STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21437: Lollygagging in Las Vegas

March 22, 2006 on 9:05 pm | In On The Road |

Sunday, March 19th, was a day of leisure spent geeking on the computer, relaxing and recuperating from my cold. I returned Pea Soup Anderson’s for breakfast. I helped them dispose of their leftover Corned Beef from St. Patrick’s day by having Corned Beef Hash & Eggs, mainly because it was “the real McCoy” instead of the canned stuff (which more closely resembles Alpo). When I dined there yesterday with brother Donald and family, Corned Beef & Cabbage was among their Daily Specials, although none of us opted for it. I hope that they finally got rid of it.
I decided to remain in place in Santa Nella rather than move any closer to my destination. I could have moved to our terminal in Lathrop, but there are few places to eat in the immediate vacinity, and it would have served little purpose otherwise. There are no “safe” places to park that I know of anywhere near Richmond.
Monday, the 20th, I began my day early, with a fresh 70-hour clock. I left Santa Nella at 0530 and drove to the Consignee in Richmond. Traffic was lighter than I expected so I arrived about 1/2 an hour early. There were 2 other trucks there waiting. At 0800 when they opened the door, I was the first one there, so I was the first to get assigned a dock. If you snooze, you lose. While I was being unloaded it began to rain, so I quickly walked the MMM before it got too bad. I was right by a wharf, so I took these pictures after the doggie walk.


Top left: I got the first dock assignment, so I had it easy. The driver in the left of the photograph trying to back in had a hard time. The driver next to him had to unhook to protect his tractor. It really wasn’t that hard, he just wouldn’t listen to anyone. After all, HE had been driving for 6 months and didn’t need any help. What a ‘bonehead’. It took him almost 1/2 an hour. The rest of the pictures are self explanatory. I really liked the flowers in the photo top right.
When I was unloaded, I recieved a Pre-Plan which picked up in Crockett, CA and delivered in Industry, CA (19 miles empty and 398 miles loaded). I accepted it and departed Richmond at 1030. I arrived at 1100 and did the drop/hook. This was an extremely heavy load (44, 626#). I asked the shipper where the nearest public scale was because I needed to weigh the load before I went through a State Weigh Station. They had a real ‘attitude’ and offered no help. I next contacted my DM for help. She couldn’t offer any help either and contacted the Lathrop terminal. They couldn’t help either. Finally, I was told to exit the property. I told my DM that if I recieved an overweight ticket, Swift was going to pay for it, plus any time I lost in getting the load legal. I left at 1330. My route took me past 2 different State Weigh Stations before I got to the Lathrop terminal, one on I-680 and the other on I-580. Fortunately, both were closed because when I arrived at Lathrop and weighed the load, I was 500# over on the tandem (trailer) axle. I made the necessary adjustments, then put on 90 galloons of fuel. That was all I could manage and still be legal. I left Lathrop at 1530 and drove to Buttonwillow, CA where I stopped for the night. I made a dinner stop at Harris Ranch for one of their superb Chicken Fried Steaks. I drove 417 miles in 8.25 hours. I worked a total of 10 hours using 13.75 hours of my 14 hour window.
Tuesday the 21st I left Buttonwillow at 0730. I drove to Consignee in Industry. After being unloaded, I waited about an hour for a load. I called my DM and she said that there was no freight until tomorrow. She knew that I wanted to get home for a couple of days. She asked if I wanted to wait until tomorrow and hope for a load to Vegas, or just go to Vegas empty and start my time off. I opted for the later. I left Industry at noon and drove to our terminal in Fontana for fuel. I left at 1345 and drove to Vegas. I worked 9.5 hours and drove 397 miles in 8 hours. I used 11.25 hours of my 14.
Today the 22nd was another day of leisure. I took the MMM to the groomers in the afternoon. Walter has now been tonsured. He is no longer the ’shaggy dog’.

The Palm tree in the photo to the right make him look like a “punk rocker” doggie. Maybe for his next trim :>}
They both enjoyed their obligatory ’shopping’ excursion through Petsmart after leaving the groomers. Tomorrow, laundry. Fun, fun, fun. No sense exerting myself too much.