*March 15th*
Coachella, CA. So they have a music festival out here huh? Plenty of room for it. I wonder if the festival site is close by. Has Bono or Sting been on this very road? Are those guys still making shitty music to be forced onto us when we buy iPhones? Sorry...my mind wanders.
So we got the order that we had a few pick ups out here in California before heading to Connecticut to deliver them. This is taking longer than expected. We show up yesterday to a farm in Bakersfield around 1 or 2. Almost no trucks here. 5 hours later and dozens of trucks coming and going since we arrived...we get the call to back up to a dock. But the fun doesn't end there. We double check the BOL (bill of lading) with the original order acknowledgement. Looks like they gave us way too much red leaf lettuce. Now...this is a problem . We can't just take it. So we call our company...they call the company we're at AND the receiving customer to see what is the best course of action. We're hoping they tell us to roll. Nahhhhhhh. An hour later...we are instructed to back up to the dock and have them correct the load. Another hour. Basically we stayed here all day...doing mostly nothing. I told El Hadj that I think I pissed off the girls in the shipping department when I proudly and prominently displayed my wedding ring, signaling to them to look elsewhere. It was a joke. I have a dry sense of humor and that never goes over well with people who have no sense of humor.
I haven't spoken too much about El Hadj. He's alright. Seems accommodating enough. He's a Muslim from some West African nation who are French speaking. What's funny is, when he's talking to me or anyone else in English, he talks very calm and normal. When he's in the phone with family or friends, then he's around the 98 decibel mark talking at the speed that would even lose an auctioneer. He prays 6 times a day and most of the truck I have to be without shoes. Some Muslin praying tradition. I'm not shitting on it. It's just the way it is. I honestly don't mind. It's his truck where he lives, and I'm just a temporary guest. VERY temporary.
I hope we roll soon. I'm chomping at the bit to get back East. Once we get there, we will be given an order to pick up something close by and take it somewhere else. I'm hoping to go South. It would thrill me to pop into the house for even 20 minutes. If not that, then atleast let me swing past a Bojangles for a biscuit, seasoned fries and a tea. Even if that did pan out..it would be atleast a week before it happens. Sighhhh...
*March 16th*
I-40 East, Somewhere in New Mexico. Been rolling since 7am. El Hadj is driving. I'll take over afterwhile. Pretty flat and uneventful. I like it that way. Yesterday in Arizona, I got a real work out going up and down mountains, navigating between trucks going slower than me, and those going faster. My downshifting game is really getting worked on. Good. I wanna be prepared for when we hit the Rockies in a day or so.
This isn't my first time in New Mexico. The wife and myself came out here in 2016 for our honeymoon. We had a great time driving around for 6 days. It kinda makes this bittersweet, but still enjoy being out here. It's beautiful.
I'm really starting to miss music. El Hadj doesn't seem to interested in using the radio. Now, the initial response is that "Man...I'd just say something. " Well, 2 things here. First off..I got to play REAL nice. Not make waves. He has the power to make or break me with the stroke of a pen. Literally. Second...I don't want to potentially have to hear what HE wants to listen to. I'm a snob. If I have to hear something I hate...I'd rather hear nothing. And feel free to accuse me of stereotyping, but I don't see El Hadj being the type to wanna hear Alice Cooper, George Jones, or Motorhead. So I just suffer...in silence.
*March 17th*
St. Patrick's Day. Some 2 lane highway in Kansas. For some reason I sing songs relating to the state I'm in. Yesterday I was singing "You're the reason God made Oklahoma." This morning I'm in Kansas. So there's on one if 2 songs it could be.
Had a good driving day yesterday. Made a lot of miles and hours which are important to this current assignment, and my training requirements. Really dialing in this gear shift now. It's tricky, especially for downshifting. These 8 speed gear shifts in these big rigs are far less forgiving than those of the 6 speeds in 4 wheelers. I got put in the drivers seat later in the evening. I have to prove I can also drove at night. Got in 6 straight hours without pulling over once. And we did it on small state highways in Texas, Oklahoma, and now Kansas. The thing about taking the back roads is that you have to stop and slow down every small town you go through. At first it was a drag. But it really helped with my gear work. EL Hadj, much like my previous trainer, doesn't tell you when he sees growth and improvement. You just know it by the fact that they're not saying anything. That's fine. We (my trainer and I) actually had some minor words. He got mad at me for making a wrong move. It was all an honest mistake that was due to him not being very clear about his direction. But he didn't think so at first. He wanted to make a big deal out of it saying I wasn't listening. I explained to him why I got confused and he wasn't having it. He stormed off to the restroom. When I saw him a few minutes later, he came up and apologized and said he realized that he wasn't being exactly clear. I accepted that. As an adult...as a man...you accept an apology of another person that is humbling themselves to do so.
This whole training ordeal has been a real test of my weak ability to back down when I feel or know I'm right. Even in school, we had an instructor with a Napoleon complex who felt the need to bully everyone...students and fellow instructors. He didn't intimidate me. But I stayed clear of him best as I could. Not because I feared him, but because I know how I respond to shit like that. I would of normally told him exactly what I think of him and his inability to effectively teach. With many colorful words. But...I knew that would impede my progress. Much like some of these little skirmishes out here on the road. So it's safe to say, I've been biting my tongue so much it's starting to leave marks.
Tomorrow night this load has to be in Connecticut. I think that's pushing it myself. When El Hadj is driving, he stops way more than I do or require. Everyone I walk into a truckstop, I glance around hoping to see one of the guys from my driving school in NC. Good god I would love to see even one familiar face. I saw a guy yesterday and his truck had Fayetteville, NC listed as its home base. I wanted to go shake the guy's hand and talk NC for a bit. But around these parts, he might think I wanna shake something else.
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