Help a trucker wannabe out!

Thanks Sammy and BigDon:

I appreciate the support and faith in my decision. I'm confident I've made the right decision, but as others have said, only time will tell.

 

That's exactly what I'm hoping to do. I realize I'll need to get experience before I can choose jobs more suitable to my needs, but I'm glad I'll have these options in the future after I have gained the necessary experience.

I appreciate this type of advice because it's prepared me and my family psychologically and given us realistic expectations.

 

I haven't had the time until now to tell this story.

So I've been feeling very restless and decided to take a drive down route 80 west to relax (I drive to relax sometimes when I'm restless or stressed). Since I was driving down route 80, I decided to stop at a couple of rest stops.

Anyway, I was driving for quite awhile and got to Bloomsburg, PA which is about 80 miles from where I live, and about 110 miles from where I came from (a visit to a mall in Bethlehem). I figured I had a pretty good drive and since I had to go to the bathroom I would go ahead and visit the TA Bloomsburg Travel Center. It was hot as hell out so I went in, went to the bathroom, and bought 2 Gatorades. I decided to drink one while I walked around the truckstop so I went into my car and dropped off the stuff I bought at the truckstop and took one of the Gatorades.

Now I specifically remember patting down my pockets to check for my keys and for some reason though they were there. Needless to say, when I finished walking around the truckstop and finished my Gatorade, I realized I left the keys in my car and was locked out!

So I went to the cashier, a very nice lady, and asked her to call a locksmith. She suggested I try the service center in the back since they could usually unlock a car door. I immediately wondered why I hadn't thought of that. So I went to the service center and told them my story. I felt like an ###, but the two mechanics preceeded to tell stories about how they locked themselves out of their cars (of course they were able to get back in on their own, so my ego wasn't completely restored).

Anyway, one of the guys drove up to where my car was, and got to work. He tried to get into my car for 3 freakin hours. I only got the car last year so it's one of those newer model cars that is smart enough to "know" if you are attempting to access it from outside. So when he'd take a hangar and press the door lock, it wouldn't budge.

So I tipped the guy a $10 for his efforts and called the locksmith who was over in about 5 minutes (after saying he'd take 20 minutes). I had built a small audience at this point, but the locksmith made a quick job of flipping the key sitting on the passenger's seat over, and pressing the open button on the lock to unlock the doors. $50 later, and I was back into my car.

Well, since my freakin trip to a freakin truckstop was so expensive already, I figured I might as well try the Buckhorn Resaurant. This was the honest to God first time I ate at a truckstop and I figured I'd try the dish they would most likely suck the most at cooking (microwaving). Being part Italian, I ordered the Chicken Parm. I was happy to find out from the very friendly waitress that it included the salad bar, and she said she was good at making a salad and offered to get me one. I was puzzled, I never had such good service, and let her know I'd be happy to get my own salad.

After getting my salad, I came back and started listening to a guy who was talking to his wife. You'd think he was eating at Knickerbauchers in NYC (a very famous restaurant I've been to several times) by the way he was talking. He asks for a steak medium and the waitress asked the logical question whether he wants it to be a bit pink in the middle. The guy replies like a schmuck and says he wants it medium, so no pink in the middle.

Now being the steak afficionado myself, I know that all brown in the middle ask he was requesting, is well done. So if you are reading this, ask for well done next time, and don't treat the help like bubble gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe when they are simply trying to get your order right.

The guy then proceeds to look over his shoulder at this nubile woman of around 19 to 21 years old and speculates to his wife as to whether she'll finish her meal or not. I swear, this guy is looking over his shoulder every 3 minutes at her and saying something like, "I knew she wouldn't finish that roll, how could she keep her figure if she ate that whole dinner?" In my opinion, this whole thing is an excuse to look at this girl while having an excuse for doing so in front of his wife.

The chicken parm is taking forever, but it finally gets out there, and the waitress gave me extra bread and some mashed potatoes for being nice about the wait. I figured she was looking for a really good tip or something.

Anyway, after I finish my meal, she gives me my check. Then she proceeds to ask if I'm from around the area because if I am, she gets off work in about 2 hours. I habitually looked at my finger and realized I forgot my wedding ring (I sometimes take it off because I have a habit of sleeping on my hand, and wearing the ring prevents me from getting the circulation back). Now I'm thinking to myself this isn't my day, but at least my ego has been restored. So I let the young lady know I'm married and live about 80 miles from Bloomsburg, but that I was flattered with the offer.

In the mean time there are some kids from a West Virginia highschool football team in the place, so when I get to the counter to pay, the lady thinks I'm with the football team and explains that the bill will be handled by my coach. Wondering whether I have truly entered the twilight zone, it took me a couple of minutes to explain to her that I haven't attended highschool for like 13 years now. She appreciated my honesty, and my male ego again was inflated.

Truck driving is going to be an interesting job. I'll say one thing, if I lock my keys in my truck I'm going to be really pissed.

 

You should read a Harlan Cobin book. Basically car thieves can't steal just any car today due to the very experience I had on Saturday. But 20% of all cars have the key somewhere under the car, and thieves know this. They simply look under the car until they find a key and then they steal that car. I'm going to have an extra key in my wallet just in case.