Gi-Gi Roxx - The Ravings of a Lunatic

So we spent all morning Saturday driving the test route, getting familiar with the flow of the road and such. I was a little rusty shifting after having a week to relax in the North Carolina mountains, but after a few stops and starts I was smoothing back out again and running that truck like a semi-professional. I say semi because I am still learning, and I will always continue learning so long as I drive. After a few trips each we headed back to the range for one more stab at the straight line and 45 degree backing maneuvers. I felt good about it... good enough to call it a day when I was asked to determine the remainder of our scheduled class time. So off I went... homeward bound and bouncing off the walls with excitement about the test the next morning. I was surprised at how NOT nervous I was this morning. I had a few butterflies in the belly but for the most part I was calm. I had convinced myself that I was going to pass and that if I got all hikeabooberated before the tes...

I'm trying to remember what all we did in class last weekend and how it went, but my vacation has taken over my memory at the moment. I know the basics were as follows: Saturday we did pre-trip inspection and gained another "refresher" student who we called "cock-eyed charlie". The guy had Cerebral Palsy and his right eye kinda just lolled around where ever it wanted to go. It was wierd. And he couldn't drive for sh!t. He actually scared the crap out of everyone, including the instructor. I don't know how the instructor could actually say with a straight face and a clear conscience that the guy should be out on the roads driving around 80K pounds around other humans! But, who am I? We drove quite a bit all day long Saturday. I drove about 55 miles myself, out winding and curving two lane roads. It was fun... I did better than I honestly expected to do. Sunday it was back to the yard with Mr. E, our original instructor from the classroom portion of our tr...

Shew! Week 6 was exhausting! On Saturday, we got to the school and sat for about 15 minutes before getting the day started. Then it was out to the range to do a pre-trip inspection. I'm getting the hang of it more I think. We'll see come test day. But after that we all loaded up into the truck, one of the other students in the drivers seat and the instructor in the passenger seat and off we went. We took a nice route out of town eventually ending up on Rt. 62 which is a nice gently winding road. Our first stop of the day was a truck stop about 26 miles away for an early lunch. And it was tasty! Then it was my turn. I hopped in the drivers seat and adjusted it to fit and then we were off once again. My ending destination was about 24 miles away in my old stomping grounds of St. Albans. I just got to pull off the side of the road and let the next driver take over though. No treats for Gi-Gi! haha Then it was on to Kanawha City's Go-Mart truckstop on the upper end of town. We ...

I Drove A Big F'n Truck! Yeppers, you read that right. I finally got to drive a big rig. Day one, week five was all about learning to back up in a straight line and from a 45 degree angle. I must brag on myself a little for the fact that I can back that 48' rig in a straight line like sliding a warm knife through butter. Boo-ya! I had it down pat on the first try. I got a little over confident at that point of course and when I attemped the 45 degree backing maneuver... I failed miserably. BUT... I didn't kill any of those little orange cones. And that's a good thing. I just didn't quite get the trailer square in the box. But after a few more tries I started getting the hang of it. I had expected the trainer to be in the cab with me. Nope, not the case at all. Instead he sat in his lawn chair and would occassionally point in the direction we should've been turning our wheels and such. I was feeling really good after about 6 or so passes at the first t...