6/25/09

Of all the catchy euphemisms that describe relations between men and women, I think "hiking the Appalachian Trail" may end up being my new favorite. That sounds fun, doesn't it? What does it say about society when we're no longer surprised by this kind of stuff? And, of course, we'll keep electing these scumbags to positions of power and wonder why there's no integrity in politics. I, for one, would rather be governed by a collection of people from the local pub - people who have always had to face the consequences for their own decisions in life. Something tells me that they would show a lot more common sense than the current batch of "leaders." Okay, enough about that.

My day got started bright and early, which is probably a logical way for a day to get started. I was unloaded quickly after checking in with my consignee and then welcomed to park behind their warehouse and await my next assignment. I received that assignment within a half hour or so. My next pickup was in Topton, Pennsylvania this afternoon. Oddly enough, the shipper for today's load was the consignee for the load that I had to relay in Indianapolis last week. It must have been my destiny to go to Topton, one way or another.

I had plenty of time for a long break at the service plaza on I-476 before finishing the trip to my shipper. For the second day in a row, I found myself with a pretty intense headache so a break did me some good. Hopefully I don't have a brain tumor. That would pretty much ruin my weekend. My Philly cheese steak for lunch was pretty lame, I have to say. I expected better, being so close to Philly and all. I get better cheese steaks in Detroit.

After lunch and a nap, I finished the drive to the shipper in Topton and saw what looked like a parade of CTL trucks ahead of me. I was a little over an hour early for my appointment so I expected to be waiting for a while, given the nature of the scene. The guys ahead of me were directed to park in the staging area and await their door assigments. Then my turn came. I was directed to... drop my empty in the lot and pick up my pre-loaded trailer. Beauty. Last in, first out. That's how I roll. There's only one conclusion to draw from this incident - I'm far more important than those other drivers. I don't know how else you can spin it.

My load is slightly less cumbersome than the last one, but it is still a robust 42,000 pounds. No rest for my fuel mileage this week, apparently. Then I went and made matters worse, vis a vis the fuel mileage. The toll collectors are determined to get me to spend my cash on their roads but I'm still hanging tough... so far. Today they hit me with a haymaker. I'm heading to Iowa and will need to end up on I-80 at some point. Ohio still requires cash to cross on I-80, but I can get around that issue without adding any miles to my overall route. I'll get into Ohio on I-80 and then drop down to cross Ohio and Indiana on US-30, which happens to be a route that I enjoy taking. The southward arc to reach US-30 in Ohio is roughly the same length as the northward arc traced by the turnpike. The problem, as it turns out, was the route that I chose to go from Topton to I-80 in the first place. It was something like 70 miles and I swear the whole damn route was uphill. Don't bother explaining the geographical impossibility of this conclusion. I'm telling you - it was all uphill.

The highlight of this afternoon's drive had to be a stretch of PA-61 where there were signs posted saying that 102" trailers were prohibited. Of course there were no signs warning of this restriction until I was already on the restricted route, with no way to turn back. Onward we go then... One hill in particular was about a mile long and I had to pull it in second gear. I have never had to pull a hill in second gear before. When you hear the engine starting to bog down at 7mph and you realize that you're running out of gears, that's not a whole lot of fun. Fortunately I got over the top before I had to go all the way to low gear. The downshifting gets pretty rough when you're operating in that range.

Once I caught up with I-80 my patience for the road was starting to wear thin. I have lots of time on this run, with a Monday morning delivery, so I stopped in Lamar to call it a day. My post-trip walkaround brought some unwelcome news. The wheel seal on my left steer tire is gone. The lugnuts are coated with oil and I'm probably lucky I didn't drive any further today. I don't know if the wheel actually falls off or what exactly happens, but I assume that there's a reason for that oil to be sealed inside the hub. I'll have to stop by the T/A down the street when I get rolling tomorrow morning and have them sort it out.

Truckmiles.com says that I have 885 miles left to cover over the next three days. Should be a pretty easy weekend.