So here we go. 
Same old thing loading at the plant yesterday - except that it was early load.  IE: be there at 5:00 am.  Definitely wasn't liking it since I haven't done an early load for a while now.

Spent the day yawning, trying to stay awake, etc.  I mean, it was after 4:00 pm when I finally felt awake and not groggy.  Long day.  But what made it longer? Around noon, my Iphone crapped on me. Yup, the screen did a funny dance and then, boom, black.  The phone was still working but I couldn't do anything with it.  Now, that's a problem because I use GPS off of it.  My truck has a Quaalcomm with GPS but they don't have it enabled for whatever reason.  It's also a problem if I have an issue or if something happens out on the road.

We are reminded of terrorists and potential hijackings allllllll the time.  Company newsletters, sheets handed out to us, even training we have to do all mentions it.  I can see it being used as a giant bomb, that stuff if you could get it to explode would take out a city block from what I'm being told.  Don't know if that's an exaggeration but I do believe it has lethal potential.  The experts at the plant loading it know more about it than anyone and they reluctantly stated that yes, it can explode.  Not sure why they were reluctant to confirm that, everyone else was saying it all along.  Just kind of the "fear of God" thing they want you to apparently have while transporting it. 

I got over that quite a while ago.  I have utmost respect for it, yes, but fearing it doesn't work. That would just create a lot of tension every time I drive and I can't have that. 

Anyway, I already knew where I was going yesterday. 67 to I-55 and then a short jaunt on I-55 and then stop in a small town at a restaurant that has truck parking. After that? I would have to look on the map.  Good thing I carry one with me just in case.  I got to my favorite restaurant annnnnd.....they had put up "No Overnight Parking" signs all over the place.  Note, trucks only parked in a dirt lot where no one else parks, not in the way of anything, not a parking spot for cars.  This is what truck drivers experience everywhere.  The last time I was up there, I parked there overnight and so did a few other trucks with no problems. I spent money in the restaurant, I tipped well.

I'm really getting tired of this anti-truck sentiment around the country.  I would love for all of us to just stop driving for a week and then we wouldn't have annnnnyyyyy more problems.  Like magic, truckers would be respected again, the hate for trucks would be magically turned into where the hell are they and why aren't they bringing us.... everything.

Nix that one.  Drove back down to the 2 truckstops I had passed the small town before and they were already completely filled up, no parking spaces anywhere.  Ugh.  Well, out of the other small town I had noticed an empty lot.  Note: I was almost out of time.  It's park the truck now scenario or go over hours and then issues with the company.   I went back up, looked over this lot, there was a semi trailer already parked there, just went for it. No signs saying not to.  This is America today.  Truckstops are full and mostly any other places don't want you there.  I mean, it was 5:30 pm and those two places were already full!

No one bothered me tho.  Truck driver came in at around 4:00 am and hooked up to his trailer. I was getting up at 4:30 am anyway so not a big deal. Meanwhile, I had unplugged the phone after trying everything else, I couldn't get it to reset because when you push the reset button, it brings up a prompt on the screen asking if you want to shut it down. Well since the screen wasn't showing anything and touching it all over didn't do squat, it wouldn't reset.  Well, I got going around 4:45 am.  The low battery signal did finally show up on the screen.  I just kept pressing the button hoping to drag the battery down so far even that wouldn't come up.  After a couple of hours - I was 3-1/2 hours away from my destination - I finally just decided to plug it back into power outlet and hope it would work.

Walaaaaah!  The thing loaded up, the screen came on asking for password, input that and here we were, back in business.  It took 17 hours to do that.  I can tell ya, I learned alot about myself in those 17 hours that I didn't know.  Or didn't realize I should say.  First off, I have become totally reliant on the phone and that lady that is crammed inside that phone telling me where to go.  It was odd to have to pay attention to every sign to make sure I didn't miss my exit. I thought, if I did miss my exit and didn't see it when I passed it, I wouldn't even realize it!  Maps interrupts you if you miss a turn and tells you to turn around or take another route.  I don't remember using a road atlas in any recent times.  Maybe 15 years?

But it wasn't bad, actually. It as making me think.  When I was at the parking lot, I had nothing to do so I got out of the truck, got out the road atlas and planned the rest of the trip for today.  It was just an interesting experience to go without a smart phone for that length of time.  Can't watch videos, get on Facebook, look at the news, nothing.  I can't say it was bad, it wasn't great but it gave me a new perspective. 

Now, getting up here. Here being somewhere south of Peoria near Chicago.  We have a regular customer up here. In fact, this is the place where I was driving that Volvo and it broke down and spent time at a hotel waiting for it to be repaired.  Same place.  I got to the plant hoping it wouldn't take too long to unload so I could get some hours driving in and get back down the road. 

Not so fast.  

I got in the plant, the dude gets on the phone with me at the guardhouse: You're going to have to wait until tomorrow.  Lol.  My "let's get out of here as fast as possible" sails completely deflated and my "let's get paid to sit for 30 hours at a hotel prepaid by my company " sails arose.  Really?  I became jubilant at that point.  How can you complain about sitting in a hotel room all day long, watching movies, on the net, or just sleeping and getting paid for it the entire time?   These are the trips that I truly love.  I don't care if I don't get back tomorrow.  It's really not that important. My dogs are in loving hands.  The baby at the house is extremely sick with a nasty cough and I don't need to be around that anyway.  I was running from him anytime he started coming at me - he likes me for whatever reason and always wants me to hold him.

But when he's that sick? No thanks bro! I was glad I was going on a 3 day trip and now it's going to be 4.  I was just sick with that same crap not that long ago, the whole house was.  Getting out of there is the best thing.  So here I am, in a company paid hotel, using hotel free wifi, in Pekin, Illinois at a Holiday Inn Express on the top/3rd floor.  I'm loving life right now.  It's not even noon yet and I have the whole rest of the day ahead of me to do nothing or find something to do if I want to or whatever. 

BTW, this happens frequently on this run.  I haven't had it in quite a while, I've been boogying to Brownsville and back, but that's shut down until next week.  It's only shut down cause the customer down there forgot to order more product and the slots for it filled up for other companies.  Once the slots are full, that's it. There's no slipping anyone in there.  You have to wait your turn and that probably means someone is in trouble at that plant in mexico, cause they are normally getting at least one load a day delivered down there.  The product I haul will shut a plant down if they don't have enough of it in their storage tanks.  Up here, the customer has full tanks sometimes and they just wanted the product because of that "slot" thing I just mentioned.  They order it whether they need it or not, if they don't need it, they pay for the driver to spend however much time at a hotel.  It's that or yes, they shut down as well and they are screwed. 

What I really like, besides getting paid to do nothing, is the Holiday Inn Express is a nice hotel.  And there is a Walmart across the street I can go shop for supplies and there's an Applebee's across the other street to have lunch or dinner at.  But I am not hungry, I stopped for breakfast up the road since I knew it would take a while before they would actually get my hotel room. 2 hours, actually. I have lunchmeat and fixings in the truck and am trying to discipline myself to not eat out on the longer trips.  The Brownsville trip I made an exception. There are plenty of places where I can stop and get a quick bite to eat and on the cheap.  I'm not broke but I see no good reason to just waste money just .... because?  I haven't lived my life like that up until this job, no sense in changing now.  I'd rather "waste" the money on things that I have wanted for years or even decades.

I paid most of the outstanding amount on the dentist - yes I have payments on it but the cash I had to pay is almost done.  I wanted that out of the way before buying anything else.  The SUV I bought on payments only, they didn't ask for a down payment so I didn't give them one.  The payments are quite reasonable considering the kind of ride it is. That thing was over 50 grand when it was new.  It's in excellent condition.  Not good, not fair, excellent condition inside and out.  I'm not complaining about that, I am going to complain about the high insurance rate I was given by my existing insurance company, so I'm currently looking at quotes. 

The next thing I want is a 55 inch TV for my room.  Or, rebuilt my desktop computer - it's going on 6 years now, it needs gutted and redone.  Or I may just replace the hard drive in it and sell it. Hard drives are cheap and you don't have to worry about someone getting your stored info, even if you have "erased it", which we all know it can be recovered.  And I need a new laptop.  Considering waiting til' black Friday or Cyber Monday for either or both of them tho. It's not really that far off.  Well, okay its almost 4 months until Black Friday, but the deals are incredible.  That's one where I would show up to Walmart and buy a very large screen TV at an incredible price. 

None of those are imperative to have, excepting the desktop really is starting to slow down. I was just going to replace the hard drive but I thought about it, this thing being as old as it is, I should just start from scratch and have a whole new system.  It's hard to decide what to get tho. There are so many different motherboards and processors available out there.  Hard drive, power supply will be easy, but also a good video card without spending a fortune. 

Well anyway, I think I will double my hourly pay and get some of the online training I need to get done - done.  I can drag it out for hours and hours and get paid the same for doing that as I am for sitting here waiting.  A memo was sent out to all of our terminal's drivers to get all of it done.  I had no idea how much training they had dumped in there.  "If you don't get some of those done, they will stop giving you loads to certain places".  Oh, does that include Cheneire? Lol, they can not give me those runs and I"d be as happy as a bug in a rug!  They weren't enthused, I didn't care, it eats up a lot of time watching these long, boring videos with some dude with a monotone voice making it even worse.

Nothing else new in my world.  I don't think.  I do think I'll do another Trump post cause' I'm tired of people beating down Trump supporters as if we have some sort of deadly disease. I am not one to back down to such things, especially the amount of lies and exaggerations the left is making about Trump and his supporters.  Read: supporters.  We don't worship Trump, we aren't in a cult, we support him as much as the left was supporting Obama.  There is no difference.  The narratives have gone to the point of being outrageous, frankly. 

Just FYI, I'm not some some stupid dimwit that just "follows the leader", ie: Trump. I have been following politics for many years.  I am not "falling" for Trump, I'm following what he is doing and what the left's reaction to every move he makes is.  CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, HUFFPOST, Vox and MANY other "news outlets" are nothing but anti Trump propaganda machines.  They don't care about facts, the truth or reality.  If you are an anti-Trumper, trump hater, on the left, progressive - etc ad nauseum, you  are the crowd that is being deceived.  You hear the liberal MSM, democratic "leadrers", Hollywood elitists and others mouthing off their hatred for Trump, I choose to look at numbers, graphs and the will of the American people. 

I've had my IQ tested, it came out at 133.  Do you Trump haters have anything like that? Do you go beyond your emotions to validate or dismiss anything and everything, much less all things Trump?  Please spare me your strawman arguments, your deflections, you raw anger and hatred.  Go find Jesus if your life is that miserable, mine is not. 

You want to have an argument about Trump and what he's done, let's have at it without all of your vitriol, emotional outbursts and dismissive rhetoric pumped out by your masters: the liberal MSM, the DNC, Nancy Pelosi, the Indian, Schumer and all the rest of them. I will stand up to any of your parroted talking points with FACT and NUMBERS, not emotionally drawn rhetoric.  Get over yourselves, look at the economy as the NUMBERS ARE PRESENTED and verified, and congratulate AMERICA for an outstanding state of being in terms of earthly existence.  EVERYTHING that Trump does is condemned by the left.  I wonder why? Because you are power hungry.  You don't care about America, you don't care about it's citizens or it's citizens well being, you want POWER to orchestrate your progressive idealism over all the rest of us, and I can narrow it down into a few words: Redistribution of wealth.  You want to take MY money and give it someone else? I worked for what I have, I don't give a shit about people that want to take my wealth and give it to themselves because they feel entitled to it. 

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Enough of that. 
You want to go drama on me about Trump, I'm going to come right back at you, whoever you are, all of you. I do it on a daily basis in large groups, doing it on my blog is even easier. 

As for my personal life, which is what this blog is mostly about, I am heading off to Mapleton, Illinois tomorrow.  This is an easy trip. 3 days if I remember. Tomorrow is load at the plant and try to get minimum 600 miles in, then 10 hours later, the other 100 plus miles, get to the plant, get the thing unloaded and drive out whatever I can that day after it's done.  I don't even do the unloading there, the plant does all of that.  Not that I even care about unloading this cryogenic liquid anymore, I've been doing it long enough I am at least "comfortable" that I can deal with any situation arises.

Until, of course, a situation arises that I haven't deal with, lol.  There isn't much room for error with this stuff.  You really have to be on top of it when unloading, the entire time, totally focused on it, keep your mind off everything else.  I do not have a cellphone out at the plants I have to unload in.  Well, that's because a cellphone can ignite the stuff if it were leaking but also because it is too distracting. 

I stopped by the dealership today, we all shook hands, they gave me my new license plates - apparently Texas sends them to the dealer, not your home - and parted ways. 

I'm a pretty happy person right now, sans all the political bs going on in America right now.  Lots of reasons, some of it personal , some of it not.  Biggest thing with me is getting my spiritual life in order.  After that is family - some of that I don't think will ever be resolved but my son and I are tight at least and I have a great relationship with my mom.  My brothers, I'm pretty much living my life without and have given up on it.  Too much conflict, not based on my but based on parental junk that I have no control over and deep seated bitterness - and - though - a hatred for "religion".

I don't espouse religion, I promote relationship with Christ.  Religion is almost all about man, relationship is promoting a deep, heart conversation and love for and with the Lord.  Man's idea of religion in religious churches is a far different cry than what the Bible speaks about having a relationship with Christ.  God wants to speak to you. Man made religion wants to  control you.  That's about the easiest way I can define it.  God doesn't want to control you, he wants a heart relationship with you. 

That's where I'm going currently.  Getting back into church is a part of that.  Money comes after all of that.  Its nice to have, yes.  It's nice not to have to worry about bills, yes.  At the same time, I spend a lot of time out on the road to earn that money.  There's a trade off and not necessarily a good one. I often question myself if saving for retirement is really a good goal. Or saving for property, or all the rest of these earthly things. What does any of that have to do with the eternal kingdom of heaven?

Well whatever. 3:15 am comes early. I'll undoubtedly sleep like shit tonight. Every night when I have to get up that early, I don't sleep well and it's unexplicable.  So, tomorrow will be run on something around 3 to 4 hours of sleep even tho I'm going to bed in time for at least 6 and that will be that. 

President Trump threatens a government shut down if dems don't agree to the wall.  I say he should have allowed it to stay shut down last time for want of a budget that was nothing but more of the same old tax and spend crap that either and both parties have been engaging in for ever. But, Trump wanted all that money for the military budget plus we got dumped with a bunch of other stuff that is either needless or could be trimmed way back.  I'm seriously concerned about the nation's debt, fiat system be damned, the interest payments on that debt is the THIRD highest budget item on the list.  Where do we draw the line?  Apparently never, just keep throwing money away on worthless social programs and increased payments for social security, medicaid and the almighty military.

I agree we need a strong and vibrant military.  No questioning that from my perspective.  But do we need to literally foot the build for most of the world and having these bases all over the place? If we are protecting any given nation, shouldn't they finance it as much as they possibly can within their own budgets?  There are strategic bases that we should pay for if those countries don't, but not all of them.  The one thing I don't have a problem with is spending 20 or 30 billion on an advanced wall that will aid in helping keep illegals from stepping foot into our nation.  I'ts not an end all, but with increased Border Patrol agents and using technology, we could seriously cut down the numbers. 

But it's baffling to me a nation that takes in that much money in revenues from taxes every single year and yet we can't even balance our budget, much less pay down the debt? Instead, we are in deficit spending, increasing the debt and increasing the interest payments while we're at it.  Tho honestly, I never really saw Trump as a president that would do anything about the debt.  If we don't fix Sociial Security, it is going to go bust eventually.  The system needs to be shut down, give a grandfather clause to those of us paying into it all our lives, opt Millenials and whatever the name of the next generation is after that out of it and instead simply have savings accounts if we are even going to force them to save at all.  I'm dumping at least $400 per paycheck and often times more into 401k every single paycheck. In 10 years, it still won't be enough.  But it's better than not saving at all.  If I go into retirement with 200 grand I'll be lucky.  That's not much but coupled with SS I will be able to survive on a limited income.  Probably still rent out rooms and do all of that stuff that makes owning a house much easier to deal with.

Whatever the case, I'd be happy if the next president we get after Trump is actually one that will sit down at the table and start to discuss real reform of the way we spend money in this nation as a whole and how we are going to address SS, medicaid and the growing debt.



Moving on to other things.  Cheniere is not a day trip.  I have distinctly come to that conclusion.  It happens once in a blue moon, but mostly it does not.  Yesterday was no different.  If anything goes wrong at either end, it's toast.  The toast occurred at the loading plant.  A hot truck came in and it took 4 hours to deal with.  It had been in the shop and oxygen had gotten into the tank. That's what's referred to a hot truck: oxygen in the tank. They apparently don't want any oxygen in there at all and won't load it until they purge it out of there.

Well I knew it was going to be time to take a nap when I got to the loading rack and 4 iso trailers and one regular trailer ahead of me.  I figured 5 to 6 hours and I wasn't let down. 6 hours later I was out of there and completely gave up on any notion of getting home that night.  I was up to 1:45 am last night unloading the truck and then spent 10 hours in their parking lot - I had about 45 minutes left on the clock when I was done which wasn't enough time to get anywhere.

So  I didn't get home until a bit ago which was around 4:00 pm.  Now? I asked for Sunday off to go to church.  So, tomorrow is a preload for another driver - was hoping to have 2 full days off but a preload isn't tooooo terribly bad, not great but not bad either.  Unless some crap happens again and I'm stuck there half a day.  But THEN, I have to go back to Cheniere Monday! I very much hate that place because it pays nothing like other runs and as quite involved.  It's just a waste of time, really.

Now I find out that the new Cheneire plant near Corpus Cristi isn't opening up in a few years as workers at the existing facility claimed. Instead, they're firing up next month and it will take dozens and dozens and dozens of runs down there to fill up their bullets.  That's what they call them. Giant tanks mounted sideways so I guess they look like giant bullets. Bullets that hold over a million gallon a piece.  Meaning constant running. Because that's going to be dumped on us on top of everything else. If we can't cover it, they'll siphon it off to another company that hauls ethylene and that's something our company desperately doesn't want to have happen, meaning we are going to be very busy.

I just looked up the actual address, they're calling it Corpus Cristi but it's actually in Portland, Texas.  Not much of a difference lol, just across a bay it looks like from Corpus Cristi.  It's 418 miles from my house, probably not much different from the plant since it's both due south of here.  That's better than the 232 of the other Cheniere - but not that much better.  It makes it a 2 day run and that isn't really all that good for 2 days, not like Brownsville which is a 562 mile trip one way.  They really need to up the pay for short trips to make it worth the trouble.

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Saturday evening.  Stayed up way too late last night playing a game with everyone here, like I didn't get to bed until almost 1:30 am.  Yeah, that's just too late. I didn't have to get up early this morning but I've been paying for it all day long.  I got the trailer preloaded at the plant and after taking it back to the yard, I decided to crash in the truck for a couple of hours before even going back home lol. Note to self: midnight is the latest I can stay up before it has very negative effects on me the next day, regardless of how late I can sleep in.

I am  becoming more of a night owl with this job tho, getting used to staying up later and still feeling good the next day as long as I can get enough sleep.

Anyway, we are going to church tomorrow.  That is a good thing, I haven't been in a while.  11:00, the only thing I don't care for is the drive 2 towns over.  There are churches here but they want to go to one over there.  Which is fine as I said we can take my ride but I won't be driving : ) I am very happy to be a passenger for once. 

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3 day post here lol.  Today came, we went to church. Very nice,  good worship, good message, very good message.  Loved it.  It's a giant church, the only issue I had with it.  Not really into them, but it's better than not going at all. I have work tomorrow and yes that Cheniere run, but I don't have to be at the loading rack until 1:30.  That really isn't all that great, tho, because it means I have to be out very late just to get the truck unloaded.  After that, it will mean sitting in their dirt parking lot again for 10 hours and then driving home.  It's just too late a start time to be able to finish it in 14 hours.  I won't get out of there until 4 at the earliest, I won't get to Cheniere until 8:15 to 8:30, it's at least 3 hours in there unloading, by the time that's done it's close to midnight and then I'm going to drive home? Heck no!!  I voiced my dissent this time in getting two of them in a row tho.  That run doesn't pay well enough to get it all the time. 

Anyway, today is clean day.  I vacuumed my floor, got laundry fixing to do the dusting and straightening up stuff.  It's already 1:35 pm but that's kind of what church does. It eats up your morning and usually part of your afternoon.  But it's worth it.  Just I think we need to find a church around here to go to, at least save 35 miles each way of driving.  There are plenty of churches here, just keeping going to different ones until one of them resonates. 

Other than that, status quo.  My bank account continues to grow.  I get through all the bills and there's always still more in there than last paycheck.  It's very encouraging.  That's beyond 401k, totally separate accounts with my bank savings account and my checking account.  I'm tempted to double the amount being automatically directed into savings to be able to save for a significant down payment on property.  They're going to want it with my credit where it's at.  I figure I'd probably have to save around 20 grand to do that.  Only 16-1/2 grand to go! lol

Still if I could find property at a grand an acre, I could really get a nice chunk of property with that much down.  I want at least 50 acres, 100 would be optimal.  Wouldn't mind that part of it could be zoned commercial rental and put in a small mobile home park for extra income.  Out in the county, that shouldn't be impossible to do.  Devote 10 acres to it and slowly build it up.  I'm always dreaming lol.  I look at some properties around here and wonder how they can ask that much per acre. $11,000 per acre for undeveloped property? It's not all like that just saying that's a bit ridiculous.  I have seen it at a grand an acre, more common is around 2 grand per acre for undeveloped property out in the country.  Horses, cattle and maybe some pigs.  No chickens, thanks. Dirty creatures, worse than any of those others mentioned. 

Well whatever.  I'm setting myself a goal to watch less news.  I ;think 90% of the so-called news is Trump bashing and I've seen more than enough of it. Every single week, a fresh new narrative comes out to find a way to impeach Trump.  I mean, the stuff that happened say 3 weeks ago is already forgotten.  It's quite amazing - and outrageous at the same time.  Trump comes out with solid numbers that any president would swoon for and all the press can do is dismiss it and tell us it isn't sustainable instead of simply saying great job Trump!

I don't need that as a daily mental diet.  Not that I venture over to the likes of CNN, Huffpost, CBS, MSNBC and the like - I don't want anything to do with increasing their ratings. 

Well, enough. Off to get some stuff done. 

Well.  Got back this morning around 8:00am .  I was trying to get back from this trip last night but I ran out of hours.  Like, 139 miles out. I could have easily made the rest of the trip. I was wide awake, not sleepy at all, but but but the Feds, the FMCSA mandating rules that are "one size fits all".  Because some dude or dudette sitting in an office in Washington thinks that statistics are the sole indicator of how to make rules that affect MILLIONS of people, they have the power, they don't care what the people affected think...and the industry is suffering because of it. 

Older drivers make up 70% of the driving force and guess what? Many of them are getting sick of the regulations and are leaving the industry.  Time will tell, but since there is a tens of thousands of drivers shortage already, we may start seeing even more of a change in the trucking industry. Drivers are getting much higher wages, across the board.  Maybe the big mega carriers are still paying lower than the rest but the pay is definitely going up over all. Driver retainment is a big issue in most trucking companies agendas.  Money talks - enough money overcomes the negative aspects of the industry over all.

Now, as the for the trip itself, there is a portion of that trip that is just spectacular views. The Bluegrass Parkway is just an awesome drive.  Getting through that, through Lexington and over to West Virginia, well, WV has a lot of road construction going on and it slows down progress substantially.  It's really a drag because it limits me for going back to Lexington and then I have to stop. There is only one truck stop on the bluegrass parkway, it's very small and it's highly risky to drive there and possibly find out there is no parking.  But even beyond that, without all that construction I would have been able to make it back to I-64 and then I would be able to make this trip a 3 day trip instead of 4. 

But I'm not complaining too much, it was a good trip, I just don't want to do too many 4 or even 3 day trips too often.  Not my call but my manager knows I like the shorter trips. 

So that's what I"ve been doing for the last 4 days and I just didn't feel like getting out that little notebook to write up an entry, save it for when I get home.  I did not stop at a hotel, I had thoughts about it but there wasn't any point in the trip where I was stopping early enough in the day to warrant staying at one.  That's because the load time that started this trip out wasn't until noon and that really throws a trip off.  Oh, there was one night when I was out of hours, down to a few minutes, got to a Loves truck stop and there was absolutely no available parking spots.  I had 8 minutes left on the clock.  I looked at the apps. there was "parking" shown at a Hardy's down the street.  Going down there, yes!  I was at 4 minutes left on the clock before I finally got stopped and done for the night.

There are numerous articles about the shortage of parking spaces as well as the shortage of drivers.  More and more trucks, not much more parking equal a parking nightmare.  The app I really liked to find the obscure places that most people wouldn't bother with quit, they decided to dump the app.  That one had all kinds of places - bars, restaurants, whatever.  Maybe only 1 or 2 spots to park, but most drivers want truckstops, I don't care anything about truckstops excepting to get fuel. 

I'd love to see an app going that was just for the "unknown" places. The need for them is getting greater.  Even last night. The loves I stopped at to park? It wasn't 7:30 pm and that place was completely filled up.  Fortunately there was a truckstop across the interstate - I thought it was a undesireable place at first but it turned out to be quite decent inside. They need to upgrade the exterior to meet the same quality that they have in the inside of the place. 

I asked for Sunday off. If not this Sunday, then the next.  I need to get back into church. Taylor wants to go, I want to go, let's go!  She said she would see what she could do.....I really only get commitments for time off if it's something I'm asking for in advance and especially if it's something pressing, such as getting my teeth done.  But, she did say that it's important to go to church, so that was a plus.

I don't really have anything else right now, well I do but I need to get some stuff done lol.  Like a load of laundry.  I have no idea whether I'm being sent out tomorrow and if I am, I want to be prepared.

I guess I sent my mother into despair tonight unintentionally. 
We were on the phone talking for quite a while and inevitably the discussion went to my middle brother.  This is the dude that threatened to break my bones and send me to the hospital in a series of dozens of test messages sent out to all of us when he decided that he didn't like what I had to say about the family to extended family members.

I'm not going to a Christmas "party" with a person that has threatened my life without simple protections, called concealed carry. Nothing I don't do anyway excepting in the truck tho I've had thoughts of having a small handgun in there because of the crazy freaking people at truckstops and some of the people you encounter out on the highways.  I could hide one quite well if I really wanted to. It's not illegal excepting in states that don't honor the concealed carry license, ie: reciprocal agreements.  I don't need reciprocal agreements going to Brownsville, I dunno about going to West Virginia, where I'm headed tomorrow, but I don't carry one with me anyway. But this does give rise to the idea of at least having something in there. A baseball bat, a billy club or just a tire thumper the doubles as self protection. 

It's likely better that I just don't go to these "parties". My son told me a few weeks ago he won't take his wife to those parties after my middle brother - of course - started in on them.  And may not go to them at all even without her.  I can't blame him. I dunno what's happened to my brother, but whatever it is, I want nothing to do with it. His threatening to send me to the hospital, beat the shit out of me, break all my bones, do what he said he "should have done growing up" was insanity. I haven't heard from him since - not that I want to, I have completely written him off in my life and if I did, indeed, encounter him at a family function, I would have nothing to say to him.

You won't show up to Christmas with a gun.  No, not open, not even noticeable.  Whatever, I just said I won't go to Christmas functions anymore and that will be the end of that.  I can visit my son and his wife, my mom, maybe my oldest brother tho I don't really think he cares either, just not hostile about it.  Another dysfunctional family, what else is new in America?  But I'm not showing up to a place where an individual has openly stated his intentions to attempt to severely hurt me and nothing has been said since then.   No thanks!

I'm looking on a map trying to figure out a different way back from Charleston, West Virginia besides the route that every app I've tried gives me to get back.  The reason is, coming back, once you get to Lexington? There isn't much of any place to stop off the Bluegrass Parkway.  I've been to one single place the truckstop apps give and it has very limited parking.  Very much a roll of the dice driving there and hoping there is a spot anywhere for 10 hours.  But after looking at a map for a while, it's obvious the time lost in stopping early - around 560 miles - doesn't equate to the miles increased in going another route.  I dunno, but tomorrow is Sunday so I expect to make a lot more miles than I would on any weekday. Should be interesting to see how far I can get? 650 miles maybe?

Whatever the case if I make it back to Lexington area early enough, I will stay at the Red Roof Inn again. I very much afford myself a night at a hotel on the way back if it's possible on any given 4 day run. 

Okay. It's late. Time to go to sleep.

In Brownsville, at the America's Best Value Inn.  I really like this place for the price.  Granite top tables and counters, tile flooring, nice  comfortable beds, nice clean lazy chairs, good internet.  I wasn't going to do this today, I was certain - just because of what's been happening down here recently with 2 and 3 and even 4 empty trailers waiting to be picked up - that I would just spend the night in my truck and take off in the morning.

Au Contraire..  When I got the truck loaded this morning and back to the scale house - which is on the property as well - I saw the new driver's truck sitting there. Didn't really think it strange, tho. He was the first load and waiting for certification on the product that we have to take with us on all trips unless they tell us at the plant they will email it ahead of us.  It's an analysis that the chemists do there on every single load to make sure it fits within parameters of quality and purity. 

Anyway, he came out as i was getting out of the truck to go in and get my paperwork on the load.  I didn't know where he was going and thought nothing of it.  In fact, I was worried I wasn't going to get out of the plant in time to get down to Brownsville and get it done in one day.  My objective was to get there, spend the night and get back up to Longview tomorrow and spend a Friday night with my friends and probably at least Saturday. 

So, I drove almost 8 straight hours without stopping.  When I did stop, I checked the elog and saw that I had plenty of time to get down there, even with fueling time and the mandatory 30 minute break.  I didn't rest easy tho, lol, I got out of that truck stop as fast as the clock would let me.  Lo and behold, while pulling out, I see this other drive passing by.  What the hey?  This dude should have been way further down the road since he left loooong before I did.  

That was strange seeing him passing by like that.  I mean, he should have almost been to Brownsville by my calculations and 2 hours ahead of me on time.  Whatever. His truck goes way faster than mine, I'll say that.  He's an owner operator but I doubt he'll get away with driving for this company for long at speeds over 65 mph.  Not my concern tho, if he gets away with it, all I can say is, I would like to too!  Anyway, I took my normal - fastest - route to the yard down here.  He apparently did not.  I'm guessing he didn't want to pay the tolls. So I actually was driving down one side street and him another and met up at the exact same time at the yard. 

He should have beaten me by hours.  Well, I got unhooked before he did even tho I waited for him to back into  a space and I was behind him.  I pulled out from under the loaded trailer and went driving out back - to find one trailer back there.  Hey, HE was in the yard first.  And as an owner operator, he will not get detention pay, that's for company drivers only.  I backed up out of his way and let him get under that trailer. The yard people were leaving, I waved them down. "When do you expect another trailer here?".  "Tomorrow morning" "Do you know what time?".  He didn't know, and I said thank you and instantly decided to drive to the hotel

On my way over, I checked all the hotel site - Priceline, Expedia, Hotels, etc. The prices for this place were high! I didn't want to pay that much even tho I am getting an hourly pay to stay here.  So I just walked in and the dude said, I'll give you a special price. His special price was the normal price I've been paying of which I instantly said yes and thank you! 

I figure at least 12 hours of detention pay, 2-1/2 of it will pay for this room,, the rest is money in my pocket.  And, if the dude is correct and a trailer shows up sometime in the morning, I'll be able to make it home tomorrow evening or night depending on what time it shows up.  I figure to leave out of here at 8am and see if anything is over there. It's only a mile away, I'll leave my stuff in  here and if there isn't, just come back and relax for another couple hours and then check out, get over there and wait.  Very happy this turned out the way it did. In reality, that trailer could not show up for another day and I'd have no problem with that.  But they are usually right when they say it's going to show up at some general time.

Well, it's kinda getting late. Not that bad, almost 10:00 pm. I was going to watch the news but the sound cut out on that channel for unknown reasons.  There isn't much on TV I want to watch, I just wanted to see the news really. 

Thoughts running through my head. Winter will come, the northeast will get cold and then they will want drivers to go up there for however long and drive in hellish conditions in shit trucks and not even making that much money compared to what I am making here.  I"m certain I don't want to do that again.  But what if they force the issue?  Force it back. Fine, if you want to make me go up there, you had better make sure they have a good working truck with everything in working condition.  You''d best make sure they don't give me a trailer that has lost it's vacuum seal (and hence, it's insulation, to keep this 395 below zero stuff cold).  I won't be forced into this s*** again without verification that the equipment is good and if I get there and it isn't, I'm going to tell them adios, Im going back to Texas. 

They can force this on me because I opted for higher pay when I signed on in trade for agreeing to be sent off wherever for a week at a time - tho that's quite unrealistic - if work gets slow here.  I will not drive a truck again where I am driving at night and can't see anything because the headlight bulbs are bad to the point you have to look at the lines on the road to be able to see where you're going.  And a HOST of other issues. 

On another note, my son is moving from one apartment complex to another in August. Their lease is up and they found a better place with an extra bedroom for less money.  "We'll have an extra bedroom in case you're in the area". That's his way of saying if you come to Phoenix please come stay with us.  I've given considerable thought to his upbringing and thought: I could have done better and done some things differently.  I dunno, sometimes I struggle with that.  I think I did the best I could but I see things I could have done better.  I was kinda short with him on various occasions when I probably have been a bit more tempered.  No one can say, however, that I was absent in his life.  I won't say that because I know it's not true, even tho the ex - at one point long ago in a court - was agreeing with this judge that "you raised him by yourself".  I"ll never forget the internal outrage I had against that judge making a totally unfounded statement like that without even asking me my take on it.

I'll also never forget getting in that judge's face and giving her a taste of her own medicine, threat of jail be damned. 

Whatever the case, I think I'll end this one.

G'day. 

Auto pay done.  On the Expedition.  I have far too many bills to keep up with all of this. 3 houses worth of utilities, satellite and internet. One house for mortgage and another for rent payment.  Okay, my house is still pay online, I'm not going to do autopay on that and we aren't given an option to pay the rent at the other house autopay - and with some of the problems we've had over there, I would much rather have it on a written check anyway.  Anyway, I don't have to worry about the SUV payment and if I ever want out of it, it's a call to the bank to get it removed.

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That was yesterday.  Today, I have a full day off finally.  Only thanks to this interim dispatcher who doesn't really know what she's doing.  If she doesn't give me a run tomorrow, I'll take that day off as well but then I'm going to be asking her for work.  Which will run me yet another weekend of course.  I just take whatever days off I can get now and relax and enjoy them regardless. 

Well, not that I wanted to - at all - but I called the dentist. Let's get this over with. One more crown and a filling and I'll be done for now.  My bottom front teeth need work - but they can wait.  After I get done at the dentists I'm going to see if the vet has an opening to get Addler in and get some shots - heartworm and tic/flea.  This region is over run with tics and fleas and we all know dogs getting bit by them can get all kinds of nasty diseases and things, not the least of which is heartworms.  But, I have to get done with the dentist first, gasp at the sticker shock - I owe at least a thousand cash beyond the credit care - pay that up and then come home, sit down, take a deep breath. 

I mean, that's over 8 grand for teeth and a vehicle that's 16 grand, payments on both.  That's a lot of debt to incur all at once, but, the payments are affordable, especially with this job.  It's not anything I could have done at Ferguson, at all.  I would still be driving that old Buick and having to dump money into it - tires, interior, gauges, all kinds of stuff.  Instead, I'm driving what I hope will stay this way: an excellent vehicle that's like floating on a cloud driving down the road. 

Anyway, dentist appointment in 45 minutes - the place is literally 3 minutes down the road so I have plenty of time lol.  Then, off to Walmart to get some things including new leashes for the dogs.  I have my other ones over at the other house for them to take the dogs out front whenever neighbors want to see them.  The neighbors on that street are infatuated with Addler.  Kids and adults alike.  I need leashes because I want to get back into working out and no better way than brisk walks for 30 minutes to get started with.  If I can get that routine going at least 4 or 5 days a week - and that means going for walks while out on the road since I"m not home half the time - maybe I can ease back ito the gym and start out with a couple days a week pumping iron and getting rid of my gut. 
\
That and try to find ways to eat more healthy while out on the road.  I get very tired of truck stop food.  It's just calorie laden garbage that may taste good but does nothing good for your body.  It's one of the main reasons I hate even going to truck stops, but I have no choice for getting fuel.  Most of them have Arby's, McDonalds, Wendy's, "cuisine" of that nature.  Any so called healthy menu is still quite unhealthy compared to eating at home. 

No need to waste a bunch of time writing about that stuff tho.  It's just a matter of finding places where I regularly go, such as Brownsville, that's not too far of a drive and can get a healthier meal. 

Ugh. Checked my credit score.  Kinda figured.  Credit card use is"way up" because of using almost all of that CreditCare card to pay for dental.  My usage ratio is up to 51 percent now.  My payment history is slowing going back up, it's at 91% and should slowly keep rising as each of those late mortgage payments fall off, month by month.  Credit age - they give that medium impact on your score.  It's average at 4 years 7 months.  I mean, that seems like a long time? But apparently not to them.  The one thing I am working on is paying down my credit cards except credit care. I'm just making monthly payments on that right now but everything else I'm throwing money at whenever I can to get the levels back down.  All of those payments add up. 

So much so that I'm going to write it all down today and see what all of this credit is costing me per month. Between car and teeth payments, that just added almost $500 per month.  Those balances are far too high right now to make any significant impact on them, the better idea is to pay off lower balances and get rid of some of the payments altogether.  I'm going to have to look into it tho, I thik you still need to use all of those cards here and there for the companies to keep the account open.  Meaning spending grocery or gas money on credit cards but then pay them off each month so no interest accrued.  I've got a couple within range of paying off pretty soon here.  Fingerhut I paid off several months ago and never bought anything else. I have like 4 grand credit available with them.

Well whatever.  Just thoughts running through my head.  I think while I'm out I'm going to go to woodforest bank and open up a savings account. I want to have one for vacation funding.  I'm definitely wanting to go somewhere next year, even if not London.  Seems like London is a rather volatile place right now, not sure that it's a good time to go over there. 

Today marks day one of my manager's vacation.  I'm hoping to get a couple days off, even 3 if possible, but without asking.  I don't want to get on some kind of "list" of people that don't get what they want.  I'd rather work and tough it out for a while.  I've been working every day.  I got in yesterday around 11:00 am from the Brownsville run.  Hopefully that doesn't occur again where I'm having to do "other" things before I can leave on the run. It was worth some bucks tho so no huge complaints, just that it drags out the run longer.  And now that they are mostly having empty trailers waiting down there for us, it really only makes good money if you are cranking that run out in 2 days, have a day off and then back at it again.

I'm going to Cheneire again today.  It will not be a day run. That's guaranteed because I am not getting on the scales at the loading plant until 12:30, meaning the earliest I'll get out of there is 3:00 pm, then 4 hours 15 minutes down to Cheniere, that's 7:15 pm, but I"ll call it 7:30 and then at least 3 hours to unload.  I won't want to drive back after that.  Guaranteed I won't.  I might drive a couple hours and get it half done or something, but I'm not going to be rolling into the yard at 2:30 am and getting home at 3:30 am.  That will just ruin my day tomorrow. Far better to shut down before midnight, get a good night's sleep and then finish out the ride.


Meanwhile, I've started to bring debt down. It's going to be a long road but I'm well on the way.  After I pay most of the month's bills, I look at what I have left and then make a decision on how much to pay towards any given credit card - which there are quite a few of them. Some are at zero balance, some are at low balance and then there are 3 or 4 that are at higher balances, the highest of which is around $2,700.  But, that one was well over 3 grand before I started this endeavor, so I can feel good that it is, indeed, coming down. I rarely use credit cards any more.  Only if I want to put a purchase on a card for the guaranteed backup that you get in protection from the card provider for purchases.  That would be higher dollar amounts, the likes of which I am not interested in doing much of for a while. 

I'd love to do a "cash only" endeavor for a year like I did a long, long time ago. It changed the way I deal with debt.  I think another dose of that would be helpful, but I have far too much transactions for paying bills over the internet. When I did cash only, I literally did cash only.  It was a tough year, I'll have to say that, but when it was all said and done, I learned a lot of valuable lessons.  Debt is easy to get into, harder to get out of. 

But now that I have a lot of this going down versus up, I'm going to pay off the lower balance cards and get them down to zero so I can direct more money to the higher balance cards on any given month.  That's how the experts explain the best route to do it. Whatever you paid on one card, once you pay it off, add that to a payment on another low balance card and so and so forth until you have everything paid off. 

I was going to do a loan and pay all of it off at once and just have one monthly payment, but after looking at how much I would end up paying in the end, I changed my mind.  Even with interest the cards would not amount to as much as I would pay with a loan.  Just have to discipline myself to make sure I continue to pay this debt down and get it behind me. Doesn't help that I just dumped almost 6 grand onto a credit care card to fix my teeth, but as far as I'm concerned that was an investment that needed to be done. My front teeth were gross, ugly, nasty looking.  I mean I was one of those people that didn't open their mouths much when smiling. It was something I had wanted done in forever.  I still have one visit left and that will be over with.  One more filling and one more crown.  There is other work that I would like to have done, but it can wait until next year when I get a fresh $1,500 on my dental insurance and spend it on bonding on my lower front teeth to get them looking good too. They aren't bad now, just need some tidying up. 

Meanwhlile, I am also going to open up yet another savings account for a trip to London.  I am not necessarily it's a good time to go, but it's not until the beginning of next year some time.  Lol, a sample search of dates next year first class for 2 people is 6 grand round trip.  I guess not.  Seems like a long way to fly in coach tho, all cramped up for that length of time.  Hmmm, premium economy adds more width and leg room.  I dunno, going to search the internet and ask for suggestions on finding the best airfare. 

I don't have to go to London for my first overseas trip lol.  It's just where the lion's share of matches for DNA came up from the DNA search.  I'm thinking of doing the other DNA search one that has a lot more people signed up on it and more data might be available.  My DNA results were mostly in the London area and east of london towards the shore.  But Australia came up strong and other parts of England as well. 

New ride is working beautifully so far.  No engine or transmission problems, just glides down the road.  It's a longer version of an SUV. I was noticing on my way home yesterday the large numbers of the "regular" SUV's that really don't have much room in the back. They have 3 rows of seats and almost no room behind the last row at all.  Yes, I know you can fold the seats down but that extra room is really something I need for some of the things I do without having to hook up to a trailer.  So far, I"m very pleased with this decision even if it is a Ford.  I haven't really owned a Ford since I was a teenager.  I've had Chevy, GMC, Subaru, Nissan (I will NEVER buy a Nissan again after the last fiasco and a brand new truck that had a bad engine), I think that's the gamut since I"m mostly a Chevy/GMC person.  But for the price, I really think I got a good deal.  That thing sold at 51k when it was new 7 years ago.  It has 120,000 miles on it, if I can get to 200k miles without any major issues, I"d be very happy. 

And yes, I"m still wanting to get 2 more 4 wheelers. That would come out to around 3 grand give or take.  I'm a "live life while you can live it" person, not just wait until you retire and then what? You're old, not as energetic or even have money options to do such things.  Do both is my thinking. I have a large amount of money going to retirement every paycheck, I at least have that covered.  I still have that money mom gave me to invest, I haven't had a lot of time to look into wading into the stock market, but I guess I need to make that a priority. 

Beyond financial issues, of which I really am focused on to deal with debt, there are spiritual things that are pressing me.  I haven't been to church in a while, mostly because I work almost every Sunday.  Wednesday night services? Working.  I'm really missing the worship environment.  I'm not big on the other people going who may or may not have sincere intentions of going in there, mostly shallow people that have no working knowledge of the Bible of which the allegedly hold so dearly or even that much into worship.  I mostly go to church for the worship aspect of it.  I've had enough dealings with people in churches that I really can't look at it as a social outlet.  Too many backstabbers, gossipers and people that judge each other over petty stuff. "Take the log out of your own eyes before you try to take the speck out of someone else's" or however that is actually worded.  I have enough personal issues, I know what I need to work on I don't need someone coming up to me and shoving their version of my reality in my face.

I don't take kindly to such things and I will push back.  It's one thing to be accountable, entirely another for people to push their opinions on how you should be living your life.  If you were able to scrutinize their lives, you would likely find a barrel full of garbage in their baggage as well. 

Anyway, really something I want to work on. 

With that, I bid you a good day, for I want to watch the news, get caught up on the Trump/Putin meeting and get ready to head out for 14 hours of non stop go go go. 

I'm still quite impressed with President Donald Trump.  He's taking the tough stances that should have been taken on a myriad of issues even decades ago on certain issues.  Right now he's telling everyone that Germany made a very bad deal to agree to build a pipeline to Russia while wanting US protection against Russia? Yea, that's pretty messed up.  He's also demanding that NATO members up the ante of their military spending to at least 2%. 

Anyway, I did end up buying a vehicle at the Ford Dealership where I got the Caddy whose transmission went 200 miles into driving it.  There aren't too many dealerships that I know of that would just buy a vehicle back outright and not end up having me pay anything  in that exchange.

If they are going to be that above board, I figured they deserved my business.  I ended up getting a Ford Expedition - a large SUV - with almost all the bells and whistles that the Caddy had.  A lot of the stuff the Caddy had I wouldn't have ever used for lack of desire to figure out what all those buttons were for.  The things drives like a dream.  It has a rear door that opens and closes by itself.  It also has a sunroof and has all the gadgets on the dash including built in navigation.  I still need to learn how to use it lol.

I"m not looking at this as a "forever" vehicle.  It's just that my credit still isn't up where it needs to be to get a late model vehicle and still have low enough payments to keep it in my comfort range.  I mean, sometimes they are offering 0% financing on new vehicles, tho I'm not really interested in a brand new vehicle.  If this thing drives like it does now for a couple of years, I'll be happy with it.  It is very large meaning it will comfortably pull the trailer for whatever I need to use it for.  It has a full tow package of course, so nothing need added to the vehicle to make it tow ready.  I'm very happy with this decision as the other vehicle they had in my price range was really a pile of junk.

Yes, it is a GMC Sierra 4x4, but it was too old, had too many miles on it and the interior was worn out.  The steering wheel was worn down in the place where the previous owner held the wheel. Carpet and seats would have had to have renewing to make it nice.  The exterior had dings, scratches and the hood was fully oxidized.  I had a lot of people saying I should get the GMC over the Ford - I'm not the biggest Ford fan in the world but I"ve owned a few - but this truck just wouldn't have made me happy, not at that price. 

I got this vehicle with no money down at the payment I wanted and gap insurance added for free.  It is well within the book value for a dealership vehicle. I might have been able to find a better deal somewhere else, but time is precious to me and spending days and days worth of time looking at vehicles just not in my realm of desires of things to do with my time off.. 

Now then, it's Wednesday.  I had to look at the phone to determine that. The days of the week don't mean much anymore with this job I'm working.  I worked Sunday and Monday and now on second - much needed - day off.  I didn't ask for it off, I'd rather just keep getting this Brownsville run and if that means only getting a day off and then right back to work, so beit.  But I was worn out and 2 days off has been really refreshing.  I'm forcing myself to try and make it a year there to at least get some time distance between the last jobs and not appearing to show as if I just jump around alot......and getting my tanker/hazmat experience in and hopefully at some point either transfer over to my compnay's fuel division or find another company that will hire me for that job. 

That's quite a bit different type of tanker hauling than cryogenics, I'd have to get trained in it, so the best option would be stick with current company if at all possible.  I've been reading online that the truck driver shortage is affecting pay substantially in many trucking companies.  One guy was talking about it the other day on an internet trucking forum saying they had upped his pay to .65 cents per mile to keep him from finding greener pastures.

Sixty five cents per mile!  That is crazy good money for not being an owner operator.  Even my own company is now starting experienced drivers out at .55 cents per mile, 2 cents per mile more than I"m making.  I'm not really going to complain about my mileage pay because I get other pay on every single trip.  Stop pay at least $100 worth on every trip, pay for doing my pretrips and almost always at least a little detention pay.  They give safety bonuses out quarterly as well. 

Well, I lost my debit card 2 days ago.  No, 3 days ago I think.  Anyway, I was out on the road when I realized I had misplaced it.  I called the last place I had used it at the hair salon, they didn't have it.  I tore the house and car upside down looking for it, no go.  So yesterday, I canceled that card and had them send me a new one. Not even 24 hours later and the card is already here?!!!

My manager just called.  A tanker load rejected by a plant in Illinois, can I come in in the morning and take it to Cheniere?  Uhh, sure I guess lol.  It means I don't have to load the trailer, I still have to take it into the plant to have it reweighed, but that's just a matter of maybe a half an hour max. Loading is a matter of 2-1/2 to 3 hours.  Which squeezes the time it takes to get down there, get unloaded and try to get back up in a single day.  With 2 plus extra hours - it should be no problem.  No guarantees, but I don't like Cheniere taking more than one day for it doesn't pay enough to justify it.  It's less than 500 miles round trip. 

Well, I'm going to get ready to go to daycare.  One of the kids needs picked up at 5.  My friend picked the other one up at around noon, took him to the doctor to find out what's wrong with him, brought him back here but left the baby at daycare.  She could have just brought them both back lol, now that I think about it, I dunno why she didn't.  Anyway, she's working late to make up for the lost time for the dr. visit. so I'm going to get the other one. It's like 2 miles away.

With that, I bid you a good day. 

Just back from yet another Brownsville trip. I could literally do those the rest of my driving career and be happy with it.  Lots of miles, easy enough route.  I have Houston down now.  GPS always wants to take me through the middle of downtown, but hazmat doesn't allow me that option.  There are 4 routes I can take.  Sam Houston tollway either going east or west or 610 going east or west.  610 west is usually a freak show.  It's the shortest route but I have gotten caught up on it enough times.

Enough times, that is, that I found an app that shows real time traffic.  For all of Houston.  I mostly take the Same Houston/8 route, but there are times when even that isn't working and I got east.  Anyway, I rarely get caught up in ridiculous traffic jams now after finding that app so I'm good with it.

I've had other drivers telling me about routes around Houston, but after looking at how much extra time it adds to the trip, I rejected all of that info.  They don't want to deal with traffic in a major city.  I get that and I can respect that, but they are spending FAR more time on the road than they have to. I drove Phoenix city routes for years, Houston isn't even as bad as Phoenix traffic.  My goal is to make it to Brownsville in a single day's drive.  That doesn't always happen, which is fine, it's all paid time, but mostly it does. It's great miles, it's great money and I get home after 2 days . \

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Ok, back from yet another Brownsville trip since I started this post.  It's Tuesday, the day before the 4th of July and I have no idea whether I will be home or on the road tomorrow.  I'd prefer to be home.  In fact, a couple of days off would be really nice right now.  I'm a bit burnt out on the driving factor considering how much of it I've been doing.

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4th of July.  Just spent yesterday doing much of nothing. I went to the dealership to look at vehicles but the salesman I am dealing with is on vacation and I didn't want to start all over from scratch with another salesman, so i left.  But this particular dealership has several vehicles that I am interested in at pricing that might make it worth taking a look at.  I'm all about talking prices down tho. Whatever they have posted, it's coming down at least 2 grand for me to purchase it.  That was all I got done yesterday.  I was so out of it today that I slept in until 10:00 am.  It feels like I skipped half the day. Tomorrow, I have yet another Brownsville run and this is, of course, the first/early load.

So tomorrow will basically suck unless I can somehow manage to get at least 6 hours of sleep in.  I always go to bed in time for it, but I always wake up early and usually not manage to be able to get back to sleep.  I don't know why.

I just checked my DNA progress, it's on the final stage before they produce "raw data".  I won't have to wait for them to send it to me, either, I can view the info online as soon as it is uploaded.  I'm very curious as to what the results will be.  I've always had this questionning in my mind as to whether my lineage is what I was told it is.  I'm not calling mom a liar, not at all, but she didn't have this kind of info available through DNA processing.  If there isn't any Irish in me I will be ... shocked actually. But, that is what I'm going after, the truth of our family lineage. 
\
Today?  I was going to go get a haircut, nix that, they are all closed around here because of the 4th.  Weird these small towns.  In Phoenix I could go to anyplace probably and get my haircut lol.  So,, off to Walmart for more clothing and some stuff for the truck.  I don't think the salesman is  in today, either, so I'm not likely to do that.  The washing machine is still  broken as Sears parts has screwed up the order 3 times now.  I didn't order it, if I had, I would have cancelled the order and driven to the town 30 miles over and acquired the part. 

I can either go to a laundromat and waste hours there or I can just go to Walmart and get more much needed new clothing. I'm opting for new clothing.  I have worn out my jeans to the point that I am going to replace all of them. Work jeans that is.  I don't have much "casual" clothing.  I'm just not much of a clothes shopper. I get what I need when I need it.  Other than that, unless someone with fashion sense goes with me, buying clothing for other than work is not my forte.  And so, I probably won't get much of anything done today besides cleaning, which I have already done a large amount of and probably do some grilling.  Like, steaks or something. 

One thing I can say here and now that I am very pleased with is my continuing trips to Brownsville.  It's really a great run and really works out for as close to the way I'd like a work schedule to go as possible considering the type of work I'm doing.  I'd rather do 2 Brownsville runs with a day off in between than a 4 day run and no home time.  It all adds up to the same amount of miles, actually I think the brownsville run adds up to more miles and it is less taxing on me.  My goal is to eventually find a hazmat job that gets me home most nights.  Right now, I'm sticking with this place just to at least attempt to get a full year's experience and have that on my resume. 

In fact, yes it does add up to more miles.  It's 562 miles to Brownsville, the 4 day trips are less than a 1,000 miles each way.  So, the numbers add up to about 400 more miles with 2 brownsville trips versus less than 2,000 mile on a 4 day trip.  I dunno if she'll send me out on any of those 4 day trips, most drivers want those runs and I have made zero mention that I want any of those runs and have made it distinctly clear that I really love these 2 day brownsville runs.  Those other drivers don't live around here, they would rather spend the time on the road.  I do wonder if they have ever run the numbers, tho, to see that they could be getting more miles? 

Well, Happy 4th of July and I think I'll get my shopping done and then find a war movie to watch. 

Donald Trump will go down in the history books as one of the greatest Presidents that ever occupied the Oval Office

And per my post topic, if Trump hadn't become president, we would be on this socialist path of Progressive idealism that would have taken this nation to the brink of inner destruction through the demise of strength of economy through capitalism.  And a HOST of other reasons that I am not going to bother going into.  He is leading this nation back to a stance of world dominance in the economic sector.  Simply because progressives attempt to redefine liberalism and bring about a so-called new age of federal/government control over everything is being promoted over all the liberal news media does not therefore make it something that is good for America.

Yes, I subscribe to Make America Great Again!

Onto my personal things.

The workload has been intense this week.  One run after another. I'm home a day today - tho I didn't actually get home until 11:00 am - and right back out to Brownsville tomorrow morning.  I have NO idea why this plant in Mexico needs so much Ethylene, but we have trucks going down there every single day.  Ethylene has a limited number of uses and it's just a very big curiosity factor to me to find out what they are using it for and why they need so much of it.  Something like 2 truckloads a day going down there. 

I'm going to keep asking what this plant is building and what the Ethylene is used for until I get an answer, lol.  And on that point, I at least got 10 hours of detention pay on this last trip.  I got there, no available trailers. Well, there was one but another tractor was sitting there already. I could have taken the trailer, lol, but that would have been wrong. 

Anyway, I will be getting low on hours after this run tomorrow - probably in the teens range.  I could still go out somewhere, but with the addition of new drivers, it may not be necessary. I think she's trying to keep me happy with my paychecks and that's fine with me.  I have several things I want to buy, not the least of which is an AC unit for this room. I could buy it now, frankly, and I would have today. Just time!  Lol. I need a couple of days off but I don't want them until my hours run out to the point I can't drive anymore, anyway.  My savings account is slowly going up and up, my checking account goes up and down but nothing even remotely close to zero like it used to be at that other company. 

I like the Brownsville run because I like the drive. I have it down to a science and after the first 100 miles it's mostly level driving, no up and down hills and mountains such as in other places and having to watch a truck slow down to 30 mph because the hill is so steep and the truck is lugging it's way up it.  And, it's good mileage for a 2 day run (unless there is detention pay, which makes it even better) and with enough of these runs, I can make serious money and get home every 2 days.  I'm very comfortable with this setup. But, there are always other runs I don't mind doing, just this one really works well for me.

Dogs were very happy to see me after almost 4 days gone, I'll be gone another 2 after tomorrow morning, oh well. They have the dog's life, lol, they are well treated at the other house and I don't even worry about them when they are over there. They come out looking for me in the living room over there when I've been gone too long, tho, so it's been reported. 

So, in looking at my DNA process, it's being "extracted in our lab"  I dunno how long that takes. I'm very excited to find out my lineage/history, what roots are mine to claim. It could be something totally different than what I've been told.  Whatever it is, I will embrace it and run with it and make plans accordingly.  I must visit whatever lands that I originate from, that is a bucket list. 

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Saturday night  I don't have to leave the house until 8:00 am Sunday - tomorrow - morning.  I get stuck with Sunday trips a lot.  I guess I could say something about it ... and probably get runs that I don't like or want.  It's life as it's going for right now.  I'm out many more Sundays than home. 

I never went to the dealer.  I was going to go, they have 2 trucks there at prices that are in my range and are what I would like to own, versus a "compromise".  It can wait.  I wasn't feeling it today. I wasn't feeling anything.  I find the need to have a couple of days off here and there, even if not on the weekend, which almost never happens anymore. I don't really care, just get me off.  After this run tomorrow and going through the next night or possibly longer if there is a wait for a trailer, I will be ready for a 34 hour-2 day reset.  It will represent around 4 grand of work in the last 7 days and that's fine by me.  Yes, that's how much driving I've been doing.   Lol.

So, I'm sitting here looking at youtube videos and a Haddaway What Is Love video pops up. It's a bunch of rather very nice looking ladies doing some serious moves to the music. They are fully clothed, thank you.  I decided to get up and try some of that.  I lasted - 60 seconds? - before death, nauseau and the feeling of regurgitation entered my mind and body and I quit.  Lol.  It fueled the fires in my mind of my recent thoughts of how bad of shape I have become.  A sedentary job and little exercise.  Truck driving takes stamina, yes, it doesn't require physical effort. At least not the driving part.  And in my current job, the driving part is what, 95%? of the equation.

I already get out and walk around when I stop wherever I'm stopped. My legs don't work quite right and it takes a while to get that back into normal funk.  I am not vowing anything, I"m not even promising anything to anyone or even myself, cause' if I don't do it, I don't need to get into all this self condemnation shit.  But I am going to at least try to motivate myself to get much more physical activity for at least 30 minutes wherever I'm at.  A brisk walk, dancing to Haddaway, whatever!  This is the plight of a lot of truck drivers and why you see very, very many over-sized men and women getting out of trucks. You drive all day long, you don't feel  like doing anything. Go get a shower, maybe, get something to eat and then crawl in your sleeper. It's even worse nowadays with satellite tv being pumped right into sleepers and even less motivation to get out of that damned truck and do something.

It's really a very sedentary lifestyle excepting for certain types of trucking that require physical output.  Yet, stamina is increased with regular exercise.

Whatever the case, it's getting close to bedtime. I'm finding that is also changing to "later" than "earlier".  Very dependent on what time the load time is.  But I can tell you what time I will be stopping give or take on any given day by determining what time I started.  Tomorrow I'll be on the clock around 9 am, which means I'll be stopping around 11 pm if I'm lucky and actually make it all the way down there. I usually do, but there is always that one thing that happens that you can't stop from happening and has consequences on the entire trip and when you get back to the yard.

Mind full of thoughts. 

Tuesday. I'm totally worn out. 2 early load times in a row has taken it out of me.  To get anything done around the house today would be stretching it. Not to mention James mom and step dad are here and are pretty much running everything.  I'm pretty much decided to just do the bare minimum today and rest, cause I'm being sent back out tomorrow. If my manager gives me yet another early load time, I'm going to be forced to have to say something about it. There are plenty of other drivers, let them have that fun as well.

The difference between the 1st load and 2cd in terms of how I feel the rest of the day is substantial. It's only an hour and a half difference, but that difference determines whether I'm going to be feeling good or feeling like hell.

I called the dealer today and got a "we should have an answer about what's wrong with it by the end of the morning".  Well, IMO, they should have had that done yesterday.  Did they put me off? Did they put other customers above this?  Do they know what's wrong (ie: bad transmission) and not wanting to deal with it?  Why didn't they diagnose it yesterday?  I didn't get into all of that, I played it cool and just said ok, thanks.  I'm still somewhat convinced that it isn't going to need a new transmission since it worked fine the next day.  It doesn't slip, it just decides it isn't going to work. Like an electronic actuator not working properly or something electrical.

Of course, that could be a nightmare determining what's wrong in and of itself.

I was looking at my latest paycheck.  Even with all the time I have taken off here and there without pay, I have still grossed $40,000 this year and we're only half way done with it.  Near the end at Ferguson, I wasn't even making that much yearly.  I have 10% going to 401k which has already accumulated a huge amount considering the short period of time.  I do not, however, have any access to it. I mean, there is access but I have no URL to visit whatever site and credentials to get into it. I want to up it to 15% and look at what level of risk it's in.  At least, as long as I'm here.  I still haven't decided whether to roll over my 401k from Ferguson, mostly only because I haven't decided on whether I'm staying.

However, from a logical standpoint, it stand to increase much more with more money in it.  I've also got almost $100 per week being automatically transferred into a savings account.  That is, for now, emergency savings backup.  If/when it hits around 10k, I'll think about other things that it could be used for.  Actually, I think I might up that to $150 per week, I'm interested in having reserve cash around in case anything happens.  After that, I can really focus on bringing down debt.  I'm doing some of that now, but not anywhere near the point I want to be at with it.

I suppose I should just be happy with the money and leave it at that and stay at this place but there are 2 things that bug me.  First is the truck situation. The truck I am driving now has an issue that has been in the shop twice for and has yet to be fixed.  When this issue comes on the screen - it comes and goes - the cruise control doesn't work. My leg hurts at the end of the day holding that accelerator down all day long.  Yet, when I have taken it into the shop, they say "could not duplicate" the issue, so they don't do anything.  In other words, all of that disappears off the screen - yet the codes show there IS a problem.

I'm very tired of that.  This is what happens with newer trucks that get a lot of miles on them.  Issues, unending issues.

The second thing is I like to be home every night and off weekends.  I have grown somewhat accustomed to this lifestyle and frankly, Ann has been keeping me on overnight and 2 night runs for a while, so that's better. But this idea of working most Sundays gets old. It's ingrained into my mind and apparently my system that Sundays are a day off, not a day to spend 14 hours working and driving in a truck.  Last weekend I had Saturday off and Sunday on.  2 weekends ago I worked the entire weekend through Monday or Tuesday I think. I just fight in my mind with this stuff.  Do I deal with it or move on?

Perhaps my dad's advice of stick with something for at least a year really does apply here.  Do it a year, if you have the same sentiments after that year is up, no loss, move on to something else.  I think I'm about 7 months into this place, a long way to go to reach a year. After a year I would qualify to purchase one of their trucks through their program and stand to make a ton more money.  That is a long  ways off. It's on the outer reaches of my mind tho.  I'm really tired of being broke - well I'm not broke now but I was at Ferguson and using credit to survive.  I've bought numerous things that I have put off for a long time now and still saving quite a good chunk of change while doing it.

Well, I'm going to work tomorrow, that's what's here and now. And I'm doing much of nothing today.  Things I need to do, yes,, like a visit to Walmart, but nothing imperative that I can't go without.  I'm concerned what's going on with the SUV, but that's in their hands. I have no decisions to make until they tell me what's wrong with it - or better - it was something not too pricey and they just fixed it without demanding payment.  I kinda had to clear my mind of that for that man's words were really eating me about "we're not going to replace a transmission" on a vehicle I just purchased and only drove 200 miles before it died. That speaks to me of a pre-existing condition.  Whether they knew about it or not is unknown.

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So tomorrow is Cheniere.  A place I love to hate.  She hasn't sent me there in a while and I haven't missed it.  The load time is late - 11 am - so I won't even get down there until around 6 pm.  If it goes like last time, I will be unloading late at night and then, even if I have hours available, I won't want to drive anywhere excepting to get out of that area and get to a place where I can fuel and get a cup of coffee the next morning.  No, I'm confusing two places. Last time I was down there I had no hours left to drive anywhere and I had to drive out of the complex and park in the parking lot across the street for the night for the mandated 10 hour break. 

Welp, it's getting late and I think I'm going to hit the sack. No early rise but still want a good night's sleep if that's possible.

Looooooooooong day.  I'm just out of it.  I got up at 3:00 am, but I woke up at 1:00 am. Dumb dog made a bunch of noise, woke me up and I never got back to sleep.  So, to the plant, 2-1/2 hours there, the on the road almost 600 miles and finally "here".  I felt so bad and so wiped out I decided a cheap hotel room would be better than trying to sleep in that truck all night long.  Not to mention I probably won't get rolling until around 7:00 am, meaning here for at least 12 hours.

I wanted to make it here whether detention pay or not.  Get the run over with in 2 days if not and have time to get more driving in somewhere else - mostly likely a day/overnight trip somewhere.  It's just that she's given me this early rise thing 2 runs in a row, only 1 day apart.  I just can't deal with this.  The alternative was probably some crappy run somewhere that doesn't get me miles and doesn't pay enough.  So, I'm not going to complain I'm just going to hope whatever's next is not an early rise.  The 7 oclock one is fine by me.

I know I complain about this every time she does it, I've told her enough times about how much it affects me but she still does it anyway.  So, I'm a stop complaining to her about it and just try to deal with it.  It would have been really cool if there would have been no trailers in the yard when I got here - not only detention pay but a long wait meaning just rest.

Anyway, James mom and stepdad are at the house.  I always offer my room if I'm not there cause' otherwise they have to stay at a hotel and the experience is not the same.  It's not that they're broke and can't afford a hotel, it's that they have to leave and come back etc., it's not the same as waking up, walking out into the kitchen and making breakfast or going to get the boys out of the bed. She loves those kids.

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Okay, that was yesterday.  Took a shower after writing that and went to sleep.  Woke up early this morning and - went right back to sleep lol.  Then I woke up at 4:30 am - jolted upright actually - my brain told me while sleeping, apparently, that I had forgotten to put the elog device into off duty mode.  I laid there and thought about it for a while, finally got up and went out to look. Sure enough.  I put it in off duty, but that wasn't going to help me. A full 10 hours from the time I put it in off duty would have to pass.  No worries, I thought, I'll just sleep in and call the office in the morning to fix it and then I can leave.

I mean, :I made phone call after phone call this morning - it is Monday, I get that, but it was after opening time in the Amariallo office, someone should be answering the phone.  Many more phone calls later and getting new phone numbers from a different upper level manager and I had someone on the phone, they updated the info, sent it to my elog and it automatically updated itself.

Ugh, I thought, late start.  Oh well. Late arrival back, lol.  Houston traffic was terrible. Rain and accidents, slow downs everywhere, people driving stupid.  I just have never understood the rain and people's driving habits. It's absolutely nothing to drive in the rain.  To hydroplane you are either going really fast or there is a LOT of water on the road, any way about it, you can feel it when it starts to lose traction and you need only let your foot off the accelerator to get it to stop.

But it never fails. I don't care where you are, but when you are in a high density traffic area, the effects are much worse.  It seemed like an eternity to get through that.  Finally got to the northern part of Houston up to Humble - where I usually stop to take a break.  I never take breaks before I get through Houston coming from either direction. Get it over with before rush hour hits.

3 days done and gone. Preparing myself for another 3:15 am wakeup call from mama Iphone.  I took the new ride on a mini road trip to see how it rides.  Very nice. A lot of buttons and switches on the console I don't even know what they are for.  I mean, it's like looking at a semi console excepting I know what all that stuff is for.

I'll eventually figure it out.  I just got the dogs in the back door.  I'm curious if the 2 seats there are removable.  I don't need them. The dogs could either sit on the floor there or they can get on the back bench. Yes, there are 3 rows of seating in this thing

Of course now I'm stuck with a monthly car payment plus increased car insurance premiuim. I knew all of this, I walked into this, I made the choice, hopefully it wasn't a bad one.

I'm not really proud of myself for this 3 days off lol. I accomplished much of nothing.  Just didn't feel like doing anything. Spending an afternoon at a dealership wasn't too much fun and negotiating the price and having to get up to walk out 4 times, well, it's mentally draining. I hate buying vehicles, I really hoped I could get it done at the first place I went to - and considering I had already looked at dozens and dozens of car lots on the internet - I pretty much had an idea that this was the place to go.

I didn't want the only truck they had in their inventory that met my needs and the SUV didn't qualify on my financing.
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Okay, I have been deficient on posting.  It's Saturday afternoon, around 2:30.  I went to a place in Houston yesterday to deliver a load of Ethylyene.  A facility I hadn't been to before, workers disgruntled with pay and wanting to get the thing unloaded and get me out of there. I'm not sure having disgruntled workers around a plant that could take out an entire city block if it blew up is a very good combination, so I didn't want to be there that long either. However, in terms of a one day trip, this is truly a one day turn around.  I got loaded, got down there, unloaded and back up with about 50 minutes to spare on the clock out of 14 hours. 

And I felt like crap, all day long.  Another 3 am rise and get to work thing to be on the scales at 5:00 am.  I actually was there around 4:45 am and they got me right on and started loaded right away. That's the only advantage of the first load:  you're pretty much in an out of there around 2 hours, instead of the 3 it takes (at least) at any other loading time.  I had 3 days off, btw.  I pay for those 3 days off every time.  My next load is in the morning - and yup - another 3 am rise.  I'm still not feeling all that wonderful from yesterday even tho I slept in this morning.

I just shrug my shoulders. It will be a long day trying to drive the 562 miles in one drive tomorrow.  It always is on those early loads.  I usually try to drive straight to Ganado, Texas, where there's a TA Truckstop (preferred truck stop of our company with fuel contracts), fuel up the truck, take my 30 minute break and sleep all of that break.  However, yesterday I didn't want to stop to fuel cause I wanted to get home and have some pool fun with the folks here. So, I'll hit Lufkin after I leave the plant, fuel up at Love's, but still try to make it to Ganado or thereabouts to take that much needed 30 minute sleep break.  I have found out that many drivers don't make it down there same day. They stop 150 miles out or so and sleep the night.  They make it a 3 day trip tho.  I only like it a 3 day trip if I"m getting detention time. Last several times down there that hasn't happened.

But I did do a hotel down there last time since I got there at 6 pm and had at least 12 hours to enjoy a hotel room and it was Father's Day.  I got the room cheap and looking at it now, those rooms are still quite low.  It's a pretty decent room for the price and if there is a trailer at the yard down there, I hook up and park at the hotel parking lot.  I may do that again if I make it there tomorrow - which I will definitely try to do no matter how crappy I'm feeling - and get a good night's sleep. I'll be there no later than 6 again since it's first load.

Onto other news. The "new" Cadillac Escalade.  Beautiful vehicle, shiny chrome, good paint, all kinds of bells and whistles?  The transmission stopped working on the way back home yesterday. I was passing someone on the Interstate going around 78 mph - 75 mph speed limit - and it just stopped working.  I was almost to my exit.  I pulled over. Put it in park and then back in gear.  It started rolling again, but only in 1st gear. I limped it the rest of the way home in 1st gear and immediately called the dealer, the salesman that sold me this thing.

Well, let me go talk to my manager.  Sure.  He comes back and says bring it in, if it's something minor we'll fix it.  Oh, I replied, and if it isn't? Well we're not going to replace an entire transmission. I blew a fuse, instantly.  They got premium price on that thing because of the excellent condition it was in and the fact that there was nothing wrong with it. I had put all of 220 miles on it, the transmission goes out and they are passing the buck to me? I don't think so.  I retained my composure on the phone but I was fuming.  I let him know about his claims of 11 years straight president's award and how wonderful the dealership is because their customers are all happy....

Caught him off guard apparently.  Well bring it in and we'll look at it, but the service department isn't open until Monday.  That's fine, my reply, I'll bring it in tomorrow (today) and leave it for you to have your service department find out what's wrong with it and fix it. He didn't reply with the "minor" stuff. I turned the thing on today and it drove just fine over there, but the engine light still on, at least it coded so they can retrieve the codes and see what happened - hopefully anyway.

It was a sigh of relief tho that the transmission acted like nothing was wrong.  That probably means something electric, electronic, something cheaper than replacing an entire transmission.  But, I am prepared to find a lawyer and take this to court if it is, indeed, a faulty transmission.  Not after the claims they made.  I am also prepared to call all the local news outlets around here and see if they will pick it up. And of course social media, where outrage takes off like a kite in a tornado. 

Today? Well, I stayed up late last night at the pool with my friends here.  I did that on purpose tho. I wanted to sleep through the night and I knew I could sleep in.  That's exactly what happened. I think I woke up around 6 am only to fall right back asleep.  They texted me at  10 am, are you up and out and about with the dogs? Umm, no, I'm fixing to get up.  They were shocked, lol. I don't normally sleep that late. 

Now, Donny and Rene are coming over in a bit to enjoy the pool and we're going to have some steak and potatoes.  Sounds good to me. So, I'm a bit more at ease about the Cadillac, I can enjoy the rest of the day, go to bed around 9pm - I'd go earlier but it doesn't work - get up early and deal with tomorrow when it gets here. 

As for right now? Gotta make a trip to the store. I'm buying the food, someone else can make it : )