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.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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.

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.)

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.

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 ♫

With a day off scheduled for tomorrow and a bunch of laundry that needs to be done, I had this bright idea that I would finish work before midnight, knock out a quick session at the gym, and get to bed by 2am tonight.  This way I wouldn't waste half my day off by sleeping late into the afternoon.

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..."