Post Gordon ~ Thoughts, Commentary & Reflections

Terre Haute to Nashville, TN (Continued further)

With my 'trusty' Garmin GPS in hand, I left Terre Haute in the dark knowing I had more than one problem. For one, I had bought the GPS in 2008; it was not a trucker's GPS; many of the maps are long out-of-date; and, it will pull me off a perfectly good highway onto a cowpath to save me 20 feet of driving. Okay, fine. Another was that I had no extra time. It was going to be a push to make my first delivery. That wasn't all either.

(By chance this afternoon, I picked up the paperback book 'From Needmore to Prosperity, Hoosier Place Names in Folklore and History' for 25 cents from one of our local Spencer, IN thrift stores. Learned that Terre Haute was named by the French who had a settlement there in the early 1700's for the high banks on the Wabash River--Terre Haute = High Land. Also, that Henry Ford thought it just like a little Chicago and dubbed it 'Sin City'. This is going to be a fun book. Very well researched. A bunch of Indiana counties were named after signers of the Declaration of Independence, for example. Did you know that? Don't care either, huh? Okay... and phooey on you, too!!)

In the dark, I left Terre Haute and headed south on US 41, for the most part a two-lane highway despite the 'US' designation. Here in Indiana, I live right off US 231, also 'for the most part' a two-lane federal highway. The State highway department still takes care of it. As a matter of fact, they just slurried and rocked the highway out in front of me and I have two trucks and three cars just covered in lime dust--ghostly-looking, as are my trees now, too.

My next problem was that it wasn't clear from my Rand McNally or my iPad where in Kentucky to switch over to the Pennyrile Parkway. In that, my GPS was no help at all. I got on to the Pennyrile almost by accident and then let the darn GPS pull me off into some miles of traffic lights before getting back over to the Pennyrile again.

Pennyrile, by the way, is a region of Kentucky aka the Pennyroyal Plateau aka the Mississippi Plateau on the west side of Kentucky. More on the regions of Kentucky here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennyroyal_Plateau Pennyrile is an 'Americanism' for Pennyroyal, an herb that when crushed, has a fragrance like spearmint. Now you know. It has been used for 2000 years to deter fleas and insects and terminate pregnancy. Potentially lethally toxic. More here including a pic: http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/pennyroyal-safety.aspx#axzz2fKTFhqfF

Plus, the highway has four different names and you find signs for each. It's the Pennyrile Parkway; it's EB 9004; it's Kentucky Route 9004; and, it's the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway and you'll see signs for each with no reference to the others. Confusing? Go figure.

Edward T. Breathitt (pronounced 'breathe it'), a governor of Kentucky, took office December 10, 1963, on the heels of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 following his 'off-year' November, 1963 election just before John Kennedy's assassination. I have been listening to recorded oral histories of Breathitt talking about his life in hopes to hear his take on Kennedy. A fellow Democrat but I don't get the impression EB was a fan of JFK. Dunno yet.

This was the time of 'Camelot' after all when the country had this young (elected at 43) president; Breathitt was also young, ran for governor at 38, I think--young governor, like Clinton was in Arkansas in that respect. I remember exactly where I was standing when the announcement came over the school PA that Kennedy had been shot. (Yeah, I'm that old. Joseph wasn't even in diapers yet. Not even a wriggler in his daddy's... )


/Written Sept 19, 2013 at home, six miles north of Spencer, IN. All rights reserved by author. Freddy, my Brittany mix, started whining on the porch a bit ago. Took him and Tika (English black lab) inside and then out the back deck and into the back yard, then noticed the lightning, thunder. Now rain, too, hopefully will wash off all the lime dust.
/Dispatch just called. Another run to Philly plus a branch run, Rochester. Maybe another, too. Have to text the neighbor that he's on dog duty again, get gear back into car, maybe have to reschedule my Monday stuff. Bird feeders are empty & there's one out there beeping at me now. Okay, okay. Had plans to go pick up 30 chickens from a free-range egg farm @ $2 each. Guy says they're healthy, lay a few eggs and he's got 3,000 pounds of chicken laid up in the freezers so he just wants to cull the flock of the inconsistent layers. 3-year-olds. Stew meat and a few eggs. How can he tell which are which? Fences, I guess. Said they'll catch and cage them the night before.

 

Rest Area W of Urbana/London Road E/B I-70 (150 miles east of Indy)

Unless something changes (entirely possible) this run Indy/Philly (the long way--Haz load--no tunnels), Philly/Rochester, Rochester/Philly, Philly/Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh/Philly and returns Philly/Indy.

No, not Gordon. This run pays. : 0)

Hopefully no one here caught up in miles of parking lot behind truck/bridge wreck west of Columbus. Departed rest area and quickly noticed 2 heavy wreckers holding at the side of next on-ramp to I-70 E/B and then lack of traffic W/B. Didn't take long to get up to large, green chopper on the W/B side and a truck engine at least 600 feet west of the impact under the overpass, with a debris field further west beyond the truck/trailer. Or what was left.

Makes no sense to me to tell drivers to keep the left door closed. Getting out of your truck every couple hours is crucial to safe driving, IMO. Dunno whether that's a factor here, Columbus local news still trying to catch up. http://www.nbc4i.com/story/23480311/crash-closes-interstate-70-in-madison-co

Shutting down @ rest area 17 miles W of Wheeling, WV.

/Thanks to Blu_Ogre with regard to Agnes, my now-deceased Shih-tzu. I've been waiting all these years, every day expecting she would finally stop breathing. Genuinely felt bad about having to put her down instead, but she was in pain since Sunday afternoon. Even thought of getting a can of starter (ether) to see if I could take her pain away with an ether-soaked rag. (No, I didn't.) Feels helpless to have a pup in pain. Vet sedated her first so she would quiet down.
The ex-girlfriend decided she didn't like the dog. I adopted 3 at the same time including this end-of-the-road Shih-tz. I figured a deaf and blind dog her age couldn't last more than six months, a year maybe. Girlfriend did the old me or the dog routine. I've had Agnes since Fall 2007 and parted with the girlfriend day after Super Bowl 2008. (Man, was she pissed!!)
/Pay slip for recent Indy/Detroit/Elk Grove/Detroit/Indy in my mail box at terminal today. A little less than I had figured. $456.76. Left on a Wednesday afternoon, told to wait Thursday morning in Detroit. Got back from Elk Grove Friday noon-ish and back to Indy Friday evening. No, not Gordon. Gordon would have paid like $370 for those miles if I were lucky enough to get 1200 well-connected miles. Not likely. Payroll missed my wait time in Elk Grove, so there's more $$ coming on that run. Soul food buffet at Detroit Big Boy was worth the trip itself... This trip discussed in the cesspool thread: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...-gordon-trucking-is-a-sespool-drivers-22.html --like at page 24 of 40 before mod locked it. "Same players, same insults, time to move on." (Paraphrased slightly.)
///

No, think not. Am interspersing past, present and Gordon narrative. Ummm, streams, if you will. Will pick back up on Pennyrile Parkway/Gov. Ed 'Ned' Breathitt and 2 drops for Gordon in Tennessee in due course. Want to listen to all Breathitt's oral histories first and this trip came up today. That help?? If I confuse, well, I confuse. Not linear. You're right on tire checks, Bright One. Edit. Fixed... : 0)
Hey, I PMd you when you goofed, and see how you are?? : 0)

 

From Pittston PA Pilot off I-81 (Between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre)

Sept 20, 2013--Current job, not Gordon.

Blu, we're doing the ships in the night thing. Just went through Allentown.

Wreck yesterday w of Columbus occurred around 6:15 pm. Follow-up article says driver in good condition (that's amazing) and from Indianapolis. http://www.madison-press.com/2013/09/followup-truck-driver-good-condition/ Article says he was trying to keep the left door shut instead of stopping every few hours for a short break, fitness-check. (Well, says he fell asleep.)

If present job has delivery times too tight or doesn't pay enough to take reasonable breaks--you need regular, short, out-of-the-truck breaks for physical, mental well-being--find a better and better paying job! Divide your pay by the hours. You can improve your work life--no, your head won't really explode, either. Just do the math!!

At any given moment how many of the heavy duty drivers around us are in complete, on-going, untreated burn-out mode? Lots of them.

Dropped placarded trailer from Indy in Philly today (Friday). Hour break for lobster bisque soup and classic tuna hoagie at Wawa Convenience Mart in Philly. Burp!! En route now to Rochester, NY with non-Haz load, so went right through Lehigh Tunnel on 476. Like so much in trucking these days, 476 running N from Philly is special, but not in a particularly good way. Does finally turn into a rather good road. By then I had it pretty much to myself. Not sure what the return load is, Haz or not. Cannot go back through tunnel with Haz.

No, this is not Gordon. Current employer, where I drive part-time. Dispatch called yesterday with this Indy/Philly/Indy and two 'branch' runs sandwiched in-between--Rochester and Pittsburgh. Got out of Indy before drive time but not by much. Those branch runs return to Philly and then I'll have a load back to Indy. The load out from Indy was placarded so had to drop down from I-70 to I-79 and then across I-68 to avoid the tunnels on I-70.

Philly/Pittsburgh/Philly turn after this and then load back to Indy. Last like this was non-Haz back. Straight through I-70 tunnels. Zip-zip-zip. Can't do that with Haz. Loooong way around, into Maryland! From Indy it was: IN-OH-WV-PA-WV-MD-PA.

I spoke to payroll about the Indy/Detroit/Elk Grove/Detroit/Indy that paid only $456. She'll see if she can add the 2-1/2 hours of wait time. Run started on a Wednesday afternoon and ended back at Indy Friday evening. So $500-ish is about right. $200 each for the full days and $100 for the partial.

This Pilot popped up just in time. Both my 11 and 14 were all but run out. Shut down here. All marked spaces full and a number of us inventing our own. Can't go anywhere. They'd have to tow me. (And a bunch of others.)

 

From Rochester, NY (raining)

So the Good Lord sent the Reaper Angel down to harvest up some work-addicted souls who had lost their joie de vivre.

Gave each an opportunity to argue to go back.

The barrister got up and said, "I'll be brief..."

"Not brief enough, sir" St. Peter interrupted. "Sit down, you're staying. NEXT!"

The heart surgeon got up and protested vigorously that he saved lives every day, that people needed him and would needlessly die.

"At the cost of your own LIFE," countered St. Peter. "Your wife and kids hardly know you. Sit down. You're staying. NEXT!"

tow614 stood up and sternly told St. Peter to send him back or he'd miss his quarterly bonus.

"Your quarterly BONUS?" shouted an incredulous St. Peter. "Why, your Fleet Manager's going to lay an unearned service failure on you, tow614, and you're not getting it. How's that?"

"Never happen," retorted tow614, "Gordon loves me."

St. Peter turned to the Reaper Angel and said, "Take him back... NEXT!"

 

A-hem-mmmmm... I hate to have to explain my jokes, tow614. At least I was nice enough to send you upwards and then back here... some around here I'd have the bad boy downstairs admiring and extolling their recruiting skills...