Apparently conventional wisdom holds that truck drivers drive eleven hours a day. Thankfully, I never got that memo. I drive more like eight hours a day on average. This was my second eleven in a row and I'm hoping there's not a third. I just don't have the attention span for it. I hardly ever get sleepy (reference my numerous complaints about tossing and turning) but I do get tired of driving. Today was a much easier drive than yesterday. That helped a little. The terrain was flatter, the traffic was light, and the weather was cloudy and 50 degrees. Really an ideal kind of day. Eleven hours is just a long ass time to be on the road.
So... early morning wake up call tomorrow. I made it to northern Missouri tonight, but there's much work to be done in order to reach Rockford by tomorrow afternoon. Depending on what kind of deadhead I get from there, tomorrow could turn out to be the third full driving day in a row. I am trying to recall if that has ever happened to me, but nothing really comes to mind. I'm sure I've pulled three in a row once or twice, and I'm sure I didn't enjoy it. I am thinking I'll grab one more load after this one and then put in for home time.
Not much else to say tonight, I guess. I did learn something though. I'm always happy to share learning experiences. There is a radio show dedicated to scuba diving. In actuality I think there's a syndicated network, but I only heard one show. Anyhow, I have no interest in scuba diving. I do, however, have an interest in mermaids. Well wouldn't you know it - the special guest was a mermaid. Having a party in Florida any time soon? Maybe give Mermaid Nikki a call. I'm just sayin'...
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Saturday, January 5, 2008
1/5/08
You know what sucks about driving for eleven hours? It takes eleven hours. Today I kept looking for a fast forward button, but I couldn't find one.
After running back and forth along the Columbia last week, I went online and found a download of Oregon Trail, so I've been playing that quite a bit lately. In the spirit of adventure, there was no way I was staying on the interstate today. I angled up through Arizona and New Mexico, starting out along US-60. I got to go across Salt River Canyon, which is a drive I recommend everyone make... once. It was freaking intense. There were a series of hairpin switchbacks taking us down the wall on one side of the canyon. Then, after the bridge across the river at the bottom, another series of hairpin switchbacks scaled the wall on the other side. As I climbed the east side, I got a good look at the road I had just traveled down the west side. Holy shit! That's one of those roads you look at and think, "There's no way people could drive a truck there." Well, your loyal blogger did today and it was fun. It would have been more fun with a light load, but I'll take my diversions where I can get them.
I knew that I needed to cover some serious ground today, so I was targeting somewhere past Tucumcari. I also knew that I wouldn't have any luck getting a wireless signal anywhere outside the major cities. I've been in the midst of a few e-mail exchanges that I would have liked to catch up with friends, so I tried to stop at the Flying J in Tucumcari. That was almost at the eleven hour mark, so stopping a few minutes short wasn't going to kill me. I don't know if there's an actual definition for the word 'clusterfuck,' but the illustration would probably involve that Flying J. What a mess. So I headed back out onto US-54 and went a little further north. No wireless signal. C'est la vie. I'll get caught up tomorrow. Sorry Mandy.
After running back and forth along the Columbia last week, I went online and found a download of Oregon Trail, so I've been playing that quite a bit lately. In the spirit of adventure, there was no way I was staying on the interstate today. I angled up through Arizona and New Mexico, starting out along US-60. I got to go across Salt River Canyon, which is a drive I recommend everyone make... once. It was freaking intense. There were a series of hairpin switchbacks taking us down the wall on one side of the canyon. Then, after the bridge across the river at the bottom, another series of hairpin switchbacks scaled the wall on the other side. As I climbed the east side, I got a good look at the road I had just traveled down the west side. Holy shit! That's one of those roads you look at and think, "There's no way people could drive a truck there." Well, your loyal blogger did today and it was fun. It would have been more fun with a light load, but I'll take my diversions where I can get them.
I knew that I needed to cover some serious ground today, so I was targeting somewhere past Tucumcari. I also knew that I wouldn't have any luck getting a wireless signal anywhere outside the major cities. I've been in the midst of a few e-mail exchanges that I would have liked to catch up with friends, so I tried to stop at the Flying J in Tucumcari. That was almost at the eleven hour mark, so stopping a few minutes short wasn't going to kill me. I don't know if there's an actual definition for the word 'clusterfuck,' but the illustration would probably involve that Flying J. What a mess. So I headed back out onto US-54 and went a little further north. No wireless signal. C'est la vie. I'll get caught up tomorrow. Sorry Mandy.
Friday, January 4, 2008
1/4/08
Upon first glance, I'd say today was a damn good day, but I try to be as objective as possible. Let's take a look.
1/3/08 "That usually means that I can find somewhere to park, even if it's not technically somewhere that I should park."
Yep, plenty of on-street parking down there. The signs said 2 hour limit, but there were lots of trucks and nobody bothered us.
1/3/08 "If I leave early enough, I should be able to beat the morning rush."
Yep, got down in the middle of the night. Traffic was about as light as you'll ever see it in LA.
1/3/08 "North sounds bad as far as this weekend goes, so I'm crossing my fingers for something going east out of Calexico or Otay Mesa."
Close, but even better. I picked up in Holtville, which is along I-8. Same general concept but I didn't have to deal with any of those border drop lots. From there, I was dispatched to Rockford, Illinois. I get to leave the mountains for a while and go back to the midwest where I belong.
1/3/08 "If you know anything about me, you know that this paragraph guarantees me a run back up I-5."
Nope. The other guy who dropped off at the same place as I did and picked up at the same place as I did... He's headed to Kent, Washington. I win!
1/2/08 "Weekend runs out of California tend to be pretty long, so that's at least a little promising."
Yep. 200+ miles on the deadhead, with almost 2,000 loaded miles to Rockford. Very productive weekend indeed.
1/2/08 "Of course I'll probably get to enjoy all of the snow that is apparently going to pound those damn mountains in the next couple of days."
Nope. The mountains on I-8 were nice and smooth and I crossed them with an empty trailer. Beauty.
So yeah, upon further review I agree with myself. Today was a damn good day. I got out of LA and past San Diego before the afternoon rush. The pickup in Holtville was nice and easy. The load is a reasonable 29,000 pounds. I'm quite content at this point in time. About the only downside is that I actually have to work a little this weekend. I had settled into a daily routine consisting of 5-8 hours of driving and lots of relaxing. This thing has to deliver by Monday afternoon, so I actually have to cover some ground. Just when I thought I'd get to watch some playoff football. Now the 'Skins will just have to win so I can check them out next week.
1/3/08 "That usually means that I can find somewhere to park, even if it's not technically somewhere that I should park."
Yep, plenty of on-street parking down there. The signs said 2 hour limit, but there were lots of trucks and nobody bothered us.
1/3/08 "If I leave early enough, I should be able to beat the morning rush."
Yep, got down in the middle of the night. Traffic was about as light as you'll ever see it in LA.
1/3/08 "North sounds bad as far as this weekend goes, so I'm crossing my fingers for something going east out of Calexico or Otay Mesa."
Close, but even better. I picked up in Holtville, which is along I-8. Same general concept but I didn't have to deal with any of those border drop lots. From there, I was dispatched to Rockford, Illinois. I get to leave the mountains for a while and go back to the midwest where I belong.
1/3/08 "If you know anything about me, you know that this paragraph guarantees me a run back up I-5."
Nope. The other guy who dropped off at the same place as I did and picked up at the same place as I did... He's headed to Kent, Washington. I win!
1/2/08 "Weekend runs out of California tend to be pretty long, so that's at least a little promising."
Yep. 200+ miles on the deadhead, with almost 2,000 loaded miles to Rockford. Very productive weekend indeed.
1/2/08 "Of course I'll probably get to enjoy all of the snow that is apparently going to pound those damn mountains in the next couple of days."
Nope. The mountains on I-8 were nice and smooth and I crossed them with an empty trailer. Beauty.
So yeah, upon further review I agree with myself. Today was a damn good day. I got out of LA and past San Diego before the afternoon rush. The pickup in Holtville was nice and easy. The load is a reasonable 29,000 pounds. I'm quite content at this point in time. About the only downside is that I actually have to work a little this weekend. I had settled into a daily routine consisting of 5-8 hours of driving and lots of relaxing. This thing has to deliver by Monday afternoon, so I actually have to cover some ground. Just when I thought I'd get to watch some playoff football. Now the 'Skins will just have to win so I can check them out next week.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
1/3/08
Apparently I'm no longer welcome as an Oklahoma fan. Whatever. For what little it's worth, I have Virginia Tech tonight so they'll probably get blown out by the time this thing is said and done.
So... pretty noneventful cruise down through The People's Republic today. As much as I dislike this state, I do have to give the drivers credit for one thing. They know how to merge. In most of this country, people come flying down a ramp and then shit their pants when they see a big truck in the right lane. They apparently don't realize that we can't move over if there's a car next to us, we can't slow down all that quickly, and we sure as hell can't speed up very quickly. So they end up acting like they're going fast, until we start to slow down. Then they slow down and almost run off the road. Then it takes us five minutes to get back up to speed, so the traffic behind us is disrupted. Here, in The People's Republic, they just step on the gas and get the hell out of the way. I wish everyone did that.
I took a look at Google Earth last night and saw that my customer is in a largely industrial section of town. That usually means that I can find somewhere to park, even if it's not technically somewhere that I should park. I've stopped at the Flying J on top of the Grapevine to sit out the evening traffic, planning to head down and scout for a location later. As it gets later and this game is still mildly entertaining though, I'm thinking I might just stay and watch it. Then I can get a little rest tonight and make a pre-dawn drive down past LA. My appointment is for 7:30am, but these last 90 miles might take forever if I try to arrive at that time. If I leave early enough, I should be able to beat the morning rush. Of course, one more Kansas score might send me packing tonight. I don't know. Who cares really?
I caught a series of talk radio stations today, so that was a nice change from the Pacific Northwest where it was tough to find a signal. Lots of talk about Iowa obviously, but the weather was the biggest topic. Apparently there are three storms on the way in that are supposed to be no joke. North sounds bad as far as this weekend goes, so I'm crossing my fingers for something going east out of Calexico or Otay Mesa. If you know anything about me, you know that this paragraph guarantees me a run back up I-5. Story of my life man.
So... pretty noneventful cruise down through The People's Republic today. As much as I dislike this state, I do have to give the drivers credit for one thing. They know how to merge. In most of this country, people come flying down a ramp and then shit their pants when they see a big truck in the right lane. They apparently don't realize that we can't move over if there's a car next to us, we can't slow down all that quickly, and we sure as hell can't speed up very quickly. So they end up acting like they're going fast, until we start to slow down. Then they slow down and almost run off the road. Then it takes us five minutes to get back up to speed, so the traffic behind us is disrupted. Here, in The People's Republic, they just step on the gas and get the hell out of the way. I wish everyone did that.
I took a look at Google Earth last night and saw that my customer is in a largely industrial section of town. That usually means that I can find somewhere to park, even if it's not technically somewhere that I should park. I've stopped at the Flying J on top of the Grapevine to sit out the evening traffic, planning to head down and scout for a location later. As it gets later and this game is still mildly entertaining though, I'm thinking I might just stay and watch it. Then I can get a little rest tonight and make a pre-dawn drive down past LA. My appointment is for 7:30am, but these last 90 miles might take forever if I try to arrive at that time. If I leave early enough, I should be able to beat the morning rush. Of course, one more Kansas score might send me packing tonight. I don't know. Who cares really?
I caught a series of talk radio stations today, so that was a nice change from the Pacific Northwest where it was tough to find a signal. Lots of talk about Iowa obviously, but the weather was the biggest topic. Apparently there are three storms on the way in that are supposed to be no joke. North sounds bad as far as this weekend goes, so I'm crossing my fingers for something going east out of Calexico or Otay Mesa. If you know anything about me, you know that this paragraph guarantees me a run back up I-5. Story of my life man.
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