Back at base, bugs in the software

An early morning relay run across Ohio in a snowstorm, my old friend I-80 in PA, and a little TA in a small NJ town ended my first solo tour of duty.  It's great to be back at my own desk.

IN and IL were bad, OH was worse.

Coming in from the cave to Columbus, it rained pretty much from the MO-IN line all the way.  After delivering that mess I drove a whopping 3 hours on Thursday.  And the computer wonders why my mileage sucks.  The APU burns more fuel than the damn engine does to keeping me warm for my layovers.  The hour spent navigating the cave at 2mph in reverse didn't help, either.

This last one was complicated.  The trailer saw 3 company drivers in it's 18 hour (Google-time) journey. 

We all knew it was going to be close, but about the time I was exiting the OHT I ran the numbers and my 11 hours drive time vs my ETA was looking in the ballpark of 1 hour difference, and if it took them 61 minutes to unload this I wouldn't make it home before I had to shut down.  In my better judgment I called for a relay driver to take it the last 90 miles.  The sick part was, the destination wasn't 20 miles from where I park the truck for my home time.  But traversing the central Newark area on a late Friday afternoon?  Forget it.  I traded trailers with Candice at the same TA I met up with John at on the 2nd.  I shut down, had a big juicy burger and fries for my last dinner, and washed it down with a REAL vanilla shake.  I don't know if there was something else in it, but for the next 9 hours I couldn't sleep. In fact, despite the fact I began the day at 0400, it was now 2300 and I felt like running laps around the lot.  Also, the empty one I got is one of the new ones with the aero-wings and is nice and shiny inside and out.  Oh wait, there's a couple of sloppily repaired  holes in the roof.  Maintenance is having me swing by a local place on Tuesday to get it fixed properly this time.

I got up early and confident I was awake enough to drive an hour and 10 minutes, I drove back down home and promptly passed out waiting for kyle to pick me up a few hours later.  When I got in the first order of business was getting a new battery for my car so I could go back and get all my crap.  No way I was going to pack up all that and bring it back to the house before another coffee.  Long story short, our Wal-mart doesn't have maintenance free batteries and I proceeded to pick up one that I didn't realize was overfilled- at least not until I got to the counter with a wet sleeve on my winter jacket.  The maintenance guy was great and let me use the shop sink to hose it off, then chewed out the guy who loaded them on the racks.  Even after washing it there and later at home I've got a nice acid-white splash with a little hole burned through the outer lining.  Better it than my hand, though.  We got one that wasn't leaking, but so far my first home time was off to a great start, but speaking of start, it works fine now.

You explain that one to me.

Later after hiking back to the truck I found out that the radio wiring harness on a 2007 Freightliner isn't your standard aftermarket radio format.  Actually upon doing a little research I find out they use the same double-high stack that most Volkswagens made in the 90's have.  So I'll be stuck with an mp3-cd / fm radio for almost 3 weeks this time.  Solution?  Go back to my PC and burn an ass-ton of mix cd's.  I got an adapter online and had it shipped back home, where I'll be spending my next time off for the winter camping trip.  With any luck, I'll be listening to XM or Pandora through an aux jack next time on a receiver that doesn't melt cd's or have engine interference issues.

Independence, Missouri. a.k.a. Gotham City

Today is certainly worth blogging about.  I picked up this run from a cave. 

Well, the truckPC directions said "park to the area right of entrance and call before entering cave."
Cave?  Is that like a technical term for some kind of warehouse?  Like they call some permanent weigh stations Hen Houses?  When I got to the address I found out-  though I had passed a few other rocky cliffs on the side of the highway that had garage doors and "Space For Lease" signs on them.  Don't see that every day.

Come to find out, the area around Independence is littered with old limestone mines, this one is owned by a real estate company that rents space to over a hundred organizations and individuals.  There were dozens of trucks coming and going all the time, most were day cabs but a few were condos like myself. 

Luckily the place I was going was off the main trunk and not very busy.  That didn't change the fact that I still had to pull past, and BACK down the branch about 200 yards and then another 90° into the dock.  All the while dodging the natural pillars, barricades, employees cars, and the mailman that rides around on a vespa to all the offices.  Also in less than perfect light conditions.

All in all, it took almost 2 hours from when I sent the arrival call to when my bumper hit the dock.  2/3 of it was doing ridiculous maneuvers but it still took a LONG time to navigate to the section I had to go.  It was weird driving down a straight part then all of a sudden a tractor trailer just POPS out of this alcove like it was invisible.  Needless to say I had another perfect opportunity to use my strobe beacons, which was good because the UPS and Fed Ex guys in their box trucks fly around there like they own the place.

I should send these pics up to RDTC so they can show the rookies how good they have it practicing under blue sunny skies on 200 acres in the middle of a corn field with a few cones and barrels.

I can't help but wonder if this was random or not.  Its no secret that backing in anything other than a straight line has been my biggest weakness since day 1 in Marshfield.  I'm getting better by the day, though.

And after this I drove out into the sunlight feeling like I could put a trailer anywhere, as long as the tandems were all the way forward. 

And I wasn't wearing hockey pads.

Recovery

The mid-day recovery after my last post went off with no problem, this other company driver, Kim, was routed by the small town and we set up a relay.  I took the empty she hade had and she took my trailer on its way to Toledo, where if I did the math right couldn’t have been more than a couple hours late by the time she got there.  Satisfied that my truck could limp with an empty trailer, dispatch had me backtrack to SC to get repaired at a dealership, rather than have me continue over the Appalachians to the next one in front of me.  That would have been ugly.  It was only an hour back and I didn’t even have to touch the gas for the first 15 miles.

I can’t think of any place I’d rather get auto repairs done than one like Triad Freightliner in Greensboro, NC.  Though there is something to be said about getting repairs done on day 3, I’m not yet sure what it is.  All I know is I got some local diner food, talked with some cool drivers, got to watch the debate on a massive TV, and though at 7 hours I was the last horse out of the lounge, I was the only one getting repairs that didn’t have to get a hotel.  Turned out it was the EGR valve, like HQ had suggested.  Only a 3 hour job once it was my turn.  Ironic because my order the following morning took me on a very flat road and once again, Matti went down to Georgia.

Hard Rain- Remember that level from Left 4 Dead 2?  Yea, that’s where I had to do a drop and hook last night.  Funny enough I’m near Savannah, Georgia in the dark- but at a massive paper mill and distro center that has some areas lit better than others.  And in the whole place it was 2 guards at the gate, and a few yard dogs rolling around, and me.  Once I stepped out of the truck I might as well have been on the moon.  The empty trailer I picked up was backed right up where the dirt lot 15 meets the swamp, about 200 yards from the nearest light pole in the place.  The worst part was it being in the mid 60’s at the time.  I was sweating my ass off running around this place.  The only difference between this and the game was that there were no witches anywhere, and it actually wasn’t even raining.  I would have heard the witches from a mile away though, it was so quiet.

When I finally checked out, I took a ride down to the local Wal-Mart and did some shopping, finally got a microwave, a wrench so I can actually change a fuel filter now, and floor mat to catch all the dirt- I’ve only visited a paved yard once, that was on day one and it was an ice rink at the time.  I shut down there after I loaded all my stuff and by the time all was said and done it was about 2 in the morning.  I got up at 10 and got my next assignment.  

What are the odds?  It’s a trailer from the paper mill.  BACK up the hill I went, got in and out quickly (though the place was no longer a ghost town and more like a grocery store the day before thanksgiving)  Now with the sun up and no wind it was easily 70 degrees.  I was almost sad to leave.

Where to?  Kansas City; Just a pinch over 1000 miles away.  Luckily I have until Tuesday morning to get there.

I took I-16 west to get over to Atlanta from I-95.  You know what I-16 is?  It’s a hurricane evacuation artery that has the ramps configured to sometimes have the eastbound side reversed.   More importantly, its 150+ miles through the woods with no rest areas, hills, or sometimes even curves in the road.  What few towns the ramps lead to don’t seem to have more than a few trailers worth of inhabitants.  I literally had the cruise control on for 3 hours, until the sky got black and I drove through another hour of “45mph on the highway” rain.  I used my semi-obnoxious flatbed strobes in addition to my 4-ways so nobody would hit me, it was kind of fun.  I have to do an inspection of the truck every 3 hours, but I’m not supposed to stop on ramps.  Funny, because every on and off ramp on Georgia interstates are plastered with no parking signs every 10 feet.  I mean, even the obvious ones.  Imagine the entire I-93 tunnel in Boston lined with no parking signs, even where you can’t fit a Prius.  That’s what it’s like.  I guess they want us trucks to keep driving until either our wheels fall off because we can’t stop and make sure the lug nuts are still there, or we fall asleep because there’s no safe haven to shut down for 100+ miles.

Now I’m almost out of peach land, and managed to get a shower after the sticky mess last night.  For me it’s the ultimate motivation boost out here on the road.  I’ll punch as far as I can tomorrow, and with any luck have half a day to kill once I get near KC.  I get to go right by the Arch in St. Louis the way I’m going.  Haven’t been by there in a few… Damn, has it been that long?

P0401

If the suspicions of maintenance are right, then the reason I'm shut down in no mans town in the mountains of Virginia is due to the EGR valve on my truck.  Funny because that is the same OBD-II code my car gets after a long road trip.  The only difference is that like most idiot lights, the performance isn't affected.  However, tractors are.

It started yesterday going up a few moderate hills on the highway.  The engine boggs down earlier than it should, but downshifting doesn't help at all. Once it starts, no gear will get any power from it.  Until you get to 1st. 1st works.  Needless to say that creates an unsafe condition when the speed limit is 65.

If I wanted to play games with the truck for the next 450 miles I could probably have made this load on time.  But as the company policy dictates- safety first, punctual second.  I made a few phone calls from the small truck stop at the next exit and shut down early last night.  Which royally sucks because I lucked out and got loaded 3 hours ahead of schedule at my last shipper.  The consignee message said I could arrive to unload early, too.

As for my first delivery, I made it on time and almost without a hitch.  Had I not taken so long to park at that BK I would have made it to the consignee with more than 93 seconds on the clock.  I drove 557 miles and burned up 10:58:27 of my 11 hours of legal driving time.  Funny for my first time and I'll laugh about it later but I plan on preventing that every time now.  It was a 6am appointment so I didn't want to shut down 20 minutes down the road and get up at 4:30 if I could just pull up and sleep at their dock.

Anyway, I'm waiting on a driver to come and relay this load for me- then I'll bobtail it to the nearest repair place maintenance will find for me.  6 hours to appointment time and 450 miles out.  I feel like shit for already breaking a date though it wasn't my fault.  Apparently Sheila has a history of this, according to HQ.  Other than this little hiccup I really like her and want to keep going as long as I can.

P.S.  Just when you thought I had enough bullshit for one day-  I wake up this morning, and the roof is leaking.  Luckily its in the middle of the floor and I have a few empty coffee cups.  It rained like hell the night before last and not a drop.  Last night is was just cold, but now I have a leaky roof.

FML

There are many like it, but this one is mine

98 miles.  Not bad for a 10 hour day, right?  Officially I worked 2 and a half hours today.  The 10 hours is the elapsed time between when I got up this morning and where I sit here less than 100 miles away at a Loves on my way to my first assignment.

I was going to take a picture of the staging area in the living room last night but I thought people might laugh.  No whats really funny is the whole premise of how I got here after I first climbed up into one of these things some 16 years ago.  Anyway, it all fit in kyles Sonata with the 3 of us so it couldn't have been criticized too much.  After all, I dont have to share space this time so the top bunk is the limit.

We got to the yard in Philly, and after getting some keys we drove to the back.  There tucked away was a row of half a dozen red trucks, and one particularly shiny 2007 Colombia with 1774 on it.  I don't think I've felt that genuinely happy in years, my face almost hurt.  Freightliner Colombias are basically supped versions of the Centuries, so stepping in felt more like the rides we took in Marshfield.  No fancy gizmos on the steering wheel or hydraulic 5th wheel switches.

While I waited for my FM and load planning to get squared away, I settled all my stuff in, poked around at all the features, and even had time to install my new CB Sara and Chris got me.  It took the better part of 5 hours to get my assignment in, but I'm heading to the Carolinas again.  Maybe I'll see some 50°+ days this time, too.

Sheila actually reminds me of my own car in a few ways.  A '97 Escort vastly stripped down from a '12 Focus, but it has just the stuff you need.  Now if I could just lose those massive flatbed equipment boxes on the sides and back I'd be all set.

3 Pedals, 4 Directions.

A start-up trucking blog like this really needs its own film crew.  The scenery of your job changes by the minute sometimes and when you don't keep up with the day-to-day, next thing you know you've done a whole mess of things that haven't been addressed.  Things like getting a new load assignment, crossing 4 states, disembarking at a terminal with all your gear, being whisked away to a hotel with a stack of papers, coming back in the morning with lots of circles on the papers, doing a short pop quiz around a new truck, going for a ride around the block, hearing "good job, take a few days to chillax", get a ride to the airport with a NEW stack of papers, get in a rental car and drive yourself 16 hours back home and wait for a phone call.

Welcome to week 2 of 2012.

Let's back up to Bentonville.  Our assignment came in the next morning, taking some stuff from St. Louis (not too far from Metropolis, Illinois)  to near Tallahassee.  That confirmed our assumption that I would be likely testing in Atlanta, not Gary.  I got the go-ahead to disembark at the terminal, but what we didn't expect was to be going by Atlanta on the way TO Florida, not on the way back.  That stretched the schedule a lot tighter making the end of John's week tougher which wouldn't have been so bad had we not already been planning on a beeline to Florida. 

I was set up to take the test on Wednesday, so we had to punch it to Atlanta where I would almost have to tuck and roll with my stuff.  The fatal flaw was that in order for John to have the hours left to make the appointment time after we parted ways, I would have to drive the whole way to the terminal.  I got there just in time to throw my stuff in the van with the group of trainees on their way to the hotel.  I met up with the training staff there and I got to take the written test to the hotel with me to finish by morning.  

The group of trainees I got to mingle with there were on their second day of orientation, meaning they had prior CDL training with other schools and were learning the operational procedures that are specific to Roehl.  Stuff that I had been applying in real time over the 16 total days I was out.  Some of them being confused as hell, I assured them that classrooms simply can't do justice, it all comes together with application in real life.  If somebody had thrown all the stuff at me when I was in Marshfield sitting at a table, I wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about.  Next time I introduce Halo to somebody who's never played a first person shooter, I'll try doing so without a TV and see how they understand it.

After trying the local cuisine across from the hotel at The Hollywood Diner, I sat down and took my sweet time with the test.  In the morning I got to thrill everybody at breakfast with how RDTC is far superior to any other CDL training you can get.  It kind of reminded me of GDC when you talk with other students about who's university actually produces results.  That being said it was nice to NOT be on the receiving end for a change.  Also got to meet a few others formerly doing IT work; no shortage of good company here.  I also met up with some other graduates I hadn't met, one was my roomie Mark who had been waiting near Atlanta for a truck since shortly after Christmas.   He had gone elsewhere for CDL school and did runs with a trainer like I did.  Turns out they did one from Wisconsin to Phoenix, I was jelly.  Once we got to the office I met Matt, who started RDTC literally the day after I finished.  Go figure, Matt and I we were testing at the same time.

It was a nice 2 hour wait in the drivers lounge drinking coffee and watching Home Improvement, Fresh Prince, and Future Weapons before we went out for our test, which we started with the 45 backing.  I only needed one correction, after that it was laser-perfect.  Well, except for the part I found out what the rear differential lock was for because the yard was muddy after the 4 days of rain which had miraculously stopped literally minutes before we started.  With my weakest link behind me the test became eerily reminiscent of my second road test back in Haverill all those years ago.  For those of you who don't know that means an extremely easy ride around the block.  The hardest part was quickly adjusting from 2 weeks in a 2012 Cascadia with 48k miles on it to 30 minutes in a 2002 Century S/T with 890k miles on it that ran worse than mom's old Mazda ever did.  Probably had more holes in it, too.

With the results good and both of us performing almost identical runs, we were happily awarded... A seat back in the lounge.  The encouraging news was that Mark had already taken off in his ride, maybe we'd get lucky and be on our way as well.  Word around the office is that the southern terminals are short on new trucks.  A few more hours were spent talking with drivers getting their rides worked on, and this one driver Dave lived in Methuen for 25 years and has a brother who's pretty high up at the Market Basket over there.  A bit more G4 TV and halfway through V For Vendetta I got to talking to Jim, who's an Op Manager visiting from Marshfield.  One thing led to another and after getting my quarterly safety meeting out of the way, he was working with Susan on getting me either a truck by Friday, or a way back home because he insisted after all the BS I at least deserved to enjoy my weekend at home instead of being stranded there like Mark had been.

When the truck inventory came back negative, I was offered a flight up to Newark, but I had to politely decline considering I had literally more stuff than I could carry on my own.  The next best thing I got was a free rental from the airport and long story short, I got a 2012 Impala with less than 1k miles on it and drove 830 miles back to Old Bridge.  16 hours of total moving time, and a 7 hour stopover just past Charlotte.  I guess I have been really desensitized to ground travel, because it was over before I knew it.

After a crap ton of laundry, and jump starting my car (which according to my wonderful roomates can't hold a charge more than 2 weeks) I happily slept like a rock last night.  This morning I got a call from Tim, my permanent fleet manager who I had spoken to briefly before the trip.  As of this morning I have a "permanent temporary" truck assignment.  She'll be ready at the yard in Philly on Monday.  The reason for the terminology is because she's in a flatbed configuration, which basically means I have a gun rack on the back that holds chains, tarps, ratchets, straps, and other crap I lack the credentials to use anyway because I'll just be pulling vans. 

However it seems that getting me 52 miles to Philly has been made more of a complicated logistical nightmare than coming up here from Atlanta.  I spent a good chunk of today getting stuff for the truck and trying to figure out the best way to get down there based on their plans, then the punchline came 3 hours ago, turns out Kyle works 20 minutes from there anyway.  Monday I'll say hi to Sheila 1774

Sams Town

The tricky divide crossing turned out to be a bust, we got a light load to take across to near Nashville.  Immediately after dropping that however, we were assigned a nearby load that grossed us to 78k pounds yesterday morning.  All we had to do was hike it across I-40 through the rest of TN and most of AR.  A 45k lb load handles so different from a 15k you wouldn't even think it was the same truck.  Luckily most of I-40 here is flat with a few rolling hills.  Even got to use cruise control for most of it.

I'd only been to Tennessee once when I was 10, and there are only 2 things that stood out that I remember:  First is a whole mess of Elvis clones, and the second is that it took FOREVER to ride through. 

At the end for me last time was Graceland, this time was just over the Mississippi at Southland Park in West Memphis, AR where we shut down last night.  I had never been to a race track casino before.  OMG.  It's like if Las Vegas was a Congressional Medal Of Honor, we were in basic training.  The only similarities were the indoor tobacco smell, and the EPIC buffet.  I say tobacco but I may as well have said cigarette.  There was no level of classiness to warrant a cigar in the place.  You know you're not in Kansas anymore when Matti is overdressed. 

The buffet was an exception, however.  John treated me for all my hard work over this week.  We both signed up for their free player rewards program, which got us each $20 in credit to play.  We quickly burnt those up on the quarter slots but saw a lot more action than the pennies or nickels usually get.  I dropped another 20 but after no dice I called it a night.  Back to the truck I went and passed out. 

This morning we made a stop in the local Flying J for a shower run.  The first one of this stint, actually.  After seeing the condition of my skin and hair when I got back to the truck I reaffirmed that I can't go that long without it if I can help it.  It just not comfortable for me to operate no matter how little physical activity I do.

The biggest upshot of being down here is that since we left the Carolinas it hasn't fallen below 55° even at night.  Its going to suck going back up by Gary to test out, even if it means finally getting my own keys. Though we aren't sure exactly where we're headed next thats a pretty good guess.  We'll find out soon.

We just delivered this heavy load to its destination and we're now in Sam Walton's town.  Not Kingfisher, Oklahoma where he's from, nice try though.  We're in the one he built, Bentonville, Arkansas- home of Wal-Mart HQ

This town reminds me of a cross between Chandler, AZ and Fort Collins, CO.  Chandler in the sense that much of it is flat and undeveloped farm lands but has an infrastructure ready for a population surge; and Fort Collins im the sense that what is already developed all looks brand new and immaculately clean.  Strip malls, businesses parks, and what look like serious business-priced apartment and condo complexes.  Guess who's on all the adopt-a-highway signs?  Nope, surprisingly only 2 of the dozen I saw around here say Wal-Mart.  Sam started his career in business here in 1945 and wherever the old part of town was, we didn't see it.

And if you think bottled water is the most evil creation of mankind destroying the planet and massive companies like Wal-Mart and Nestle are destroying the economy... then I guess I just earned a whole mess of blood money xD 

Even the funeral homes look like plantation houses

The dandruff of the swamps of South Carolina?  Oh wait, thats just cotton.  Can't say I've ever seen a cotton field in person, even after harvesting the stuff is everywhere like wayward trash from a landfill. 

Another first today was seeing a regional grocery distro center in action.  Seeing the link before me in the supply chain is pretty cool to finally witness but the massive size really struck me as something amazing.  So many people, so many power tools, all moving so fast it was like being inside a beehive.  It was a 2 hour wait to get us unloaded but when they finally got done it turns out our next shipment pickup was only an hour away here in Colombia.

Luckily in doing all this southward movement made for a nice change in the air.  It was in the 50's all day wherever we stopped, which was pretty boss getting away from the freeze back home.  Also we drove alongside all the snowbirds going back down, I saw every plate from Virginia to Quebec heading south today.  A million and one RVs and a whole mess of cars packed like its college move-in season.

This next one has almost 500 miles to move tomorrow which may not seem like much but it won't be ready straight out.  Really we only have 11 hours until its due.  We can't curise at 70 like most people down here so trust me, this is going to be the tightest time frame I've worked yet.  Also we're at a shipper that makes significantly different goods than I've handled so far.  Such differences that I expect to make it tricky to head over the Southern Appalachian. 

The biggest drawback for me is that means no chance of a shower break tomorrow.  I said before this is going to take time to get used to, but once I call my own shots I'm MAKING time. 

Shower party hard.

Virginia Blues

Well, I say Virginia Blues because the only snag so far today was here in VA when we stopped to fuel.  Hate it when the guy in front of you at the pump is taking his sweet time in the store?  So do we. And its tough to turn around and go to another one when you're 70 feet long. That tacked 15 minutes onto the day, but we've got plenty of time.  How much you ask?  Like 20 hours before appointment time.  Thats AFTER we arrive tonight.  Hopefully they'll be nice enough to fit us in a little early tomorrow.

I clocked in 287 miles at just over 5 hours this morning, I cruised along through PA and after kicking back over to I-95 I drove on the infamous I-495 around DC.  Lucky for us it was about 10am so it was all cake.  Set a good precedence so next time I get stuck in traffic there like the rest of the world at least I'll have perspective.  Kind of like driving on 128 at midnight. 

While I was doing that we ran across some squalls that knocked visibility to about 1/2 a mile.  Being cold as balls like it was dry and it blew right off everything.  No word on were we'll be heading after SC, though I dont care much as long as I'm gettting paid by the day so it doesn't matter if we're moving or not.  It would be nice to get back to Gary and get my own ride but I'm afraid I'll be bored as hell after I do.

Now we just got back from the first Wal-mart run of the trip, and we're all stocked up for the week.  Also got some special stuff this time, I picked up season 4 of The Big Bang Theory.  John got season 5, and also season 2 of Justified, which I had never seen but it looks pretty boss.

Thanks for the gift card Nana, its going to be a great week now!  :)

Coming Back Down

Well, I got my briefing call last night, and I'm going back on duty sooner than I expected by a day or two.

The only tradeoff is the RV point.  We were hoping for a run to MA for John to pick me up, but as luck would have it he's about to head south.  So it was either wait who the hell knows how long until another run comes up north, or find a way to get my ass to Columbia, NJ within (what was then) 18 hours.

Now I'm riding with further proof that I have the best parents of all time, dad is driving me down with all my stuff and uncle Dennis is tagging along for the ride  Apparently most full time jobs (especially the government kind) get the day AFTER every holiday off.  May be common knowledge for most people but remember I'm coming from a 7 year part time job at a business that is open 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, 362 days a year.  Weekends and holidays are a foreign concept to me in the working world.  Point is a lot of parents would be rather reluctant to drive 300 miles each way so their 23 year old son can go to work.

It's just like when the three of us in August of '09 driving me back from Tempe.  Pics from that run are on the Past Road Trips page.

Heading on down to the Carolinas after the RV point, going to be a hell of a treat to see some unfamiliar highways.  Who knows when I'll get out to Gary again but so far its shaping up to be an interesting start to the year.

Further incentive is that I left my red and black polyester Hawaiian shirt in the truck before I disembarked.  For those of you who know me are probably aware thats my favorite shirt in the closet.  I'll go as far as it takes.