Another year over and what have I done?

I may not get another shot at writing this before the new year, so as long as I have some down time, I'll take a brief few moments to review the year that was 2011.

The start of the year found me doing the job I hated doing but had no choice but to do, which was the accursed   home medical job.  My prospects looked dim, I had nothing lined up or even looking promising, and I was quite miserable.  The wonderful ice storm in February made things even better, as it turned my usual 2 hour commute to work into an 11-hour odyssey to get back home before major and important body parts froze and snapped off.

A transfer to a closer branch rounded out the spring months, amid major shake-ups from the top down.  Where I originally enjoyed not being on call, that was changed abruptly, and since the old liquid oxygen delivery driver was about to return, I figured he could have his route and I'd take the non-liquid route.  At least, from an on-call perspective, it would make things a little easier on me.

That feeling baked away as the summer wore on, and by the end of it, seeing no other alternative, I made the fateful call.  In mid-September, I returned to school and by the first of October, I had my Class A CDL and a job as an over-the-road trucker.  I (barely) made it through the first orientation, more due to personality conflicts with the trainer than my lack of skills, and the shorter three-week training cruise with a fellow student went a little better, though not by much.

So, here it is the end of December, and I am once again out on the road, this time as a solo driver, doing the best I can with what little I get in assistance from the home office.  I am sitting on a load that will deliver late if I have to run it all the way through due to my low available hours, I feel thoroughly disgusted and unsure of myself, I'm pretty much flat broke until the payment for the last two trips I did comes through, and I can only pray that I will make it through this and gain the experience that will help me get a local trucking job.

And with that, I will close out the ol' blog for 2011 and wish everyone that reads this a very happy and prosperous New Year.  And, if you could spare some good wishes for myself and Ms. Darkstar, I would be very appreciative.

Happy New Year, everyone.

Wow...it's Christmas

I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and already it's Christmas.  Looks like I'll be sitting in a truck stop in Rhode Island, at least that evening after I finish my driving for the day, in preparation for my first drop on Monday morning.  I can't begin to tell you how weird it is not having anywhere to go even if I wanted to, nor do I have the option of staying in bed and letting the day pass.

I did have a tradition on the other incarnations of this blog: the posting of the lyrics of one of my favorite Christmas songs.  So, without further ado ...

A Christmas Carol

by Tom Lehrer

Christmas time is here, by golly,

Disapproval would be folly.

Deck the halls with hunks of holly,

Fill a cup and don't say, "when..."

Kill the turkeys, ducks, and chickens,

Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens,

Even though the prospect sickens,

Brother, here we go again!

On Christmas Day you can't get sore,

your fellow man you must adore.

There's time to rob him all the more

The other three hundred and six-ty-four....

Relations, sparing no expense'll

send some useless, small utensil,

Or a matching pen and pencil.

"Just the thing I need ... how nice..."

It doesn't matter how sincere it

is, or how heartfelt the spirit,

Sentiment will not endear it.

What's important is ... the price!

"Hark! the Herald-Tribune sings,

Advertising wondrous things..."

"God rest ye, merry merchants, may ye make the Yuletide pay!"

"Angels we have heard on high,

Tell us to go out and buy!"

So .....

Let the raucous sleigh bells jingle,

Hail our dear old friend Kris Kringle,

Driving his reindeer across the sky...

Don't stand underneath when they fly by!

I sincerely hope you all have a very pleasant holiday, and I'll catch up with you when I am next able to do so.

The calm between storms

I'm sure that most of you that read this blog are curious as to how my big adventure went yesterday.   I awoke early and did another quick check of the weather along my planned route, and figured I could be past the worst of it, so I set off at 6 am.  I managed to make it through mostly rain with a few flakes mixed in around Oklahoma and some freezing rain just inside Colorado, but it was still fairly warm and the roads were wet and not frozen, and I was able to continue on.  I hit a nice patch of dry roads before I got to I-70, and and I was happy that I had made it through before the predicted onset of the worst of the storm.

Unfortunately, once I got onto I-70, I ran into the freezing fog and drizzle.  From what I could see, I was there just as the roads were beginning to freeze, and I saw several accidents along the way, including a jackknifed tractor-trailer.  I kept my speed low and pressed on, mostly since there were no real safe havens along the way, and by the time I got to Denver, the roads were treated and passable.  I fueled and parked for the night, since I had an early delivery.  When I checked my truck over that night, there was about an eighth of an inch of ice on the mirror mounts and on the front of the truck.

I am now sitting in Nebraska, with another early-delivering load which I'm hoping I can deliver on time.  Looks like it's going to be another super-early day, and this time I'm going to see if I can get a proper shutdown to recharge a bit.  And of course, there's another storm due to come through by the end of the week.  I have no idea where I'll be by then, but I have a feeling my winter odyssey has only just begun.

It's time to shut down and get some sleep.  Good night.

The weather outside's about to become frightful

AMARILLO, TX -- I got a load assignment on Saturday afternoon, and picked it up earlier today (Sunday).  The load has to deliver in Colorado on Tuesday.  When I started my trip plan, it looked like I wouldn't have a problem delivering on time.

And then I checked on the weather.

All along my route, and along the alternate route I could take if absolutely necessary, there's blizzard warnings posted.  The snow's supposed to start falling early in the morning, and not let up until Tuesday.

Herein lies my dilemma.  Should I take a chance and leave early in an attempt to get as far as I possibly can before the majority of the snow hits, or just stay where I am and let it pass over me?  I've been analyzing forecasts all along the route and none of them look promising.  There's also not a lot of safe havens along the route, which would make it even more dangerous to travel.

I'm going to try to get some sleep and re-assess things in the morning.  It's about all I can do right now.  Good night.

Riding Solo

Well, apparently I made it through the training and orientation processes without any major hiccups, and as of Friday I will be in a truck of my very own, heading out solo over the highways and byways of this great land of ours.

Events on the home front, however, have me questioning if this is going to work out.  At the moment, I will continue as normal and do the best I can under the circumstances, while at any free moment I will be exploring other options.  There was an option that popped up this morning and I figured it wouldn't hurt to throw my name in the mix and see what happens.  I know nothing's gonna happen by Friday but I figured I'd give it a shot.

The heading out and staying out for weeks at a time, while still somewhat difficult, has gotten better and the overwhelming sense of loneliness and isolation didn't hit me as bad on the last trip I took.  With Christmas coming up in a week and a half, and knowing I'll be on the road for that time, we'll see how things go this time around.

Anyway, there's preparations that need to be made and things that need to be done before I set off once again, so the next time I update I'll be somewhere other than home.

On to the next one

Friday will mark the ending of my second phase of training at the company, and after that I should be cleared to go out on my own.  It's been a long road, with lots of miles and lots of doubts, and yet I'm still here.

I am seriously hoping we'll get to return to the yard tomorrow after our drop-off.  My training partner hasn't been home in a couple of months and all I really need is to be home and just not having to be in a position of having to do something.  There will be things I want to do, like cook a belated Thanksgiving feast (with homemade stuffing) and cuddle the felines.  And, like last time, the days off will go by much too fast and I'll have to set off once again.

I've had a taste of winter already and I'm not looking forward to seeing more of it and more frequently.

For now, I relax, tomorrow we deliver our load, and after that ... the only good outcome is to return to the truck yard.  I'm not looking forward to, nor do I really want to, another load to pick up and deliver.

Until next time, my friends.

Oh joy ... winter's here

Yeah, it's December ... as if I didn't already know that by the calendar, the flaky white stuff falling outside the truck windows makes it a dead giveaway that winter has set it's icy foot in the door and isn't going to go aay anytime soon.  Our plan was to get to Las Cruces, New Mexico before the storm took hold, but thanks to a mechanical problem (not my fault) and taking the wrong road (totally my fault), we're overnighting in Santa Rosa.

I was not looking forward to this coming winter because I would be driving in the worst of it.  The funny thing is, I moved down south to escape the brunt of winter's wrath.  Now, there's no escape.

I'm a bit tired and frazzled, so this will be a short entry just to let you know that, despite it all, I'm still around and maybe with a little luck I can go home in a week or two, where I can hopefully spend a few days before I have to venture back out again.

I'd say more but no one really wants to hear it or cares anyway.

Goodnight.