Pink Champagne On Ice

*March 12th*
      I've sat here in the passenger seat of this Freightliner for 10 minutes trying to come up with something witty to start this off with. I got nothing. Drove over 10 hours today. Left out of El Paso TX and drove straight, through New Mexico and Arizona, then finally California.  Over 600 miles. I'm beat. Haven't had a good bite to eat in 2 days. My new partner Hadj is cool I guess. But he's not too much into radio. I have considered asking him about it, but not sure I wanna open Pandoras Box on that one. Steve's XM satellite radio spoiled me. I'm on the West Coast for the first time with 2 stops in Los Angeles in the mid morning before day break. Then a 400 mile jaunt north for the 3rd load to empty us out. I'm cranky. Goodnight.

*March 13th*
     Malpitas, CA. Northern California. Left out of L.A. this morning having just eaten one bad ass authentic breakfast burrito from a joint that wouldn't get even a 60% sanitation grade, if they were into that sort of thing out here. They say stuff out here costs more than the rest of America. Maybe, but their Mexican food is cheap as hell. The rest of California so far? Whatever. I mean...not to be dismissive....but it's never been a place I aspired to visit. It was cool to see the scenery that I've seen on TV and in movies. Houses jutting out of the sides of the So-Cal hills. The grass covered hills in wine country. Mountains that I'm pretty sure I've seen in episodes of M*A*S*H. And I think I saw the Hotel California hotel. But other than that...it's been pretty boring. Well...except for the burrito in East L.A.
      I'm looking forward to getting my own truck. If I have to be away from my wife, my family, and my friends....then I want to be totally alone. Nothing against my partners so far. But this will be easier and more enjoyable when I don't have to be around anyone else. I am learning what I can from everyone from my first day in class until now. But the cohabitation thing that I dreaded the whole time is as bad as I feared. It's only temporary. It's only temporary. It's only temporary.
     Things otherwise are right on track. I'm ahead of schedule with how many training hours on the road I need. I've driven on the West Coast and driven down one of the 2 required mountains with a heavy load. All I need now is another mountain descension, a North Eastern city drive, and about 178 more driving hours before I'm set free to drive alone. I found out today that tomorrow we pick up a load of baby carrots around Bakersfield, CA and go straight to Connecticut. That should help a lot.
    It's funny, just finding out that I'm going to be in the same time zone as my wife in a couple of days makes me feel better. You know....I use to be a real hard ass. What happened?!?

*March 13th*
Bakersfield,  CA. Waiting to get loaded up so we can head back East. Sitting in the cab in the heat, this a.c. unit is doing absolutely nothing. And people live here. I don't get it. Everything you touch has a light film of dust on it. My old opinion was that I'd probably deal  with the heat out West better because it wasn't as humid. WRONG. This shit is for the birds.
    Today has been a bore. And I'm  battling a touch of a cold. This dust isn't helping. I know..."wahhhhhh".
     Kinda numb today. Hope this is something I'm phasing into. I've missed my wife and home life for over 2 weeks now. It's been embarrassingly painful deal with the seperation anxiety. Today I've just been blah. Blah is a lot easier to deal with than longing and heartache.  It's reminiscent of when you get your heart broken by someone you're in love with and the first few weeks are complete torture. Then one day you wake up  and move about, only to realize it's been 5 minutes and you haven't once gotten sad. I hope that's the way this is heading. Don't get me wrong, I still miss home like crazy. My wife, our home and family and friends are the most important things to me. It's just that today, I haven't  had a lump in my throat or a knot in my stomach thinking about them. But the day is still young (...and hot...and dry...and blah blah blah).
   Yesterday I thought that I saw the building used for the cover of the album "Hotel California" by The Eagles. Anyway, it reminds me of a story told to me by my friend Jeff. He and his band (Antiseen) were over in Europe on tour and every night, everywhere, was techno dance music in the clubs and on the street. This went on for weeks. One day they were walking down the street of some city in Europe, and playing inside a bar (which could be heard from the outside) "Hotel California" was makings it's way into their ears. And at that moment in time,  it was pure musical gold. Now for some perspective,  the Eagles are generally a dismissed musical act by anyone who really knows anything about music. "Hotel California" is among the top of the trash heap of classic rock radio over-saturation. But in that moment, the familiarity of home was priceless. I got what he was talking about at the time. But brother....I'm living it today.