Well it's Saturday morning and I just woke up to a gentle snow here at the T/A truck stop in Florence Kentucky. Friday went really well for me with only a slight disturbance near the end of my day which I will tell you about later in this tale of a truck driver's day. As I was making my way from St. Louis up to Indianapolis I was formulating a plan for the next day in which I decided I would sleep in Hoosier Trim's parking lot so I could get unloaded first thing in the morning. I've been there once before and I was thinking they had a large enough parking area where I could sneak in there and bed down for the night. But, just to make sure I stopped at a rest area and pulled up "Google Earth" to take a look at the site from a "bird's eye" view, which thankfully reminded me that there is a gate at this plant and they close it at night. So plan B took shape which was to find a truck stop just outside of Indianapolis and get some rest there.
I woke up on Friday to an early morning foreboding looking grey and wintry sky. From the drivers seat of my truck I nibbled away at my bowl of Raisin Bran cereal as I watched the trucks rolling in and out of the truck stop, thinking about how to manage my time for the day ahead. I don't know what I'm doing after I finish this load, which is information that always helps me when planning, but since my regular dispatcher is out this week, I'm having to make do with whatever tidbits of information I can get from the person who is halfheartedly standing in for him. I don't mean to sound critical - I'm sure this gentleman has his other responsibilities to tend to also this week, it's just the way it is, and I certainly can deal with it for a week or two. I got everything done on Friday and sent my empty call in over the qualcomm at about 1:30 from the parking lot of my final stop in Edgerton, Ohio. Then my phone starts ringing and it is the temporary dispatcher letting me know that they have a back haul for me that picks up in Sharonville, Ohio and delivers to a job site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. That's great except for the part where I have to be there in three hours and it is four hours away on little state highways that run through small towns with stop signs and traffic signals all along the way.
So, I have to make some phone calls while on the road to let people know I will be late, and so far it appears that they are fine with waiting for me, as I will be the fourth truck load going out from there today to this job site, and it is critical that we all get the product delivered on Monday. I actually got there thirty minutes ahead of the ETA I had given them, but I was immediately given a royal cussing out by the grumpy old guy who had been forced to wait on me by the boss. I literally had to bite my tongue to keep myself from going off on this guy and let him know that I didn't really care if his load got delivered or not, and as far as I was concerned he could find someone else to pull it. It really made me angry - he was accusing me of "dragging my ass" all day and making him be late for his "date" tonight, when the truth is that I have been giving it my all since probably long before he even got out of bed this morning, and I would just about give anything in this world to have just a few minutes with the woman I love. But I remained calm and just grinned at him, gladly knowing that the power of Christ in me has thankfully made me a new creature which doesn't react to unkindness in a like fashion. This of course just proved to make him more angry. I'll spare you all the details of getting loaded, but after I left there I was stuck in a traffic jam on I-75 south for hours due to a bad accident. As soon as I could I got myself into the T/A here in Florence Kentucky, I crashed in the bed exhausted from a very long day with a trying end to it.
But here it is, a new day with a fresh start. I have the whole weekend ahead to make my way down to the Southern most parts of this great land, and I will be two or three days closer to getting home for Christmas by the time I deliver this load down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Working in the hotel taught me patience and gave me customer service skills I've relied on most of my working career; the last year working in our café most of those skills had eroded. Reading your blog is reinvigorating. By the time I get going, I'll be so happy to get underway I know I'll be able to handle anything thrown at me. If I have a weak moment, I'll just look at the note I'll have taped to my dash, "WWDD?"
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