Thursday, October 5, 2023

 10:35 am, somewhere in idaho (shift key has now completely broken off on the left side, the main side where i use it so forgive lack of caps on certain words} but not too far into the state.  i drove until 1 am, had 35 minutes left on the 14 hour clock which therefore limits whatever driving hours you may have left to that amount of time.

i was so tired that i just wanted to find a place with available parking. took awhile, but i eventually found this place and very happy that i did. not only ample parking but a very nice restaurant with great food and large portion.  i had a couple of sandwiches yesterday.  this breakfast meal today will last me until dinner time, but if i get hungry, i bought a 6 inch sub at their deli as well plus a very large cup filled with ice and then water and also a bottle of water.  i have a goal to get at least 725 miles behind me today.

orgegon highways are a bit ridiculous with truck speed limits set at 60 mph, even out in the middle of nowhere.  i tend to stick to or stay close to the posted speed limits since i don't want a speeding ticket and i also dont' want to hear from the company about speeding.  however, the second i passed over the state line, the speed limit went up to 80 for cars and 70 for trucks.  i'd like to cruise around 72 mph, so close enough.  

the fatigue plus driving all day must have caught up to me, not to mention having that lovely rumble of the massive engine lulling me to sleep, i slept like a rock. woke up a few times but went right back to sleep.  my head is still not right and i've been awake for an hour now, but that will pass. 

i was dehydrated and the waitress saw that instantly after i was brought a cup of water and just made that disappear in a few seconds. she brought out a giant glass of water which i worked on for a while until i needed more, didn't have to ask her, she brought a pitcher of water out lol  i'm feeling better getting all of that water into me and now i have ample water in the truck.  

anyway, if all goes according to my intended plan, i should be somewhere just north of denver by tonight.  there is pay parking at a couple of truck stop in that area and i will probably just do that.  it's amazing how many truck stops are out here in the middle of nowhere and equally amazing the lack of them north of denver on whatever insterstate that is that heads north out of there.  i feel like i'm going to do much better today having had slept so well.  

i made it almost 600 miles on one fill up and i still have half tanks, they have huge diesel tanks on this truck, this thing is so old that it doesn't have and doesn't have to have DEF tank and bs on it.  Well i guess i better verify the amount of fuel in the tanks by visually inspecting, don't need to be running out of fuel but would like to make it around 300 miles before stopping for diesel.  

With what was collected and other stuff coming in, my checking accounts are now looking much better and i am thankful i have friends to deal with this stuff when i cannot.  i don't know how much this first paycheck is going to be, but considering there should be something like 2 weeks on it, i would like to hope it's a decent amount of money to further fatten my personal account. Transfer back money i borrowed from it to the business account after i get back and pay that rather hefty electric bill, sitting at around $1,800.  i will probably still have a high bill next month since it stayed hot much longer than expected or even forecast.  the temps over there now are nice tho.

Speaking of temps, the ac in this truck quit working maybe 5 hours into this trip.  thankfully, it's nice out up here and i can just crack the windows.  they will have to fix that and a few other things.  i hope there isn't a problem with telling my new manager, of whom i haven't spoken with in 2 months and surprised he hasn't called me yet since being hired, that i intend on going home.  whether it's take this truck and trailer with me or drop the trailer at his yard and bobtail home or whatever, i AM going home.  and i don't mean for a day or 2 days.  at least 4 if not 5 or 6.  i have a lot of stuff to get caught up on at the park and no trucking company should expect people to stay out for 3 weeks without a decent home time schedule. yes i know it's a day job that gets me home most of the time, that doesn't matter,

i've been gone too long to not have a good  chunk of time to visit and reestablish myself with that dog.  i have no idea how that dog is going to react when i get back there, but i would think by now i'm just another faded memory in his past of people getting him and dumping him. i need to spend some serious time with him and give him the security he needs to not have to start acting out like he has when he sees any of the family members petting the other dog.  he can't stand it and has attacked her twice now

i'd be willing to bet money that when i come back and start lavishing attention on him, that behavior will disappear.  i don't think we are connected that much yet, in fact i'm sure we aren't and it's why i hesitated in getting the dog in the first place, knowing i would have to leave for an extended period of time.  if you would have told me i would be gone 3 weeks, i would have said, oh, well i'll find something else. i fully expected a 2 week stay, not a 17 day stay plus a 4 day trip home.  

well my time is almost up.  this truck has at least run hard without any major issues, for that i'm happy. they have competent mechanics that know what they're doing, but it was a mystery to me why they didn't fix the door, it became clearly obvious that they knew about it after i asked the lead mechanic yesterday, whose response is that the door hinge is probably just old and needs replaced, he knew all about it. 

btw, i'm driving a pink truck and my company id is something close it barbie - not saying what it is on here i don't need trolls getting into my personal business. at a younger age i would be embarrassed to drive this thing, now i don't care, lol.  people can laugh if they want, i'll laugh with them.

oh, did i say that whatever this thing is governed at, it's more than what i even want?

someone said they're governed at 75. yup, old days i drove even faster than that, these days, no thank you.  70-72 is plenty.  i'll get plenty of miles behind me at that speed. 

with that, i have 2 minutes left on the 10 hour rest clock, going to shut this computer  down, put it away and get ready to roll.

g'day

































 Friday late-morning Typical morning when there is no work.  It was, I should say, until the new guy called.  "There's nothing wron...