STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21336: The Chronicles Continue

I have been remiss with my daily diary for far too long, so now the chronicles continue:
On the 21st, I left Sayre at 1000 and drove to Plainview, TX. I did the drop/hook delivery without a glitch at 1330. The freight was slow in the panhandle area of Texas, especially when I had a specific destination in mind. The Planner offered a load which picked up in Plainview, but not until the 22nd. I accepted it because it was going to Hayward, CA (o miles empty and 1376 miles loaded) delivering on the 29th at noon. There was little else I could do to get to the Bay Area of California for Thanksgiving. I called the Shipper to ask if I could get the load today, but alas, that was not possible. I settled in at the local truckstop for the day. I drove 215 miles and worked a total of 4 hours.
On the 22nd, I arrived at the Shipper at 0830. It was a ‘live’ load and I got a door at 0930. I left Plainview at 1100 and drove to our Terminal in Albuquerque for fuel and a break. At 1500, I left and drove to Flagstaff, AZ arriving at 1030. I stopped for the night because of the 14-hour rule and the 11-hour rule as well. I felt like I could drive somemore, but I resisted the impulse. I worked 12.5 hours driving 668 miles in 11 hours of driving.
The 23rd, I left Flagstaff at 0845 and drove to Kingman, AZ for fuel, breakfast and a MMM break. I left there at 1145 and drove to Lake Havasu City. This 15-minute stop was strictly for Logging purposes due to the Speed Limit change between Arizona and California. California DOT thinks that all miles driven should be logged at 50 MPH or less, regardless of the Speed Limits in other States you have driven in on that particular leg of your trip.
Example: Leaving Kingman, AZ and driving to Barstow, CA; there are 53 miles in Arizona (from the Flying J truckstop where I always stop) which can be Logged at 60 to 63 MPH, and then 156 miles from the AZ/CA border to Barstow which, according to the California DOT, must be Logged at 50 MPH. Since there is no way for them to determine exactly when you crossed the border, they deem that ALL of the miles driven (a total of 209 in this example) on that leg will be logged at 50 MPH. At that rate, you would have to Log 4.25 hours to be legal by their standards. By showing a stop at or near the border (Lake Havasu City in this case), you can Log part of the miles (44 miles from Kingman to Lake Havasu City) at the higher rate of speed (.75 hours), then the rest of the miles (165 miles in this case) at 50 MPH or 3.25 hours (with a ‘fudge factor’) for a total of 4 hours. It saves you .25 hours, which, if you drive like I do, can certainly be used later. Those .25’s add up at the end of the week. I use this system whenever it is to my advantage. It works equally as well in Illinois, Ohio, etc, wherever there is a difference between the Speed Limits of 2 States through which you will be traveling.
So, whenever possible, I stop at a “border” town before I get to California to show a clear delineation between the States. Anyway, I drove to Barstow, where I took another short break for the MMM. I left Barstow at 1630 and drove to Bakersfield, CA (where I mis-spent my youth). Because I was anxious to get to our Terminal in Lathrop, CA, I only took a short break here this time. Usually, I stop at my all-time favorite Chinese restaurant (Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks) for dinner, then go to Dewars Ice Cream shop for a Pepermint Stick ice cream cone and some “chews” (taffy). They are ‘pricy’, but absolutely delicious. My favorites are the Peppermint, the Peanut Butter, and the Caramel. YUM YUM!!! I digress, I left Bakersfield at 1930 and drove to Lost Hills, CA where I stopped for the night. I worked 10 hours today using 9.5 of those to drive 508 miles.
The 24th (Thanksgiving Day), I left Lost Hills at 0715 and drove to our Terminal in lathrop, CA. Again, anxiousness prevented me from stopping in Santa Nella at Pea Soup Andersons for a bowl of the ‘worlds best’ Split Pea soup as I usually do. When I arrived at the Terminal, I expected it to be crowded, but serendipitiosly, just as I entered, another driver vacated a ‘primo’ parking spot in the 1st row ‘pole position’. I grabbed it, dropped my trailer, then bob-tailed to Palo Alto, Ca for a visit with my brother. I arrived shortly after noon. AHHH VACATION!! The MMM were gleeful to arrive as previously mentioned in the posting “Searching for Squirrels”.
The remainder of the 24th through the 28th were spent in leisure. By leisure, I mean doing absolutely nothing that I didn’t want to do. I normally assume the ‘cooking duties’ as soon as I arrive, but I don’t consider cooking as work. This time, however, my brother had a crock-pot full of saurkraut, potatoes, pork roast and Italian sausage already on. I had a snack to tide me over until the rest of the guests arrived at 1900 for dinner. With the aroma of the pork & saurkraut wafting through my olfactory synapses, I began some of the preparations for our actual Thanksgiving dinner which we had on Friday, the 25th. This entailed boiling 2 dozen eggs for my ‘world-class’ deviled eggs, making 3 pies (1 apple, 1 apple/mince, and 1 cranberry/pear) and 1 tart (a serendipitous mis-calculation in the amount of cranberry/pear pie filling: there are never any mistakes when I cook), and ’slicing & dicing’ a variety of vegetables. After dinner, I brought in my computer and began “geeking”, and finished the ‘prep’ for Thanklsgiving dinner tomorrow. My brother and I split the tart after everyone else had gone to bed (merely to try the previously untried cranberry/pear pie filling, you understand). :>}
On Friday, we had our Thanksgiving dinner at about 1400. With most of the ‘grunt work’ already done, I had little to do except warm the pre-cooked Turkey, make the deviled eggs, stuff the celery (I made 3 varieties of this: peanut butter, pimento cheese, and “old English” cheese), boil the potatoes for my ‘lumpless’ mashed potatoes, and cook the peas & pearl onions for my delicious ‘creamed peas’. My sister-in-law, Lou, made a delicious Spinach and fruit salad with a blackberry wine vinigarette dressing. Dinner went well. The MMM were well behaved and had lots of ‘goodies’ on all the plates after dinner which they enjoyed immensely. Pie came later. Then relaxing and ‘geeking’. Then ‘grazing’ through the left-overs. Then more ‘geeking’. Then more pie. You know the routine.
On Saturday, I made my delicious sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast. What makes it so delicious is that I use a full pound of lean sausage, for about 4 cups of gravy (I never measure precisely), bacon grease as a suplement to the sausage grease in the basis for my roux, and at the very end, I stir in just an essence of shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 1/4 cup). For dinner, we just randomly grazed the left-overs. The rest of the day was spent, you guessed it, relaxing and ‘geeking’.
On Sunday, aside from ‘geeking’ and watching TV, I made baked-potato soup for dinner. That’s pretty much it for today.
On Monday, I went to Fry’s Electronics (much to the chagrin of my sister-in-law, only a couple of blocks from my brother’s house) to purchase some ‘geeking’ stuff. I bought Roxio’s Easy CD Creator, an extention cable for my USB port, some CD storage sleeves, and some blank discs (both CD and DVD). Then we went to Home Depot to purchase the necessary paraphernalia to make Walter’s step (see Walter Steps Up on this BLOG). I began the “back-up” craze by putting all of my photographs onto a CD. Then I began the, now infamous, back-up of my music files. I made Chicken Fried Chicken for dinner, with boiled potatoes and sour-cream green beans (frozen green beans, sour-cream, crumpled bacon, and slivered almonds).
Alas, all good things must come to an end. On Tuesday, the 29th, I left my brother’s house and drove back to Lathrop, picked up my trailer, and drove to the Consignee in Hayward, CA. I arrived at 1215 for the 1300 appointment. I was assigned a door at 1300, and was unloaded by 1330. At about 1500, I finally recieved a PrePlan, but it wasn’t much. The load picked up in Hayward, CA and delivered in Stockton, CA (0 miles empty and 59 miles loaded). There not being much else, I accepted it. I drove to the Shipper, picked up the load (it was a ‘live’ load) and departed Hayward at 1730. I drove to our Terminal in Lathrop, fueled, walked the MMM, and drove to the Consignee in Stockton. I arrived at 1945 and did the drop/hook delivery. There was no other freight available, so I settled in for the night. I recieved an additional $40.00 because of the lack of freight, and accepting the ’short’ run. I drove 117 miles in 2.5 hours and worked a total of 4.25 hours. Not a good way to start the 70-hour ‘driving cycle’.
On the 30th, I recieved a Pre-plan which picked up in Stockton and delivered in Fontana (0 miles empty and 380 miles loaded). I accepted it and drove to the Shipper. I arrived at 1100. It was a ‘live’ load. At 1230, I left Stockton and drove to Bakersfield, CA (where I mis-spent my youth). This time I did have time to stop. Earlier, I had made arrangements to meet Debbie, an old girlfriend/friend, for dinner at Bill Lee’s.

We met there at 1800. We had a nice dinner and visit. After dinner, I went to Dewars Ice Cream Shop and picked up some of that delicious taffy.

I then drove to Fontana where I stopped for the night. I worked 8.75 hours driving 388 miles in 8 hours. Still seem to be just spinning my wheels. I thought this was the Christmas rush for freight, but you couldn’t prove it by the loads I’ve been getting since Thanksgiving.
On Dec, 1st, I delivered the load at 1145. I spent the night at Cowboy’s Restaurant about a mile from the Consignee. I has good food despite being a “fast-food” joint. For instance, for breakfast you get eggs cooked to order, (not that plastic consistancy ‘egg like substance’ served at McDonald’s or Burger King), actual bacon (not that bacon like meat substance that, if it was sliced any thinner, would only have 1 side) , and real hash browns (not pre-processed potato-like patties or, worse yet, nuggets). They provide truck parking for their customers.

Anyway, after unloading, I went to Farmer Boy’s restaurant, about 1 1/2 miles from the Customer, to wait for a load. Cowboy’s was full for lunch. Farmer boy’s is similar to Cowboy’s. They are a local ‘chain’ with about 8 restaurants in the Fontana, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga area. They too provide truck parking for their customers.