In all honesty, sitting at a loading dock was a lot more enjoyable under the previous arrangement. Back then I had books, a computer, a bed, and so forth. Today I had only my cell phone. It's no secret that I have a contentious relationship with that damned thing. It's supposed to be mainly for phone calls, with a few other features thrown in for good measure. We all know how people use cell phones these days though, and we also know what I think about it.
Another thing that was more enjoyable under the Con-way Truckload banner was the toll situation. By the time Ohio got around to adopting the EZ Pass system, I could go pretty much anywhere other than Kansas and Florida without stopping to pay the tab. Today I had to stop a few times and hand over some cash. I had forgotten just how expensive that shit can be. From I-280 to the Pennsylvania line - $28.00. For the little stretch once I entered Pennsylvania - $15.45. Back out of Pennsylvania - free. Then from the state line back to I-280 - another $28.00. Damn. So... that's why they gave me a $100 advance before I left. I get it now.
I had some basic directions to today's consignee before I left Michigan. It wasn't another dairy as I previously had thought. It was a little rinky-dink warehouse/logistics place located along one of the littlest podunk roads that I've ever seen. (Hence the live unload and the hour at the loading dock.) The satellite and aerial views don't do it justice, so I didn't bother to include them here, but I encountered one of those brief moments that will pucker the ole sphincter. After turning westward onto PA-136, I crossed a bridge and turned left onto 84 Drive, just as my directions said to do. This is when the doubts began to creep into my mind. 84 Drive was a tiny road running down a steep hill with a mini forest on each side. The next step, according to my directions, would be to hang a right at the bottom of the hill.
"Dear sweet Lord, please let these directions be right." That's the exact sentiment that went through my mind when it was time to make the right turn. It had every appearence of a wrong turn onto a dead-end residential street. Adding in the fact that the turn took me through some sort of skinny cutout in a rock formation, I wasn't feeling terribly comfortable. Once I had made my way through the opening, I thought that it would be time to exhale. Nope. What to my wondering eyes should appear but a semi truck coming right at me. You see, 84 Drive is only the width of a lane and a half once it curls between the rocks. I had to go halfway off the road on my side and the other fella had to go halfway off the road on his side. We got past each other though. And neither of us managed to roll over. Good times. Good times.
I found my consignee right down the road after getting past the other truck. Following my hour at the dock, it was time to head back to Michigan with my empty trailer. The drive back wasn't bad at all and I wrapped up my shift by 11:30pm. Off to the gym then... Tonight's workout was fairly intense and quite productive, so that part is nice. We'll see how I feel in the morning.
I'll wrap up by leaving you with a mishmash of crap that has found its way to me this evening.
First - this is the Chris Matthews that I recall from the early days of Hardball. Back in the good old days he didn't try to hide the fact that he was a liberal Tip O'Neill acolyte, but he did make an effort to provide straight analysis. Sometimes he was successful in doing so and sometimes not so much, but he tried. In recent years, in my opinion, he has become a caricature of himself. Every now and then though, ole Chris manages to forget his partisan hack persona and offer something worth seeing. I believe he did so in the following clip. Your mileage may vary.
Second, I'm only a few weeks from getting my union card and all of the responsibilities that come with it. So... How in the hell will I be able to carry out my newly assigned voting duties when my newly assigned party's newly designed logo looks like something a first grader created on his Commodore 64? Seriously guys...
And finally, just so you ladies are aware. I'm completely free of stress, yet I still have a little bit of alpha male in me. In other words, I'm fairly "chill." Just so you know.
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