First post on the new computer... ooh, thrilling. Of course it would have been better if this damn thing hadn't consumed the better part of my day. I ordered a usb modem from Sprint last night. That should arrive within the next couple of days, but until then I needed to find another source of internet access. I took my router to my parents' house and set up a network using their Comcast connection. Good and fast. Okay, let's get to work.
...All afternoon, all evening, and all night later, I finally got everything moved and upgraded and re-downloaded and all the rest of it. That's better.
I guess tomorrow I should do my laundry and stuff, in case something weird goes on when I head back to work on Monday morning. I'm guessing that I should be back home Monday night, but things don't always make sense in my line of work. We'll see.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
8/1/08
Well, I guess that I had to earn my stripes before I could get my weekend off. Two accidents in Ohio and the usual construction nonsense in Michigan ought to do the trick. Hey, what's an extra hour on the road anyway?
Tonight I get to engage in the time-honored tradition of setting up a new computer and trying to transfer files. This here piece of shit has run its course, so I'm migrating to a bigger and better machine. My new computer was actually delivered a while ago. I expected it to get here the last time I was home... and it got here right after I went back on the road. Story of life. It's quite an impressive device though, I must admit. My PCI internet card won't work with the new beast, so there goes some cash tomorrow at the Sprint store. Otherwise, I think I've covered all the bases.
If you'll excuse me now, I also need to alleviate a terrible shortage of malted hops in my blood stream. Slainte.
Tonight I get to engage in the time-honored tradition of setting up a new computer and trying to transfer files. This here piece of shit has run its course, so I'm migrating to a bigger and better machine. My new computer was actually delivered a while ago. I expected it to get here the last time I was home... and it got here right after I went back on the road. Story of life. It's quite an impressive device though, I must admit. My PCI internet card won't work with the new beast, so there goes some cash tomorrow at the Sprint store. Otherwise, I think I've covered all the bases.
If you'll excuse me now, I also need to alleviate a terrible shortage of malted hops in my blood stream. Slainte.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
7/31/08
Do you suppose that I could ever find a job hauling empty trailers around the country? That would be pretty cool. The drive down to Chattanooga with my empty trailer had me feeling all manly and stuff. Whenever the other trucks would hit a hill and slow down, I would blow right on by. I got to my customer around 6am, so my timing was good in terms of traffic. My shipper didn't open until 7am though. I pulled around the corner and grabbed a wi-fi signal from the house across the street while I waited.
Right at 7am, the security guard told me to pull into the facility, scale my empty, and go to the far end. They used some kind of a portable ramp thing to load my trailer, so that was something different. I backed up as close to it as I could get and then a guy chained it to my trailer. After I sat around for about an hour, they went hog wild and got me loaded in about five minutes. I'm hauling thirty rolls of paper on this trip. That's thirty big ass, heavy ass rolls of paper. There were three forklift guys going in a rotation and doing the loading. Pretty impressive.
Once they were done, I had to drive out the other end of the facility, around the block, and back in the entrance in order to scale out. Then I got to back out onto the street, since another truck had taken my place in front of the portable ramp thing. There was no room for two trucks to pass each other in that place. Then it was back up and into the mountains with another 45,000 pounds. Ahh, I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.
By the time I got into the mountains north of Knoxville, the drive was looking like a repeat of yesterday. About the only difference is that the slower traffic came from truck drivers instead of blue hairs. It looks like the Crete trucks are about as slow as the Schneider trucks now. Bummer. Anyway, there were a handful of us that were all running right around 65mph and all pretty heavy. So we sort of hung together in the slow lane and did our thing. A Crete guy came out of a rest area and decided that he would pass us going up a hill. Sensible enough, assuming that he was lighter. Why wait behind the rest of us, right? Well, he may have been a little lighter, but not much. He barely managed to pass me (the guy in the back) before we got to the top of the first hill and he cut me off. Then, on the way down, I had to ride the brakes because he was way slower than I was. I won't go into a full-blown play by play here, but the bottom line is that this particular Crete truck could only run about 62mph on flat ground. If you know that you are slower than everybody else, you don't cut off people who are going faster than you. Moron. Luckily for me, he pulled into the scales when the sign said 'closed' and I left him behind. There were other trucks waiting to scale, but the cops were probably closing up each time they got a few trucks to inspect. In any case, he turned in and I drove away. Moron.
In the rain and in the mountains, I was about ready just to park and say to hell with today. The Tigers were coming on at noon though, so I knew that I would have a diversion to keep me occupied if I could just hang in there a little longer. Yeah, they lost. I got to northern Kentucky today, so tomorrow will be a pretty easy drive home.
I suppose now I'll try to deal with my rampant case of racism. Until the good Senator was kind enough to tell me yesterday, I had no idea that my political views on the various issues were based on the appearance of the guys on the dollar bills. Then again, I am a "typical white person," so it probably stands to reason that I must be a racist. I guess you learn something every day. Hopefully someone can help me work through it. (And pssst: Increased economic growth in the second quarter. Am I a racist, or a seer? Hmmm.)
Right at 7am, the security guard told me to pull into the facility, scale my empty, and go to the far end. They used some kind of a portable ramp thing to load my trailer, so that was something different. I backed up as close to it as I could get and then a guy chained it to my trailer. After I sat around for about an hour, they went hog wild and got me loaded in about five minutes. I'm hauling thirty rolls of paper on this trip. That's thirty big ass, heavy ass rolls of paper. There were three forklift guys going in a rotation and doing the loading. Pretty impressive.
Once they were done, I had to drive out the other end of the facility, around the block, and back in the entrance in order to scale out. Then I got to back out onto the street, since another truck had taken my place in front of the portable ramp thing. There was no room for two trucks to pass each other in that place. Then it was back up and into the mountains with another 45,000 pounds. Ahh, I love my job, I love my job, I love my job.
By the time I got into the mountains north of Knoxville, the drive was looking like a repeat of yesterday. About the only difference is that the slower traffic came from truck drivers instead of blue hairs. It looks like the Crete trucks are about as slow as the Schneider trucks now. Bummer. Anyway, there were a handful of us that were all running right around 65mph and all pretty heavy. So we sort of hung together in the slow lane and did our thing. A Crete guy came out of a rest area and decided that he would pass us going up a hill. Sensible enough, assuming that he was lighter. Why wait behind the rest of us, right? Well, he may have been a little lighter, but not much. He barely managed to pass me (the guy in the back) before we got to the top of the first hill and he cut me off. Then, on the way down, I had to ride the brakes because he was way slower than I was. I won't go into a full-blown play by play here, but the bottom line is that this particular Crete truck could only run about 62mph on flat ground. If you know that you are slower than everybody else, you don't cut off people who are going faster than you. Moron. Luckily for me, he pulled into the scales when the sign said 'closed' and I left him behind. There were other trucks waiting to scale, but the cops were probably closing up each time they got a few trucks to inspect. In any case, he turned in and I drove away. Moron.
In the rain and in the mountains, I was about ready just to park and say to hell with today. The Tigers were coming on at noon though, so I knew that I would have a diversion to keep me occupied if I could just hang in there a little longer. Yeah, they lost. I got to northern Kentucky today, so tomorrow will be a pretty easy drive home.
I suppose now I'll try to deal with my rampant case of racism. Until the good Senator was kind enough to tell me yesterday, I had no idea that my political views on the various issues were based on the appearance of the guys on the dollar bills. Then again, I am a "typical white person," so it probably stands to reason that I must be a racist. I guess you learn something every day. Hopefully someone can help me work through it. (And pssst: Increased economic growth in the second quarter. Am I a racist, or a seer? Hmmm.)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
7/30/08
Did you ever wonder whose is the first voice that people hear in the morning. For some, it might be a significant other whispering sweet nothings. Others might hear the wacky FM disc jockey on their clock radio. Maybe some hear their neighbor Stanley yelling at his wife Stella. This morning, the first voice that I heard belonged to a security guard. What a dick. My appointment time was 6am and there was one truck with a 4am appointment ahead of me. When I got up at 5am, the other truck was still in my door so I set my alarm for 5:45am and went back to bed. The security guard called my cell phone at 5:30am and started bitching at me. He said that I needed to get to my door immediately and, if I didn't hurry up, he didn't know what to tell me. Whatever dude. I drove over to the dock area and the damn truck ahead of me was still in the door. Peckerhead.
A short time later, the other truck left and I backed in. In a strange twist, the lumpers were the most polite people at the place. Usually those people are some miserable SOB's too. Not today though. It was fifty bucks to get my trailer unloaded, so we'll have to see if my reimbursement gets processed before my payroll week closes. I was empty around 7am and got on the board at #1.
I drove about ten miles south to the nearest truck stop and, no sooner than I had pulled my sleeping bag over me, got my next assignment. I had to shoot up to Raleigh and make a drop/hook and then head to Knoxville to relay the load. The shipper in Raleigh is one where the loads are always heavy, so that trip across I-40 was pretty brutal. Rain... mountains... blue hairs... oy. That sucked.
I passed off the load at the T/A on the west edge of Knoxville a little while ago and now I think I'll call it a night. I didn't sleep all that well and today was a taxing one, so I'm feeling a little tired. I got a pre-plan while I was on the way to Knoxville, picking up tomorrow morning in Chattanooga and then heading to Midland, Michigan. I have to pick up by 7am, so leaving here bright and early should get me away from Knoxville before the traffic gets bad.
This next run takes care of getting me home for the most part, but it doesn't deliver until Monday morning. I suppose I'll just head up to Taylor and take a couple of days off and then drive up to Midland on Monday morning. That will add a few miles to the trip, but it probably beats idling my truck for two days. I've been stuck in the heat and idling non-stop for the better part of the last couple of weeks. The other option would be to see if the people in Taylor will take the load from me and pass it off to someone else. It would be pretty shitty to stick another driver with that little short drive to Midland though. It won't hurt me to run it up there.
My week will wrap up with something over 2,600 miles, a bunch of northeast pay, and $35 for one extra drop. That's a pretty solid week. As long as all goes well at home, I should be able to snag a decent pay check for next week too. If I do end up with this weekend off, I imagine that I'll only take a day or two of actual home time once I get back to Taylor.
A short time later, the other truck left and I backed in. In a strange twist, the lumpers were the most polite people at the place. Usually those people are some miserable SOB's too. Not today though. It was fifty bucks to get my trailer unloaded, so we'll have to see if my reimbursement gets processed before my payroll week closes. I was empty around 7am and got on the board at #1.
I drove about ten miles south to the nearest truck stop and, no sooner than I had pulled my sleeping bag over me, got my next assignment. I had to shoot up to Raleigh and make a drop/hook and then head to Knoxville to relay the load. The shipper in Raleigh is one where the loads are always heavy, so that trip across I-40 was pretty brutal. Rain... mountains... blue hairs... oy. That sucked.
I passed off the load at the T/A on the west edge of Knoxville a little while ago and now I think I'll call it a night. I didn't sleep all that well and today was a taxing one, so I'm feeling a little tired. I got a pre-plan while I was on the way to Knoxville, picking up tomorrow morning in Chattanooga and then heading to Midland, Michigan. I have to pick up by 7am, so leaving here bright and early should get me away from Knoxville before the traffic gets bad.
This next run takes care of getting me home for the most part, but it doesn't deliver until Monday morning. I suppose I'll just head up to Taylor and take a couple of days off and then drive up to Midland on Monday morning. That will add a few miles to the trip, but it probably beats idling my truck for two days. I've been stuck in the heat and idling non-stop for the better part of the last couple of weeks. The other option would be to see if the people in Taylor will take the load from me and pass it off to someone else. It would be pretty shitty to stick another driver with that little short drive to Midland though. It won't hurt me to run it up there.
My week will wrap up with something over 2,600 miles, a bunch of northeast pay, and $35 for one extra drop. That's a pretty solid week. As long as all goes well at home, I should be able to snag a decent pay check for next week too. If I do end up with this weekend off, I imagine that I'll only take a day or two of actual home time once I get back to Taylor.
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