THE ADVENTURES MK III - Still doing it my way

So I started a new job today. My neighbor runs a small excavation business, couple dump trucks, excavator, skid steer, several tractors, etc. He is an older guy and has been having trouble keeping his blood pressure under control and he had to finally give up his CDL because his medical card expired and he couldn't get it renewed due to his blood pressure. The other guy that works for him decided earlier this year that he was done driving as well, so that left them without a driver. He needs someone to both haul his equipment to and from job sites and to haul away whatever he digs up as well. He knows what has been going on with me and came to talk with me about driving for him and I figured I'd give it a shot. He doesn't care what medication I'm taking, he told me to come over and drive the trucks whenever to get a feel for them, he's just a good guy. He is 72 and has probably worked darn near every day of his life so I don't think he quite understands how the anxiety affects me, but I know he's got my back and wants me to get better, whether I stay on driving with him or go back to driving my own truck.

I'm taking a big pay cut doing this, but honestly it's a paycheck (something I haven't seen in a while lol), I'm home every night, don't leave the state, a "long" job is a few hours away, plus those are few and far between, and I've enjoyed learning driving something besides a big truck. I'm sure he'll put me on some equipment too when the time comes, so that would be a nice notch to have on my belt should I decide that OTR trucking isn't for me in the long run. The old International Paystar with probably 250HP and a 10 speed is taking some getting used to, but it shouldn't take long to get a good feel for it. It really makes me miss my big Caterpillar, it's all this truck can do to accelerate on flat ground and I imagine hitting 65MPH on the interstate will take a downhill grade and a tailwind to get it there. Hauling the excavator back today coming out of some residential neighborhood... 6th... 5th... 4th... 3rd... 2n... nope not gonna go in second. Stop, first gear, try to hit second... nope. Just not gonna do it with a 10spd, no way to drop rpms fast enough. First gear crawl of shame all the way to the top. Will have to just hit second at the bottom and crawl up next time LOL. That truck could really use a 15 speed with the low side to get things rolling.

It feels good to be doing something again, after working with the psychiatrist and trying I think three different prescriptions since my last post, we've FINALLY found that Paxil seems to be working for me. I've been on it for only about 3-4 days now and it is helping, and I'm at the starting dosage. That has really upped my spirits about all this after months and months of trying and finding nothing that worked for me. I don't know if SNI would allow me to drive for them while on that medication, but I think working for SNI was a good experience but it will be time to move on to somewhere else if and when that time comes that I want to go back to OTR.

Hope everyone's been doing well.