Finally.

Well, first the work situation today.

I knew it was going to be bad up in Oklahoma, but I didn't know how bad.  The forecast continued to change over night until the point it seemed and untenable undertaking.  But, I showed up at the yard, hooked up the truck, went to the plant and that's - where all the trouble started. 

Not with the plant, but with my dispatcher.  She called me and said that another driver who left for the plant up in Oklahoma yesterday was stuck at a truck stop. I was all gung ho, let's go, come what may.  Then the driver sent her a pic of a snow covered road and commented that no one is moving. There were no tracks in the snow and I couldn't tell if it was iced over, but if this driver said he was stuck, he's stuck.  

This led to me reminding her I have Saturday off and her saying I said "if possible", my replying you said I could after I had asked and then her telling me that she didn't have anyone to replace me.  Well who is going to drive up there? They're going to get 170 miles out and then what?  Sit like the other driver is? What sense does that make?

Back and forth until I just contacted my manager - if anyone will save my day off, it will be him.  

Then the dispatcher called me and told me I am calling to tell you I don't appreciate you being rude, blah blah blah. I wasn't being rude, I was telling what she had told me and that there is no way anyone is going up to the plant today anyway, it's too dangerous.  My manager had told me that national guard had been called out and they were directing people off the highway.  

I then looked on GPS and that told the entire story. The entire span of the Indian Nation Turnpike had various hues of red - meaning stopped or very slow moving traffic.  No thanks. My manager then said something about the roads being bad through Saturday and he didn't have a problem with me taking the load on Sunday. I didn't ask for Sunday, I was just insisting on having my Saturday off.  I'm sorry they can't cover it, I rarely ask for time off and when I do, I want it off. 

What happens if I decide to go to the high school 40 year reunion in may, buy airplane tickets - or drive not sure which - and they tell me no?  Nah, fam, we aren't doing that.  

I dunno, but at the end of it, the dispatcher wasn't talking to me, my manager promised heartily that there wouldn't be any retribution, ie: my on the dispatcher's s*** list because I wanted the day off and that I could just take the load out on Sunday. He probably called up to the plant, told them situation and they just - what are they going to do?  If we can't get up there, there is nothing anyone can do, period.

So, I took the loaded trailer back to the yard, parked it, went into the manager's office. He wanted to show me what he can see on these new cameras - they believe the inward facing cameras aren't even turned on. I don't know, I don't trust them.  But, he showed me on 3 different incidents where - someone cut me off and were directly in front of me - "all they want to see is that when that happens, you hit the brakes or let off the fuel".  I tend to stay up on them so I can pass them since they cut me off and are going slower than me and if I back off, more care will cut me off leaving a net zero differnce.  

He then showed another driver who was riding a car's @$$ in front of him, I mean right up that car's @$$.  That was rather dangerous.  And then another where the light was turning red but he didn't hit the brakes, until the last second and then had a "sudden deceleration event" otherwise known as hard braking.  "He wasn't paying attention, I can tell ya that".  

It's exactly what I thought it would be.  

____________________

Friday morning.  Looking at GPS of the road up to Tulsa - unbelievable!  It's almost ALL red lines, including probably 85% of the Indian Nation Turnpike.  I-40 going through Tulsa area is nothing but solid red.  I would be stuck up there right now, sitting there scratching my head wondering why I agreed to take this load with these conditions?  Because we do not get paid for foul weather conditions where you are forced to sit somewhere and wait for the weather to pass. Now if that were true, I'd be happy to sit in it with full fuel tanks, a refrigerator full of food and enough water and coffee pods to make cups of hot coffee.  Yesterday, I had a refrigerator full of food, I thought about the idea that if I was going to get stuck somewhere, I wasn't going to starve.

Fortunately I went through the ordeal with the dispatcher to get out of it.  That other driver must still be stuck at that truck stop, or, he is going 3 mph or whatever for hundreds of miles.  I don't have to take the load up until Sunday and I'm going to leave early.  I don't have to load, the truck is loaded, if the roads are cleared by then I should be able to make it a day trip.  Well, unless there are no empties up there, I'm not sure what I'm going to run into in that department.  

My crypto experiment is interesting. I'm not doing it like I think these guys making the dough off of it are. I have 5 different versions of it and now I'm almost $50 ahead.  I'm rich!  But I can see how if you dump enough money in to any given currency and IF it goes up, you could make a ton of money in just a single day.  I'm not that brave, but I'll probably put a few hundred more into it and maybe start moving some of it around if it goes up substantially.  

As for today? Well I have to go to the property and drop off the letter I sent to apparently the wrong address that has the signed contract for the land clearing.  With the machinery I saw on my land yesterday, I can see them getting it done in days, definitely not weeks. That track hoe is huge, I'm happy they have equipment like that, this portion of it won't drag on forever.

However, I can easily predict they won't be out there today.  It snowed over night, the ground is probably hard and pulling out the trees will be - harder and maybe not get the roots out.  I want all of those tree roots out of the ground, I want nothing left to start growing again. I have already seen some of the trees I cut down to maybe a few inches out of the ground have shoots coming out of them. They are nothing but giant weeds.  I still insist on leaving some of them up, but not too many.  

Oh, it wasn't that much snow but it stuck and is still there.  

Ugh. I wanted to take the dogs for a walk but there is snow and it's below freezing.  I guess they might still want to go? Addler will freeze, lol.  

Done with this one, g'day.