Good Night From II

and why was it a nexus of hell all that way for so long?

 

South bound 77/81 was due to Fedex deciding to lay down and take a nap in the middle of southbound 81 ... eastbound from the 74 through the 77/81/77 ... the direction I was going ... just plain old traffic, 4 wheelers going on vacation.

 

its indeed stressful at times but my checks are fairly consistent, I get to see my family at least once a week with days off and on some weeks lately I have been going home more often, this week I only went home one night since my schedule was more whacked and I had to stay out but I might go home again tonight if my loads plan out well and no last minute changes. Sometimes they throw loads and changes at me since they know I always deliver them on time and im still sitting at 100% on time for over a year now.
Was a later night and just shut down at 3am, got a load going to Valencia with a round trip and then Santa Maria which I never mind, easy run on the 166 with minimal traffic. So far this week the miles have been pretty good and I might start giving up 1 day a week off starting this week to get saved up for my anniversary next month. I plan on getting my very first tattoo with my wife on my first day of vacation and if im not a complete wimp I will get the 2nd larger one the next day when we hit the beach. Been wanting some for years but just never got myself to actually do it since I always worried I would wimp out once they began but I have no idea on the pain tolerance yet for them.

 

At home....again!

Was on I-35 north of OKC on Thursday when I blew a drive tire. Since it was cool and rainy AND the tire was intact I elected to limp the 12 miles to my fuel stop at the Love's in Tonkawa and have my spare (OK, Swift's spare) installed. It was then that I realized that I had probably ran 4 of my original drives too long (256,600 miles, I blew the best one) and suddenly felt very vulnerable. So I told my DM that I needed to get back to PHX ASAP and buy 4 used tires from the tire shop.

After I delivered to a farmer's coop in NE Colorado Friday morning I got a Lowe's load from the DC in Cheyenne to Tucson. Since it doesn't deliver til Monday @ 1700 I also managed to get it t-called in Phoenix. My DM advised me that if we told Phoenix that I wouldn't get it there til Sunday that they wouldn't allow the t-call, so I "fibbed" a little and said I'd get it there Saturday @ 1800.

Long story short, I dropped it @ 0200 Sunday morning and not a word was said.

On a different note, there are both a brand new Pilot AND a Love's at the 26 exit in Grand Junction.

And something else to think about: Rather than take a 2nd 10 hour break between Loveland and Phoenix I elected to do a split instead. Part of the reason was a simple desire to get moving and it (the split) eliminated the need for a 30 minute break.

 

greenfeild in at pilot. decided to do a 34 reset since i have only 9 hrs on 70 for today and tomorrow. was going to get a motel room till i saw there wasnt any nearby. oh well. not much around and its warm and muggy.

 

got a load that p/u in morgantown in and tcalls in edwardsville terminal tomorrow nite.

 

The answer to this fine gentleman's question is YES.
No problems dropping a day early at this DC.

 

I think Swift considers that our spare ... the couple of time I blew a trailer tire On Road asked for permission to use my spare and said I would be reimbursed for it ... Don't know how it would work out, since I don't carry a spare.

 

The 2 times I've needed a spare for the trailer it was used without my "permission" and the tire shop in Phoenix wanted to know the trailer number I used the spare on.

I don't care one way or the other. I didn't hesitate to have the spare installed on my truck.

Here's hoping the Phoenix tire shops takes care of me.....again.

 

Burnsville, MN on home time.

A snake got loose, and it's in the house somewhere.
Between my last home time here and this one my nephew (and girlfriend) acquired 3 snakes. One seems to have slipped out of the cage.
Also some fishes in fish tanks. This place is turning into a zoo, it seems.
2 dogs, 3 snakes and several fish. Not to mention the frozen mice in the freezer to feed those snakes.

My daughter Leann loves all of it. She has one dog (Luna) sleeping with her, and has made friends with one of the snakes. She even fed it a mouse tonight!
She also loves being on the truck. She wants to be a trucker when she gets old enough. It seems the lifestyle really appeals to her.
She's a little rough and tumble 12 year old tom-boy at heart. One inch shorter than her 10 year old sister, but she is willing and able to get into a fight with older boys (or girls) to protect her sister.
And, she wins those fights!
(I think she actually likes the conflicts.)


It's funny. A couple days after she got on the truck a complaint was reported.
My DM said someone had called in and said that I had a 10 year old on my truck.
Yup, she is short for her age. But he had her birth certificate as proof.

And it seems that she makes up for her shortness with a very big attitude.
Don't want to mess with this girl!

She has my green eyes, and also my Ender mentality.