Saturday - night

Long day, as expected after being given last minute notification that I was going with a driver after all. This is typical in the trucking industry, but I have never liked it.  It's as if, to trucking companies, your life doesn't matter. The only thing they care about is getting a load from point A to point B.  I was fully immersed in the idea that I might take a trip to the city.  I had the ride planned out with Uber, $19.99 fare one way on some sort of shuttle they operate. A regular ride would have cost $50.

They're going to have me with this guy tomorrow but Monday I must be getting switched to someone else for this guy has to start training some new guy on ammonia deliveries.  

Anyway, the day will start much earlier today, I'll be getting up at 5:00 am for an expected departure time of around 6:00 am.  I'm going to have my coffee and I will get up earlier to have it.  The day is already planned out. |Actually, I don't know if it's necessarily going to be a long day, it's just one load that they want done early. AFter that it sounded like a few thing that might take us into the afternoon, but I don't know about going full into night time. I hope not, I have some adapting to do here, I'm not used to 12-14 hour days anymore and the 8 we did today was about as far as I could go.

But that is only, really, because I was so tired.  Haven't slept worth a s*** and I do hope that tonight I can get some decent sleep. It's only 8:00 pm here but I'm fixing to go to bed in a few minutes.

I was texting Taylor, she informed my "your kids and dog miss you". LOL!  She said she misses me as well and that it's "too quiet around here".  Hmm, I didn't know I make that much noise all the time. Maybe, Probably.  It's just me. Not getting mad or anything, I just talk loud, not on purpose it just comes out that way.  

I do hope I can leave out of here a week from today. That's my hope.  I can't leave before I know how to do everything, but I am already catching on with it.  Pretty basic, some stuff you just don't want to forget.  Such as making sure you open the cap or the lid on the top of the trailer before attempting to empty it.  I already knew this, but it is good to have a refresher: the tank will basically implode, be destroyed and you are probably out of a job.  It's the first thing you do, get up there and open up that cap on the top or the big lid.  

I'll get a good kick start this weekend on training, that will be 2 more days of training that many of these new drivers get, I want to get this stuff down before I leave out of here. There will be some basic training at the yard in Arkansas, specific to the type of material being hauled on how to load and unload it, but the basics of loading and unloading these trailers I must learn here and now.

So that's that.  I have nothing else beyond a tenant asking  me how he's going to pay me?  He pays in cash, it will just have to wait til' I get back.  There haven't been any other instances of - ridiculousness - beyond the person throwing the dog poop on the other person's outdoor rug, lol.

With that, I am going to sleep. I have no idea if I will have time to post in the morning, figured I best get it done tonight. 

Saturday - mid morning

They were supposed to set me up to go with a trainer today, but that never materialized. I dunno why.

The other guy that was staying here left early this morning, flying back to Arkansas to get a truck and head out, supposedly back this way.  He wants to do long haul, lol, whatever dude and whatever makes you happy.  

So apparently my training doesn't start until Monday.  I don't even have confirmation of that yet, either.  Sunday comes around and I've heard nothing from them? I'm blowing up their phones.  I didn't come here to sit on my @$$ doing nothing, I want to do this training, get it over with and get the Hercules out of here.

Trucks are allegedly set at 75 mph, which means it won't take near as long as I originally projected to get back and won't be quite as boring as being stuck as one of the slowest trucking companies on the Interstate. But, I need to learn all this loading/offloading stuff first, I am starting to get irritated.

And then there is this computer. The 7th? update this week? Just cost another hour waiting for it to finish.  I found information on the internet on how to shut them off, why on earth does a laptop need daily updates that take forever to complete?  

The other guy said I would be able to learn easily all of this stuff.  I"m not worried about it, I just don't want to spend more than 5 days going out with whoever in the process. It's the same thing, over and over, 3 to 4 times per day, I'm sure 5 days of that is enough to get the hang of it.  Load, offload, washout, load, offload, washout, etc. These are local guys here, they must be getting paid by the hour for the other driver said it's only like 20 miles from plant to plant.  

I would think with that much hauling, they could just run a pipeline between plants.  They do it at the cryo plant I was working out of last job.  Some of those pipelines are quite long. 

Anyway, it's going to be a long day and I"m considering going into town to find something to do.  I don't really feel like sitting around here all day long and there is nothing to do in this area besides go across the street and order food. Or drink wine, lol.  

___________

So I'm writing this blog entry and some dude calls randomly. It's local area code so I answered it. I mostly answer anyway unless it specifically says "junk", "spam" and other useful information.  It's a local driver.  He says he'll be there at 10:30, be ready.  Huh?  They were supposed to call yesterday afternoon with this information, I was informed I would be going at 8:00 am but no one ever contacted me.

He started laughing...yup sounds like our company! cool dude anyway, sounds like it, so I'm getting dressed for working and will be meeting him out there at 11:00 am, he says it's going to be something like 8 or 9 hours.  Well whatever it is, I'll get paid today instead of sitting in this bunk house. Don't much care for the lack of communication from this company, nothing new in the trucking industry tho. 

I still have over an hour, lol.  He said it's only going to be one load and the rest moving trailers around.  What fun. I  don't need training in drop and hook, lol.

Offa here. Let the party begin.