The image above is what I call a "portable AC". I debated over the last few days whether to buy it or not, but if it saves me from having to run my engine and using extra fuel, then I think it is a good idea, so tonight I went ahead and ordered it with the idea that hopefully it will arrive sometime by the end of this next week so that I will be able to get it when I get home for home time. Basically what it is, it's a cooler. The cooler can be used as a simple cooler, but then the blue lid attachment you see there is the cool air part. It has a plug that I can plug into my 12volt plugs that I have here in the truck. It has two different fans. One takes warm air in, and the other blows cool air out. Based on what the information the offer on this product, it was invented to be used with these types of boats and tents that have like 15 or whatever feet of square feet inside, and it cooled about 30 or more degrees below the outside air temperature. Plus I checked out what bags of ice cost earlier and on average I noticed that for a 10lb bag of ice it was 3.00, which is not bad. Compare that to a gallon of diesel per hour. Diesel right now is around $4.00 per gallon unless you go to the east or west coast, and then it's like $4.40 or so per gallon that I pay for, and so if i can go through one bag of ice to keep cool for my 10 hour sleeper reset, versus over $40.00 in fuel, to me it seemed like a no-brainer. The only concern I had was that to spend the purchase price plus shipping was a good portion of what funds I had available to me right now, but then I parked at the truck stop for the night, and right away I was noticing that even though here in Arkansas, it's 85 outside and not 100, it's still heating up the truck pretty good, so I thought two things. 1) if I didn't get it and try it out, I would basically just be sleeping as well as possible even though I'd be hot. 2) it is technically something i'm buying for the truck so it will lessen how much taxes I pay out and I will also be able to write it off as a business expense. To check out what else they have, go to the link below. :)
CLICK HERE!
Little side note before going on, they have a ton of stuff from this portable ac/cooler, to what I like to call "cool-bands" which are basically bandanas that if memory serves from when I had one while ref'ing soccer, you put the bandana in water, it has these beads or something inside that make it absorb the water making the bandana puff up, and then you put the puffed up bandana in the fridge and let it cool off. Then when you're out in the heat, you wrap it around your neck and it helps you stay cool. Or you even don't have to put it in the fridge (that's just what I did when I ref'd soccer because i was normally out in the heat all day so the colder it was at the start, the longer it lasted). But it works to cool you off with the evaporating moisture from the bandana. It's something that I have a feeling when Erin checks out this site she will probably see things that will be great for our girls with them being in soccer and the summer months approaching and what not. So check it out!
So I'm currently headed to New York. I swore up and down that next time they try to assign a small load of 150 miles or something like that, I'm going to decline right away. I still might, but they redeemed themselves a little bit. When I say they, i mean CR england. Basically after running that load there, then coming 150 miles 'back' to Laredo (which I wasn't happy about), and then they asked me to do a local delivery (basically the trailer I was delivering was empty but they wanted me to deliver it to this one customer, and pick up a different trailer that was empty) They wanted me to have the other empty trailer washed out because apparently it was not in good shape. They weren't lying either. Looked like it had been in a few accidents, was dented in a few places, and i opened one of the trailer doors and flies everywhere and the trailer was covered in blood. I'm guessing it had a meat load and of course some of it ran, which I don't get because meat loads usually are transported at freezing temps so there shouldn't have been blood running anywhere. So I took it to the truck wash, and they washed it out, and then I went to pick up the load with that trailer that I was assigned at that point in time which was going to Iowa. To Cedar Rapids to be exact. So I get to the place, and they tell me "oh no, the appointment is tomomrrow!" I called dispatch and their like "it's for today!" I go back there again and try to confirm and their like "it's for tomorrow. Come back tomorrow." So I go to the truck stop, and come back the following morning by 10:45 AM. The appointment wasn't until 3pm, and although dispatch said 'go there at 8am', i know that chances are if you are 'very' early for your appointment, you are still going to have to wait, so i figured I would try to sleep in, but haha, with the heat I woke up around 8:30 and couldn't go back to sleep cuz I was so hot I had to turn the truck on to cool off. (I guess that'll change soon with my new ac cooler eh? ;) ) So I go over to the customer, find out what dock i'm at, I go over and get backed into the dock, and I get a message saying "bring the load over to the yard when you get it" I was like "what's going on?" and then the load planner calls me and tells me that they are having a team driver come meet me, I'm going to drop the trailer at the dock when they get there and the team driver will take over (since it was 1200 mile by the following afternoon, which if I left on wednesday I coulda done it, but leaving thursday and getting there on friday? wasn't possible for me as a solo.) So I was like "ah, ok, so what do you want me to do after they take over?" She was like "Bobtail over here to the yard and we have several loads here in the yard that you can pick from." I was like "great! I will see you soon!" So about 2 hours later, I was still docked and hadn't been loaded and the team showed up. I dropped the trailer and left, and headed back over to the laredo yard, and they offered me that 1800 mile load. So here i am! I've grown and learned since I've been out here though. I'm all for helping, but now I think i'm more willing to say no. For example, this morning a cr england customer service person calls me and says "we need you to pick up a student in dallas and take them to new york with you and drop them off." I thought about it for a minute (because I really do not like the idea of taking random people on my truck. I think i work better as a solo. Now, if I had someone I care for like a close friend, or family member, etc riding with me that'd be different, but just random people that I should pick up and give them a ride?) I was like "I'll be honest, I'd love to help, but I don't work well with others on the truck." he was like "of course it's your choice, if you don't want to, you don't have to and I will just see if I can find someone else in the area." So I was like "then , yeah I'm going to have to say no. I'm sorry, I just can't do it." He was like "no big deal. Thanks anyway." And hung up. I mean, think about it, this is basically my home away from home. I don't want just "anyone" in here.. lol.. not that i'm a slob (despite what my parents might tell you.. ;) but it's like my own personal appartment. I work here, I sleep here, I eat here. And the big thing for me is when I was on here with my trainer, if he was in back with the curtain closed, I drove really well.....when he joined me up front, suddenly i was grinding gears and all sorts of screw-ups, so that's why any time they've pushed for me to take on a student and train, i'm like "nooooooooooooooo wwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.. not interested!" No matter how much they tried to guilt me by saying "we're a team here! We help eachother!" And i'm like "that's great! You take on students and help out. I'm a SOOOLLLLOOO DRIVER!"
lol.. so yeah, that's pretty much it for now. Like I said, they have a lot of realy cool products so check them out! I'm going to call that it for tonight, later all! C
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