dr_lizardo

i didn't write about watching the world die, i wrote about watching our faith in humanity die. that is, on that night, the hypothesis: "When it really matters, most people are not stupid" was definitively proved false for the first time since 1972.

wars come and go but stupidity can ruin people in a miilion ways.

As I am sure you can imagine, most of my miles keep me on the interstate. In the last couple of years, the DOT hours of service limitations have become extremely inflexible. Often there just isn't the time to get where you're going by something other than the fastest, easiest way possible. But once in a while I have time to spare (often on weekends) where I might experiment a bit with alternative routes. And now and then I'll get a customer who is off the beaten path a bit. For example, last week I left Pittsburgh to the west along route 22 into Ohio where I picked up OH-250. Some nice things to see along that road, as well as a great little mom-and-pop style diner with plenty of truck parking.

Such trips also occasionally teach you a lesson the hard way about which roads NOT to take. For example I would never take 250 as a shortcut between I-70 and I-77 because the southern part of that trip (near I-70) is very difficult to navigate with a tractor-trailer.

But these are the adventures that keep the job always interesting, if nothing else.

I probably shouldn't have complained about Michigan. To be honest, I could find things to complain about almost anyplace if I looked around enough. In truth, it doesn't have anything unique that bothers me... just shares a few annoying traits with other states in regards to annoying me while doing my job. But there are LOTS of places that are a lot worse.

I get paid detention time by my company. That's a small consolation prize for wasting so much time, however. And if you figure out an average hourly salary at 60mph it's significantly less. Like $12 / hour or something... I forget. But I was mainly annoyed by the fact that it wasn't supposed to be a live-load situation. The trailer was supposed to be pre-loaded and waiting for me. And that was the third time in a row at this particular customer. Then add the fact that by the time they were done, I was beyond my 14 hour window and had to drive illegally just to get to somewhere to take my 10 hour break.

Plenty of truckers have satellite television. They'll attach the dish via suction cups or a PVC pipe attached to their truck while they're parked. Occasionally you'll see an extended condo (such as what many of the movers use) with the huge semi-spherical mobile satellite setup. That tracks to allow them to watch television while moving (one would assume there's a team member in the condo while someone else is driving). But those are large and not very practical for ordinary trucks. As to satellite INTERNET access, those dishes are usually a bit different. I'd recognize one if I saw it. I don't know about 4-feet, but they're definitely different. I believe it's a combination dish for net and TV. But since I don't watch television much, and already subscribe to WiFi plans AND Verizon cellular internet, I really can't justify spending even more money just to fill in the few gaps in service I might have.

I am so glad you enjoyed the new Alexsandria Shoot. Check out my journal for behind the scenes.

That sounds sorta like Wal-Mart (private fleet, hard to get into). They have 3rd party carriers bring shit from the suppliers to their distribution centers, but they utilize their own private fleet for DC to store deliveries. Among company drivers (people who do not own their own trucks) they're likely at the top of potential pay. And from what I hear, an almost "normal" schedule of 5 days out, 2 days off per week. Almost unheard of among over-the-road type drivers. I can't say it with certainty, but I've heard they make in the neighborhood of $70,000 anually. It's something I may look into eventually because the Wal-Mart DC that's in Raymond, NH does in fact have employees from the Rhode Island area. It's one of those jobs that isn't easy to get however. They go over you with a fine toothed comb and are in a position to pick only the cream of the crop.

As for my day today, I'm not really so upset that I only went 380 miles so much as annoyed to have wasted all that time in traffic. It's just tedious. I probably should have anticipated this and decided ahead of time to work nights perhaps. I just hate throwing off my schedule. I really hope that now since I am south of Washington DC the roads over the next couple days will be wide open.

I saw your post in the Psychology group re: your theory, then read this journal entry, and realized that we really should be pals, I think. You have a cool brain.

All it needs is a blade.

I purchased two of them from Parks Sabers. An Arc-Wave model (which I'm keeping) and a Rogue model (which I just FedEx'ed off to Eli). She says we have to have a duel now, of course... though my trucking company doesn't go to Canada at all so I'm not exactly driving by. Ah well.

Heh. I just noticed they added a small Yoda model at that store... that's cute.

Holy RAIN! Well, honestly I am not complaining. It's keeping things cool for my couple days home.