What day is it? Hump Day! And what am I doing? Nothing! Why? ?Because it's my 4th day off of work!
I didn't ask for all this time off, I knew I would be off several days after seeing the schedule, knowing a full day had no loads going out and seeing how many trucks were in the yard when I arrived late Saturday night.
But I didn't know it would be 4, full days. I even texted my manager yesterday morning about getting a load out of here for today, nope, not today. At least she didn't threaten me with going on call out - tho I worded the text as to not be "offensive" in any way, shape or form, for she is a very-easily offended person that goes off when she feels a driver is complaining. I've seen her do it to me and I've seen it and heard about it multiple times with other drivers. It's a "don't like it, leave" attitude. I like it well enough, for the moment anyway, to just say nothing, which I haven't done in months now.
And have coached other drivers recently to simply zip it, you aren't doing yourself any favors. You can point out real, credible, factual issues with the way she hands out the loads and she isn't going to hear any of it, she will blast you out of her office. THAT is a fact. When you come to the realization that she is unapproachable in her methodology - unfair at best, perhaps even playing favorites, who knows - you just have to decide whether you want to stick around or go find another job.
Frankly, I would have gone on a trip back to Phoenix starting 2 days ago - but I am still recovering from this illness and preparing myself for the possibility of another one. I had a head and chest cold, what is now going around the house is a stomach bug. They tried to blame that on me, nooooo nooooo nooooo, I'm not taking responsibility for that. I never had anything going on with my stomach during this illness, it was all in the head and chest. But, germs spread about the house with kids running around, it seems as tho it's only a 24 hour thing, I'm hoping not to get it at all but bracing myself for the potential of round 2.
Funny the things that happen when you get your credit score turned around. Credit offers galore. Low interest loans, highfalutin credit card offers - guaranteed in several instances - that you'd never thought you would acquire in your entire lifetime by applying on your own for one, much less have them sending these offers to you in the mail, new car loans, guaranteed line of credit up to "$340,000" for a new home all coming all the time. Fortunately, I learned my lesson about getting into credit trouble. I have a bit on a few cards at the moment, stuff that will be paid down in a couple of months, not 10 years. I put some on them, pay them off and then do it again. Some of them have excellent reward programs, which are the only ones I am using. The rest of them sit in limbo and aren't used at all. I'd get rid of them - but they have no annual fees and they keep the amount of credit available way high, unused, which is very good for your credit score. I've become my own "expert" in credit scores after going through the ringer with them. Credit scores remind me of the movie "A Christmas Carol" where Scrooge says that the apparitions that are appearing before him could be a bit of unsettled beef in your stomach. Credit scores are fickle, they move up and down all the time.
Just throwing this out there: I cannot possibly imagine Senator Warren as the next President of the United States. I'd take Biden over her and that is saying something. I'm a Trump supporter, hoping he will win another 4 years. I could give numerous reasons why, but I'm not going to waste time with that on here. I spend enough time in debating groups on Facebook.
The boat - the mechanic called yesterday. I just let it go. Why pester the man, he'll get it done when he gets it done. He said the timing was off and also put a fuel pump rebuild kit in it - that was by my request for I had seen the diaphragm and it was disfigured and whatever else he did. He also found the cause of the water leaking into the hull of the boat.
Can I just interject here that I've actually had nightmares of the boat sinking in the middle of the lake? Not because anyone was drowning, I'm a good swimming and these boats all have to have life jackets in them - but watching the thing slowly sink into hundreds of feet of water, unrecoverable - well I guess you could recover it but the cost wouldn't be worth it, money just gone, down the drain. It's what prompted me to have him also install a brand new, high velocity bilge pump in it. But it also prompted me to ask him to please find the leak. The only thing left were the water inlets. One to provide water for the live well and the other as an outlet for it, apparently. Water in, water out. He said he went through the control panel - the only thing that was working on that panel was the bilge pump switch, everything else was dead. He said he got all the lights and everything on that panel working - except - the live well pump. I said I don't care, I don't need it for now.
\
But, he said, he pumped water through the live well inlet and had the boat jacked up - and saw water leaking back out from the outlet hole. Or inlet hole for air, or whatever, I'm not really sure what he was saying. Anyway, it's a hole that is below the water line so I would assume an inlet for "something", but maybe an outlet for the live well? LOL He said it was leaking around the inlet where someone had apparently stripped the threads on the fitting that goes into it and had used what he thought appeared to be roofing tar to seal it back in there?
What the Hercules is that all about? He asked me whether he wanted me to fix it correctly or put a plug in it and be done with it. Yup, plug it up for now. Just please do a good job of plugging it up! If I'm not using the live well, I have no need for unnecessary inlets. I have no idea whether he's planning on taking it out again on the water, I do hope so cause' I want to ensure that it's going to actually run and not die out on the lake again.
So, whatever the case, hopefully the thing is given a clean bill of health today - it's been a rather long wait and "adventure", if you can call it that, in trying to get this thing in lake-ready condition. IF this thing is actually ready, the next thing will be a trolling motor. I don't necessarily think I need one for fishing, I want a back up in case the motor quits in the middle of the lake.
Well, well, well. I just got the email for this week's paycheck. It's a breakdown they send of what is being paid for what. 2 Brownsville trips, both with ample detention pay And both? Actually paid for that detention. Amazing. I don't even have to fight for it this time : ) Even with 4 days off, next week will also be a handsome payout, right now? I need to start on the week after.
Today? A trip to Ollie's - I need a new heater for my bathroom. The one I bought last year never worked right. Come on for a few minutes and then shut off. That bathroom gets cold in the winter. There is an AC/heat ceiling outlet in there but almost nothing comes out of it. And I'll probably make some food for the next road trip. I can't say I "fully expect" a trip tomorrow, but I'd guess it's highly probable. Another Brownsville trip would work, lol. It does seem almost unbelievable to me, taking an objective look at my finances, that I have made so much money without being out as much as most other OTR drivers. Many of them making in the 40 and 50k range and out on the road all the time. I mean, home once weekly, or bi-weekly or even monthly. I get this guy from a trucking company texting me allllll the time. Hi Ben, we talked some time ago, you are in an excellent area for our company as we have shipping lanes going through your area. You would easily be able t go home weekly.
Yes, well I don't want to go home weekly. I want home several days a week if possible. So, there are times when I'm running hard and not home that much, granted. When that plant in Oklahoma fires back up and gets rolling, we are likely to be very busy. My luck currently has been one Brownsville trip after another after another. Hardly any Chenieres, Houston or El Dorado runs. A few of them, to be sure, but not enough, thankfully, to screw up my overall earnings.
Those companies also run you like a rat in a cage with a spinning wheel. Been there, done that. They don't care what hours you have to keep to keep up with their endless new runs they will give you directly after you are done with the current run, or even before you have completed it. They don't pay near as much money as I'm making now, so again, after giving some actual, objective thought to my current situation, I'd have to say it's a pretty good setup. It just took a long time to get used to being out for 2, 3, 4 and sometimes longer days at a time.
Well, enough of this, I've been watching the news all morning and I've had enough of that. Trump impeachment! Quid pro quo! Lynching! Gag. Time to get out of here and do some running around.
G'day.
