Heading out for Prime Sunday

At 50, I made this decision to change careers. One thing I can tell you about his forum, is it is the best place I have seen for information. The other thing, is, half of you guys scare the crap out of me, and the other half make me wonder why I didn't make this decision 30 years ago. I am trying like hell to keep an open mind, but my stomach has been in knots since I gave my notice at my job. Heck, I don't even know if I can make it through orientation or not anymore.

I have to Greyhound for 18 hours from here, just to get to Springfield. I will be at the St. Louis Greyhound in the middle of the night for 3 hours with 1500.00 worth of electronics in a backpack. (laptop, camera, i pod....). It ain't like that isn't scary enough. I do believe if I make it, this forum will be able to take a lot of credit for it. I think I will depend on this to get me through, more than my wife.

Wish me luck, and like, Daytona, I will try to keep a log on here of things, so they see how things work at Prime, if anyone is interested.

BTW, my name is Joe. Larry Underwood is a characther from one of my favorite books, and has been a yahoo address for about 12 years. lol

Thanks all

 

just give me your addy, I'll mail it to ya. gotta be easier than gettting mugged for it.

 

Well, 20 hours later, I made it to Prime. It has been 35 yrs since I had ridden Greyhound, and I can assure you it will be at least another 35 before trying it again. What a mess that company is. On the final leg of the bus ride from St. Louis to Springfield, I met 6 other people coming to orrientation and school with me. That was kind of nice. Now that I have eaten and showered, I can take a nap and try to catch up on my sleep. No way to sleep in a full bus, and everyone was full to the max.

I already told them, if I don't cut it, don't bother getting me a bus ticket back, I will hitchhike before that. LOL

 

Up # 5:45, orientation starting # 7:00. All in all, my first day was much better than my expectations. The scariest part was the physical, and my high blood pressure. Last night, I kept convincing myself that is doesn't matter if I work here or not. I wasn't going to die if I didn't get to be a truck driver. This morning, as I was waiting my turn, I did some slow breathing excercises and some relaxation. I couldn't believe it... but 130/80. The best reading I have had in like forever. I was calling everyone I knew, and turning cartwheels in the parking lot. Tonight is studying to take the cdl permit test tomorrow. If we pass that, we go out with a driver for 3-5 weeks for 1 on 1 cdl intructions and training. I went over to the "Millenium" terminal tonight for dinner and browsing around. It is incredible what they have here for thier drivers. The grill where we ate was awesome. This place is huge, pool tables, gym, baskeball courts, theatre, chapel, salon, massage parlor... just about everything. One of the things I really like here, is all of the drivers that are here, are really nice people. They all have good things to say about Prime. It makes a really nice atmosphere. Anyway, I am sure my bubble will burst soon, but so far, I am happy with the decision I made.

Well, off to cram for the exam tomorrow.

Joe