I'm done with driving a truck. I'm beginning a new career immediately.
As a Sith Apprentice. Laugh all you want. You'll change your tune when I have you in a Force Choke.
In other news, West Virginia must be the most beautiful place that I hate going. And I say that only in a professional capacity. The state's highways are a winding, climbing collection of roads that traverse the mountains. Monday morning after I made my delivery in Carlisle, Pennsylvania I was sent to Baltimore, Maryland for a re-load. I always hate going to Baltimore (again, for strictly professional reasons) because whenever I go there, I ALWAYS seem to pick up a load of metal ingots. Not only are these loads very heavy (usually in the neighborhood of 45,000 lbs), but they seem to be precariously stacked in piles that do not look like they'll hold up to the ride offered by a bumpy tractor-trailer. I use a liberal amount of 2-by-4s nailed to the floor of my trailer to block and brace it all in place. Better the hassle of doing that than dealing with the consequences of the freight shifting in transit. Anyhow, getting out of Baltimore usually means going west. My company tends to take freight that goes from the east coast to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, etc. This particular trip was headed for Bowling Green, KY. Which means going all the way across hilly West Virginia.
Ugh. And even though I have a "reasonably" strong motor, I am chuggin' up those hills at 30mph. And descending a couple gears lower than usual with my engine brake thwap-thwap-thwapping away to prevent my speed from getting out of control.
The point is that this type of driving is a lot more tedious than simply piloting a truck down the road. The same miles take longer, and you feel worn out at the end of the day. But in my travels, I saw more than one bald eagle soaring above the highway. You don't see that every day.
I came up on my 14 hour limit not quite at Charleston, WV. Watched the last episode of season 4 of "Miami Vice". The show had long since jumped the shark, but as a fan I feel compelled to finish it. I guess now I'll be forced into buying the horrible 5th season just to finish out the collection. But I digress. Woke up bright and early, and eventually arrived in Bowling Green by noon. Re-loaded in the same town at Hills Science Diet (one of our biggest customers) with a trailer full of pet food headed for New Jersey. This cargo is also very heavy, but I'd had just about enough of West Virginia for this week so I chose a more northern route up into Columbus, Ohio and then east across the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I'll make the delivery on Thursday morning and then MAYBE be sent home by Friday.
I'm going to Disney (World) on Monday. So all next week I will be away and I'm not planning to bring the laptop. I can't really imagine a scenario where I need even more stimulation than I am able to find there.
And if you've bothered to read this far, I'll reward you with a video that you might actually give a shit about:
As a Sith Apprentice. Laugh all you want. You'll change your tune when I have you in a Force Choke.
In other news, West Virginia must be the most beautiful place that I hate going. And I say that only in a professional capacity. The state's highways are a winding, climbing collection of roads that traverse the mountains. Monday morning after I made my delivery in Carlisle, Pennsylvania I was sent to Baltimore, Maryland for a re-load. I always hate going to Baltimore (again, for strictly professional reasons) because whenever I go there, I ALWAYS seem to pick up a load of metal ingots. Not only are these loads very heavy (usually in the neighborhood of 45,000 lbs), but they seem to be precariously stacked in piles that do not look like they'll hold up to the ride offered by a bumpy tractor-trailer. I use a liberal amount of 2-by-4s nailed to the floor of my trailer to block and brace it all in place. Better the hassle of doing that than dealing with the consequences of the freight shifting in transit. Anyhow, getting out of Baltimore usually means going west. My company tends to take freight that goes from the east coast to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, etc. This particular trip was headed for Bowling Green, KY. Which means going all the way across hilly West Virginia.
Ugh. And even though I have a "reasonably" strong motor, I am chuggin' up those hills at 30mph. And descending a couple gears lower than usual with my engine brake thwap-thwap-thwapping away to prevent my speed from getting out of control.
The point is that this type of driving is a lot more tedious than simply piloting a truck down the road. The same miles take longer, and you feel worn out at the end of the day. But in my travels, I saw more than one bald eagle soaring above the highway. You don't see that every day.
I came up on my 14 hour limit not quite at Charleston, WV. Watched the last episode of season 4 of "Miami Vice". The show had long since jumped the shark, but as a fan I feel compelled to finish it. I guess now I'll be forced into buying the horrible 5th season just to finish out the collection. But I digress. Woke up bright and early, and eventually arrived in Bowling Green by noon. Re-loaded in the same town at Hills Science Diet (one of our biggest customers) with a trailer full of pet food headed for New Jersey. This cargo is also very heavy, but I'd had just about enough of West Virginia for this week so I chose a more northern route up into Columbus, Ohio and then east across the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I'll make the delivery on Thursday morning and then MAYBE be sent home by Friday.
I'm going to Disney (World) on Monday. So all next week I will be away and I'm not planning to bring the laptop. I can't really imagine a scenario where I need even more stimulation than I am able to find there.
And if you've bothered to read this far, I'll reward you with a video that you might actually give a shit about:
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
valkyrie:
Thank you. 
dr_lizardo:
I've had box tossing jobs before, so that's not such a big deal. I have a lumbar belt from when I worked briefly at Cracker Barrel where it's standard issue equipment and noone ever wears them. Had orientation today, they promised me good money and hellish places to back into. About what one would expect.