As fun as last night wound up being, I was seriously just supposed to watch a football game. I definitely paid a price for being out so late when I had to get back to work today. I stopped for some dinner in Indiana and caught a pretty good chunk of the Redskins game on TV. Excellent. Then I actually had to do some serious driving. Bogus.

The traffic in Chicago was a lot slower than I would have expected for a Sunday evening. I think the Bears had a home game, but even over on the west side of town things were barely moving. Given the sluggish way that I was feeling, sluggish traffic was not at all welcome. Things shook out a while later and the Wisconsin part of the drive went pretty well.

I have to deliver in the morning, somewhere around ten miles from where I've parked for the night. I'm pretty sure that my usual difficulty in falling asleep won't be a problem tonight. I'm exhausted.
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