10/15/09

I'm about to go to bed at 9:30pm and I don't even have to get up early in the morning, so I guess you can put two and two together on that one. And here I am with no damn woman to make me some soup while I lie on the couch acting all pathetic and such. No justice, I tell you. Kind wishes from folks like Daryl are not unappreciated, mind you, but you know what I mean.

Once my ten hour break was over this morning, I headed in and grabbed an empty trailer and then sent my 'on duty' form via satellite. By the time I drove down the street to the local truck stop and found that there were no open parking spaces, I had received a new assignment. Well then, that certainly was handy timing, wasn't it? Since I had no place to park in Shrewsbury and my next pickup would be in Westfield, I decided to head to the turnpike and then stop at the first service plaza to figure out the rest of the details. I had forgotten just how ludicrous the parking arrangements at that service plaza tend to be, but today I got lucky and managed to snag an open spot along the back.

After writing down my pickup numbers and having some lunch and generally killing time for a bit, I got back on the road and finished the trip to Westfield. My pickup time was scheduled for 3pm but I was hoping to get an early start on the next run. When I checked in at the shipper (at noon), the lady pointed out that I was supposed to pick up at 3pm. She did, however, say that I would most likely get loaded before then. She took my cell phone number and said that she would give me a call when my turn came around. I was asleep five minutes later.

The new default ringtone on my cell phone is an mp3 of the Dropkick Murphys performing Victory, a song known in certain circles as the Notre Dame Victory March. Anyhow, it's a fun little jam on the bagpipes and so forth. That ringtone is, believe it or not, quite a bit more startling than the generic AT&T ringtone when it wakes you from an illness-induced slumber. I really don't recall how the conversation went, but I wound up in Door 9 with my trailer axles back and my wheels chocked. I must have been at least somewhat coherent, it would seem. I didn't realize until I had been at the dock long enough to clear my head that it was after 3pm. So much for getting loaded early.

After about an hour at the loading dock I was sent on my way with 26,000 pounds of some kind of metallic film stuff. I'm due in Neenah, Wisconsin on Sunday night. I guess it would be more accurate to say that, as far as I know, I'm due in Neenah, Wisconsin on Sunday night. Yeah, we're talking about that trip one more time. Just can't seem to get beyond it, can we? I'm going to the same consignee, so we'll see if I actually have an appointment this time. That would be pretty cool, I think.

After getting out of Massachusetts and a little over a hundred miles into New York, I decided to stop and call it a night. With only somewhere around 900-950 miles left to go and three driving shifts left to do it, there was no point in going any further tonight. An early dinner and an early trip to the sack sounded a little better. I'm not terribly sick and it doesn't affect the driving part of the deal one way or the other, but I do hope to enjoy some down time at one of the Corleone family's Midwestern estates on Saturday. If my Irish are destined to get their asses kicked again, at least I should be in fighting shape to cheer them on along the way. I'm thinking that one more night of NyQuil and some uninterrupted sleep might do the trick. Then I can bang out a long stretch tomorrow and leave an easy weekend for myself. At least that's the plan.