Wednesday, March 25, 2009
What’s headed to California?
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Headed to California…
After delivering to the Home Depot DC in Bloomfield CT, I headed to the T/A in Milldale/Southington CT. You have to pay for parking, but at least the lot is not full of potholes. About 8 PM last light a pretty young “girl” (lot lizard) knocked on my door. It was 28 degrees outside. I felt like giving her a blanket and calling her parents. I have a pickup over in NJ tomorrow AM for some type of machinery going out to La Mirada CA. I’ll head over there early in the AM when I have my 70 hrs. back. I can sure use the 2876 miles.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
MATS/OOIDA/TWNA…
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Home of the bailout…
I delivered this morning to Warren MI. I had expected to head over North of Toronto and then down to Laredo. And then my carrier seems to have had a brain fart. Somehow I ended up with a crappy trip from Flint to Connecticut to deliver Monday morning to a Home Depot. Did you ever deliver to a Home Depot? One of the worst places to deal with as a truck driver. Four days and about 725 miles. So much for the “uptick” in freight.
Photo credit is: http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/michigan/detroit.php
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Brief Update…
Left home Sunday the 15th to St. Augustine then to Beldon SC then to Darlington SC - headed now to Detroit then over to Toronto and then down to Laredo and from there who knows….
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Madoff Off to Prison…
No more deluxe accommodations for this loser. He’s off to jail where he belongs. Too bad we have to wait so long for the sentence to be handed down. There’s no question he has to get life in prison. He was quite the big shot when this picture was taken. He’ll be in orange coveralls 11 hours a day in his cell. The people he stole from will never get their money back. Let’s get the SEC to get a crack’n to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We all want to know who else was involved including his wife.
The photo credit is: www.guardian.co.uk/business/gallery/2008/dec/..
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Victims of the “Decession”…
If you read my earlier posts, you will know that I found the Mercer flatbed owner-operators arrogant, rude and unfriendly. They wouldn’t give you ice in the wintertime. Like wolves they tended to stick together in packs.
I recall an “encounter” with one obnoxious Mercer driver at a T/A somewhere. He was causing quite a raucous because he wanted his truck fixed and seemed to have a problem waiting his turn. Other drivers had been waiting to get into the service bay since the night before.
He said to me: “I fought so people like you…” I told him what I though of his rudeness and noticed that he clearly was either high on drugs or drunk. He felt, as a Vietnam vet, the “seas” should part for him at every truck stop.
So typical Mercer. I’m sorry for the spouses and families, but feel nothing for the drivers. I certainly hope none of them end up up at company.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Marianna FL…
Wasn’t this done for farmers back during the Civil War or something? I don’t really care. I like the way the time is right now. Why screw things up, again?
Oh well, Spring ahead (Fall behind) - so kids right now or when you wake up in the AM move your clocks forward. Don’t be late for your Monday morning delivery.
I think the woman parked in the truck next to me hasn’t had the Detrol “discussion” with her doctor. She’s run to the rest room about 5 times since she sat near me at dinner. She needs to buy a bucket and save her Wal-Mart bags. It’s not smart for a woman, or anyone for that matter, to be running around a truck stop – I mean travel center – in the dark, even though this T/A is very well lit.
This T/A, by the way, is in Marianna FL off 1-10. I’ve been on the road for 30 freak’n days! I have to drop this load of Mexican steel in Davenport FL Monday morning and then I’m headed home for the rest of the week. I know you never have heard me say this – LOL – but I could use a month off.
There’s nothing in the news that is worth discussing. Just one thing. There is trouble brewing in Ireland again. I can’t believe it, but there is. Two British soldiers were shot and killed in Northern Ireland. Damn. We just don’t need that kind of shit right now.
The photo credit is: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/clock1.jpg
Friday, March 06, 2009
Union Vacation…
The photo credit is: www.nytimes.com/.../02HOTEL.html?pagewanted=all
Hammond LA…My Achilles Heel
It was almost a year ago that I had my encounter with Nazi wacko doctor Mengele who screwed me up big time. I lost two weeks of work and all my vacation pay trying and failing to get my med card renewed. My blood pressure just would not come down despite numerous medications. I went to one doctor after the Nazi who had no clue what he was doing and made my whole screwed up dilemma worse. My primary care physician wanted no part of a DOT physical and let me hang swinging in the wind.
In shear desperation I went to a walk-in clinic across the street from a large mall and received excellent medical attention. Although my blood pressure was 200/180, the doc knew I was at the end of my rope. I also had made a record of my BP weeks before when it was in the acceptable range. She issued me a med card for 1 year. Funny that it was where my wife told me to go in the first place, but of course, I didn’t listen. I told her and she has accepted it that her truck husband is getting a “little” retarded in his “later” years.
But it has been one hell of a year. Despite trying to lose weight, I have put on about 30 lbs. I am eating no differently than a year ago. The difference is that I sit in truck twice as much as I used to. I’m not climbing on top of loads, not tarping or chaining or strapping. I’m sitting on my fat ass wondering when I’m going to get the next load. I’m worrying about how bad the next paycheck is going to be.
This sucks. The DOT & FMCSA should issue me a “free-pass” med card for all the shit I’ve had to put with the last year. I secretly hope that my company goes out of business so I can stay home, lose weight and well, very frankly, not die. That’s another one of my recent worries – dying. I just don’t feel “right” – not like I used – and well, I have started to think I’m just gonna die in this damn truck on the road waiting on load.
This is my Achilles heel – the one of many monkey’s on my back.
I asked one of the docs at the walk-in clinic if they would take me on as a patient. But that’s not their “bag.” Their strictly a doc in the box. So the 6/13 date is looming ahead of me just like I have an appointment with the grim reaper.
I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do. Maybe some new meds would work to lower my blood pressure. I tried that last year, but my anxiety over getting my blood pressure taken for the DOT terrifies me to the point that no meds work to get my blood pressure down to the required 140/90. Even tranquilizers don’t work. Many BP meds put you to sleep. That’s great for a truck driver – NOT.
If you tell me I had a year to correct all this, I’ll punch your lights out.
Losing 100 or so lbs. would be the perfect answer. BUT MY HEALTH INSURANCE WILL NOT PAY FOR A GASTRIC BYPASS OPERATION. But funny enough, THEY WILL PAY FOR HOSPITALIZATION WHEN I HAVE A STROKE OR HEART ATTACK.
Maybe I should have my mouth sewn up. Do they do that at the Petro here in Hammond LA?
The picture credit is: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Mort.jpg/300px-Mort.jpg
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Can I see some ID?
I NEVER used to carry my drivers license. I NEVER carry a wallet. I keep everything but my credit card in the truck in a folder. I’ve never been the wallet type. Now because of the pinheads at travel centers like Flying J, I have to carry around my drivers license.
It always the chubby too friendly clerks that ask me for ID. I’ve always maintained that if I stole a credit card, I would buy a few Bluetooth headsets, DVD’s, a CB radio or two and a cooler – AND NOT milk and cookies.
I have also wondered why the hell can I charge my dinner and not be asked for ID, but need it for the milk and cookies. It’s bullshit.
I now have a new policy. If ANYBODY asks me for ID, I will now ask for their ID. Who the hell are they to ask me for ID, when they’re in a perfect position to steal my credit. I now want ID.
I’ve had enough of these chubby, goody-too-shoes, I want to be the perfect employee and get promoted Flying J clerks who think they have the right to ask me for my ID. No more. I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours. Enough is enough.
Photo credit is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12990432@N07/2560864080/
Part of the Vast Global Supply Chain…
So here we go again. Picked up material that used to made in here in the “States”, but now is manufactured in Shanghai, China. It comes back to the US to be shipped down to Mexico to build a factory. That same factory used to be located here in the US. What a world we live in. I got turned around quick in Laredo. I’m now under a load of steel that used to be made in the US, but is now made in Mexico. It is headed to Florida. I am “so” part of some really long global supply chain. I guess I should be happy that I am part of it and not a victim of it, like the folks who lost their jobs to Mexico and China. I’m not a truck driver, I’m a link. Grand dad, what do you do for a living? Well, grandson, I’m a link. A very important underpaid link.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Do you watch this TV show?
Last night, a Fox show called “Bones” came on. It’s another one of those FBI/cop/forensic shows. Everybody is smart, pretty, hunky, somewhat quirky and of course, the whole cast wants to screw each other. There are multiple story lines that surround the quest to solve a murder or murders by examining the victim/s remains “scientifically.” Their efforts and the script they follow is very much like the CSI show over on CBS.
But here’s what bothers me. The episode I watched on tape was too graphic. It was too real. And in our stuck up world of not being allowed to show breasts, nipples or penises or say shit, this show clearly crossed the line. I had to turn it off.
Here’s the deal. Some woman was thrown down an elevator shaft. Apparently she got stuck on the way down. As the elevator went up and down it dragged her along tearing parts of her body off. Her remains were smeared all along the wall of the shaft. Blood and guts everywhere. One of her (the “vic’s”) legs was cut off below the knee with her foot still in a shoe was sitting on top of the elevator. The skin had been torn off.
OMG. None of this is necessary. If I were younger, this would give me nightmares. The show is not for kids and it's not for adults either. It is gory. It is bloody. It depicts a horrible crime where the murderer lies to cover up his/her part in the crime. It is not entertaining in any way. There is too much “gore” to enjoy as aspect of this show. It doesn’t matter how white the actors teeth are.
I don’t believe in censorship. But hey “Bones” folks, can we please have a little bit of discretion? I get the point. I understand the premise. Trust me, if I have to turn away or turn it off, it is just too much. And again, it is just not necessary to show any of it for the show to be entertaining. That is the point, right? One wonders.
Bye Bye Sirius/XM…
Howard Sterns OCD is back. No wonder, despite being in excellent health and an avid runner, he snores at night like a 300 lbs. truck driver. Sterns a smart guy. I’m sure he’s being told about the shrinking numbers. He has “hinted” the budget dollars for his show are not what they used to be. Certainly, at some point, he’s going to have to cut down on that bloated staff he manages. I sense he is nervous, just like all of us.
He can start by getting rid of his “news” division. Interesting idea, but unnecessary and must be costing him a fortune. Look at the photo of his staff. For a radio show? Yes, yea, he also tapes a TV show at the same time, but holy smokes, he’s not at NBC anymore.
Springtime in Laredo…
I parked at the Love’s just North of Laredo to get some dinner. I had the woman at Subway create a marvelous meatball extravaganza with tomatoes, onions, pickles and fresh lettuce. A drink, chips and three cookies. I hadn’t eaten all day and my mouth was watering. The total came to about $11. I hand her my debit card which works fine when “they” run it as credit. AND IT DIDN’T WORK! It was rejected. Rejected? There’s goes my freshly made marvelous meatball extravaganza.
I was pissed. I got back to the truck, took a scissors and cut the card up. As I was doing that it was then that I realized that my wife told me to use our other card today until she could put some money in the account. Holy shit, I screwed up. I am so retarded. Whatever, so now we’ll use the one card and I don’t have to think about which account to use.
By the way, the bank also screwed up. They made an “account” error. There was over $100 in the account. The transaction should have never been denied. Thanks to Wachovia my marvelous meatball extravaganza is probably in the garbage.
Technorati Tags: Wachovia,Love's,Subway,Trucker Blogs,Trucker Life On The Road,Laredo TX,Trucker Opinion and Commentary
Monday, March 02, 2009
The Problem With Sirius/XM…
Then it was a clear case of excess and greed and for every other additional channel that was added the quality when down. We now have systems with well over 600+ channels and with the decline of the offerings of ABC, NBC and CBS – what you have is 600 channels+ 24/7 of crap. And how many times have you surfed the numerous HBO, Showtime and other movie channels not being able to find anything to watch with your Chinese takeout?
In a much shorter time frame, that’s what has happened to Sirius/XM satellite radio. And what Howard complained about is only part of the problem.
I bought my first Sirius radio and subscribed to the service about four years ago. I can’t remember why I chose Sirius over XM but that’s not important since the two services recently merged. Sirius came in a nice blue box and the radio might have had more chrome on it – who knows?
Back then the service was somewhat “complicated” for truck drivers to get a grasp of. Even the same was funny – pronounced serious – many said s-eye-rus. I know many many drivers who passed on subscribing not because of the cost but because of the confusion as to how it all worked and which radio were you supposed to buy and how the heck do you hook it up.
Let me fast forward a second. I’m parked at a Love’s in Texas. On the shelves inside are Sirius radios and XM radios. Why? There are three types of Sirius and two XM units? I don’t know the difference between any of them and I’m a subscriber. It’s as if there are still two services out there operating independently of each other.
Five years after I bought my first unit, even I’m confused as to what’s now available. Why after the two services merged is there not only 1 or maybe 2 radio varieties offered. For drivers that don’t have the service and might want it - this unnecessary “choice” and unnecessary “duplication” is only going to make any potential sale just not happen.
Ok, now let’s assume you have either Sirius or the XM service. When I started there was no Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, Mad Dog Sports, Oprah Winfrey, Bubba, Cosmo or whatever else that is now offered. And the service was better. It was new and fresh. It was not trying to be all things to all people. One of the few available talk shows was a show called Derek and Romaine on OutQ. And it was revolutionary, fresh and hilarious. There was nothing like it on terrestrial or satellite radio – or television for that matter.
There were also many music choices. There were NO commercials. And there was little if any blabbering by those annoying professional DJ’s. You could drive coast to coast never searching to find a station or getting a headache like you got from listening to terrestrial radio.
Again, let’s fast forward to the present. Derek and Romaine are still on. It is still funny. Howard Stern joined the team and brought along 10 million listeners. But, there are now TONS and TONS of commercials. And somehow all those annoying professional slimy “wow-man that sooo-cool” DJ’s have found their way onto just about every channel that Sirius/XM offers.
On Fox News there are more commercials than news. Between Stern and Fox the advertisements are worse than the car commercials on terrestrial radio. And the commercial are all produced by sleazy credit, male enhancement and seminar salesmen who are literally shouting at you. The kind of advertisements you would find in the back of Popular Mechanics or Big Jugs. Many times you have to turn your radio down as the commercials are much louder than the shows.
There are so many commercials in fact that I’m surprised that I even have to pay for the service. But then it’s just like cable TV. Popular channels like Bravo go “all paid advertising” throughout the night. Cable TV has become one mega televised electronic flea market. And Sirius/XM is following along the same lines.
Now if I could throw away my Sirius/XM radio and stop paying $12.95 a month, I would. But I can’t. Terrestrial radio is not and probably never will be that sophisticated that I can travel as much as I do, as a truck driver, without constantly trying to find a decent station with good reception. I’m stuck with satellite radio, but I’m not happy about it.
Let’s fast forward two more years. Howard Stern’s contract us up. He’s going back over to terrestrial radio in a $billion dollar sweet deal. He has promised and proven himself to not use the “N” word or the “F’ bomb. He knows if Bubba can do then so can he. And his ego just can’t let Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity be #1 on radio.
And either terrestrial radio or some other type of service or device has come about that makes satellite radio obsolete. I can listen to music, Stern and even Rush Limbaugh across state lines uninterrupted without ever touching the dial. And it will cost me NOTHING!
And unless the geniuses (Mel Karmizan) do something soon to make Sirius/XM better than it has become I believe a lot of subscribers will be cancelling the service and waiting for that to happen.
Technorati Tags: Howard Stern,Sirius 100/101,Sirius/XM Satellite Radio,Sirius/XM Merger,Derek and Romaine,OutQ,Bubba The Love Sponge,BTLS.com,Mel Karmizan,Terrestrial vs. Satellite Radio,Stern Going Back to Terrestrial Radio in 2 Years,Martha Stewart,Mad Dog Radio,Mad Dog Sports,Fox News,Fox,Cosmo Radio,The Howard Stern Show,Trucker Comments on Satellite Radio,Trucker Life on the Road,Trucker Opinion and Commentary,Love's Travel Centers,Rush Limbaugh
Luling TX and 80 Degrees…
Watching for any progress in the stock market is a waste of time. Neil Cavuto sounds really frustrated and is (rightly so) yelling at some idiot Congressman over the 9000 bipartisan earmarks.
It would seem in the very short term that all this stimulus is just not working. They’re trying to bring life back into dead companies and bailing out bailouts.
And, as confident as I thought I was that I was going to get another load today, I’m still sitting here at the Love’s MT in Luling TX off I10. I had lunch at Subway and it looks like I’m having dinner there as well. I’m going to turn into Philly cheese steak sub.
2. I tool the photo at some horrible Pilot somewhere. It really doesn’t matter where. The point is that it’s one of those “new” card readers with a big display and large buttons. I don’t know how long it’s been there. This is the first machine I’ve seen of its kind. I’ve have seen similar at Love’s and T/A. But now we all know most truckers act like apes on Prozac when it comes time to fuel. Let them out of the truck and it seems they go (ape?) shit. Just like an animal let out of a cage. No matter how many times they fuel they just can’t seem to get the very simple process down right.
The “apes” got to this machine. It was about to fall over. It was attached to the ground only by its few colored twirly wires. The screen was scratched. The keyboard punctured by sharp pen jabs. The “new” display was as hard to read as any of the older card readers. It sounded like a robot about to shut down because it’s charge was about to die.
So, why didn’t the truck (travel) stops insist that whoever designs these machines make them more “ape” proof. QUALCOMM seems to have been quite successful with their “in-cab” message sender/receiver machines. You can throw, stomp and drive over them and they don’t break and still work. Their “ape” proof.
But not so with these new card reader machines. Pilot – what else is new – seems to have purchased the worst most fragile models. Soon they’ll be as bad as the older versions. And the “apes” will get more angry and frustrated and more damage will be done to them. And Pilot will not replace or fix them – just close down the fuel island – waiting for them to be repaired. It’s too damn bad they just couldn’t have gotten it right this time. But again, did we really expect them to do any better?
3. I guess the folks at Prepass took the day off today, because they didn’t respond to my email. No check in the mail from the liars that owe me $800. My wife won’t let me buy a Bluetooth headset for my phone. My ear is starting to hurt again. And screw Love’s for not giving me a “rain check” when the headset was on sale and they had no stock. It’s now in stock and $20 more expensive. Trust me, I’ll get ‘em back somehow. What goes around comes around.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Sealy TX…
2. Got out of the Northeast just in time. I’m West of Houston tonight and the temperature is a very comfortable 60 degrees. The Flying J at I-10 exit 732 was completely full at 4 pm. There’s an Exxon with limited truck parking a few miles West with a decent Subway. What is it with these bullshit “contract only” spaces? Contract only with whom – yo mamma? I took the last non-contract space and had a Philly cheese steak sub.
3. The old Pete next to me with a nose as long as a baby elephant just started his “new” APU. And what it is about these smoke belching incredibly noisy boxes of “in-efficiency” that is supposed to help the environment? I’ll answer that. NOTHING. Keep the truck running – it is quieter, smokes less and for sure smells better! Screw the EPA! I had my truck off – now I have to keep idling all night because I can’t breathe parked next to the damn APU.
4. Hey, I actually agree with Sean Hannity on one thing. The 2nd Amendment. I don’t believe in “banning” the sale of any type of gun or rifle, especially “assault” weapons. I completely with the NRA on this. The new AG – Attorney General – says “they” want top ban assault weapons so they don’t make their way across the border to Mexico. And how is that my problem? It isn’t. Keep your “cotton pick’n” hands off my guns.
5. I would have liked to ask Rush Limbaugh, as he was flying back to Boca Raton in his G7 private jet while he’s smoking a Cuban $15 cigar and drinking some $800 a bottle vino, just what his Conservative buddies want to do about GM, Citibank, AIG and the folks in Michigan who have no health insurance being out of a job? He didn’t say anything about that, did he. Nope.
6. Gee, another hard week ahead. Should I listen to Howard Stern interview a TX couple (Trent and Didi) who just had a “hot” threesome with a porn star (Lexi Bell) or Sirius/XM Road Dog Trucking’s Evan Lockridge fall asleep interviewing a nutritionist? Decisions, decisions.
7. Are you seeing what’s moving down the road these days? A lot of military stuff right? I’m also seeing a lot of finished steel framing, pipes and aluminum light poles. Not bad for a “decession?” Could things be “breaking free” a bit?
8. Month 3+ for my PrePass fiasco. They cut my account off because they supposedly sent me a letter that I never received asking for a copy of my “cab card.” In English that’s my registration. They didn’t get it so despite 4 years of being a “customer” they shut my transponder off. Bastards. I faxed them a copy of the reg. and they lost it. Then, “customer service gave me another fax number which didn’t work. Now it’s March and still no resolution. Guess what? THEY’RE MORONS!
9. Speaking of unresolved issues. Someone else THAT I did work for owes me (now) $800. It’s been over six months. Two weeks ago “they” said they’ll FedEx it. Horse feathers. Bullshit. Nothing, Nada. Zilch. Zippo.
10. Goodbye Mozilla Firefox. Probably the most overrated search device. Drove me nuts. Messed up my MS player. Screwed me up when it “mysteriously” added Ask.com to every one of my searches. Ask.com is terrible. A waste. Impossible to uninstall once it “finds” its way onto your system. Recently, I also said goodbye to Yahoo and Google as well. And Thunderbird. I’ll hopefully sleep better tonight.
11. My OCD. That’s obsessive compulsive disorder. I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. I take meds for it. It’s tied into my serotonin level. The more nonsense in my life I have to “process” the lower my serotonin level goes.
Right now, today, my OCD is getting worse. I think I’m out of serotonin. Although months away, I’m totally stressed out over the DOT physical. I’m worried about getting in an accident. I’m worried about my mother. I’m worried about fixing up the house. I’m worried about sink holes. I’m worried about EVERYTHING. Last night, I kept touching the yellow parking brake knob over and over and over again to make sure it was on and set.
This morning, I turned a piece of paper over 5 times until I felt comfortable with which side would be the safest. I can’t write with my new blue gel pen – something bad is going to happen to me. I “played” with the dash lights brightness control – up and down and up and down and up and down until I got tired and stop touching it.
I have “procedures” I must follow with my garbage in the morning. If I drop anything on the ground I freak out. Did you ever see the TV show Monk? That’s me. As you can imagine, by the time my head hits the pillow at night, I’m exhausted. Welcome to my world.
The photo credit is: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8113246@N02/2078777869/
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