Happy now my dear son?

Three updates within an hour for your reading ENTERTAINMENT  :)

I am sitting at the Flying J in Lebanon, IN, waiting on REPAIRS.  This dang trailer has 3 leaking axle seals and it has been nearly two hours since I request breakdown.  This load WAS due in Omaha tomorrow at 6 AM and since it is 10 hours away, not going to happen. This is one of the big reasons you see trucks broken down on the freeway, they can't afford to sit and wait on repairs.......neither can I but it isn't worth a DOT violation ticket.

I think we will head out for a walk and I bet as soon as we leave the truck, they will call!

Good evening from Gas City, IN!

And James, it is your job to entertain me, you have been doing it for years and thank you for the complement J

We dropped our load at 6 AM this morning and pick up our next load at the same place.  While waiting for the un-load, my loving companion and protector jumped up in his seat and growled/bark.  I thought OMG, he finally figured it out!  But my dear virtual truckers, he wasn’t protecting me from some big bad mean man but two sweet yearly dears walking along the river in front of us!  Gads, I sure am glad they decided not to “bring it on” with Gonja!  But you should have seen them “bring it on” with the 6 foot fence………twice!  The fence won by the way……and they ran away with some very sore necks!

Anyway, Planning gave me another one of those OMG freaking loads that push your freaking hours!  We took a total of 45 minutes in three breaks to deliver on time and under hours.  I will have to return in the morning to pick up my empty as I was not going into violation.  They had a pre assigned for me to pick up at 6:30 AM and I am like…..NOT!  I am going to take an 11 hour break to make up for missing lunch and a late dinner.  Besides, I need a dang shower.

I will update my BLOG when I have INTERNET so you can all get caught up at once, including that son of mine that must really miss me to check this blog out every 20 minutes  J

Off to watch a little video……..good night all!

No pushing the hours tonight!

Good evening from Potts Grove, PA.   I am parked at a very rustic truck stop with folks inside that remind me a lot of the folks I met in Joplin but with more hair and a lot more makeup (a mix of redneck and hillbilly?).   I might venture back into the restaurant in the morning…….the smoke from all the cigarettes hanging from everyone’s lips might be somewhat dissipated!

I finally got that load this morning at 10 AM to only find out that I had an axel seal leak!  The previous driver just waved as he was leaving the lot and since he picked the load up in New York, he wasn’t concerned that he MIGHT get a DOT violation.  But…..I do!

I sat in that lot for two hours before they told me to take the truck to a terminal where I sat for another 1.5 hours before the trailer was fixed and back on the road.  My clock was going to be over at 8:30 PM, it was 6:45 PM and I was an hour away from the drop and at least 30 minutes from a truck stop from that location.  I tried pushing this close on my last load and went into violation.  Not tonight folks…….I called it quits early, I can rise early and deliver 6 hours late…………not my problem or my fault.  Heck, I didn’t even have a chance to eat dinner!

That being said, it will be nice to return to early morning hours as my night vision and backing up combined, is an accident waiting to happen!

See you all in the morning!

Rant n Rave.....oh the drama!

Dang nab it!  We are still sitting here after watching the sun rise over the tree filled hillside and watching an eposode of Survivor.  The company won't even give me a location to retrieve an empty trailer so I am ready if and when they decide they have a load for me.  Gads, they have had 36 hours to plan for this..........augh!

When I first started in the spring, I was getting pre-assigned loads hours before I dropped the load I had and over the summer months, that slowly declined to nothing.  I have discussed this with other drivers and they had noticed the same thing and yet.........we see Owner Operators/Teams and Sub Contractors hauling our trailers.  It won't be long before solo drivers die out like the home telephone.

Think we better take a walk and enjoy this beautiful  weather.........

Did you know......

That this little town is only a square mile!  More useless information that might be useful someday  :)

I am showered, have coffee and now waiting on a load.  It is going to be even more difficult since I don't have an empty trailer but oh well, I started my clock at 6:30 and can wait to greet the sun with a smile until then.

Climb in the cab and we can swap stories until they decide they want us to work!

Three Bloody Marys and a hair treatment at 6!

Well, I can tell you that this little town is very old and very small.  Bloomsbury was part of the American Revolution!  Most do not realize it, but half of the American army that fought at the battle of Trenton on December 25, 1776, marched though Bloomsbury on their way to join General Washington to fight in the battle that saved the American Revolution for the patriotic cause. 

The population is between 800 to 1000 and I bet there are more people buried here than alive (lots of graveyards).  This town started on coal and now hosts many a retiree and commuters to larger cities.  I will be meeting some local ladies at the hair salon at 6 PM for a deep conditioning and hopefully some local gossip. 

Pictures!

The best I can do so far for fall colors!

The old Bloomsbury Black Mill

The general store which is not a store but a deli.  You have to drive 2 miles out of town for a grocery store.....

Most of the houses here are colonial style......

Sidewalks are rock slabs, not concrete.......

Doing a 34 hr restart in Bloomsbury NJ!

I had a wonderful night rest after going into violation to get a load to the customer that was almost rejected.  Normally, with this client, you bring one in, you bring one out.  I arrived all tired and concerned about my lack of time and the guard took pity on me and let me drop the load and bobtail out.  By the time I got to the truckstop, parking was easy without a trailer but I was 45 minutes over my drive hours.  I turned down a load....and took my 34 hour break.

I was up at 7 AM, had a hot shower and a hot breakfast while washing laundry and then spent the rest of the morning fixing my logs and cleaning the truck.  It is now time to take a walk around and see if there is anything camera worthy to share with you all later.  Nothing exciting to report........life of a trucker!

Yesterday news........now fish wrap?

Gads, with Mondays like this one, I sure am glad I had a relaxing weekend!  My eyes are killing me, my body is sore and I am pooped!  We only drove maybe 9 hours but we went through quite a few states, small roads, and speed limits at 55 MPH (Are they crazy?)

We arrived at the apple plant in Winchester at 7 AM and it took me nearly 45 minutes to back into this bloody dock!  Now look at your clock and imagine the straight line to 12….now watch that line as it heads to 5.  That is the angle I had to get my trailer in with trailers on the right and a fence/power pole to the left……gads!  I think the builders in this town drank a little too much spiked apple cider (which this town smells like) when they drew up this ole lot 50 years ago.

After a quick drop, we head to Maryland, driving through West Virginia and Virginia a couple of times, to pick up a load at General Electric and off we go to Massachusetts, driving through New Jersey, New York (during rush hour traffic in the Broncs), and stopped in Connecticut for the night.  We have 1.5 hours of driving to get to our drop and I promised it there at 8 AM at Home Depot. 

And Matt, no dang pins from these states except for West Virginia……..you can find everything from magnets to key chains but no one sells dang pins around here!

I am off to bed shortly.  I wish I could report the beautiful colors of the fall in the states that are well known for them but alas, it rained the whole trip and it appears these trees are starting a tad late for those vibrant colors of autumn.  Good night!

A nice and relaxed Reia in Winchester, VA

We are parked, had dinner and went for a walk....and it isn't even 7 PM yet!  We are only 15 minutes from our delivery at 8 AM tomorrow so another sweet morning of waking up with the sun, not ahead of it.  I know I didn't get paid much for this trip but as Mom amd Mike stated, I sounded happy and that says a lot about how this job has been rough on me.  So, dang nab it, let me relax like this once a month and I will be glad to finish my year and GET OUT OF HERE!  :)

I want to "blow the horn" for my fellow virtual drivers in the US, Russia, Canada, India, Germany, Pakistan, and Sweden.  I am tickled to have you all here through my rants and raves; sanity and insanity moments.  Love an audience that can't throw tomotoes!

I am off to catch up on a few shows if the interest will allow it.  See you all tomorrow, 6:30 AM, coffee in  hand and smiling because......you woke up breathing!