I suppose that we can almost always find silver linings in our clouds as long as we care to look. I may not be able to watch much football this season, but at least I haven't had to see the shit sandwiches that my Irish keep serving up. For those of you who care to note such things, this is not a surprise to me. Fucking amateur hour, brought to you by our latest amateur coach. Last week we passed up an easy field goal at the end of the first half, instead choosing to let our third string quarterback throw the ball into the stands as time expired. Football for Dummies - Chapter One.
This week we wasted thirty seconds after a fumble that had been ruled an incomplete pass, failing to snap the ball before the replay guys can chime in and take the ball away. Football for Dummies - Chapter Two. We went for it on fourth and 2 in our own territory instead of punting the ball and giving Michigan State a long field. Of course we failed to convert and they got the ball in our territory. Football for Dummies - Chapter Three. After somehow managing to get the ball back after an exchange of punts, we didn't try to get into field goal range and win the game. Instead we played for overtime, even though our defense couldn't stop my grandmother. Football for Dummies - Chapter Four. After our defense managed to make a huge play for perhaps the first time in ten years, forcing a long field goal attempt, we were caught unprepared and lost the game on a fake. Football for Dummies - Chapter Five.
Another silver lining issue was that of detention pay. After my first stop in Grand Blanc I was heading down US-23 toward Howell when I blew a drive tire. It took almost three hours for me to get rolling again. That pretty much sucked, but at least it'll tack around fifty bucks onto the old paycheck. It was a nuisance to have to wait, and it caused some scheduling issues for me in terms of tomorrow, but a buck is a buck. I'll take it where I can get it.
Tomorrow will bring my typical Sunday run to Flint and Saginaw. I was scheduled to pull at 12:15pm but, since I got delayed so much tonight, I'll have to start at 1pm. Even though my last two stops went quickly and easily, I didn't finish my shift until just before 3am. Ten hours of down time are mandated by the feds, so 1pm it is. I made sure to hit the weights as aggressively as possible but didn't want to be at the gym all night, so I scaled back my cardio work. Now at least I have a sporting chance to get a little sleep before I head back to work. The actual process of getting to sleep might be another story entirely, but we'll give it a shot.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
9/17/10
Two things crossed my mind as I got out of bed this morning.
#1 - Shit, I'm aching from head to toe. It's about time to take a day off from that damned gym and drink a few beers instead. This fitness stuff is all well and good, but I haven't been drinking nearly enough alcohol lately. A fella needs to have some way to distract himself from the boring reality that has become his life. Plus I'd kinda like to die before this country descends into full-scale civil war. I do eat plenty of red meat, but my alcohol consumption has trailed off as of late.
#2 - My Irish don't begin their loss to Michigan State until 8pm tomorrow. I should be able to catch the second half after I get done with work in the evening. Saturdays don't tend to be very busy and, with the exception of last week, I usually catch an early pull time on Saturday.
So... This afternoon's milk run was about as flawless as they can be. My first stop in Flint was at one of the Kroger locations with no loading dock. In the absence of a dock, you tend to want the milk to be on the tailgate (for obvious reasons). First stop = milk on the tailgate. Half hour, in and out. Beauty.
My second stop was in Mount Morris. On my last trip to that store, the power jack wasn't functioning properly. The receiving dude and I had to pull the milk out of my trailer with a manual pallet jack. By the time I showed up today, the power jack had been repaired and all was right with the world. I got all of the milk delivered for that stop and also rotated my remaining milk to the tailgate, all within 45 minutes. Good deal.
The final stop in Frankenmuth only took a half hour, after which I was headed back to the dairy to wrap up a nice and easy shift. Only the gym issue remained. With the way that my workout schedule falls, today would have been a logical time to take a day off. I worked out my back last night and that workout takes its toll on my biceps. My arms are next in the rotation, so it's usually good to take a day off after the back workout and let everything rest. Then I can charge through the next several days and get all muscular and shit (or whatever).
I wasn't intending to take tonight off though. Since I'm one of thelittle bitches proud Teamsters at Quickway, I have to work on Saturdays. Maybe some day I'll have higher seniority, but we're not there yet. So I thought that I would go ahead and knock out my arm workout tonight, then take tomorrow night off and find somewhere to watch the football game. This likely would be the best outcome for which I could hope.
After I dropped off tonight's paperwork I got the really good news. My pull time for tomorrow is 6:30pm. I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. It must be two months since I've had such a late pull time. So, of course, when there's a night game that I might actually be able to watch... there we go. Back to the late pulls.
Since I won't be watching football (or doing anything else fun) tomorrow night, I went ahead and took tonight as my rest period. My body was rather grateful, although the Notre Dame fan in me was disappointed in the way that things turned out. Bummer.
Grand Blanc, Hartland, and South Lyon tomorrow. Starting at 6:30pm and screwing me out of watching the game is bad enough. When we add in the fact that these three stops all suck and this run pays just a few cents above the daily minimum... well... you can figure it out. Another day in paradise will surely arrive before too long.
#1 - Shit, I'm aching from head to toe. It's about time to take a day off from that damned gym and drink a few beers instead. This fitness stuff is all well and good, but I haven't been drinking nearly enough alcohol lately. A fella needs to have some way to distract himself from the boring reality that has become his life. Plus I'd kinda like to die before this country descends into full-scale civil war. I do eat plenty of red meat, but my alcohol consumption has trailed off as of late.
#2 - My Irish don't begin their loss to Michigan State until 8pm tomorrow. I should be able to catch the second half after I get done with work in the evening. Saturdays don't tend to be very busy and, with the exception of last week, I usually catch an early pull time on Saturday.
So... This afternoon's milk run was about as flawless as they can be. My first stop in Flint was at one of the Kroger locations with no loading dock. In the absence of a dock, you tend to want the milk to be on the tailgate (for obvious reasons). First stop = milk on the tailgate. Half hour, in and out. Beauty.
My second stop was in Mount Morris. On my last trip to that store, the power jack wasn't functioning properly. The receiving dude and I had to pull the milk out of my trailer with a manual pallet jack. By the time I showed up today, the power jack had been repaired and all was right with the world. I got all of the milk delivered for that stop and also rotated my remaining milk to the tailgate, all within 45 minutes. Good deal.
The final stop in Frankenmuth only took a half hour, after which I was headed back to the dairy to wrap up a nice and easy shift. Only the gym issue remained. With the way that my workout schedule falls, today would have been a logical time to take a day off. I worked out my back last night and that workout takes its toll on my biceps. My arms are next in the rotation, so it's usually good to take a day off after the back workout and let everything rest. Then I can charge through the next several days and get all muscular and shit (or whatever).
I wasn't intending to take tonight off though. Since I'm one of the
After I dropped off tonight's paperwork I got the really good news. My pull time for tomorrow is 6:30pm. I don't care who you are, that's funny right there. It must be two months since I've had such a late pull time. So, of course, when there's a night game that I might actually be able to watch... there we go. Back to the late pulls.
Since I won't be watching football (or doing anything else fun) tomorrow night, I went ahead and took tonight as my rest period. My body was rather grateful, although the Notre Dame fan in me was disappointed in the way that things turned out. Bummer.
Grand Blanc, Hartland, and South Lyon tomorrow. Starting at 6:30pm and screwing me out of watching the game is bad enough. When we add in the fact that these three stops all suck and this run pays just a few cents above the daily minimum... well... you can figure it out. Another day in paradise will surely arrive before too long.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
9/16/10
I learned something today. If I'm ever forced to spend some time in the hospital, I'm sure as hell not going to one around here. I'm heading northward.
My father had his knee replaced on Tuesday, so I drove out to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak to hang out with him for a while today. Mom has been keeping an eye on him, but she has to leave and pick up my niece from school in the afternoon. (Stop the press! My brother-in-law has a job. And he's into his second week without quitting or getting fired. This is epic stuff here.) Now, back to the narrative... Since my sister and her husband are both employed now, Mom gets to play the role of part-time chauffeur and part-time babysitter. Dad is still having a tough time getting around, so I figured I might as well fill in for a while on my day off. After seeing that hospital I have to say - damn. I've had enough injuries to last three lifetimes, as well as a couple of kidney stone incidents in my life so far. That place in Royal Oak is like a five star resort compared to the hospitals where I've been treated.
I also learned that I hope I never need a knee replacement. Oy. It looks like he was a victim of the Texas chainsaw massacre or something. My legs have been battered and beaten over the years, so it's probably only a matter of time, but oy.
After sleeping late, spending some time at the bookstore, fighting the traffic through a pretty wicked thunderstorm, and hanging around the hospital all afternoon, my day off wound up going by pretty quickly. C'est la vie. I still had time for a quick power nap tonight before heading out to the gym. My pull time for tomorrow is set for 1pm so I may manage to get a little rest before it's time to get cracking again. Only one load thus far for tomorrow. Assuming that I get done working and lifting weights somewhat early and assuming that my boring friends remain boring, I've got some fresh reading material to keep me occupied. Good enough. "At least you sleep in your own bed every night..." Bah.
My father had his knee replaced on Tuesday, so I drove out to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak to hang out with him for a while today. Mom has been keeping an eye on him, but she has to leave and pick up my niece from school in the afternoon. (Stop the press! My brother-in-law has a job. And he's into his second week without quitting or getting fired. This is epic stuff here.) Now, back to the narrative... Since my sister and her husband are both employed now, Mom gets to play the role of part-time chauffeur and part-time babysitter. Dad is still having a tough time getting around, so I figured I might as well fill in for a while on my day off. After seeing that hospital I have to say - damn. I've had enough injuries to last three lifetimes, as well as a couple of kidney stone incidents in my life so far. That place in Royal Oak is like a five star resort compared to the hospitals where I've been treated.
I also learned that I hope I never need a knee replacement. Oy. It looks like he was a victim of the Texas chainsaw massacre or something. My legs have been battered and beaten over the years, so it's probably only a matter of time, but oy.
After sleeping late, spending some time at the bookstore, fighting the traffic through a pretty wicked thunderstorm, and hanging around the hospital all afternoon, my day off wound up going by pretty quickly. C'est la vie. I still had time for a quick power nap tonight before heading out to the gym. My pull time for tomorrow is set for 1pm so I may manage to get a little rest before it's time to get cracking again. Only one load thus far for tomorrow. Assuming that I get done working and lifting weights somewhat early and assuming that my boring friends remain boring, I've got some fresh reading material to keep me occupied. Good enough. "At least you sleep in your own bed every night..." Bah.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
9/15/10
Heh. Guess what I did today. I sat at a loading dock for an hour. This used to be part of the usual deal for me but, even though it hasn't been that long since I switched companies, it seemed like quite a change of pace.
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
9/14/10
You know what pisses me off? Well, a lot of things, actually. I'm sure we've established that after nearly 1,200 of these posts. But do you know what pisses me off at this moment? Of course you don't. I'll have to tell you.
In the midst of today's first run, I got a call from the dispatcher at work. He had me lined up for a load leaving the dairy at 10am tomorrow and wanted to make sure that I would be done by midnight tonight, so that I would complete a ten hour break in time. No problem on that front. Today's two loads and $246 in earnings took just over nine hours. There were no major issues along the way and the Kroger employees that I encountered were all helpful and efficient. I was done before 10pm. Beauty.
Tomorrow's assignment made me curious though. I'm heading down to Eighty Four, Pennsylvania in the morning. I'll drop off a loaded trailer at a dairy down there and bring back an empty. Apparently this can be done within one hardcore driving shift, so I'll be back at a decent hour tomorrow night. And I'll earn a nice chunk of change along the way. I'm not sure exactly what the paid mileage will be, but at 45.4 cents per mile and $13.65 for the one stop, it should be rather agreeable to me. That's all well and good.
But here's what pisses me off. Eighty Four. What in the hell does that mean? Surely it's not a tribute to my uniform number when I was a junior varsity wide receiver at Lincoln Park High School. (My varsity number was 83.) So what does it mean? Wikipedia basically says that nobody knows for sure. Some other website says that there are conflicting stories. Everything else that came up in my Google search was essentially worthless. That pisses me off.
On a positive note, now I know where the name 84 Lumber originated.
I'm not too optimistic about this sleep thing, but I need to get to bed. 10am will come in a hurry. I did knock out a pretty intense leg workout at the gym not too long ago. Them there's some big muscles, so they should have depleted my energy reserves a little. We'll just pop a couple of Tylenol PM's and hope for the best.
(Anyone who was around in the late 1800's can feel free to chime in with some insight about that town's name. It pisses me off.)
In the midst of today's first run, I got a call from the dispatcher at work. He had me lined up for a load leaving the dairy at 10am tomorrow and wanted to make sure that I would be done by midnight tonight, so that I would complete a ten hour break in time. No problem on that front. Today's two loads and $246 in earnings took just over nine hours. There were no major issues along the way and the Kroger employees that I encountered were all helpful and efficient. I was done before 10pm. Beauty.
Tomorrow's assignment made me curious though. I'm heading down to Eighty Four, Pennsylvania in the morning. I'll drop off a loaded trailer at a dairy down there and bring back an empty. Apparently this can be done within one hardcore driving shift, so I'll be back at a decent hour tomorrow night. And I'll earn a nice chunk of change along the way. I'm not sure exactly what the paid mileage will be, but at 45.4 cents per mile and $13.65 for the one stop, it should be rather agreeable to me. That's all well and good.
But here's what pisses me off. Eighty Four. What in the hell does that mean? Surely it's not a tribute to my uniform number when I was a junior varsity wide receiver at Lincoln Park High School. (My varsity number was 83.) So what does it mean? Wikipedia basically says that nobody knows for sure. Some other website says that there are conflicting stories. Everything else that came up in my Google search was essentially worthless. That pisses me off.
On a positive note, now I know where the name 84 Lumber originated.
I'm not too optimistic about this sleep thing, but I need to get to bed. 10am will come in a hurry. I did knock out a pretty intense leg workout at the gym not too long ago. Them there's some big muscles, so they should have depleted my energy reserves a little. We'll just pop a couple of Tylenol PM's and hope for the best.
(Anyone who was around in the late 1800's can feel free to chime in with some insight about that town's name. It pisses me off.)
Monday, September 13, 2010
9/13/10
Yeah, this day had a pretty predictable outcome. Sleep through the morning. Get up for a while. Go back to bed. Get up again in the evening. Do a bunch of laundry. Realize that it's getting late. Go to the gym for a couple of hours. Come home. Start to write a blog post and realize that my day was pretty useless. Write the post anyway, since that's what I do.
Two loads tomorrow, so at least something productive should occur.
Two loads tomorrow, so at least something productive should occur.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
9/12/10
♫ I'm having trouble trying to sleep
I'm counting sheep but running out
As time ticks by
And still I try
No rest for crosstops in my mind
On my own... here we go
My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed
Dried up and bulging out my skull
My mouth is dry
My face is numb
fucked up and spun out in my room
On my own... here we go ♫
I got done with my second trailer just before midnight. So far, so good. My subsequent workout was every bit as intense as it should be, but I wouldn't call it quick. I got out to my car and headed toward home at 2:30am. Oy. And now here I sit, watching night turn into morning. I'll get to bed pretty soon here, but there's not much chance that I'll get an early start on my day off. Bummer.
Apparently ole Uncle Joe did okay with the birthday gift selection for little Madasyn. I got a note from my sister saying that my niece was pretty excited to try out her fashion design kit. (It's basically just a silk screen, but 'fashion design' sounds more fun.) She put together the following arrangement on one of the shirts that I included.
Birds on the left, butterflies on the right. I dig it. Sort of a brightly colored reflection on nature or something. She decided that she wants to wear her new shirt to school tomorrow, and tank tops are not allowed, so that's where the pink t-shirt comes into the equation. Overall, I must say that she did a pretty impressive job for a seven year old. Also overall, I must say that maybe I don't need any women around to do my shopping after all. As Forrest Gump would say - "Good. That's one less thing..."
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