There are various reasons that people choose to drive a truck for a living. I'm pretty sure that the quality of conversations on the road isn't one of those reasons. It surely isn't for me.
I received a satellite message this morning telling me that I would be bobtailing to Omaha to retrieve an empty trailer after making my drop in Waverly today. (This was not one of today's dumb conversations, for the record.) I shot back a note acknowledging the message and then checked to see which coaches were rumored to be taking over the Irish today. I had a half hour to kill before I could leave Sioux City, so I figured some amusement would do the trick.
Once my ten hour break was over I hit the road. Just to the south of Sioux City, the scale house was open and I pulled in. I weighed each axle and then got the message to park and bring in my logs and permits. It was 9:15am Eastern time. The following is exactly what was said;
Cop: How are you?
Me: Cold, and you?
Cop: Cold. Is yesterday's log in the back there? (My log sheets are attached at the top and folded back as the days go by.)
Me: Yeah, they're all there.
Cop: (After flipping through a few pages) How were you off duty until 9am?
Me: I got out of bed at 8:30 and hung around the truck stop until 9.
Cop: {Confused stare}
Me: I live in Michigan. I'm on Eastern Time.
Cop: You need to be on Central Standard Time.
Me: {Confused stare}
Cop: Unless your company has a terminal in the Eastern time zone.
Me: Yeah, it says right there that my home terminal is in Taylor, Michigan.
Cop: (After flipping through the pages again) How many terminals does Con-way have?
Me: Somewhere around 400.
Cop: Okay, you can go.
Them there's the educated folks keeping your highways safe from guys like me, America. Good luck with that.
I got back on the road and finished the trip to Waverly without any further incidents. The consignee is closed on Saturdays so I was able to avoid any conversation there. I just had to enter a security code to open the gate and then leave my paperwork in the nose of the trailer after I dropped it.
Then I was headed over to a customer on the west end of Omaha, where I found the assigned trailer waiting for me. Let's see what they left me this time. One blinker didn't blink and one marker light didn't light. Par for the course I'm afraid when it comes to my esteemed colleagues. I bounced over to the Sapp Brothers truck stop a couple of miles away and bought some lights to fix my trailer, then stepped over to SubWay for some lunch.
SubWay Guy: You watching the Huskers today?
Me: Probably. Isn't that one on at the same time as one of the other games?
SubWay Guy: I think Texas is playing Auburn or something.
(We're in Omaha, mind you.)
Me: Texas is playing Nebraska.
SubWay Guy: Yeah, that's what I meant.
Me: I'll probably watch some of the game if I'm not driving. I think the ACC game is on at the same time.
SubWay Guy: There's a UFC fight tonight. Are you gonna watch that?
Me: No.
Another asinine conversation, but my Italian BMT with double meat was quite delicious. We'll call it a fair trade.
I was #2 on the board, so I kicked back to watch some football. In the first game, I was hoping to see Pitt put a whipping on Cincinnati. Anything to make the Notre Dame folks realize that Brian Kelly has built his resume on squeaking past weak opponents. Since Big Game Bob finally gave us the dreaded "I will not be the next coach at Notre Dame" today, I fear that people will start to see Kelly as the inevitable pick. The 'Stache managed to blow a big lead and Kelly's team won, so no luck there.
In the next game, I was hoping for the rules of the game to be suspended in some way so that both teams could lose by fifty points. That didn't happen obviously, but the bigger douchebag of the two douchebag coaches lost, so good enough.
The ACC game didn't hold much intrigue so I moved on to the Big XII game to wrap up the night. Obviously I wanted Nebraska to win and throw the BCS into chaos. And they would have done it too if it weren't for those meddling kids. Seriously, Nebraska's defense-to-offense disparity is like a mirror image of Notre Dame's offense-to-defense. That was painful to watch. After seeing that defense shut down Texas for the whole game though, it just didn't seem right for them to give up that last field goal drive. A kickoff out of bounds and a freaking horse collar tackle? Seriously? Bummer.
The inevitable conclusion of the day was that neither Colt McCoy nor Tim Tebow could hold Jimmy Clausen's jock when it comes to playing quarterback. And Alabama will probably stomp Texas by three scores. And that Suh guy from Nebraska is probably the best player in the country. And Golden Tate is probably the second best player in the country. And spread offenses are terribly boring to watch, no matter who is running them (meaning big fun for me if any of the rumored candidates come to South Bend next season).
I never left my #2 position on the board today so the pay week will wrap up in an hour or so with 2,386 miles plus $120 in layover pay and another $70 in stop pay. Just a shade under $1,100 in total and I got to spend a full Saturday watching football. Beauty.
I have 14 hours left on my 70 going into tomorrow so, in the event that there's any freight to haul, I'll be ready. You never know.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
12/4/09
You know... I like to read the Wall Street Journal. Their reporting is generally pretty sound and I have always taken an interest in things related to the financial world. So what in the hell am I supposed to make of today's article by Ray A. Smith? I ain't gonna lie to you, man. I could easily play the Charlton Heston role in The Greatest Story Ever Told. Am I to understand that now I need to shave my chest periodically and wear low-cut shirts? This is bullshit. I now know, more than ever, that I was supposed to be born fifty years earlier. At least the college chick quoted at the end of the article has a little common sense.
Last night was generally annoying, beyond the point when I stopped driving. It was pretty damned cold so I had my bunk heater running. A couple of hours after I went to bed, my truck's battery rundown warning thing started beeping. I got up and started the engine, then went back to bed. The next time I woke (for no apparent reason, as I'm prone to do), I reached over and turned off the truck, then kicked the bunk heater back on. A couple of hours later, the damned beeping woke me again. I started the truck one more time and resolved that I would just leave it running until it was time to get up.
An hour or so after that, my satellite unit woke me with a pre-planned assignment to follow the one that I had to deliver this afternoon. I replied with my confirmation and then managed to doze off for one last half hour before I had to get to work.
The drive into Minnesota was nice and easy. There was some light snowfall but it was so cold that the flakes were light and they were blown off the road before they could cause any trouble. I checked in at my consignee in Rogers and kicked back for a while as they unloaded the freight. Once I was empty (or so I thought), I pulled away from the dock and walked back to close the doors to my trailer. There were two cases of bleach sitting inside. Shit. So I headed in and got my paperwork, complete with the notation that 2 cases were damaged and refused. The lady was kind enough to note that I had arrived with the seal intact, so that was good.
Next I had to call our claims department and get some direction from them. The first part was fairly standard - note 'seal intact,' write the claim number, etc. Then the guy told me to write down that the shipper had advised us to donate the product. Yeah, donate it to a dumpster, right? He said that we're not supposed to dump bleach and that I should find a fire department or some other place where it could be put to good or charitable use. No, I'm not making this up. I understand that it's best not to waste things and all that jazz, but seriously. I have a job to do. Moseying on up to a fire station in a 70 foot tractor-trailer combination is not commensurate with my need to perform this job. Not to mention that it was rush hour on a Friday afternoon in a busy suburban area. It was about all I could do just to get back to the freeway.
I decided to head to my next shipper and try to think of something along the way. By the time I made the 70 mile trip down to Le Sueue amidst fairly heavy traffic, I had forgotten all about the bleach. After I opened my trailer doors and realized that it was still there, I asked the guy in the office at the shipper if their janitor or someone else might have a use for it. He said that he would find someone to use it and took it off my hands. Good enough for me. I guess it may not have been completely within the spirit of 'donating' to someone, but what can you do? They didn't want me to throw the stuff away and I couldn't exactly take it with me. Carrying all that bleach in my truck likely would have been more problematic than those paper towels in Miami.
Once I was loaded with another 40,000 pounds of goodies, I was off and running again. This time I'm headed down to Waverly, Nebraska. Out of Le Sueue, the route was along US-169 to MN-60, which later became IA-60. I passed on a chance to park in Worthington, Minnesota in hopes that I could reach Sioux City, Iowa before today's 14 hour clock expired. I wasn't sure just how much further it would be to Sioux City, but I had two and a half hours left so I was pretty optimistic. It turned out that Sioux City was only another 90 miles or so along the way and the route (IA-60 onto US-75) was mostly a divided highway with a 65mph speed limit. There was virtually no traffic and I made it with plenty of time to spare.
The first truck stop that I saw was completely full. I headed over to the other (bigger) one and found a couple of open spaces. All told, it turned out to be a pretty productive day. I'll have around 140 miles left to drive from here. The delivery in Waverly is a drop/hook and my dispatch says that I'm due at the perfectly logical time of 10:53am. Another early morning wake-up call appears to be in store. At least it looks like the weather should be cooperative in the morning (notwithstanding the fact that it's 15ยบ outside right now). Dry roads are happy roads... or something.
Last night was generally annoying, beyond the point when I stopped driving. It was pretty damned cold so I had my bunk heater running. A couple of hours after I went to bed, my truck's battery rundown warning thing started beeping. I got up and started the engine, then went back to bed. The next time I woke (for no apparent reason, as I'm prone to do), I reached over and turned off the truck, then kicked the bunk heater back on. A couple of hours later, the damned beeping woke me again. I started the truck one more time and resolved that I would just leave it running until it was time to get up.
An hour or so after that, my satellite unit woke me with a pre-planned assignment to follow the one that I had to deliver this afternoon. I replied with my confirmation and then managed to doze off for one last half hour before I had to get to work.
The drive into Minnesota was nice and easy. There was some light snowfall but it was so cold that the flakes were light and they were blown off the road before they could cause any trouble. I checked in at my consignee in Rogers and kicked back for a while as they unloaded the freight. Once I was empty (or so I thought), I pulled away from the dock and walked back to close the doors to my trailer. There were two cases of bleach sitting inside. Shit. So I headed in and got my paperwork, complete with the notation that 2 cases were damaged and refused. The lady was kind enough to note that I had arrived with the seal intact, so that was good.
Next I had to call our claims department and get some direction from them. The first part was fairly standard - note 'seal intact,' write the claim number, etc. Then the guy told me to write down that the shipper had advised us to donate the product. Yeah, donate it to a dumpster, right? He said that we're not supposed to dump bleach and that I should find a fire department or some other place where it could be put to good or charitable use. No, I'm not making this up. I understand that it's best not to waste things and all that jazz, but seriously. I have a job to do. Moseying on up to a fire station in a 70 foot tractor-trailer combination is not commensurate with my need to perform this job. Not to mention that it was rush hour on a Friday afternoon in a busy suburban area. It was about all I could do just to get back to the freeway.
I decided to head to my next shipper and try to think of something along the way. By the time I made the 70 mile trip down to Le Sueue amidst fairly heavy traffic, I had forgotten all about the bleach. After I opened my trailer doors and realized that it was still there, I asked the guy in the office at the shipper if their janitor or someone else might have a use for it. He said that he would find someone to use it and took it off my hands. Good enough for me. I guess it may not have been completely within the spirit of 'donating' to someone, but what can you do? They didn't want me to throw the stuff away and I couldn't exactly take it with me. Carrying all that bleach in my truck likely would have been more problematic than those paper towels in Miami.
Once I was loaded with another 40,000 pounds of goodies, I was off and running again. This time I'm headed down to Waverly, Nebraska. Out of Le Sueue, the route was along US-169 to MN-60, which later became IA-60. I passed on a chance to park in Worthington, Minnesota in hopes that I could reach Sioux City, Iowa before today's 14 hour clock expired. I wasn't sure just how much further it would be to Sioux City, but I had two and a half hours left so I was pretty optimistic. It turned out that Sioux City was only another 90 miles or so along the way and the route (IA-60 onto US-75) was mostly a divided highway with a 65mph speed limit. There was virtually no traffic and I made it with plenty of time to spare.
The first truck stop that I saw was completely full. I headed over to the other (bigger) one and found a couple of open spaces. All told, it turned out to be a pretty productive day. I'll have around 140 miles left to drive from here. The delivery in Waverly is a drop/hook and my dispatch says that I'm due at the perfectly logical time of 10:53am. Another early morning wake-up call appears to be in store. At least it looks like the weather should be cooperative in the morning (notwithstanding the fact that it's 15ยบ outside right now). Dry roads are happy roads... or something.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
12/3/09
Has it ever occurred to the people who run local and county governments that the money they save by not plowing and salting the freeways in a timely manner is more than wasted by sending police, tow trucks, and ambulances to handle the numerous crashes that result from their negligence? The answer is no. It has not occurred to them. I just can't wait to get me some of that government health care though. I'll bet it's gonna be super efficient, timely, and effective.
Things were rolling along pretty nicely for the most part today. I got past the Chicago area before the traffic got too heavy and then stopped at the service plaza in Belvidere for a late lunch or early dinner or whatever. As I sat and looked out the window, a pretty heavy snowstorm blew through. By the time I was done eating, it was gone. Beauty.
Once I got into Wisconsin and passed Beloit, the traffic on the freeway came to a dead stop. Then the rate of travel over the next several miles varied between 2mph and 10mph. We were driving into a light snowfall and there was a little bit of accumulation in some spots. Count 'em up - 1, 2, 3, 4 accidents over the next twenty miles. Just brilliant. Hopefully nobody died this time around. I've seen some severe carnage on previous trips through this state. I swear I don't understand it.
Once I got through Madison the roads dried out for the most part and I was able to put my foot to the floor for a while. My only objective for today was to cover at least 500 miles, so once I saw that there was a truck stop in New Lisbon I pulled off the road and called it a night. 499 miles, all told. Close enough. I should have a little over 200 miles to go from here. Hopefully there won't be a whole lot of snow overnight or in the morning, but I'll take off a little early just in case. It's always good to make sure I have a buffer. We know damn well that they won't have the freeway plowed and salted if the weather does get bad tonight.
Pretty good football game going on in Oregon right now, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.
Things were rolling along pretty nicely for the most part today. I got past the Chicago area before the traffic got too heavy and then stopped at the service plaza in Belvidere for a late lunch or early dinner or whatever. As I sat and looked out the window, a pretty heavy snowstorm blew through. By the time I was done eating, it was gone. Beauty.
Once I got into Wisconsin and passed Beloit, the traffic on the freeway came to a dead stop. Then the rate of travel over the next several miles varied between 2mph and 10mph. We were driving into a light snowfall and there was a little bit of accumulation in some spots. Count 'em up - 1, 2, 3, 4 accidents over the next twenty miles. Just brilliant. Hopefully nobody died this time around. I've seen some severe carnage on previous trips through this state. I swear I don't understand it.
Once I got through Madison the roads dried out for the most part and I was able to put my foot to the floor for a while. My only objective for today was to cover at least 500 miles, so once I saw that there was a truck stop in New Lisbon I pulled off the road and called it a night. 499 miles, all told. Close enough. I should have a little over 200 miles to go from here. Hopefully there won't be a whole lot of snow overnight or in the morning, but I'll take off a little early just in case. It's always good to make sure I have a buffer. We know damn well that they won't have the freeway plowed and salted if the weather does get bad tonight.
Pretty good football game going on in Oregon right now, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
12/2/09
The ole Godfather has a couple of nuggets for you fine folks this evening.
#1 - If you really hate your job, to the extent that you feel the need to do it poorly and swear about it without restraint, then you should quit. If you've determined that you need the money and you can't make a lifestyle change during a rough economy, then shut the hell up and do the job for which you're being paid. (We'll have more on this in a minute.)
#2 - Men who think they can get away with it will often find it difficult to resist the temptation to cheat on their wives. Some men have decency and virtue, but others are pigs. Some women, meanwhile, are skanks who will knowingly sleep with married men. The results don't tend to be pretty. Life goes on. (We'll have more on this in a minute.)
Bright and early, I headed back over to my consignee and checked in with the security guard at Entry Point 13. He told me that I would have to hang around until 6am when the receivers showed up. My appointment was for 6am so I saw no problem with this. A few minutes before 6am, a dude in a car drove up to the gate. The security guard showed him my bills. The guy in the car said that I had to go to Entry Point 9, a mile away. (Chalk one up for wrong directions.)
I hauled ass over to the other entry point and got there at 5:58am. On time, good enough. The security guard over there was all worked up about the fact that there were two purchase orders listed on one page. His department was getting 150 items (on one order) while a different department was getting a single item (on the other order). He made a phone call and then told me that I could head over to the loading dock. The receiver would take the extra item and see to it that it was delivered to the right place. The security guard made an extra copy of the bill of lading so that he would have one for each purchase order, then sent me on my way. I was to get two signatures - one on each copy. Easy enough.
I got settled in at the dock and then watched as a dude on a forklift unloaded some lumber from a flatbed. Once he finished, he drove toward my truck so I got out and handed him the bills. He started swearing up a storm about something. He was half mumbling though and I really didn't care to make an effort to figure out what was his problem, so I hopped back in the truck for a while. After an hour or so, the guy came out and handed the bills to me. "All set?" I asked. He grunted some phrase involving the word "fuck," got back on his forklift, and drove away. What the hell, dude?
As I edged away from the loading dock I heard a metallic sound. I walked to the back of my trailer and took a look. The consignee's dock was just a basic outdoor concrete slab, so they used a portable metal bridge to get in and out of the trailer. That peckerhead had left the bridge sitting across the tailgate of my trailer and it had fallen when I pulled away from the dock. What a dick. It turns out that those metal bridges are pretty heavy. Since I haven't managed to become a completely disgruntled cocksucker just yet (unlike that guy), I wasn't willing to leave the damned thing lying on the ground. I got the pleasure of picking it up and tossing it onto the dock. I would never have known that they weighed so much.
As I started to close the doors to my trailer, I made one more discovery. There was some freight (for the last two stops) in the front of my trailer, restrained by load straps. There was also one box at the rear of the trailer, secured to the side wall by a single nylon strap of its own. No, he didn't, did he? I took a look at the bills. The one for the 150 items had been signed. The other had not. I hopped into the trailer and took a look at the numbers on the box. They matched the purchase order for the single item that had so troubled the security guard. The forklift guy saw me walking toward him, then pulled a quick U-turn on his forklift and drove out of sight. What the hell, dude? Seriously, there's a time when you should just quit your job.
I drove over to the security shack and explained the situation to the guard. I told him that the best thing to do would be for me to take the box out of my trailer and leave it with him. He could then call whichever department was supposed to receive it and someone could drive over and pick it up. The box wasn't too big, after all. He seemed rather content with this arrangement so I hopped in the trailer and grabbed the box. I think it was a window encased in wood or something. In any case, my freight finally had been delivered and I was on my way to Ohio.
I decided to listen to sports radio as I was driving today. There are some excellent games coming up this weekend. Plus the rumors and counter-rumors surrounding my Irish are changing by the minute, so I was flipping around the sports channels to see what was the latest news. Not today, it turned out. All Tiger Woods, all the time. Voicemails and text messages and police reports and other assorted things about which no sane adult should care. I was getting tired and bored so I pulled into a little truck stop and took a long nap. After waking and getting back on the road, I tried the radio again. All Tiger Woods, all the time.
Look people, here's the deal. Tiger Woods is a dork. He has always been a dork and he will always be a dork. He grew up with overbearing parents - dork. He was on the high school golf team - dork. He went to Stanford - dork. He was on the college golf team - dork. He practiced tirelessly while the other kids were doing bong hits and Jell-o shots - dork. Oh, and have you seen what he looks like? - dork. If I had to guess, I would say that he never enjoyed the company of an attractive woman before he turned 25 years old.
Suddenly he became rich and famous and it's not surprising that, at that point, a few lasses were willing to give him some entertainment. Plenty of wealthy men will chase skirts and plenty of hot women will chase wallets. This is a fact of life that pre-dates the current generation of philandering celebrities by several centuries. If it turns out that Tiger can or can't restrict his desires to his gorgeous Swedish wife, then so be it. That's their problem. When this stuff is still in the news next month, ask yourself why. Someone out there is demanding more coverage. That's why. But there's nothing to cover. A horny scumbag cheated on a hot chick who happened to 'fall in love' with a wealthy dork. They got in a fight and he hit a tree. Bummer. Shit happens. Case closed. Let Greta Van Susteren do a forensic analysis on the fire hydrant if she needs to, but get this garbage off the sports stations. Please.
Okay then. I popped a CD in the radio and then finished my drive over to Perrysburg, Ohio. After checking in with my next consignee, I was unloaded within a couple of hours. The drive from Perrysburg to the terminal in Taylor took another hour, after which I dropped my trailer and checked in with the dispatcher. He said that I was #2 on the board so I decided to hang around the terminal and see what would come along next.
After a little while I got an assignment. There was a load due to arrive at the terminal this evening and deliver in Minnesota on Friday afternoon. 708 miles and no reason for me to wait around tonight - beauty. I can take off in the morning, drive until I've had my fill, and then finish off the trip on Friday. So I headed back home and hung around for a while. Nothing really exciting going on this evening but hey, why not get out of the truck when I get the chance?
The miles for the week are starting to creep up toward 2,000 and I have a healthy chunk of layover and stop pay coming, so all in all the work week is going pretty well. Can't say the same for that forklift dude or the Woods family, I'm afraid.
#1 - If you really hate your job, to the extent that you feel the need to do it poorly and swear about it without restraint, then you should quit. If you've determined that you need the money and you can't make a lifestyle change during a rough economy, then shut the hell up and do the job for which you're being paid. (We'll have more on this in a minute.)
#2 - Men who think they can get away with it will often find it difficult to resist the temptation to cheat on their wives. Some men have decency and virtue, but others are pigs. Some women, meanwhile, are skanks who will knowingly sleep with married men. The results don't tend to be pretty. Life goes on. (We'll have more on this in a minute.)
Bright and early, I headed back over to my consignee and checked in with the security guard at Entry Point 13. He told me that I would have to hang around until 6am when the receivers showed up. My appointment was for 6am so I saw no problem with this. A few minutes before 6am, a dude in a car drove up to the gate. The security guard showed him my bills. The guy in the car said that I had to go to Entry Point 9, a mile away. (Chalk one up for wrong directions.)
I hauled ass over to the other entry point and got there at 5:58am. On time, good enough. The security guard over there was all worked up about the fact that there were two purchase orders listed on one page. His department was getting 150 items (on one order) while a different department was getting a single item (on the other order). He made a phone call and then told me that I could head over to the loading dock. The receiver would take the extra item and see to it that it was delivered to the right place. The security guard made an extra copy of the bill of lading so that he would have one for each purchase order, then sent me on my way. I was to get two signatures - one on each copy. Easy enough.
I got settled in at the dock and then watched as a dude on a forklift unloaded some lumber from a flatbed. Once he finished, he drove toward my truck so I got out and handed him the bills. He started swearing up a storm about something. He was half mumbling though and I really didn't care to make an effort to figure out what was his problem, so I hopped back in the truck for a while. After an hour or so, the guy came out and handed the bills to me. "All set?" I asked. He grunted some phrase involving the word "fuck," got back on his forklift, and drove away. What the hell, dude?
As I edged away from the loading dock I heard a metallic sound. I walked to the back of my trailer and took a look. The consignee's dock was just a basic outdoor concrete slab, so they used a portable metal bridge to get in and out of the trailer. That peckerhead had left the bridge sitting across the tailgate of my trailer and it had fallen when I pulled away from the dock. What a dick. It turns out that those metal bridges are pretty heavy. Since I haven't managed to become a completely disgruntled cocksucker just yet (unlike that guy), I wasn't willing to leave the damned thing lying on the ground. I got the pleasure of picking it up and tossing it onto the dock. I would never have known that they weighed so much.
As I started to close the doors to my trailer, I made one more discovery. There was some freight (for the last two stops) in the front of my trailer, restrained by load straps. There was also one box at the rear of the trailer, secured to the side wall by a single nylon strap of its own. No, he didn't, did he? I took a look at the bills. The one for the 150 items had been signed. The other had not. I hopped into the trailer and took a look at the numbers on the box. They matched the purchase order for the single item that had so troubled the security guard. The forklift guy saw me walking toward him, then pulled a quick U-turn on his forklift and drove out of sight. What the hell, dude? Seriously, there's a time when you should just quit your job.
I drove over to the security shack and explained the situation to the guard. I told him that the best thing to do would be for me to take the box out of my trailer and leave it with him. He could then call whichever department was supposed to receive it and someone could drive over and pick it up. The box wasn't too big, after all. He seemed rather content with this arrangement so I hopped in the trailer and grabbed the box. I think it was a window encased in wood or something. In any case, my freight finally had been delivered and I was on my way to Ohio.
I decided to listen to sports radio as I was driving today. There are some excellent games coming up this weekend. Plus the rumors and counter-rumors surrounding my Irish are changing by the minute, so I was flipping around the sports channels to see what was the latest news. Not today, it turned out. All Tiger Woods, all the time. Voicemails and text messages and police reports and other assorted things about which no sane adult should care. I was getting tired and bored so I pulled into a little truck stop and took a long nap. After waking and getting back on the road, I tried the radio again. All Tiger Woods, all the time.
Look people, here's the deal. Tiger Woods is a dork. He has always been a dork and he will always be a dork. He grew up with overbearing parents - dork. He was on the high school golf team - dork. He went to Stanford - dork. He was on the college golf team - dork. He practiced tirelessly while the other kids were doing bong hits and Jell-o shots - dork. Oh, and have you seen what he looks like? - dork. If I had to guess, I would say that he never enjoyed the company of an attractive woman before he turned 25 years old.
Suddenly he became rich and famous and it's not surprising that, at that point, a few lasses were willing to give him some entertainment. Plenty of wealthy men will chase skirts and plenty of hot women will chase wallets. This is a fact of life that pre-dates the current generation of philandering celebrities by several centuries. If it turns out that Tiger can or can't restrict his desires to his gorgeous Swedish wife, then so be it. That's their problem. When this stuff is still in the news next month, ask yourself why. Someone out there is demanding more coverage. That's why. But there's nothing to cover. A horny scumbag cheated on a hot chick who happened to 'fall in love' with a wealthy dork. They got in a fight and he hit a tree. Bummer. Shit happens. Case closed. Let Greta Van Susteren do a forensic analysis on the fire hydrant if she needs to, but get this garbage off the sports stations. Please.
Okay then. I popped a CD in the radio and then finished my drive over to Perrysburg, Ohio. After checking in with my next consignee, I was unloaded within a couple of hours. The drive from Perrysburg to the terminal in Taylor took another hour, after which I dropped my trailer and checked in with the dispatcher. He said that I was #2 on the board so I decided to hang around the terminal and see what would come along next.
After a little while I got an assignment. There was a load due to arrive at the terminal this evening and deliver in Minnesota on Friday afternoon. 708 miles and no reason for me to wait around tonight - beauty. I can take off in the morning, drive until I've had my fill, and then finish off the trip on Friday. So I headed back home and hung around for a while. Nothing really exciting going on this evening but hey, why not get out of the truck when I get the chance?
The miles for the week are starting to creep up toward 2,000 and I have a healthy chunk of layover and stop pay coming, so all in all the work week is going pretty well. Can't say the same for that forklift dude or the Woods family, I'm afraid.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
12/1/09
The reason that this morning was nice and easy is the same reason that I wonder why presidential primaries are organized as they are. There are no freaking people in Iowa. That's good for driving, bad for setting the course for the country's politics. After making my drop/hook in Pella, I had to get to I-80 in order to cross Illinois on my way to Indiana. There was no straight route, so I could either go all the way across to Davenport on state highways or I could head straight northward and then come across on the interstate. I only had to cover 400 miles and I had plenty of time, so I figured that the state routes couldn't be too bad. I was correct. Pretty much nothing but fields and farms.
I caught up with I-280 outside Davenport and then got onto I-80 on the other side of the river. Any day when you can get all the way across Illinois with the cruise control engaged is a pretty good day. It was even 4:30pm locally in the Chicago area as I went by. There was some construction traffic once I got into Indiana, but it wasn't too terrible. The rest of the drive through Indiana was on US-6. I seem to remember taking that road before, but I wasn't sure what kind of ride to expect. It turned out to be pretty smooth as well. Only a few towns and not a lot of traffic.
I didn't see any kind of truck stops or anything along US-6, so I decided to drive straight to the consignee and take my chances. The security guard was quick to send me packing, but he did suggest that I could hole up for the night at a vacant store down the street. I thanked him (only half sarcastically) for his help and headed on my way.
Upon turning the corner and seeing the vacant store in question, I also was treated to an unwelcome sight. There was a local cop hanging out in the parking lot. When you're intending to park somewhere that you may or may not belong, you don't usually want to do so in front of an officer of the law. I pulled into the lot, then walked over to him and explained the conversation that I had with the security guard. I asked if it was going to be a problem for me to spend the night and then head back over to the customer at 6am. The cop said that he couldn't give me permission to park in the lot, given that it's private property, but he had seen trucks parked there before. I took his statement under advisement and didn't press the issue any further.
By the time I walked around the building to assess the best way to park my truck, the officer had been kind enough to drive away. Plausible deniability perhaps. I don't know. I got settled in along the side of the building and that was that. Guess I should go to bed now. Back to the damned early morning schedule we go.
I caught up with I-280 outside Davenport and then got onto I-80 on the other side of the river. Any day when you can get all the way across Illinois with the cruise control engaged is a pretty good day. It was even 4:30pm locally in the Chicago area as I went by. There was some construction traffic once I got into Indiana, but it wasn't too terrible. The rest of the drive through Indiana was on US-6. I seem to remember taking that road before, but I wasn't sure what kind of ride to expect. It turned out to be pretty smooth as well. Only a few towns and not a lot of traffic.
I didn't see any kind of truck stops or anything along US-6, so I decided to drive straight to the consignee and take my chances. The security guard was quick to send me packing, but he did suggest that I could hole up for the night at a vacant store down the street. I thanked him (only half sarcastically) for his help and headed on my way.
Upon turning the corner and seeing the vacant store in question, I also was treated to an unwelcome sight. There was a local cop hanging out in the parking lot. When you're intending to park somewhere that you may or may not belong, you don't usually want to do so in front of an officer of the law. I pulled into the lot, then walked over to him and explained the conversation that I had with the security guard. I asked if it was going to be a problem for me to spend the night and then head back over to the customer at 6am. The cop said that he couldn't give me permission to park in the lot, given that it's private property, but he had seen trucks parked there before. I took his statement under advisement and didn't press the issue any further.
By the time I walked around the building to assess the best way to park my truck, the officer had been kind enough to drive away. Plausible deniability perhaps. I don't know. I got settled in along the side of the building and that was that. Guess I should go to bed now. Back to the damned early morning schedule we go.
Monday, November 30, 2009
11/30/09
Compared to sitting around and trying to sort out Notre Dame coaching rumors all day, this driving thing is kinda cool. It's almost like nobody learned anything the last time around when Urban Meyer left us standing at the altar. People just need to chill out and give the process some time.
In stark contrast to the tea leaf reading among the college football fans, the day's work turned out to be quite productive. As I sat at the dock getting unloaded this morning, I received my next assignment. Once I was empty I had a nice easy drive up I-94 for a pickup in Eau Claire. The shippers worked quickly and then I was on my way over to I-35 and down into Iowa for a delivery in Chariton tomorrow morning. Just before I reached Des Moines, I received another assignment so things seem to be going pretty smoothly indeed.
My delivery appointment was for 7am tomorrow and my directions said that the consignee had overnight parking so I headed straight there. When I checked in with the security guard, she sent me to a door and said that they would unload me tonight. Well alrighty then. By the time the unloading was done though, my 14 hour clock had expired. The only issue was that the receiving guy said I would have to drive down the street to a local truck stop in order to park for the night. I guess we'll have to operate on the premise that I was using my unladen vehicle to drive to an en route meal/lodging stop, therefore I was legally allowed to be off duty for the half mile drive. Good enough for me.
Tomorrow will be another busy one from the look of things. I have a drop/hook in Pella and then I'll be headed to Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan for two drops and a relay. The last stop is in Canada (where I can't go) so I suppose I might be spending Wednesday night at home, unless there's a quick assignment once I get to Taylor in the afternoon. Time will tell how that part of the deal plays out, but the miles are looking good thus far. Today's total was 543 miles. Tomorrow morning's deadhead is 53 miles. Then the loaded legs of the trip are 406, 148, and 57 miles. Adding in the extra $70 in stop pay and with half the week still to come, I have no complaints.
I could have sworn that the forecast said I was headed for bad things yesterday and today. There was a little bit of drizzle as I went from Ohio to Indiana. Otherwise I've seen nothing but sunshine. Once again, I have no complaints. And just for good measure, I don't have to make my drop/hook until 11am tomorrow. It's 53 miles from here so I get at least a one-day break from the blue-hair schedule that I've bee keeping. I'll get back to complaining soon enough though. Wednesday's first drop is scheduled for a rather unpleasant 6am.
In stark contrast to the tea leaf reading among the college football fans, the day's work turned out to be quite productive. As I sat at the dock getting unloaded this morning, I received my next assignment. Once I was empty I had a nice easy drive up I-94 for a pickup in Eau Claire. The shippers worked quickly and then I was on my way over to I-35 and down into Iowa for a delivery in Chariton tomorrow morning. Just before I reached Des Moines, I received another assignment so things seem to be going pretty smoothly indeed.
My delivery appointment was for 7am tomorrow and my directions said that the consignee had overnight parking so I headed straight there. When I checked in with the security guard, she sent me to a door and said that they would unload me tonight. Well alrighty then. By the time the unloading was done though, my 14 hour clock had expired. The only issue was that the receiving guy said I would have to drive down the street to a local truck stop in order to park for the night. I guess we'll have to operate on the premise that I was using my unladen vehicle to drive to an en route meal/lodging stop, therefore I was legally allowed to be off duty for the half mile drive. Good enough for me.
Tomorrow will be another busy one from the look of things. I have a drop/hook in Pella and then I'll be headed to Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan for two drops and a relay. The last stop is in Canada (where I can't go) so I suppose I might be spending Wednesday night at home, unless there's a quick assignment once I get to Taylor in the afternoon. Time will tell how that part of the deal plays out, but the miles are looking good thus far. Today's total was 543 miles. Tomorrow morning's deadhead is 53 miles. Then the loaded legs of the trip are 406, 148, and 57 miles. Adding in the extra $70 in stop pay and with half the week still to come, I have no complaints.
I could have sworn that the forecast said I was headed for bad things yesterday and today. There was a little bit of drizzle as I went from Ohio to Indiana. Otherwise I've seen nothing but sunshine. Once again, I have no complaints. And just for good measure, I don't have to make my drop/hook until 11am tomorrow. It's 53 miles from here so I get at least a one-day break from the blue-hair schedule that I've bee keeping. I'll get back to complaining soon enough though. Wednesday's first drop is scheduled for a rather unpleasant 6am.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
11/29/09
Compared to sitting around and watching football for the last two days, this driving thing kinda sucks. I'm pretty sure that I would be a better analyst than most of those guys on ESPN too. Maybe I should give them a call and see if they want to sign me to a long-term deal. Yeah, probably not. Guess I'll have to keep my day job.
I got rolling late in the morning and, within two hours, it was time for a nap. It's weird how that goes sometimes. Once I'm in the flow of things, I'm usually good for seven or eight hours. After a couple of days off, I get tired in no time. An hour of sleep did the trick though. Back to the highway.
As I approached the exit from the Indiana Toll Road to I-80/94, I saw one of those message boards with the amber lights. It said that traffic to Chicago should take I-90 in order to avoid delays. I had been planning to take I-80 to I-294, but the traffic was backed up all the way down the ramp so I thought maybe the advice on the message board was good. A mile further down I-90, traffic came to a dead stop. Shit. I got hoodwinked. After idling along in first gear for a few miles, I hopped off on I-65 and dropped back down to I-80. The traffic was heavy but it was flowing smoothly, so I have no idea what that message was all about.
The rest of the drive was nice and easy. No construction or slow traffic or any of that. Just a steady ride with the cruise control engaged and a good audio book on the radio. Upon arriving at the consignee in De Forest, I went for a walk to see where would be the best place to park. My directions say that I'm going to one address while the bill of lading lists the address of a neighboring building. The building indicated on the bill of lading appears to be vacant, so that's where I'm parked. With a 6am delivery I would prefer to sleep until at least 5:30am. The last time I had such a schedule, the workers started showing up at 4am and I had to move. I don't think I'm blocking anyone's parking space over here. Should be all good.
This little weekend respite should leave me in good shape to make a few bucks over the next couple of weeks. Today only used 7.75 hours out of my fresh 70, so I have plenty to burn going into next week. Mom's little Christmas vacation deal is set for the 18th through the 21st, so I'll be putting in my request for home time before too much longer. It would be nice to pad the bank account a little before then.
I got rolling late in the morning and, within two hours, it was time for a nap. It's weird how that goes sometimes. Once I'm in the flow of things, I'm usually good for seven or eight hours. After a couple of days off, I get tired in no time. An hour of sleep did the trick though. Back to the highway.
As I approached the exit from the Indiana Toll Road to I-80/94, I saw one of those message boards with the amber lights. It said that traffic to Chicago should take I-90 in order to avoid delays. I had been planning to take I-80 to I-294, but the traffic was backed up all the way down the ramp so I thought maybe the advice on the message board was good. A mile further down I-90, traffic came to a dead stop. Shit. I got hoodwinked. After idling along in first gear for a few miles, I hopped off on I-65 and dropped back down to I-80. The traffic was heavy but it was flowing smoothly, so I have no idea what that message was all about.
The rest of the drive was nice and easy. No construction or slow traffic or any of that. Just a steady ride with the cruise control engaged and a good audio book on the radio. Upon arriving at the consignee in De Forest, I went for a walk to see where would be the best place to park. My directions say that I'm going to one address while the bill of lading lists the address of a neighboring building. The building indicated on the bill of lading appears to be vacant, so that's where I'm parked. With a 6am delivery I would prefer to sleep until at least 5:30am. The last time I had such a schedule, the workers started showing up at 4am and I had to move. I don't think I'm blocking anyone's parking space over here. Should be all good.
This little weekend respite should leave me in good shape to make a few bucks over the next couple of weeks. Today only used 7.75 hours out of my fresh 70, so I have plenty to burn going into next week. Mom's little Christmas vacation deal is set for the 18th through the 21st, so I'll be putting in my request for home time before too much longer. It would be nice to pad the bank account a little before then.
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