Finally started school!

Oh My Gawdy! You sure burst my bubble! I'm crushed! You ruined my whole day!
Seriously..... I think it's hilarious.
Until tomorrow... I can once again say: "Quid Pro Quo, Clarise."

 

Would be nice to work up a list of good experienced drivers I can call. I know about problems. Drove class B for 7 years. Sometimes... It would be nice to avoid calling dispatcher for a mechanic to show up or....

Today in school.... wasn't.... I need to start calling this thread; "As The Wheels Turn". ...
I showed up 50 minutes early to class. Supposed to be there at 12. Guy walked out and said I was supposed to be there at 8:30.... Teacher got frustrated with everyone failing to shift, Especially downshift. He took the other group back to the school. Started up the simulator. Called the rest of us in.
Dummy me didn't hear my new cell phone ring on the messages. I walked into class. Told him this was a bad blow it. Being reachable is an important part of this job and I know it. I'm gonna have to work with my new smart phone. Get it down right. So I can be reached. Also gave him my home number.
Teacher said it's not bad. I'm the only one who can shift. So I didn't need to be there. But I could play with the simulator if I want? I declined.
I sat through one video we needed to see. Then all of us left.
I do like that times are different and changing all the time for class. That is the way I expect it to be on the road. One of the smaller reasons I'm going to trucking.

I'm getting things ready for going on the road. Got a new battery for my laptop. Got a Opia 2 dashcam. I definitely want one of those. With what people are pulling these days. I need to learn my smart phone better too... Doh! .... heck....it's an iPhone 8+.
Anyway... This one video motivated me to go ahead and get the dash cam. I'm gonna play with it in my car. So when I put it in the truck. I'll know what I'm doing. No guessing or anything.

 

On the hauling. It's not so much to me what I want to haul. It's the job of getting out there and driving. The independence. No more daily grind.
I would like everything out there. As long as it's stable and pays.
Flatbed sounds interesting. How they heck to get some of that stuff up on there intrigues me.
Tanker is very interesting to me. Would like it alot.
Reefer or dry van. That's ok. I'm happy to do it. All the backing into tight spots sounds like fun. But not crazy about having to deal with shippers and receivers. I'm thinking about getting an old ships bell. Put a sign on it that says: Ring for service. So I can sleep while I'm waiting.

I have several very good offers. I've got doors held open. Waiting for me to graduate. Just applied to one that stands above the others for me personally. I'll see on that. I think it's a slim chance for me.

 

Well... We finished week two.
Finally worked with the backing teacher. Yup... got two teachers. This guy is different. We're learning alot. The couple guys who don't know a standard shift at all. This other teacher gave them a viewpoint on the clutch that helped them a bunch. I think it's more a matter of two different ways of thinking of it, than anything. They're both doing much better.
At one point. One of the other guys got stuck with his foot on the gas pedal, the clutch not right, the truck rocking back and forth. He said the movement of the truck kept pushing the gas pedal into his foot. He was stuck like that. Until the teacher told him to take his foot off the gas and push the clutch in all the way. I was sitting in the back. Thinking: "I hope nobody thinks the other guy back here and I are doing anything" ... with the truck rocking violently back and forth.
We got down to start thinking subjectively about what all we're doing in the backing/parallel parking training. Understand there is a point to the exact placement, movements we're doing.
It was a very productive week.
Do want to say we have a special lot. Built just for this. It stays pretty busy. With us training. The DOT tester testing trucks and school buses all the time. They get much use out of that lot.