Well, again, I apologize for the length of time that I have been away. I guess depending on how things are going, and how busy I am, I get really lazy at times. A lot has happened over the past 6 months or so *havent looked at the date of my last post so I'm not sure how long its been, but i'm pretty sure not that long*. Not sure if I will be able to cover everything in this entry, but I will see what I can do. Still lazy, so that might pose a problem. LOL! Well, for the past 7 months, I have been driving as an Independent Contractor for CR England. My lease is up in the next 18 months, and then my plan was to then start making payments for the next year after that to "own" the truck. Owning my truck basically would mean that i'd make over $800 extra on my pay checks because 500 was for the truck payment each week, and then probably over $300 on top of that because of the 14 cents variable mileage that england charges right now, that they wont when I own. So that was what I was looking forward to. Over the past few months though, I've reconnected with God, and am constantly trying to do even better. Some days are easier than others, but what I've learned through me studying God's word, and praying constantly, and worshiping him to the best of my ability, giving Him all my strength, loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and all my strength. There were days when I had just delivered, it was late at night, and I had a pickup for that night right afterwards, and so I was like, "i'm going to push myself, i'm giving you everything I have Lord, I'm giving you all my strength till I get to the point where I literally crawl back in the back in my sleeper and go to sleep.
I starte devoting as much time as I possibly could to giving it to God. I try to study in my bible every day. Some days its harder than others. Take last night for instance. After telling Ash that I was sorry for whatever I did, or didnt do, or whatever, and that I was going to go offline on the chat programs for a while because I was having trouble holding on to a friendship that she seemed to let go of by completely ignoring and not wanting to talk to me, but that I would always be here and all she has to do is text me asking me to come onto yahoo or whatever and I will come on, but that the ball is officially in her court. I still cant explain what happened between she and i because one day it seemed like things were fine, then a day or two later she was refusing to talk to me and said she was bothered, so meh, I figure, God is in control, and he knows what he is doing. Ashley in my life bonding with me a few months back pulled me out of a dark place while out here alone on the road, and I constantly prayed for her and her family and from what I've heard and noticed *and i cant say 100%* but it sounded to me especially recently that things have improved between her and her family drastically, and so I have faith that God has been working in her life.
So anyway, moving on, as I figure its a life situation that isnt worth focusing on right now because as far as I can tell, its something that I can not change, and also, you cant focus on the future if you are looking at the past. Also, I figure, the way that Ash and I were brought closer as friends was so sudden and out of the blue, that neither of us understood why it happened like that, the only thing we could explain it was that God had a reason for it. And the falling out recently was just as fast as the coming together, and for a while during my drive shift the other day, I was actually heartbroken for a while until suddenly it was like God opened my eyes and I realized that He is in control of everything, and that obviously there is a reason for everything that happens, and obviously He used Ash to ground me and help me pull back to God, and He used me through my renewed and stronger than ever faith to send constant prayers Ash's way for her and her family. And now a new path is layed out for me and apparently its time for me to embrace that and keep moving forward. Not everyone that God brings into your life is brought into your life permanently. God brings people into your life for a little while to teach you a lesson, to help you grow, or to show you why you need Him so much. So, do I consider Ash a friend? Always. I've known her for a while, and werent always as close as we became months back. However, I told her that I would always be here for her if she ever needs me *which is how i am as a friend*, and I figure, if God's plan for us is for us to not talk anymore, then it'll be so, but if He plans for us to reconnect as friends then it'll happen, so instead of worrying about it, I'm just moving forward and walking in faith!
So onward! so, being here here on the road alone has been tough. I'd say it has been a really big challenge for me. Thank you God for the strength to do it! I knew being away from my family would be hard, but being away from my family, putting in long hours, no days off really, while at the same time, not making much money at all and having trouble to pay the bills, which usually resulted in Erin and I butting heads because of money. Over the past couple months though, things have still been tight, but with my ever growing faith in the Lord, and trying to better myself as far as ways of thinking, things I was into, etc, that I was slowly trying to change for the better in God's eyes. So, over the past 4 weeks, I receive 3 job offers to drive for other companies. One was with Sneider, out 6 days, home 3 days, which sounded good. The big problem was the local yard i'd have to get to here in pa is 2 hours away, and that would have been a problem, so at first, I didnt share the news with erin because I wasnt feeling it, and didnt want to fight about it. I wanted to keep working hard and keep having faith and figured if it was meant to be, eventually God would present an opportunity that when I saw it, I would go "wow, there it is!" Well after turning down that job, I got a call from USA Trucking, and that was home 4 days a month, and i thought "thats not too bad," but still didnt feel right about it. Then got a call from JBHunt, and this one was out 12 days, home 2 days. I thought "that's not too bad either," but I couldnt bring myself to decide, I kept thinking "i really hate to leave england, I dont want to give up what i've worked hard for with my lease, and love the idea of owning my truck.
So, come this last sunday, God acted on my heart and I suddenly thought "ok I either need to take a company driver job with another company, or I need to become a trainer with England." I really wasnt feeling like I wanted to be a trainer, but i was willing to, but I felt more strongly about the JBHunt opportunity. So the next morning when I hit the road, I called jbhunt and talked to the recruiter that had called me and wanted to talk about the 12 days out, and 2 days home. He explained that there was another job possibility that just came open an hour earlier that normally I didnt qualify for because the job normally required 18 months experience, but it had been changed and I qualified now. I was like "well tell me about it if you would please." He was like "its local" i was like "really... thats good, what else?" He was like "home nightly, two nights off per week, salary around 54,000 and you'd average about 1,080 per week, sometimes more from what other drivers have told me." I was like "wow. That sounds great. One question, is there a sign on bonus?" he was like "yup, $1,000 sign on bonus." I was like "dang.. That sounds too good to be true!" He was like "its for real man! Are you interested?" I was like "I'm definitely interested!" It felt like God had reached out, padded me on the shoulder and said "see? arent you glad I hardened your heart so you didnt jump at the other opportunities that came up the past few weeks? Glad you trust and have faith in me now I bet eh?" I remember, after talking to the recruiter, then being transfered to the lady running my background check, I stopped at a truckstop because I saw it had Long John Silvers and I havent eaten at one of those in years! When I got my food, and got back to the truck, before I got back on the road, I went in back, and knelt in prayer to thank God for not only hardening my heart against the other offers, but for his blessings in our lives, and that I knew things would work out and be ok, that I just had to have Faith and Trust in Him.
Ever since that day, I got a ticket from a cop for going over a bridge that i was too heavy for *I didnt realize it*, and while the cop was writing the ticket, I was shaking *I seem to always be shaky when I'm dealing with cops giving me a citation. I dont know why. I was sitting in the driver seat while the cop was back in his car writing the citation, and my leg was shaking something fierce. I was like "wow, cmon!" while i tried to put my hand firmly on my leg to help it stop shaking. Then I got up, climbed in back, and knelt down in prayer basically saying "Lord I give it all to you, all my worries, cares and stresses, and yes I'm freaking out right now, but I know that there is a reason for everything, and you are in control,and obviously there is something you want me to learn from this, so I give it all to you Lord, and will do whatever you want me to do.
So, right now I'm sitting at a TA (travel centers of America) here in Ohio. I'm sitting for a 34 hour reset till tomorrow morning. I got some good sleep last night and this morning, I got up at 5 AM and went in to submit my trip packs to payroll before they would come in for the day, and then I came back out to the truck, studied my bible for about 40 minutes, and then went back to sleep. Didnt get up till about 11, but with my awesome amount of sleep lately *sarcasm :P * i've noticed if i sleep late, i still can go to sleep at night without problem. Then I went into the truck stop, ate brunch first at the restaurant inside ta, which basically i had what they call the "long haul breakfast" which is a bisquit and gravy, 2 sausage patties, hashbrowns, french toast, and two eggs. For a while, most ta's i ate at *which wasnt "often" but i tried to whenever i could*, they would actually offer you a 2nd helping for free. like, any part of your meal you could order 2nds, or thte whole thing if you wanted. I did order 2nds a few times, usually more bisquits and gravy, and sausage. One time i got extra hashbrowns. When I first started eating at that restaurant, usually i would end up getting the cat fish fillet dinner, but what can I say? I'm more a breakfast guy. I loooooooove fried fish, but the breakfast with the bisquits and gravy, hashbrowns, eggs, and french toast and sausage patties beats that meal ten times over. Gonna miss that kind of breakfast being back home because unless we go to ihop, there's not too many places that you can eat like that, but at the same time, there's chinese at home which I havent had in forever and I looooove chinese, so I'm looking forward to that occasionally.
So in conclusion, yup, many things changing very rapidly, but they are changes that I am welcoming with open arms. I'm looking so forward to them. In fact, lately, especially after the change God brought between Ash and I, I've been looking even more forward to turning the truck in and going home and starting the new job. That is going to be wonderful. Its been about 2.5 months or so since I was home last. I hadnt planned on being able to get home for many many more months, and I was willing to do it, willing to do whatever God wanted me to do, work as hard as I could to give everythign I have to God and just glorify him and not complain, but thank him that i was in fact working, and that Erin was in fact working, and that we have a house with a landlord that is gracious enough to work with us as far as the rent has gone and not kicking us out, and the bills have been gracious enough to work with us so that we wouldnt get shut off, but would do the best we can, and now things are about to change, bills will get caught up on, things taken care of, our landlord appeased, and things just improving over all. So, Thank you Lord for your constant work in our lives, and I will contrinue to reach for you and lift your name up on high. On that note, I will talk to you all again next time. I wish you all a wonderful day, God bless you, and see you again soon!
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
home time :)
Well i made it home for home time. I'm definitely liking 6 days off versus 4, because it feels so much longer even though its only 2 days longer. But when you're gone for 2 months, taking 6 days off feels so much better than 4 days. I cant explain it. So, i've got one more day off, and then tuesday morning i'm back on the road. And this time, i will have my cooler so i shouldnt need to idle my engine as much as long as I have the ability to get a bag of ice to fill up the cooler. That should be interesting since I have never used it yet. It's been sitting here at the house for almost 7 weeks because it showed up on our doorstep the day after I left. I was like "oh that just figures!"
So while home, there was at least one thing i needed to take care of. I had experienced some medical issues that had people concerned. I have been having neck and shoulder spasms and one time it went to a migraine that made me black out. I've also had other issues like, my hand suddenly going all spastic and twitching up a storm with my fingers moving half an inch back and forth... freaked me out when that happened...
But I told erin I wanted to get in to see a doctor when home for hometime, and I promised Ashley I would, so I really wanted to for the both of them. Erin because I know she worries, and Ashley because I promised her and wanted to keep my promise. When i did get into a place, it was an urgent care clinic that will see you for anything non life threatening. So I get in there, and they told me what one thing did i want to get seen for, so i said "shoulder and neck spasms that lead to migraines."
So, the doctor said "i'm going to prescribe you muscle relaxers. You can also take motrin for pain. This kind of thing should get better and go away within 2-3 weeks. However, if it does not, it will actually get worse and you will be back here to see me again. So, i got my script of muscle relaxers, which i take 1-3 every 6 hours. Plus he told me stretches to do at least a few times per day. Then something else happened that made me concerned. Last night, erin handed me my fathers day card,and i read most of it but then got to the word "Tons" and i couldnt figure out what the word was. I thought i just couldnt see it, so i went into the kitchen with more light, and after a few more tries, i finally figured it out. I thought the word was "lots" and then the next morning i read the card again and i could tell it was obviously tons. I was like "i dont know why i couldnt figure that out yesterday." THen today, Teagen gets out of the back yard, and so thinking that he was one block over, i walked down the street, past the bar, past my truck, and i turned up the block i thought he was on, and one of the residents on that block was like "is that your husky?" I'm lke "yeah, which way did he go?" and they were like "he went up that way, hop in i'll give you a lift up to where he is." So i was like "sure!" So we drove about a block to where he was, and I got out and got teagen on the leash.
So, i get him on the leash, and I walk half a block to what i was certain was county line road, and i take a left, and i go a block and suddenly i'm looking around and i'm lost. I am like "where the hell am i?" I didnt recognize a thing. So i backtrack, and realize "how am I on spring ave?" So I walk back, and took another left on the actual county line road, and ended up having to go a few blocks and then turn down aubrey. I the whole way thought "i dont remember going that far away from the house, i went one block over, and about a block and a half north, yet I went 2 blocks down *not even to where i started* And i walked all the way back home thinking about how I'm really not that old and shouldnt be having these issues. Makes me a bit concerned, but while i'm on the road i will just remain alert and aware to how i'm feeling and if i'm easily forgetting stuff, etc, and if so, then maybe when i come back again i will have to get in the doc again to have them see me about the other stuff.
Anyway, its late and i'm tired and keep zoning out so i better go!
talk to you again soon!
C
So while home, there was at least one thing i needed to take care of. I had experienced some medical issues that had people concerned. I have been having neck and shoulder spasms and one time it went to a migraine that made me black out. I've also had other issues like, my hand suddenly going all spastic and twitching up a storm with my fingers moving half an inch back and forth... freaked me out when that happened...
But I told erin I wanted to get in to see a doctor when home for hometime, and I promised Ashley I would, so I really wanted to for the both of them. Erin because I know she worries, and Ashley because I promised her and wanted to keep my promise. When i did get into a place, it was an urgent care clinic that will see you for anything non life threatening. So I get in there, and they told me what one thing did i want to get seen for, so i said "shoulder and neck spasms that lead to migraines."
So, the doctor said "i'm going to prescribe you muscle relaxers. You can also take motrin for pain. This kind of thing should get better and go away within 2-3 weeks. However, if it does not, it will actually get worse and you will be back here to see me again. So, i got my script of muscle relaxers, which i take 1-3 every 6 hours. Plus he told me stretches to do at least a few times per day. Then something else happened that made me concerned. Last night, erin handed me my fathers day card,and i read most of it but then got to the word "Tons" and i couldnt figure out what the word was. I thought i just couldnt see it, so i went into the kitchen with more light, and after a few more tries, i finally figured it out. I thought the word was "lots" and then the next morning i read the card again and i could tell it was obviously tons. I was like "i dont know why i couldnt figure that out yesterday." THen today, Teagen gets out of the back yard, and so thinking that he was one block over, i walked down the street, past the bar, past my truck, and i turned up the block i thought he was on, and one of the residents on that block was like "is that your husky?" I'm lke "yeah, which way did he go?" and they were like "he went up that way, hop in i'll give you a lift up to where he is." So i was like "sure!" So we drove about a block to where he was, and I got out and got teagen on the leash.
So, i get him on the leash, and I walk half a block to what i was certain was county line road, and i take a left, and i go a block and suddenly i'm looking around and i'm lost. I am like "where the hell am i?" I didnt recognize a thing. So i backtrack, and realize "how am I on spring ave?" So I walk back, and took another left on the actual county line road, and ended up having to go a few blocks and then turn down aubrey. I the whole way thought "i dont remember going that far away from the house, i went one block over, and about a block and a half north, yet I went 2 blocks down *not even to where i started* And i walked all the way back home thinking about how I'm really not that old and shouldnt be having these issues. Makes me a bit concerned, but while i'm on the road i will just remain alert and aware to how i'm feeling and if i'm easily forgetting stuff, etc, and if so, then maybe when i come back again i will have to get in the doc again to have them see me about the other stuff.
Anyway, its late and i'm tired and keep zoning out so i better go!
talk to you again soon!
C
Sunday, June 10, 2012
ohio bound!
So my current load delivers in ohio. First off, I will start by saying, yes I know, i know, it's been a while since my last blog. It's not that I haven't "wanted" to blog. More that I got pre-occupied with other stuff like school, chatting on oovoo, or some days I get stopped for the night and only have the strict 10 hours off before I gotta take off, so I literally stop, do my homework, eat, go to bed, wake up, drive, rinse and repeat. :P
So, let's see, i have no idea where i was at last time I blogged. So, the last few trips, let's see, I went from cali, to missouri right near kc. It was about 40 minutes away and harry offered to drive down so we could meet up and have lunch. I was like "sounds great harry!" I believe that was the day I requested not to get a load till the following morning because I had driven two nights straight and was freaking exausted! So I went from there, over to pa, was there for just under a day before heading out from there to head down to Laredo, TX. Then from there, I headed up to St Joseph, MO, which I found out was about 55 miles from Betsy and Harry, and my hours were getting down low, so I talked to betsy and harry and they really wanted me to come stay with them for at least a day if possible, so I took a 34 hour reset, parked my truck at a truck stop that apparently is only like 5 miles away from lake quivera, and harry picked me up. It was an interesting weekend, they were swamped so most my time was spent just hanging around the house, getting online, etc... Friday night, I went out to a Tae *not sure if thats how you spell it* restaurant with Betsy. It was really good. Got this noodle dish with rice noodles and brocoli, and beef, etc, with soy sauce and we shared an order of pot stickers. It was funny cuz the waitress said they were spicy, but betsy asked for them to be dumbed down as far as spice goes.. I think the spice was in the 'sauce', cuz eating just the potstickers I was fine, but betsy was covering hers and she was like fanning her mouth.
I was like "im not catching any kick at all", but after diping one or two in the sauce, i went to make another comment and it was like BAMN! I was like "OH there it is!" fanning my own mouth.. Betsy was like "yeah!" LOL. But then i tried a potsticker without, and i felt fine, i was like "i think its the sauce!"
So, saturday, betsy was busy, but harry got some what free that day and went golfing and wanted me to tag along with him just to hang out. I was like sure why not. It was fun, we talked about erin's and my financial issues right now, as well as a bunch of other stuff. That night, we grilled steaks for dinner, with corn on the cob and salad. Betsy literally nuked "one" potato. I was curious. She said when she started it that if harry didn't want it, or wanted to split it with me, that was up to him. I was like "there's only one?" She was like "yeah, i dont want a potato, but you guys can figure it out. :)" I was like "ok" and harry said he didnt even want a potato anyway... so i was like "score!" lol
So that night, betsy ran me back to the truck. I did a local delivery for cre, and then i basically ended up sitting till monday till i got loaded.. They sent me back to laredo again, but i wasnt there long. they sent me right away from there, up to arkanss, and they tried to send me back to laredo, but I messaged my manager about my hours and having home time coming up and he swapped me with another driver so I was headed east instead. Here I sit in Ohio, where i deliver tomorrow morning, and then i will get a load somewhere to pa and then head home for 6 days.. Cant wait!
On that note, I will try to not wait so long next time. Talk to you guys again soon!
So, let's see, i have no idea where i was at last time I blogged. So, the last few trips, let's see, I went from cali, to missouri right near kc. It was about 40 minutes away and harry offered to drive down so we could meet up and have lunch. I was like "sounds great harry!" I believe that was the day I requested not to get a load till the following morning because I had driven two nights straight and was freaking exausted! So I went from there, over to pa, was there for just under a day before heading out from there to head down to Laredo, TX. Then from there, I headed up to St Joseph, MO, which I found out was about 55 miles from Betsy and Harry, and my hours were getting down low, so I talked to betsy and harry and they really wanted me to come stay with them for at least a day if possible, so I took a 34 hour reset, parked my truck at a truck stop that apparently is only like 5 miles away from lake quivera, and harry picked me up. It was an interesting weekend, they were swamped so most my time was spent just hanging around the house, getting online, etc... Friday night, I went out to a Tae *not sure if thats how you spell it* restaurant with Betsy. It was really good. Got this noodle dish with rice noodles and brocoli, and beef, etc, with soy sauce and we shared an order of pot stickers. It was funny cuz the waitress said they were spicy, but betsy asked for them to be dumbed down as far as spice goes.. I think the spice was in the 'sauce', cuz eating just the potstickers I was fine, but betsy was covering hers and she was like fanning her mouth.
I was like "im not catching any kick at all", but after diping one or two in the sauce, i went to make another comment and it was like BAMN! I was like "OH there it is!" fanning my own mouth.. Betsy was like "yeah!" LOL. But then i tried a potsticker without, and i felt fine, i was like "i think its the sauce!"
So, saturday, betsy was busy, but harry got some what free that day and went golfing and wanted me to tag along with him just to hang out. I was like sure why not. It was fun, we talked about erin's and my financial issues right now, as well as a bunch of other stuff. That night, we grilled steaks for dinner, with corn on the cob and salad. Betsy literally nuked "one" potato. I was curious. She said when she started it that if harry didn't want it, or wanted to split it with me, that was up to him. I was like "there's only one?" She was like "yeah, i dont want a potato, but you guys can figure it out. :)" I was like "ok" and harry said he didnt even want a potato anyway... so i was like "score!" lol
So that night, betsy ran me back to the truck. I did a local delivery for cre, and then i basically ended up sitting till monday till i got loaded.. They sent me back to laredo again, but i wasnt there long. they sent me right away from there, up to arkanss, and they tried to send me back to laredo, but I messaged my manager about my hours and having home time coming up and he swapped me with another driver so I was headed east instead. Here I sit in Ohio, where i deliver tomorrow morning, and then i will get a load somewhere to pa and then head home for 6 days.. Cant wait!
On that note, I will try to not wait so long next time. Talk to you guys again soon!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Illinois
So this one will be fairly short because I'm really tired and need to get to bed soon. However, I can't help myself because watching my shows on netflix or hulu is too tempting. I know there are times that I should just go straight to bed especially when I have to drive when I wake up, but there are things that either I really want to do, or I have to do. Wants for instance: I'm currently watching the series "hero's" on netflix. Pretty awesome series! If you haven't watched it, I highly recommend it. People that have different kinds of abilities such as flying, time travel, it's an A+++ in my book! Other wants, posting blog entries, and chatting with friends and family on facebook.
Have to's: School work. I guess technically it is a "choice." I don't "have" to do my school work online, but I do really want my degree and in order to get that, I 'have' to do this. It's ok though. Since i'm only in one class at a time and not two, I'm finding it much easier to keep up. Lately I have felt like I would fall behind (even though I didn't fall behind.) However, I felt like it because I didn't get much done at all. I had the past 4 nights where I drove through out the night because of the way the load was. I ended up picking it up friday night to deliver from cali to missouri, and I ended up having to drive the night shifts to get it there on time. Otherwise I would have been late. So I get to the walmart distribution center in Harrisonville, MO, at 3:45AM, and then I finally left there at 7:30. I went to the closest flying j, parked, and did my inspection and put myself listed off duty. I was dragging so bad. I messaged my dm and said "hey, I'm having a major issue right now because of lack of sleep. I'm in no shape to drive for a bit, please do not reload me today. Instead, please reload me tomorrow morning so I can get some rest and recoup."
Well, he did reload me the next day, but not when I wanted. They gave me a load 2 hours away that was picking up at 4AM. I was like "damnit." So I tried to sleep through out the day, but had difficulty. I think it's safe to say I didn't sleep at all that day. I did get to meet up with my father-in-law Harry, which was really nice. So I literally layed in bed for 2 hours, not able to get to sleep, but feeling so tired. There have been quite a few days lately where I am broke and cant afford to really eat hardly at all, and I wonder if lack of nutrition can have a side effect or poor sleep. I'm sure it does! Seems like whenever I can get decent meal, like tonight I had gotten paid from CR England, and so I got some Chester's Chicken and okra, and then just about 30 minutes ago before getting online to do my homework, I went inside, got two gatorades and some nachos w/cheese, and then before starting my blog, heck, before finishing my homework, I'm sitting here on my bed, with the laptop on this lil pull out thing I use kind of as a counter for my computer, and I'm really drowsy. It's like "wow, I have felt exhausted, wiped out, tired, but not like this for days to the point where I know if I change into my sleep clothes and lay down, away I will go. I cant wait! But first, had to do homework and then come on here, and normally i would turn my trip packs in for payment by wednesday night, but with the holiday this week, our week was shortened and we have to turn all trips in by tonight at midnight instead. made for me having a short week. i think close to 2,000 miles. Just under it actually, which means maybe not much or any of a paycheck this next week, but hopefully I can hit 3,000 for the following week and make a $600 pay check.
So anyway, I'm going to call that it for tonight! Talk to you all next time!
Have to's: School work. I guess technically it is a "choice." I don't "have" to do my school work online, but I do really want my degree and in order to get that, I 'have' to do this. It's ok though. Since i'm only in one class at a time and not two, I'm finding it much easier to keep up. Lately I have felt like I would fall behind (even though I didn't fall behind.) However, I felt like it because I didn't get much done at all. I had the past 4 nights where I drove through out the night because of the way the load was. I ended up picking it up friday night to deliver from cali to missouri, and I ended up having to drive the night shifts to get it there on time. Otherwise I would have been late. So I get to the walmart distribution center in Harrisonville, MO, at 3:45AM, and then I finally left there at 7:30. I went to the closest flying j, parked, and did my inspection and put myself listed off duty. I was dragging so bad. I messaged my dm and said "hey, I'm having a major issue right now because of lack of sleep. I'm in no shape to drive for a bit, please do not reload me today. Instead, please reload me tomorrow morning so I can get some rest and recoup."
Well, he did reload me the next day, but not when I wanted. They gave me a load 2 hours away that was picking up at 4AM. I was like "damnit." So I tried to sleep through out the day, but had difficulty. I think it's safe to say I didn't sleep at all that day. I did get to meet up with my father-in-law Harry, which was really nice. So I literally layed in bed for 2 hours, not able to get to sleep, but feeling so tired. There have been quite a few days lately where I am broke and cant afford to really eat hardly at all, and I wonder if lack of nutrition can have a side effect or poor sleep. I'm sure it does! Seems like whenever I can get decent meal, like tonight I had gotten paid from CR England, and so I got some Chester's Chicken and okra, and then just about 30 minutes ago before getting online to do my homework, I went inside, got two gatorades and some nachos w/cheese, and then before starting my blog, heck, before finishing my homework, I'm sitting here on my bed, with the laptop on this lil pull out thing I use kind of as a counter for my computer, and I'm really drowsy. It's like "wow, I have felt exhausted, wiped out, tired, but not like this for days to the point where I know if I change into my sleep clothes and lay down, away I will go. I cant wait! But first, had to do homework and then come on here, and normally i would turn my trip packs in for payment by wednesday night, but with the holiday this week, our week was shortened and we have to turn all trips in by tonight at midnight instead. made for me having a short week. i think close to 2,000 miles. Just under it actually, which means maybe not much or any of a paycheck this next week, but hopefully I can hit 3,000 for the following week and make a $600 pay check.
So anyway, I'm going to call that it for tonight! Talk to you all next time!
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Cali =)
So here I am in good ol, Hot As Hell, Cali. =) When it gets to triple digits, it's way too hot! Makes me look forward to getting home again even more because my cooler/ac thing was delivered the day after I left this last time. Figures eh? So, I'm settling for idling my engine, especially during the 12PM to early evening part of the day because you know how during the summer heat, the afternoon is the hottest. At least when I have my cooler, I can just fill it up with ice, put the lid on, turn it's lil fans on and it should help for a good portion of the day. Might go through more ice during the hottest part of the day, but that's ok.
So I brought this load down from Idaho (right above utah), and in order to make the weight legal, I had to have my rear axel of my trailer back a little bit farther than the "technical" legal length for california. I had come through cali once a while back with my tandems a little bit further back and I didn't have issues. Luck of the draw sometimes I guess because this time the state troopers were all out in force. In fact! It made me come up with a joke!
How Many State Troopers does it take to pull over ONE truck driver?
Answer: Four! At least according to these california troopers. I swear, I get into californnia, and after a few hours in the state, I go through this "check point" where basically they check your bills and then say "ok have a nice day." By the time I got there, I looked in my mirror and realized I had not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR california state troopers all behind me, all with their lights flashing. My first thought? Oh shit! Not sure what I did! But I'm going to jail!
Come to find out, they were all pulling me over because of the tandems being too far back. So I received a "citation," which I'm not sure how much the fine will be because the officer said i will find out through the court. The court date is set for like 2 months from now, but I thought I heard him say I could call too instead of actually having to "be" here in person. I have this "legal" plan I pay for with my other benefits and basically it's meant for this exact situation where I contact my legal people, and i can have a lawyer go to the court hearing in my place so that I don't have to go. So, I'm going to probably be doing that. The funny thing was, I told the officer that with the tandems all the way forward to the cali legal spot, the weight on the back was 2,000 pounds over weight. But he still told me before I left after the citation that I needed to move the tandems forward to where they should be. Sad part was, I was only an hour from where I was supposed to deliver. So, knowing that I was overweight and that if I went through one of the "scales" along the interstate, that I would be stopped 'again' and would get stuck for a while, probably have to have someone from england come out to adjust the load, but I would also probably get a $7500 fine or something like that. I don't think the tandem issue is a wopping fine like that, but overweight is a huge one. So I decided if I saw a scale for the last hour, i was just going to bypass so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. If I do that, there's always the chance that a trooper might come after me, but there's the chance that nothing would happen. So I arrive here in San Bernadino, CA, to my destination 6 hours early and they were like "here's the address to the nearest truck stop. Come back at 1AM."
Of course, I couldn't because my time ran out before that, and I let CR england know the deal and of course they just said "we'll see what we can do. if we can get it covered, we will let you know." Funny how they are very quick to call me if they need a local delivery done but then when I'm here, and cant make it on time, I don't even think they try to find a local guy to come take the load over. Makes me think maybve I should not be very quick to take locals for them. Give and take ya know. If you want me to help you out, help me out too.. or "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." lol.. So I got up early this morning, went over there by 7, and the guard was like "we stopped receiving deliveries by 3 AM." I was like "i didn't get hours back till after 5." So she was basically like "go back to the truck stop, and have your dispatch reschedule for tonight." So i have been hanging out here all day. I left the truck for maybe a total of an hour to go inside, use the restroom, buy another gallon of water (since mine was almost out), some rasberry tea, I payed for another night of parking ($7.00 permit, versus them ticketing me $50.00 if I didn't.) Those little bits are big dents in the bank though when I only have like $50.00 or whatever to last me, and so I might buy a $5.00 sub from subway, and spend the $7 on parking, and then snack and drink water in the truck, and make it last that way. Although I still feel broke, I feel "ok" considering the fact that I 'can' go inside and get something small if I need to. I've noticed as long as I have a bag of chips, some beef jerkey, my peanuts, and water, I'm usually managing ok. I'm not eating a whole lot some days, but i'm doing ok.
So in conclusion, I was hoping they would reschedule this drop for tomorrow night so I could sit for 34 hours and do a 70 hour reset, but they rescheduled it for tonight. So, reluctantly I will go over by 8:30 (its a 9 appointment), and deliver. Then depending on the time on how quick they unload me (also since I already have a parking permit good till 4pm tomorrow), I will probably come back here and see if I can get a space. I've noticed that it doesn't really fill up, I'm thinking that the "having to pay for parking" probably scares people away. It would me too if I wasn't able to afford to pay $7 for a night to park. At some truck stops that charge, especially out on the east coast, they charge you $20.00 per night. With that cost, I usually will just find an open lot or an on ramp or travel plaza and put that $20.00 towards 2 half way decent meals, or 4 smaller ones. ) So on that note, I will call it a night!>
C
PS. I haven't done a "video" journal on my phone for months. Tonight I did one, and it got to almost 30 minutes long, and I had to do a 2nd one because before I could finish, I bumped a button and it ended the video. So I did a 2nd video diary thinking "I'll just cover what I meant to close with," and hell, that video ended up being almost 25 minutes. I just kept rambing and talking, and then I'm like "ok, I'm REALLY going now, although I could go on for the next hour or so." I think that probably is from the fact that I'm out here alone for 6 weeks straight and really don't actually get to "talk" to anyone really. Erin and the girls when I first came out here used to call and video chat a lot, but the past month or so, i mean we "talk", but it's a lot less than it used to be. Sad, but I know that part of it is probably because Erin is busier now with doing cake orders and her job. :)
So I brought this load down from Idaho (right above utah), and in order to make the weight legal, I had to have my rear axel of my trailer back a little bit farther than the "technical" legal length for california. I had come through cali once a while back with my tandems a little bit further back and I didn't have issues. Luck of the draw sometimes I guess because this time the state troopers were all out in force. In fact! It made me come up with a joke!
How Many State Troopers does it take to pull over ONE truck driver?
Answer: Four! At least according to these california troopers. I swear, I get into californnia, and after a few hours in the state, I go through this "check point" where basically they check your bills and then say "ok have a nice day." By the time I got there, I looked in my mirror and realized I had not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR california state troopers all behind me, all with their lights flashing. My first thought? Oh shit! Not sure what I did! But I'm going to jail!
Come to find out, they were all pulling me over because of the tandems being too far back. So I received a "citation," which I'm not sure how much the fine will be because the officer said i will find out through the court. The court date is set for like 2 months from now, but I thought I heard him say I could call too instead of actually having to "be" here in person. I have this "legal" plan I pay for with my other benefits and basically it's meant for this exact situation where I contact my legal people, and i can have a lawyer go to the court hearing in my place so that I don't have to go. So, I'm going to probably be doing that. The funny thing was, I told the officer that with the tandems all the way forward to the cali legal spot, the weight on the back was 2,000 pounds over weight. But he still told me before I left after the citation that I needed to move the tandems forward to where they should be. Sad part was, I was only an hour from where I was supposed to deliver. So, knowing that I was overweight and that if I went through one of the "scales" along the interstate, that I would be stopped 'again' and would get stuck for a while, probably have to have someone from england come out to adjust the load, but I would also probably get a $7500 fine or something like that. I don't think the tandem issue is a wopping fine like that, but overweight is a huge one. So I decided if I saw a scale for the last hour, i was just going to bypass so that I wouldn't have to worry about it. If I do that, there's always the chance that a trooper might come after me, but there's the chance that nothing would happen. So I arrive here in San Bernadino, CA, to my destination 6 hours early and they were like "here's the address to the nearest truck stop. Come back at 1AM."
Of course, I couldn't because my time ran out before that, and I let CR england know the deal and of course they just said "we'll see what we can do. if we can get it covered, we will let you know." Funny how they are very quick to call me if they need a local delivery done but then when I'm here, and cant make it on time, I don't even think they try to find a local guy to come take the load over. Makes me think maybve I should not be very quick to take locals for them. Give and take ya know. If you want me to help you out, help me out too.. or "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." lol.. So I got up early this morning, went over there by 7, and the guard was like "we stopped receiving deliveries by 3 AM." I was like "i didn't get hours back till after 5." So she was basically like "go back to the truck stop, and have your dispatch reschedule for tonight." So i have been hanging out here all day. I left the truck for maybe a total of an hour to go inside, use the restroom, buy another gallon of water (since mine was almost out), some rasberry tea, I payed for another night of parking ($7.00 permit, versus them ticketing me $50.00 if I didn't.) Those little bits are big dents in the bank though when I only have like $50.00 or whatever to last me, and so I might buy a $5.00 sub from subway, and spend the $7 on parking, and then snack and drink water in the truck, and make it last that way. Although I still feel broke, I feel "ok" considering the fact that I 'can' go inside and get something small if I need to. I've noticed as long as I have a bag of chips, some beef jerkey, my peanuts, and water, I'm usually managing ok. I'm not eating a whole lot some days, but i'm doing ok.
So in conclusion, I was hoping they would reschedule this drop for tomorrow night so I could sit for 34 hours and do a 70 hour reset, but they rescheduled it for tonight. So, reluctantly I will go over by 8:30 (its a 9 appointment), and deliver. Then depending on the time on how quick they unload me (also since I already have a parking permit good till 4pm tomorrow), I will probably come back here and see if I can get a space. I've noticed that it doesn't really fill up, I'm thinking that the "having to pay for parking" probably scares people away. It would me too if I wasn't able to afford to pay $7 for a night to park. At some truck stops that charge, especially out on the east coast, they charge you $20.00 per night. With that cost, I usually will just find an open lot or an on ramp or travel plaza and put that $20.00 towards 2 half way decent meals, or 4 smaller ones. ) So on that note, I will call it a night!>
C
PS. I haven't done a "video" journal on my phone for months. Tonight I did one, and it got to almost 30 minutes long, and I had to do a 2nd one because before I could finish, I bumped a button and it ended the video. So I did a 2nd video diary thinking "I'll just cover what I meant to close with," and hell, that video ended up being almost 25 minutes. I just kept rambing and talking, and then I'm like "ok, I'm REALLY going now, although I could go on for the next hour or so." I think that probably is from the fact that I'm out here alone for 6 weeks straight and really don't actually get to "talk" to anyone really. Erin and the girls when I first came out here used to call and video chat a lot, but the past month or so, i mean we "talk", but it's a lot less than it used to be. Sad, but I know that part of it is probably because Erin is busier now with doing cake orders and her job. :)
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Utah Utah Utah
So it was a nice long trip, but here I am! Outside of Pepperidge Farms here in Logan, Utah. I enjoy trips like this somewhat, because since it was a 2,200 mile trip, literally I just drove and drove. Most of it was on Interstate 80, which was cool. I stopped near Council Bluffs on my 2nd driving shift because while I was a little ways from there, I got curious about how close I was going to be getting to where my good friend James lives. I thought he was in Sioux City, but apparently he is in Omaha, and when I was like "i'm curious, how close to interstate 80 are ya?" He was like "like, 20 minutes I think." Then I was like "ah, cool, looks like I will be coming right by you then." Next thing I know, my phone is ringing and it's james. He was like "what do you mean coming right by me?" I was like "well, I have this load from philly to Utah, and I'm on 80 right now currently in Iowa, not far from Council Bluffs and will be on 80 all the way through nebraska, and Wyoming before I get to Utah." He was like "really? Well Damn we haven't seen eachother in 8 years. Where are ya stopping?" I was like "well, how close to council bluffs are ya?" He was like "within a half hour or less." I was like "ok, I can stop in council bluffs at a truck stop for the night and we can meet up. What do you think?" He was like "sounds great! Let me know where you stop and I will drive over and we can take my car."
So I ended up finding this Pilot that had a decent amount of parking available. Not too surprising since it was about 6PM. James was still going to be about 40 minutes or so because he hadn't left yet, so I went in and paid to use the showers to get cleaned up. I wasn't like stinking or anything, but it had been about 2 days (not that i had been doing a lot). Mostly what I enjoyed it for was being able to shave and stuff. By the time I got done, I had a message from James saying "i'm here! I'm in the game room." I was like "i'll be out in a few." So we went to find a place to eat first (since most driving shifts, I might not get much to eat until I stop and so then I'm usually really hungry). So I was like "i thought I saw a kracker barrel not far from here. He had his gps and keyed the name in and it found it, and I was right, only like 2 miles away. He had never eaten at Kracker Barrel. Normally when I go there (which is a long time between visits lately), I usually get their chicken and dumplings and it comes with 3 sides, so I get 2 sides of fried okra, and one of something else. Usually if I've eaten normally during the day, that meal leaves me stuffed. That night though, I finished the whole plate, passed on desert, but actually was still hungry a little bit, but I wasn't worried since when I talked to james on the phone, he was like "i'll take ya out to see avengers! My treat!" I was like "i'm not going to say no!"
So we got to the theater and I was like "you wanna just split a large popcorn?" They had these package deals like large popcorn and 2 drinks and a candy for $20 or medium popcorn and 2 drinks and candy for $17. So of course, we went with the large. Avengers was BAD ASS! There were parts of that movie that were funnier than any movie I've seen! I wont go into detail so I don't spoil it for you, but you gotta see it!
So when we got out of the movie, it was around midnight and I had to get up around 7ish, so james was like "i have an extra bed at my place if you wanna crash there." I was like "i would, but I've got a load and shouldn't leave it unattended for very long. Now that I know where you are, and since I know I'll come by on 80 again, I will make it a point to stop and get together with ya!" I invited him in so he could see what the inside of a semi looks like, since like most, i figured he had never seen inside one. We sat around for probably a good half hour just chatting, and we were both yawning, so he was like "i'm gonna hafta take off. Im falling asleep!" I was like "i hear ya." So the next morning, I got up and was on the road about 8AM. Got to my next stop which was in Wyoming at a Pilot by about 5PM that night. With one more drive shift to go, and me not being due here in Utah till 10PM tonight, I literally just layed in bed a few hours last night watching episodes of "Heros" on netflix, and I would have gotten online, but I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous two nights, so I just crashed. it was 8PM when I went to sleep, and I didn't get up till about 9 this morning, watched another two episodes on netflix and ran inside to use the restroom really quick, and took off about 11:15. Got here to the customer around 7pm. They literally do not even "open" until 10PM tonight, so I parked and got online to do my assignment that is due tonight for my class, and then come on here to blog, and pretty soon I will log off and just continue waiting. It's not long now. It's almost 9:30, so I will be able to get checked in soon. I still keep telling myself "i need to resume writing my book". I really do. I want to get it written completely so I can work on getting it published and maybe have another source of income, then in addition to that, I wasnt to find out how I might be able to get my guacamole recipe in stores as well because that will help us out too. Funds are a bit tight currently, and stress levels are high. I literally am in a love hate relationship with my job. Yes I love what I do, and I have come a long way and gotten very used to how to do it, and I do enjoy it...but..........I hate it at the same time. I'm alone 99% of the time, I miss my family, and it's just, that really drags me down. I try my best to just take the bad with the good and do the best that I can. It's hard to do. Please keep me in your prayers everybody! Financially as well as spiritually! Thanks. Talk to you all again soon!
C
So I ended up finding this Pilot that had a decent amount of parking available. Not too surprising since it was about 6PM. James was still going to be about 40 minutes or so because he hadn't left yet, so I went in and paid to use the showers to get cleaned up. I wasn't like stinking or anything, but it had been about 2 days (not that i had been doing a lot). Mostly what I enjoyed it for was being able to shave and stuff. By the time I got done, I had a message from James saying "i'm here! I'm in the game room." I was like "i'll be out in a few." So we went to find a place to eat first (since most driving shifts, I might not get much to eat until I stop and so then I'm usually really hungry). So I was like "i thought I saw a kracker barrel not far from here. He had his gps and keyed the name in and it found it, and I was right, only like 2 miles away. He had never eaten at Kracker Barrel. Normally when I go there (which is a long time between visits lately), I usually get their chicken and dumplings and it comes with 3 sides, so I get 2 sides of fried okra, and one of something else. Usually if I've eaten normally during the day, that meal leaves me stuffed. That night though, I finished the whole plate, passed on desert, but actually was still hungry a little bit, but I wasn't worried since when I talked to james on the phone, he was like "i'll take ya out to see avengers! My treat!" I was like "i'm not going to say no!"
So we got to the theater and I was like "you wanna just split a large popcorn?" They had these package deals like large popcorn and 2 drinks and a candy for $20 or medium popcorn and 2 drinks and candy for $17. So of course, we went with the large. Avengers was BAD ASS! There were parts of that movie that were funnier than any movie I've seen! I wont go into detail so I don't spoil it for you, but you gotta see it!
So when we got out of the movie, it was around midnight and I had to get up around 7ish, so james was like "i have an extra bed at my place if you wanna crash there." I was like "i would, but I've got a load and shouldn't leave it unattended for very long. Now that I know where you are, and since I know I'll come by on 80 again, I will make it a point to stop and get together with ya!" I invited him in so he could see what the inside of a semi looks like, since like most, i figured he had never seen inside one. We sat around for probably a good half hour just chatting, and we were both yawning, so he was like "i'm gonna hafta take off. Im falling asleep!" I was like "i hear ya." So the next morning, I got up and was on the road about 8AM. Got to my next stop which was in Wyoming at a Pilot by about 5PM that night. With one more drive shift to go, and me not being due here in Utah till 10PM tonight, I literally just layed in bed a few hours last night watching episodes of "Heros" on netflix, and I would have gotten online, but I hadn't gotten much sleep the previous two nights, so I just crashed. it was 8PM when I went to sleep, and I didn't get up till about 9 this morning, watched another two episodes on netflix and ran inside to use the restroom really quick, and took off about 11:15. Got here to the customer around 7pm. They literally do not even "open" until 10PM tonight, so I parked and got online to do my assignment that is due tonight for my class, and then come on here to blog, and pretty soon I will log off and just continue waiting. It's not long now. It's almost 9:30, so I will be able to get checked in soon. I still keep telling myself "i need to resume writing my book". I really do. I want to get it written completely so I can work on getting it published and maybe have another source of income, then in addition to that, I wasnt to find out how I might be able to get my guacamole recipe in stores as well because that will help us out too. Funds are a bit tight currently, and stress levels are high. I literally am in a love hate relationship with my job. Yes I love what I do, and I have come a long way and gotten very used to how to do it, and I do enjoy it...but..........I hate it at the same time. I'm alone 99% of the time, I miss my family, and it's just, that really drags me down. I try my best to just take the bad with the good and do the best that I can. It's hard to do. Please keep me in your prayers everybody! Financially as well as spiritually! Thanks. Talk to you all again soon!
C
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Utah again!
So last time I posted, I was sitting in New Jersey at the drop yard waiting to get a load out. They had asked me about taking a new york load with the promise of getting a really good load, and based on my last experience with helping them out based on 'promises,' I said no. I told my DM that the last few times I helped out, that I felt like I got screwed in the end. He was like "what if I could guarantee you a load to like california or something?" I was like "well if you could guarantee it, then sure, I will help out. I'm tired of helping out and then ending up with a 300 mile load or worse."
So he was like "let me get with the load planner. I'm going to see if they will stack the good load ontop of the local to new york so you have both from the start." I was like "that'd be great. Thank you Mike." I told him how I 'do' trust 'him', because he has always had my back and tried to get the best loads possible. What sucked was when he was out of town and the guy that filled in for him really didn't care at all and so after a few days of saying "i need this many miles," then he was like "ok," and then I got 2 150 mile local deliveries, and all he said when I said "hey, you said I'd get a good load after this local delivery. What's the deal?" he was like "and you will, just run this other one back to Laredo and they will get you loaded with a good load out," which didn't happen either because they wanted me to do other local's there. The main reason I end up doing it some times is they say "we'll give you an extra $75." I figure "shit..............i might as well do it and hope that it pays off." Being an independent contractor though, I have every right to tell them 'no i'm not doing it.' In fact, it felt easier to do this week when they wanted me to go to new york. I simply said "no, I can't help you. I need something headed out mid west. I have been burned with locals too much the past two weeks." And this one was quite interesting!
So they load me with the local new york load *about 120 miles away with one drop scheduled for 6 am and another at 10 am*, and just after i get that assignment, I get the load assignment going from Denver, PA to Logan, Utah. I talked to my dm and was like "that works for me, thank you very much mike." And thankfully, one of the customer service people didn't remove it from my truck by the following morning, which I was very happy about. The plan was, the first drop (both of them were different restaurant depo's), wanted me to bring their load that night. They wanted it by 8, but I didn't get the load till almost 7, and it took me 3 hours to get there because of contruction, so I told customer service my estimated arrival was between 9:45 and 10:15, and i arrive just after 10, like 10:05 or something like that, and the whole place was completely shut down. I'm talking all lights off, nobody home, locked up, the whole shabang! ;) What the original plan was, was for me to drop that load that night, then drive all the way back to new jersey, drop that trailer with the last load in it still at that yard, pick up an empty, and head to denver,pa to pick up my new load (either that, or sleep and let my time reset first and then go to denver). Well, that didn't quite work out because of them not being there when I arrived, so I parked on their lot, and went to sleep. Got up by 6 the next morning, and they put me in the dock, and got me unloaded by 7:30. I had to wait about an hour for my time to completely reset, then I took off to the other drop. The directions took me past where I needed to go. in fact, I spent two hours driving around in circles because I knew I "had" to be close, but yet it was obvious that the location was behind one of the other buildings, I just didn't know where. So following the local directions I got from customer service, it took me to another building about 2 miles down and on the side it said very faint, "restaurant depo" so I thought "cool, i'm here." But they right away were like "you're in the wrong place." I was like "ok, please tell me. Where is it? I've driven past it several times already and I haven't been able to locate it." He was like "look for sleepys. Turn right past sleepys, it's literally behind their building."
CR England had not said a word about sleepys, in fact this was the first I had heard about it. But, I found the Restaurant depot, and got backed in and unloaded. The funny thing is, the other drivers were complaining "all they said was 'look for sleepys!' " I was like "at least they told you about sleepys! The directions they gave me took me 2 miles down the street to a different location!" So after I left there, it was 200 miles to denver. Took me probably about 4 hours because coming through the bronx and stuff, lots of construction, and quite a bit of 45 mph, so about 4:45 I finally made it there. Got my load, and was out of there probably by 6. Erin had talked about maybe driving up to meet me so she and the girls could see me, but changed her mind. My time was running down low, so I drove about 40 miles and found a safe place to park at a Sunnoco Travel Plaza, but then when I got out of the truck after talking to erin on the phone, my spare key, which I normally have clipped to my belt loop, had fallen on the floor and I didn't realize it. I hopped out, shut the door, and instantly was like "where's my key?" I looked at the door and went "oh no you have to be KIDDING me!" Yup, I was locked out of the truck. That's twice in about 3.5 months. Thankfully this time I had my phone in my pocket, where as the last time it happened, I didnt and had to go around trying to find a phone I could use. Man that sucks! Especially cuz this is basically my home away from home so if I'm locked out, I'm screwed, and it was raining last night too! lol.. Thankfully I found a locksmith and was able to use a comcheck to pay him. When I got locked out the first time, the locksmith got in because he had this bucket of freightliner keys and he found one that opened my door. This guy last night was $20 cheaper, and he literally had his wd40 and lock picking stuff and he got my door open in 2 minutes by picking the lock. So, I felt better paying him $80 than the other guy $100 just for him using a spare key to open my door. I wonder if I would have said "can i borrow that key for a second?" and then opened the door myself if I could have said "nvm, I got in on my own!" ;)
I know, that wouldn't have been right, but hey, it feels good to wonder.. ;) So this morning I got up and drove over 500 miles of the 2,000 mile trip, and i'm here in indiana at a travel plaza. Parked, went in to hit the rest rooms (no the rest rooms did not do anything to me.. i just hit them for the fun of it.. jk.. ;) ) Then hit the mcdonalds to get my double fillet of fish sandwish (no tarter, add ranch of course. Yes I know it sounds weird but you guys really should try it.. Fish with ranch is yummo . ;) ) Then Facebook messaged for a bit, texted my beautiful wife.. I love you Erin!! MWWWWWWWWWWWWWAH! ;)... Called my financial aid rep for phoenix to find out what 'exactly' she needed from me in order to get my financial aid for this year rolling, then went to the irs website per her instructions and re-ordered our tax transcript. That'll take 10-15 days and then we will both sign and fax or scan and email to my finance rep and then I should be all hunky-dory. I look forward to that since there's the pell grant and loans and all other stuff, and it beats them having to harp down my back about owing them money (which so far hasn't happened since i've been a phoenix student.) My finance class is going well. I'm nearing the end of week two and so far aso good! I've gotten all posts done, and all assignments in on time, even though none are graded yet, and so I'm just trying to stay on track! I guess this goes with that saying "i'm so close I can almost taste it!" That is the case with my graduation. I'm only a few classes away and I just need to hang in there.
On that note, I will let you all go. One of these nights I will probably try to resume writing in my book. I borrowed my own flash drive when i was home. (sounds weird right? I'm sure you are all like "borrow your own? Pfft! how can you borrow something that is yours?" Funny story. Erin wanted to have the flash drive at the house so she could use it, then somehow ally figured it's hers *which it so is not!*, and has been taking it to school to use for her projects. I'm ok with her using it for school, but when she pointed out that she needed it back, eventually after I saved everything from the flash drive to my computer so i have my full progress on my book *all 130 pages of it so far*, I gave it back to her and was like "here's mommy's and my flash drive there munch magnet!" She was like "yeah yeah i know, it's not 'mine', i'm just borrowing it.. " I was like "good stuff.. Just dont lose it!"
So Anyway, that's it for now, sorry if I seem like I ramble, but that's just what i do! ;) Ta ta ya'll!
C
So he was like "let me get with the load planner. I'm going to see if they will stack the good load ontop of the local to new york so you have both from the start." I was like "that'd be great. Thank you Mike." I told him how I 'do' trust 'him', because he has always had my back and tried to get the best loads possible. What sucked was when he was out of town and the guy that filled in for him really didn't care at all and so after a few days of saying "i need this many miles," then he was like "ok," and then I got 2 150 mile local deliveries, and all he said when I said "hey, you said I'd get a good load after this local delivery. What's the deal?" he was like "and you will, just run this other one back to Laredo and they will get you loaded with a good load out," which didn't happen either because they wanted me to do other local's there. The main reason I end up doing it some times is they say "we'll give you an extra $75." I figure "shit..............i might as well do it and hope that it pays off." Being an independent contractor though, I have every right to tell them 'no i'm not doing it.' In fact, it felt easier to do this week when they wanted me to go to new york. I simply said "no, I can't help you. I need something headed out mid west. I have been burned with locals too much the past two weeks." And this one was quite interesting!
So they load me with the local new york load *about 120 miles away with one drop scheduled for 6 am and another at 10 am*, and just after i get that assignment, I get the load assignment going from Denver, PA to Logan, Utah. I talked to my dm and was like "that works for me, thank you very much mike." And thankfully, one of the customer service people didn't remove it from my truck by the following morning, which I was very happy about. The plan was, the first drop (both of them were different restaurant depo's), wanted me to bring their load that night. They wanted it by 8, but I didn't get the load till almost 7, and it took me 3 hours to get there because of contruction, so I told customer service my estimated arrival was between 9:45 and 10:15, and i arrive just after 10, like 10:05 or something like that, and the whole place was completely shut down. I'm talking all lights off, nobody home, locked up, the whole shabang! ;) What the original plan was, was for me to drop that load that night, then drive all the way back to new jersey, drop that trailer with the last load in it still at that yard, pick up an empty, and head to denver,pa to pick up my new load (either that, or sleep and let my time reset first and then go to denver). Well, that didn't quite work out because of them not being there when I arrived, so I parked on their lot, and went to sleep. Got up by 6 the next morning, and they put me in the dock, and got me unloaded by 7:30. I had to wait about an hour for my time to completely reset, then I took off to the other drop. The directions took me past where I needed to go. in fact, I spent two hours driving around in circles because I knew I "had" to be close, but yet it was obvious that the location was behind one of the other buildings, I just didn't know where. So following the local directions I got from customer service, it took me to another building about 2 miles down and on the side it said very faint, "restaurant depo" so I thought "cool, i'm here." But they right away were like "you're in the wrong place." I was like "ok, please tell me. Where is it? I've driven past it several times already and I haven't been able to locate it." He was like "look for sleepys. Turn right past sleepys, it's literally behind their building."
CR England had not said a word about sleepys, in fact this was the first I had heard about it. But, I found the Restaurant depot, and got backed in and unloaded. The funny thing is, the other drivers were complaining "all they said was 'look for sleepys!' " I was like "at least they told you about sleepys! The directions they gave me took me 2 miles down the street to a different location!" So after I left there, it was 200 miles to denver. Took me probably about 4 hours because coming through the bronx and stuff, lots of construction, and quite a bit of 45 mph, so about 4:45 I finally made it there. Got my load, and was out of there probably by 6. Erin had talked about maybe driving up to meet me so she and the girls could see me, but changed her mind. My time was running down low, so I drove about 40 miles and found a safe place to park at a Sunnoco Travel Plaza, but then when I got out of the truck after talking to erin on the phone, my spare key, which I normally have clipped to my belt loop, had fallen on the floor and I didn't realize it. I hopped out, shut the door, and instantly was like "where's my key?" I looked at the door and went "oh no you have to be KIDDING me!" Yup, I was locked out of the truck. That's twice in about 3.5 months. Thankfully this time I had my phone in my pocket, where as the last time it happened, I didnt and had to go around trying to find a phone I could use. Man that sucks! Especially cuz this is basically my home away from home so if I'm locked out, I'm screwed, and it was raining last night too! lol.. Thankfully I found a locksmith and was able to use a comcheck to pay him. When I got locked out the first time, the locksmith got in because he had this bucket of freightliner keys and he found one that opened my door. This guy last night was $20 cheaper, and he literally had his wd40 and lock picking stuff and he got my door open in 2 minutes by picking the lock. So, I felt better paying him $80 than the other guy $100 just for him using a spare key to open my door. I wonder if I would have said "can i borrow that key for a second?" and then opened the door myself if I could have said "nvm, I got in on my own!" ;)
I know, that wouldn't have been right, but hey, it feels good to wonder.. ;) So this morning I got up and drove over 500 miles of the 2,000 mile trip, and i'm here in indiana at a travel plaza. Parked, went in to hit the rest rooms (no the rest rooms did not do anything to me.. i just hit them for the fun of it.. jk.. ;) ) Then hit the mcdonalds to get my double fillet of fish sandwish (no tarter, add ranch of course. Yes I know it sounds weird but you guys really should try it.. Fish with ranch is yummo . ;) ) Then Facebook messaged for a bit, texted my beautiful wife.. I love you Erin!! MWWWWWWWWWWWWWAH! ;)... Called my financial aid rep for phoenix to find out what 'exactly' she needed from me in order to get my financial aid for this year rolling, then went to the irs website per her instructions and re-ordered our tax transcript. That'll take 10-15 days and then we will both sign and fax or scan and email to my finance rep and then I should be all hunky-dory. I look forward to that since there's the pell grant and loans and all other stuff, and it beats them having to harp down my back about owing them money (which so far hasn't happened since i've been a phoenix student.) My finance class is going well. I'm nearing the end of week two and so far aso good! I've gotten all posts done, and all assignments in on time, even though none are graded yet, and so I'm just trying to stay on track! I guess this goes with that saying "i'm so close I can almost taste it!" That is the case with my graduation. I'm only a few classes away and I just need to hang in there.
On that note, I will let you all go. One of these nights I will probably try to resume writing in my book. I borrowed my own flash drive when i was home. (sounds weird right? I'm sure you are all like "borrow your own? Pfft! how can you borrow something that is yours?" Funny story. Erin wanted to have the flash drive at the house so she could use it, then somehow ally figured it's hers *which it so is not!*, and has been taking it to school to use for her projects. I'm ok with her using it for school, but when she pointed out that she needed it back, eventually after I saved everything from the flash drive to my computer so i have my full progress on my book *all 130 pages of it so far*, I gave it back to her and was like "here's mommy's and my flash drive there munch magnet!" She was like "yeah yeah i know, it's not 'mine', i'm just borrowing it.. " I was like "good stuff.. Just dont lose it!"
So Anyway, that's it for now, sorry if I seem like I ramble, but that's just what i do! ;) Ta ta ya'll!
C
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