It is hot in St. George, AZ!

Good evening from a VERY weak signal from the Pilot off of I-15 North in St. George.  It was 109 degrees when I arrived at 6:30 this evening and it is currently 125 degrees outside the truck because of everyone doing what I am doing, idling!  I will get up at 4 AM and shut it down for the morning so I don't hear any more garbage from the corporate office. 

I did recalculate the numbers and when and if they lower my speed, I will lose 1.25 cents per mile.  Between the $10 per week for bond and the $5 per week for Gonja and the $250 doggy deposit, just how much more blood do these higher ups need to cover their dang salary!

Anyway, I stopped in Vegas and finally got to spend some time with my sister, Rhonda!  I will try and post the picture but no promises tonight.  We picked up a load outside of LA and taking it all the way to Iowa, a nice 1836 mile run........and considering my last paycheck was less than $300, I need this!

Have I done enough whining?  Nah!  Just keeps you all knowing what I deal with trying to get whatever you need on retail shelves.  Gotta love it!

Gads, what ever happened to taking care of your employees??

Good evening from the La Quinta just outside of Fontana!

Well my virtual truckers, the company not only has tried to push me to one of their sub contractors to work for but now has ordered that my speed must be governed to 62 miles an hour due to over idle!  I got those hours down but due to last night, I hit 50 percent today and that was it.  I could have drove into Fontana and spent the night at the hotel but I have a feeling, this was on its way.  Not even a word of warning that they were going to cut me short if I went over. 

You know, if you are given a truck without an APU or Climacab, they should expect you to idle when the temps are too high to sit in a tin can.  Now, if it was the office staff, forced to sit in temps of over 100 degrees, you bet your back end, they would be sent home!  I will only lose roughly 30 miles per day…….a whole $2 of possible pay.  I did talk to the shop and they stated that a truck will idle one gallon of fuel per hour.  If I am staying in a hotel, the company is paying $45, about what it costs for fuel for ten hours.  Of course, since I have a pet, I have to pay half so the company is out of pocket for $22.50.  I should never have to sleep in the truck as they will be making more money off me!

I have a load to Iowa and on the way; stop at a terminal that will cut my power down.  So be it!  I think 60 miles per hour would be nice; I can slow down and enjoy the view.  Later!

Gonja's view.......dang Nevada bugs!

I have not blogged for how long? Dang nab it!

Good freaking hot Thursday afternoon from the Pilot truck stop at the corner of 395 and 58 just a few hours from Los Angeles.  It is currently 123 degrees just outside of the truck, mixture of running engines and the 100 degree heat.  Shhhhh, California is a NO IDLE state and you bet; I am idling!  I should be at my client’s but due to bad planning by the planners, I am only 2 hours away and can’t drop until tomorrow morning.  I will be sitting here from 2 PM today until 5 AM tomorrow……augh!

Not much has happened since I blogged last.   I got the truck fixed (they only did half of the work) and was back on the road on Tuesday.  I picked up a load of paper in Lewiston, Idaho to drop with the client tomorrow morning in City of Industry.  Good news, I have excellent internet service so I won’t be too bored and my favorite ;) stores are in walking distance.  I would love to clean the truck out but I have to kick Gonja out to do so and that just wouldn’t be right.  So we will enjoy this little down time until the weather is on Gonja’s side.

I did a “in the street” interview, kind of.  We stopped in Bishop, California, for a short walk and breakfast.  I stopped to take pictures of the bees and sunflowers when a woman in a straw hat and white coveralls asked me if it was the flowers or the girls I was taking pictures of, I stated both.  She smiled and was pleased with the answer as these bees and these flowers are hers.

She introduced herself as Sasy and she had been on this little bit of land for ten years.  She decided that when she turned 65, it was time to place roots and she has been in this hole in the wall place every since.  She has short cropped white hair that curls around the nape of her neck and her ears.  Her eyes are a mixture of sky blue and Indian silver with cheekbones speckled in auburn freckles.  She spoke of her bees, her first colony, with great pride.  It takes time and practice with lots of observation before you can officially be a bee keeper. 

But, her story didn’t end there!  She spoke of traveling abroad with her father when she was a young girl among civil wars and evil politics.  There is a famous man (she never mentioned names) that lives in this dust bowl who wants her story and leaves dead chickens in her yard for her being too chicken to talking to anyone.  She went on to mention that we live in different realities and at that point, I realized she might be a few bricks short of a full chimney ;)  We do create our own reality and what she created, was her lovely little world with her lovely little bees and sunflowers.

Well, my dear virtual truckers, I have lived in my lil queendom for quite some time; so I can relate!  Off to catch up on the web and relax……….see you all in the morning!

Just loved the lighting in this picture........

\Salmon River

Me and my shadow!

This Coast Guard boat had 4 police escorts.....important ship!

Sasy's!

Sunday.........and dinner with ole friends!

Good Sunday afternoon from the lil tin can that doesn't move.  It has been a productive weekend with a dozen or so resumes sent out, my hair now 3 inches shorter but all the same length, a week's worth of meat cooked and frozen for our next road trip; breakfast with the Duvall family and tonight, dinner with some dear friends.  The truck is not road ready as the mirror issue needs to be seen by the body shop and they are't open until tomorrow.  So.............

Tomorrow, I will head into Everett to get my TWIC card (so I can run loads out of any port) and meet with a possible job prospect (coach driver position).  Then it will be time to pack up and head to Valery's for the night and at the shop at 6 AM Tuesday morning.  I do hope you all are well and ready for another few weeks of lots of pavement and little to show for it but hey, we have each other :)

GREAT WEEKEND!