7/28/09

We've seen these signs here and there throughout the country for a while now, right? Until today, I hadn't actually seen anybody working in the work zones. On I-89 in Vermont I spotted my first set of stimulus workers. It was two guys re-painting the edge lines on the road, but you know, baby steps. We'll get there.

My morning's drive was about as easy as expected. I got checked in with the guys in Franklin and they had me unloaded before too long. Once I got on the board at #2, I pulled off to the side of the customer's lot to see what may come next. There were signs all over saying that they didn't allow parking for more than two hours and specifically that they didn't allow overnight parking. After I didn't move from #2 for a couple of hours, I decided to head down to Plainville and park at a truck stop. My chances of getting an assignment late in the afternoon didn't look too good.

After hanging around the truck stop for a little while, still stuck at #2 on the board, I headed inside to grab some food and buy a parking pass. My free two hours were going to run out before too much longer. I forked over my $6 for the parking and then returned to my truck to find an assignment waiting for me. Typical.

My next pickup is set for 7am in Essex Junction, Vermont. That's a nice long deadhead, which is always handy for bumping up my weekly earnings. I had plenty of time to get up to the shipper tonight and then take a ten-hour break before 7am. I wasn't sure if they would have anywhere to park though. Ah, screw it, one way to find out, right? The trip out of Massachusetts was a little on the slow side. They are called Massholes for a reason, or so I'm told. After I got clear of Nashua, things shook out pretty well.

With no snow on the road and an empty trailer in tow, that ride up I-89 through New Hampshire and Vermont is a pretty nice way to chase the sunset. I got to my exit shortly after the sun went down though. It would have been helpful to get there shortly before the sun went down. Wrong directions are a little easier to spot when you can see the street signs from the road.

Go east from the exit ramp. Okay, no worries there. Take a left at the fifth stoplight. Okay then... err... shit. That one got me into a sweet residential area. The flip side to the darkness part of the deal was that there wasn't a lot of traffic. That helped, I suppose. I backed my trailer down a side street and got turned back toward the main road. One more stoplight to the east, I found the correct street. Next step, take another left at the third stoplight. Okay then... err... shit. A cul de sac? Come on. Seriously. At least it was wide enough at the end for me to make a u-turn and try again. One more stoplight... yeah, there we go. Next step, take a right at the first stoplight. Okay then... that one was right. You could make millions of dollars going 1-for-3 every day as a baseball player. As a person giving directions to a guy driving a big truck, you fail miserably, whoever you are.

There was plenty of room for me to pull past the loading docks and put up my feet for the night. All's well that ends well and whatnot. Once I get loaded in the morning I'll be headed to good old Texas. Two drops on Saturday will probably leave me SOL in terms of getting any more work this week, but I'll have some decent miles in the books, plus a shitload of northeast pay, by the time I get there. That'll do.