The new person left their rent, in cash, sitting in a cubby hole underneath their trailer. I'd like to think people are honest, but the next door neighbors are poor, broke and desperate.  It was there, I took it but I made sure those people couldn't see what I was doing over there, ie: taking that cash out of there.  

I get up to the plant.  Ridiculous.  There was no way they needed to make me go up there today versus finishing out that run yesterday.  Or, even for today, that I needed to take it up there at 2:00 pm.  Both of the huge tanks were half empty and I had less than half a truckload, the dispatcher knew this.  

So what's the deal here? The head honcho up there gives me a look.  Has there been another truck here today? I wouldn't know, the other driver wasn't going up there today, but there is a plethora of other drivers they pull off the road to take loads.  I gave him the bad news that I have less than half a truckload. Well that doesn't help me at all! I know, lol.  It helps a little bit, but in the grand scheme of keeping a production line in operation, not that much.  

I could have both gone up there yesterday or gone up there early this morning.  I got up there at noon, 2 hours early and I didn't care after I saw what was going on.  Either the dispatcher is completely in the dark about what goes on up there, which would be odd since she coordinates the loads with them, or, she is playing games with me.  

Whatever the case, I have worked 9 days in a row.  I'm tired of trucking, I need a break. I get one tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I have little choice but to rent that machine and hope it will fix that driveway.  I dunno, but then on Thursday, it will probably be an all day thing going up to crossett, switching trailers, trying to remember loading protocols, especially getting into the plant and getting out of there and back to my park.  

It's 192 miles, 3 hours and 20 minutes according to the GPS, which means basically 7 hours of driving, plus at least 30 minutes switching out trailers, maybe more, then who knows how long in the plant, but I'll give it 2 hours.  I just know it's going to be a late day since it's a late loading time.  And why they are dumping me with a late loading time knowing my situation with an RV park and a lot of other stuff going on, I don't know.  

______

Honestly? There is a 25-50% chance I will not do the driveway tomorrow. Not because I don't want to, but because I haven't had a day off in 9 days and then have to work again tomorrow? Going to the rental shop, getting the thing, taking it to the property, unloading it, using it for unknown amount of hours and then loading it back up and taking it back to the rental shop? That's work, folks.  It is absolutely work and it's not even remotely close to a "day off".  I'm tired, I'm tired of working, I want to have some free time.

Yet, the driveway is so horrid.  Just really bad.  That's probably going to motivate me to get with the program and do it regardless of how I feel. At least I "know" I have Sunday off. How do I know this? Because I refuse to work this coming Sunday.  Oh, but they know this and they know it well after last Sunday.  Which means if I do the Ennis run Thursday and Friday, they can't have me work on Saturday unless it's possible to just get the load and park it for a day before delivering it.  I'd do that, just for the money's sake.  

2 days off in a row sounds so precious right about now.

I'm guessing it will take many hours to fix that driveway, if the machine can even do it.  I'm thinking it can since everything is wet.  Not so hard to break it all up and get it dug down into it, free up the gravel sitting underneath all of that dirt and bring it back up to the surface.  I'll have to drag the box over the topsoil and try to move it off the driveway completely. I don't need dirt, I need the thick layer of gravel underneath all of that dirt. 

And break up the ground  around the potholes.  They say you have to dig at least as deep as the deepest pot hole. Well that's pretty deep, actually.  This reminds me of Mark, the dude I threw out of the park. We were going to go get a bulldozer and fix everything, really.  

...several youtube videos later looking at box blade operation and I'm done for the night. 

 Tuesday - not particularly early

They decided I couldn't offload until 2 this afternoon, which I'm going to bypass and be there at noon.  Why I should have to pay for their junk equipment in terms of wasting an entire day is unknown to me.  Just another trucking company.  They're all pretty much the same, some have better perks than others, you might find a few people in one organization that actually care about the drivers - whereas the rest of the personnel don't - but mostly, you are just a number on a computer screen operating their equipment.  They have schedules, so do I.  

I am not shy about telling them about it, either.  I made this stuff perfectly clear before I ever agreed to go to Oregon for training/orientation.

So, if they tried to dump a Sunday run on me this week? I will flat refuse, consequences be damned.  I let the manager know about it, he never replied to that text.  He knows full well that drivers are hard to come by, first off and second off, keep them happy.  They have a few things going far against them as well. Old, junky trucks, old, junky trailers, some of them trashed. Trashed as in being damaged to the point you'd think the thing was in a serious accident. They just keep running them and not fixing the exterior shells.  And finally, lower pay than average.  

My manager has no control over any of that, it's the dude sitting in his lone office in Harrisburg, Oregon that makes the decisions about spending. Buying newer equipment is definitely on his list of things to do, neither is upping the pay.  If I stay long enough and if they don't get rid of me - you never know with these companies - I will demand more mileage and stop pay.  I've already decided to look for greener pastures elsewhere, but - it will have to be substantially better than this current mess.   I don't need lateral moves, I need money.  

I keep getting invitations for debt consolidation loans. Yes, great idea, until you see the interest rates.  25%?  That's no better than credit card interest. Why bother? Does me absolutely no good whatsoever.  

So, I guess tomorrow, if their machine is available, I am going to rent the thing and try to fix the driveway.  I have few other options and those options are more expensive.  The contractor never got over there, never took a look, didn't send his bulldozer operator over there, I have given up on him.  It's just not going to happen, have to accept it and move on.  He was my best hope for getting a pro over there at a reasonable price, everyone else is ridiculous.  If that machine isn't available tomorrow, I will get some of the gravel at the gas well area that is off the beaten path and serves no useful purpose and at least fill in some of the holes.  

I can at least look forward to no more washer/dryer payments and I certainly am not getting another set.  I don't care what anyone over there thinks, I don't have the facilities for it, number one.  We're talking the electricity supply and the ability of the septic system to be able to handle it and I don't want to.  I don't need more debt, I need less. The more things I can pay off, the more I have in my pocket at the end of the day.  Actually, I think the shed is the next thing that will be paid off. When that is done, the only actual strings attached to that property are the mortgage payment and the property taxes.  

Still fretting about property taxes? You bet I am.  It's pay it this month or start seeing ridiculous fees added to it and I don't know when, but at some point, they allow others to pay it for you. Then, you owe them plus fees plus interest - plus plus plus.  I've got some more funds coming in this month what with renting out the alternate lot and people staying at lot 2 on and off and a few more lot rent payments coming up.  Couple that with what should be a decent paycheck and maybe I can swing it.  Maybe.  It's do or die time as far as that is concerned, get it done or start stepping into risky territory.  

As the old saying goes, you never truly own your property even if you have it fully paid for. Amazing Americans just allowed at some point, the government to take your property if you owe back taxes on it, sell it at pennies on the dollar on auction and then you lose everything.  Or, allow them "eminent domain", to come and take your land regardless because they "need" it for something.  Sure, they have to pay "fair market value", supposedly, but I've read the horror stories.  

Well, I am getting close to the time I need to get out of here and I want to be there at or very close to noon.  They can gripe about it all they way, I am the one getting the short end of the stick here.

G'day

 Monday - evening

Today did not go without a hitch, as the old saying should go, but it wasn't terrible.  Basically, the sharkbite cap I bought yesterday, I installed this morning in the dark (and cold)...(and wet)...

I pumped the crank and on the last, final pump? It blew that thing right off of there.  Gag. 

The available choices after this made it a simple decision: Go to Longview, get the parts, fix it.  The other option was to contact the lead mechanic - which would take many hours for him to even figure out what to do or contact the dispatcher - which would have had me headed up to where else.....Crossett.  No thank you.  

Home Depot did not have what their site said they had on hand.  No copper tubing, to be precise and very few fittings.  I decided to figure out a way to cap or plug the line instead of fixing it properly, I wasn't about to start driving around town looking for copper tubing.  I found 2 fittings that would work and left there.  

Back to the yard, I installed the stuff and walaah.  Worked perfectly.

Oh, forgot about the water encounter.  When I want to go to Longview from my property, I go the back way. It's faster than driving a mile in the wrong direction to get back to the highway and then down to the Interstate.  I figured there would be water on the road from the recent rains, I did not figure there would be so much water on the road.

I know this road, that water couldn't have been that deep?  It was moving at a good clip and it was a few hundred feet wide.  I started to drive into it. It was dark and I couldn't see the road, versus in the daylight, not that deep, I would be able to see it to ensure  I was both staying on the road and it wasn't getting too deep.  

But it got up to the bottom of my door and I thought, this isn't good.  I've watched enough videos of vehicles floating away, I really don't believe that would happen, but what if the water had destroyed the road way that I couldn't see and I would get stuck?  You know, the videos where the road is washed down stream?  

I decided that it wasn't worth the risk and turned around. If I were on my 4 wheeler, I would have plowed through that stuff, but I'm not doing that in my SUV. It's my only ride, my transportation, just can't take that kind of risk. 

Down the road I went after fixing the truck.  At the washout, it took him 15 minutes and he was done.  At the plant, it was maybe 20 minutes and they were done.  Huh? It takes longer than that to load that truck, I've done this a few times now...

Get on the scale, it's gross weight 52,000 pounds, a full 26,000 or so short of normal.  I ask the guy on the phone, this is light? Yes, we are out of product. So you're sending it anyway? Yes.

In the control room, it was explained. They are shutting it down for a week and a half and this was the last of it.  Ok.  This is why they have me loading out of Crossett on Friday. Dreading that, long day, too slow, etc.  

So, I'm driving back, get on the highway that goes to my place, contact the dispatcher. I was planning on delivering it today and getting it over with so I can have 2 days off after working 8 days in a row.  No, we need you to deliver it at 2 tomorrow.  Huh? I asked the other driver, he says the tanks are low.  Why are they doing this?  I didn't ask, just wasn't in the mood, figured best to let it go than get into it with these people.  They have their reasons, they didn't want to let me know why, whatever.  I will arrive up there at around noon, no 2 pm.  Not with tanks that are half full.  And me only having less than half a truckload.  

But, there goes my 2 days off to get that driveway done.  I won't be in that plant more than an hour so I will still be home by 3:30 or so - if all goes as it should, lol.  

Just paid this horrid electric bill. Gag.  Painful to see that much money going to the power company.  Weather has improved considerably, heating with space heaters should be reduced greatly.  After the bills I have like $1,100 left in the account. This is not what I got into business for, but, there's a few more payments this month.