Hurricane, WV, at the T/A off I64, is where we're at this afternoon. We have a AM delivery in St. Albans about 15 miles away. I said a few posts ago that I think T/A has the best wireless internet service and I stand by that. I had logged on and fell asleep. You know you're getting old when you can't remember how you logged in a hour or so ago. I called T/A's customer service. I have a feeling the call was outsourced somewhere overseas. I don't care. The woman at the other end quickly resolved the problem and I was back on line in minutes. That's what I like. It's called customer service. You hear that you bastards at FJ?
Today over on the other coast in CA - Oakland to be more specific - more bad news for our image. 3:42am. Gas tanker leaves the depot. The driver allegedly loses control of the truck in a curve. The whole thing turns over and bursts into flames. The freeway collapses from the intense heat. The driver will be ok. Supposedly no drugs or alcohol involved. (Tired?) Thousands of folks will be inconvenienced. They will say: "it was another truck." It will be months before the road is repaired.
A few years ago, I had tried to come in off the road to work at a local sulphur carrier. At the end of orientation, I learned my schedule was to run about 3 round trips starting at 2:30am with the day concluding much later. Not only was the material hot and dangerous, it smelled like rotten eggs. At the end of the day, I couldn't wash the odor off me. And, more importantly, I cannot function at that time of the morning. I never felt safe. Not to mention, the whole operation was third rate - old equipment and a management that couldn't give a shit about the drivers or the absurd working conditions. The last straw was when I had to work Christmas Eve and could not get home to have an early dinner with my family.
Congratulations to Jeff Gordon for his 77th race win at Talladega today. This breaks the tie with Dale Earnhardt. It was a win under the yellow caution. I'm still recovering the Mark Martin loss at the start of the season. I will be writing some dedicated NASCAR stuff soon - stay tuned.
And finally, parked next to me near the T/A garage is, yes, you guessed it, a Fedex custom critical truck with a nice old couple probably watching the race on their dish satellite tv.
