Back In The Saddle

EscaLADE!

By the saddle I mean Gary of course.  I got pegged by a rock on the way back up home last week, thanks to the dude in the Escalade passing me doing 80 and effectively kicking a golf ball in my face.  3/4" crack 2" below my straight line.  Between that, the rear toolbox panel peeling off, and my drivers seat back being angled 10 degrees to the right and screwing up my back for the last 4 months (Somehow I only noticed it 3 weeks ago), it was time to head in for some work.

I just happened to land on the weekend that 4 techs were on staff, 1 of which was assigned to trailer repair.  I have to give them credit for staffing the shop 7am-2am 7 days a week, but there are only so many tractors that 3 guys can fix in a weekend.  Considering that number was about 7 I can't say I could have done the same.  So I got done with my run which took me from Southboro to just down the street in South Holland, IL.  It was a 5 hour unload so while I spent 6 hours there I was surely losing my place in line here at the terminal.  When all was said and done I handed them the keys at 1pm on Saturday.

Well, fast forward to about 20 minutes ago, I was up and ready to head in and start another long day in the lounge and I got a knock on the door.  "Door 31 whenever you're ready"  So alone and back upstairs I am now, a far cry from what it was all weekend.  Looked kind of like a Superbowl party without the food... or beer.  Shoot the shit about our jobs, watch bad Sci-Fi original movies, Law and Order, and Nascar.  The satellite package they have is rather limited here, though it is a nice HD box.  Next time I'm at Wal-mart I'm getting a $30 dvd player and bringing in Christmas in July.

I estimate it will be about... 6 hours before they're done here. Though we've gone from 3 techs to 23 techs they are very... thorough. 

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

Recap?  Well when we last left our heroes Matti and Sheila, they were on a quest taking them to the perilous and dreaded streets of the Bronx.  Or so the Prologue said.  In reality, Taking a semi into the Bronx at 3am isn't really a challenge.  The truck routes are numerous and well marked, and with a little help from Google Street View the night before it was like I had already been there.  Easy $75 bonus.  Funny how I get $50 for a Canada crossing but $75 for a NY/Long Island run.  Should be the other way around.  I pulled up to the empty curb with the other trucks, (first time I was ever happy to see a "No parking 1-5am sign) checked in, and they said the other 2 trucks were ahead of me and they'd come get me.  I went back, passed out, and was woken up by the sun in my eyes and about 20 minutes after that, a knock on the door.  Maneuvering into the place was also cake, even though it was 2 and a half hours past appointment (and 1 past receiving hours) and there were significantly more cars on the street.  I don't know what happened to truck #1, but #2 and myself couldn't have been at the dock for more than 15 minutes each.  Ice cream spill, somebody tripped, who knows.  Whatever it was it made me late for my last stop in Trenton, whose receiving hours are STRICTLY 6-9am.  I arrived at 10.   Nice of them to set me up with overnight parking and get me first in line in the morning.

Freakin' Space Terrorists

Though that 15 hour setback had screwed up the initial plan to get me home on Saturday.  Better luck next time but at least it was sunny this time.  Also, Prometheus wasn't the most badass piece of the Alien franchise, but worth a watch for fans of the first movie.  There were some hallmark moments reminiscent of the 1979 masterpiece but there was a serious lack of  Lance Henricksen.  Thanks Pat for buying our tickets, matinee is really the only way to go.