Rainy Days and Mondays

*April 28th*
    At a truck stop somewhere in South Carolina close to the Georgia border.  Got about 2 more hours before I can start rolling again. Going to Fairburn...right outside of Atlanta. Not sure what I'm carrying, but it sure is light.
   So far so good with this job. (I probably just jinxed myself).  They are keeping my wheels rolling. I'm glad. Last thing I need is to be sitting in one spot too long. Their process is pretty simple. Give me and assignment, tell me the pertinent information, and let me go. The other carrier I was driving for had a long tedious process that had to be completed before moving. I'm not talking about important shit like checking tires and oil. I'm talking about endless electronic messages and verifications. Maybe a few of those things were important.  They hauled perishable food. But I had to send an email verifying that I received an email. I'm bad at explaining shit. Just trust me, the amount of detail that had to be done before even turning the truck on was maddening. This place just tells me where to go and any other actual info that matters and let's me move.
    I feel good about my decision to leave my last place. Often in life when you make a risky move like that you wonder if it's the smart choice. Like I said, so far so good. This isn't hard work. Driving a truck takes skill. But it's not "hard" unless you make it hard. I try and make it as easy as I can. For instance, before I reach my destination  (whether I'm picking up or dropping off), I already know what to expect. I've already pulled the map out and looked at the route for anything that might help or hurt me. Then I pull it up on Google Maps and look at the street view to see what the place looks like, what the entrance situation looks like and how wide the road is. I'll even call the location and ask about their checking in policy. I have all of this ready, and usually written down close by, so I don't have to wonder what to do next. My old trainer could drive a truck good. But this concept of knowing where you are going and doing some footwork to make life easier was lost on him. I learned a lot about what NOT to do. Thanks man!
     I'm in a pretty good mood today. Driving close to home makes me feel better. Yesterday I drove back into Charlotte to drop a trailer, then over to Harrisburg just 10 miles from my house and picked up another. While in Charlotte, I got to have dinner with my wife. That was great. I do believe this will be a regular occurrence.  It's another one of the big reasons why I wanted to work here. Being away from my wife and home for 4 to 5 weeks at a time is too much. It's funny, when I think back a month ago. I hadn't seen my wife in 32 days . We got an assignment that drove us right through Charlotte. I remember staying choked up  the whole way between Wytheville Virginia and Gaffney South Carolina. I got to see my baby on that day and it was overwhelmingly emotional. Now, it should be a regular occurrence. Of course, when I'm listening to my Carpenters Pandora station with all of its soothing AM light rock treasures...I might get choked up. Karen Carpenter can do that to a man..haha. One of the advantages to being out here alone is that I can listen to this that. My wife hates all that stuff: The Carpenters,  Jim Croce, Ann Murray, Christopher Cross.
     Ehhh...I married her anyway. Nobody's perfect.

*May 1st*
    Some place in Alabama. Real close to Birmingham. I arrived my destination a half a day early and they aren't allowing early unloading. Figures. I'm not to heartbroken. The downtime is good. Not that I've been working like a dog. But these last 2 days have had one too many hiccups. Yesterday my computer logs needing updating before moving. Then a few hour laters..on a Sunday night mind you...my fuel card didn't want to work. A call to my boss on a  Sunday sure is fun...haha. The cherry on this Sundae is that last night all of my tread came off one of my wheels as I was boogying on down the road. Today I had to run around getting that fixed. So yeah....a half a day extra to just chill. I'm down.
   This past weekend I was able to go home to see my wife. It sure was good to see her. And Ellie and our animals. And to sit on my couch in my house. 
   Right now I'm enjoying one of my latest purchases....Sirius XM radio. It's embarrassing the amount of AM light rock based stations I've got saved on my receiver. I actually put a heavy metal station on there. It's that Ozzy Osborne sanctioned station..The Boneyard. My metal friends will be glad to know I finally heard a song that Dio sings (well..sang) that I don't think is total garbage. "Long Live Rock n Roll" by Rainbow.
    I thought I'd be adult and try and pass myself as an intellectual and added some news stations including BBC.   Yeah, that lasted less than a day. I just don't care. I use to be super political. Just don't have the energy for it anymore. We spent a bunch of money to bomb a dirt road? Don't care. Some dude got elected everyone hates and he appoints people that everyone hates? Don't care. Some rich jocks won a big game? Don't care. Besides, I only get to "save" 10 stations as favorites for quick access and I needed those spaces for that classic gold of Dan Folgelberg and Firefall.
    Another one of my purchases is a high dollar Bluetooth hands free phone. This is a necessity so I can field the occasional call from the company. But really...it means I can talk while driving, safely. Although I've never been one to talk on the phone for long periods of time, it's what no have to stay connected to my circle. I miss my friends.  It's been nice to chat with a few of them with ease. Many of them are musicians and are working on projects. Just in the last few weeks, 2 full albums have been recorded. Being the epicenter of so many creative people, I get to  hear these things before they are put to a use able format. Both of the records are crushing and unrelenting. I mean..it's not "Kenny Rogers" good, but still impressive...haha. Being able to talk to them and have them share their stuff with me feels good. Doesn't make me feel like I am forgotten or left behind. It also makes me miss playing with my own wretched hive of scum an villainy.
   Now I need to go. Two of these dipshits at this truck stop are about to start swinging purses and I wanna watch if they move beyond all the lipservice.