I don't know exactly how the word 'vacation' is defined, but I suspect that I got suckered today. I went for a ride over to Gaylord with my father so that we could pick up a few supplies and get out of the house for a while. My brothers and my sister-in-law had already left to go snowboarding and my sister's kids were getting pretty loud. Getting out and about sounded like a good idea. At some point during the drive, the topic of firewood arose. We had some left from last night but not enough to get through the weekend. Dad mentioned that he had spotted some dead trees along one of the streets near our rental house. So, on my vacation, I got to trudge up the side of a mountain and carry logs back to the truck. Then, back at the house, I got to take turns with Dad as we sawed the logs into pieces that would fit in the fireplace. We were using a simple hand saw. That was big fun... or something.
Plenty of relaxation by the fire through the rest of the night helped to make it feel more like a vacation though. Good enough.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
12/18/09
It often gets overlooked, but Northern Michigan really is a beautiful slice of America at this time of year. Unfortunately I (along with everyone else) just lost to my youngest brother in a poker tournament to round out the night. Such is life. The drive up north was pleasant and relaxing. The weather was good. Our rental house at Boyne Mountain is rather impressive and the beer has flowed freely thus far. I can't complain.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
12/17/09
Spite is underrated. I had some unfinished business from my last trip back home. Today was the day that I was forced (in a liberal use of the term) to tend to this unfinished business. Never one to make things easy though, I left my full winter beard on prominent display. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it. Just accept the fact that bald dudes with grizzly beards are not exactly on the cutting edge of masculine attractiveness. The result of tonight's sociological experiment - it really doesn't matter. I'm an ugly bearded mofo and she just had to deal with it. Unfinished business concluded. Spiteful nature satisfied. Yeah, I can't stand that chick. So obviously it's amusing to me that things went as they did. I'm pretty manly... or something along those lines.
I think I'm riding up to Traverse City with my father tomorrow but I really don't know. Whatever. Somebody will call me in the morning and give me some kind of direction. Good enough. For now, I'm just pretty manly... or something along those lines.
I think I'm riding up to Traverse City with my father tomorrow but I really don't know. Whatever. Somebody will call me in the morning and give me some kind of direction. Good enough. For now, I'm just pretty manly... or something along those lines.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
12/16/09
Learning to deal with disappointment can be one of the biggest challenges in life. So, when I looked in the fridge a few minutes ago and found that there were only three beers left, I had to act like an adult and accept the situation. It's really freaking cold outside and I don't feel like going out for more provisions. I'm pretty disappointed, but not too badly. Thus, I'm overcoming life's challenges as we speak. Tony Robbins would be proud.
I'm almost to Season 8 of Seinfeld too. Such a successful streak of television watching can only serve to mitigate the consequences of a beer shortage. I don't know. I should probably do something productive tomorrow. Don't hold your breath though. It's really freaking cold outside.
I'm almost to Season 8 of Seinfeld too. Such a successful streak of television watching can only serve to mitigate the consequences of a beer shortage. I don't know. I should probably do something productive tomorrow. Don't hold your breath though. It's really freaking cold outside.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
12/15/09
Today probably wouldn't be classified as a productive one by many observers, but it's kind of a sliding scale. After all, I did make it to the bank in order to deposit my Christmas bonus. And I did make it to the post office in order to mail some correspondence. And I did make it to my truck in order to retrieve my dirty laundry and supplant my 2009 permits with their 2010 replacements. And I did make it to the party store on the corner in order to buy some beer. See there? Today was really a productive one after all.
On the subject of the Christmas bonus, I'm as confused as ever. Last year's bonus didn't seem to correspond with any number that I could track down. The CFI system was $25 for each year of service but the Con-way system is different. I never did figure out where the gross pay for last year's bonus originated. It must have related to something though, because this year's bonus was exactly 1.5 times last year's bonus, down to the penny. Weird. No complaints from me though. Free money is free money.
One more productive bit about today - I've watched a whole lot of Seinfeld episodes. We're almost to the end of Season 4. Beer and sitcoms... the stuff that dreams are made of.
On the subject of the Christmas bonus, I'm as confused as ever. Last year's bonus didn't seem to correspond with any number that I could track down. The CFI system was $25 for each year of service but the Con-way system is different. I never did figure out where the gross pay for last year's bonus originated. It must have related to something though, because this year's bonus was exactly 1.5 times last year's bonus, down to the penny. Weird. No complaints from me though. Free money is free money.
One more productive bit about today - I've watched a whole lot of Seinfeld episodes. We're almost to the end of Season 4. Beer and sitcoms... the stuff that dreams are made of.
Monday, December 14, 2009
12/14/09
Might as well mix in at least a little drama before it was time to go home, right? I rolled over to the consignee this morning and checked in with the forklift guy. He gave me the instructions that I expected - wait for the other trucks to leave the docks and then it would be my turn. After an hour or so, my turn came around.
One pallet came off without incident. A second came off without incident. The third had some busted boards on the pallet, but it was in somewhat decent shape. Then things got ugly. I was waiting for someone to point the finger at me as if I had ramped the trailer off a ski jump or something. The forklift guy seemed to have known that the issue was coming though. He said that he had been told to watch out for exactly this issue. Apparently the product had come from overseas on a boat. Then the shipping container was pulled to a logistics warehouse by truck. At the logistics place, the pallets were pulled out of the shipping container and put into our trailer. At some point along the way, something went wrong to the extent that a phone call was made to the consignee and a notation was made on the bills. "Few pallets damaged from container," the notation said. Understatement.
Long story short - there were several pallets that were completely crushed. The freight consisted of thick-walled metal cylinders and they were quite heavy. Thus, the boxes holding the freight had been torn apart as the weight shifted on the broken pallets. The forklift guy, his boss, and my Swedish buddy Sjoe wound up filling a couple of portable hoppers by hand. That took a little while. The other pallets stayed mostly intact to the extent that they could be unloaded by forklift. Good enough.
After bouncing over to the Flying J and parking to await my next assignment, I found myself on the board at #10. I tried to take a nap. You know... either I work for a bunch of morons (who send idiotic messages for no reason) or I work with a bunch of morons (who are confused by the first idiotic messages, requiring more to be sent). The answer, I assume, would depend on whom you ask. A series of satellite messages conspired to keep me from getting any sleep. First came a message to say that they need to know by the 16th if people are going home for Christmas. Another message to tell people that the first had been sent to everyone. Then another clarifying whatever the first one meant. Then something about locking trailers even when they're empty or whatever. I think there was something else along the way, but the point is that I never got a chance to fall asleep.
At 10:30am, after two hours on the board, I received the assignment that I expected - homeward bound. The benefit of sitting for two hours was that I missed the heaviest of the morning traffic on I-96. It was a little bit rainy outside and the roads were slick, so things weren't moving terribly quickly, but it was an easy enough drive.
After dropping my empty trailer and heading home, I found that I wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. Just taking a day to kick back and relax. The smart money would be on tomorrow following a similar pattern. I'll probably be forced to drink some beer tomorrow though. You know how that goes.
One pallet came off without incident. A second came off without incident. The third had some busted boards on the pallet, but it was in somewhat decent shape. Then things got ugly. I was waiting for someone to point the finger at me as if I had ramped the trailer off a ski jump or something. The forklift guy seemed to have known that the issue was coming though. He said that he had been told to watch out for exactly this issue. Apparently the product had come from overseas on a boat. Then the shipping container was pulled to a logistics warehouse by truck. At the logistics place, the pallets were pulled out of the shipping container and put into our trailer. At some point along the way, something went wrong to the extent that a phone call was made to the consignee and a notation was made on the bills. "Few pallets damaged from container," the notation said. Understatement.
Long story short - there were several pallets that were completely crushed. The freight consisted of thick-walled metal cylinders and they were quite heavy. Thus, the boxes holding the freight had been torn apart as the weight shifted on the broken pallets. The forklift guy, his boss, and my Swedish buddy Sjoe wound up filling a couple of portable hoppers by hand. That took a little while. The other pallets stayed mostly intact to the extent that they could be unloaded by forklift. Good enough.
After bouncing over to the Flying J and parking to await my next assignment, I found myself on the board at #10. I tried to take a nap. You know... either I work for a bunch of morons (who send idiotic messages for no reason) or I work with a bunch of morons (who are confused by the first idiotic messages, requiring more to be sent). The answer, I assume, would depend on whom you ask. A series of satellite messages conspired to keep me from getting any sleep. First came a message to say that they need to know by the 16th if people are going home for Christmas. Another message to tell people that the first had been sent to everyone. Then another clarifying whatever the first one meant. Then something about locking trailers even when they're empty or whatever. I think there was something else along the way, but the point is that I never got a chance to fall asleep.
At 10:30am, after two hours on the board, I received the assignment that I expected - homeward bound. The benefit of sitting for two hours was that I missed the heaviest of the morning traffic on I-96. It was a little bit rainy outside and the roads were slick, so things weren't moving terribly quickly, but it was an easy enough drive.
After dropping my empty trailer and heading home, I found that I wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. Just taking a day to kick back and relax. The smart money would be on tomorrow following a similar pattern. I'll probably be forced to drink some beer tomorrow though. You know how that goes.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
12/13/09
With an easy day of work behind me and plenty of time to kill, I fired up a game of Civilization III. I hadn't played it in quite some time. Now I remember why. Time can get away from you in a hurry if you're not paying attention. The damned Russians tried to sneak-attack from my southern border and, by the time I exterminated them (and the Koreans who came to their aid), the night had gone far later than I intended. Bummer.
I was glad to see that the temperature got into the 40's during today's drive, meaning rain instead of snow or ice. The weather screen at the service plaza where I spent last night seemed to indicate that there was some icy weather in Pennsylvania. It would then seem that I'm still one day ahead of the trouble. Maybe this can remain true for just a little longer. Ice storms don't bother me much when I'm on my couch, after all.
The 280 mile drive up to Saginaw was about as easy as one might expect. Aside from the low-flow shower heads at the Pilot in Blissfield, I would have to say that everything was peachy keen. Tomorrow brings a 6am wake-up call though, so I had better try and nod off for a little while. I only have around two miles to drive in order to reach the consignee but I'm not sure what's in store after that.
I was glad to see that the temperature got into the 40's during today's drive, meaning rain instead of snow or ice. The weather screen at the service plaza where I spent last night seemed to indicate that there was some icy weather in Pennsylvania. It would then seem that I'm still one day ahead of the trouble. Maybe this can remain true for just a little longer. Ice storms don't bother me much when I'm on my couch, after all.
The 280 mile drive up to Saginaw was about as easy as one might expect. Aside from the low-flow shower heads at the Pilot in Blissfield, I would have to say that everything was peachy keen. Tomorrow brings a 6am wake-up call though, so I had better try and nod off for a little while. I only have around two miles to drive in order to reach the consignee but I'm not sure what's in store after that.
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