Reflections on the recent trip...

... or, "Please Don't Make me Leave Again."

I'm finally home.  I never thought I would get this far, nor did I think I would ever make it back here.  Considering if I hadn't said anything when they tried to route me toward Denver, I'd be sitting there, snowbound, wondering if I would ever make it home.  Or if the damn snow would thaw so I could get the hell out of Denver.

As I tend to do when I have a moment, I reflect on the past trip and all that I have seen over the past nearly two months.  I remember playing Ring Around The Blizzard on my first trip, spending Christmas Day at the only truck stop in Rhode Island, my layover in Houston, the traffic jam from Hell in Virginia that made me go from having three hours to spare on my delivery to being a half hour late, seeing Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, returning to San Diego, and wishing I had enough time to go pet ostriches and see what the big deal was about The Thing.

I am grateful that they allowed me to bring the load I had back to the truck yard, although I think that, when they saw my trip plan and knew I was going to be super-early, that they could have made that decision sooner. I guess they had hope that I could deliver early, although with the runaround I got I had a feeling they were going to make me wait it out for the three days and deliver when I was scheduled.

Once again, I will make the most of the time I have at home, and once again, I will dread the moment when I have to return to the truck and set off on yet another two-month tour.  I dread it because I know it will be more of the same: more trying to work my remaining hours of service so I can make the near-impossible delivery times they set for me; more repowers in the middle of the afternoon that have to deliver early in the morning, meaning I won't get enough sleep but have no choice but to deliver anyway; more aggravation at trying to get hold of someone in the office to answer a question, only to have to sit on hold for close to three hours; and just the feeling of being totally alone and missing home and all that goes with it.

Tomorrow I will do my laundry (along with Ms. Darkstar's), and for the rest of the week we will eat wonderful dinners that I will prepare, eating as if each one is our last.  Only because come Wednesday, it will be.  And then it will be so long home, and hello once again to my tiny rolling office/apartment.

I'm hoping for an out before that day comes.