Okay.
I drove all day long yesterday and got down here with plenty of time left on the drive clock. 
Good thing, too, cause' there were no trailers down here to take back up.  My desire for detention pay realized, I didn't ask for a hotel last night even tho I could have.  I spend the night in the truck. I was just plain too tired to go through all the hassle it can be to get them to get me a hotel room. And anyway, the vibration the trucks provides all night long?  Lulls me to sleep and keeps me asleep. 

When I contacted my manager this morning, she informed me there is another person ahead of me - another driver - for whatever trailer may come in.  Cool, I thought, he can have that one and I'll hopefully get some extended detention down here.  Well, I had just arrived back from having a Keto friendly meal at Denny's - all meat and eggs - when the trailer pulled in and then found the other driver in the back lot.

We had an extended conversation.  I initially asked if work was slow for him?  I didn't say "too", just an off the cuff question.  Oh yes, he replied, it's been slow.  So I informed him what the plant workers had told me yesterday about the "loaner" drivers - who need to go back - and the company losing accounts.  But, he was already determined that he was going to go find a job after he comes back from his annual Christmas-New Year's vacation.  He jets off all over the country or takes off to Mazatlan - he's Hispanic and speaks Spanish fluently. 

Interesting conversation, also informed that other drivers were talking about leaving as well.  Fine, they can all leave and then I will have plenty of work!  I won't have to go anywhere and that would be fine by me. Excepting this truck situation. That is the ever-annoying facet of this job, but I need not go into that again since I've discussed it at great length on this blog. 

Well, he decided he was going to go ask the yard manager about when another trailer is coming?  I was going to do that anyway, but sure, be my guest!  The yard manager just smiled and started shaking his head. Nooooo, not today.  He already knows I love detention pay and that waiting is not anything that is deleterious to my way of thinking.  So, I immediately texted my manager: I need a room please, they're not going to have a trailer here until tomorrow - whatever time tomorrow who knows. 

Okay. Getting the hotel room was a 4 hour ordeal that got me more than just a bit irritated.  I don't know what took so long, but after 2 hours of waiting I was ready to just get my own room, pay for it and send the receipt to the company once the trip is over.  They will reimburse legitimate expenses and this one is legitimate.  If we wait in Brownsville, we get a room, just plain and simple.  Well, she said she was "working on it", my manager that is, at the 2 hour mark. It normally doesn't take anything even remotely close to this much time to get a room.  Another hour and I texted here again.  No reply.  I had already headed over to the La Quinta, that is where I mostly stay at company expense.  Sat there for an hour and decided to scrub down the interior of my truck.

I also spent quantitative amounts of time attempting to find a truck wash or a do-it-yourself RV wash in this town so I can wash my filthy truck.  Nothing.  I drove by several, either automated car washes or traditional one where you put endless quarters in to get the truck washed - with no RV bays to pull a tractor into.  I'm serious, my truck is filthy dirty. The wheel rims are black. The things is covered with black road grunge, it's just disgusting. But the company only allows us to use Blue Beacons. They are far and few between and when you do find one, it's usually got a huge line. Case in point was the last trip and going through Houston, there was minimum 40 trucks waiting there to get washed.

There is simply no way I'm going to waste that much time to get a truck washed, even if I do get paid for the sitting time. I want to get the yard or as close to the yard as I can at that point.

Anyway, sitting in the La Quinta parkiing lot, I was ready to leave, go to America's Best Value Inn - a place I've stayed at down here on my own dime and very nice for the money, get it over with and get into a room already!  So I texted her to not bother getting a room, I'll take care of it myself.  That's when she told me the internet has been down.  Look, my manager is a sweet lady. But the truth? Very often fudged to cover herself or the company.  Again, if I weren't making the money I am at this company I would have already left.  If the work picks  up - however that needs to happen either by more contracts, the other companies bowing out or drivers quitting - I will likely stay.  If not, many suggestions for other places to go to work for getting good money as well.

So, after almost 4 hours, I got a text: Residence Inn.  Wait, what?  That's Marrriott! In my view, that's the lap of luxury, pretty much any Marrriott property.  So, to the Residence Inn I went!  Parked in the back - just staying out of the way, you know, us truck drivers and always getting in everyone's way and such.......went to the office and even tho I had a texted copy and paste of the info? Yeah, they hadn't received a crew fax from the company. 

Lol.  I texted my manager again. At this point? I'm done.  4 hour ordeal for a hotel room, whatever the property, it's not worth it. Or was it?  She said  "hang on" after I told her the fax wasn't there.  Sitting down in the dining room, I'm reading a chalkboard sign listing the night's food: BBQ baked chicken.  Hmm, I thought, I could take the skin off, hence ridding it of BBQ sauce and eat the chicken at least.  Maybe the vegetables depending on what they are.  I sat there 30 minutes, just not wanting to drive clear across town to get into another place and then is when the hotel clerk said she'd check me in if I would give her a credit card.  Sure, why not?  I had offered it earlier but the other clerk was not as assertive. 

Now I'm in this amazing room. I don't get to stay in places like this very often. I'm too cheap to pay that much money for a room when I can be comfortable and happy at a place less than half the price.  This is at least 600 square feet.  It's kind of like a kitchenetter, but on steriods.  I mean, nothing you would think of as a cheap junky looking kitchennete.  Even some other hotel brands that have a kitchen set up is nothing near as nice as this.  It has a bedroom - but no wall separating it from the living room, a living room/entertainment area, a kitchen in the corner with a dishwasher, oven, microwave, full sized refrigerator and microwave, cabinets fully stocked with plate, cook and silverware. I'm glad I stuck it out. Tho the room isn't even secured as for payment yet.  My payment will work of course, but that's not how this works.

Anyway, dinner is free I find out.  What is really interesting is looking up this property, they only wanted $104 for the night.  That's incredibly cheap for this place.  Suits walking in and out of here lol.  I'm happy enough now.  I'm guessing I'll get 30 hours of detention pay after their hours deduction and that will tidy this trip up quite nicely. 

Meanwhile, I have no idea what I weigh, but I noticed today that the size 34's I moved down to from 35's are now starting to fall off of me as well.  At my fattest point,  I was bulging out the 35's.  It was either buy 36's or do something drastic.  Turns out drastic works!  I already had these 34's sitting in my dresser, never threw them out in hopes I would someday move back into them. I do not, however, have any 33's.  I'm not going to go out and buy 33's.  34's will have to get awfully loose before I do that.  Not that these aren't loose, without a belt on they fall off my butt.

But still, I'll wait.  I'm going to have to be convinced that I'm actually down to that size and really am staying there before I spend any money on that stuff.  Even then, it will be Walmart $11 specials, lol, until I'm really convinced I'm there.  Of course, 33 is still bigger than what I was most of my adult and a portion of my teen life: 32's.  It isn't in my goal plan. I don't necessarily need to be in 32's again to feel comfortable with the end result. 33's would be nice tho. 

Christmas. I really want to be home.  I want to cook a nice prime rib roast, blow my diet for one day, eat some potatoes and enjoy friends and really, they are my family.  At least that is how we talk to each other and treat each other.  I'm not blood, I've seen such situations go bad before.  I"d love to say this is a forever setup, but - the way this world works?  I just can't.  One thing can go wrong and people get their feelings hurt and nothing is ever the same. I've seen that over and over and over in other people's lives so many times. A bright note, tho, that is usually family treating other family members that way. 

They are wonderful people, that's what I can say.  I love living with them, we have good times and bad.  We suffer through the bad with a lot of humor.  Some of it dark humor, yes.  But we engage each other, push each other, motivate each other.  We make fun of each other, we don't get butt hurt about minor stuff or humor at someone's expense.  As it is, I am easily amused anyway.  I like to keep it that way. Find humor in simple things in life, laugh and not get too upset over things. Except shitty service from companies that you pay good money to have their services. That is a sticking point.  There are times when I wanted to tell some of those people to shove a baseball bat up their @$$ until the barrel end comes out and stamps "Eastman" (brand of baseball bat) on their foreheads. I never took it that far. Instead, when it gets that bad, most of these companies record every conversation now.

Well, I think I'll muse over flights to here and there, ships going hither and thither, trips that I want to take.  Free wifi and all that, not using up data. And, I'm on my new computer.  My friend that told me it doesn't measure up to her standards? Well yeah, maybe for the type of work that she does, but I really just use computers for internet access.  And watching movies off the internet.

I've got 17 more hours of glorious kicking back in a nice hotel. Or home? Or apartment? I dunno, but it's nice. 3 HBO channels.  I'm good : )