I AM BACK!!! I am so excited!! We made a stop at a truck stop today and they actually had a Verison Kiosk and I was able to upgrade and get a new aircard. I feel complete again! I had major issues getting the aircard activated and working correctly on my computer, and had to spend over an hour on the phon ewith Tech Support, but it sure was worth it.
I'm not even going to try to catch you up in detail on where we have been the last week or so. I will say that we left Lubbock and swaped out loads with a solo in Amarillo and took that load to Carson,CA. From there we got a load to Springfield,OH. After delivering around 0400 on Sunday morning, we went down the road about 20 miles and spent all day Sunday at the TA in London,OH. Got a load out of there but we had to deadhead 400 miles to pick it up and we are only taking it about 600 miles. Oh well, at least it delivers on Tuesday morning so that means that it will make payroll cutoff. Momma likes that!
I wish I had more to write at the moment, but after that hour on the phone with Tech Support, I am wiped out. And it is already my bed time. I hope everyone has been doing well and I have missed conversing with you. But I am back in the saddle again and ready to blog!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Lubbock,TX
It seems like we were just here. And actually we were right at two weeks ago. Last time we were here is when we blew the turbo on the truck and it was in the shop up in Amarillo. This time we were down here again for a much more sad reason.
On our way to deliver up in MA, I found out that my Aunt had died. Actually she was my second cousin, but her and he husband are my parents age (my Dad's actual cousin is her husband) but I always thought of them as my Aunt and Uncle. She has been in poor health the last few years but I don't think anyone expected her to pass away. It definitely happened suddenly. She passed out at her house after a doctors appointment and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. This I believe was on a Wednesday afternoon. And she passed away on Saturday. She was one of my favorite people and I tried to get by to see her when we were in town.
When we found out, we got a load back this direction so we could make the funeral. I got to see her son, my cousin Jon, and his family, which was really nice. Jon and his brother and my brother and I all grew up together. We had move to Colorado when I was 11, but they would come up and spend summer vacation in Colorado. We had so much fun as kids out in the mountains. But of course as you grow up you drift apart because you start your own families. We decided that we are not going to keep meeting every 10 years at someones funeral. So we have decided to start a Cousin's Reunion so we can all get together more often. Who knows when we will get this started, but I am hoping for sure by next summer. Times like this makes you realize that you only have one family, and one extended family, and you really have to make the most of the time that you have.
We arrived in Lubbock EARLY Monday morning and the funeral was that afternoon. Today is Tuesday and we are trying to get laundry done and get ready to head out. Our FM called and he has a load for us in the morning. We are going to repower a load from a solo up in Amarillo and deliver to Compton,CA on Thursday morning. That will set us up good being on the west coast so we should have something that will carry us over the weekend. And hopefully pay decent.
We are still having problems with our internet connection, but hopefully we will be able to find a Verizon store somewhere so we can get a new card. Until then, I will post as often as I can get this card to work. And remember, family is so important. Don't put off calling someone in your family. You never know when you may lose them.
On our way to deliver up in MA, I found out that my Aunt had died. Actually she was my second cousin, but her and he husband are my parents age (my Dad's actual cousin is her husband) but I always thought of them as my Aunt and Uncle. She has been in poor health the last few years but I don't think anyone expected her to pass away. It definitely happened suddenly. She passed out at her house after a doctors appointment and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. This I believe was on a Wednesday afternoon. And she passed away on Saturday. She was one of my favorite people and I tried to get by to see her when we were in town.
When we found out, we got a load back this direction so we could make the funeral. I got to see her son, my cousin Jon, and his family, which was really nice. Jon and his brother and my brother and I all grew up together. We had move to Colorado when I was 11, but they would come up and spend summer vacation in Colorado. We had so much fun as kids out in the mountains. But of course as you grow up you drift apart because you start your own families. We decided that we are not going to keep meeting every 10 years at someones funeral. So we have decided to start a Cousin's Reunion so we can all get together more often. Who knows when we will get this started, but I am hoping for sure by next summer. Times like this makes you realize that you only have one family, and one extended family, and you really have to make the most of the time that you have.
We arrived in Lubbock EARLY Monday morning and the funeral was that afternoon. Today is Tuesday and we are trying to get laundry done and get ready to head out. Our FM called and he has a load for us in the morning. We are going to repower a load from a solo up in Amarillo and deliver to Compton,CA on Thursday morning. That will set us up good being on the west coast so we should have something that will carry us over the weekend. And hopefully pay decent.
We are still having problems with our internet connection, but hopefully we will be able to find a Verizon store somewhere so we can get a new card. Until then, I will post as often as I can get this card to work. And remember, family is so important. Don't put off calling someone in your family. You never know when you may lose them.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter Everyone!
Hi everyone, this is Joe, better known to you as J. I snuck in here because I like to shout out in parking lots and restaurants that "I LOVE THIS WOMAN!" and thought, "hey, I can shout to the world in cyber too!!" so, I wanted to tell you our story from my point of view. Bear with me, Im new at this and Im trying to get it done before Tnet cathces me on her blog....
After my divorce I was in a bad place. I was thinking about starting a He Mans Woman Hating Club with me as president.... I prayed alot about it as my mother taught me to do... I was fresh out of the Army and living with my terminally Ill mother at the time. I prayed about forgiveness for my thoughts and about guidance for the future... mostly I asked HIM about "who's out there for me? who can I share my secrets with and trust them with them?" Well I fugured out later that HE had used the one person in my life I could really trust,,, my mother. By this I mean she smacked me in the head and told me to "go to Texas and get her daughter!" So I did.... we were married just months after my mother passed... You see, HE doesnt speak to you in a voice you can recognize all the time... Sometimes he opens the door and stands back and lets you do what HE made you to do. Choose! Which brings me to why Im in here telling you this..
I know GOD loves me. I asked HIM for someone to share my life with and HE "told" me, I hear your prayers and watch over you everyday Joe. But at best son, your a mess!! So I'm sending you an angel.... I named her Tracy. You can tell her whats in your heart. Let her help mend your pains, she will teach you to laugh again. Through her you can reach me, for that is what I made her for, YOU!
I picked today to tell everyone who reads this on HIS day of "rising" again. HE hears your prayers people, and HE gives you answers!! But your the ones who have to do that which HE made us for and put us on earth to do, make the right CHOICE!
We all have angels to help us. Mine is named Tracy, but I just call her honey......
After my divorce I was in a bad place. I was thinking about starting a He Mans Woman Hating Club with me as president.... I prayed alot about it as my mother taught me to do... I was fresh out of the Army and living with my terminally Ill mother at the time. I prayed about forgiveness for my thoughts and about guidance for the future... mostly I asked HIM about "who's out there for me? who can I share my secrets with and trust them with them?" Well I fugured out later that HE had used the one person in my life I could really trust,,, my mother. By this I mean she smacked me in the head and told me to "go to Texas and get her daughter!" So I did.... we were married just months after my mother passed... You see, HE doesnt speak to you in a voice you can recognize all the time... Sometimes he opens the door and stands back and lets you do what HE made you to do. Choose! Which brings me to why Im in here telling you this..
I know GOD loves me. I asked HIM for someone to share my life with and HE "told" me, I hear your prayers and watch over you everyday Joe. But at best son, your a mess!! So I'm sending you an angel.... I named her Tracy. You can tell her whats in your heart. Let her help mend your pains, she will teach you to laugh again. Through her you can reach me, for that is what I made her for, YOU!
I picked today to tell everyone who reads this on HIS day of "rising" again. HE hears your prayers people, and HE gives you answers!! But your the ones who have to do that which HE made us for and put us on earth to do, make the right CHOICE!
We all have angels to help us. Mine is named Tracy, but I just call her honey......
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Ashtabula,OH
Around 0130 last night the other driver showed up with our load that we were taking from him. When they called it woke me up because J was listening to his I-Pod. Didn't phase me too much because I was out of it. I just answered and handed the phone to him. :) Then I cuddled back up in bed and went back to sleep.
After J got the trailers switched and hooked up to our new load, I guess he stayed up for a bit but before long he was crawling into bed. He said he had the alarm set so I would know when to get up and get moving. Poor Smokey has had an upset stomach so about 0545 he woke me up whining and I knew I had to take him out right that minute. Turns out J had the alarm set for 0600 so Smokey woke me up at a good time. After taking him to do his business I figured I better get myself ready. But let me tell you, today was one of those mornings where I just couldn't get motivated! I finally got my lazy butt in gear though. By the time I got rounded up, looked on the map to see where we were going, scaled the load and got my logbook done, it was about 0730. Like I said, I was moving slow. haha
This load is taking us up to Marlborough,MA and we have an appointment at 0900 on Friday morning. According to the GPS it is only 845 miles. So we have over 24 hours to make it there and that is PLENTY of time. I figured since we have all this extra time that I was going to drive 55 the whole way and see what kind of fuel mileage that I could get.
Around noon or so J wakes up. I am still toodeling along at 55 and I had only covered right at 200 miles. Including a stop for fuel along the way. I manage to make it past Cleveland and got on to I-90. We are still driving along talking when I notice a sign that said "Ashtabula County" and something in me clicks. J has an Army buddy that lives up here. So I tell him to call Scotty and tell him to come have lunch with us. We thought we weren't going to hear back from him, but he finally calls. He had just gotten off work and was on his way to pick up his daughter but he would be happy to meet us.
J and I walked across the street to this little place called "Kay's Place Restaurant". It is at x235 on I-90 in Ohio. REALLY good food. It is right across the street from the TA. We sat there for about 30 minutes waiting for Scotty and Charlotte to show up. Once they got there we had a great lunch and got to visit some. Since we have extra time at the moment, J went back with Scotty to his house to visit for a while and I am sitting in the truck. I would have went with him, but this load we have is a Hazmat load and I don't want to leave it. It is one thing to get out of the truck and go across the street for lunch and an entirely different thing to get in a car and completely leave the load! But that is cool, because I need to get some sleep anyway and J will have a chance to visit with Scotty for a while. You know, I am sure they will talk about guy stuff. LOL
We only have 558 miles to go. If J can at least get me 350 miles or better then we will be set and I can make it to the shipper on time. We decided it was best to wait the extra time here instead of closer in because there are very few places to park the further east we go. And what places there are will be crowded by the time we would get through there.
I would like to mention how beautiful the weather is. It seems that we are finally starting to see Spring. It was definitely cool outside today, and it still is, but it is sunny! And again, I am seeing all sorts of baby animals, like horses, cows, goats, sheep. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The whole cycle of life is amazing to see when you are driving across the country. It is things that so many people take for granted when they do their same old thing day in and day out. I was one of those people before I started driving a truck. Being able to see the country and experience the changing of the seasons in every state is an eye opener. I thank God each day for this wonderful life I have and this world that we live in. It is certainly beautiful!
After J got the trailers switched and hooked up to our new load, I guess he stayed up for a bit but before long he was crawling into bed. He said he had the alarm set so I would know when to get up and get moving. Poor Smokey has had an upset stomach so about 0545 he woke me up whining and I knew I had to take him out right that minute. Turns out J had the alarm set for 0600 so Smokey woke me up at a good time. After taking him to do his business I figured I better get myself ready. But let me tell you, today was one of those mornings where I just couldn't get motivated! I finally got my lazy butt in gear though. By the time I got rounded up, looked on the map to see where we were going, scaled the load and got my logbook done, it was about 0730. Like I said, I was moving slow. haha
This load is taking us up to Marlborough,MA and we have an appointment at 0900 on Friday morning. According to the GPS it is only 845 miles. So we have over 24 hours to make it there and that is PLENTY of time. I figured since we have all this extra time that I was going to drive 55 the whole way and see what kind of fuel mileage that I could get.
Around noon or so J wakes up. I am still toodeling along at 55 and I had only covered right at 200 miles. Including a stop for fuel along the way. I manage to make it past Cleveland and got on to I-90. We are still driving along talking when I notice a sign that said "Ashtabula County" and something in me clicks. J has an Army buddy that lives up here. So I tell him to call Scotty and tell him to come have lunch with us. We thought we weren't going to hear back from him, but he finally calls. He had just gotten off work and was on his way to pick up his daughter but he would be happy to meet us.
J and I walked across the street to this little place called "Kay's Place Restaurant". It is at x235 on I-90 in Ohio. REALLY good food. It is right across the street from the TA. We sat there for about 30 minutes waiting for Scotty and Charlotte to show up. Once they got there we had a great lunch and got to visit some. Since we have extra time at the moment, J went back with Scotty to his house to visit for a while and I am sitting in the truck. I would have went with him, but this load we have is a Hazmat load and I don't want to leave it. It is one thing to get out of the truck and go across the street for lunch and an entirely different thing to get in a car and completely leave the load! But that is cool, because I need to get some sleep anyway and J will have a chance to visit with Scotty for a while. You know, I am sure they will talk about guy stuff. LOL
We only have 558 miles to go. If J can at least get me 350 miles or better then we will be set and I can make it to the shipper on time. We decided it was best to wait the extra time here instead of closer in because there are very few places to park the further east we go. And what places there are will be crowded by the time we would get through there.
I would like to mention how beautiful the weather is. It seems that we are finally starting to see Spring. It was definitely cool outside today, and it still is, but it is sunny! And again, I am seeing all sorts of baby animals, like horses, cows, goats, sheep. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The whole cycle of life is amazing to see when you are driving across the country. It is things that so many people take for granted when they do their same old thing day in and day out. I was one of those people before I started driving a truck. Being able to see the country and experience the changing of the seasons in every state is an eye opener. I thank God each day for this wonderful life I have and this world that we live in. It is certainly beautiful!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Eaton,OH.
Yes, we have covered another 2000 miles since I posted on Monday and here it is only Wednesday!
After getting unloaded on Monday morning in Carson,CA I headed back towards Ontario,CA to get the trailer washed out. Actually it is in Fontana,CA which is just across the interstate from the TA's that are in Ontario. Anyway, I got the trailer washed out and as soon as I was pulling out of the bay to the street headed to the TA I hear the Qualcomm go "BEEP!" Wow, that was fast for our next load. I was expecting to sit for a few hours.
I go ahead and go to the TA and park and then look at the work assignment. I was picking up in Ontario in less than an hour and taking the load to Hamilton,OH. I punched the address into Maggie (the GPS) and I lucked out and was less than 3 miles away. Awesome! I wrote all of the trip info down, took Smokey out for a walk, and headed over to Americold to pick up our load.
Once I got there, I parked and headed into the Shipping office to see how long it would be and where they needed me. I lucked out and got a door right away. Two and a half hours later I was loaded and on my way to scale. It would have been sooner, but their lunch break fell in that time frame so I had to wait for that. It worked out though because the roach coach, aka catering van, came by and I got some awesome tacos for J and I.
After I scaled at the TA I headed to the fuel aisle to get my scale ticket. Thank goodness I was about perfectly even on my weights and I didn't have to mess with sliding the tandems on the trailer. J had woke up and since it was almost time for him to drive, he went ahead and took over there.
This is one of those runs that was TIGHT on time. We had to bump the speed up if we were going to make it on time. With the exception of CA and OH, we ran 65 the whole way out here. I woke up this morning in St Louis,MO and I made it here with just over an hour to spare. To me that is cutting it close. Just stopping to go to the restroom can take 20 minutes if Smokey can't decide which area he needs to mark. He is picky about that. :)
Once I got to Interstate Cold Storage, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were going to just let me drop the trailer and I didn't have to wait for them to unload me. Sweet! But then, just as I was getting unhooked, another Prime truck bobtailed into the lot and snatched the trailer from me! Darn thieves!! LOL Deciding we were in desperate need of a shower before anything, I sent in a message saying that we were going to go get a shower while we waited for our next load and that when we were done we would go back to Interstate and pick up the trailer I had just dropped off. They had actually started unloading it before I unhooked, so I knew it would be empty when we came back.
We headed up I-75 to a complete dive truck plaza. I wanted a shower so bad that I really didn't care. But it certainly wouldn't get any blue ribbons for the cleanest shower facilities. While we were in there, our FM called and said he had a load for us. No one was getting loaded today because freight is slow. But there is a solo driver passing through on I-70 who won't be able to make his appointment in Massachusettes on Friday and he wanted us to take that load and get it there. Well heck, sure thing! So we gathered our stuff up and headed north to Eaton,OH where we are supposed to meet him. He won't be here till around 0300-0400 so we came in and ate and now J is inside doing laundry while I am supposed to be out here sleeping. But I found I could get a signal and wanted to update you on where we were and what we were doing.
Since we will be delivering on Friday morning up in MA, I am really hoping that he finds us a load back to CA to be delivered before payroll cutoff on Tuesday. Shouldn't be a problem as long as there is a load to be found! So keep your fingers crossed for us. We have a graduation cruise to pay for and a houseboat to remodel. So we need the money!!!! :)
After getting unloaded on Monday morning in Carson,CA I headed back towards Ontario,CA to get the trailer washed out. Actually it is in Fontana,CA which is just across the interstate from the TA's that are in Ontario. Anyway, I got the trailer washed out and as soon as I was pulling out of the bay to the street headed to the TA I hear the Qualcomm go "BEEP!" Wow, that was fast for our next load. I was expecting to sit for a few hours.
I go ahead and go to the TA and park and then look at the work assignment. I was picking up in Ontario in less than an hour and taking the load to Hamilton,OH. I punched the address into Maggie (the GPS) and I lucked out and was less than 3 miles away. Awesome! I wrote all of the trip info down, took Smokey out for a walk, and headed over to Americold to pick up our load.
Once I got there, I parked and headed into the Shipping office to see how long it would be and where they needed me. I lucked out and got a door right away. Two and a half hours later I was loaded and on my way to scale. It would have been sooner, but their lunch break fell in that time frame so I had to wait for that. It worked out though because the roach coach, aka catering van, came by and I got some awesome tacos for J and I.
After I scaled at the TA I headed to the fuel aisle to get my scale ticket. Thank goodness I was about perfectly even on my weights and I didn't have to mess with sliding the tandems on the trailer. J had woke up and since it was almost time for him to drive, he went ahead and took over there.
This is one of those runs that was TIGHT on time. We had to bump the speed up if we were going to make it on time. With the exception of CA and OH, we ran 65 the whole way out here. I woke up this morning in St Louis,MO and I made it here with just over an hour to spare. To me that is cutting it close. Just stopping to go to the restroom can take 20 minutes if Smokey can't decide which area he needs to mark. He is picky about that. :)
Once I got to Interstate Cold Storage, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were going to just let me drop the trailer and I didn't have to wait for them to unload me. Sweet! But then, just as I was getting unhooked, another Prime truck bobtailed into the lot and snatched the trailer from me! Darn thieves!! LOL Deciding we were in desperate need of a shower before anything, I sent in a message saying that we were going to go get a shower while we waited for our next load and that when we were done we would go back to Interstate and pick up the trailer I had just dropped off. They had actually started unloading it before I unhooked, so I knew it would be empty when we came back.
We headed up I-75 to a complete dive truck plaza. I wanted a shower so bad that I really didn't care. But it certainly wouldn't get any blue ribbons for the cleanest shower facilities. While we were in there, our FM called and said he had a load for us. No one was getting loaded today because freight is slow. But there is a solo driver passing through on I-70 who won't be able to make his appointment in Massachusettes on Friday and he wanted us to take that load and get it there. Well heck, sure thing! So we gathered our stuff up and headed north to Eaton,OH where we are supposed to meet him. He won't be here till around 0300-0400 so we came in and ate and now J is inside doing laundry while I am supposed to be out here sleeping. But I found I could get a signal and wanted to update you on where we were and what we were doing.
Since we will be delivering on Friday morning up in MA, I am really hoping that he finds us a load back to CA to be delivered before payroll cutoff on Tuesday. Shouldn't be a problem as long as there is a load to be found! So keep your fingers crossed for us. We have a graduation cruise to pay for and a houseboat to remodel. So we need the money!!!! :)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Carson,CA
After I posted last Friday, I headed inside to grab some lunch and kill some time. I came back out to the truck around 1400 to find out we had a load. It picked up Saturday morning at 0400 at Anheuser Busch in St Louis and was delivering in Ogden,UT. Since it didn't pick up till the next morning and was less than 90 miles away, that meant we got to kick back and take it easy the rest of the day.
Around 1600 my phone rings and it is our FM. He wants to take us off of that load and give us another load that a solo is picking up in Indiana. It seems that where he was getting the trailer loaded at didn't know what they were doing and he had been back twick to get the load re-worked to get it to a legal weight. Enough time had passed that there was no way a solo could get it to California on time. Heck, even a team couldn't get it there on time now, but we could do it faster than a solo. Around 2200 that evening, J takes off and heads east to meet up with the driver at a Pilot in Levenworth,IN.
J manages to get there right around 0300 so I get up and get ready to drive. We pick the load and paperwork up, go scale and take off. That day I managed to get us into Springfield,MO. This was Saturday around 1400. We had to stop there and have the trailer looked at. The front axle brakes were grabbing, a tire was low and the light for the reefer unit wasn't working. After about two and a half hours, a cheeseburger and a shower later, we are done and ready to roll.
J takes off from there and gets us to a rest area just east of Amarillo,TX. He had a heck of a time making it that far with the winds blowing like they were. I took over and made a stop in Amarillo for fuel and a quick stop at the Freightliner to see if they had our paperwork ready (they didn't) and then I was off again. I managed to make it to the NM/AZ state line where J took over once again with the goal of getting me as close to the receiver as he could.
I woke up around 0230 this morning and he was about 18 miles out of Barstow. Excellent! That only left me about 130 miles to go. We stopped at the Pilot there to switch and we were off again. I made one more quick stop at the TA in Ontario for fuel and then made the last 50 miles to our receiver.
After finding the gate locked, I finally found someone to let me in. They had me back to a door and wait until they verified the seal and stuff before they had me open the doors. Turns out the seal number on the trailer didn't match the one on the paperwork. Uh oh! Of course this was from them re-working the load twice and using a total of 3 different seals by the time they were done. It is something that I should have caught when we picked up the load from the other driver, but I assumed he had verified it when he picked up and did his depart call. Of course, I do know what they say about assumptions.... Anyway, the receiver didn't seem to worried about it since it was sealed and both doors were padlocked the entire trip. He said they will just have to wait until their QA guy comes in before they can ship it to their customers. But he said I wouldn't have to wait, so that is good.
They are unloading me now so it shouldn't be too long before we are ready to roll again. Unfortunately, they will have me done just in time to enjoy the Los Angeles morning rush hour traffic. Hopefully I will be going the opposite direction of most traffic since I am down south of LA in Carson. I will be headed north when everyone else is trying to go south.
I guess I will head back to the TA and wait for a load there. I imagine I will have to wait a few hours unless by some miracle I am surprised with a quick reload. We shall see!
Around 1600 my phone rings and it is our FM. He wants to take us off of that load and give us another load that a solo is picking up in Indiana. It seems that where he was getting the trailer loaded at didn't know what they were doing and he had been back twick to get the load re-worked to get it to a legal weight. Enough time had passed that there was no way a solo could get it to California on time. Heck, even a team couldn't get it there on time now, but we could do it faster than a solo. Around 2200 that evening, J takes off and heads east to meet up with the driver at a Pilot in Levenworth,IN.
J manages to get there right around 0300 so I get up and get ready to drive. We pick the load and paperwork up, go scale and take off. That day I managed to get us into Springfield,MO. This was Saturday around 1400. We had to stop there and have the trailer looked at. The front axle brakes were grabbing, a tire was low and the light for the reefer unit wasn't working. After about two and a half hours, a cheeseburger and a shower later, we are done and ready to roll.
J takes off from there and gets us to a rest area just east of Amarillo,TX. He had a heck of a time making it that far with the winds blowing like they were. I took over and made a stop in Amarillo for fuel and a quick stop at the Freightliner to see if they had our paperwork ready (they didn't) and then I was off again. I managed to make it to the NM/AZ state line where J took over once again with the goal of getting me as close to the receiver as he could.
I woke up around 0230 this morning and he was about 18 miles out of Barstow. Excellent! That only left me about 130 miles to go. We stopped at the Pilot there to switch and we were off again. I made one more quick stop at the TA in Ontario for fuel and then made the last 50 miles to our receiver.
After finding the gate locked, I finally found someone to let me in. They had me back to a door and wait until they verified the seal and stuff before they had me open the doors. Turns out the seal number on the trailer didn't match the one on the paperwork. Uh oh! Of course this was from them re-working the load twice and using a total of 3 different seals by the time they were done. It is something that I should have caught when we picked up the load from the other driver, but I assumed he had verified it when he picked up and did his depart call. Of course, I do know what they say about assumptions.... Anyway, the receiver didn't seem to worried about it since it was sealed and both doors were padlocked the entire trip. He said they will just have to wait until their QA guy comes in before they can ship it to their customers. But he said I wouldn't have to wait, so that is good.
They are unloading me now so it shouldn't be too long before we are ready to roll again. Unfortunately, they will have me done just in time to enjoy the Los Angeles morning rush hour traffic. Hopefully I will be going the opposite direction of most traffic since I am down south of LA in Carson. I will be headed north when everyone else is trying to go south.
I guess I will head back to the TA and wait for a load there. I imagine I will have to wait a few hours unless by some miracle I am surprised with a quick reload. We shall see!
Friday, April 3, 2009
Warrenton,MO
Our air card is acting up again so I apoligize for not having any entries in a couple of days. Well, ok, almost a week. :)
After getting the truck to the shop in Amarillo in the middle of a spring blizzard, we tucked ourselves into a hotel for Friday night. Saturday afternoon we got the dreaded call that the new turbo was in place in the truck but the actuator on it wasn't working and they would have to order that part. Since it was Saturday, they couldn't order the part until Monday and they would have it in Tuesday around noon.
With that bad news, and not wanting to stay in a hotel another 3 nights, not counting Saturday night, I placed a call to my Mom asking her to come get us the next day. Luckily Lubbock is only about 120 miles south of Amarillo and my mom is off on Sunday. So Sunday morning around 0930 my mom shows us to take us back to her place where we can wait in comfort.
We had a good visit and got some real home cooking, which is always a bonus. We also went to two of my nieces baskeball games. If you haven't seen 9 year old girls play basketball, you are in for a treat. These girls are serious when they play. And they even get fouled! One of the funniest parts though was watching the big referee trying not to laugh when he was calling the game. It was so funny. He would call a foul or call travelling and he would do so while he was trying not to bust out laughing. And of course at the beginning of the second half, he had to make sure the girls knew they were now shooting at the opposite end of the court than they were on the first half. It was an absolute delight to watch them play. They were in a tournament and got third place. They beat the 4th place team something like 13-6. Then the next night they played again to see if they would go to the finals. They lost that game 5-6 I believe. But they got medals and everything so they were happy.
Tuesday evening we called back up to Amarillo and the truck was done but they had to wait for the mechanic to come back in Wednesday morning to get the paperwork all done. We decided to go ahead and get up Wednesday morning and get rounded up and head back up there. Again, we were lucky because my mom is off on Wednesday and Sunday so that worked out perfectly for us. After stopping for an early lunch while we were on the way, we made it to the truck and had said our goodbyes to mom around 1230 or so.
After getting settled back into the truck and letting John know we were ready, we finally got a load assignment around 1500. It picked up at Tyson there in Amarillo, so that was nice that we didn't have to deadhead several hundred miles. We headed over there to pick it up but it wasn't ready and he said it would be a while because they were still behind from the snow storm the previous weekend. With that in mind, we headed back to the Petro to wait for the load to be ready.
Finally, around 0100 on Thursday morning, the load was ready and J headed over to pick it up. He then headed back to the Petro to scale and then he parked. We had plenty of extra time on the load, so he let me get a little more sleep. He woke me up at 0500 and guess what I woke up to? More snow in Amarillo!! Luckily this didn't amount to anything, but the winds were really kicking. After heading in and grabbing some breakfast, I took off.
I made it about half way to destination, and that half way point was Tulsa,OK. J took over there and was going to get us the rest of the way in. We had to make a stop in Springfield for fuel and they decided they needed to do our annual inspection on the truck and that they also needed to fix something on the trailer. About four hours later, J was finally back on the road.
He managed to drop this load around 0300 or so and then drove up to a Flying J here in Warrenton,MO where we are currently at. He got me up at 0530 and we headed inside for breakfast and a shower. I was hoping that when we came back out that we would have a load, but we weren't that lucky. Now it is just a little after 1000 hrs and I am still waiting. On the bright side, it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. I will take that considering the way the weather has been this past week!
After getting the truck to the shop in Amarillo in the middle of a spring blizzard, we tucked ourselves into a hotel for Friday night. Saturday afternoon we got the dreaded call that the new turbo was in place in the truck but the actuator on it wasn't working and they would have to order that part. Since it was Saturday, they couldn't order the part until Monday and they would have it in Tuesday around noon.
With that bad news, and not wanting to stay in a hotel another 3 nights, not counting Saturday night, I placed a call to my Mom asking her to come get us the next day. Luckily Lubbock is only about 120 miles south of Amarillo and my mom is off on Sunday. So Sunday morning around 0930 my mom shows us to take us back to her place where we can wait in comfort.
We had a good visit and got some real home cooking, which is always a bonus. We also went to two of my nieces baskeball games. If you haven't seen 9 year old girls play basketball, you are in for a treat. These girls are serious when they play. And they even get fouled! One of the funniest parts though was watching the big referee trying not to laugh when he was calling the game. It was so funny. He would call a foul or call travelling and he would do so while he was trying not to bust out laughing. And of course at the beginning of the second half, he had to make sure the girls knew they were now shooting at the opposite end of the court than they were on the first half. It was an absolute delight to watch them play. They were in a tournament and got third place. They beat the 4th place team something like 13-6. Then the next night they played again to see if they would go to the finals. They lost that game 5-6 I believe. But they got medals and everything so they were happy.
Tuesday evening we called back up to Amarillo and the truck was done but they had to wait for the mechanic to come back in Wednesday morning to get the paperwork all done. We decided to go ahead and get up Wednesday morning and get rounded up and head back up there. Again, we were lucky because my mom is off on Wednesday and Sunday so that worked out perfectly for us. After stopping for an early lunch while we were on the way, we made it to the truck and had said our goodbyes to mom around 1230 or so.
After getting settled back into the truck and letting John know we were ready, we finally got a load assignment around 1500. It picked up at Tyson there in Amarillo, so that was nice that we didn't have to deadhead several hundred miles. We headed over there to pick it up but it wasn't ready and he said it would be a while because they were still behind from the snow storm the previous weekend. With that in mind, we headed back to the Petro to wait for the load to be ready.
Finally, around 0100 on Thursday morning, the load was ready and J headed over to pick it up. He then headed back to the Petro to scale and then he parked. We had plenty of extra time on the load, so he let me get a little more sleep. He woke me up at 0500 and guess what I woke up to? More snow in Amarillo!! Luckily this didn't amount to anything, but the winds were really kicking. After heading in and grabbing some breakfast, I took off.
I made it about half way to destination, and that half way point was Tulsa,OK. J took over there and was going to get us the rest of the way in. We had to make a stop in Springfield for fuel and they decided they needed to do our annual inspection on the truck and that they also needed to fix something on the trailer. About four hours later, J was finally back on the road.
He managed to drop this load around 0300 or so and then drove up to a Flying J here in Warrenton,MO where we are currently at. He got me up at 0530 and we headed inside for breakfast and a shower. I was hoping that when we came back out that we would have a load, but we weren't that lucky. Now it is just a little after 1000 hrs and I am still waiting. On the bright side, it looks like it is going to be a beautiful day. I will take that considering the way the weather has been this past week!
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