3/8/10

You know what's pretty cool? Going home, setting up a new laptop, seeing that it works fine, heading back out on the road, and then discovering that your new laptop's touchpad only works when the power cord is disconnected. Obviously something ain't kosher with the voltage of my $20 power inverter. The power cord charges the battery and powers the computer fine, but I have to run on straight battery power if I want to use the touchpad. Always something. Oh well, what are you gonna do? Maybe I'll have to get that real inverter installed one of these days. It's been sitting in my cabinet since I moved into this truck.

As far as first days back at work go, I suppose today was good enough. I called the terminal bright and early to get myself on the board and then went back to bed for a couple of hours. By the time I woke again, I had an assignment waiting for me. It didn't pick up until 3pm though. Beauty. Back to bed for a while.

Once I got up to the yard and set about my business, I ran into one of the guys that participates on the topdriverboards.com site. I ran into ole Tomcat in Taylor once a couple of years ago, so I guess our paths are set to cross on a biannual basis. After a brief chat and a topoff of the fuel tanks, I had to roll up to the old Detroit Diesel plant on the southwest edge of Detroit. My shipper was actually an axle manufacturer, but it's all part of the same facility these days. Some bad instructions from the security guard left me in the unfortunate position of trying to get turned around in very tight quarters, so that's always fun. Eventually I got my empty trailer dropped and my loaded one connected.

The trip is taking me down to South Carolina for a delivery by 5pm tomorrow, so I was afforded some level of flexibility in my scheduling. As long as I knocked out at least 100-200 miles today, I would be easily within a single driving shift of the consignee. I decided to get through Columbus and then see how I felt from there. Given my ludicrous behavior and sleep patterns during my time at home, it's anybody's guess how long I can go without getting tired once I get back to work. I was doing pretty well as I rolled through the southeastern part of Ohio though. Might as well keep rolling.

The issue that was sure to arise next was one of parking. I started to get sick of the road by the time I rolled onto the West Virginia Turnpike. I don't typically have a lot of luck parking in this Godforsaken state, but there are no guarantees in Virginia late at night either. I stopped in at one rest area and found nothing, so the next chance would be the big service plaza in Beckley. After inching my way through a few rows of parked trucks, things weren't looking too good. Every space was full and people were parked in every non-space that could be created. I circled back toward the entrance and gave myself a little pep talk. Might be a long night after all, it seemed.

I had to do a double-take as I passed what appeared to be an open space next to a dumpster. It wasn't clear at first glance whether or not the spot was actually wide enough. It turned out to be a real-life parking space with lines and everything. Beauty. I still haven't managed to figure out why the breaks seem to fall my way most of the time. I'm certainly not one who has earned much of anything. I'll take it though.

It looks like I have somewhere on the order of 250 miles to drive tomorrow before my 5pm scheduled delivery. My plan summary says that it's another drop/hook so I suppose there shouldn't be any harm if I decide to get there a little early. We'll see how I sleep tonight. Last night involved a lot of tossing and turning. Getting moving before noon shouldn't be too tough in any event. As long as this chick isn't heading northward, I don't think I should encounter any delays.