5/27/10

On a recent trip across I-80 in Ohio, I spent the night outside Toledo and had dinner with my mother, who drove down from Lincoln Park.  I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular and neither was she, so I pulled up one of the groovy applications on my fancy cell phone and found that there was a Mexican restaurant not too far from the truck stop.  (Unfortunately we wound up at Frisch's, but that's another story entirely.)  We drove a couple of miles and found that the Mexican place had long since been shuttered.  You see that sort of thing a lot in the Midwest.  When my buddies came down and picked me up a couple of days ago, we had a conversation along the same lines as we drove down the street and saw all of the 'For Sale' and 'For Lease' signs.

While it may get a little depressing every now and then to sit back and wonder what this section of the country may have been like when it was the economic engine of the world, sometimes the current state of affairs can play to my advantage.  After a quick trip over to Fridley, Minnesota this morning, I was unloaded and sent on my way.  I found myself at #1 on the board so I was reasonably confident that a new assignment should come over the satellite before too long.  The nearest truck stops were at least twenty miles in either direction, so I really didn't want to drive to one of them.  Time to go scouting.  It has been my experience that any part of the country that was once a manufacturing center is bound to have a vacant building within a few miles of virtually any spot on the map.  I headed northward for about 3/4 of a mile or so and there it was.  A Home Depot store was on the left.  Right next to it was a vacant business.  Beauty... err, you know what I mean.

When I went to mail my rent check a few days ago, I realized that I didn't have any stamps.  Then I forgot about it.  Now the end of the month is fast approaching so I needed to find some stamps.  As I say on a regular basis, I wouldn't want to know what this job was like before the internet came along.  A quick visit to usps.com showed that I could buy stamps at a CVS on University Avenue.  Then a quick visit to maps.live.com showed that I was only half a mile away.  Not bad.  I headed over there and bought my stamps, then spotted a mailbox in front of a neighboring grocery store.  Mission accomplished.

By the time I got back to my truck, I had a new assignment waiting.  It was set to pick up in St. Paul at 3pm so I kicked back and relaxed for a while.  Hoping to get out of the area before the afternoon traffic kicked up, I drove down and arrived at the shipper at 1pm.  I was looking for a place called Northern Iron Machine.  I walked into the building in the following picture.  (Apologies for the bad picture quality from across the parking lot.  Given what I just told you though, you can figure out what the top name says.)

So I just go in and let them know I'm picking up a load, right?  That's what I thought.  I was treated to a rather rude reception though.  "You looking for General Foundry?" a worn-out looking gentleman asked.  No, I informed him, I'm picking up at Northern Iron Machine.  "Well you should go to Northern Iron Machine then," he retorted.  Apparently the name on the building is just for shits and giggles.  I don't know.  After seeing that I wasn't leaving until I knew what in the hell was going on, he gave in and told me that I was looking for the place on the other side of the parking lot.  Okay then.

Once I walked over to the proper building, I was loaded quickly and efficiently.  26,000 pounds isn't a super light load, but it's a hell of a lot better than what I've been hauling for most of this year.  And I managed to beat the traffic out of town.  I actually got pretty lucky in that respect today.  I-694 is down to one lane on the way into the Twin Cities, but I headed across so early this morning that there weren't any delays.  Then I came straight out on I-94 and everything was peachy.  That stretch in Wisconsin where everything was torn up on the westbound side was rough but unimpeded on the eastbound side.  Beauty.

I'm due in North Carolina by Tuesday morning, so I'll get to enjoy my usual holiday weekend pace.  Whenever these Monday holidays come around, I tend to catch an assignment that normally would deliver on Monday but gets pushed back to Tuesday.  This meant that I only had two objectives for this evening.  Firstly, I wanted to get far enough that I'll beat the afternoon traffic out of Chicago.  I don't like to wake very early, so somewhere within a few hours of the Windy City was in order.  Secondly, I wanted to get to a Pilot where I could top off the tanks, get an advance for some laundry money, and use my free shower credit after tonight's workout.  Mauston it is then.  (I was disappointed to learn that the town isn't actually named after former Notre Dame punter Eric Maust.)

It looks like I'm within 1,000 miles of my final destination in Sanford, North Carolina at this point.  Maybe I'll see one of the Corleone Family's many estates with truck parking along the way and take a day or two off.  Or maybe I'll just work a few hours a day.  I don't know.  We'll see how it goes.