this time off truly sucked. I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps there is something in the air - maybe something else. It surely wasn't the tropical storm that never happened. It didn't even rain here. The winds barely blew. My truck, parked right next to my house, does not start. Yes, it's the battery, but it also something else, possibly a short or the alternator or both. And my seat is broken. The back will not stay up. And worse, there is the idiot Senior Vice-President of Maintenance out in the Midwest who does not seem to comprehend what the problem is and what to do about it. The first time I met this dude, I knew he was going to be trouble. His last job was as a maintenance supervisor at a public bus company. I'm frustrated and so is my driver manager. You would think that something a driver uses thousands upon thousands of hours would be of prime concern to a trucking company, but apparently this is not the case. But this seems only part of the problem of my latest home time "experience." I was out 4 weeks. I was completely exhausted. I've been home since last Friday afternoon. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and this is Tuesday and I feel just about as bad as I did back when I got home. I feel like I've been here one long day with naps in between. I have no peace. I had a doctors visit on Monday which is never fun. I got a haircut. There are things that have to be done that I would rather no do. There are things that had to be done that weren't. Things that had nothing to do with me. You would think after 4 years with this company and a bunch more years with others, I could get this home time stuff right, but no, it doesn't seem to be working out that way. Perhaps I'm burnt out. Perhaps it is the job. Maybe its the being home. Maybe I need "home time" somewhere else like a casino motel in Nevada or something. Maybe I need a new home. I can't be sure right now. Perhaps all this will pass. Perhaps it won't. If I knew the answer (s) I wouldn't be writing about this. But I'm scheduled to roll again tomorrow morning after I call road service and hopefully get the truck started. I'm not happy. But then when am I these days? Right now it's a "stop the world, I wanna get off" thing for me. I just can't seem to find the door marked "this way to exit the world." The photo called "Backyard" is by V. Grumpy.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Hometime - good and bad...but
this time off truly sucked. I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps there is something in the air - maybe something else. It surely wasn't the tropical storm that never happened. It didn't even rain here. The winds barely blew. My truck, parked right next to my house, does not start. Yes, it's the battery, but it also something else, possibly a short or the alternator or both. And my seat is broken. The back will not stay up. And worse, there is the idiot Senior Vice-President of Maintenance out in the Midwest who does not seem to comprehend what the problem is and what to do about it. The first time I met this dude, I knew he was going to be trouble. His last job was as a maintenance supervisor at a public bus company. I'm frustrated and so is my driver manager. You would think that something a driver uses thousands upon thousands of hours would be of prime concern to a trucking company, but apparently this is not the case. But this seems only part of the problem of my latest home time "experience." I was out 4 weeks. I was completely exhausted. I've been home since last Friday afternoon. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and this is Tuesday and I feel just about as bad as I did back when I got home. I feel like I've been here one long day with naps in between. I have no peace. I had a doctors visit on Monday which is never fun. I got a haircut. There are things that have to be done that I would rather no do. There are things that had to be done that weren't. Things that had nothing to do with me. You would think after 4 years with this company and a bunch more years with others, I could get this home time stuff right, but no, it doesn't seem to be working out that way. Perhaps I'm burnt out. Perhaps it is the job. Maybe its the being home. Maybe I need "home time" somewhere else like a casino motel in Nevada or something. Maybe I need a new home. I can't be sure right now. Perhaps all this will pass. Perhaps it won't. If I knew the answer (s) I wouldn't be writing about this. But I'm scheduled to roll again tomorrow morning after I call road service and hopefully get the truck started. I'm not happy. But then when am I these days? Right now it's a "stop the world, I wanna get off" thing for me. I just can't seem to find the door marked "this way to exit the world." The photo called "Backyard" is by V. Grumpy.
