So after my last post earlier yesterday, my manager calls me.  I'm going to be like a used car salesman, he tell me on the phone. Ok, what is it? I figured something that would put me on the road for extended period, that's the way he talks I guess when he thinks it's something drivers don't want to hear.  Summarizing - a division in New Jersey, drivers out sick and drivers on vacation, they need fill ins.  Ok, sign me up, I said without hesitation.  I didn't even have to think about it after his prior note that I probably wouldn't be working until next week. 

The Brownsville run and the Oklahoma run are both down.  That screws us for runs, totally and completely.  They are our major workload, without both of them, we have little else in terms of heavy workload to keep us busy.  The Mapleton plant was a nice shot in the arm, but certainly won't keep all of us busy or other runs that are regular but infrequent.  

So I immediately started thinking about everything that needs to be put into place to make that happen. Food, mostly.  I can't keep enough food in the truck for 10 plus days but I can at least fill it up and hope that I can get to a grocery store up there when it's depleted.  But, I also thought, hmmm, this could fall through and I'm buying a lot of stuff for nothing. Off to Kroger's I went, keeping the purchases minimal.  I already have stuff to take, just was short a few things that will keep if the run doesn't go through. 

Meanwhile, I get a call from my house in Phoenix. The dreaded call that I knew was coming sooner or later: Mark "The AC isn't working".  It's been years since it has broken down, I can be grateful that it has lasted this long.  But no one is going to live in a house when it's 109 degrees outside and heats up considerably more than that inside a house with no cooling.  I asked him about having Sam, the neighbor behind us, to come over and look at it?  Before I spend 8 grand on a new AC unit, for that is what they will tell us.  

Sam is getting old, he replied. I said well whatever, Sam knows what Hercules he  is doing and he will just fix whatever need to be fixed.  But Sam is getting old! Well I don't care about that, call him and see if he can come over and look at it!  It's gonna be out overnight at least anyway.  He then argued about some new freon that is out and you can't get without a license. Great! We don't have whatever that is in our system, CALL SAM!  It could be a compressor or it could be an electrical problem.  Sam will figure it out and give you an honest answer at least.  He finally conceded and said he'll call Sam and get back to me. Look, Mark, i replied, I'll have the system fixed, I just think it would be good to save some serious money if Sam can get it going, he wants the work, he's been over several times before, he can fix it if it's fixable.

So, Mark calls me back 10 minutes later. Sam is fixing an AC and will come over afterwards. So much for the aged theory.  If he's somewhere else fixing AC, he can also be at our house fixing AC. Good, I thought, a thousand dollars is easier to digest than 8 grand - that's about what I figure it will cost to have the entire system replaced.   A compressor is around $500 at cost, maybe less plus freon. Sam won't rape us for parts cost and he will charge whatever he thinks his time is worth.  Anyway, after this post I'm going to start looking at AC companies and see what I can come up with.  I have to be prepared if Sam says the unit needs to be replaced. He won't do that much, he'll replace a compressor or fix electrical problems, he isn't going to replace an entire system.  

________________________

Manager texts back after hearing nothing from him and asking for details.  Umm, they haven't conacted me and I probably won't hear back from them until tomorrow. If you don't hear back from me by mid-morning, I'll get you on an ethylene run asap.  This was sent to me and another driver, I had no idea they wanted to send two of us up there. Regardless, I didn't cook anything and I didn't make any plans for leaving first thing in the morning, as I was earlier directed to do.  I don't know why I had to wait half the day and finally have to ask if it was still a go to get any info.  

Meanwhile, I texted Mark a few minutes ago.  Did Sam come over? No.  Well did he say he was going to come?  Mark then called me.  I talked to him at 2:00 pm and he said he was coming.  Well call him again, otherwise I'm doing something else.  I already found a business online, the house isn't going to go without ac forever and lose all my paying tenants.  No thanks.  I dunno why he didn't call him back sooner, but he said he would after I asked him to please do so.  

So now I have 2 issues. The trip to NJ isn't a big deal, it goes or it doesn't. The AC - big deal.  Big big deal. Mark can't just let that stuff ride, if I have to pay out the ass to fix it, so beit, I'm getting it done and over with.  

________________________

Still in limbo/Wednesday morning.  Manager should be showing up to work around now, I expect to hear something one way or the other.  The steam was let out of my sails yesterday and now I really don't want to go.  I really don't like being left on hold when facing a very long trip. I have everything ready - excepting food. Too late now to start cooking, I wouldn't even if I did. Make all the food for nothing? No thanks.  I'll ditch the diet for a while if I have to I guess.  I don't expect to hear from Mark for a bit.  

Hours later. Manager finally contacted us - he'll be getting us the info "ASAP", they are "discussing the trip up north".  That was an hour and a half ago.  Allegedly wanting us to leave by noon.  It's beginning to annoy me.  Make up your minds, we're either going or not.  I don't care either way at this point, in fact I could just stay home and do nothing looking at this week's paycheck that is enough to cover 2 weeks.  That's a LOT of driving going up there and back and that doesn't even cover whatever they're going to have us doing, which has yet to be defined.  He must have said New Hampshire, not New Jersey, for New Jersey isn't 1,800 miles from here.  And frankly, there are a lot of divisions between here and there with drivers that don't have much to do, why they want to bring drivers from almost 2,000 miles away is unknown to me.  

That's quite a chunk of change just to have us drive up there and back.  What I'm getting annoyed with here besides it being up in the air is the fact that the day isn't getting any younger and they'll expect us to drive at least 600 miles each day to get up there-  that was already stated.  I'll be up late doing that today 

Anyway, there are 2 ladies here now that don't live here.  The lady from Maine is here for 2 entire weeks.  She seems pretty cool, the other one is very low key and is probably happy to have a place to stay until she can figure out what she wants to do. Doesn't sound like she's going to go back home.  She was talking about renting a room in a friend's or relatives house somewhere.  I believe the grandma is coming today.  I guess grandpa isn't coming, he has a job that keeps him busy. He was in retirement, he got bored lol.  

Whatever, I'm getting off of here. Take a short nap in case I'm leaving. My clothes are packed and ready to go, food is an issue but oh well, live on sandwiches I guess.  

Tuesday.

The entire issue has been all but forgotten.  I mean, I won't forget about it, I just don't think it's worth ruining relationships over.  Apparently everyone else agreed. It rattled Taylor tho, she was crying and not happy about what had happened.  I think she seriously thought I was going to take my bat and ball and leave.  It would have to be a very major thing happening that's a deal breaker either for them or for me to have me moving out of here.  I have, however, given serious consideration to where I would go in case that happens.  Just considering, not actually planning. But I would probably stay in this area and continue working at my current job.  Unless I could find a job somewhere else that i would want to go that is comparable in pay.  That would be difficult to find right now with COVID-19 going on and the downturn in business everywhere.  

I mean, I ideally I'd like to live now wherever I'd like to retire and get that situation up and going.  Preferably the mountains.  Of which there is very little of in these parts.  But, I'm still going to go to the tax lien auctions and hope to get something decent - that is really something that I would like, get a property and pay for it all at once.  Owe nothing on it so I don't have to worry about payments, something I'm sort of loaded down with at the moment in paying back debt off and a car payment and all the work I have had done on my teeth.  Then, after the 180 day hold on the property before it actually becomes yours - the owner can still come back and pay everything owed on it plus a percentage to the person that bought it at auction - you can use the property as the down payment to have a house built on it.  A 5 bedroom hours with 4 bathrooms, guest suite, a couple of fireplaces would be nice lol.  A huge pantry and other amenities.  

But I digress. I'd rather build a mobile home/RV park and start a lucrative line of permanent income coming in.  Getting the property to do that is step one.  So, I've been stuck on step one for a long time.  All I can say is I'm actively saving for it.  About 10% of my monthly income is going directly into a savings account for that purpose.  Even more going into 401k - which is up higher than any amount I have ever had them at.  A full recovery from the crash that the doomsday sayers were saying would wipe out everyone's wealth, that sort of happened, but I didn't touch anything, left it all where it was at and now it's booming again. 

What happens in November remains to be seen.  Oh, where would I like to go if I had to move? Kentucky, Colorado, Arizona - the mountains not the city - and other places where there are mountains. Texas is nice, tho, because there is no state income tax.  Of course, when they turn the state red, that will disappear.  Taxation knows no boundaries to liberal progressive democrats who love to steal from your paychecks and hand it over to someone else.  I actually believe in "safety nets" they like to now call them, but only to a limited degree.  Invalids, seniors that are broke and would suffer unimaginably, disabled who legitimately cannot work, things of that nature we should take care of. The rest of it, however, is well beyond any Constitutional scope and nowhere in the Constitution is there any provision for single payer healthcare insurance or "green new deals" that would end up with a massive power feed to the federal government, far beyond anything we've ever seen in this nation.  

Anyway, I have no idea what I'm going to do today, I really haven't thought about it. The temps are ridiculous with the humidity making going out doors a bit undesirable. But, the boat is running pretty good I'd really like to take it to Caddo lake and go for a joy ride lol.  Everyone is at work, there shouldn't be too many boaters out there, that's usually a weekend thing when there is huge numbers of boats on the lakes and - rather dangerous situation as far as I'm concerned being a novice boater.  But, I won't get any experience with the thing sitting on the side of the house.  

It would, however, also be a good day to go over and visit the ladies at their new house.  Kim keeps me updated on what's going on over there with the inheritance.  The brother that controls it seems to have come around and will try to help her, finally agreeing to get a lawyer and make heads or tails of the will and what can and cannot be done.  I suspect the lawyer will say  you can basically do whatever you please as executor of estate, but you are "supposed" to follow the intent of the person that has passed.  If you don't, you can be sued by the other people named in the will.  That's pretty much what I would expect to hear back from a lawyer.  Handing it over to some management company is a very bad idea, IMO and I said as much to Kim, asking why her brother can't simply handle it?  Not like he has to spend his entire days managing the estate, make the decisions and get it rolling and that is really the extent of what he would have to do.  But, it's really up to her to push for getting whatever she can out of it, I'm just trying to motivate her.  She could buy a house anywhere she pleases.  She doesn't want to and it just baffles me as to why.  She's as old as I am, I would love to have the security of knowing I'm living in a place that is paid for an nothing owing but monthly utility bills. 

Okay, well enough of all of that.  I'm hoping to get a run that will get me out of here and keep me out at least until Friday. I don't really want to be here when grandma, grandpa, the current house guest and a visitor from Maine are in here all at once. It's already 5 of us - their family and I  living here and now adding 4 more people?  I'd love to visit and chat with the friend of Taylor's - who was texting her the other day and asked how the "old guy" is, lmao.  So she took a picture of me sitting there with my arms crossed and a look on my face lol.  She said back coool.  Okay then. But it's too many people, I don't know where they are all going to sleep and that's not my problem. I do let them stay in my room when I'm gone a s a courtesy to James and Taylor.  I've never had any issues with it but then again I don't leave any cash or valuables laying around either.  

Oh, and my new birth certificate has already shipped! I'm absolutely amazed. The last time I tried to do this, it took over 3 months for them to ship it.  We're in the middle of this pandemic and somehow they already have it on its' way here in just a few weeks time? If I had known this when I was going through literally everything looking for my lost version of one, I would have just ordered a new one then and there.  I cannot renew my commercial driver's license without a birth certificate. The only other thing they accept is a marriage license, lol, no thanks.  Lots of credentials expire in February, I need all of them to continue work.

Oh, work lol.  Because so many other of our divisions have slowed so far down due to decreased demand directly attributable to COVID-19, they are bringing more drivers into our division.  Probably why I've been sitting for 2 full days.  One of which is a chronic complainer, I dislike the man very much.  He was the one that voluntarily took a position to help us new drivers when we came into the system 2-1/2 years ago.  The company had promised to pay him for his time but after spending some time with a driver, they refused to pay him, or so the story goes. I doubt that's the real story but it's all I have to go on.  Anyway, he refused to give any more help unless he got paid, got pissed at the manager at the time and switched to a different division.  Nothing but negativity, all the time, the man has a mouth that won't stop and I don't want to be anywhere near him. His buddy - another driver who never left - was sticking up for him at the office when we were discussing it the other day.  

But I didn't back down. The man never had to volunteer to do that and if a new driver needed help now? I would just help them for free.  No need to pay me for a few minutes time here and there on the phone, I know what it's like getting dumped into this job without any experience and no one to help you, save one dude that explained over the phone how to unload the truck.  It was nothing near as helpful as if I was there with someone unloading the truck and watching what's going on. It took a while to figure out the nuances and frankly get over the fear of dealing with this kind of chemical. I really wouldn't want anyone to go through what I went through, such as the first time, unloading LNG and having it spray out of one of the release valve tubes, raining on my head which thankfully was covered with a hard hat and I was clothing in winter clothing, saving me from extreme freezer burns.  

So I'll be happy not to even come in contact with that dude.  Anyway, I guess I'll have to live with longer periods in between runs once again.  The paychecks have been nice while keeping busy.  And I get into the groove of being on the road alot when - I'm on the road alot. Sitting at home? I tend to get into a funk where I don't want to go back out.  Just some mental thing.

Oh, I bought a small "tailgator" generator for the boat.  Harbor Freight just opened up in our town and they had one on great sale. It's only 900 watts but it's enough.  It's very small and also uses 2 stroke fuel, that's handy since the boat also runs on 2 stroke. And some other small items for the boat to get the canopy back in shape - I don't want to fish on a hot boat with no shade, no thanks.  

And  with that, off to the races. What races? I dunno, just a thing to say lol.  

 So I'll skip a lot of stuff to go straight to the drama at the house. 

For I got a text from Taylor - about something I have (not going to say what it is here on the internet, it's not illegal tho) - did you have it last? Uhh, no. Well they've disappeared.  She was in the middle of a huge drama with the others at the house attempting to determine who did it - it's impossible that the kids did it.  That's 100% certain.  So, it left 2 people that could have done it - no one else could have possibly done it for no one else has been here.  So I received a large number of texts, Taylor felt pushed into the middle of everything and asking how I could ever trust them again.

Those were not the thoughts that crossed my mind.  It's not the end of my world and I will get over it. In fact, I already have.  But, I went into my room with my dogs and shut the door, I don't need this drama after being out on the road for 3 days.  I don't mind the extra person being here, but at the same time, I don't need trouble with her or anyone else.  One person left, both persons denied doing it - yet one of them had to have done it.  Taylor is not a liar - she literally tells the truth about everything.  Even if it makes her look bad.  I know I didn't do it and I didn't even start this situation.  I would have been a bit irritated if I had found it myself, I probably would have said something, but I wouldn't have made a huge issue out of it.  Taylor apparently thinks I will leave over this.  

I had to tell her flatly that it isn't the end of my world. Yes, I'm a bit pissed, but it isn't worth ending friendship over. Or even carrying it around for days, or weeks or months.  I've learned not to do that with personal relationships.  Unless I really want to end a relationship. I have no interest in carrying grudges and bitterness. When you do that, it hurts you far worse than the person or people you are holding it against.  There is no denying that, it can literally ruin your life.  I've seen it so many times in my own life with family members, friends and acquaintances and there is biblical principle to back up the idea of forgiveness - don't even let the sun go down on it - don't hold it to the next morning. In some situations, that would probably be rather impossible to do, there are things people do that you have to have time to get over. 

This wasn't one of them.  

So, I'm highly likely to just sit in my room alone for the rest of the evening and let this wash over.  I have a large number of recorded shows I want to watch anyway. Air Crash Disaster, Bar Rescue, Star Trek will keep me entertained.  Everyone here is literally in a bad mood.  It's nothing I really want to come home to but my doggies were very happy to see me : )

____________

Well that didn't take long. They have decided that after all of these people come over and leave, they are not going to have friends over here anymore.  I thought and said, that's not who you are.  This is the first time anything like this has happened to me here.  Yes, but it's not to us.  Okay, well I figure this will wash away, water under the bridge eventually.  They can't not have people over. They don't do it all the time but it's in their nature and I really don't have a problem with it.  

Onto a few other things.  I got a $500 money order in the mail when I got home today. It was for the deposit for the house.  I don't recall giving them that much, but nothing is recorded. I could have sword it was $350.  It's whatever to me, they sent me the money, it's going into the boat.  It needs - well it doesn't really "need" it but it would be nice to have - a large trolling motor.  It would also be nice to have a sonar.  Can't have both, they both are rather costly items, I'll have to decide which to get.  It also needs a ladder but there is one at the boat shop in their junk pile of old boats. I need to get over there and get it before they ship that stuff off to the landfill. And I'm pretty sure they'll have a rim - they had several there last time but I didn't know there was an issue getting boat wheel rims.  

I dunno how this corona virus affects things like this, but you can't find a wheel rim in that size anywhere in town.  I really want a spare tire for that trailer and there is a mount for it on the side of it.  Of course that was stripped off the boat like everything else.  I'm just happy the boat appears to be in working order.  That was really concerning me. 

I wouldn't mind taking it out on a different lake tomorrow.  Tomorrow is Monday.  Everyone can go off to work, I can go off to the lake, it's only 18 miles away - different lake than the one I've been going to.  It actually has a lot of fish in it.  But I haven't decided on that yet.  It's been quite the day today, I'll decide tomorrow - tomorrow.  

I think that's about it.  Everything has substantially died down here, I missed the worst of it - tho I was getting texts while it was going on, I had an idea of how intense it was getting.  Just glad it's over.  

 Yesterday. Arrive at the plant, go through the temp check station - most of these plants are checking for fevers now before you can enter - get up to the security shack and - 2 vehicles ahead of me, not moving and security waving me down.  Obviously, the plant is shut down.  A fire visible and a spill not visible.  That cost about 40 minutes of waiting time.  By the time they gave the all clear, the traffic was backed up a quarter mile.  It's a huge plant producing almost 100 different kinds of chemicals, it is open 24 hours a day and employs a lot of people and contractors.  They own 6 locomotives just to move all the railcar traffic in and out.  

Once inside, weigh the truck and go back to the loading rack  Got me hooked up and I went to sleep for a while.  But after an hour and a half I wondered what was taking so long?  A while later, the loader finally came and said all done, our pressure was too high so we had to blow that off before loading you.  I wondered if I would even make it to my first night stopping point after the plant eating up so much of my 14 hour clock time.  

The scalehouse had mercy, at least, I wasn't in there 10 minutes before they had my paperwork.  There's 2 plants up here. One is 750 miles and this one is 824.  So, coming up here it's the same stopping point the first night, but then, in the morning, you have extra miles to drive plus this plant I'm at takes longer to unload.  That's where I'm at right now.  Another 4-1/2 hours of driving to get up here from where I was parked this morning.  This plant also forces you to drop the trailer inside the plant and then you leave, waiting outside. You can't see the offloading operation from here so I can't tell when they're done. Just have to wait.  I figured about 2-1/2 hours from what he was describing.  I have to make it back at least to St Louis in order to be able to make it home tomorrow.  

No guarantees there, but I"m hopeful.  In fact, after this entry I'm going to take a nap.  At least an hour lol.  

No word from Kim or Maria about their current plight.  I'll wait for them to contact me.  

The newest guest at our house is still there. Bad marriage, she came to get away from it for a while.  Dunno, but they've been having a bad marriage and marriage counseling hasn't helped them. She works from her computer so it doesn't matter where she is, she can do her work.  Just an interesting situation that has been deteriorating for some time now.

I got Caleb his new refrigerator - well I ordered and paid for it anyway.  Kind of a "once in a lifetime" thing. He seems to have a good marriage going and he seems to have his act together.  I am trying to save money but I think this investment is well worth it when it comes to your own offspring and  motivated and successful enough to get into his first home.  I kind of feel sorry for him, the housing market there is tight, there aren't that many homes available so the prices are starting to skyrocket.  

Mark told me on the phone today that someone offered $180,000 for my house.  That's a lowball offer but a year ago it would have been a decent amount. Now the house is worth $40,000  more than that and no end in sight where it stops.  Or even crashes lol.  I've seriously thought about taking an equity loan out on it and going to the next land auction and seeing if I can get land.  Then I only have the equity loan payment and no extra for the land, own it outright and only owe property taxes on it every year and property insurance.

I'm thinking of doing that because rates are so low right now.  I dunno if anyone's lending right now, haven't looked yet, been kinda busy. This is my third trip in a row up here - great money but costly on road time.  I wasn't sent a run for Monday so if I get back tomorrow perhaps I have the day off. Can't say that for sure, tho, this new manager has called me several times for taking runs out when I thougth I had a day off.  He doesn't operate like the previous manager and I'm just getting used to his ways of doing things.  If he calls with a run, I won't turn it down tho.  I just think you get off their "good" list when you do that and then you may not get anything good coming your way.

Trucking is a whole different style of industry and mindset, especially with management and dispatchers.  It has probably reversed back to an employer's market for drivers since COVID-19 has destroyed so much of the economy and taken away so many jobs.  Before Covid, it was definitely a driver's market - you pick and choose.  

Well enough for this one.  I'm going to shut this computer down, put it up and take a nice little nap and hope to at least make it the 263 miles back to St Louis area so I can get this trip over with tomorrow. 

So, it's Thursday.  

Got up this morning, got out front, hooked the hose adapted and fired up the boat.  Cold blooded beast, takes a while before it will start running smoothly. But it's an old 6 cylinder 2 stroke, so it's really not that bad.  I wondered how it would run on the lake, under back pressure and the only way to find that out was to take it to the lake and see what happens. 

The thing took a while to get running smoothly, something I guess I'll just have to live with, but after that I had no problems at all.  I ran it all over the look at various speeds and then idled down and let it sit for several minutes idling.  It started to cut out so I gave it some gas and took off again.  Having had run the thing all around a huge portion of the lake - there were other boats but none of them in that area - I then took it to the "dock"- a primitive ramp with no pier, no place to actually place your boat besides just aiming for land and beaching it.  

So I beached it with it idling, never quit (a miracle in itself from everything else that was going on with it before), got the suv and backed the trailer into the water.  Well, I backed it too far in apparently and lessons learned with a small ding on the boat.  After a couple of tries to get that thing lined up with the trailer, I rode it in there, but apparently too fast and because the trailer was too deep in the water, it hit the crank.  I was like, dang.  I could have saved it, too, if I had known it was going to do that simply by putting it in reverse and hitting the gas.  I'm new to this, lol. Old boat, no worries, one of the reasons I wanted to start out with something older. If I screw up, at least it's not a 40k piece of technology that I just trashed.  

The incident got me to forgetting about the motor idling tho.  I was about to pull the boat out and realized that I had not only left the motor idling, I also hadn't tilted it up to avoid the prop from smashing on the ground.  I think I need to write down the procedure for launching and capturing the thing until I have it solidly in my head.  Just little things you can forget and if you forget them, that little thing can be costly.  I was amazed, however,, that it had idled that long with no issues at all. It was just sitting there purring away.  

On the way back, tire blew out.  I really thought it had good tires on it, if I didn't I would have replaced them.  These two - black - guys were right behind me when it blew out. They pulled over in front of me, got out and offered assistance.  Considering I was rather screwed - no spare tire - I handily accepted that offer. I only mentioned their skin color, by the way, because of all the s*** going on in America now.  I absolutely do not believe that America is deeply infused with racism.  I believe we are all God's handiwork and can choose to see beyond whatever color your damn skin is. These 2 were in the poor department, driving an old beat up truck and pulling a beat up trailer. But- they go around looking for the odd jobs to keep their pockets filled with some money in them.  

I had a long talk with the driver of the pickup - the other decided he was getting into the back of the truck to allow me to have room to sit in it. No rear seats. I rejected that notion, we can all sit together, there is room. No, he declared. So, I just got in and we talked a long time about everything.  I mean, I have had black friends and I have had numerous, various encounters with black people throughout my life and the personal encounters haven't been all bad and usually very amicable.  Just saying here, we can get past all of this bs the media is pumping out right now.  Look beyond what a person looks like - whether young, old, white, black, brown, red, yellow, whatever religions, whatever else comes to your mind.  

I was particularly encouraged that they get out and hustle every day, do whatever they can find to do, mostly their main thing is cutting down trees but they'll do whatever, they bust their asses and don't feel like they are being left behind or that society owes them anything.  I've been poor, I know what it's like, no one needs to tell me what it's like struggling from day to day.  I think we probably spent about an hour and a half with this endeavor, from pulling the wheel off, going to the tire shop, getting the new tire and getting back and putting it back on.  I handed them $80 for their generosity - they didn't ask for anything either.  I thought that not only fair, but I have always thought it a good idea to help out your fellow man/woman.  They helped me, I could only help but give them something back.  

The experience was enriching and rewarding beyond any flat tire.  

Anyway, at the tire shop I got a text from the dispatcher: it's run to Morris, Illinois. It's not that much further up the road than the Mapleton run, I think it's an extra 50 miles, but that 50 miles changes how the run works.  It's still a 3 day run, but the 3rd day is all day driving, not half a day.  I will go up to Kenny's tomorrow, spend the night there as with the Mapleton run, but then driving up to Morris will add 100 miles considering going up and back, so I won't make it to Newport tomorrow. I will be happy if I make it to the truck stop on the state line in Missouri just south of Neelyville. That leaves 450 miles left to go, if I recall correctly.  

Yesterday - Maria texted me that the lawyer wasn't going to pay the rent and that they needed to move out immediately.  What.  My first thought anyway. We just moved you both in there and you're telling us that the deal isn't a deal anymore?  So I texted Kim, who called me instead of texting back. She was rather pissed that Maria had texted me that, although the situation can be dire, it's not hopeless.  The problem is her brother hired some sort of management company to deal with Kim's portion of the inheritance and it said they couldn't pay the rent, she needed to buy a house with the money instead.  

Okkkkkkkkkkk - so buy a d*** house! She knew this all along, apparently, but opted for renting.  Well I remember this now from a while back. She could buy a house if she wanted to but for unknown and undefined reasons wanted to rent.  Whyyyyy?  I'd FAR rather own a house than rent one. But, the stipulation in the will is that the house can be charged rent back to her.  So, even tho the trust bought the house, if the brothers so decide, they can charge her rent.  It makes more sense now, sort of.  The father wanted her to stay on all forms of government assistance that is possible and likely if you own a house, you aren't going to be getting that assistance. But after that thought, I wondered - the house probably won't be in her name, so that shouldn't matter.  Kim isn't telling us the whole story of her relationship with her father.

But, he did leave her the money, over a million dollars I am hearing, just with huge stipulations. So, I said yesterday, but a house, a huge house on lots of land.  Have the option of extra bedrooms and you can rent them out if you need to pay the rent if they charge you for it, plus left over to pay for the utilities which I don't think the will left any provision for.  She doesn't think well, she drinks too much, is drunk too often and I was goading her to be honest. DO something about your situation, ,call your brothers, humble yourself, don't get into a fight with them, you are really at their mercy with this situation.  That's the lines I was taking with her the entire conversation. They can help her immensely - or they can opt not to help her at all.  The will was far too wishy washy and left gaping grey areas.  

There are usually only temporary lapses in drama in life, I have found over and over.  I was highly irritated at the thought of moving them again after just having moved them into that house. BUT, if it's in a permanent residence, I can see that.  Taylor says that Kim doesn't want to live in this area is her hesitance of buying a house here. Fine, move to wherever she wants to move to and get it done!  It's all pretty clear cut for me, not so much for her.  She isn't getting any younger, she could have a nice property with a beautiful home if she wants it.  I'd love an opportunity to talk with the brothers.  But I'm a 3rd party, no involvement except my input to Kim.  

On another note, a friend of James and Taylor came today.  Why? Because marital issues.  She lives in Dallas. Sweet lady.  She came into the house without knocking, but she has her own keys apparently.  Why I do not know.  Anyway, she knocked on my bedroom door alerting me that she's here. So, we spent some time chatting on the front porch.  

And now? I'm doing laundry and preparing for what else - the first load, get up at 4:00 am. I can only dream of getting a good night's sleep. It almost never happens on first load and I am perplexed why I have such issues sleeping on the night before it.  Going to bed early doesn't help.  So I'll probably go to bed at a time to get 7 hours of sleep.  

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A few hours later and almost time for bed.  James set a fire in the pit, I enhanced the fire with the amount of junk we need to get rid of.  It's burning nicely : )   Well actually it's past time for bed for  8 hours sleep. I gave up on that long ago on early loads.  I burned up the cardboard - a lot of it.

I'm ready for my next trip. The lead mechanic texted me a pic of the dash - no more notices of the wingman being inoperative. I've driven 3,000 miles without cruise control - that's not fun, I can tell ya. My leg is hurting after holding the accelerator down almost 11 hours  I get out of the truck and walking like a man with a broken leg until a walk it off.  I can stretch my legs out when it's on cruise control, on an open highway with no or very little traffic to deal with.

Oh, I purchased the refrigerator for my son Caleb.  A bit pricey, but I got a long term warranty on it and it's a 25.5 cubic foot unit - much nicer for size than what they were originally looking at. It will be delivered there in time for them to move in.  It should be anyway, It's my housewarming gift - he's my son, not just a friend and I am glad to give them something quality that they were going to skimp on. It should serve them well for years to come.  

And with that, I'm off to bed. Goodnight.  Y'all take care, have a good evening and be blessed.                                            

The rest of the trip back was uneventful.  Stopped at Chili's on the way home for a bite to eat, went to Kroger's for dinner fixings and then went home.  Sometime this afternoon i got a phone call from my dispatcher.  She said I was the "only" one left that could do this run. It was a run going to Brownsville. I said fine, I'll be happy to do it  - but, I only have 15 hours left on my 70 hour clock.  So, after I get down there I'll have to do a reset. 

 Whhhhaaaatt?  She said she thought it said I had over 30 hours left?  Nope, I just got back form back-to--back Mapleton runs.  I can get it down there if you need me to do it, tho.  "Let me call Brandon and than I'll call you back".  It was a while - obviously they had to go through whoever is available or going to be available's hours and see if anyone else could do it without a reset.  The company, as I have stated a few times previously, does not want to pay for hotel stays.  I'd far rather do a reset at home, but I was more than willing to go out again tomorrow.  Anyway, she called back and said you're off the hook. I replied I would have been happy to do it!  So that was that.

Her end input was " I need you fresh and ready for Friday".  Lol, getting dumped with more weekend work, as usual. If I weren't making so much money I would definitely object to it.  And, there is a Mapleton run going out Friday, not going to be shocked if I get dumped with another run up there.  Tho I can tell you, if I were to do only Mapleton runs all year long, I would be making close to 100k.  I don't want to do Mapleton runs all year round, just saying it's a decent paying run.  

So, anyway, Maria texts me today, telling me that Kim's trust won't pay for the rent and they need to start packing to move now.

I didn't reply to that for quite a while. I had to process that and try not to get agitated or irritated that we spent all that time and money to move them over there and now they have to move?  I ended up contacting Kim and asking what's going on. An hour later she's calling me on the phone.  Her dad left her money - with a HUGE number of strings attached, I know that for a fact for I have read the will. But, they told her originally they would pay the rent, now the brother has switched from the lawyer to some sort of "management company", that is interpreting the will to say that she has to buy a house and the trust will pay for it.  That is not what the will says.  It says they "can" pay for her expenses and that she can buy a house, but, the trust can force her to pay rent.  It's a really weird setup.  Daddy left her with a lot of money that she basically can't use unless her brothers agree to it.

So I advised her to buy a house! What on earth.  Why rent a house when you can buy one?  Well they can still charge me rent.  Eat your pride, humble yourself, be nice to your brothers, make your case.  Humility - whether she wants to show that or not - goes a long way and she is only screwing herself being argumentative.  

Umm, I'm ending this one.  It's not that late - 9:35 pm - but I"m tired and going to bed, lol. Pick up on this where I left off type of thing on next entry.  And hopefully going to the lake tomorrow.

I had no desire to get out the laptop tonight, but, I had to pay credit card bills.  I just do it all in one fell swoop every month - and I was late on this one.  Not late on any payments thankfully, but I usually do this on the 1st.  So I just went through all of that and looking at balances realized I have racked up a bit more debt on them than I am comfortable with.  So, I'll focus on that in the next coming months and get it paid down.  

Anyway, I'm done with the second day of the 3 day trip to Illinois, back to back trips, I'll be glad to get home and spend a little more time than when I was there on Sunday.  The Mapleton run is a good one tho, it's decent miles and not too terribly much road time.  I mean, I've got 324 miles left to do tomorrow, that's about 5 hours plus fueling and taking a shower in Domino, Texas at the Love's.  

The Mapleton plant replaced everything.  I know I said that the other day, but they honed in on it again this morning.  I don't suspect we'll be getting any days worth of waiting pay up there any time soon.  They've got it dialed in that they get the thing unloaded very quickly.  And they are going through product much faster than they used to.  So, that means a lot work coming from that plant to keep us busy.  You see, I don't have to have detention pay at this company to make good money. It's easy money, but driving is just as good.  Obviously there is allure to sitting around getting paid, staying at a company paid hotel, but I'll drive and do the same or slightly better.  2 mapleton trips a week all year long would make 93k.  

Not that I want the same trip, twice a week, just showing the pay from doing this trip.  I"m all about the money, if I"m going to work, I want the dough.  

I'm sitting at a dilapidated old truck stop in Newport, Arkansas.  This is as far as I can drive from the Mapleton plant before running out of hours, I was down to 8 minutes before I got off the clock. Trucks are showing up all at once.  That's ELDs for you.   

I'm  still extremely unhappy to find out this dude that worked on my boat initially - I was trying to find someone that knew what they were doing and not having much luck - bought a "new" battery for the boat and come to find out - it's 2 years old!  So he just dumped a battery in there from wherever he got the thing and charged me full price for a new battery.  

Just gonna let that one go.  Might take a few days to get that out of my system - people defrauding people for money irks me - but at least I think I can now put the boat in the garage at Maria's new place.  The judge - he's a county judge and owns the property - won't let Addler over there tho.  He has something against large dogs, lots of people do, nothing unusual there, but kinda sucks, because its a beautiful property for doggies to go sniffing around in the woods and maybe hunting and using their instincts a bit more.  

Taylor said she wasn't going to be taking any money from me for watching the dogs when I'm gone.  She cited all I do around there including watching the boys.  If I'm home, I'll watch them, for it costs money - good money - for babysitters and the boys like me, we get along well for the most part.  I mean, I could go into the ridiculousness of 3 and 5 year olds, but I"m sure most people understand the details of young boys fighting over toys, smashing things, screaming, etc etc etc.  The 3 year old is still in the terror age, tho he's very slowly coming out of it.  I think. Lol.  I didn't fight with her on that - I do my share of stuff around there.  I slack sometimes, but that just means I do the bare minimum such as doing dishes and cleaning up.  Dishes seem to be that house' enemy.  I'll get back and there they are.  They're not mine, I didn't make them dirty, but I can't deal with a dirty kitchen so I just clean them, listen to some music and sparkle everything nicely.  

Okay, well anyway, I'm going to the lake either tomorrow if I get home early enough or Friday - if I"m not sent out again, tho my hours will be too low on the 70 clock and they likely won't sent me anywhere unless they are desperate. Because it will mean doing a 34 hour reset on the road, a thing I very much do not like.  Sure you get a free hotel, but you don't get paid for it. Might as well do 34's at home with my doggies and hanging out with friends and getting stuff done.  

I'm tired and this post is done. Long day and got up early this morning.  

650 miles yesterday, 325 miles today and I'm home.

But now without the manager calling me 20 miles out from the yard.  We chatted about boating and fishing for a few and then he got straight to the point.  I mean, I already know if he's calling me on a Sunday morning? There is a run or some errand that needs to be done.  That's without question, especially this dude.  His Sundays are sacred, so another driver told me after he got scolded by said manager for him calling the manager on a Sunday a while back.

Which is rather meaningless to me.  I don't call managers unless there is a serious issue.  A blown tire? Nope, I call the road service line and they find a service to come out and replace the tire. Breakdown? Yep - because it will affect delivery time and he'll need to update whichever plant about it.  Stuff happens, the plants usually don't give a hassle about a late load if there is a legitimate reason. But that's really the only time I either call or text him. 

Well anyway, he asked me how many hours I have left on my 70 clock?  Umm, guessing since I'm driving but I probably have about 40 or so available.  Okay, well I'm looking for someone to take a load up to - where else? - Mapleton.  He has a short memory, I had to remind him I'm just getting back from Mapleton. Not that I was trying to refuse the request, but I already have a trailer on the truck might as well reassign it so I don't have to drop and hook at the yard.  So, back today, back out tomorrow. 

But, he did give the info that Brownsville run I wouldn't get until wednesday at the earliest and Oklahoma run is going down again.  Which doesn't make sense we're sending product to Mapleton - they send product to the Oklahoma plant, owned by the same company.  And it's only going to be 3 days between loads for Mapleton, they are quite ambitious wanting to take another load that soon.  I half expect it to get canceled, but I'll fully prepare for it anyway. 

My plans tomorrow were to take the boat to the lake : (

Just have to wait until Thursday I guess.  I'm going to need to find a new place to store the boat now that Maria's house is no longer an option.  I don't want to store it here,, we have enough stuff here, I'm not even going to ask.  Plenty of storage lots around here, just have to start calling around and find the best deal with good security. 

Well that's it, really.  Plenty going on around here, but not really anything I should be commenting on on the internet that anyone can read. 

I finally gave up looking for my birth certificate and just ordered another one online.  I have 7 months before it needs to get here. Last time I tried, it took 3 plus months and that was before COVID 19. 

Anyway, time to kick back, relax and enjoy the rest of my Sunday. 

G'day. 

Up at 4:40 am, off to the races. Up to the plant - and found out that the plant had not, indeed, blown up.  That news that the plant had blown up was given by 3 different level managers in the company.  Where they got their information, no clue. But the manager up there, that I get along with quite nicely - we talk about smoking meats and that is one of his greatest passions - said the plant was bought out and the new owners wanted every valve and sensor in the entire plant replaced, along with a lot of underground pipe. 

No wonder it took so long. That plant is huge, there must be thousands of valves and equal amounts of sensors, well probably a lot more sensors.  I didn't get out of the truck because another driver had said they don't want you getting out.  Over an hour sitting in a hot truck and one of the guys came up to my truck window - I also know this guy, I've spent hours chatting with him in previous trips up there before the plant shut down - and he said uhh, no, you just have to have a mask on.  OH really?  I have a mask, in fact I have several of them in my truck.  But, a friend made one for me so I use that alot. 

So I went and got a fresh hot cup of coffee out of the operating control room - that is always offered - and then went outside to chat.  The smoker man - John - said no, lol, we don't care if you get out of the truck, they are just mandating masks now.  I said well, a certain driver said we aren't allowed to get out so I was just following the rules.  Who was that driver, was it Gary?  After that? I heard a lot of negative things about Gary.  He gets there very late. He doesn't tell them he is going to be late. The paperwork you get with the run always has the same thing written on there, part of which states that you are to call them "immediately" after you get out of the plant and let them know you arrival time. 

But the biggest complaint? Gary is full of himself.  He knows everything and he is quite smug about it.  Lol, well I didn't even know that he came off like that up there. He does like to talk about himself and his endeavors and how he has done this, that and the other thing and doesn't really want to hear anything from anyone else.  I just said to them to advise the new manager, he doesn't seem to tolerate that kind of nonsense.  And then off to smoking meats talk we went for an hour after that.

I'm pretty sociable person. I don't want to sit in a damn truck and bake my ass off when I could be standing outside where it's much cooler and chat with people that are very cool people.  I'd love to work at a place like that. John knows far more about smoking meats than I do and I just gobble up his advice.  He has quite the following with bringing some of his product to work for employees to taste and I have had the opportunity to taste his finished product a few times - quite good, especially the brisket.  He took his gloves off when the truck was unloaded, disobeyed Faucci and offered a handshake. Yes, I don't give a damn about Fauci and "you should never shake hands again" bs.  We shook and then I was out of there. 

Oh, this is supposed to be their day off, so they were very happy I showed up early. John came racing up to the plant as I was sitting there waiting for security to open the gate - John opened it with remote control lol.  They all left as soon as the truck was unloaded. I fought the clock today, get this crap done.  I actually had full hours - it didn't take near as long as it normally does for them to unload, so I was out of there in 2 hours.  7-1/2 hours left on the drive clock. How far can I go?

Well, I'll tell you. I know this route and I can guess pretty close how far I can go with the amount of hours available to the miles I can drive.  I figured I could make Newport, Alabama. With a fallback to Pocahontas - 55 miles I think up the road - as a fallback now that I saw  brand new truck stop built there when I was heading to Illinois.  But I made it to Newport with time to spare.  No way to make it any further with any guarantee of a place to stop and since there was only 30 minutes left on the drive clock, I was comfortable with 652 miles driven. 

Well whatever. I can get up at 4:00 am if I want and drive this thing out.  I'll likely get up at 5:30 am and get driving by 6.  But I can tell ya, if my brain wakes me up at 4:00 am, I'll get up and got. At the same time, there is no need to get up that early as this trailer isn't needed at the yard tomorrow, so I'm not setting the alarm that early. 

More going on, but I"m getting offa here and putting this laptop to bed lol

I am so tired. I wasn't going to pull out the laptop...but...

First thing is that I didn't sleep worth a crap. Happens frequently when I get the first load, early rise.  I dunno why, it just happens that way.

Getting on the road, about 120 miles into the trip, my manager texts me. First thing I thought was this load canceled.  Wrong, he then called me.  Uh, you should be getting back from this run on Sunday afternoon, right? Yes, as long as everything goes right.  Okay, well when you get back, you'll need to take your 10 hour break and then head down to Brownsville to pick up an empty. 

I didn't much care for that idea for it would have me leaving at around midnight, maybe 1  or 2 am.  But I just agreed to it and said okay, sounds good.

Then I get a text - you 2 modules on your training that you need to do tonight before it expires.  Okayyyy? 

Heavy rains storms - the type that slows you down because of greatly reduced visibility - on and off all day.  Up and down mountains - had to pay attention to speed going down the hills.  If I go too fast, I get a ding from the company.  It's whatever, I try to not get those things but it happens, but I kept on top of it today so I didn't get any.

Then after thinking half the day about the brutal schedule coming up - 2 nights driving most of the night long - I get another text: Brownsville cancelled. Yes!  Sure, I want the money, but not at the expense of my sleep and feeling nasty for days after having to do it 2 nights in a row. 

So, I stopped at a favorite grill instead of driving up the road another 60 miles today. I would have just driven out my hours to get far enough ahead to try to gain some time on the Brownsville run.

Anyway, I got on here to do these ridiculous modules. Training  the same things I have been trained on a dozen times at various plants, orientation and previous training modules.  Most of these plants make you sit down and watch a video on safety before you can enter the place. 

Well that's that. The modules are done, it's not late - 9:00 pm  but I'm out of it. Going to sleep. 

Today.
I went and got the boat, but I did not take it to the lake.  I had other things to do today and no time for that.  They fired it up, showed me it running and said I had probably flooded the carbs. The mechanic informed me these older engines are extremely particular about how they are started. He had it sit there and running for a while.  Which is all nice and fine, but it isn't in the lake with back pressure, which is the real litmus test.  But, I didn't argue with him, he knows what he's talking about I just don't know if that is the real problem or not. 

We shall see.  I brought the thing home, dropped it in the front yard, put the hitch lock on it and then proceeded over to Maria's.  I was going to help move, but upon arrival, I saw that it wasn't the small stuff I was informed it was.  I needed the trailer. So, I went back home, backed up to the trailer, got out and started looking for all the tie down straps.  No where to be found.  I texted Taylor, she said James has them in the back of his truck

:(
Having no interest in buying even more of those things, I gave up on that. James is going over tomorrow to finish up, I'm happy about that because Maria is in a very sour mood about all of this right now.  Kim isn't helping at all. I can definitely believe that, she spends more time drinking than anything, she has no motivation that I can see and also said we should "leave everything there and f*** the owners". Well, the owners will - screw - me for the deposit and I want that deposit back. It's $400, it's mine, no good reason not to get it.  Whatever they don't want can simply be hauled to the dump or if worth anything, just give it away.  I don't need more stuff over here! None of us do.

I then got 5 gallons of gas for Taylor - she wants to mow the lawn at work - it's a side job they pay her separately to do - but they didn't have gas and they weren't going to go get any.  I went to the coffee shop, got me a latte and her a mocha whatever it's called and then over to the gas station and then to her work. 

I'm kind of glad I didn't move any of that stuff today, while I was going to taylor's work I was handed via text message my next assignment - trip to Illinois.  I hate that it's going to ruin my entire weekend, but I don't hate the money. Brownsville has been lagging on the detention pay lately, 3 trips in a row down there I haven't gotten any. I'll take a longer trip and get more money out of it. It's a 3 day trip, the third day usually only has 400 miles left on it versus the 600 I drive the first two days.  I know where I'll likely stop for the first, second and third night. Tho I haven't done that run in quite a long time, all of the details of how it goes is firmly cemented in my mind.

This is the trip that canceled 82 miles after I left the plant a few weeks ago.  I don't want the trip to cancel tomorrow, I want to get up there and then they can shut it down and put me up at a hotel lmao.  Or just do the whole trip at least and make the money.  Ok, that canceled trip worked out tho, because I got sent immediately after that to oklahoma and since there were no empties up there I had to wait overnight, I made more money doing that than the full 3 day trip to Illinois. 

Anyway, I will have to decide what to do for food. I could make some stuff, chicken namely, for dinners. Or, I could stop at Kenny's the first night - it's a bar and grill south of St Louis, eat dinner there, then go to the steak house at the state line in Missouri, just south of Neelyville.

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Day over. Looked at the text for tomorrow again - first load Gag.  Like I want to get up at 4 am to get the day rolling.  Regardless, I made some chicken and bought lunchmeat.  Not too much, but enough if I get stuck somewhere or if I don't have any options for eating out.  Time for bed.

I was very happy to get a fresh set of eyes and ears giving opinion on Maria. 
Maria was complaining about Kim.  Kim this, Kim that. Kim was complaining the entire time, maria intoned, that Taylor was over there, I'm surprised Taylor didn't say anything to you about it.  Taylor - is a different kind of person. She doesn't look at things the way a lot of other people do and she isn't concerned at all what people think about her and she freely gives her opinion when asked and if it's something that either interests her or relates to her.  We're all pretty blunt around here, lmao, I can't imagine what those kids are going to grow up like being around such input. 

Oh, anyway, this is the other day when Taylor and james went over there to help them move.  Kim is a drunk. Granted.  But she isn't an angry drunk. She might complain about things a bit - her current situation with the inheritance is definitely something on her mind.  Most of the time she just agrees with everyone and asks people to repeat themselves.  I'm not, btw, dissing her by saying she's a drunk. She IS a drunk.  She drinks a lot, she is drunk a lot and Maria complains about that as well.  Ok, but....it's not an angry drunk kind of drunk. That does make a difference, at least. 

So Taylor came home for lunch because the next door neighbor's dog needs to be let out. They are all out on their own adventures and needed someone to let the dog out for "potty" purposes.  She had a completely different story about the move than Maria - and frankly I'll trust Taylor over Maria any day when it comes to moods, complaining and whining.  Basically, Taylor said Kim didn't complain hardly at all. She was drinking yes, and Maria came up and said "WANT ANOTHER BEEEEEEER, KIM?" Mocking her.  Maria doesn't live well with other people.  She's one of those people that needs to have their own place by themselves.

But she isn't in that position and Kim is giving her free rent to stay there. Bit***** about having to clean all the time?  Where else are you going to find where you don't have to pay any rent?  Money freed up, her quality of life could improve - if she so desired.  If I were poor and broke - and I have been in my lifetime - I would happily take whatever situation like that came my way and put up with whatever bul***** I had to. It's a large house, they could just as easily avoid each other. 

So at this point, I don't wonder if Maria is actually worse than Kim and actually the one making things quite difficult. She has 2 dogs and a bird.  She's really being given a gift.  It's a beautiful property back in the woods, out of town, away from people.  It's a beautiful house.  I dunno. I can see having issues living with other people - I've been doing it most of my adult life - but nothing, at least in this case, that can't be worked out.  She asked me if I would help her get into a new place.  I did not reply to that question yet.  I don't think she needs a bailout, I think she needs an attitude adjustment.

Whatever.  I got up today and got out of the house.  The bank, the internet/cable company, Kroger's, the hair dresser,  a bite to eat at Applebee's and whatever else I'm not thinking of right now.  Oh yes, the pawn shop to get some 9mm ammo.  Stuff is hard to find right now and the price tag agrees with that assessment.

Oh, and I'm very glad Addler is at home now.  He will be on a strict diet for a while until he loses the fat and is lean again.  I take that stuff seriously - they did not over there.  I can get him slimmed down in a few months on just dog food only diet, no treats.  We've been down this road several times now since it went from Rene to Maria.  Rene - kept those dogs nice and lean.  Maria - I have no idea, really, what.  Just must be getting fed extra junk, possibly other tenants, I dunno.  Whatever the case, the bigger the dog, the more the need to keep them fit and trim.  They live longer, their hearts don't give out at early ages.  Addler is a great dog, I'd like to see him around for a while. Not dying some early death because people are dumping garbage down his throat. 

Aspyn - jury will be out for a while.  I will give her treats because she is way too thin. Whether she had worms or not we'll find out as time goes forward and if she starts to fill back out or continues to lose weight. Frankly, I may just get the pancreas powder anyway.  I can get it cheap enough and it isn't going to hurt her to have it even if she doesn't need it, that according to the vet.  Dump it on her food, that's it.

I'm very hopeful the estimate of the truck taking a day and a half to fix is accurate. 2 days off is very much appreciated right now.  Tomorrow morning, I'm getting up earlier than normal for when I'm home and go get the boat.  Well, try to get the boat.  The thing best done did run before I even exit the property with it. 

And that's it for now. 

All wheel lock.  That is an option on the truck.  It's not 4 wheel drive, it's realistic all wheels lock drive.  Versus the other option where the other drive axle locks in but only one wheel actually locks.  That's what saved me this morning from having to try to find someone to pull the truck and trailer out of the bloody mess they parked that trailer in, in Brownsville.  You could see where the driver was digging out his tractor from underneath the trailer. They don't care and if you have issues they don't care about that either. 

I got out of that mess and then listened - on and off - to the Barr hearing today in the House.  A sham of a "hearing", democrats were giving speeches. They didn't want to hear from Barr. I don't know how many dozens of times when Barr would start replying to the few questions proffered to him that they said "I reclaim my time". They didn't want  an answer from him, the point of the hearing was obvious and a total sham.  These people judged him long before he ever walked into that room. They shut him down so many times, he just started speaking over the top of them, the same they were doing to him. 

Anyway, I'm off for 2 days.  The   part - that's what the mechanic described it as - came in  and told me 1-1/2 days to install.  There isn't a "part" that takes that long to install unless you're replacing a drive shit and doing a lower end rebuild - then it takes longer than that. This is the AC unit, there is no way it's going to legitimately take that long. These mechanics are desperate for work to keep them busy - i get that - but I have a paycheck to earn and it isn't going to happen with that truck sitting in the shop.  Yes, I love time off. No, I don't like what happens to my paychecks afterward.  A day off is good - well okay.

Right now, there is a boat to get from the shop and "fire up" like they said it would. There is finishing moving Maria - I haven't even been involved with that but that's because when this came to pass at the last minute, I was already committed to the road.  I don't know what's going on with Aspyn, her dewormingt treatment is over with, now it's just see if she will gain some weight.  Addler has gotten fat again - I haven't been giving him treats for some time, so I'm glad, actually, he's stuck here at the house.  He's on dog food only and that will most certainly force his fat issue back down.  James and Taylor won't give him treats regardless, so it should eventually see some fat loss.  I do not like fat dogs - not my own anyway. I have never liked it and I have never tolerated it.  They are animals and they should be lean and in shape.  They tend to live longer when they're in good health.

Whatever the case, nothing ever seems to stay " the same". There are just lapses and periods of time - short, long or in between - that you have moments of peace and then? Off to the races. 

Whatever the case, I received an unsolicited $2,000 check from someone today - total surprise and not sure why they are sending me money.  I have not asked anyone for money. I am not broke.  I don't think I "sound" broke. Those are  - at least for now - the days of the past.  Never say never, I could end up broke again - or just making it anyway - I don't take any current condition for granted.  Namely - my job.  That stuff comes and goes.  Or the predictions of what's going to happen in November, and I'm not referring to the Presidency, tho that would be the fuel for the fire. 

Will that actually happen? I have no idea.  I just live my life in accordance with "plan for emergencies" - which includes food and water supplies, alternate electrical sources and hunting/ammo to hunt your own food.  This is minimal stuff, not like our ancestors didn't have to deal with far worse on a daily basis. If you listen to the doom and gloomers, you are going to lose everything. If you listen to God, you will gain everything in the end so what difference does it make what happens in this life? 

I'm going to to force myself to drive clear over to that boat place tomorrow morning, get the boat, fire it up dry for a few seconds - it best fire up before I leave that yard - take it to the lake and see what happens.  Wait.  See what happens if the weather clears.  I didn't even think about that. A while ago, James, Taylor and I were sitting on the front porch.  A very bright streak of lighting hit and immediate resounding and very loud thunder.  A minute later, the same thing from the same area - it couldn't have been a quarter mile if that.  And thennnn, another one!  Same area!  That thunder will shake you to your bones being that close and that loud.  I was amazed after all the lighting strikes nearby that the power didn't go out.

Well okay. It's  10:00 pm, I have a show to watch and the go to bed. 

Last post I just put up - I guess I got busy and forgot to hit the post button. I'm not in Oklahoma, lol, I'm in Brownsville now.  We aren't getting much detention pay down here, they have apparently streamlined the process - but the company will start to miss the extra pay at some point and wonder what's going on.  Cause' they make a bundle off of us sitting here doing nothing.  It's not just the drivers making money off the sitting around deal, especially when it's slow, they're bringing in revenue. 

Anyway, I came down here after the Hurricane hit land.  Like 2 days after.  So there was some rain but not hurricane grade stuff, thank God.  This yard tho.....unbelievable. Giant mud puddle. And the empty trailer is sitting in a huge pool of water and obviously the truck that pulled out from under it had - some trouble.  Like a giant pit where he spun out and left me hanging.  I have all 4 locking hubs on this truck, I hope I don't have to wait in the morning for someone to pull me out of  here. Just a waste of time.  Well, I perhaps could legitimately call it a detention since getting stuck in mud and pools of water in their yard isn't my fault?  Who knows. I'm not stuck at the moment, I just backed up to the trailer but didn't try to get underneath it - that's where the trouble may kick in. 

I'll find out in the morning. 

Meanwhile, the move from Maria's house to now "Kim's" house isn't even near completed. I had nothing to do with any of it, they didn't get the house until after I was already committed to an Oklahoma run and then the next day - today - a Brownsville run. I'm hoping a day off after I get back tomorrow - unknown and not asking.  If they give me another run, I"m taking it without hesitation.  My housewarming gift to my son and his wife for their new home is a brand new refrigerator - that's some Benjamins there - don't want debt on it, just pay it off and be done with it.  I've got some debt on other things I'm paying off, namely that generator.

Anyway, this new manager was having a cow about all the drivers sitting down here - so he went on a warpath to get empties up here on time for drivers to get out of here.  Except? No one wanted it and everyone said differently.  He figured it out, I guess, but too late.  My suggestion to the new dispatcher - who is not my manager - was to send bobtails down here to get empties so loaded trailers would have to wait.  That's what the previous manager did and kept us getting detention pay far more often than not.  We were texting back and forth until  I said that and then she disappeared lmao.

Uhh so that's that. 

Up - not too early tomorrow - 6:00 am, nothing seriously bad - get out of here and get back to the yard and go home.

I need to get to the boat shop and get the thing and take it back to the lake.  That is really pressing on me, I've spent enough money on that thing, it's time to have some fun with it!  My patience wearing thin, it's been too long and too much with it. 

Anyway, it's bedtime and I need my sleep - it's a long drive and getting longer. This Interstate ambition the state has with this entire stretch of roadway is getting old. More and more new construction opening up the entire length of the trip and more and more delays. 

Uhh, yeah, no more complaining lol. Y'all have a good night.

So....

Maria and Kim were approved by the judge (he owns the property, wasn't any legal proceedings) to move into the house. The lawyer is going to send him the money for rent and deposits. They are moving today, I won't be able to help them since I'm heading out on the road in a bit, they are stoked. It's a beautiful home.  Absolutely gorgeous and I know Maria will take care of it - but fortunately this time none of it is in my name, I have no legal obligation for anything.  Which is good cause' Addler isn't allowed over there anyway. They believe they can talk the judge into it, I don't have such optimism, but, James and Taylor will take care of them when I'm gone.  

That will, of course, result in me doing things for them I may not normally do.  The money spent at the other house will now be spent here. IF they get the judge to change his mind, I'll help Maria out with a fixed amount of money per month.  I really couldn't own dogs without help, I'm willing to pay for the help.  I'd far prefer the dogs over there, it's a huge property they can run around all over the place.  

Speaking of dogs, I took Aspyn in yesterday to the vet.  She's been losing weight, some diarrhea, tho eating healthy.  $363 later I was informed they weren't sure if it was parasites or a condition German Shepherds get where their pancreas isn't working properly and you have to give them special powder that, they also informed me, costs  $300 per bottle.  They suggested the deworming medicine first and if that doesn't work, we can try the powder.  Well, I found the powder - it's just some sort of enzymes added to the diet that help the pancreas work properly - for less than $50 per bottle.  So if the deworming doesn't work, I'll just get my own powder, these vet bills are always ridiculous.  But I wanted her checked out, she's lost a lot of weight.  

I have a run to Oklahoma today.  And then off to Brownsville Monday morning. I was off two full days after the PA trip.  Which was nice and yes, FedEx delivered the driver's license yesterday.  I didn't have to tell my employer - thankfully - that I drove 1,400 miles without a license on my person.  The drivers going to Brownsville today were complaining about the weather.  I looked at the radar. It looks like a hurricane! I mean, I guess it's not but it looks wicked evil, nothing I would want to drive through.  I have no idea what the weather will be monday, but hopefully all of that will be gone by then.  There is very little likelihood that anyone going down there today will actually make it.  Fast forwarding the radar, they will be driving through an extremely large region of extremely heavy rain - it will all be in red radar area.  There are ways to try and go around the worst of it, but you'd have to go wayyyyyy out of the way.  

Got up much earlier than I even wanted yesterday.  I just happened to wake up, so I decided I might as well get up and get this trip over with.  Even with fueling - which took a long time because the fuel lanes were all full of trucks - and heavy rainstorms I get back around 10:30 am.  Got off the clock around 11, attempting to ensure 2 days off, but I probably won't get it.  I could get a late load tomorrow - and I'm okay with that as long as it isn't a long run.  Brownsville would be great.

Taylor showed up about at the house about an hour before I did.  I was over chatting with Maria for quite a while before I came home.  Apparently Kim's dad's trust lawyer is going to pay for the rent at the house they are getting.  It's a beautiful home, I know Maria will take care of it.  It won't be in my name at all so I don't have to worry about bills if something happens. Not that I wouldn't help them out in a pinch, but I have been wanting that load off my back since Donnie and Rene left.  I like helping people out, but this situation has been a financial drain that I want to stop - while not throwing people out on the streets at the same time. 

Apparently Taylor was discussing not long ago with maria their desire to move to Colorado.  I didn't know they had renewed that interest, seemed to have died off.  But now that she went to Colorado for her dad's wedding, I can only imagine she has all of that fired up inside of her again.  She grew up in a little town north of Denver.  I actually have friends I haven't seen in at least 15 years that live in Denver.  But do I want to live there? That is something I would have to ponder - mostly the job market and what kind of paying job I could get would be on the high end of determining factors for me.  I am making more money now than I have ever made in my entire life and my savings and 401k accounts prove it. 

I dunno, but they will have a lot of work to do to sell this house if they are going to go through with it, I have time to think about it.  My company has lanes running through Denver, but those are lower paying jobs.  Would I stay here with my job? Move with them - that offer was put on the table long ago when they started talking about it. The lure of the mountains is strong with me.  I grew up around mountains - of which this area is lacking. What it is not lacking, however, is lots of trees and greenery.  I like that too - for the most part.  This may be Texas but it's definitely the green portion of Texas. 

Whatever the case, I'm home today, Addler wasn't happy with me yesterday, but he's warmed up to me this morning. ol.  I've been gone too much, admittedly, OTOH these long runs are far and few between. 

I was driving home from the yard yesterday and noticed that the registration on my SUV has been expired since the end of last month lol.  I was fretting driving around with that like that until Maria told me there is an extension - indefinite - on vehicle registration renewals becauseof COVID-19.  I looked that up this morning and sure enough, on July 3rd, the Governor extended the waiver until further notice and said when they resume normal operations they will let everyone know and then you will have up to 60 days to get it taken care of. 

Well, that's nice, but I'm doing it today.  Waiver or not, I still think it's just a magnet for cops to pull you over.  The funny thing is, all of our trucks that are licensed out of Ohio have been expired since January.  We carry around a waiver from ohio. Last 2 times I was pulled over the troopers didn't say anything about it, so apparently it's valid in all states.  Regardless, our local registration renewal office which is only a mile away is open for business.  They are rarely ever busy, you just have to wear a mask to go in there - that's strictly enforced.  I've been reluctantly wearing a mask in public places such as rest areas and such.  I feel like it's caving to the establishment - but then again, this pandemic has ruined a lot of people's live and mine, so far, is not one of them, thankfully. Ruined is in death, permanent organ damage and/or financial disaster.

_______________________

Well working tomorrow is out of the question. `Why? Because when I went to the county courthouse today to renew my registration, I couldn't find my driver's license.  What?  I went through that wallet 3 times looking for it.  They didn't need ID - though I had my LTC license in there would have worked - but i was struggling to think where I needed to pull out my ID last.  HOLIDAY INN, suddenly came to mind.

I honestly couldn't remember whether they had given ti back to me.  But it was the last place I pulled it out.  I called them - I'm so and so, stayed there a couple of days ago, you're the last place I used my ID.  Lady checks, oh yes we have it here. No apology for not having had given it back. I should have remembered, it's on both of us, but that's their job.  I am very lucky that in that 1,400 mile trip back and going through several weight stations, I didn't get pulled into the office to show paperwork or pulled over for an inspection. That can be an out-of-service violation where they put you out of the truck. 

Now I'm informed the hotel has FedEx'ed the ID back - at a cost of  $36 charged to MY ACCOUNT.  THEY kept my ID, didn't give it back and they are charging me to send it back to me?  I made several calls after that, ending up back at the hotel where, of course, the general manager "Isn't answering his phone, may  I take a message". Oh yes, you sure can!  Unbelievable that "Guest Relation" at Holiday Inn corporate headquarters "can't refund your money, you will need to take that up with the hotel". They tried to claim that "guests leaving items at the hotel will have items sent back to them at guest expense".  As if I had left it in my room!  Yes, folks, I was highly annoyed at their monotone replies giving outrageous reasoning why they shouldn't eat that expense. 

Nix Holiday Inn off of my list of hotels to stay at.  They used to be the grand palaces of hotels way back in the 70's.  They had all kinds of perks and amenities, they were one of the higher rated brands t stay at.  I looked up all of their brands, the only other one I have stayed at in the past is Candlewood Suites.  I have already written up several negative reviews of my lengthy list of things that occurred on that visit. 

Okay, I had my ringer off, the lady called back from the hotel and left a message saying they were removing that $36 charge off of my card.  I'll give them kudos for that, but I'll negate those kudos with all the phone calls I had to make to make that happen.  I'm not broke, I could eat it and just move on, but this one of those "the principle of the thing" situations that I felt I needed to push. 

Now that I have that behind me...

There is a person at the house that is in a very bad mood> Not me lol, I was a bit agitated but I'm over that now.  I dunno what's going on with that person, tried to talk, nothing.  Weird - sort of.  People get into moods here and it's a bit different than what you might experience - elsewhere.  Not that I'm any different, I usually just shut my mouth and disappear into my room if I somehow end up in a bad mood.  Better to say nothing to anyone and get over it than start trouble for no good reason.  Whatever the case, I went to my room, shut the door and they can have the rest of the house all to themselves. 

As for me, well, the driver's license is coming tomorrow. Fortunately I am apparently not getting a run for tomorrow - i didn't want one anyway - because then I would have to try to explain why I drove back from Pennsylvania without  a DL.  I honestly didn't know for I didn't remember them not giving me back my license at the desk. We were busy talking about things and it obviously slipped both our minds. BUT - it is THEIR JOB to give that back, I'm just a guest.  I'd actually be fine with eating it equally, I should have remembered, I'm pretty "religious" about making sure that I don't pull it out unless asked and definitely paying attention til they hand it back. Fail on both our parts. 

I am so ready to have this trip over with.  I have a little over 7 hours left on the 70 hour clock - I have 304 miles left to go. That's about 5 hours in a truck - almost all of it is Interstate driving but there's a few towns that slow you down pretty good.   But, Jackson,  MS is only 20 miles down the road and I can get through there before all their version of a rush hour occurs. For a town that size, they have a pretty terrible rush hour going. 

I did 652 miles today.  I could have gone another 70 or so, but there isn't anywhere to stop besides Jackson and those truck stops are always full, just not worth the hassle.  I'm in Morton, MS and it's a truck stop I used to come to when I was doing that job based in Jackson. They have trucks going into the Koch plant here frequently.  That is a job I definitely don't miss. It's a dump of a truck stop, but there is a restaurant and the cooking is divine.  I have been very good about eating the food I brought with me - in fact, I ate all 4 dinners plus sandwiches.  So, a freshly cooked pork chop with some amazing lima beans - I'd love to know what they did to cook those absolutely delicious!

Anyway, after tomorrow it will have been 8 straight days out on the road and that's far more than I want.  The Palm Pennsylvania only comes around like once a month and I haven't had to do it in at least a year, I'm hopeful it's at least another year before I have to do it again.  There is one other, much longer run, tho, that I would love to do again, that state of Washington run I did once.  That one should be coming up near the end of summer - they take one load per year.  I mean, I didn't much like being gone that long - it's over 4,000 miles round trip, but some of the views in some of the states you go through to get there are amazing. 

Okay, well I can get up as early as 3 am to get this over with - but I am not getting up at 3am lol. Not because I don't want to - tho I don't really want to lmao - but because I don't want to get back too early to ruin potentially 2 full days off. It's only 34 hour reset.  If you get back late enough, you are guaranteed two days off.  If you get back early, you may get sent out the second day on a late load. 

And I just heard from another driver that we are being run constantly - like get back from a run and go straight back out the next morning.  These are times that get really old, but, manageable on shorter runs.

Kim and Maria have found a house, apparently. The man that owns it doesn't want "Great Danes" so I'm going to have to discuss with James and Taylor about taking care of my doggies while I'm gone. This guy will allow my Aspyn - the German Shepherd - but Addler and her being separated isn't a great idea. Finding a house here has been a real chore. There was one that was definitely available, a run down shack, pile of crap wanting $750.  Whatever happened here, rentals suddenly became all kinds of popular. 

This only fuels the fire for me to want to start up that mobile home park. Get that thing going honey,there is money to be made!  I'm really thinking I should at least try acquire a business loan.  What's the harm in looking around? Land, infrastructure installation and improvements.  Buy some older homes - in good condition thanks not talking slum lord here - rent them out. Have Taylor do the bookkeeping for me - she already offered and probably James would help with repairs, pay him hourly rate to go deal with stuff. 

I'm never going to get that thing going without a substantial loan.  That's all I can say about it at least at this point in time.  I'm not getting any younger, if they need some sort of education credentials to get the loan then I'll have to consider 2 years online school to get it.  BA in business, I assume or something similar.  I am going to start looking around at least.

I think I'll quit here. Go to bed early and get up early.  Just not 3 am version of early lol.

For whatever reasons, I didn't sleep well - at all - last night.  I was up more than half the night.  I did get to sleep when I went to bed and probably around an hour and a half after I woke up - but I was miserable.

But whatever, get up, take a shower, get out of there, get to the plant.  Lol.

This plant - of which I haven't been here in at least a year - had added extra entry precautions. Namely, taking me to a booth in the office, taking my temperature - they are doing that everywhere now - and then having me read and sign off on some sort of affidavit that I don't have COVID-19, haven't been around anyone that has and haven't exhibited a huge number of symptoms.  That was a bit reaching. Do you sneeze?

YES! IT"S ALLERGY SEASON.  My eyes are itchy, watery, red, I've been sneezing for days but who can't tell the difference between allergies and a virus when it hits you?

Anyway, I got in there, waited 30 minutes for anyone to show up, the dude that unloads the trucks finally showed up.  Can you get out of the truck to let me show you where to park? Yes, I said while thinking I've been in here enough times to know how this works.  But he had painted lines where he wants the trailer angled in at and where the tractor - almost jackniifed according to the arrows, should be at.  I just want the trailer lines, I don't care how someone else got the trailer in there at what angles the tractor was to the trailer when they finished.  Different drivers do things differently, the end result is all that counts.

And frankly, after hearing from the people at the West Virginia plant about how long it takes other drivers to get the trailer parked there, I don't want lines telling me where the tractor should end up.  I was totally cordial and nice to this guy, lol, my thought life differs from words coming out of my mouth, I really am not in to offending people for no particular reason.

So, I did my thing - the truck was not jacknifed when I got the trailer into position.  Actually, it was off about 8 inches, I was going to do a pullup and finish the job getting it perfect, but he waved me off.  I got out - do you want it between the lines? I was going to pull up and get it there...no, he replies, this should be just fine.  Okay! Can I run the truck while waiting? Uhh, no he said, so I complied. 

Yeah, I had looked up the temps.  It was already hot and not that late.  The heat index was showing it going up to 110 - in Pennsylvania! Dang!!  I shut the truck off and tried to go to sleep - telling ya, I was brain dead from lack of sleep.  Well, it started heating up in there quickly, I did manage to sleep a bit, but I woke back up, the heat was starting to affect me.  By the time the dude knocked on the door of my truck, I was starting to get miserable.  When I opened the door to the truck, the heat blasted me! 

He said - your truck doesn't have a generator - no, I replied - he's referring to an APU but close enough.  Okay well it's going to get really miserable out here, you can run the truck.  Thank you Jesus! And thank God! I fired it right up.  And thank you! Fired that thing right up and blasted both AC's  it was hot in there. 

I had no reason to think anything wasn't going right with the offloading, but a bit later I got out, went to the passenger side, opened the side box where I keep my bottled water and then notice the dude staring at the manual dump valve on the trailer.  I'm going to dump the trailer air, he looked up at me and said. Sure! The valve dumps the air from the air bags on the trailer only, letting the bags down and angling the trailer down for better flow of product. 

But it became clear there was more to this than just dumping the air bags.  He was genuinely confused about something.  Need some help?  Can you come take a look at this? I walked around back of the trailer - he had the emergency shutoffs in the right position but the emergency valves weren't opened.  You cannot offload the trailer with them closed, lol.  I can't explain what I had to do here without visuals, just too much to even try to write about - I spent 10 minutes before being able to get them to rise - their are airbags that inflate when pressurized and it took a minute to figure out what was going on.  It was rather surprising that he hadn't even begun unloading, I had no idea all of this was going on and he didn't say anything to me, until I just happened to be out of the truck grabbing some water bottles. 

Whatever the case, 5 hours later I left. It's some detention pay, no biggies. I got out of there and enjoyed the drive out of that area back up to the Interstate. Very scenic.

I drove 329 miles before stopping - I was still tired from lack of sleep. Drove into a rest area and crawled into the sleeper.  Set the alarm on my Iphone - if I go into a deep sleep it could be hours before I wake back up.  And sure enough, that alarm went off and it was if it was the middle of the night waking up out of a deep sleep. 

And it's about time to go to bed, thankfully. Was just too early to be sleeping.  Other things going on - Maria and not finding a house, yet.  Taylor on her way back to Missouri - she had a memorable experience at dad's wedding.  James is home, went to work today. I think the boys are still at grandma's in Arkansas, they won't be coming home until Taylor gets home. Issues at work that were brought up to me - that is a post for tomorrow or whenever I make the next post.

Oh!  I have  17.30 hours left on the 70 hour clock. I have 941 miles to go.  GPS is telling me 13 hours and 27 minutes. But it assumes speed limit speeds. I calculated my arrival time at the yard.  Lol.  With mandated breaks and stopping 2 times more for fuel, plus pre trip and post trip inspections all eating up time?  I'm either going to make it all the way back - or - I'm going to be within 30 or so miles, I'm guessing and have to stop for 34 hours lmao.