I've been short on time for posting. I could have earlier today, but I was busy getting stuff done. As it stands, I was called at 9am - after getting home from a 3 plus day run - to go to a run to Illinois. I would have taken that run, too, but I had stuff going on at that moment I was trying to get rectified. I didn't refuse the load, just the manager said she had someone else that might could take it when she called me.

I said, cool, if he can't do it, I'll take it.  She texted me 10 minutes later: he took the run.  Good, because I spent the day getting stuff done and in a little over 7 hours from now, I have to get up and get off to the plant to get loaded and take it to a place in Alabama. From my estimation, it's a 2 day run. And at the rate I'm going, I can see where 80k plus per year is easily obtainable. I'm ready for a permanent truck, tho.  Well, I'm ready to get through the 90 day probation period first.

If they find me acceptable, then I want my own, brand new truck and put in a refrigerator, microwave and a coffee pot. Or at least a refrigerator and a coffee pot. I don't have to have a microwave but it would be nice for reheating leftovers that I could take with me and store in the refrigerator. I would be taking the truck home at that point. I might bring the current one home anyway, I didn't do it this time, either because I wanted to - get home. My car goes much faster than that truck, lol.

And, tomorrow, I will be in anticipation of the new ELD - Electronic Logging Device - rule, of which my rental truck doesn't have.  I can be cited for not having one.  I can do nothing about that.  Well, I could go buy my own, but I think the company should fork out the money for a "temporary" device that would deal with the issue.  Just have to make sure my log book is in order, which I'm going over tonight.  

Well wait just a minute.  They actually have a smart phone app for it.  No kidding.  I am downloading one now as I type this.  If this works, it's better than having just a paper log.  And there it is. An electronic log on my smart phone. Should have figured. Not telling the company, no need to. They should have dealt with this. The rental company should also have something on board to deal with this nonsense.  

But if I get pulled over and checked, there it is, magic. If they don't accept it, see ya in court.  Tho supposedly they are going to give leeway until April. We'll see about that, DOT officials act like gods.  They think they can dictate the world to truck drivers. Which is why so many are opting out of trucking, this shit here will do away with a lot of drivers. Yes, you can bend the rules. Nobody cares. If you are wide awake, alert and focused, nobody gives a damn about government regulations. They lord themselves over us because they can. And because one truck driver somewhere had a horrific accident, so the entire industry should pay for it.

Whatever. It's just driving. How many of you can get pulled over and have your vehicle put out of service because of bs?  Or get ticketed because something in your paperwork isn't right? This shit was nonexistent in the 80's. Even the 90's not so much.  I'm tired of it, but it's my line of work and I have nothing else.  So I have to deal with it.  

Oh well. Much more I want to write about, I simply don't have time. I need to look over my log book and make sure everything is good, fill out paperwork for tomorrow's run and go to bed.  

Sunday night.
A bit after 10 pm
I don't have an ultra early start tomorrow, so I am staying up a bit later than I normally would on such a night.
I have a run to some small town in South Carolina, I expect this to be a 3 day trip minimum.

The cool part of this trip...well there's a couple cool parts. This trip is a fortune in terms of pay.  A grand minimum for 3 days out, maybe a portion of a 4th day.  The second is it goes right through Atlanta. The owners of this house and my friends live on this side of Atlanta near the amusement park. 6 Flags, that is.  I"ve already talked to the misses.  It's almost guaranteed that I am stopping in there for a 10 hour - legitimate btw - break  on the way back. Just works out that waay. 

And it doesn't matter on the way back anyway.  It's getting there. This is an ASAP load, meaning get it there as fast as possible.  This stuff apparently just comes up on Ann's screen and she puts the next available driver on it. Or so it seems. I'm really out of the loop on that for now.  I'll figure it out as time goes on.  I do know that I don't waste time getting anywhere and I normally don't waste time coming back. But stopping in Atlanta is a must.  There are no pressures to get back quickly, I would have 2 days off or a day and a half at least from my limited experience with this place.

I can tell ya, this place and this job is starting to grow on me. . I never expected this kind of time off in between trips. The way it was spoken about left it up in the air.  Had no idea, just knew that I wasn't staying at the Mississippi job and needed to move on.  This hazmat stuff i can deal with, the loads are a bit much in terms of weight. They are filling these trailers up to the point your truck is just below 80k weight. That's legal, getting the axles to 34k, 34k and 12k can be a different storry. 

Anyway, if I really end up staying here - not on my part, I'm staying, but on corporate part and the 90 day probation period - I'm going to stack the truck out with a regrigerator, microwave, coffee pot and possibly a 22 inch flat screen tv with satellite. The tv stuff is negligible, but I do like watching movies.  And we already have all the movie channels on Direct Tv and a fairly decent package at my house in Phoenix on Dish Network. I could hook up to either but Direct TV would take preference since it already has all the movie channels.

These are thoughts crossing my mind, not counting chickens before the eggs are hatched.  Refrigerator and coffee pot bare minimum, coffee pot coming soon. In fact, if I had thought about it before just now, I would have gotten one on this two days off I've had.  I guess it doesn't matter. I figured to buy a large inverter at Love's going through Shreveport and I can get a coffee pot specifically designed for trucks there tol.

Ugh. So much I wanted to write about but the day grows long.  I need to go to bed. Going to get up much earlier than I have to but still, it's a late start at work so i can afford to do that. I would rather get up early than stay up late. 

Merry Christmas!
Just thought I'd throw that in there.
Just got home.  2 day adventure to Brownsville, Texas.

It's quite the drive down there, about 600 miles one way.  I can't say that I've been to Brownsville since I was on the mission field in the mid 80s to early 90's.  It was an entry point we'd take to get into certain parts of Mexico.

Anyway, the worst part of this particular trip was driving through Houston.  I hadn't been through there in a long time, either, but I already knew it was going to be hell going south because I was going to hit rush hour traffic about the time I got there.  And sure enough, I did.  I think it was an hour and a half to get through that city.  Coming back earlier today was even worse.  I hit it right at rush hour and it was dreadful.

But whatever.  I was actually lucky on Monday that the trailer I hooked to had half of the running lights out.  Okay, I didn't care for that at all, but it set in motion the length of time it took to get the mechanic out of bed, to the yard, discuss the more important things in life, namely: ATV's (he had a brand spanking new one sitting on the trailer he pulled into the yard when he arrived) and then get down to attempting to figure out what was wrong with the damned trailer.

He didn't have a replacement pigtail, so I went to Eastman, got the thing loaded with that wonderful chemical and came back to the yard to get the part installed and get out of there. But, a very well experienced driver was there and told me allllll the details of doing the Brownsville run, including the best place to stop and get a burrito.  He likes food. We probably all like food, but he really  likes food.  It's like his go-to subject as far as I can tell for the several times I have encountered him now.  Anyway, the information was invaluable.

For example, no one bothered to tell me that if there wasn't an empty trailer at the yard at Brownsville?  You are to wait until one arrives.  We take them to Brownsville, drivers from Mexico come up and take them into Mexico to a plant in the interior.  I don't know why we just don't drive them to the plant.  Ummm, well, I don't know if the faint of heart could handle that kind of driving. Well, when I got there, dropped the loaded trailer and went hunting, there were none of our trailers on the property. The man running the yard said there was one coming up - it would be a while. I contacted Ann. You get paid for waiting. I didn't ask her that, she invoked it.  I assume I'm going to get paid for waiting for an empty trailer that has nothing to do with the loaded run I just made.


I took the tractor out of the yard and searched out a place to eat.  Shaved and brushed my teeth while I was at it, stopped a Dollar General for cleaning supplies and went back to that yard.  The truck I am driving is just a giant ashtray. Whoever drove it before me must have been in it a while, it's a rental truck. There are ash and congealed ash deposits literally everywhere.  I'm considering charging the price back to the company, I shouldn't have to deal with this shit.  The friggin' truck is a giant ashtray and it's disgusting. I have been cleaning it here and there, today I spent much more time just cleaning out the numerous drink holders that were filled with congealed, dried out ash shit.  It's just freaking disgusting.  And smells like hell. Well I don't know what hell smells like and I don't want to find out, but they should add this smell to it for good effect.

A few hours later and this dude from Mexico drives the truck into the lot, stop in front of me (I'm in the tractor, backed into a hole, view of everything, waiting for the trailer to arrive) and he's waving his hands at me. Well drop the thing, let's get with it, what's the problem here? So he did. Big ole', giant fresh ding in the side of the trailer. I mean, I don't know that that happened on this particular trip down there, but I'm not getting blame for someone else's bs.  So I snapped a photo and sent to manager: not my doings, thanks.

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Alright, next day.  Texted Ann. When am I going out again? Friday.  Ugh.  I thought didn't say.  Okay, do you know where?  Nope, I'm just in the queue for Friday.  A short run could get me back Saturday night and able to possibly get down to the ride on Sunday.  A day's worth would be fine.  Not counting chickens before they hatch, but one can be hopeful.  Otherwise, I think I just need to load the thing up and go to the nearest riding place and see if the thing is actually going to work and/or if it needs more repairs.  I'm considering doing that tomorrow since I have the day off.  Considering being the operative word. More fun to go riding with other people than alone, tho alone does have it's virtues. If there were mountains around here I would definitely love to go alone, get up in the woods far away from civilization and just meditate on things.  But, the same may possibly be had around here, who knows.

I won't however, drive clear to where the group will be on an alone trip. It's 83 miles one way and that isn't worth it for me to do the alone thing.  What I really need is 2 more ATV's and then the other 2 here can go and we can have day or even half day trips out of this house - they really need to get out more.

Forgot to post this. Will finish up in another post. 

So I just found out I am not working again until Monday morning.  Mixed feelings. Love weekends off, but right now? Would love it more to be making some money to catch up.  Ann sent me the text with the information and that's when I saw it.  I decided to zip my lip.  Said thank you, haven't been to Brownsville in ages, sounds good.  I'm really not going to complain about a weekend off when that's what I really want.  If I do that, then it may send the signal of not caring about that stuff, and yes, I do care.  I won't say anything because the company requires willingness to work weekends.

I had this wild hair to go to La Quinta down the road and bask in the glory of a nice hotel room and take Adler with me since La Quinta allows pets.  And if you don't believe me, google La Quinta pet policy. Not only do they allow pets, one of the pics at the bottom of the page is of a Great Dane lolol.

But no, not tonight anyway.  Well  it's only 5:30, but just not tonight.  It's a waste of money, maybe, but at the same time, just hanging out at a cool place with an awesome room. And my big ole' doggie with me on his own bed. Yup, it's a room with 2 Queen beds in it.

Speaking of dogs, I called a vet this morning. Do you have any openings today?  Why sure, we have one at 9:30, but then she backtracked since that was less than an hour away. I said, no no that's fine, I can be there.  So, my previous experience at 2 vets is not so great with him. They are afraid of him and he senses it and gets rambunctious.  Anyway, I needed to get his rabies shots renewed, his license and get him a fresh shot for heartworm.

Remember that the dog, when I got him, tested negative for heartworms and put him on the shots. And then a year later, tested positive for them.  With the plan that the dog be put on an almost 2 grand treatment program.

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That was yesterday. I spent today getting stuff done. And after all of that, built a fire in the pit and sat around with the other 2 here and we talked for quite a while. I'm pretty sure I would hate to live alone. With all the bs that sometimes occurs with having people living with you, it's still better than being alone.  Dogs are great, but they don't hold conversations lol.

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Well having trouble getting through an entry. Now Sunday evening. 3 full days off of work.  The only complaint I have is that I have to be up and out of bed to start the day in the morning at around 4:00 am.  That's not really all that much fun, and then drive all day to get down or close to Brownsville, Texas.  I spent a good portion of the day attempting to finish that 4 wheeler.  I just had to bolt plastic back up, but the bolts and nuts in question are long gone.  I suspect one of the dogs got a hold of the box all of that was in. 

So, I went and spent a literal hour at Lowe's attempting to find the right bolts to deal with this.  Back home and got most of it back together. 

But before I did any of that, I filled the gas tank back up and spent quite a while trying to get the thing fired up. It ran great for about 20 minutes, including having the cooling fan come on at the intervals it was supposed to - that was what I was really checking.  That thing has been a headache, I hoped after sitting for a while I wasn't going to have further issues with it. 

Well just posting this, time for bed.

Wednesday
Got back from Oklahoma last night.
Got a run - early - to do tomorrow, but it's really a short run. It's only 128 miles from the plant.  Not exactly a high paying run, but if I can get it done in one day, that's a nice day's work.  Well I can get it done in 24 hours, I'm talking about getting loaded, getting up there and getting back in the same day.  It's really all up dependent on how long it takes to load and how long it takes to unload. Talking 6 hours for all of it, minimum.  It's 2 hours and 13 minute up and back.  We'll call it 11 hours total on a 14 hours time clock.

But, when I said that to my manager, she replied "sometimes" as to getting it done in a day.  So, I'm guessing this plant it's going to takes their sweet old time.  I guess that's fine, that means more detention pay.  But on such a short trip, I'd rather just get it over with the same day and be back to get another run somewhere.

Anyway, it got our version of cold here while I was out, so I've been burning a nice pit fire all day long.  I guess I should run up to the store and get some more granola bars - that's pretty much what I eat during the day and then end it with a good meal.  Try to keep eating costs on the road down as much as possible.  Anyway, this is really not a good run, at least not if I were to talk to other drivers.  Too few miles t make it a good payout.  I needed something more like at least 500 miles away and spend a couple or 3 days out.  I'm going to have to get a good run that goes through the weekend, unfortunately, or get a couple more short runs, which would be fine if they are available.

I'm not going to complain, not yet.  She - the manager/Ann - has enough drivers in her face. I just want to get two full weeks of driving in and see what a paycheck looks like after that. This next paycheck - Friday - will not have that on it so I'm not counting that is a reflection of a normal pay period. I am only guessing what I might be getting Friday.

Well I was going to write more, but got distracted and now it's getting late.  Okay it's not that late, but I have to get up really early for this run. 

Near Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Using my new computer. Actually, it's probably more of a notebook. Much smaller than my other laptop and much easier to carry around.  I'll probably get a remote keyboard for it and just keep it in the truck.  Maybe.  I mean, I think I can get used to this job, but I'm on probation for 90 days I think it is.  I don't know of any trucking companies that don't have a probation period.  Basically, if you screw up, you are toast.

Anyway, I just got "here".  Here, being a QuikTrip convenience store. I was looking on the map, the destination is 28 miles from here and is literally out in the middle of nowhere.  I was afraid that if I drove there, there wouldn't be any place to park.  I asked a local truck driver that was parked here as well if he knew of any places up there, he said not at all.  There aren't any.  Well I'm stuck here til 7:00 am and it's only 7:00 PM right now.  So, I'm well out of the way at this convenience store, off to the side of it, at an entrance that not a single car has used since I parked here, out of view of the front of the store, hopefully they won't mind this giant tanker truck sitting here with 10000 gallons of cryogenics that is highly volatile parked here lololol.

Well I don't know exactly how many gallons, but this truck is loaded right at 80,000 pounds. The company mandates that you fill it up to the maximum. That's nice, but we don't load the trucks so I don't worry about that.  However.  I pulled into a weigh station today.  They told me to pull over and bring in my paperwork.  I brought in half of it, forgetting the other half.  The half I brought in was the hazmat stuff.  I completely spaced the registration and related stuff.  So, back out to the truck, pull out 3 packets and back in there. I have never seen so much paperwork for one truck in my entire life until I entered this world of hazmat.  I'm not complaining, per se, but I haven't been doing this long and it's easy to overlook a piece of paper that you need.  I really have to think about all of this - for now. If I'm with this for any length of time, it will become second nature.

I'm really just getting my mind into this place being "the" place for a while.  It's a 2 year old truck - tho they won't have us in these things too long, they don't want to pay the rental contract.  Much cheaper and the trucks are set up the way they want them to be to have their own.  I am not holding my breath on that, tho, not after everything else. And also not after seeing how long it took for corporate to get us trucks at Ferguson.  6 to 8 months.  I don't really care now.  I have a new mattress in here and the cigarette smell is all but gone. Still a bit, but I but 2 more of the smelly trees in here and it's pretty nice now.  Just was so disgusting sleeping on that other mattress.  Gross, actually. I would literally feel more comfortable sleeping on the ground outside than sleeping on that nasty thing.

Okay, I don't have a power inverter yet so I want to finish this entry and post it before this computer runs out of power.  I keep getting distracted with people texting me lol.  Anyway, the wind is absolutely howling out here.  Truck is getting rocked back and forth. Kinda glad I'm not driving in this, this just started a while ago after I got here.  I'll be spending a while getting used to the nuances and dangers of driving loaded tanker trailers. I'll tell ya one thing, if I'm on an exit ramp that is like a cloverleaf and it says 20 mph, I'm going 15 mph or less.  I'm terrified of rolling over a tanker. I've seen it happen far too many times.  The outcome is never good.

well I need to get stuff done here, gonna end this one short.