Tuesday. I'm totally worn out. 2 early load times in a row has taken it out of me.  To get anything done around the house today would be stretching it. Not to mention James mom and step dad are here and are pretty much running everything.  I'm pretty much decided to just do the bare minimum today and rest, cause I'm being sent back out tomorrow. If my manager gives me yet another early load time, I'm going to be forced to have to say something about it. There are plenty of other drivers, let them have that fun as well.

The difference between the 1st load and 2cd in terms of how I feel the rest of the day is substantial. It's only an hour and a half difference, but that difference determines whether I'm going to be feeling good or feeling like hell.

I called the dealer today and got a "we should have an answer about what's wrong with it by the end of the morning".  Well, IMO, they should have had that done yesterday.  Did they put me off? Did they put other customers above this?  Do they know what's wrong (ie: bad transmission) and not wanting to deal with it?  Why didn't they diagnose it yesterday?  I didn't get into all of that, I played it cool and just said ok, thanks.  I'm still somewhat convinced that it isn't going to need a new transmission since it worked fine the next day.  It doesn't slip, it just decides it isn't going to work. Like an electronic actuator not working properly or something electrical.

Of course, that could be a nightmare determining what's wrong in and of itself.

I was looking at my latest paycheck.  Even with all the time I have taken off here and there without pay, I have still grossed $40,000 this year and we're only half way done with it.  Near the end at Ferguson, I wasn't even making that much yearly.  I have 10% going to 401k which has already accumulated a huge amount considering the short period of time.  I do not, however, have any access to it. I mean, there is access but I have no URL to visit whatever site and credentials to get into it. I want to up it to 15% and look at what level of risk it's in.  At least, as long as I'm here.  I still haven't decided whether to roll over my 401k from Ferguson, mostly only because I haven't decided on whether I'm staying.

However, from a logical standpoint, it stand to increase much more with more money in it.  I've also got almost $100 per week being automatically transferred into a savings account.  That is, for now, emergency savings backup.  If/when it hits around 10k, I'll think about other things that it could be used for.  Actually, I think I might up that to $150 per week, I'm interested in having reserve cash around in case anything happens.  After that, I can really focus on bringing down debt.  I'm doing some of that now, but not anywhere near the point I want to be at with it.

I suppose I should just be happy with the money and leave it at that and stay at this place but there are 2 things that bug me.  First is the truck situation. The truck I am driving now has an issue that has been in the shop twice for and has yet to be fixed.  When this issue comes on the screen - it comes and goes - the cruise control doesn't work. My leg hurts at the end of the day holding that accelerator down all day long.  Yet, when I have taken it into the shop, they say "could not duplicate" the issue, so they don't do anything.  In other words, all of that disappears off the screen - yet the codes show there IS a problem.

I'm very tired of that.  This is what happens with newer trucks that get a lot of miles on them.  Issues, unending issues.

The second thing is I like to be home every night and off weekends.  I have grown somewhat accustomed to this lifestyle and frankly, Ann has been keeping me on overnight and 2 night runs for a while, so that's better. But this idea of working most Sundays gets old. It's ingrained into my mind and apparently my system that Sundays are a day off, not a day to spend 14 hours working and driving in a truck.  Last weekend I had Saturday off and Sunday on.  2 weekends ago I worked the entire weekend through Monday or Tuesday I think. I just fight in my mind with this stuff.  Do I deal with it or move on?

Perhaps my dad's advice of stick with something for at least a year really does apply here.  Do it a year, if you have the same sentiments after that year is up, no loss, move on to something else.  I think I'm about 7 months into this place, a long way to go to reach a year. After a year I would qualify to purchase one of their trucks through their program and stand to make a ton more money.  That is a long  ways off. It's on the outer reaches of my mind tho.  I'm really tired of being broke - well I'm not broke now but I was at Ferguson and using credit to survive.  I've bought numerous things that I have put off for a long time now and still saving quite a good chunk of change while doing it.

Well, I'm going to work tomorrow, that's what's here and now. And I'm doing much of nothing today.  Things I need to do, yes,, like a visit to Walmart, but nothing imperative that I can't go without.  I'm concerned what's going on with the SUV, but that's in their hands. I have no decisions to make until they tell me what's wrong with it - or better - it was something not too pricey and they just fixed it without demanding payment.  I kinda had to clear my mind of that for that man's words were really eating me about "we're not going to replace a transmission" on a vehicle I just purchased and only drove 200 miles before it died. That speaks to me of a pre-existing condition.  Whether they knew about it or not is unknown.

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So tomorrow is Cheniere.  A place I love to hate.  She hasn't sent me there in a while and I haven't missed it.  The load time is late - 11 am - so I won't even get down there until around 6 pm.  If it goes like last time, I will be unloading late at night and then, even if I have hours available, I won't want to drive anywhere excepting to get out of that area and get to a place where I can fuel and get a cup of coffee the next morning.  No, I'm confusing two places. Last time I was down there I had no hours left to drive anywhere and I had to drive out of the complex and park in the parking lot across the street for the night for the mandated 10 hour break. 

Welp, it's getting late and I think I'm going to hit the sack. No early rise but still want a good night's sleep if that's possible.

Looooooooooong day.  I'm just out of it.  I got up at 3:00 am, but I woke up at 1:00 am. Dumb dog made a bunch of noise, woke me up and I never got back to sleep.  So, to the plant, 2-1/2 hours there, the on the road almost 600 miles and finally "here".  I felt so bad and so wiped out I decided a cheap hotel room would be better than trying to sleep in that truck all night long.  Not to mention I probably won't get rolling until around 7:00 am, meaning here for at least 12 hours.

I wanted to make it here whether detention pay or not.  Get the run over with in 2 days if not and have time to get more driving in somewhere else - mostly likely a day/overnight trip somewhere.  It's just that she's given me this early rise thing 2 runs in a row, only 1 day apart.  I just can't deal with this.  The alternative was probably some crappy run somewhere that doesn't get me miles and doesn't pay enough.  So, I'm not going to complain I'm just going to hope whatever's next is not an early rise.  The 7 oclock one is fine by me.

I know I complain about this every time she does it, I've told her enough times about how much it affects me but she still does it anyway.  So, I'm a stop complaining to her about it and just try to deal with it.  It would have been really cool if there would have been no trailers in the yard when I got here - not only detention pay but a long wait meaning just rest.

Anyway, James mom and stepdad are at the house.  I always offer my room if I'm not there cause' otherwise they have to stay at a hotel and the experience is not the same.  It's not that they're broke and can't afford a hotel, it's that they have to leave and come back etc., it's not the same as waking up, walking out into the kitchen and making breakfast or going to get the boys out of the bed. She loves those kids.

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Okay, that was yesterday.  Took a shower after writing that and went to sleep.  Woke up early this morning and - went right back to sleep lol.  Then I woke up at 4:30 am - jolted upright actually - my brain told me while sleeping, apparently, that I had forgotten to put the elog device into off duty mode.  I laid there and thought about it for a while, finally got up and went out to look. Sure enough.  I put it in off duty, but that wasn't going to help me. A full 10 hours from the time I put it in off duty would have to pass.  No worries, I thought, I'll just sleep in and call the office in the morning to fix it and then I can leave.

I mean, :I made phone call after phone call this morning - it is Monday, I get that, but it was after opening time in the Amariallo office, someone should be answering the phone.  Many more phone calls later and getting new phone numbers from a different upper level manager and I had someone on the phone, they updated the info, sent it to my elog and it automatically updated itself.

Ugh, I thought, late start.  Oh well. Late arrival back, lol.  Houston traffic was terrible. Rain and accidents, slow downs everywhere, people driving stupid.  I just have never understood the rain and people's driving habits. It's absolutely nothing to drive in the rain.  To hydroplane you are either going really fast or there is a LOT of water on the road, any way about it, you can feel it when it starts to lose traction and you need only let your foot off the accelerator to get it to stop.

But it never fails. I don't care where you are, but when you are in a high density traffic area, the effects are much worse.  It seemed like an eternity to get through that.  Finally got to the northern part of Houston up to Humble - where I usually stop to take a break.  I never take breaks before I get through Houston coming from either direction. Get it over with before rush hour hits.