I think that I should start going to bed a little earlier. This morning's wakeup call wasn't as early as yesterday's, but it still took a few minutes for me to get up and going. We got all decked out in the prescribed wedding gear and then headed down to the waterfront. The photographer chick did her thing for a bit and I have now been photographed more in one day than I had been in the preceding ten years. I'm not really into that stuff, as you may have guessed.
Back over to the wedding place we did the good old hurry up and wait thing. Then the people filed in, the kids tied the knot, and everybody had a good time at the reception. It turns out, however, that being in the wedding party brings an additional requirement. Yes, folks, it is true... I was forced to dance to one song. I'm not really into that stuff, as you may have guessed. My bridesmaid partner chick was pretty cool though, so we'll just chalk it up as taking one for the team.
After the reception had ended, it was time for one man to stand against Mother Nature and put her in her place. There was a light rain falling, occasionally getting weaker or stronger but still falling in any case. Everybody, when the topic arose, seemed to agree that you can't have a campfire when it's raining. One man dared not only to build a campfire, but to build a campfire so large and hot that it would beat back the rain. There were various groups of people who would arrive and mingle for a bit, then retreat to their own personal cabins. Then others would arrive and repeat the process. The one constant through the night and into the wee hours of the morning was the blaze that beat back the rain. That fire burned until I said otherwise. Mother Nature had no vote in the matter. Aside from a few periods during which the rain picked up, I think I actually won that battle. My clothes were only slightly damp by the time I headed in to go to bed. Yeah, I've been called 'stubborn' at least once or twice in my life. I prefer 'persistent.'
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
6/5/09
Upon waking to see the sun coming through the windows of my hotel room, and still feeling inebriated from last night, the last thing that I wanted to do was get out of bed and play golf. So... I got up and drove to the golf course. Good times. Good times.
This afternoon brought a wedding rehearsal, meaning that this afternoon brought a great deal of boredom. Then a rather mediocre dinner was followed by a thoroughly dominating performance at the bowling alley. I rolled a 220 in my first game in a very long time and then backed it up with a 179. Not bad at all. I beat each of my brothers by more than 70 strokes for the two games. It's the small victories that matter.
Back at the lodge, my pyrotechnic talents were placed on full display. Rumor has it that the folks in the adjacent lodgings were trying to get a campfire started. Within a few minutes the gathering was centered around my fire. Nice weather, cold beer, and good friends... I think I may be getting spoiled.
I managed to get dragged into a protracted political discussion with my brother-in-law, so the sunrise over Lake Ann was an unwelcome sight. Damned circular arguments piss me off. I think I may manage to get a few hours of sleep here before my mother and my aunts start cooking breakfast. Fingers crossed and to bed I go...
This afternoon brought a wedding rehearsal, meaning that this afternoon brought a great deal of boredom. Then a rather mediocre dinner was followed by a thoroughly dominating performance at the bowling alley. I rolled a 220 in my first game in a very long time and then backed it up with a 179. Not bad at all. I beat each of my brothers by more than 70 strokes for the two games. It's the small victories that matter.
Back at the lodge, my pyrotechnic talents were placed on full display. Rumor has it that the folks in the adjacent lodgings were trying to get a campfire started. Within a few minutes the gathering was centered around my fire. Nice weather, cold beer, and good friends... I think I may be getting spoiled.
I managed to get dragged into a protracted political discussion with my brother-in-law, so the sunrise over Lake Ann was an unwelcome sight. Damned circular arguments piss me off. I think I may manage to get a few hours of sleep here before my mother and my aunts start cooking breakfast. Fingers crossed and to bed I go...
Thursday, June 4, 2009
6/4/09
So blogs are supposed to adress a given topic or sequence of topics, right? This one was created to answer the ever-present question - "What's it really like out there?" I would never posit that I'm a typical truck driver in any legitimate sense of the phrase, but I'm sure as hell not a recruiter or a company man so my observations can (in my opinion) provide an accurate answer to that question.
Unfortunately (or not), today had absolutely nothing to do with the established purpose of this particular blog. I enjoyed a good nine holes of golf and drank far too much beer and that will have to do. Good day to you.
Unfortunately (or not), today had absolutely nothing to do with the established purpose of this particular blog. I enjoyed a good nine holes of golf and drank far too much beer and that will have to do. Good day to you.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
6/3/09
Today's drive was a little more relaxing than my typical daily voyage. An early dinner at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth. A quick nine holes in some podunk town before the sun started to go down. A corner room at the Holiday Inn and a nice cool breeze coming in off the bay. Life could be a whole lot worse.I guess it's time to see if I can find any trouble on a Wednesday night.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
6/2/09
Yep. I'm sure as hell sitting on the couch and drinking a beer this time around. I feel like I worked harder than I do during most days on the road though. I spent the first few hours of the day getting home and then the rest of the day running around willy nilly and trying to get things done. I'm more or less set to go for Traverse City at this point. Good enough.
The Wings were kind enough to let Pittsburgh win a game so that they can wrap it up on Saturday. You folks may or may not know this, but we are soon to begin a bit of a tradition in my family. On June 7, 1997 (look it up) a certain dashing young lad took his marital vows. Yeah, so my wife turned out to be a psycho hose beast and I probably wasn't much of a husband. Don't lose sight of the narrative here. The Wings swept the Flyers and won the Stanley Cup that night. This Saturday, twelve years later, the lads will have a shot to win another Cup against another team of heathens from Pensylvania. And... the second of my parents' male offspring will sign his own personal deal with the devil. I kid because I care... or something. (The miserable marriage and angry divorce are officially not required in order to establish this tradition.)
I somehow seem to be slated for four hours of driving tomorrow. Taking a break to get off the road is a theory that I really should explore.
The Wings were kind enough to let Pittsburgh win a game so that they can wrap it up on Saturday. You folks may or may not know this, but we are soon to begin a bit of a tradition in my family. On June 7, 1997 (look it up) a certain dashing young lad took his marital vows. Yeah, so my wife turned out to be a psycho hose beast and I probably wasn't much of a husband. Don't lose sight of the narrative here. The Wings swept the Flyers and won the Stanley Cup that night. This Saturday, twelve years later, the lads will have a shot to win another Cup against another team of heathens from Pensylvania. And... the second of my parents' male offspring will sign his own personal deal with the devil. I kid because I care... or something. (The miserable marriage and angry divorce are officially not required in order to establish this tradition.)
I somehow seem to be slated for four hours of driving tomorrow. Taking a break to get off the road is a theory that I really should explore.
Monday, June 1, 2009
6/1/09
I may not be on my couch with a beer in my hand as I type this evening, but at least I'm in the right state. Thankfully I'm in the right state and not at Wright State though. They got eliminated from College World Series regional play over the weekend. Plus they're located in Dayton. That probably sucks.
I got over to my consignee this morning after slugging my way through a lot of traffic and a lot of red lights. I had been to the place before so the directions were familiar to me. Then, once I arrived, I promptly turned into the driveway of a neighboring warehouse instead of the correct one. I thought I would try to play it off all cool and threw my truck in reverse to get back to the correct driveway. Then I didn't do such a slick job at backing out into the street. I only held up traffic for a minute though. It wasn't so bad I guess.
After making my drop/hook and checking out with the security guard, I pulled around the corner and into the same driveway that I had started to enter the first time. That neighboring warehouse is unoccupied so it seemed like a decent place to hang out for a bit. I was #2 on the board and marked for home time. I expected to be moving fairly soon.
After a rather lengthy nap during which I never received an assignment, I woke and logged onto the web portal to check on my board status. #0 (assigned to a load). Okay then. No need to bitch about the power saving mode on the Qualcomm today. We know that story already. I fired up my truck and waited for my assignment to come across the satellite. And I waited. And I waited. After several minutes I still hadn't received any messages. Whatever. Maybe the assigned load had been unassigned or something. I shut my engine back off and grabbed my computer to look at my board status one more time. Then my message came across the satellite and the Qualcomm unit chirped at me.
My next pickup would be a drop/hook in Aurora that was heading to Canada. I would run the first leg and get it to Taylor, then start my seven or eight days of home time. The load assignment said that the appointment was for 2pm but the dispatch afforded me an extra few minutes, requiring me to arrive by 2:15pm. I decided to head eastward on I-80 and then go up the I-355 toll road instead of angling directly from New Lenox toward Aurora. I would be going a few miles out of the way but I hoped that it would be a quicker route. In an unusual twist, this turned out to be a great idea. There was hardly any traffic and I was able to get to the shipper by 2pm.
After checking in I was told that my load was not really going to be a drop/hook and that it would be a few hours until I was ready to roll. The CTL guy who was at the loading dock when I arrived said that he had been there since 9:30am. Yeesh. My wait wasn't quite that long but it was well over two hours before they had me loaded. In the interim I got the pleasure of blindsiding into a dock along a concrete wall with about a foot of room on my left. That's always a treat.
The Cliff's Notes version of today is that I spent several hours waiting on a new assignment and then spent a few hours waiting to be released with that next load. By the time I got back on the highway this evening, I was only able to make it to Benton Harbor before my 14 hour clock ran out. The rush hour traffic out of the Chicago area seems to be back to normal - shitty and slow. That's nice to see. I'll have to spend exactly ten hours here and then hit the road bright and early in order to get this trailer to the terminal in Taylor by my scheduled arrival time.
I think I made far too many commitments to spend an hour here and there doing this and that during the next week. My trip up north will probably be the easiest part of the whole time off. I prefer to have plenty of time to kick back and do absolutely nothing while I'm home, but I hardly have any friends as it is. Probably ought to honor my commitments at this point rather than alienate people. I'll manage. Yeah, I know... boo freaking hoo. I guess it has been a long day and I'm rambling a little. Goodnight then.
I got over to my consignee this morning after slugging my way through a lot of traffic and a lot of red lights. I had been to the place before so the directions were familiar to me. Then, once I arrived, I promptly turned into the driveway of a neighboring warehouse instead of the correct one. I thought I would try to play it off all cool and threw my truck in reverse to get back to the correct driveway. Then I didn't do such a slick job at backing out into the street. I only held up traffic for a minute though. It wasn't so bad I guess.
After making my drop/hook and checking out with the security guard, I pulled around the corner and into the same driveway that I had started to enter the first time. That neighboring warehouse is unoccupied so it seemed like a decent place to hang out for a bit. I was #2 on the board and marked for home time. I expected to be moving fairly soon.
After a rather lengthy nap during which I never received an assignment, I woke and logged onto the web portal to check on my board status. #0 (assigned to a load). Okay then. No need to bitch about the power saving mode on the Qualcomm today. We know that story already. I fired up my truck and waited for my assignment to come across the satellite. And I waited. And I waited. After several minutes I still hadn't received any messages. Whatever. Maybe the assigned load had been unassigned or something. I shut my engine back off and grabbed my computer to look at my board status one more time. Then my message came across the satellite and the Qualcomm unit chirped at me.
My next pickup would be a drop/hook in Aurora that was heading to Canada. I would run the first leg and get it to Taylor, then start my seven or eight days of home time. The load assignment said that the appointment was for 2pm but the dispatch afforded me an extra few minutes, requiring me to arrive by 2:15pm. I decided to head eastward on I-80 and then go up the I-355 toll road instead of angling directly from New Lenox toward Aurora. I would be going a few miles out of the way but I hoped that it would be a quicker route. In an unusual twist, this turned out to be a great idea. There was hardly any traffic and I was able to get to the shipper by 2pm.
After checking in I was told that my load was not really going to be a drop/hook and that it would be a few hours until I was ready to roll. The CTL guy who was at the loading dock when I arrived said that he had been there since 9:30am. Yeesh. My wait wasn't quite that long but it was well over two hours before they had me loaded. In the interim I got the pleasure of blindsiding into a dock along a concrete wall with about a foot of room on my left. That's always a treat.
The Cliff's Notes version of today is that I spent several hours waiting on a new assignment and then spent a few hours waiting to be released with that next load. By the time I got back on the highway this evening, I was only able to make it to Benton Harbor before my 14 hour clock ran out. The rush hour traffic out of the Chicago area seems to be back to normal - shitty and slow. That's nice to see. I'll have to spend exactly ten hours here and then hit the road bright and early in order to get this trailer to the terminal in Taylor by my scheduled arrival time.
I think I made far too many commitments to spend an hour here and there doing this and that during the next week. My trip up north will probably be the easiest part of the whole time off. I prefer to have plenty of time to kick back and do absolutely nothing while I'm home, but I hardly have any friends as it is. Probably ought to honor my commitments at this point rather than alienate people. I'll manage. Yeah, I know... boo freaking hoo. I guess it has been a long day and I'm rambling a little. Goodnight then.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
5/31/09
I need someone to answer for this one. On the following map you'll see Sandusky, Ohio. For those of us from the Great Lakes region, Sandusky is home to Cedar Point and some awesome roller coasters. For everyone else, it's the home of Callahan Auto Parts from Tommy Boy. Anyhow, I've circled Sandusky up there at the top of the map. You'll also see Upper Sandusky, where I stopped for fuel this afternoon. Now, I have an understanding of the meaning of the word 'upper' and this doesn't conform. I don't want to hear about rivers and all that nonsense either. If there is a city called Upper Sandusky, it needs to be above the city called Sandusky. This simply isn't right.
After staying up later than planned last night and sleeping later than planned this morning, I made my way westward across that confounding state. It was the kind of drive that I tend to enjoy most - a little bit of interstate driving and quite a bit of US highway driving, with smooth roads, good weather, and light traffic. As I crossed Indiana and approached Valparaiso, it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about where to stop for the night. US-30 is a fairly heavily traveled route so I had just assumed that I would find a truck stop somewhere around the Indiana/Illinois line and call it a day. I grabbed my directory to see what was around. It looked like Valparaiso would actually be my last shot unless I wanted to go quite a bit off route. I hung a right into the little Pilot in Valpo and found one open space. Nice. Trip planning at it's finest right there.
The process of getting my computer back to it's prior status has been coming along slowly but surely. In point of fact it's running quite a bit faster than it had been before the crash. Less clutter from old files and programs, I suppose. My connection speed seems to be pretty solid here so I guess it's time to kick back and watch some playoff hockey. Truckmiles.com says that it's 56 miles from here to New Lenox and the remaining stretch of US-30 gets pretty congested on weekdays. I imagine I'll allow for a couple of hours to my consignee. Then back on the board and hopefully homeward bound.
After staying up later than planned last night and sleeping later than planned this morning, I made my way westward across that confounding state. It was the kind of drive that I tend to enjoy most - a little bit of interstate driving and quite a bit of US highway driving, with smooth roads, good weather, and light traffic. As I crossed Indiana and approached Valparaiso, it occurred to me that I hadn't thought about where to stop for the night. US-30 is a fairly heavily traveled route so I had just assumed that I would find a truck stop somewhere around the Indiana/Illinois line and call it a day. I grabbed my directory to see what was around. It looked like Valparaiso would actually be my last shot unless I wanted to go quite a bit off route. I hung a right into the little Pilot in Valpo and found one open space. Nice. Trip planning at it's finest right there.
The process of getting my computer back to it's prior status has been coming along slowly but surely. In point of fact it's running quite a bit faster than it had been before the crash. Less clutter from old files and programs, I suppose. My connection speed seems to be pretty solid here so I guess it's time to kick back and watch some playoff hockey. Truckmiles.com says that it's 56 miles from here to New Lenox and the remaining stretch of US-30 gets pretty congested on weekdays. I imagine I'll allow for a couple of hours to my consignee. Then back on the board and hopefully homeward bound.
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