I don't want to dig into the new manager too much right off the bat - but...

Today, stopping at a Rest Area near Victoria, Texas, I took my 30 minute break. Got up, went to the back of the trailer, took pressure and fill reading and then inspected the trailer itself.  Took 2 seconds to see a flat tire.  Gag.

So, I call the tire hotline, they get a truck set up to come out.  I then tell the new manager about the ordeal, letting him know I wasn't sure if I would make it to Brownsville today or not - just depends on how long they take to get to the rest area and replace the tires.  I ordered 2. The tire beside the blown tire was bald on one section of the tire, something I had missed in my pretrip inspection.

I"m not perfect, lol.  That portion of the tire was probably on the ground and not view-able at the time, for I inspect the tread as well. I don't run bald tires.  It's dangerous, it usually leads to a blowout and it always costs time.  The reason you want excellent tires on that trailer is because of the product you are hauling.  It doesn't play well with fire.  A blown tire can catch on fire if it's driven down the road long enough, I've seen it too many times.  In fact, I've seen entire trailers burned down because of it.  Yea, we aren't going there. 

I then asked the manager who was already down in Brownsville and were there any other trucks coming down today?  "I don't know yet".  Huh? How do you not know who is waiting in Brownsville? I started thinking. And more to the point, how in the heck do you not know who is going where today?  I said nothing of the sort to him, probably not a good idea to start trouble with a new manager, who knows what he might do.  So I texted Clarice, see if she knew.  I haven't been doing dispatch for you guys for over a week now, you need to ask  your manager.  Oh, I replied, well I asked him and he didn't know.

LOL! she replied and geeze after that.  She's worried about her job.  Now that she isn't doing ethylene, she isn't doing much. Her division has been very slow. Whatever the case, the tire guy showed up, took a bunch of pics of the tires - they have to do that to prove that the tires actually needed replaced.  The one that blew out? It was on the inside.  That side of the tire, of which you cannot see unless you get down in the dirt and crawl up under there, was dry rotted. It just caved to the tire pressure. 

Well, after that a driver in Brownsville called me and told me Ricky had just left and he was still waiting on another trailer - and how much he'd love to stay another night. Well I ain't giving up an empty, I had to do that last time with that driver that was sleeping all day long and didn't leave when she was supposed to. No idea  what became of that.  Well I know she isn't getting the second day of detention pay - she didn't deserve it, it wasn't hers to get. 

I finally made it down here almost 3 hours later than I should have.  So I'm going to get an overnight detention pay at least.

Meanwhile, one of the tenants at the other house texted me today - Hi Ben, I'm moving out next week.

Lovely. 

Just, awesome! One more headache to deal with in that situation on top of the already present problem of having to find a new place.  Maria is, at least, trying to find another place.  She texted me a link to a 2 story house type thing, but split up into 3 apartments.  They wanted 7k plus for the entire property, including 2 alleged rental units in the back.  The pics, however, told the story. Bad roof, no AC, caved in ceilings - because of the bad roof. House a total disaster. It's completely worthless.  Sorry, I thought, I ain't getting into that disaster.  Wouldn't be shocking if the place is condemned by the city. 

Maria literally has no place to go. If she loses that place, which she is cause' the owner isn't going to budge on it, I tried, she's homeless. See I can't do that to people. I don't want to spend ALL of my money helping people but at the same time, I can't just see people ending up without a place to live that I could have helped and more importantly to me, the Lord would say I should have helped since I had the wherewithal to do so.

I'm far more concerned with eternity than what my little earthly existence eeks out here.

Whatever the case, I am completely stuffed. And I didn't eat that much. Last night's dinner.  WE ate last night feeling like stuffed turkeys, it was tri tips on mashed potatoes.  The stuff filled us up.  I just ate another medium sized serving of it, feels like I've been eating for hours.

Time to kick back and let this stuff digest. 

New manager = fail right off the bat.

Told me 2 days ago I was going to be sent out - today.  He said he would text me later that day or yesterday morning with the run.

It never happened. Around 6 pm yesterday, I texted him.  Cause' I don't want to find out today - Monday - that I'm going somewhere and he forget to tell me. That's a good way to mess up an entire day. 

Next thing I see is a text with the run sheet on it.  Then the claim he had sent it the day before but it didn't "send for some reason".  Whatever.  Other managers would insist on a text back to make sure it went through. 

And of course it's the first run. I dunno how I got into this funk of having to get up at 4:00 am - at the latest - to get to work to get to the plant in time. And then, the plant - that insists on the first load truck to be there at 6:15 am - doesn't do anything until around a half hour later.  So, you get on the 14 hour clock that runs regardless of what you're doing, including waiting at the plant, and getting wasted.  But if you don't show up  on time, they complain? 

One driver yesterday was extremely unhappy after seeing a text from him going to the group.  Someone else texted back $$$$$  He then texted a pic of an alarm clock. Exactly. The money waiting is minimal, the need to get out of that plant and get on the road is far greater. 

Well I'm going down to Brownsville today, so I like the run at least. 

I've had the whole weekend off as well.  But, you know, trying to go to bed at 8:00 pm just doesn't work for me. I'll wake up at 11 or 12 and lay there awake. 

Well enough of that.  I think this virus stuff is starting to affect everyone's psyche.  I still can't believe the police in this little town are pulling people over asking them what they're doing.  They'll be examining and studying this government over-reach of power during this time for decades to come.  How historians will look back on this situation and the endless decrees various levels of government will be of great interest to me.

Then again, I fully suspect that some of this will end up in the Supreme court anyway. What gives the government the right to just say - shut down your businesses, close the doors and send your workers home?  Lots of reports of people going broke, not being able to make their mortgage/rent payments.  Talk about stressing out?!!

This little town and the surrounding county is up to 45 cases and one death.  It goes up - slightly but it's going up - every single day. 

What about China? It's now a fact that withheld information about this virus from the beginning and didn't tell anyone about the seriousness of the nature of this virus.  Should they pay?  How do you just get away with messing up the entire world?  The theory that it was developed in a laboratory is continuing on and getting more press. 

But to tell you the truth? I"m so sick of seeing 24 hour a day coverage of it, I am hardly watching any of it.  Just enough to see what's new - which is usually nothing besides governors engaging in outrageous abuses of power - and understand where we're at with this.

Other than that, I am watching movies and shows.

And with that, I'm out of here.