11/29/08

I went to bed a little later than expected last night. Consequently, I got out of bed a little later than expected today. So I wasn't much in the mood for driving. After knocking out a hundred miles or so, I stopped in at the Corleone family's East Texas estate for the night. I had about 14 total hours to drive and three days to do it, so I would have wound up taking a short day along the way anyhow. Might as well make today the short day and watch some football.

So it's a pretty safe bet that I won't be talking to anyone tonight. We know how that goes. My lads are playing the role of General Custer in this one. I'm going to borrow some inspiration from the ASU fans though, and go down swinging.

11/28/08

Well, we're back in the saddle and moseying along again. I hung around until this afternoon and then, having only moved up to #6, decided to take a nap. Once I was drifting into oblivion, I got beeped. Story of life.

There were quite a few choices available but it really came down to two options for me. One was just under a thousand miles with a Monday delivery and the other was 1,300 miles with a Tuesday delivery in Kentucky. The calculation in this case is whether or not to assume that I would get more than 300 miles after I delivered on Monday. I chose not to make that assumption and took the 1,300 mile run. You know, bird in the hand and whatnot. This gives me a few easy days of work over the weekend and wraps up my pay week with 2,531 miles. My $60 for Thanksgiving will definitely be on there as well. I sent in my layover request for having been on the board for over 48 hours, but never got a message saying that it had been paid. I guess we'll have to see about that one.

I stopped for a late lunch in Pearsall and got my mind right for the rest of the trip up Satan's Driveway. Then it was full speed ahead into the gauntlet. San Antonio and Austin brought the trucking version of hand-to-hand combat as always. Since the left lane is off limits though, it's like fighting with one hand tied behind my back. I got through there in decent shape and took another break on the north side of Austin before heading on into Lancaster.

So I find myself this evening at the glamorous terminal in lovely Lancaster, Texas. I guess I'll go to West Memphis tomorrow and scout for a location to watch the game. Do I think the lads will get their asses kicked? Probably. Do I think that a coaching change might be in store after a thorough ass-kicking, throwing the program into turmoil once again? Possibly. Am I somewhat expecting Mr. Weis and company to surprise more than a few of us? To quote the fine (and I do mean fine) governor from Alaska - "You betcha!"

11/27/08

And I sit... I guess this really shouldn't come as a surprise. I had a feeling that today would be no good if I didn't manage to get out of Laredo yesterday. Since we're supposed to be thankful today though, I'm thankful that I'm not a Lions fan. Wow. That was ugly.

I headed down into town to have some dinner earlier. As one would expect on a holiday, most of the restaurants were closed. Buffalo Wild Wings was open so I got a nice meal and watched football for a while. Our company Thanksgiving dinner reimbursement is up to fifteen dollars this year. My meal and appetizer came to just over fifteen bucks, so that worked out pretty well.

Then back to the yard. My number has steadily crept up all day, but it looks like I've stalled out at #7. Late tonight I'll go past 48 hours on the board. That will be worth sixty bucks. Plus my holiday pay will be worth another sixty bucks. I have a little over 1,200 miles in the bank so far. As long as the weekend can get me another thousand miles or so, I won't really have any reason to complain.

Hey, a bet on Notre Dame to win is paying $23.50 on Saturday! Miracle, anyone? This is just depressing. I could never have imagined the Irish paying more than 20:1 against anybody. "What 'tho the odds be great or small..."

11/26/08

Hey, I'm up to #32. That's something, right? Ah well, what can you do? I am nice and rested at the very least. It's time to really dial down the expectations now, since most of our customers will be a day behind for the next week after taking tomorrow off.

I think that the only thing worse than seeing your team open as a 29 point underdog is watching the line bet up to 32. Then there's the sneaking suspicion that the line probably should be even higher. And yet I still think that a coaching change would be a huge mistake this year. Weird.

So... the Red Wings are playing the Habs tonight. I guess I'll kick back and watch some hockey. That crazy bunch of Euros over at MyP2P come in pretty handy on days like this. I guess my little theory about getting to Laredo on Tuesday in order to be gone by Wednesday didn't exactly pan out, did it?

11/25/08

Any day involving Satan's Driveway is bound to test my patience. Today fell right in line. Actually, the slow stuff started before I even hit I-35 this time around. There was some kind of situation in Dallas on US-75. I'm not sure what exactly was going on, but the guys on the CB were indicating that the road had previously been closed. It was open when I got there but it was slow going.

Then we have the good old stretch from Dallas to Laredo. What is there to say, really? I did manage to yell at one lady loudly enough to give myself a bloody nose. That's pretty impressive I think. Austin was stopped for no apparent reason. Par for the course. San Antonio was down to one lane for construction. Par for the course. At least the left lane thing wouldn't have mattered too much today. Since I was so heavy I was forced just to grin and bear the slow spots. I couldn't really have accelerated into the left lane very often even if I had been allowed to do so.

After a break in Pearsall to calm myself down, I rolled into Laredo nice and late at night. I deliver any time after 9am tomorrow just down the road from here. I'm #55 on the board, so I have no idea what to expect. I guess the Mexicans probably don't celebrate Thanksgiving so Thursday might not be a total loss if I'm still here. There still could be freight coming across the border. Maybe? I don't know. Let's just hope they move me by tomorrow. That would be nice.

11/24/08

I think we're off to a pretty good start for the week. I made the last bit of the trip to my consignee this morning and didn't encounter much traffic. As I pulled into the parking lot I got a pre-plan for my next load, so things were pointing in the right direction. The grumpy peckerhead there had me unloaded in about fifteen minutes and I was back on the road.

I had to bounce to the east about eighty miles or so and make a pickup in Eddyville and then head for Laredo. Away from the arctic air = bueno. At the shipper, I was once again in and out within fifteen minutes. Can't beat that. I took U.S. highways for the most part today, with a few little stretches on the interstates sprinkled in. All told I made pretty good time, getting to Checotah, Oklahoma with around twenty minutes to spare on my 11 hour clock.

I'm due in Laredo by Wednesday afternoon, but it looks like I can get there tomorrow if I stay on the road all day. I would prefer to do so, since I have no idea what the freight situation will look like down there going into a holiday. Hopefully arriving tomorrow will enable me to get out of town by Wednesday. In any case I'll be over 1,200 miles for the week by Tuesday night, with hours available to work. So far, so good.

11/23/08

I managed to drag my ass out of bed and knock out a solid eight hours of driving today. Good enough. I stopped at the last rest area before Des Moines to answer nature's call and decided that I had gone far enough. From here I'll have about 25 miles to cover in the morning.

Whenever traffic is light and the weather is good, that westward trip along I-80 tends to be an easy one. Today the traffic was light and the weather was good. The Redskins also gave me a brief reprieve from the weekend's football misery. That's always good. And I'm not a Lions fan. That's always good. So, at least until my team gets blown out Saturday night, things could be worse.