STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

LIFE DAY 22599: Froward in Fontana

No, that is not a typo in the title. Froward is an adjective meaning: Not willing to yield or comply; stubborn, ( ie: “The froward child would never do his chores or homework.”). That’s the mood I am in today. I will explain in more detail later, but first I will bring you up to date on my recent goings about through the quotidian chronicle.

Today, Wednesday, the 27th:  My load doesn’t deliver until 1800 tonight, which is why I’m so ‘grumpy’ today. I awoke early this morning (0700, 0600 local) to see if I could trade this load for one which delivers earlier, but to no avail. It looks as though I’m stuck with delivering this load tonight. I really don’t like starting my day at 1800, so I will probably do the delivery, then call it a night and make myself available early tomorrow morning. I’m getting too old to drive all night. If I do the delivery, and remain available, for once they will have a load for me, and I’ll wind up doing just that. I’m not taking any chances. Anyway, that is why I’m being froward today.

 

Life Day 22592: Mac Attack

5/19/9:  This is just a short post to determine how well my new MacBook interfaces with this BLOG using Scribefire. Yes, I “made the plunge” today. I became so disgusted with Windows and all of it’s bugs and related virii, that I decided to try something totally different. It can’t be any worse than Windows for sure. My new machine came with a 2 gigs of RAM and 160 gig/5400 rpm hard drive. Not the top of the line by any means, but with enough “whistles and bells” to really determine if I like this operating system.
Now, to set up iTunes.
5/20/9:  ADDENDUM: It seems to interface just fine. YEA!!  The iTunes set up was a raging success. HOORAY!!!. I spent most of the afternoon installing my music from my HP onto the Mac using my Wolverine, and setting up a few ‘playlists’ that I use on the road. That went well also. YIPPIE!!!. Syncing my I Pod to the Mac was easy, although it initially took a little time. This was because I Pod can only be linked to 1 computer at a time, so it first had to delete everything on the I Pod, then load all 6500+ of my music files. It still took less than an hour. WAHOO!!! (I had better stop now, I’m running out of superlatives).

Life Day 22589: Saturday and Sunday In Salt Lake City

Since I recovered from those back to back all nighters, I have done only one trip, and it was a pretty easy one. Things are going well for both the MMM and yours truly. The MMM are slowly catching up to me (age wise). On or around Memorial Day, they will be 9 years old (that’s either 63 or 54 in ‘dog years’ depending on which method you use to make your calculations). In case I haven’t covered it yet, here are the two methods of calculation: First is the old standard, 7 years for every ‘people year’. The second method used is 14 years for the first ‘people year’, plus 5 years for every ‘people year’ thereafter. Many Veterinarians tout the second method as being more accurate. At any rate, neither show any signs of becoming aged (unlike their ‘daddy’).
Now, on with the chronicles.

Thursday, May 14th:  Rested and recuperated from the prior arduous journey, I awoke about 0700 with a PrePlan on my QualCom. It picked up in Spanaway, WA and delivered in Draper, UT. I dinked around until 1100, then drove over to the shipper which was about 20 miles from Sumner. It was a drop/hook pick-up and it went well. I left the customer about 1230 and drove back to the terminal in Sumner to weigh the load. It was a good thing because I had to make some minor adjustments to get the load legal. I left Sumner about 1400 and drove to Umatilla, OR. I took a quick break, then drove to Baker, OR where I stopped for the night.

Friday: I left Baker at 0730 and drove to Eden, ID. I took a quick break, then finished out my day by driving to Salt Lake City, UT. I wanted to get my DOT Physical done, but alas, I arrived about 5 minutes too late. To compensate, I bought a set of steer tires instead. They were below the 50% wear limit. I was beginning to feel a slight vibration and they were showing signs of excessive wear (cupping) on the outer edges as well. All that killed about an hour. The new tires I bought are 16 ply, rated for over 14,000 lbs, rather than 12 ply, rated for 12,250 lbs of the ones I replaced. They are also “green” (which means they are environmentally friendly, not their color). After that, I dropped my trailer in the yard and drove to the Sapp Brother’s truck stop to veg and geek for the rest of the day.

Saturday:  I spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon vegging and geeking again. About 1500, I ventured out. I had no particular destination in mind, I just had to DO something. I wound up first at a Camera Store. They didn’t have anything to “catch my eye”, so I drove across the street to a K-Mart. Here I was looking for some food storage containers, but I couldn’t find the ones I wanted. I found a “George Formanesque” grill for the microwave, but it was out of the box and the instruction manual was missing, so I passed on it as well. Alas, my quest for a product that will “brown” food in a microwave continues. On the way out, I noticed Pepsi for on sale $1.50 a 12-pack. I bought 4, so the afternoon wasn’t a total waste. That’s about ½ the price at Walmart. Next, I went looking for something to eat. I, again, had no particular destination, or cuisine, in mind. I came across a Golden Corral, so I stopped there. It was good, as usual, and, as usual, I ate too much. After dinner, I drove back to the terminal, hooked up to my trailer and went to bed.

Sunday:  I was up at 0230 this morning. My load delivered in Draper, about 20 miles south, at 0345. After I walked the MMM, I drove to the consignee. I arrived a little bit early, but not much. They arrived a little late, but not much. It took them a little over an hour to unload my trailer. I then drove back to the Sapp Brother’s, arriving about 0600. I had a Strawberry Waffle and some Bacon for breakfast, then began vegging and geeking again. There is little chance of my receiving a PrePlan today. Freight is still pretty sparse in this area. Hopefully tomorrow. Maybe I’ll finally get my DOT Physical out of the way before I leave. I only have until the end of the month to have it done.

Life Day 22585: Sleepless in Seattle (actually Sumner)

This post does not span enough time to ‘chronicle’, so I won’t bother.
These last couple of days have been grueling. After bidding the family a fond adieu on Sunday night, I geeked for a little while, walked the MMM, and went to bed.
On Monday, the 11th, I awoke at about 0700. After I gave the MMM their morning constitutional, I geeked a little more on the computer. I called the customer, and they said that they were sticking strictly to appointments, which meant that it would be not be starting my work day until 1500. Yuk!! I hate when that happens. I soon became bored beyond tears, so, after a quite tasty Reuben Sub from Togo’s, I drove across the freeway to the customer anyway. I arrived a little after noon. I just got in the back of the line, hoping to ’sneak in’ ahead of schedule. The theory was sound, but the practice proved ineffectual. The place was a ZOO!! In actuality, I’m glad I showed up early. Between the time I arrived and my actual appointment time, 4 more trucks got in line behind me. Had I waited for my appointment time, I would have been there 3­­­ to 4 hours longer, judging by the pace at which they were working. I finally got out of there about 1730. I drove directly to my next customer in Fresno, arriving about ½ an hour late for my appointment there. I didn’t matter because they were behind schedule as well. What is it about Mondays???? I finally got out of there about 2200. I drove to our terminal in Lathrop fueled and walked the MMM. By this time, it was 0030 Tuesday morning, and I was exhausted. I had to continue on in spite of being tired because, due to the early appointment on Wednesday morning (0600), I had to get within about 10 hours driving time of Auburn in order to make the delivery on time. I just got an “ATTA BOY” for having 100% on-time pick ups and deliveries in April, so I didn’t want to blow it so early this month. I drove to the O’Brien Rest Area, (about 20 miles north of Redding) arriving just before sunrise at 0630. That was as far as I could “legally” drive.
On Tuesday, I left the Rest Area at 1700. I delayed my departure by about 1½ hours from the time I could legally begin driving. Timing was the key to today. If I left too early, I could make the drive to Auburn, but couldn’t make the delivery within the allotted 14-hour window. If I left too late, I would be late for the appointment, and as this was a grocery warehouse, I would have had to re-schedule or go on “stand-by”, which is even worse. I drove to Rice Hill, OR where I took a 45 minute break for dinner. From there, I drove to Chehalis, WA. I took a short MMM break here. I left there at 0400 (Wednesday) morning and drove the rest of the way to Auburn. I arrived 45 minutes early for my appointment. YEA ME!!!  After I was unloaded, I drove the 7 odd miles to our terminal here in Sumner, arriving at 0700. I set my PTA for tomorrow morning at 0700. I only have 2 more hours remaining to drive today, so why bother making myself available this afternoon. I need the break after two consecutive “all-nighters” anyway. I’ve used 68 of the possible 70 hours available this week. That is a good thing.
I’m too keyed up to sleep right now, which is why I’m writing this. I’ll stay up until about 2000, then sleep the “sleep of the dead”. It is sprinkling here right now. I was hoping to get a decent picture of Mount Rainer, which is prominent in the eastern horizon from the terminal, but it is obscured by the clouds. DRAT!!!! It is really breath taking (when you can see it).

Life Day 22582: Gilroy Gathering

Since leaving Vegas on the 6th, Swift has been keeping me busy. No sitting around so far on this outing. I like it better this way. I’m easily bored, and an idle mind can be a dangerous thing.

Now, the chronicle.

Wednesday, May 6th:  I received a PrePlan which picked up in Henderson, NV and delivered in Buena Park, CA. The first order of business was to drive back to the drop yard in North Las Vegas and pick up an empty trailer. After so doing, I drove to the shipper in Henderson, arriving at 1230. The load took about ½ an hour. I then drove back to the WWW for lunch, and to kill a little time. My delivery appointment wasn’t until 2330. Had I left as soon as I was loaded, I would have arrived in the LA Megalopolis right at the peak of ‘rush hour’. I left Vegas at 1700 and drove to Hesparia, CA. I took a quick MMM break here, then drove to the consignee in Buena Park. As it was, I arrived 1½ hours early for the appointment, and had to wait to be unloaded. The unload, again, took about ½ an hour. I then parked on the street outside the customer for the night.

Thursday: Bright and early (about 0900), I received a PrePlan. It was a trailer shuttle trip to our terminal in Lathrop, CA. I drove to our terminal in Mira Loma, dropped my empty trailer and picked up the set of doubles to be shuttled to Lathrop. I haven’t pulled a set of doubles in about 5 years. This was one of many sets being shuttled. A customer in Lathrop bought many of Swift’s old “pups” and dollies. Anyway, after I finished in Mira Loma, I drove to Buttonwillow, CA where I had lunch/dinner and walked the MMM. I then drove from there to Lathrop. Along the way, I received a PrePlan which picked up at the Lathrop terminal and delivered in Springfield, OR. After I dropped the set of “pups” and hooked to my next load, I went to bed.

Friday:  I left Lathrop at 0745 and drove to Corning, CA. I had lunch here, then drove to Phoenix, OR. I took another short break here, then drove to the customer in Springfield. I spent the night outside their facility. While I was en route, I received a PrePlan which picked up in Toledo, OR and delivered in Gilroy, CA. As soon as I saw the destination, I called brother Don and arranged to meet in Gilroy for dinner on Sunday. He lives about 50 miles away.

Saturday:  I did the drop/hook delivery, then drove to Coburg, OR for some fuel. I then drove to Toledo. The only problem with this drive is that the most direct route (US-20) is restricted for trucks, so I had to drive an extra 40 miles through Salem, OR then west to US-101, then down US-101 south, which is full of tourists this time of year, especially on week-ends. It took forever to get there. Once there, it took 4 hours to be loaded. I didn’t get out of there until 1800. I drove to Canyonville, OR and called it a day.

Sunday, May 10th (Mother’s Day):  I left Canyonville at 0830. I drove to Redding, CA where I took a short break. After leaving Redding, I drove to Willows, Ca where I put on some fuel and walked the MMM. I left there about 1530 and drove to Gilroy, arriving at 1900. I contacted brother Don who had been in the area since about noon shopping. We went to the Longhouse Restaurant for dinner.

I had Breaded Veal with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. I also had Greek Lemon Soup. Desert was Rainbow Sherbet. Their bread was also excellent. Don had Veal Scallopini, and Dawn and Lou split a Garlic Steak. It was all very good. After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble to browse for a while. About 1030, they dropped me off at my truck. I had a PrePlan waiting for me. After I unload tomorrow, I drive to Fresno and pick up a load going to Sumner, WA.