Swift - Starting the New Year training with Swift 1/7/13 - A long read...

Currently at the Pilot in Dunnigan, California.


Time off this past weekend...

I had the weekend off and spent most of it getting errands done using my motorcycle and talking with Miss N. Carolina. It was a fantastic weekend overall and I'm no longer suffering from that terrible sore throat I was suffering through the previous week.


Vaccinations finally done (sort of)...

On Saturday I ran errands. I got about 5 or 6 vaccinations (for my upcoming trip) done at the Urgent Care place. Insurance covered all of it. The only vaccinations I still need is another Hep A shot, possibly a Malaria shot and maybe a flu. That should be it.


Some much needed new riding gear leaves a nice dent in my pocket...

I had made it over to my storage unit the night before and looked for any old motorcycle gear I could use. There really wasn't any. Both pairs of my old boots were beat up and had holes. They weren't comfortable so they ended up in the Swift Sumner dumpster.

I couldn't find any suitable motorcycle boots or pants at the Cycle Gear chain of stores (I checked 2 different ones) but I went over to this motorcycle place in Auburn, WA called Hinshaws and I struck gold. I found an awesome set of Gaerne boots to use for this trip. They weren't cheap, about $270, but they have gotten great reviews and other riders swear by them. I really didn't want to spend that much on boots but on one of my motorcycle forums someone had made the point that you can skimp and get cheap boots but when that pig of a bike falls over on my ankle or whatever and breaks it, I won't be saving any money. Point taken. I bought the boots. They are taller boots than I have ever purchased and much more money than I have ever spent. But my options were limited because being on the road it is nearly impossible to try on boots and see what works. This was my one opportunity and they had these great boots. So it worked out.

I also needed some overpants to go over my jeans. The old Joe Rocket ones I used to commute to work are worn to death and I can barely keep them up when I walk. It was time for something new and as it was, this same bike shop just so happened to carry some Klim Dakar pants. They were also raved over by other riders and rated excellent. So I picked those up as and got a pair of riding gloves to match. All said and done I left the bike shop with a little over $600 lighter bank account. But I guess the gear will last me years and I won't have to buy it again anytime soon so it's an investment.

I rounded off the day renewing my GSXR's registration which was to expire in a week. Done.


An unnatural romance with my girl - two days of heaven and then she will have to wait another 4 months for me...

I have an unnatural romance with my GSXR. She's a crotch rocket. Rice burner. Race bike. Jap crap. Whatever you want to call it, I love that thing silly. I'll ride anything with two wheels, any make, any model. As long as it is a spontaneous combustion engine sitting somewhere between two wheels I'll ride it.

I picked her up 10 years ago when she was only just 2 years old with a babied 2,200 miles on her. I got a sweet deal on her and scooped her up from my ex's brother whom decided to stick with riding in the dirt. Can't blame him but I wanted her.

In those 10 years I basically swore off 4-wheeled transportation and rode my motorcycle exclusively year round in all weather, most of that weather being wet as this was western Washington. And I enjoyed every minute of it with the exception of the occasional snowfall or hitting a bit of black ice. Otherwise it was perfect. I enjoyed every minute with her.

She doubled as grocery getter, commuter, transport, weekend rider, track bike and as my primary source to complete errands. I relied on her and she did everything without fail. Never let me down, never failed to start and never left me stranded.

This weekend I was with her the entire time. On Sunday we finally got a day just to ourselves, no errands to run. I made my way through the congestion in the suburbs surrounding the Tacoma metro area out towards Mt. Rainier. I was able to run her pretty hard in the back country, her screaming and making that sweet sound I love, as she hit 12,000 rpms, the front tire lifting just enough off the ground as I popped through the 1st four gears. It was wonderful and we were together again.

She has become an extenstion of my body like another appendage. We ended up only making it as far as Elby, WA, not far from Rainier, but it was good enough. She got some exercise after sitting for four months. I felt somewhat melancholy as I parked her again Sunday night, putting the cover on her and all her locks, as I knew I wouldn't see her again for maybe another 4 months. It was worthwhile just to spend those couple of days romancing her again. We have an odd and unnatural relationship.

 

That's true but he wants her to find someone else. He's given up on the marriage a while back. They are together at this point just for the kids. So it's a messy and difficult situation for sure but I would rather try and see where it goes than not.

My concern, and I asked her about this, was what his attitude on her finding someone else. Because the last thing I want to get involved in is being "the other man". I was the other man at one time when I was with my exwife, I didn't know it, and let me tell you that it sucks. So I clarified that with her. I wouldn't break the man code by messing around with any other guy's wife unless he was all for her dating other people, such as this situation. It's actually pretty sad. He has a great thing going for him - beautiful and amazing wife, beautiful kids, great life and he is throwing it away. If I was his buddy I would be shaking him and asking him "wtf are you thinking?!?". But I can't do anything about it on his end. He gave up on it a while back and is ready for her to move on. So I'm ready for her to do that as well. They are recently "officially" separated but they have been emotionally and physically separated for a pretty long time.

I know what I'm getting into, I know how it may end up but I can't pass up this opportunity.

 

Lol I believe that.

 

Since returning from that weekend off at the Sumner terminal I've been running up and down I-5.

I was begging for them to keep me running over the holiday weekend and they came thru. I was worried about sitting for 3 days not making money. Even if I had those 3 days of at the Sumner terminal this weekend with access to my bike and friends I didn't want that. I'm in the final OTR stretch and I need to make and save as much as possible before the trip. Seems like the plan at this point is to just run the next 3+ weeks OTR, turn the truck in at Richmond and prepare for my trip. Then I'll leave. So that's the plan.


Stupid is as stupid does...

My focus had really been off this past day or two. I have to get my head back in the game. I'm slipping. At least these part couple of days. I'm really disappointed in my actions lately. What is wrong with me?!?!

This is embarrassing to share but I will share it here in the spirit of keeping things honest. I shouldn't be making stupid mistakes like this at this point in my driving career. With that being said, this is what happened:

I picked up a tcall load down at the Lathrop terminal going up to Tacoma. It was fairly heavy, a little over 43000 net. It had been scaled and the weights were fairly under the 34000 required.

You see where this is going, right?

So being a moron I rolled with it. Why? I dont know. I always scale loads over 30000, give or take. Somewhere up in Oregon I got the red on the prepass and pulled in. I hit the scales and as I rolled my drives over the scale I saw 34,400 or thereabout. I got the red light on the traffic signal.



Now here is where it gets worse. Much, much worse...


Under the red light there was a digital sign stating "STOP". What did I do? I pulled around and went in inside after rolling my tandems across at the recommended 3 mph. I pulled to the side and went in with my paperwork and BOLs.

When I got inside let's just say I got an extended lesson from a not so happy government worker about what STOP truly means. We went over stop signs. We went over red traffic signals and we went over green traffic signals. We discussed basic reading comprehension. I think we even played a game discussing the universally accepted nature of color red as it applies to cultures around the world. He went just shy of calling me stupid and giving me a coloring book to play with while the adults went about their jobs.

It sucked but it was deserved.

The final question he presented to me, and I'll paraphrase:

"So basic math. Do you want the ticket for $5500 for failure to obey a traffic control device or do you want the $450 ticket for the weight violation?"

I couldn't even speak as I think at some point I felt like I was slowly working towards a proper passing out there on the flour. I think I remember barely pushing out a meek "$450..."

I explained to him that I understood the "STOP" to indicate to stop inside the office. I read it as "hey good buddy, we're happy you are here and would kindly request your presence inside this office". It did not.

This was true. It was wrong and probably the worst interpretation ever of a basic English command but it was the truth.

He told me that there would be two proper warnings given to me. No monetary penalty. But that Swift would receive these warnings on their record. He said Swift was good at receiving these. I felt about 5 inches tall at this point.

I got off lucky for being severely stupid. No fine. But I apologize to all Swifties for adding another mark on the record and possibly causing future additional scrutiny. No joke, I am sorry for this.

Not sure where my head is but I need to pull it out of my hindquarters. This was embarrassing.

Dropping this load or getting it unloaded tomorrow morning at this Costco here in Portland and then heading over to Georgia Pacific in Toledo, OR for a paper load tcalling down at the MX border.

Time to get my head back in the game.

 

Absolutely right. I also try to be extra sharp when I first get rolling after a 10 and also at the end of a long shift when my guard is down. I will never let this happen again if I can help it.