Catching Up In Ogalalla

Well, it has been a few days and during that time for some reason I have been shuffled around it seems in an effort to make up for all the stupidity of this last month. So much time had been wasted from all the incompetence that my driver manager Brett had the nerve to tell me that I would have to stay out longer to get past the 11 thousand mile mark for the month. I used to get 13 thousand with Crete with 6 or 7 days off during the month and I have only had 3 days off in the last 8 weeks and he acts like I am the one not pulling my weight. I feel that it has gotten to the point where I am getting really tempted to get very rude with these people. There is, at least with Brett, a real lack of concern about the drivers well being. There are people working for this asshole that have wives and children and are struggling through these relationships because all Brett has on his mind is his bonus and his concerns and his image and how he measures up in the political scheme of things at Jim Palmer Trucking.

I have been ranting about this company long enough, I feel and I have decided that for starters, there really is no future with such an inconsiderate bunch of inbred morons. I am taking a week off as soon as this load delivers and I drive home 250 miles from that delivery point. This is a delivery that could have taken place on Saturday but Brett felt the need to send me all the way to western Colorado to do some of his shit work that he likes to do so much. Better clean your nose off old friend as you will have me around no longer. I have several companies to choose from. The priority will be ease of dealing with the company and home time. This staying out over 30 days is for the birds at least with this company. Shoot, if I had stayed out 30 days with Crete, I would have a small fortune to spend with my time off. Not at Jim Palmer. They are too dumb to take advantage of the time a driver is away. I had so much time wasted. What a mess.

I am talking to a guy that has a set lane or lanes that he likes to run and can set me up with a triangle shaped run that offers me through home time with time off every 2 weeks and at a higher rate than jimmy ripoffs will pay. More on that later. I suppose I will have to change my header and make some adjustments to my ranting. I can still rant about Jim Palmer and their own brand of stupidity as that never seems to end. I have a year of good material about them right now and it just seems that the stupidity is never ending. I love job security. Gotta go for now.

West Memphis Armpit

Actually, I am at the Flying J, which is more like an armpit with some generic deodorant added. It is not quite like my experiences at the TA west Memph. I pulled in to the TA at about 9 am on a Sunday to grab a shower and roll on my merry way towards California. I had grabbed all my gear and headed out to the building to turn in my fuel stub for a shower and I noticed a black gentleman getting out of a car and walking sort of towards my direction. I nodded at him as I passed and kept walking. As I passed the car, I got a bad feeling because the guy in the car was staring at me really hard. I grew up in the Los Angeles area. When a complete stranger is giving you eye contact, that means that either he is looking for a handout or that something is about to happen. Either way, it is not necessarily for your benefit. I noted this and approached the fuel desk. I handed the fuel attendant my bag and said "guard this for me" and ran out the back entrance. I skirted the trucks on my row in the back and came up right between where my truck was parked. I already had 911 punched in my phone and hit send as I caught the guy breaking into my truck through the lower vis window on the passenger window. I chased the guy all the way back to his car and they took off and I read the licence number to the 911 operator with the description and the direction they headed. Keeping your eyes open towards the surroundings pays off. If I had been the typical person, I would have lost my belongings or my truck. I had to put duct tape over the partially popped open window for a bit but my truck and my stuff was safe. That was 1998 and I was with Crete back then. If anything, there are more cameras monitoring the lots but, the real question is; is there anyone watching? Chances are, the cameras might help when a crime has already happened and will do little else. Keep your eyes open and you will not have to rely on the facade of security that exists in the truck stops these days. The police did catch the guys in the car. The police really acted as though they could care less and since the window was not broken that there was not much to act on. The police really are of no help unless they perceive it that you will complain in their area and cause them some trouble. Chances are, you do not live there and will not be treated the same as a local taxpayer would.

I am delivering this tater load to Birmingham tomorrow at 0500. Birmingham is a place that is just as miserable as West Memphis. I was going to a grocery warehouse at the same period of time as the truck break in. I was at a traffic signal about 6 blocks from the warehouse when a guy approached my truck. It was common at the time for lumpers to try and drum up some business if they knew where you were going. He hops up on my drivers side step and lifts his shirt and there was a small caliber pistol and he was demanding my money. I reached down and grabbed my bowie knife with the 11 inch blade. He got agitated and started to reach for the gun so I struck him in the chest with the knife. He fell and I drove off through the red light. I called the police and told them what happened and the one cop replied that it looked like there really wasn't a victim as far as he was concerned. I left it at that content that I was fortunate not to have been shot.