8/31/09

There are tried and true story structures for the playwrights of the world. A prominent flaw of the protagonist is presented early. Then things are looking up for a while. Then the situation turns ugly. A hint at a positive outcome is revealed, but there is one final challenge to overcome. Then the hero emerges victorious. (Yeah, I would have to be the hero in order for this parallel to hold up. It's gonna be a stretch. Deal with it.)

I rolled out of bed this morning and, holy smokes, that damn weight session from Saturday night had finally caught up with me. I had to drive 430 miles across a boring chasm in the civilized world in order to reach my destination, but I couldn't lift my arms. Then, in a sign that my day might not be so bad, I remembered that I was in Nebraska. They have Bosselman's truck stops in Nebraska. They have PB&J sandwiches at Bosselman's. Beauty. And it got better. The Tigers had yet another afternoon game today, so I would have at least something of a distraction from my physical misery. A great day was in store...

I got to my fuel stop in Big Springs before the story's middle section began. The card reader at the pump didn't work. I had to stand in line for fifteen minutes to get the clerk to turn on the pump for me. My Tigers were getting their asses kicked. Worst of all... no freaking PB&J!?! Oh, the horror.

What's this though? A Little Caesar's at the truck stop? Well, I had been listening to the local Tigers broadcast (with its Little Caesar's commercials) and I also had been thinking that a Hot N' Ready didn't sound too bad. Okay then. That helps. Back out to the truck, I wrapped a couple of slices in paper towels and tossed the rest of my pizza in the bunk, then hit the road. I got down the freeway a few miles before seeing that the little green message indicator on my satellite unit was lit. Surely I had missed some stupid message about insignificant nonsense. I hit the button to have the computer voice chick read the message to me. "You have two unread messages. Message two of fifty-eight..." It was a pre-planned assignment to follow my drop in Henderson. There we go. Things were definitely looking up.

The rest of my trip to the Con-way facility in Henderson was nice and easy. I made my drop/hook and checked out with the security guard, ready to ride off into the sunset (toward my next pickup). Just then, I took a wrong turn from the yard and wound up in a pretty nondescript area. I got to a 'T' intersection and had to choose - right or left. The right turn would be far too tight for a mere mortal but the left looked like it was headed to nowhere. I waited for an opening and made the right, 'cause that's just how I roll. Then, driving while checking my atlas, I thought that I had found a new route. Not exactly.

I have lots of experience with navigating via The Force though. There were a couple of skinny stretches, but the area was fairly rural. No low bridges or anything. Our hero prevailed in the end.

My next load is beer leaving Fort Collins tomorrow afternoon and going to... Salt Lake City? Dude, I won't go to Hell if I'm just following orders, right? I don't know the ins and outs of that LDS stuff. Guess we'll have to find out in the sequel.