Gi-Gi Roxx - The Ravings of a Lunatic

I sit here listening to "The Sound of Music" soundtrack knowing a big secret. Shhhhh....I am going to sneak home for a day tomorrow! hehe I have a load that I picked up today that is going to Pennsylvania and I was able to choose between two routes to get there. I of course chose the route that takes me through my hometown of Charleston! Sneaky Sneaky! But honestly, it's not a big deal as it is only 30 miles different from the other route and I don't technically have to deliver the load until Friday, even though I'm going to see about delivering it on Thursday evening... after I've had my fill of home cookin' and my own bed! By the way, my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day haven't been all that bad. I was a little depressed yesterday while listening to Christmas carols about being home for the holiday's and such. But after a good nite's rest and a sunshiny Christmas morning things got better and I was in a pretty good mood today! I did have t...

Today I was driving along, minding my own business... singing along with the radio as usual when what to my wandering eye should appear... But another weenie wagger. This time the guy was driving a beat up Honda Civic and was attempting to give me quite a show. He was really givin' it hell too... surprised he didn't tear the poor thing off! It was too bad that my foot slipped and hit the break pedal as he looked up and "waved". Then he nearly swerved off the road, perhaps in the final act of his puppet show. Would've served him right. haha Merry Christmas Mr. Mastubator.... at least I got a good dose of Holiday laughter at your expense. Men...

I'm not sure where to start really. I didn't feel like reading my last blog to see where I was or what I was doing at the time. But I know it was posted before I went home for my last time at home. Which, by the way occurred earlier than anticipated and was a blast. I had delivered a load to Mount Crawford, VA at a Wal-Mart Distribution Center and was waiting for my next assignment sitting in their parking lot. I got an order to pick up an empty trailer and head home. I was confused since I wasn't supposed to go home until like Tuesday of the following week. So I checked for an empty trailer and didn't find one and called in to make sure all of this was actually legit and to request a reassignment for an empty trailer elsewhere. They told me to forget it and just bobtail home. 255 miles. Nice. I made it home that evening around 4:30pm and was glad to be home. I was sorta disappointed because I had to cancel plans with friends that I'd made for later in the w...

So here I sit... still in Carlisle. I didn't get to deliver my load today. I woke up and sought info about delivering early. Couldn't do it. So I sat around until noon catching up on episodes of Heroes and My Name is Earl online. Just after noon I went out to start my work day by doing my pre-trip inspection. I got all the way around the truck, and checked the oil before I planned to close up the hood. I always save this for last because I always end up getting oil on my gloves and prefer to be able to shuck them right off as soon as I'm done. I pull the dip stick, check the oil on it for debris, foamy texture, diesel odors, etc then wipe it off. I reinsert the dip stick and let it sit for a couple seconds and pull it back out so as to check the level. It didn't even register. I though that perhaps it was because it was so cold and that maybe if I idled the truck for a bit to warm her up we'd get a better result. Twenty minutes of idling later, still the same result...

I'm looking through my log book to figure out the sequence of events since my last blog. You see, everything at this point is running together in a snowy brain fog. I've been though quite a bit the past few days... or has it been weeks? Ahh yes...now I can remember better. Thank goodness for good log keeping! I was last blogging my heart away in Johnstown, NY where I was breaking for the night among a little snow squall. The following morning I took my empty trailer to Ft. Edward, NY where I picked up a load of scrap paper bound for Montreal, PQ. (Quebec Canada) Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounds. No way! Why should it be?! I arrived at what I was told was the shipper at the appropriate time and went to check in with the main office. Only to receive looks of complete dumboundedness at the fact that someone was at their facility to pick up a load. They weren't sending out any loads that day! Sheesh! After much ado and sitting on hold with my company for what seeme...

I’m a survivor! Current mood: blessed Yeah, I've got the Destiny's Child song, Survivor, playing in my head. Today was a blessing! Apparently the nasty weather headed eastward was moving slower than predicted and today I drove the full distance to Johnstown with out any complications. It was great! I really enjoyed the drive today too! Even without the leaves on the tress and the green grass as the roadside, upstate NY is still beautiful! I just love it! Everything is pretty much snow covered from a storm that rolled through long before my arrival. And it was just a lovely drive. Of course, if I'd laid off the water and gatorade today I'd have enjoyed it much more. I had to stop at just about every other service plaza on the turnpike to take a bathroom break. Pathetic....but necessary. I still made darn good time. I honestly expected nasty weather today and was pretty well mentally prepared for it when I got on the road this morning. I was fully expecting to not make my...

I want to blog a magnificient blog. But for some reason my mind's a complete blank. Well, mostly. Obviously I'm not so blank that I can't type out any words. I am forming complete sentences at least. I'm tired. I'm cold and a little scared right now. Perhaps that's why I'm all clammed up in the brain...of course admitting this is now allowing words to flow more smoothly from my brain to my fingertips. I'm scared as shit about driving to Johnstown, NY tomorrow. I'll be going thru Buffalo, Syracuse and those two from what I just obtained from the weather channel website are expecting some nasty weather tomorrow. Freezing rain, snow, winds, etc. I have just about had enough of winter already. We got snow the night of my stay in the hotel in Morgantown, WV. We woke up to about 3 inches and had to carefully make our way back to Charleston in slushy, slippery conditions. Hell, I-79 was even shut down for a bit due to a pretty nasty accident. T...

I made it home. *happy dance* I pulled into Charleston at about 12:30pm on Sunday afternoon. *happy happy joy joy* Just in time to go home, take a shower and head up to my sister's for our family Holiday Gathering. It was awesome! *big f'n smile* So I got back to the Dallas OC around 10:30 am Friday to check on my truck. I went straight to the shop to inquire of her status. Much to my surprise, my truck was in a bay and nearly finished!!! I couldn't believe it. I honestly expected it to take much longer, if not another day. But instead, I was on the road, rolling by noon! I made it as far as the West Memphis Arkansas Operations Center where I spent the night. I got up Saturday morning and was on the road to get even closer to home. I was thrilled. And thankfully the rest of my journey homeward bound went smoothly. I stopped just south of Cincinatti, OH for Saturday night and then got up early Sunday and drove to Columbus where I dropped my load and picked up my empty and he...

Somehow I've exhaused my Karma. I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in.... yep... you guessed it... TEXAS. I had a good morning, I got a good start. I picked up my empty, headed over to get my load. Backed into a dock that upon first sight frightened me to death. But I nailed it and surprised myself, smiling all the while. I got loaded in about an hour, two hours less than anticipated and was on the road towards home. I made it 68 miles to where I was going to scale my load to make sure I had my weight distributed properly when my good day came screeching to a halt. The air system on my truck jacked up and after applying the brakes several times and setting the air brakes to park... I ended up stuck... unable to move. Blocking a fuel pump at a truck stop.... for over 6 hours. Seems the air dryer or the air compressor fried itself and rendered me unable to do move. So I called Emergency Maintenance (EM). I sat on hold for 45 minutes then got disconnected, never speaking to a s...

In a comment on my last blog my friend commented on how karma might play a role in my life after having donated the flour to folks who needed it instead of just throwing it away. Kinda funny since I felt the full presence of Karma this morning when I woke up to call in and see what my next assignment was going to be. I talked to "T" my dispatch planner asking him what he had in store for me today. He had a load picking up 11 miles from where I am now.. and going straight to Columbus Ohio. Halleluia! I am going to be leaving here shortly and heading over to get my empty and then to get my load. Then hopefully at some point later in the day, I'll finally be leaving the state of Texas. I am so happy I could sh*t. .....I am also in the Holiday mood thanks to the guy parked next to me BLARING the local station that is playing All Christmas, Till Christmas. Things are looking up and my spirits are higher than they've been in the past few days. Which is saying a lot actu...

I'm getting tired of Texas. Today I woke up, blogged a small blog and got on the road to San Antonio. I arrived at the TA where I fueled and showered and grabbed a bite to eat. Then I headed over to Converse to drop my empty and pick up the load I was relaying across town. I get to the consignee about an hour and a half early and they take me right in. I went to the dock area I was told to go to and I get nearly backed in when I hop out and open the trailer doors. I bet the look on my face was priceless. I know the looks on the faces of the lumpers I'd hired to unload my trailer were priceless. The jackass that hauled the load from it's origination point in Joplin Missouri to the drop lot in Converse apparently didn't know how to drive a tractor trailer. Or he was just a dumbass who didn't care. Flour was the food product in the trailer. Gold Medal All Purpose Flour. And it was all over the fricking place. The skillz it took to f*ck up the load THAT badl...

I'll be leaving this rest area shortly to head on up to San Antonio where I will: 1) stop for fuel and take a shower. 2) drive two miles to the next exit to another truck stop where I will drop my empty trailer and pick up a loaded one. 3) drive 16 miles to a consignee to get the full trailer unloaded, which will allegedly take 5 hours. 4) probably drive back to the first truck stop where I will take my 10 hour DOT break. Number 4 may have additional stuff before it... who knows. I just hope that things go well today and that I am able to get a little closer to being out of Texas. Wish me well!

Can't someone do something about me having to be in Texas? I went to Pharr, TX this morning. No one there spoke english. When I arrived at the place I was to deliver my load I found about 12 "spaniards" standing in the drop lot watching a guy in one big rig drive around in circles in the lot TOWING another big rig (just the tractors mind you). There were two guys in the front seat of the tractor being towed by a very rickety and rusty chain just a'hooting and hollering like they were at the carnival on the most thrilling ride of their lives. It was strange... very strange. I made my drop and got the hell out of there. I made it about an hour south of San Antonio (home of the Alamo) with an empty trailer which I will drop in exchange for a loaded trailer that someone else left at a lot in Converse, TX. I will take that load a whopping 16 miles to the place where the delivery is to be made. I will be "live" unloaded which means I will take a nap or watc...

I forgot how much I loathe the state of Texas. And honestly, I'm adding Louisana to the list too. People there were so friggin rude! Sheesh, whatever happened to southern hospitality? Or does that cease once you cross the Mississippi border into Louisana? Let's just say I've had a tough day. It started off with the cashier at the Petro I stayed at last night being just downright RUDE while processing my purchase of coffee. Then, I get on the road and get close to Baton Rouge where I-10 takes a detour for whatever reason. I start on the detour route and turned on the FM radio to look for some tunes to get my day going better and shit if the National Weather Alert system wasn't fogging up the airwaves. Yep! Severe thunderstorm warnings for most of my Louisana drive... including possible Tornados. Frick... frick.... frick. Ok... so I am following the detour along with all the other traffic and the rain starts. Just a light sprinkle at first... then a full blown freak storm...

Well, just to let you all know... I did survive the horrible chinese food incident. Not even a hint of the explosive diarreah that I half expected to be awakened with in the middle of the night that night. Thank heavens! That would have made misery that much more miserable. I did end up waking up sick, but in a different way. I don't believe I'd blogged since I fell ill with this nasty head cold just days after I came back out from my last time at home. I talked with some of you online so I know a few of you were aware of how sick I was the other day. Well. It got worse. Much worse. On Nov. 16 I spent the whole day at the Schenider Carlisle, PA Operations Center attempting to rest and recouperate my system. I was suffering greatly from a head cold which I believe was given to me (with love) by my niece. I'd had a touch of a sore throat on the 14th, the a little bit of the sniffles on the morning of the 15th... by evening it was full on head congestion and sinus dra...

I should've known better. My brain was sending up smoke signals... Warning! Warning! Danger! Do NOT pass Go, Do NOT collect $100. But did I listen? No. So there I was standing at the counter of the Flying J "Magic Dragon" viewing my choices of un-authentic, industrialized pseudo chinese food. A young man with a name tag that read "Ahmed" asked me if I needed a moment or if I was ready to order. I felt pressured... I had been ogling the entrees at the "Magic Dragon" for a few minutes, even though deep down inside I knew I should probably stick with pizza or something off the convenience store shelves instead. But the mounting pressure I felt to order or get lost caused me to spit out an order for "Fried Rice, General Tso's Chicken and one eggroll to go, please." I was done for. I knew it. But I'd committed and was already fishing for money in my pocket. Stoopid, Gi-Gi. Just stoopid. I just didn't have any idea what I'...

Multiple Day Blog... LONG... seriously. Grab some popcorn and a brew or two because if you're sitting down to really read this one, it's gonna take a while. It's a compilation of three days worth of blogs which I'd been keeping on my laptop while I was without access to the internet. Enjoy. =================================================== Nov. 7, 2007 - It was a dark and frigid night in Minonk, Illinois..... I am shut down for my required 10 hr. DOT break here in Minonk. I have no idea what the town looks like, if it is much of a town, as it was pitch dark when I arrived... at 5:30pm. WTF!? I hate this whole day light savings crap where the government makes you turn your clocks back in an attempt to save energy. It doesn't help, if you think about it. I mean, sure businesses close earlier in the day (same hours but with the time change it's early in the daylight/night time hour continuim thingy) so they are in theory saving energy. But what about all ...

Greetings, on my way back to Wisconsin. I made my delivery, early actually, in Oklahoma City yesterday and spent the night in a rinky dink truck stop on the outskirts of town. I did get to enjoy a nice dinner at a Sonic resturant where the waitress actually wore her roller skates and served me very gracefully and graciously. I had to give her a fairly good tip since she did don the skates. I noticed that she was the only one wearing them. And she moved like she lived in them. Which, perhaps she did. One just never knows. So anywho. I made my way here to Joplin, Missouri take my 10 hr DOT break before I hit the road once more to finish out my trip to Wisconsin. This time I'm going to Tomah, WI. I passed it on the way to Menomonee the other day. Actually the facility I am delivering to is right off the interstate and I recall seeing it as I drove thru there. So I don't think I'll have any problem finding my way back. Not really looking forward to going back into th...

The sun is slowly setting. I've been sitting here at the Sullivan, MO Flying J truck stop since about 4pm, but it feels like it's been much longer than that. I had a quick bite to eat, browsed the movie section and bought two, at $3.99 each! Score... I'll be settling in in a bit to watch one of them at least, "Encino Man". Yes, the great 90's flick with Brendan Frasier and Pauley Shore. I love those guys... but I am a great cheese freak. I was making a mental list of movies I wanna search for from the 80's and 90's as I was driving today. I'd like to get most of the John Candy collection eventually. Flicks like "The Great Outdoors" and "Summer Rental". Those were great. Anywho. So I last blogged from the hotel in Indy. Since then I drove to Wisconsin where I stayed the night at a truck stop in Black River Falls. Beautiful place by the way. Then drove to Menomonee, WI where I made my delivery and turned tail to the ea...

Hmm...where to begin. I suppose I should get the bitching out of the way first thing.... I realized the other day while looking at my pay stub from my week in Canada that I got majorly ripped off. They didn't pay me for neary 450 miles because the dumbass I dealt with during my "single lane dirt road" incident didn't put something in the computer right and basicially it looked like I never drove from Leval to Cobden and then Cobden to L'Assomption. So I called my manager, while she's still my manager, and asked if there was anything she could do and what I could do in the future to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I hope she can do something... that's like $150.00 I didn't get paid. Ok, so you're probably wondering what I meant when I just said "while she's still my manager". Well... here it goes. I was so happy when a couple weeks ago I was notified that I'd be back with my original manager because of "restructurin...

Okay, so I have to admit Canada wasn't that bad this last time around. I found myself begging for Canada or hell... even Ohio after this last couple of days. Yes... even Ohio! I was assigned a load out of Elkton, MD after making my Canadian delivery down near Baltimore the other day. So after I dropped that load I hit the road north bound for Elkton on I-95. It was relatively easy to get there and I found the shipper fairly quickly that evening. I get there and there is a sign, as with most places, for drivers to check in with the security office before going through the gate. So I park my rig, gather up all of my information and head over to the guard shack. So I go in and there is another driver ahead of me so I wait patiently. When it's my turn I give the guard my pick-up number and Bill of Lading number for the shipment I'm supposed to get and he can't find any record of it. Of course, this prompts him to go into the office area of the building and get another perso...

So I was given a load assigment to pick up a load of hay bales in Cobden, Ontario. Okay... not bad. It was good milage and a great chance to see more of the Canadian country side. So I headed up that way and stopped for the night at a really nice truck stop. The next morning, refreshed and ready to go, I headed out to make the rest of the way to the "shipper" to get my load as scheduled. I had a 10am appointment. I arrived at the "shipper" 15 minutes early. The "shipper" was at a private farm residence on a single lane country DIRT road. I honked the horn to let them know I was there... but no one came out to greet me as I sat in the middle of the single lane dirt road with my flashers on. I waited a few minutes then went up to knock on the front door. No one was home. Except for the sweet yellow labrador who seemed entirely too happy to see a human around there. So I went back out to my truck, which is still sitting in the middle of a single lane dirt roa...

Dear Canada, Bonjour! You know you always keep me too long. I had planned on staying with you this time for maybe two days, not four. But I do appreciate all of the beautiful things you showed me this trip. The fall colors are just splendid this time of year, aren't they? And the folks in Montreal, even though they barely (if at all) spoke English, treated me much better than those horrible folks in Toronto. Quebec and Ottawa were both lovely too. And I had the pleasure of learning how to read some French, thanks to the fact that you mark everything in French with absolutely NO English translation. Merci! I also got a lot of good laughs out of you this trip, Canada dear. The signs along your highways and by-ways always crack me up. Like the night danger signs for the deer and moose. That crazy stalking moose looks like he's ready to just meader out in front of your car or truck and then look at you, daring you to keep rolling! hahaha Not to mention the leaping deer s...

Sorry folks, I've been blogging away over on MySpace and had totally forgotten about my dear readers here on Blogger. My sincerest apologies! I'm mobile these days with a laptop which makes life much easier. However, I've had to try to remember all of my old "hotspots" on the net which has been most difficult. I didn't realize that taking a two month haitus would erase my online memory! So Ive posted copies of my MySpace blog over here over for your enjoyment. They are all back dated starting around September 20th. There's not been a whole lot of them but please enjoy and feel free to leave comments. And from here on out I promise to update with what I've got over on my other blog and then keep it updated for all of you to enjoy! Thanks for your patience and your inquiries as to my whereabouts! It's nice to know folks find my words interesting enough to want more! hehe Toodles for now!

October 12, 2007 - Friday Ok, some of you have asked me to tell a funny story from the road. So here goes. I'd suggest that if you're drinking anything you don't want coming through your nostrils.... finish it and/or set it aside for a few moments. Ok so I was driving happily along somewhere in the mid-west a few weeks ago. Enjoying the sunshine and the tunes on my MP3 player. I was jammin' out and singing along having a grand ol' time when I noticed that another "big truck" was attempting to pass me on the left in the fast lane (aka the hammer lane). I had my cruise control set at max, which for a solo Schnieder driver is 64 mph. I wasn't backing off or speeding up to mess with the guy like some other drivers would have done. I kept the pace and figured he'd pass when he was good and ready. I just continued to drive and scan my mirrors and sign along to my tunes. I noticed during my driver side mirror scan that the passing truck was closin...

October 3, 2007 - Wednesday at least I think I spelled that right.... but anywho. So I arrived at a Pilot station in Ohio to take my 10hr. DOT required break and had the hunger pangs from hell kicking the crap out of my stomach. So I wandered into the station in search of some grubbage. There is an Arby's at this Pilot, but I wasn't really in the mood for over priced food. So I sought out the hot eats section of the actual Pilot. They generally have hot dogs and sausages and some sort of rolled up mexican thing.... but I got the score on the last two corn dogs in the joint! woo hoo! You see, I've always loved corn dogs and I can never pass them up when I see them somewhere. They're probably one of my most favorite foods, pizza will always be number one though. But as I was devouring said corn dogs I got to thinking... what is it about the corn dog that I truly like? I mean it's just a hot dog wiener wrapped in cornmeal and deep fried on a stick. Pretty simpl...

October 1, 2007 - Monday October 1, 2007 - Monday So I made my delivery in Zanesville Ohio last week, I also made a pick up down the road from there in New Concord. It was a quick trip down memory lane as I drove down the road we used to take to go visit out dear friends Levi & Missy. It's a shame they moved away... first to Florida and then to Arizona... I could've had breakfast with them! But alas... my time was spent working hard and driving like mad to get south. The load I picked up in New Concord was to take me to Richmond Virginia in two days time. So my overnight break had to come somewhere in between. My route was to take I-64 through WV... soooo... *ahem* I made a stop over to see my baby. And his family as luck would have it. You see he was actually staying at his dad's place for most of last week and the weekend so I met up with his dad's girlfriend, Suzanne at the truckstop where I parked and had a nice evening at their house. It was great, th...