The last time I posted here I mentioned something about "whatever crazy weather we happen to get." Last Wednesday didn't disappoint.
It began about 5:20 or so when I got a text from Ms. Darkstar, who was leaving work in Plano (northwest of where we live) reporting a downpour. She told me later that the whole time it was pouring with rain, the sun was shining brightly. Since I was home, having left work early, I checked the radar and saw a few storms working their way towards Dallas. I didn't think any more of it until it was time to head to the train station.
There were a few rumbles of thunder, and it was just starting to rain when I left. It got heavier as I headed west, turning the streets to rivers in places. By the time I got to the train station, the hail started. It was small at first, maybe dime-sized. I parked at the (unsheltered) pickup location and waited.
I had the radio tuned to the local news station, and just west of where I was, a couple of field reporters were talking about hail the size of golf balls. You could hear them hitting their car even as they were talking. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the barrage started. It lasted for a good ten to fifteen minutes, and I don't mind telling you that was the most scared I had ever been, in an unsheltered area, with no refuge available, just waiting for it to end and hoping the car windows would remain intact.
By the time the train arrived, the hail had just about ended, tapering off in size and intensity. We drove home slowly, navigating around the flooded sections of the roads. There was no rain by the time we got home, and when I looked at the car, I could see lots of little dimples from where the hail had struck. I was very glad the damage was only cosmetic, and nothing was broken or needed to be fixed. I think an errant hailstone knocked the fuel door out of whack because Ms. Darkstar said the door didn't open when she first used the lever, but after using it to pop the trunk and then pressing it again, it worked okay. I'll keep an eye on it.
Apparently, we got off light. There was lots more damage in an area nearby. Here's the details.
Work's been a little crazy. There's lots of jobs coming due over the next few weeks, none of which had a direct impact on me, but it still made things interesting. The move is complete, so that's one less thing to worry about. I have no idea how busy I will be this coming week, as usual.
I'm off in a little bit to obtain tonight's dinner. Last night I made the chocolate mousse for dessert, and now I must go to the Asian market to get a couple of live lobsters.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Getting caught up on catching up
Whenever I get tired, cranky, stressed, busy, or overwhelmed, things like this blog tend to fall by the wayside. I make no apologies for this; it's just the way I am, and eventually I do return, as I did now, to try to get caught up on what's been going on since my last blog entry.
One of our Tuesday night friends asked me if I was still happy with my job, because I hardly ever talk about it. The answer is yes, I am quite happy working where I am now, knowing I will draw a dependable and consistent salary and be able to go home every night. I don't talk about it much because there's not much to talk about. I don't do anything glamorous or exciting; I drive a tractor-trailer and make local deliveries. Before that, I drove a tractor-trailer and made deliveries across the United States. I talked about that more because there was usually something interesting that I saw during the day, and sharing it here eased the loneliness of being far from home.
I think I said earlier that the nature of my job was of a "feast or famine" approach as to how busy I could be at any given moment. Last week was toward the "famine" end, especially during the latter part of the week when there was truly nothing that needed my services. Instead, I did some minor repairs on the truck (I save those for periods like this because it keeps me occupied legitimately) and puttered around the shop looking for some busywork.
This week, however, has been the polar opposite. Not only do I have to shuffle a trailer back and forth between two of our buildings (moving and consolidating a department), but I've had a slew of deliveries scheduled for the early part of this week, along with a few pickups, enough that some of the work was given to the other drivers and sent to outside trucking companies.
The downside to this, as hot as it's been, is I don't have time to stop and rest for very long. If I can get a few minutes at a receiver's dock to just get a quick breather, I consider myself lucky. We won't discuss keeping myself properly hydrated. We just won't.
Anyway, it's back at it tomorrow, rain or shine or whatever crazy weather we happen to get. This is just a quick update, which is about all I have time for right now.
One of our Tuesday night friends asked me if I was still happy with my job, because I hardly ever talk about it. The answer is yes, I am quite happy working where I am now, knowing I will draw a dependable and consistent salary and be able to go home every night. I don't talk about it much because there's not much to talk about. I don't do anything glamorous or exciting; I drive a tractor-trailer and make local deliveries. Before that, I drove a tractor-trailer and made deliveries across the United States. I talked about that more because there was usually something interesting that I saw during the day, and sharing it here eased the loneliness of being far from home.
I think I said earlier that the nature of my job was of a "feast or famine" approach as to how busy I could be at any given moment. Last week was toward the "famine" end, especially during the latter part of the week when there was truly nothing that needed my services. Instead, I did some minor repairs on the truck (I save those for periods like this because it keeps me occupied legitimately) and puttered around the shop looking for some busywork.
This week, however, has been the polar opposite. Not only do I have to shuffle a trailer back and forth between two of our buildings (moving and consolidating a department), but I've had a slew of deliveries scheduled for the early part of this week, along with a few pickups, enough that some of the work was given to the other drivers and sent to outside trucking companies.
The downside to this, as hot as it's been, is I don't have time to stop and rest for very long. If I can get a few minutes at a receiver's dock to just get a quick breather, I consider myself lucky. We won't discuss keeping myself properly hydrated. We just won't.
Anyway, it's back at it tomorrow, rain or shine or whatever crazy weather we happen to get. This is just a quick update, which is about all I have time for right now.
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