6/18/09

We at Fenian Godfather Inc. do not condone drug use in any way. That being said, the stoners among you probably would have enjoyed the scene in Iowa this morning. I awoke to the sound of thunder and rain hitting my truck around 2am. Then I tossed and turned for a while, trying to get back to sleep. Since I had managed to doze off before midnight for a change, I wanted to take advantage to whatever extent I was able. My satellite unit chirped at me a short time later and that was that. No getting to sleep at this point. I got up and saw that they had sent me the information concerning the driver to whom I would be relaying my load today. Why this is always necessary in the middle of the night, I have no idea.

After scheduling some financial transactions for (payday) tomorrow and returning a few e-mails, I decided that I may as well head out. I caught up with the storm around twenty miles down the road and it certainly was a wild one. Sort of like driving through a disco with the strobe lights on full tilt. The rain was pretty heavy as well but I was the only one on the road for the most part. It didn't slow me down much. Across on US-34 and into Illinois the situation was much the same. The rain did let up as I crossed Illinois but the light show in the sky continued. And no, Dark Side of the Moon was not playing on my XM radio.

I pulled into the lot of a McDonald's with truck parking somewhere along US-34 this morning to grab a delightful bacon, egg, and cheese bagel. You guys who sleep at McDonald's overnight - I don't like you very much. There was nowhere for me to park my truck so the proprietors of the eatery were deprived of their pending $4 sale. The idling trucks were jammed in so tightly that I had a hell of a time turning around and getting out. So I caught up with I-74 and, after twenty minutes or so, spotted another McDonald's next to a truck stop. Not to be deterred by the first setback, I pulled off and grabbed a spot at the truck stop. I walked over to the Mickey D's and found that their power had been knocked out by the storms. No luck this time either. Okay. I get it. My fat ass was not destined to get a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel this morning. Sheesh.

After a fuel stop in Bloomington and a brief nap at a rest area, I finished off the run into Indianapolis and found that the Pilot parking lot was about as I expected it to be. My relay partner was parked in a spot were he was easy to find, but the spot that I had to take was a doozy. There are three rows of trucks and trailers in a space that could reasonably accomodate two and a half rows. I had to cut a real tight line into my parking space as a result. I got a bit of a break in that the spot directly across from mine opened up as I was backing in. This allowed me to pull farther forward and adjust my angle of approach, thus relieving the CRST guy on my left of his anxiety. He seemed to have concerns about his mirror. I never got any closer than three inches man. Lighten up already.

In the 'credit where credit is due' department, I have to give a tip of the cap to the load planners again. I was on the board for a few minutes when I received a message from my fleet manager. He said that the planner was asking if I wanted to take a restart. Since I had ¾ of an hour left for today and I only pick up 1 ¾ hours tomorrow, I agreed that a restart would be the logical thing to do. Then a minute later I got a load assignment. It has an open-ended pickup appointment in Plainfield and it's a drop/hook, so I can sit here for a day and a half and then go get it. Then I'll have 1,004 miles to cover over the weekend, heading down to Lakeland, Florida. All in all, that's a pretty solid outcome for my week. Good lookin' out, my brother.

My preferred breakfast may not have been in the cards today, but you can bet your ass that I hightailed it inside for a delicious Italian BMT with double meat after my load assignment was confirmed this afternoon. Awesome. Then, with my nice fast internet connection, it was time to put up my feet and watch some golf. Postponed due to rain? Ain't that a bitch. I guess I'll be forced to do some reading and actually try preserving some of my brain tissue for a change. Maybe I can find a stream of the ballgame tonight. The Tigers appear destined to lose their division lead before long so I'd like to see a few games while they're still on top.