Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Break During The Week

I get one run at the beginning of the week and one run towards the end of the week. That means that I end up back at the Fargo yard with either the choice of going home and playing rat race in order to get back or I can relax here and get some sleep. My choice today was sleep and the idea of rest. Today however, there is a non-stop talking asshole here. He has his hands on the remote and is talking. I finally told him that he was assuming an awful lot, thinking I could give a shit less about his endless blabber blab blab. I think it is sinking in, but, I could be wrong. I think I need to get back out to my truck and read a book. Dedication...

Friday, October 3, 2008

In Iowa and Suffering

Not really suffering, but getting some needed work done on my truck. I get to stay in the hotel and relax while the mechanic does some work on my wind shield wiper washer motor. I also needed a lube and there was a slow leak on a drive tire. There was also the nagging thing with the Sbar heater not wanting to work when I actually need it, but I am just splitting hairs here.

I have been just getting into a routine. A rut would be more like it. I run the same routes every day and sometimes, I see the same drivers on the highway. I do remember when I was over the road and never sure of where I would be headed or even how long I would be out on the road and that used to bug me because I kept thinking about just how nice it would be to run the road every day and get well known at the truck stops and for once, I would know where I was going. Now, I know that was a long sentence and I don't care because it was true then and it is true now. There is no "happy"...you will complain about your situation no matter where you work or what you do. That is good to know going into work every day. Maybe it might keep you at your current job and maybe, you might still have your job at the end of this nightmare in the finance sector. Well, I must pack up and go back to the terminal and hopefully, I will get to go a different direction and they will not tell me when to deliver. Perhaps they will just say guess...Dedication:p

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Falling Bridges

The foot bridge fell down in Lisbon today. There were some workers on break and they, all six of them, decided to look over the river while on break. The bridge failed on one end and several of the men were severely injured. Hopefully not life threatening. I will pray for them. Dedication:}

Thursday, September 18, 2008

There Is Nothing Left To Say

I have nothing left to say which is code for I have nothing to say about work. I do not work for a bunch of losers that are declaring bankruptcy. As a happy frigging result, I have not got much fodder to talk about.

I guess that is in some way good. There have been problems while I have been here but we are working on them as I am writing this and see no need to address that aspect. I will need to talk about other things or perhaps write some fiction. we will see really soon. Dedication :'

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Here I Sit In Hotel Foxtrot

Here I am, having endured the embarrassment of having the wrong card read to me and assuming that there would be work to do this morning. I will instead be getting my load at 3 pm. I will be delivering to the twin cities probably in the morning...Friday.

It is times like this that I think that I made a grand mistake by coming here. I had the holiday that the dispatchers monster mashed all over in the name of getting another guy home to Indianapolis. I was willing to help. It cut my weekend in half with my wife staying in the RV without the air conditioner I was supposed to install left undone. I did get it installed, but on Sunday.

Now, that there is more than enough room for consideration...I am left to sit on Tuesday but only after being required to call every two hours. Then I get this Wednesday load and I have described the situation on that to the point of nausea. I begin to second guess my ability to earn money when there is so much time to sit. It is not good. Dedication:[-

Monday, August 25, 2008

Manic Monday

Got into work and Don was getting ready to do some cooking, driver appreciation style. I thought that the food was nice and I just wish I had more time to enjoy it. Nice to have someone cook for ya as you get to work.

I had to load and at first, get my butt over to Des Moines...then it changed...I was to simply get my butt over to Owatonna, MN and meet another driver. Usually, this would be a grand source of disaster but I guess the planets lined up and gave me some grace as I got there and fielded a call from Wifey and then this guy comes in just 2 minutes later...the added bonus? The search is over for the dirt bag that filthed up my truck. He just came right out and said that he had the truck for 2 years. I got his number to be sure.

Not a bad day at all. Hope the other four days goes as smoothly...Dedication:')

Friday, August 22, 2008

Spam Land, Cupcakes And The Never Ending Phone Call

I am here in the friggin land of Spam. It was suggested that I do the new company a favor and get the heck signed up with Idle Aire. Not a bad thing now that i have had the chance to try it out. There is one air flow device and the only fault that I can see is that the air that comes out is smelling like cigarette smoke because the air intake pulls air from the smokers truck into the unit and then returns the same stinky air back in an improved state...I guess. I filled the rascal up with febreeze until it was dripping. It is not a bad deal however as I get this as a benefit and my computer access is only a couple bucks. I don't have a tv in the cab so I could not tell you about their selection of fine movies. I just played on the computer and walked the lot. Really, this is the first time in quite a while I have been to a TA. This one at Exit 11 on I-35 in Minnesota in quite nice for a TA. Kinda like saying that the leper over there has a nice ass but I will let that one go as I really do not like the BF nature of truck stops in general. All of them are a necessary evil as far as I am concerned but TA is one of my least favorite.

I found a while back an old friend named Darrell. His nickname is Cupcake...or at least that was his name around my friend JD's house. We also knew him as duck. I found his aged mug on myspace and in spite of the fact that he was not the most loyal of friends, I invited him on as a friend. He does not answer...I invite him again and once again...no answer. Now, I know this guy for quite awhile and I know for a fact that he is better than no one but somehow, he has it out for me in some way. Maybe, in 11th grade, I failed to complement him on how his jeans fit him or something...I don't know. Either way, A snub from a zero is not a snub in my opinion...I'm just sayin...

I am some how enjoying this new job and yet, I just want to scream. The people here are too darned laid back. People forget to do things and they act as if it is perfectly OK to be inefficient. I just hate that. Dedication:P

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Just Tell Me Which Way To Go

I took a load out from Fargo yesterday and the dispatcher told me that I go to Des Moines. I, being well versed in English, accepted the orders and to no ones real surprise, I ended up in friggin' Des Moines with my trailer and took the paperwork in to dispatch along with a package that Don in Fargo sent along with me to deliver. You see, evidently, he thought I was to go to Des Moines, IA as well. I get told by Chad that I was not scheduled to be there and that I should head to Summit, IL at once. I was about out of hours so I, realizing the true dire nature of the situation, drove to Victor, Iowa and put her down for 10 hours. The wires got crossed and it was not my fault. Wait, 'till they get my bill.

I am going to the family reunion this weekend. I will say hello and make small talk with people that have not the time of day for me the remainder of the year. I hope it is all good though as I do not get to see my children as much with this new job. I do however get home more often and that is a definite plus. I hope to see my son there as he is going into the Navy in August and I may not see him for some time. Hope he likes it, he is going to be an HT...Hull Technician, or as we called them Hurling Turds. The hurling turds part comes from the simple fact that the hulls on ships do not need constant technician work and the local plumbing needs do however. Thus...Turd Hurlers..

Dedication")

Saturday, August 2, 2008

oh, freakin yeah!

Well, I still haven't figured it out yet. That is for sure. I am working in a regional situation where I have the opportunity to get home almost every weekend. That is unless I am stupid enough to ask for it....

I am not being a dickhead here. I am simply noticing that in the last seven friggin weeks, I have managed to get home during the friggin weekend. I also noticed that when I requested that the Sunday of my family reunion be left unscrewed, I suddenly ended up with a 24 hour layover on Wednesday in Summit, IL.

I have liked the way I have been run. I have liked the people that I have worked with. I, by the way got rid of the stink in my truck...I cut the carpeting out of it and threw it out. I now love my truck. I also do not mind the way I have been treated here now that the friggin truck does not stink like dead bodies. I am making what the bankrupt assholes at Jim Palmer Trucking paid me and yet I manage to get 9 or 10 days off a month.  Go to hell, Jim Palmer.

Off the hook for now...Dedication:}

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Osseo

Well, all I can say is that I have been running just over a month with my new job here at Johnsrud Transport and I have been rather busy and getting used to the places where there is computer access and having time when I am at those places. It has been a challenge. The largest challenge was the fact that they put me into a truck that had a slob in it before. They tried to act all dumb and say that the guy that had the truck before was a good guy and good driver and that they are just "shocked" that there would be a problem.

That was when I got the Human Resources Director to sit in the bunk of my truck and I shut the door for good measure. He agreed that something had to be done and dispatched my manager at Fargo, Don Depee to tend to the problem by setting up a detailing. This he did and the first time the truck got done it was also wet...too wet to even sit in. So, Don had me take the Yard truck on a Chicago run while he dried the truck out. The yard truck, a 1999 Freightliner, had the AC go out 50 friggin miles into the trip. I toughed it out until I got to Tac in Summit, IL and got my load dropped in the yard and got her parked with some wind coming probably from a toxic waste site as it all smelled like refinery and was hot and muggy as hell. I sat there for 4 hours until a cool breeze came in and then I could retreat to the bunk.

The next day I went up to Milan, WI and could not friggin wait to get this hot air blowing piece of shit back to the Fargo yard so that I could at least get a shower and grab a blanket and pillow and sleep in this truck of mine that I knew would have AC. When I got there, the damn truck was not there and I was pissed. During this whole time, whether I was in the stinky truck or the truck blowing hot air, I was not getting any sleep as it was either hot or stinky. Anyway, I am back in the stinky truck and it still stinks but not as bad as before. We even put inside an odor bomb that would handle odors up to 10,000 square feet. It smelled like bubble gum for a day and then went back to the smell of ass.

The interesting thing is that I was approached by a mechanic and a driver on separate occasions where they told me that my truck was for a period of time occupied by a homeless person. I guess the security was so lack at one point that a homeless dude was able to get hold of a key and sleep in the truck. One of the guys insists that the company is not being forthright about the situation and that maybe I should go to the Labor board. That really would not do me or anyone much good unless I start growing a tail from this odor.

That having been said however, at this point, I have really no complaints. I am running a sorta regional run...I either go to Summit, Il or Des Moines, IA. I grab a back haul when there is one available. I am making pretty good pay for what I do...It compares nicely with Jim Palmer, who, by the way, declared bankruptcy recently. I do not regret leaving that company. They have changed and not for the better. It really has little to do with Jim Palmer himself...it is all the sycophantic losers he has representing his name. They are butt snufflers and have no vision or any ability to survive. They are the company and yet they are the biggest problem. I feel sorry for them.

Anyway, it is so far so good. Hopefully I can keep you updated with my adventures or lack their of. Dedication :)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Fixin the Stinky Truck

I had good impressions of Johnsrud and tried to keep my mind open. I also met nice people that really seemed to like their jobs and approached their day with an apparent sense of pride. I felt that at the time that I had made the right move. I still feel that I made a good move...but was it the right move? Time will tell.

I was issued my first truck. I hook up and pull out and when I go from low to high range, there is a shreeeeeeeeeeeeeeek sound. I can't stop now and after all, it is shifting, so, I proceed. I have that truck for a week. Fast forward to my new truck...a freightliner. I was given this truck as a last minute deal and I liked the sleeper and the overall layout which, was an improvement over the T800 from the last week. I noticed as I was moving in that there was some dirt on the floor and an odor. The odor got more pronounced as I rolled down the road. In fact, at one point, the stench was noticeable at 65 mph with both windows open, vents open, and the AC on full blast with the bunk on high and the fresh air vent open.

I decided at that point that I would approach Human Resources and let them know that all the effort and money put towards a good impression at orientation is flushed good and hard down the toilet when you issue a new driver a truck like this. He agreed and there was a flurry of action and phone calls that were to tell me that the problem was definitely on the radar and that I was in good hands and the truck would be cleaned and deodorized. It was to be done last night. I will go in and see what there is to see. I do have my fingers crossed. Wish me luck. Dedication;(

Friday, June 27, 2008

Marching Orders

I got my marching orders from the boss and I will be going to Lakeville, Minnesota for the morning. The load will be ready by noon so I can goof off for a while. I plan to go to the truck soon and start my housekeeping and putting away ritual. I have not started that yet as everything is well packed and will keep. No time like now however. I was just hoping that I would get a better idea of what I must have on the truck and what I really do not need. Well, time will tell one way or another. Dedication ;)

Hello Deery

I was driving home from the Sheyenne River Raceway in Lisbon, talking to my wife and having a good time when all of a sudden a deer appeared in front of my hood. Bang. The car looks dangerously close to being totaled with air bags out and the whole car a mess. No one got hurt but there were some hurt feelings as I overreacted and was yelling and cursing. So sue me, it was stressful.

I will get some pictures in here when I get them. I stole a nice one to show the safety director at Johnsrud but that is printed out and not in any format that I can use. I know, the world is a cruel, cruel place. Gotta get to work...more later...dedication:/

Friday, June 20, 2008

Just Another Day Punching The Clock

Watching the morning sun as it is becoming a presence here gave me a thought. I figured I would take a walk, then have some breakfast. After that, I would throw my stuff together and get over to Johnsrud and get my gear and my truck and then return here to gather my suitcase. Then, hopefully I will be headed to Fargo to get more of my stuff for the truck assembled and loaded up. The best battle plans never make it to the battle field...we shall see.

I got my A-OK from Ron yesterday and we had some fun driving in Cicero on Tuesday and then some St. Louis, narrow street action yesterday. It was a situation where we had gotten bad directions and I had a hunch. Ron would not let me act on my hunch. It turned out that he had wrote down the wrong street name and the two names sounded similar and I turned out to be right. We ended up on a dead end road and I had to back out then jack her around a narrow corner with parked cars and curbs to get back on track. No harm done and it did turn out OK. I have been lost and in a tight spot before and came out on top. Instinct will keep you out of trouble sometimes and other times it will bury you in up to your neck. Just depends on how well Murphy is feeling that day I guess.

I hope this day goes smoothly and I get on my way without too much trouble. This has been a long day coming. Dedication ;/

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Rollin' Along to St. Louis

I finally got my marching orders after 9 days in the Hotel Des Moines (California?). There was a delay on my trainer getting to my location because he had these pesky kidney stones aggravating his life and he had to get through it without busting an organ. I am glad we waited. First of all, the three guys I worked with rated with me very high on the scale of professionalism. They blew away any memories of trainers from Crete, Werner...anywhere as far as I am concerned. It is easy to get to that conclusion. First of all, I already know how to drive a truck. I also know that there are some basics to tanker operation and there are also some tricks of the trade that will make my frigging life easier. These guys are just gushing with that good stuff that makes my life easier.

Anyway, I worked yesterday and today with Ron Brown and he has already cleared me to get into my own truck. We deliver tomorrow at St louie and then we deadhead to Des Moines to pick up my truck...:]

That is the cool part, I get to get into my own truck and nearly one and a half months of adventure and application come to fruition and I get to get paid to get home more often. More later Dedication

Monday, June 16, 2008

Oh Yeah

I really don't feel that way after the weekend that seemed like, in spite of the fact that I was in a hotel room, I felt like I was really in a waiting room. Today I am to go out with a gentleman named Ron and I am to train with him until Thursday. I need to express the fact that I am at this point in good shape when it comes to running the equipment and could probably do well to get my truck now. They want to err on the side of caution and I guess that is their game and their training program. I will not be harmed in any way by the extra training.

I was invited to a drivers' house named Robert yesterday for some good food and conversation. The only bad thing was the fact that they had cats. I love cats and petting them and the like. I am also deathly allergic to cats so that I must wash my hands and get the clothing that I am wearing off of my body as soon as possible. The longer the exposure, the greater the chances of me having an asthmatic attack. I came through it well however and no animals were harmed in my experiments. The nifty thing was the wildlife that was in Roberts' yard. There was a family of foxes and several deer and raccoons. They put out water and food for them and then leave them alone. We were talking on the porch 25 yards from the deer and all they did was look our direction. Cool.

Tim Russert passed away this weekend. Frankly, I learned more about the man after he died than I ever knew while he was alive. I did not care for the meet the press show and was oblivious to the life of an obviously well loved man.

Yesterday, we finally got a protection order served on an unruly neighbor. It is the one that has a husband that is a convicted rapist. Well, she got on a high horse on the 2nd of June and decided to yell at me and flip me off. It was the last straw in a long string of bullshit from her and I decided to put a stop to it. We will see what happens next. Gotta go Dedication "/

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Difference Between Purple and Pink

I am here in Des Moines, IA, having completed my happy little orientation phase and now I am approaching the actual driving and hooking up and handling paperwork phase. I have completed my driving test which was unusual in that it took place on the very first day. The second day was videos with some hands on as we pumped from one trailer to another using both air and the hydropak. Funny how I could have been in the driving industry for so long and not really pay any attention to how tankers work. Looks good so far. The funny thing about this company is that there really is not a "story" or spin. It is what it is. I have spoken to at least 20 of these drivers and I am here to tell you that I can't get one of these guys to say a darn thing bad about the company. Oh, wait, there was one guy that said that sometimes the freight was "inconsistent". Welcome to trucking sunshine...

The bittersweet component added to the fact that in my opinion, I have managed to stumble into the best company to work for to date, is that Des Moines is in the middle of fighting an oncoming disaster. Yesterday, I was meeting and getting information from the department heads, ordering my uniforms and getting a general understanding of how the operations side of the company works. Just about any television was showing the down town flooding and showed the coming band of miserable thunderstorms and the red boxes representing tornado watches and warnings. Yesterday in western Iowa, a tornado hit a Boy Scout camp north of Council Bluffs and 4 scouts between the ages of 13 and 18 were killed. That kind of tragedy rests heavy on me as I was a boy scout at one time and I remember fondly the campouts and all the activities. It was real life in the fact that I was involved and with my friends and yet for me, it was fantasy in that the real world was insulated from the recreation, the tent building and the pranks and hazing that is frequent among groups of men in the wilderness. I am thankful in that no one was killed on any of my campouts. My prayers are with the families of the victims.

I think that the experience with this company will be a positive one and that perhaps it will change the scope of this page. Hey, a guy can't rant and rave about all the annoying stuff in life every day. That would get old. Perhaps I can attack an occasional lot lizard to stay in shape. Who knows? Dedication

Friday, June 6, 2008

Here In The Back Yard, Cutting Farts and Grillin' Meat

Friday, June 6, 2008

Swimmin in the Rain Here at the Homestead

Uh, let's see. I put in notice here at Jim Palmer around the 24Th of May. And they got me outta DA truck very shortly after that. Just recapping. Well, I managed to look at a few opportunities including going back to work at mighty, mighty, Bobcat. I have decided to head off to work for the tanker outfit that I was talking to before.The big thing is the home time and the pay. Not at all bad there I tell you. Anyway, I start here on the 9Th of June as that was the earliest that they could get me in. That's right, I got me a two week vacation out of that deal and I have been working my frigging ass off here at home catching up with the honey doos and making up for one full year of abused home time. The last section of my roof will get completed today if the rain lets up. It is flashed, papered, drip edged, starter stripped and waiting for shingles. 16 by 12 feet. Once it gets started, it will be just like Whitney Houston and a small rock...it will be done in less than an hour. Of course, a small Whitney rock would make the Hope Diamond look like a spider mite. That is another story however.I managed to buy a rather inexpensive RV and have managed to park it in the yard for later camping since the rain is being rather relentless. I chopped down a 57 year old ash tree that was unfortunate in that it had to sit in my yard at a 45 degree angle. I placed a restraining order against the lady down the street who is married to a convicted sex offender. Some people need to learn some manners. In fact, I placed the protection order in the same week that I am running for a third term as a city council member. Maybe this time they will just vote me the hell out and I can get on with my regular life. I do have some kind of excitement around here and being that it is a very small town, that is a bonus, I guess.I was talking to a good friend yesterday and since I have not been in the truck (I practically have forgotten how to shift)He let me know about the price of diesel lately. $4.90 per gallon. If the price of fuel goes up much more, I can see a reversion to day cabs and motel stays for truckers. I can also see the return of multiple plant locations, instead of relying on cheap transportation to distribute their products... it will be a limited benefit with the additional jobs and potential improvement in the truck driving vocation..., but, the price of oil could also make China imports prohibitive. Buy American, now more than ever. dedication:_)

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Let The Games Begin and End

I did my first drop here in Montana this morning early from my 1300 appointment. After all there was a second drop in Washington and First, because I am always one friggin' motivated truck driver. And, that I knew that there were problems with the loading of this load and any delay by me would not help the problem at all so I gave them the best kick start that I could by being as early as possible. Also, I am running deadly close to the terminal. I put in notice Monday and I told Curtis that early or late was fine to get out of the truck as I was not on any tight schedule. I am going to fish, fuck (sorry, teatotaling dicklickers)and drink before I consider going back to work...It might happen all at once in the same hour but no doubt that will be another story. Hmmmmm, well, you have caught a fish...OK, I'll be right over honey...two good and vigorous minutes later...and that is the rest of the story. Whatever.

I think it is hilarious how these trucking outfits work. Hey, there have been many times where a driver gives his parting shot to the company on the way out. I get it. But I have done nothing or said nothing that would lead one to believe that I have any severe anger towards this company. I have my own reasons for leaving, which I am not going to discuss here. I also have my complaints about some of the things that this company does and has done. I feel that my situation would have been helped some if I had not worked with Bret. I feel that while he has done a stellar job lately, he has had quite a bit of growing up to do for most of my year here. Nuff said. While I may get fiery over the current shit, I could care less once it is over.

Don't get me wrong, I do learn the lessons of the past and that is part of why this decision to leave is an easy one. I have many contacts in this company and will continue to write about them as the subject comes up. I have also been contacted by friends that wanted me to write about their situation when there were circumstances that cast doubt. Integrity will not allow me to print pap here however and I have to have the things that I write confirmed. After all, this is a classy rag don't ya know.

I had a nice talk with Lonnie Wallace and he was nice enough to get me a room. I had been tipped off that I was being truck outed and I exnayed with my sheets and blankets and did not want to sleep with newspapers on the smoking benches. Might be good practice for when I go to Tex's house...he is about to be homeless unless he gets off his ass. I would like to thank the people that read this and give me nice complements on my email. It is nice to hear that what I did was good for you and of course...tell a friend that a weird guy is typing some real annoying shit and you just had to have a witness to the lack of humanity. What is he going to lampoon next? Mike's Hard Light Lemonade? Who the hell knows. I gotta go. No, I have gotta go and I am going to go and like it.

It is my anniversary and I have to say, the first anniversary that I really hit the gift on the friggin head. My wifey has been hinting for a few years now about wanting a ring commemorating the birth of her son Wes. Well, I naturally looked around when she mentioned it...but, those rings look like fucking shit. Sorry, but they do. I just happened to be in a JC Penney in Columbus, NE getting a watch for my Son for graduation and there it was...the ring of all ages and I friggin bought it. And she friggin liked it. And I will get a friggin *redacted* for it and I will shout out the open windows for all the inbred freaks and sex offender loser neighbors that live in my town to hear that I got a *redacted* for 40 percent off at JC Penney. And you fucking know that! I live in Elliott, North Dakota and there is a sex offender here but his licence is in another state. His name is Martin Wayne Vareberg and he lives three houses south of 205 Elliott St in Elliott, ND. I fucking hate rapists. Dedication;)

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Iowa the Sequel

Once again I am sitting on my arse in the Flying Jackass here at exit 125 on I-80. I delivered bright and early to those crack smoking scumbags at Sysco. I hate Sysco and I hate anyone that works there...I want to kick their puppies in the gut and abuse their home appliances with dung. I mean it, I hate that place and it doesn't matter the location. Denver Sysco? Assholes. Olathe, Kansas?, assholes. It does not matter one bit as they collectively suck goat nads. They really suck. Anyway, I had to go up to Ankeny, IA for the second part of operation dough drop. My appointment is for the 15th at 11am but I was able to talk to the guy and finaggle a 2000, we will fit you in sort of thing. Not perfect, but what the hell is in life.

I go in and grab a shower and I notice this freakish looking girl/pig staring at me. She had been acting strange since I had arrived there. She approaches and asks if I have a spare shower for her which I oblige her. She says that she is looking for a ride which I cannot oblige. I bought her a couple egg rolls and bid her good luck. I get uncomfortable with the homeless as you never know what kind of unruly behaviour to expect. I am not a taxi service however. Don't get me wrong, I do not have anything against the homeless or unfortunate losers in the travel game. It just seems that there is a growing number of people that act as if it is my problem that they are where they have ended up somehow. I do know what it is like to lose my job and end up in very bad shape. I never thought once to head out and travel using someones source of a job as my travel mode. I would feel too self conscious about that to actually pull it off.

Now is the interesting tidbit of the day. After long hours of research, grilling recruiters and filling out applications and talking to drivers, I have a replacement company that I have recently been accepted by. They have a terminal not far from my house. They will pay far better than my current employer will even discuss paying. They have a good home rotation of 7 days or so. They represent one factor that I have desired in trucking in that it would be just frigging nice not to have to deal with a reefer or a van trailer for that matter. The best part is that when I am not driving and am waiting to load/unload, I am on the clock after 2 hours. That is worth more than all the other benefits. That tells me that they value the time on the truck and are willing to do something about it.

I would like to say that this chapter coming up is in some way bittersweet and that I wish that I did not have to go, but, I can't. I would be lying. That is not to say that everything at Jim Palmer Trucking was bad as it was not all bad. Here is a list of the good and the bad as I see it.

Good-They do not anally rape you as part of the orientation process.
Bad-For a decent pay raise, you might just accept anal rape as a negotiation tool.

Good-Their trucks look good when they are broke down on the side of the road.
Bad-Somehow, their trucks look good when they are wrecked as well.

Good-They have rather attractive recruiters of the female persuasion.
Bad-Lying ass bitches to hell with all of them.

Good-The management team is competent and forthright.
Bad-Competent about screwing up drivers lives and forthright about lying about it.

Good-The place has not caught fire yet.
Bad-The place has not caught fire yet.

Good-The payroll lady is very accurate and I have never once had to call about a shortage.
Bad-How the fuck can you screw up 191.00 a week? 5 of my paychecks were that or less in Dec, Jan, Feb...

I know, I am spoofing their sorry asses and I guess that I am sorry. Really there are quite a few nice, competent people working at Jim Palmer Trucking. It is unfortunate that none of them are at the top of the power ladder. Kudos to Dave Zohner, Dick Horst, Judy the logbook lady as you tolerated my shenanigans with poise, Lisa, as the pay was always there and accurate and you are quite the nice person, Heather, as she made some sense of my notes on job history and compiled it so it could be read by those not on depression medication... and a few I cannot remember to name as I have a bad memory caused by traumatic stress disorder from banging my freaking head on the steering wheel. Those people have made my life and the job easier in their own way. Bret, made my life here a living hell for 11 out of 12 months...too little too late and I do not want to see it go back to where it was all last year. Aubrey, I saw your snotty little look at me when you did not think I was looking and you can go to hell. You are better than no one you stuck up bitch. I think that all but sums it up.

I have been asked whether I will continue to write about Jim Palmer Trucking. I would have to say that I have plenty of contacts there and with as bad at they are currently being run that I would be dumb to switch now. Those guys have the capability of running a good company but they are just too damn full of shit to do it. Thus, I must continue to write. Dedication >:\/

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

You All Are A Bunch Of Hicks, Put Down The Chainsaw

I am here luxuriating is the hickness that is Kentucky. I just like to dog out KY which is where the lubricant got its name as that is where my good friend JD lives and occasionally, he reads this. I really shouldn't be rattling cages and such but it is good fun until someone decides to rattle back. I can take it though as there really is not much rattling to do when your cage is lined in foam.

Got a return on an email to a very old friend...yes he is old like me and the friendship has been on ice due to different locations since the mid 1980's. It exhausts me to think about the relationships and struggles of the last 28 years. It is a wonder that children don't scream when they see the mileage on my face. The Saint was influential on me in some ways that average friendships are not. I don't remember ever going to a bar with Saint. We did not hang out in any way shape or form outside of ship life. He was always writing music and playing guitar and it intrigued me. He returned an email and It just made my day. Sometimes, that is all it takes. Now I can call my wife and exclaim, "he said yes!". Different story and shame on you. Greetings Saint and Velkommen to my sick little world. It however, is no more sick than on the USS Pyro. Remember when some prankster painted Psycho over the letters PYRO. Cool stuff...Dedication:/

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Limbo, It Just Never Ends

I am on my way to the great East Coast and it is a rather slow load...I call my good friend John Dean to let him know that there is a rendezvous location where we can sneak a beer in or to with some colorful conversation about cool subjects and fun times. I am pretty sure that breasts will come up at one point or another. Not really, I just added that because I thought it would throw some undetectable spin on this otherwise boring paragraph. Anyway, he is not answering for some unknown reason...it must involve breasts, I just know it.

The company is conducting some culling operations in the personnel department. There is a need to reduce the force somewhat and what better way than to fire a few assholes. Unfortunately, there managed to end up in the sieve, my good friend Tonio. What I know about Tony and his year here at the farm is not complete and it would not be fair to all parties to comment in depth about this. However, from my point of view, Tony will be missed by me in a black truck and we will keep in touch as friends do. Good luck as always, I will be pulling for you. And if I sent you one of those posters that show retards licking the windows on only the very shortest buses...I am sorry. You are friggin' special sunshine and don't let any Montana kiss ass inbreds tell you different. I just have to say, I am sorry lord and I know not where this stuff comes from. After it expels however, there is no wiping, it just flies out of me clean as a friggin' whistle.

The company is scaring the heck out of me lately. I was at Salina and 2 Palmers were fueling on TCH and were dismayed when their pumps shut off at 119 gallons and would go no further. No answer to that one. I am glad I fueled last night. There are problems with the EZPass, we have had "glitches" with the payroll. Now, I am not saying that I know of a specific problem with Jim Palmer...that is not my purpose here. I respect the fact that my checks have been accurate and Johnny on the spot. A lesser company would be feeling the turbulence much more however. I heard that TMC is feeling the heavy rolls lately. Good for those undercutting assholes, too.

Well, gotta go for now as I am getting groggy. Dedication:/

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Some Days It Just Does Not Pay To Get Up

Actually, it was not really a bad day overall if you look long and hard at all of the hours of the day and come up with some sort of average. It was just the last 3 of the working day that were grating on my nerves. I had picked up in Minnesota and was on my way out of the state on I-35 when the clouds got a weird look to them and there was more intensity in the rain and the wind. I was heavy, so the wind really was not a factor, but, at the same time, I was aware that the weather was changing. Well, up ahead, not quite a mile, was this dark circular movement of clouds and debris. I watched this mass enter the south bound lanes and commented to my wife that perhaps it was a mile ahead. It was really a quarter mile and it hit and laid over a semi, blocking all southbound lanes. I sat there waiting for wreckers and found out that the driver was naturally shaken up but nonetheless, OK.

The wrecker rights the truck and lanes are opened...thirty miles south, the same thing happens with another delay. I decided to pull in and just call it a day. The added bonus is that I have some access. Cool beans.

Well, gotta go for now...Dedication:)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Yep, I'm Just A Loser In Barstow

Go ahead and say it. I am not sure what you wanted to say but as far as I have been concerned, I have had it all said to me lately. I have had all of my intentions spelled out for me, even if I had not thought to do them myself at that time. I don't know. All I do know is that if you are married, there is just nothing you can do. You are wrong and it does not matter whether or not you did anything. You will suffer and burn and suffer some more because she thinks you did something. Seems like a great time for me to go out and buy a dog.

As I mentioned earlier, I got my annual anal review from Jim Palmer trucking...27 percent average idle...too much. I got screwed on the bonus and got a cent for my troubles. You know? I have realized that all the little perks that attracted me to this place have been changed. Bonus is less, Pay sucks, Insurance was to be payed by the company after one year of service but now it is not. I think that this last year was a waste of time considering how much they are screwing us. And get this...Curtiss has all but certified for me that JPT is not receiving a fuel surcharge in their settlements and that is why all the benefits are shrinking...can you believe that bullshit? If you are an owner operator, you get a surcharge where Jimmy averages out your surcharge nationwide before you get it. That is another way that driver pay is skimmed around here. Courtney actually said in the same breath that he said that the company was stable and would be around and do well. He is some piece of work that Curtiss/ Courtney what ever his name is. If he wore a skirt and showed up to work, maybe he would qualify to fluff in porn.

I am headed to southern California and of course, I have a preplan. You see, I never get a preplan unless I go where my mother used to live. I haven't seen her in some time but nonetheless, I must rush rush rush when in So-Cal because I might have some quality of life while living in Jim Palmer's piece of shit truck.

I got another message about another computer problem involving our payroll. It was resolved within a few hours but it does seem suspicious as perhaps there was not enough money in the account to cover payroll. It is not likely that the suckers that work here would get any lead time on being axed in that event. They would probably strand us. That is the usual method of business in trucking. If you consider the level of truth being used in this company, I would expect no less. Well Gotta go...Dedication:"

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

This Is Just To Say

This is just to say, that I am sorry for writing bad things about Jim Palmer and his band of merry cronies. But, it was good for me and it was so easy with as stupid as the crew there can be. And of course, there is the lack of truth that everyone there has to tell. And anyone that has read what I have had to write about Jim and his group of sycophants and losers will know that I did not mean one word of the apology either. Isn't it just funny, how people will apologize for something as a matter of course and something in that apology will betray the sorry feeling and give you the clue that really they are not sorry at all. I am not sorry either.

I was at a place in the greater Chicago area called Lagrou. In a nice neighborhood with a huge park across the street...beautiful. I took a walk and watched as it was getting dark, a couple playing tennis in the lighted court. They were having a great time and I was having a good time watching them. Then the lights went out and you could hear both of them yell out AWWWWWW! And back to the car and off they went. It is funny in this job that we get to see snippets of other peoples lives. That is not to say that if I were at home that I would not be able to see this. What I am saying, is that the life styles are different and the people somehow are different and to tell the truth...I have never watched anyone use the tennis courts in the park at home...

It took me to back in the day when I was in Bahrain. I had a Chief Petty Officer in my division and we were adversaries and not friends. But he was always trying to get me to play golf with him or invite me out on the town. This baffles me to this day as we did not get along professionally and he tried everything in his power to hurt my career while I was stationed with him. Anyway, on that day Drayton Rowe had invited me to play tennis at the courts on the old British Naval Base in Bahrain. It was only 92 degrees or so and excercise sounded good. I had never really played tennis but I was ok at it but I kept launching the balls out of the park on occasion...and there was this kid that kept stealing them and running off. Well, two tubes of balls later and we were on our way back to the ship. I guess someone from there would observe our little slice of life and feel transported in some way too.

I got my annual review a few weeks ago. I have been meaning to bring this up but have forgotten. Got a bonus, but smaller than I was told it would be when I hired on...Everything seems good if I am to look at comments from my mis-manager. Well, he had better say good things about me because he is an incompetent moron. I have just had the lowest mileage year for trucking since I started driving. 124,000 miles and most of the delays were due to either breakdowns or mismanagement. It seems that if a person is to make any money in this industry, that person needs to get to the common areas of trucking income...mileage, pay, and down time. Benefits also are there as well. This company does not measure up and they could do much better. Dedication :(

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Called My Son and Collapsed in a Heap

I have a good old fashioned cold...again. I was just lounging about, minding my own business when this pterodactyl shaped virus decided to shit on my face. For the second time in less than 4 weeks. It is not fair. Not one to whine...I am moving on.

I have been running pretty good...not great...but not bad. I am on my way to Chicago for Monday and I am 425 miles or so out...not bad. Getting ready for bed...Not one to whine...I am moving on...dedication;')

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Greetings And Its Been A Long Time

It has been nearly a month. I have been busy and it seems that once again when I have time, I have no Internet...The story of my life. I can't even begin to catch up in the traditional way, so I decided that I would infuse this blog with some absolutely disgusting XXX Porno to spice things up. I mean, when you have no material, naked people definitely help.

I was looking at my many notes of observation and trust me that many things that I find interesting even bore me after some time to think about them. Here is an excerpt on my observation of the morning news in Seattle. A place that agitates me to no end anyway. I hate that stupid place and would like to start my three state killing spree there.

Q13 in Seattle, the home of Seattle's Best four dollar coffee and heroin addicts that approach sleeping truckers for monetary enhancement and personal enrichment. The morning crew is perhaps the most handsome group with the largest jawbones I have ever seen. There is also the whitest looking Mexican on Earth and a Chinese reporter named Sabrina Fang. Are you kidding? I thought that people went on the air so that they could change their name to one that they like. Sabrina Fang? Give me a break...

A black reporter named Lowell...this dude is whiter than I am. I feel too black now, gotta go to Arbys and order something totally white trash to feel better about myself. Gonna get me a Camaro and move into a trailer. I'm gonna cut the sleeves off my shirts and chase my wife around with a broken beer bottle. OK, people, I will chase her with an unbroken beer bottle. What are we? Barbarians?

All of these people are the welcoming committee for Seattle where people come to get killed, crash their cars and get rained on all the while getting the shit taxed out of them. Move me in...I want to become a member of the rat race in the middle of the mountains too.

By the way...the white Mexican? Her name is, get this, Maria Arcega Dunn. I used to think that Los Angeles was frigging unbearable with Dr. George Fishbeck who looked like every asshole history teacher that gave me a B- in my life, but he did know the weather...today is going to be hot with cool in the morning...it is Southern Frigging California, how hard could that be...really? Sports guy Eddie Alexander who looked like he just smoked his last Newport and downed his last vodka tonic just minutes before. He did go to jail for fraud however. And the worst was Trisha Toyota...I am not kidding. Cheech and Chong lampooned her ass in Up in Smoke with the reporter that was named something that resembled every Japanese motorcycle manufacturer listed....you know, Suzuki Kawasaki Honda...

The strange thing is that when I went into the Navy, I could not get used to the new faces on the morning news shows in SF or Honolulu and I don't want to get into Yokosuka...that stuff would pop your eyes out if you had not had your coffee yet. I guess there are people that are growing up in Seattle and are used to the stuff on their television news. All I can say, they must be screwed up all to hell. Dedication"/

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

You Gotta Love It

I checked on my poor abused truck this morning. Waiting for parts and trying to remove the broken studs from the head without destroying the head were on the burner for my mechanic. Pretty nice guy for the most part. Usually, it is a distinct lack of personality and character that I notice most about these wrench turners. You are looked at as a revenue source and as a source of agitation when things go not as planned. I managed to get in some walking this morning and feel better as a result. I have been cooped up in this hotel room and getting out and getting some air is good for the body.

I have been working the remote out as well and if it weren't for the commercials, there would not be 45 minutes of programming in six hours run. I just get annoyed with all the commercials that repeat and repeat. I am not going to buy a swiffer, period.

I went to a restaurant yesterday and I found that Ruby Tuesdays is a rather nice, expensive restaurant. I ordered a triple prime burger and it was nice but not on the level of an In-N-Out burger. The price, $9.49 plus beverage and tip. I wish that there was an In-N-Out here...Well gotta go for now...Dedication:[

Monday, March 10, 2008

Sharonville, There are worse armpits!

Well, my day started with ambition and is slowly ending in a relentless tide of quick sand. I was over at the KW dealership first thing this morning and was told that they would be glad to look at my truck...this afternoon. Well, it was the answer I was not looking for but it will have to do as I do not have a tow truck here with me at this moment.

The frustrating thing here is the fact that first of all, I was supposed to be home by the 5Th of March for a meeting. Bret, who had 3 weeks to react managed to screw that up and not get me home. I ended up being sent to Virginia while asshole boy realigned his three brain cells to allow for thought. If he had only done his job, I would still probably have broke down, but that would have been after I had arrived home in time of my appointment.

My wife is very upset by the situation. She does not function well when I am gone. And I have been gone too long now. I asked Bret what his plan was to get me home and He replied that He did not know but he would try. I told him that this was really hard on my family. He amazingly replied that yes he understood what I am going through. I really think that he has no idea what it is like to have somewhat of a plan and simply have that plan shattered because of a mistake of a "manager" that is simply there for a paycheck. When I get home, Bret is going to ask me when I am coming back...I will reply 2 weeks and if he says one thing about that, I will reply 3 weeks. I am pretty sure that he is planning on me taking only 4 or 5 days off. I am going to screw up that plan and hopefully give some insight to someone who sorely needs it. Dedication"/

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Broke Down Again

I was driving along nicely on hwy 9 in Kentucky. I had entered Maysville and stopped at at signal. I tuned my radio to the trucker Open Road Channel 171 and got the green light. I accelerated and then it sounded like 2 of my cylinders went dead and left me with no power. I accelerated anyway as I didn't need to park in the road. I pulled behind a closed store and waited 10 hours for the tow truck to get there. Once there, he drove 15 miles per hour in the festive ice storm over to Sharonville to drop me and my defunct truck at the Kenworth dealer. In the morning, I walked over there and found that everyone on the Saturday shift had taken a Snow Day.

It will be Monday before I hear or see any signs of life at the mighty Kenworth dealer... Dedication:(

Saturday, March 1, 2008

I Am In Ohio, Happily Seeking Intelligent Life

Not really, I am just sitting on my ass watching the next new thing on the computer. I am after all a man of action. When some setting on my computer was accidentally switched, causing me to not be able to get into the happy zone which is this place, I got right on it...a week later. I am a man of action and will do something...tomorrow...I am tired. Good Night Now! Dedication:I

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Support From Home And Safe Driving

Funny thing, this driving business. I mean, I do a job that when done properly, gains my family a paycheck and a minimal amount of satisfaction. Yet, if I make a mistake, there can be deadly consequences for me or the unlucky person that tangles with my truck at the wrong time. That is not to say that car drivers are incapable of making driving errors too. It is just that I am on a regular basis, making adjustments in my driving to compensate for non-attentive drivers. It is just a normal thing. You look and observe drivers every day and it is easy to see when a 4 wheeler is not being driven with 100 percent attention. That is clearly a different subject for another day however.

What I would like to address today is the most basic line of support that the driver gets from his loved ones at home. The daily call to home. This is one area in the truck drivers life that is routinely a source of agitation. Some people use the daily phone call home as a controlling mechanism. Constantly asking where the receiving party has been and agonizing about any lack of control. Others use the phone call as a game to play...what mood may I be in today. Will, I chat you up and make you feel like a million bucks or will I be cold and distant for some unmentioned sin. Others clearly use the phone call as a weapon, yelling and hanging up...I have heard them all. There are times where I call home and realize that I have absolutely nothing to say and yet, I want to remain on the line as that is my portal to the normal side of my life. It is my view of the place I am the most happy.

And yet, I really want the people reading this to understand that first of all, there are quite a few mental things going on in trucking. I am not sure if anyone would want to study the mental stresses that drivers go through on a regular basis and their effects on mental health. Drivers are constantly moving, get poor sleep, eat poor diets, have high stress and who knows what else goes into their jobs. Certainly, trucking must be a petrie dish of stable mental health if you believe all the crap that the trucking companies would have you believe. Just approach a few drivers in the truck stop and strike up a conversation with them on a random basis and you will find that a few of them are "odd". Better yet, after you determine that they are "odd", ask them what company they work for and I am sure you will find the big companies well represented. I think that much like society, mental illness exists in the trucking industry, but, to a larger degree. It is not addressed by trucking companies until something happens. There is really no mental evaluation in the hiring process. Trust me, I have spent some quality time in orientation with complete nut cases. And while I could bore the daylights out of you with theory on this, I won't. I am here to tell you that I have observed this behaviour for some time now.

There are some people, usually non-drivers, that look at the trucking industry as some sort of all fun party time where life on the road resembles something out of Smokey and the Bandit or Convoy (to name a lousy movie). The truth is that for the most part, trucking is a solitary business. Even if the truck driver is part of a team operation, the job is a matter of each driver handling their respective shifts while the other driver sleeps. There have been times that I have not had a meaningful conversation with another person for two to three days. I would have to speak naturally, during fuel stops. For the most part, it was just the radio and coffee for company.

I find that there is quite a bit that is frustrating about trucking as most all drivers do. But nothing is more aggravating than lack of communication with home...At least I dialed the phone today. There just was no point in doing so I guess. Dedication:(

Thursday, February 21, 2008

OK

OK, Red soil and no sign of intelligent life anywhere. Oklahoma, the land of Oakies from Muskogie even though Ol' Merle Haggard I believe was from Bakersfield, Ca. Hey, it doesn't matter to me but I am just saying. And John Denver was from Texas...so there!

I am on my way to a non descript warehouse on the east coast, Alexandria, Va and a second drop in Maryland. It represents a stroke of luck in the accumulation of miles game that us truck drivers like to play in the name of paying the bills. For the first time, the other day, I had a pre-plan for my next load issued to me. I about wrecked the truck as I was in such shock. I naturally thought that perhaps my manager had simply called in sick and someone that did not know any better was actually doing their job. But, it turns out that ol' Bret was there and yet, I am getting a preplan...Don't get me wrong, I like it when things work the way they are supposed to.

Then after I get the preplan and drop my Santa Ana bound load, I get a message from Dave the weekend guy. He wants to get me into a Grandview, Wa load that delivers one day earlier than the one I currently had. I wanted to help him out as the other driver was shorter on hours than me. So, I said sure, why not? Bret came in Monday morning and saw what I was doing and had a fit and swapped me out and gave me the load I currently have. It all worked out in the end. I certainly am not complaining as the miles in the last month have not been there and I have tried to be patient with the company as I am used to the idea of it slowing down in the winter. I have been there before and see no need to rock the boat for a situation that no one really has control over. Preplans would have gotten some of the gaps between loads to go away however.

I was on I-40 Westbound on the way to California, being passed by a truck with "Jesus Christ Is Not A Swear Word" in large letters on all sides of the trailer. More specifically, red letters on white trailer. I noticed that his trailer lights were not working and I got on the radio to let this obvious fine gentleman know about it as I would want someone to let me know if there were a trailer problem. He replied, "don't fucking worry about it". Which I have to admit that there really is some irony in that somehow. So I decided to go back out to him and inform him that something was also badly missing on his trailer as well. He comes back with "and what the hell would that be?". I just love the culture and class that I am privledged to encounter in my travels, so I replied that the lettering on his trailer should include the words "and I am a stupid fat asshole" on all sides of the trailer as well. After all, I am not one to false advertize as you well know. He came back with all sorts of profanity and I just laughed at him and egged him on by saying that I was in a big black truck that somehow did not say that I am an asshole on it and the trailer is also black with Jim Palmer written on the side and all he had to do was slow down in order to "catch" me...that just seemed to make him more angry. I was having fun by this time so I added that maybe he was just too fat and lazy to even do that as he was certainly too lazy to take care of a simple thing like ensuring that no one rearends your trailer by checking the lights. By this time, he was yelling on the radio but others were laughing and making fun of the guy. Well, fast forward to yesterday, I parked at a lot in Seligman, AZ. I got in the parking area and sure enough there he was. I pulled right next to the moron and turned my interior light on and gave him a little toodaloo wave and stared at him. He didn't even get out of the truck. I said "you get your lights fixed yet?" He reached over and turned off his radio...I guess he didn't get them fixed yet. Perhaps he might change his trailer lettering to read "I am an asshole, but Jesus loves me" Dedication:^

Friday, February 15, 2008

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Slackers Guide To Trucking Company Operation

It has still been a slow month. Following on the heels of the slow January. Following on the heels of a rather slow December. I do not feel at this point that it is entirely the weather, the season or the business climate. I will explain further in somewhat scattered detail as I have not yet had my meds...I don't have meds, I am needing them however...

If you look at the average mileage for my runs, while I am actually running, that is, then the average really is not too bad. Not to say that I am running by any means terrific to be sure. But, none the less, not terrible.

There is the constant reminder when working for Jim Palmer Trucking of Missoula, Montana, that you are working for people that are more concerned with collecting a paycheck, or kissing large butts that are attached to people that are perceived to possess the real "power", rather than display personal excellence. Or in the case of my driver manager...personal hygiene.

Extreme Sloth on a High Level. On average, I am losing a full day with each load and sometimes more than two whole days. There is no desire to do any extra work and get a load set up by the customer disservice representative or my driver mismanager. As a result, there is no such thing as a preplan. They do not start working on the new load until I am empty. I find this to be unacceptable. Preparation is the very bedrock of success. No planning? I am concerned that this company may possibly be too lazy to be in the modern trucking industry. They are certainly not very well run.

Forced To Do Nothing. This company operates under the forced dispatch program. That works out to be that they do a crappy job of getting you some freight and when that freight arrives, you as the driver have no real say in whether you actually drive this crappy freight or not. There is no choice in the matter. Funny though when drivers are called into the office and grilled about the mileage that they are getting or not getting and that the mileage had better come up or that something "will have to be done". Forced dispatch? and the driver has to answer to the lack of mileage? Sounds to me like driver services is afraid to do their job and kick the stupid driver managers in the ass and make them optimize their efforts for the benefit of the company. Funny thing is that when the driver is getting plenty of mileage, that also the company is seeing more money coming in as well. I don't know, maybe I am just an armchair quarterback. I don't really know anything about business. Let's see, More miles, Happy driver, more revenue for driver and company. I must be missing something...oh, yeah, people must do their jobs for that to happen. That is it!

Spend 500 bucks to save a dime. Repairs are often passed on to the Peterbuilt dealership because the company repair facilities are overloaded at times and there is the whole warranty issue that keeps you going back to a bunch of losers because they repair the truck for free or at least at a warranty discount. I have a clutch fan that is definitely going bad. It was going bad ten days ago. This fan is past warranty at 409 thousand miles. The fan stays running all the time and is hurting the mileage. I put the truck in the shop for a day in Denver and was dismayed when they said that nothing was wrong after a day and a half. Especially when the fan was shrieking on the way out of the parking lot.

I am going to run this sucker until it falls off and slices the radiator. I hope it happens in the fast lane on I-10 during rush hour. After I block a full lane of traffic, I am going to go to the side of the road and pull my pants down and show my ass to that stupid traffic helicopter that adds insult to injury by harassing people that break down by buzzing them with that dumb chopper. I need to do this. I am after all, living in a small town and have nowhere near enough shit to talk about. Dedication:)

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Tell Me Again How You Feel...



Just Once Could I Win

Rewind back to the Rawlins period where I was stuck. I made it to the customer by Friday night. There was nothing said at the time to me as I was under the impression that they would take the freight on Saturday. Not so. Nor could any of the weekend morons actually do anything on my behalf. Like, perhaps letting me drop the load in Denver and allow some other driver coming off of home time to haul it in to get an empty. Lord knows I have had to do that a number of times. I ended up waiting on until Monday at seven am. I went in and gave them my paperwork. He said that I could back into a door but I am not a priority because I was late. They took seven hours to get me unloaded. After I got my paperwork, I went to the bathroom and emptied all the contents of all the cleaning supplies on the floor and left. Neatness was not exactly my priority and I did feel better. The bathroom is sure to be clean after scrubbing several gallons of hand soap off the floor...6 to be exact. I am still chuckling about that and it was 2 days ago. A lesser man would have resorted to grafitti, but, not me. I am freaking creative. Having only one thousand miles for the last eight days makes a guy creative. I am so creative. Well, I have another wonderful run with 500 or so miles and 2 days to get there. I might be so creative that I take a crap on their counter...who knows? Dedication:p

Thursday, January 31, 2008

The Rawlins Mess Revisited...

Seems that I have been there before. You pull into a truck stop, get out, look around, and you think to yourself that perhaps you remember this. You rack your brain trying to associate your current mind picture with the pictures of trucker dump past. Was it the scenery? Did some idiot say something on the CB that has been said many times before?

I was working for Crete Carriers. I was slogging my way through the snow and ice and decided that I would do myself some good to pull in and get some rest. I pulled in and was relieved to see some parking spots available to me. I slipped right in and went in for a shower and something to eat. I was feeling great when I went to bed that night. I woke up when the daylight made it necessary along with the indian alarm clock (that means that I had to pee). I looked outside and it looked as though the trucks were dropped from overhead flying aircraft. There were trucks everywhere, not to mention, the snow piled up on my hood blocking at least 15 inches of my forward view. I was stuck and could not move as there were too many trucks parked catawampus for me to get out. I figured that I would walk in and have some breakfast and read the paper. There was no paper available, so I made due with a trucker magazine. Breakfast was good and someone walked in and I overheard them saying that the highway was closed to the west due to a wreck. The harsh reality had set in right there that I would not be moving anywhere soon along with my unintentional compadres in the parking lot. Soon the wind became a major factor with the blowing snow making the other trucks into silouhettes on the dimming daylight.

Fast forward to today. I was coming east and making great time, when the CB blasted on about an accident at the 206 mile marker just shy of Rawlins. While I was happily running over the occasional ice patch at 60 mph, there were some schedule and mentally challenged drivers doing 75 mph on by me. Sure enough, there was a 4 or 5 truck crash involving some of the fast movers who were ill prepared to handle the conditions as they changed. It really is the same old story that happens over and over again. People that have high assumptions about their driving abilities meet adventure and danger on the highway.

Here is my opinion on driving ability:

1. I am only a good driver if I am driving safely. Safe means taking into account all road conditions and using all reasonable information available to me. It also applies to my ability to operate that vehicle with enough sleep and a good attitude for driving.

2. Ice is ice and ice is slippery. Use all the trucker wives tales you want. If you are on ice there are things for the most part that you can use to make yourself safe. You can slow down, steer mildly and brake like there is an eggshell on the pedal that you do not want to break. The one thing that is often ignored is the pull over and park in a safe place option. Sometimes you just need to give the salt truck a chance to help make it safer for you.

3. Hot freight and pressure from the dispatcher equals death or injury. Not that we don't need a little prodding now and again, but, when you have a dispatcher telling you to get over that mountain when they are sitting behind a warm desk and are not putting their livlihood on the line by proceeding into certain danger, I just tell them to back the hell off. Hot freight cools off awful quick when that truck is on its side in the ditch.

4. Courtesy goes along way when you are in bad weather. Signal your intentions. Let the other driver know when he is by you by dimming your headlights briefly. Do not be one of those knuckleheads that flashes with the brights. And speaking of lights...use them, even if it is only raining in the daytime. That visibility goes along way as well.

5. Don't speed. Any accident situation can be recreated as a mathmatical problem. The weight of the vehicle, road condition, visibility, road contour and speed all add up together to establish the findings when there is an accident. There are many more factors to consider as well. There are data bases of information that law enforcement uses to establish the speed part of the equasion in an accident re-creation. Don't let the speed of your vehicle take you into the accident too fast. Speed is the part of the potential accident that all to often, the driver chooses to his dismay.

6. Drive within your limits and the limits of the law. When there is an accident, the first thing that happens besides all the usual things like removing the vehicles and treating the injured, is the contacting of the company and getting information on where and when the truck was running. There are many ways for this to occur. The most common is the Quaalcomm but there are also fuel and other receipts with their date and time stamping. This is all compared to what you as the driver "said" on your logbook. In bad weather, it is wise to have those times and places match your logbook as best as possible. Do not expect your company to go to bat for you or the dispatcher that prodded you to stand up in your defense should there be an accident. You will know full well the view from under the bus as you will be thrown there quickly. The company line universally will be that the company does not condone or recommend drivers to drive in an unsafe manner or when the weather is dangerous.

7. Common sense...when the weather is bad, there is no time to screw around. Keep off the phone and CB. Keep the stereo volume low as the CB can warn you of what is ahead. Avoid running side by side on icy roads. Do your best to increase your following distance. If the trucks are driving badly around you, back out of it and let them go on. Do not keep yourself in a dangerous situation...get out of it by being proactive to danger instead of being reactive. If you have to react with a panic stop, chances are that you are not noticing what is ahead of you and that you are too late.

8. Drive ahead. I know, you are going ahead or forward...but actually look forward. Way forward. Those brake lights at 300 feet will not give you enough time to react. Better to be able to see those brakes go on at 1/2 mile and have the time to stop with control.

9. Leave the Jake brake off or use the lower settings if you need to slow down. The Jake brake will behave like your regular brakes on your drive tires. So will sudden or abrupt down shifts.

10. Keep the cruise control off. That cruise control does not know that it is snowing outside. It will simply try to accelerate to keep the truck up to its set speed. If that happens at the wrong time, you will get the chance to test your supertrucker skills at handling a spinout at 60 mph. Not what I call fun I can tell you.

11. Keep your eyes on the 4 wheeled vehicles. The people driving cars and pickups are not professional drivers and no matter where they live, they do not drive anything near 140,000 miles per year in adverse conditions. There are many situations going on in cars. Distracting children, bad drivers, poor maintance, bad tires just to list a few. These things will affect the way they drive and for the most part, passing a truck on an icy road scares the hell out of them.

12. Do not tailgate. Do not tailgate. Do not tailgate...

I am sure that there are many more things that come to mind but I only have so much time to write. Be safe out there and if you look in the mirror and see a complete idiot, please stay the hell out of a big truck. The roads are dangerous enough as it is. Dedication :)

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Skank Attack in Albuquerque

I don't know what it is about this Flying J. One time I was here and I was talking to my wife on the phone with the window open. There was this nice breeze and it was a good day. Then to my dismay this ugly, ice pick groomed, toothless lot lizard skank jumps right up on my step and with my wife on the phone, proceeds to ask me what I would like to do tonight and did I want someone to talk to. Boy, that was a great one to pull with my wife on the phone. Anyway, I am sure it was the same one that woke me up today. Only, this time it was at 4:53 am. The hour did not change either my answer to her or her looks. Either it was the same one or they have a cloning factory producing them. Time for a new model. But, I tell you what, if you happen to have an absolutely poppin', smokin', awesome looking hooker approach you and ask you for a date, Tell her that you do not have a corsage and walk away because good looking truck stop hookers are either completely bonkers or they are the Police. Either way, you are asking for it.

I was driving merrily across I-40 yesterday and noticed as the day for my driving was about over that really, nothing happened. I saw no wrecks, nothing of notice. That is almost strange. I heard about some interesting stuff on the news. None of it within eyes view of my windshield. That is awesome. When something big is going on and hits national news just as you drive by it. Yesterday, some drivers got to see the smoke and evacuation of the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas. It is right next to the I15 freeway and I am sure that the commotion was grand. I just hope no one lost their lives.

The Three Burritos:

When I was in first grade we lived on 3802 Grand Avenue in Pomona, CA. My mom had divorced my father and ended up where she clearly did not want to be. Back at home under the aegis of my Grandfather. She hastily sought escape and latched on to the first sorry suspect to fall under her gaze, his name was Ron.

Ron was a tall lanky loser that liked beer and Mopars and racing Mopars. He had a job at Dub Minton's garage in Pomona and made a not so respectable wage of 65 bucks a week. The apartment was also 65 bucks per month. Since my mother was rather insincere and had difficulty with the truth, I was never able to extract the exact terms of their arrangement aside from the fact that she did not love him, but somehow managed to go to Las Vegas and marry him. My grandfather did not really like him and that should have been a sign. My brother and I did not like him either, as he really liked to be a father in no other way but discipline and the belt.

Here was the arrangement as I saw it. My mom did not work but we were to be fed somehow. So my mom would feed me and my brother oatmeal, cornmeal mush and any other crap that she would call food, but me and my brother would just call it crap. Somehow there was enough money for Ron to be able to eat to his liking. We were not getting enough to eat and yet we had to endure the cooking of porterhouse steaks for Ron and Mom while we had as I described earlier as "crap". All I remember is that I was hungry all the time. Breakfast could be eaten but only if I did not pack a lunch. A teacher discovered that I had no lunch and I repeated my mothers words verbatim to her. That was changed to I could eat lunch but no breakfast because of my big mouth.

Their was plenty of money also left over for Ron to campaign 4 different cars in his racing endeavors. Funny thing though...he never won much money driving those purpose built 10 second cars. He won a pot of money off of our daily driver 1966 Polara with a 383 in bracket racing. He could have saved one heck of a lot of money by just racing that. There was also money for Ron to sit in the front yard and bench race and drink beer with his friends. We were expected to play and act happy and we made horseshoes with the beer cans and kicked them around. You could get a good horseshoe out of a can in those days as they were made of steel and once they bent, they stayed on your feet for awhile.

During this time, my mother started acting strange. You never knew what you were going to end up with at the end of the school day. One day, I came in from first grade and my mom grabbed me by the hair and pulled me into the wall face first. I asked her what was wrong as I cried. She replied, "you took 2 extra fig newtons in your lunch." That was it. I mean I just can't imagine being so mean that you would deny your own child 2 cookies. The problem was, I had no idea what she was talking about. I hadn't even seen those cookies and yet, I was getting smacked around. I was grounded and sent to my room. When my brother came home from the babysitter (yes, that is right). He got the same treatment in much the same fashion.

During that time, Ron regained custody of his children from his prior marriage to Carol, who was now married to Sonny. Me and my brother got to meet Ronnie and Lori and we all moved into one bedroom at that place. It was always really clear to me and my brother that these kids of his were to be favored over us. At Christmas one year I got a car and it was already broken. Ronnie got his car and it was a 1968 Shelby Mustang with a battery powered clear working engine. Most of the memorable gifts that my brother and I received came from my grandparents. Not much in money, but things we needed...actually, they gave to me and my brother year around. I am sure glad we had them or life would have actually been worse than it was already.

Also during this time, my mother would leave all of us kids outside. Oftentimes, from 8 am to 9 or 10 pm. If we had to pee, we had to pee outside. She did not want us in her house as we were dirty and we would mess up her ready for Good Housekeeping home. There were times when Ron would come home with friends and drink beer in the driveway while us kids were bathed under cold water with the hose in the driveway because we were "dirty", much too dirty for her house. It was also during this time that the Burrito incident occurred. It started on a Saturday morning. We were sent out to play as usual. When I went in to use the bathroom later in the morning, the door was locked. No answer at all. Soon others had to use the bathroom and knocked and pounded on the door to get in to no avail. We went without lunch that day and we went without supper. It was cooling down quick at around 1030 pm when my mom opened the door and said "if you wanted to come in, why didn't you just ask?". We were directed to bed straight away. We were hungry and dirty from playing in the dirt all day. Bed.

The next morning, Ron was not at home and I got up to see if there was something to eat. I had gotten used to getting dressed if only to go to the bathroom in case there was a commotion, I could have a quick escape. My mother would seldom ever venture outside to chase us and that was well known. My mom got up and intercepted me before I could grab some food and I was outdoors with a shove. The others were woke up and sent outside to "play". We were all grumbling about being hungry so I went up to the door and knocked and said that I was hungry and that I needed something to eat. My mom said that she would make us some burritos and that we had to be good in order to get them. In fact she said that the one who was the most well behaved would receive something special. We stayed away from the house and did not bother mom once as we were really hungry and needed something to eat. It had been 2 days since our dog Maggie had anything to eat either as we were out of food for her as well or it was in the house, I can't remember. Anyway, the door finally opened at 6 pm and my mom comes out with an old Pup 'n' Taco bag with three bean burritos in it. She proclaims that we were not good and as a result we had just better get into the car and right now. We did as she told us. As we were waiting for her to get to the car, she opened the burritos in front of us and fed them to Maggie. The other kids started crying, but I refused. I was too angry. There had to be someone that could do something about this. We were taken to Gwen and Fred's house to visit. The whole time, even though I said I was hungry, no food. Honestly, I can't remember when we finally got to eat. I know we went at least 2 days without food though.

That is not the worst part of the story however. The worst part is that this whole thing, the starvation and abuse happened 75 feet from Ron's mothers house. It was a three apartment flat we lived in. The the doors were 30 feet apart. We were in the back apartment, Ron's mother was in the front. Her name was Grandma May and she did not do shit for us children. She was home the whole time, her curtains were open and she saw us there. When we went to her house, we told her that mom had locked us out and that we were hungry and she told us that she was ill and did not want any guests. The funny thing is that two of us children were her blood relation grandchildren and she turned them away hungry and filthy as well. She was too good to deal with children that were dirty and hungry.

Perhaps that is not the worst part of the story. Maybe it was the fact that years later I confronted my mother about this when I had 2 children of my own and had made sure that my kids wanted for nothing. I never left them alone in the elements with no food or concern for their safety. The question I asked was "what was going through your mind when you had your children unfed for 2 days and locked outdoors and your children were knocking on the door asking for your help as a parent, as an adult?" Her reply was really interesting. She said that she knew alot of things that were unpleasant happened and for the most part, it was Rons fault. Unwilling to let her off the hook, I countered with how could you do such a thing to your children? She replied, and I remember this to this very day. She said, "look, just don't let the same thing happen to your kids if you feel it was so bad, OK?

Her name is Avelie Mirron McIntyre, age 67 but her licence may read Lee M. McIntyre or Becker for a last name. Her birthday is February 21st and she is too regal to answer my calls. She hasn't answered one for over a year now. She either resides with her daughter (my half sister Lisa) who has 4 children from 4 different fathers and a drug rap sheet a mile long. The city they lived in last was La Verne, CA or it might be San Dimas or Pomona. 5 foot 5 inches tall, auburn died hair cut in a bob and she worked for the local bus service in Pomona. If you see her or if you know her, ask her if she would like to have a burrito. But she will have to wait a long time for it. Dedication :)

Anyone wanting to pass this along may do so as I think that stories like this happen every day.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pearl Jamb

I am in Pearl, MS. I have showered, shaved, shat and ate and now I have something to say which to some may resemble shat but the heck with you, what do you know anyway? I am on my way to Sparks, NV and am really happy to be going back into the snow. I miss chains I tell you... Really.

This Flying J is a nice on the outside but dumpy on the inside example of a truck stop. The shower was not cleaned, the fuel island was dirty and there were islands cordoned off rather than being fixed. The salad bar was full of good food that was hard to eat when I had to sort through plates to find a clean one. The coffee tasted like Comet. It was not a good experience. About the only thing that could happen in this place that would make it worse is for someone to pull their pants down in the TV lounge and take a dump on the carpet. If that were to happen, I would have to say that it is a day and I must be going. There are homeless drifter types everywhere and I just think that with the amount of money that Flying J makes here that they could police the area a bit and keep some order. I got asked which direction I was going by a couple guys that were drinking beer in the open in the morning...I replied which way you headed? I love to confuse a drifter by making him use brain cells in the morning...He said west, I asked is Atlanta west?, and walked off while his microprocessor went into overload. It was a good thing he didn't follow as I had my what is a worm that produces fabric and how many electrons does a nitrogen atom have at the ready. Potential Jeopardy contestants are not in this parking lot. Thank God. Dedication:P

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sometimes it is Not What You Say...

Sometimes I look around and simply see normal things and in my own twisted way, find humor in it. Other times I see twisted things and since I am rather twisted in my own way, I still see great humor in what is there. I just wonder how this would change the term military intelligence. Get the hell away, they are throwing...splat!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Taint Sucky It's Kain Tucky

I am writing my latest load of crap from the back seat of a 1974 AMC Gremlin with my trusty bottle of Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill in my right hand while trying to figure out how best to lobby for the best selection to be played on the cassette player. After all, the stupid Loverboy tape has been played 4 frigging times already. How many times can you listen to You Take Me To The Top? Enough already.

Really, I am at my corporate office that usually produces my best work and as I seldom make any entries while I am at my home 20...you can assume that I am where I belong. Anyway, I stopped in and visited a good friend. A friend that has been in the view from way back in high school. It is funny, how few of these people really are there for you after this long. There are some that I have kept in touch with somehow. This guy has been there for me all along as well as his cool parents. The things we did are the stuff of legend. Or at least the stuff that appears legendary after enough beer. I am not sure, but none the less, it was a cool time. It is funny that I remember it so clearly with fondness because, I also remember being somewhat bored quite a bit of the time. I remember wanting more but, who knows what we really want. I guess I was just bored of that darned place and wanted something different. There were drinking contests, party fests, dates, races and fights that seemed to put a wrinkle in the normal part of our lives. There was the time that my friend told the car next to us that his tail light was out and the guy got violent and somehow the hatchet that belonged to my grandfather ended up embedded in the guys windshield as he tried to hit my friend with his car. He did not stop to return the hatchet. We were fun people that would fight at the drop of a hat. The fighting was just a way of changing the scenery a bit. We were all bored.

We all want something different that is why I joined the Navy. Different? You bet. High paying? No way. I was driving to work while in the Navy. The ship was stationed at Pier 28 in San Francisco on the Embarcadero. I was driving from Vallejo every morning and had quite a few variations of the view of the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge every single morning. All I could think about on the way to work was whether the traffic was going to allow me to get to work on time and agonizing about the fact that I needed to get my car into the shop before it broke down. I was too busy to enjoy one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

I was just this morning talking to my friend about this place at Mt. Baldy that we would park and stand outside smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. The elevation was about 5,000 feet with the City of Pomona far below. The mountains come together and form a "V" and at the bottom of the v is the Valley. The lights were beautiful and the mountain air without all the smog from below was refreshing. Beer tasted better and the conversation was always lively. The highway patrol would occasionally sneak into the little turnoff and try to catch us doing something or other. That is why we would stand outside of the cars. Upon first sight of the Chippy's, we would jettison our bottles down the mountainside and stand there looking innocent as though we were perhaps waiting on the train or a bus. It was an accepted game at the time and to not throw away your bottle was in some way disrespectful and crossing the line. You see, the police officers of old really did not want to have to bust you. But they would bust the dim-witted or the stupid.

I asked my friend if he truly missed Pomona. He replied that he did but that it had changed a lot and you really can't go back to that. I guess he is right. You can't ever go back home again. It is not there. Dedication :/