I'm so tired that I can't sleep.  This started yesterday when I went to the plant to load the trailer, waited an hour and a half for another truck in front of (I was at the appointment time as scheduled) and then found out a valve isn't working on the trailer. 

This led into a 6 hour visit with the plant and a repair shop to get the trailer fixed.  Skipping over the details of that, I drove straight down to Pasadena to make the delivery, try to at least get the trailer offloaded and partially drive the way back before I ran out of hours, drive back to the yard early and get home for a mostly full day.  This because I knew in that I have to get up at 3:20 am Sunday and be back at the plant to get loaded yet again and drive down to Brownsville. 

Ann is always trying to dump me with that first load. I am always saying no if she asks, pretty much every single time unless the options are garbage.  The only real way to deal with that first load and not have it affect me so much that day would be to drive the truck over to the plant, park in the parking lot and spend the night there.  Then I get up at 4:45 am instead of 3:20, I don't have all the rigarmaroo to deal with in getting up here, at the house and dealing with the dogs and everything else, getting to the yard, hooking up and getting paperwork done.  Plus I could enter the plant off duty and not have so much time on the clock already taken off before I even leave the plant, leaving me extra time on the road to stop and rest if necessary.

Back to the story, I'm told they "have to make another batch" from the plant operate in Pasadena.  I had no idea what that means but I did know what his next sentences meant and he concluded them with, "hurry up and wait".  I knew it would be hours before they got to me.  I got the truck parked and waited - for hours.  Nothing.  I went to bed around midnight, waiting.  1 hour and 45 minutes later, at almost 2 am, they come banging on the door. Are you ready to unload? This dude is all bright and chipper as if it's 12 pm, not the middle of the night. 

I suffered through it.  3-1/2 hours of it.  I was dying, at least it felt like that at the time. I was having trouble staying awake. I had to constantly monitor the pressure on the trailer and keep it within their desired limits.  When it was done, I was on the scale, got the truck weighed, I asked about parking the truck somewhere, I'm out of hours I have to finish the mandatory break.  This is the shit that truckers get that is a total load of crap. Uhh, technically no. Then several people got into a discussion of whether I could stay on the property.  I can tell ya and I did tell them, I am not going anywhere.  You find as place for this truck that meets your company standards. 

Forgot to add, the batch they had to run? They had too much Ethylene in their giant tank. Not enough room for my load.  Weird that they're ordering product that they don't need. I ended up with about 15 hours of detention pay on this run, I can't complain about that, it was the being up literally all night long that I simply can't even deal with.
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They finally agreed at the end of all this nonsense that I could park in a parking space they have, outside of the gate, off the immediate property.  Simple enough.  This is the trucker's life anymore.  Everyone wants what you've got but get you and your trucks the hell out of here.  What a crock.  I truly wish enough truckers could unite, shut down for a week and shut down the US economy.  Even Congress would bow down to us after enough time expired, grocery store shelves emptied out, etc etc.  Imagine anything that trucks bring - which is pretty much everything - gone.  I'm not sorry for such sentiments, towns and cities treat us like shit, I'm very tired of it.  But even the place that you deliver to? 

I'm home.  Not much time here before I have to go back out, but I got the dogs anyway on the way back. 

I have a job offer from another company. It's one that I looked at previously. I hadn't heard back from them but then again, they didn't have any openings at the time near me.  Now, they have numerous openings and as most companies, are now desperate for drivers.  The good side effect of all of this is that wages are coming up, substantially actually. I have no idea what I will do, it's just there.  I don't have to do anything. Stick it out here for a year and see what happens.  I refer back to a bit of advice my dear dad gave me decades ago: when you think to commit to something, promise yourself that you will do it for at least a year.  If it doesn't work out after that, fine, but do it for a year at least. I have really found that to be excellent wisdom throughout my life.  I have applied it in several situations with great outcomes.  I feel like if anything, I could honor my now passed father and try it where I'm at.  I hate some of the things going on with this company, but I could certainly survive on the money I'm making. 

I tend to do nothing when met with a situation of not knowing what to do. Nothing, that is, until a viable plan and a realistic way through whatever comes to me.  In other words, don't make brash decisions, life will not end if I do nothing to change a current situation and many times it's better to just be patient than to rush into things. Or not rush into things but do things that you aren't certain about.  Yet, there is still that thing about humans taking risks and stepping out. It keeps life interesting.  Getting into this field of trucking was one of those steps.  And there have definitely been some interesting situations. 

Okay. Vehicles. Car starting to make a noise.  I think it's an accessory, not the engine, but it's coming from the engine area.  Unless cheap fixes for any mechanical problems, the car isn't worth fixing.  It's got 186000 miles, it's worn out. I've driven that thing until the wheels are falling off, as car dealers will tell you about your old car to try and talk you into buying a new one.  I've gotten a good life out of it, it's served me well, but it's time to move on.  I know it sounds wishy washy, my vacillating back and forth about things like this, but I have to talk myself into such things.  The thing that bothers me is this: if I do get into a vehicle with payments, I want something nice.  It's likely going to have to be another 10 year vehicle, I don't want something that "works", I want something that works and  is nice at the same time. 

Well, to do that, you have to be willing to pay more money.  And probably a longer payment plan than you want. That's kind of where I'm stuck right now.  I want the bargain of a lifetime, I probably won't find it anywhere.  To settle for something less simply means going and buying another cheap car with 2 years or less payments or even finding one I can by outright for cash and be done with it. 

What to do.

So much for a nap today.  I'm just going to try to go to bed around 9pm and hope I can get to sleep and stay that way long enough to get at least 5 hours in.