Got up much earlier than I even wanted yesterday.  I just happened to wake up, so I decided I might as well get up and get this trip over with.  Even with fueling - which took a long time because the fuel lanes were all full of trucks - and heavy rainstorms I get back around 10:30 am.  Got off the clock around 11, attempting to ensure 2 days off, but I probably won't get it.  I could get a late load tomorrow - and I'm okay with that as long as it isn't a long run.  Brownsville would be great.

Taylor showed up about at the house about an hour before I did.  I was over chatting with Maria for quite a while before I came home.  Apparently Kim's dad's trust lawyer is going to pay for the rent at the house they are getting.  It's a beautiful home, I know Maria will take care of it.  It won't be in my name at all so I don't have to worry about bills if something happens. Not that I wouldn't help them out in a pinch, but I have been wanting that load off my back since Donnie and Rene left.  I like helping people out, but this situation has been a financial drain that I want to stop - while not throwing people out on the streets at the same time. 

Apparently Taylor was discussing not long ago with maria their desire to move to Colorado.  I didn't know they had renewed that interest, seemed to have died off.  But now that she went to Colorado for her dad's wedding, I can only imagine she has all of that fired up inside of her again.  She grew up in a little town north of Denver.  I actually have friends I haven't seen in at least 15 years that live in Denver.  But do I want to live there? That is something I would have to ponder - mostly the job market and what kind of paying job I could get would be on the high end of determining factors for me.  I am making more money now than I have ever made in my entire life and my savings and 401k accounts prove it. 

I dunno, but they will have a lot of work to do to sell this house if they are going to go through with it, I have time to think about it.  My company has lanes running through Denver, but those are lower paying jobs.  Would I stay here with my job? Move with them - that offer was put on the table long ago when they started talking about it. The lure of the mountains is strong with me.  I grew up around mountains - of which this area is lacking. What it is not lacking, however, is lots of trees and greenery.  I like that too - for the most part.  This may be Texas but it's definitely the green portion of Texas. 

Whatever the case, I'm home today, Addler wasn't happy with me yesterday, but he's warmed up to me this morning. ol.  I've been gone too much, admittedly, OTOH these long runs are far and few between. 

I was driving home from the yard yesterday and noticed that the registration on my SUV has been expired since the end of last month lol.  I was fretting driving around with that like that until Maria told me there is an extension - indefinite - on vehicle registration renewals becauseof COVID-19.  I looked that up this morning and sure enough, on July 3rd, the Governor extended the waiver until further notice and said when they resume normal operations they will let everyone know and then you will have up to 60 days to get it taken care of. 

Well, that's nice, but I'm doing it today.  Waiver or not, I still think it's just a magnet for cops to pull you over.  The funny thing is, all of our trucks that are licensed out of Ohio have been expired since January.  We carry around a waiver from ohio. Last 2 times I was pulled over the troopers didn't say anything about it, so apparently it's valid in all states.  Regardless, our local registration renewal office which is only a mile away is open for business.  They are rarely ever busy, you just have to wear a mask to go in there - that's strictly enforced.  I've been reluctantly wearing a mask in public places such as rest areas and such.  I feel like it's caving to the establishment - but then again, this pandemic has ruined a lot of people's live and mine, so far, is not one of them, thankfully. Ruined is in death, permanent organ damage and/or financial disaster.

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Well working tomorrow is out of the question. `Why? Because when I went to the county courthouse today to renew my registration, I couldn't find my driver's license.  What?  I went through that wallet 3 times looking for it.  They didn't need ID - though I had my LTC license in there would have worked - but i was struggling to think where I needed to pull out my ID last.  HOLIDAY INN, suddenly came to mind.

I honestly couldn't remember whether they had given ti back to me.  But it was the last place I pulled it out.  I called them - I'm so and so, stayed there a couple of days ago, you're the last place I used my ID.  Lady checks, oh yes we have it here. No apology for not having had given it back. I should have remembered, it's on both of us, but that's their job.  I am very lucky that in that 1,400 mile trip back and going through several weight stations, I didn't get pulled into the office to show paperwork or pulled over for an inspection. That can be an out-of-service violation where they put you out of the truck. 

Now I'm informed the hotel has FedEx'ed the ID back - at a cost of  $36 charged to MY ACCOUNT.  THEY kept my ID, didn't give it back and they are charging me to send it back to me?  I made several calls after that, ending up back at the hotel where, of course, the general manager "Isn't answering his phone, may  I take a message". Oh yes, you sure can!  Unbelievable that "Guest Relation" at Holiday Inn corporate headquarters "can't refund your money, you will need to take that up with the hotel". They tried to claim that "guests leaving items at the hotel will have items sent back to them at guest expense".  As if I had left it in my room!  Yes, folks, I was highly annoyed at their monotone replies giving outrageous reasoning why they shouldn't eat that expense. 

Nix Holiday Inn off of my list of hotels to stay at.  They used to be the grand palaces of hotels way back in the 70's.  They had all kinds of perks and amenities, they were one of the higher rated brands t stay at.  I looked up all of their brands, the only other one I have stayed at in the past is Candlewood Suites.  I have already written up several negative reviews of my lengthy list of things that occurred on that visit. 

Okay, I had my ringer off, the lady called back from the hotel and left a message saying they were removing that $36 charge off of my card.  I'll give them kudos for that, but I'll negate those kudos with all the phone calls I had to make to make that happen.  I'm not broke, I could eat it and just move on, but this one of those "the principle of the thing" situations that I felt I needed to push. 

Now that I have that behind me...

There is a person at the house that is in a very bad mood> Not me lol, I was a bit agitated but I'm over that now.  I dunno what's going on with that person, tried to talk, nothing.  Weird - sort of.  People get into moods here and it's a bit different than what you might experience - elsewhere.  Not that I'm any different, I usually just shut my mouth and disappear into my room if I somehow end up in a bad mood.  Better to say nothing to anyone and get over it than start trouble for no good reason.  Whatever the case, I went to my room, shut the door and they can have the rest of the house all to themselves. 

As for me, well, the driver's license is coming tomorrow. Fortunately I am apparently not getting a run for tomorrow - i didn't want one anyway - because then I would have to try to explain why I drove back from Pennsylvania without  a DL.  I honestly didn't know for I didn't remember them not giving me back my license at the desk. We were busy talking about things and it obviously slipped both our minds. BUT - it is THEIR JOB to give that back, I'm just a guest.  I'd actually be fine with eating it equally, I should have remembered, I'm pretty "religious" about making sure that I don't pull it out unless asked and definitely paying attention til they hand it back. Fail on both our parts.