Winter Survival
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 drainage. BAH! I felt like crap. So I got routed to come to the OC to pick up a load to take over to New Jersey the following morning. So I parked it for the night and hoped to get a good nites rest.
Which didn't happen. Thanks to my cold I was kept awake half the night by my own self, gasping for air. Everytime I would drift off to sleep I would apparently decide it was a good idea to close my mouth, which at that point was my sole means of breathing, only to choke and gasp for air which in turn would wake me up. This went on all night long.
Come 3 am, when my alarm was set to go off, I was still wide awake and suffering immensely. So I got on the phone and asked to be taken off the New Jersey load and allowed a day of rest. Wish granted... and I attempted to get some sleep. I cat napped most of the day, but thanks to Sudafed PE nasal decongestant, I got a fairly restful night's sleep the following night.
On the 17th, I got a load assignment to carry and empty trailer down to southern Virginia (near VA Beach) where I would trade it in for a loaded trailer headed for northern Pennsylvania. Nice trip... close to 700 round trip. I got on the road and made good time getting to where I had pre-planned to stop for the night. I set up camp and then grabbed some dinner (see previous blog regarding Bad Decisions), still feeling pretty bad, and thenset off for dreamland. I slept the whole night and awoke just minutes before my alarm went off.
I felt generally ok. Yes, I was stuffy still and my throat hurt a little from the drainage, but I felt good. I was set on keeping my attitude positive and I just knew that the worst was over and I was on my way to getting better! Woo Hoo!
The rest of the day went pretty well. I battled the sniffles and kept taking my Sudafed PE as regularly as I could remember it. I traded my empty for my loaded trailer pretty early in the morning and was headed north again much earlier than I'd anticipated.
Then... I hit traffic. There was an accident that started as a police chase and ended in a 4 car crash in the fast lane of I-95 just south of Washington, DC. The parking lot stretched for about 10 miles when I came upon it. Rumor has it that it grew to over 25 miles by the time I passed by the scene of the accident.
Quite a scene it was too. Three cop cars had formed a sort of barricade into which the moron fleeing police crashed into. Apparently they had to shoot the guy also. A medivac helicopter landed which closed the interstate down for just about half hour or so and then I saw it take off in the distance. I'd never seen so many police cars in one place before though. Aside from the three involved in the crash there had to have been 20-25 other's parked on and along the highway leading up to and around the accident site. It was just nuts. They had the 3 lane north bound side of the high way filtering down into one lane... on the right shoulder. It was nuts. Not to mention that it took me nearly 2.5 hours to go 11 miles.
But I digress... So I get through the traffic and on my merry way. The rest of my northward journey for the day went fairly well. But I didn't make it nearly as far as I'd wanted to before I was growing too tired to drive. I ended up stopping just south of the PA border in Port Deposit, MD at a service plaza for the night.
I awoke to a severe sore throat, major coughing, sniffles from hell and rain. I grabbed myself a Starbucks Coffee. And then....
I drove into snow.
At first it was just light snow, maybe a healthy dusting in most areas. Barely enough to provide ground cover. But then I started seeing cars going south that had large amounts of snow on their roofs, hoods and trunks. I was getting worried.
Thankfully the roads were just wet, even as I ascended into the Pocono's. The snow cover was just breathtaking there though. Seriously... I am not a fan of snow or being cold or being out in cold snow. But the 6-8 inches of snow that had fallen the night before and that morning was just splendid and on display for me to enjoy. I took a few pictures which I will upload in my new pictures album soon.
I did get the pleasure of plodding around in the snow as I dropped off my load and picked up an empty trailer. I had wet socks and all! I got the order via the Qualcomm to head back down here to the Carlisle OC. So here I sit... waiting. Resting.... What a day.
I have a feeling I'm starting to ramble or perhaps not make sense. So I am going to go for now. Maybe watch my new movie I picked up the other night at the Flying J - "Blade". I watched it last night too but it's good and I just might watch it again!
Toodles!
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 drainage. BAH! I felt like crap. So I got routed to come to the OC to pick up a load to take over to New Jersey the following morning. So I parked it for the night and hoped to get a good nites rest.
Which didn't happen. Thanks to my cold I was kept awake half the night by my own self, gasping for air. Everytime I would drift off to sleep I would apparently decide it was a good idea to close my mouth, which at that point was my sole means of breathing, only to choke and gasp for air which in turn would wake me up. This went on all night long.
Come 3 am, when my alarm was set to go off, I was still wide awake and suffering immensely. So I got on the phone and asked to be taken off the New Jersey load and allowed a day of rest. Wish granted... and I attempted to get some sleep. I cat napped most of the day, but thanks to Sudafed PE nasal decongestant, I got a fairly restful night's sleep the following night.
On the 17th, I got a load assignment to carry and empty trailer down to southern Virginia (near VA Beach) where I would trade it in for a loaded trailer headed for northern Pennsylvania. Nice trip... close to 700 round trip. I got on the road and made good time getting to where I had pre-planned to stop for the night. I set up camp and then grabbed some dinner (see previous blog regarding Bad Decisions), still feeling pretty bad, and thenset off for dreamland. I slept the whole night and awoke just minutes before my alarm went off.
I felt generally ok. Yes, I was stuffy still and my throat hurt a little from the drainage, but I felt good. I was set on keeping my attitude positive and I just knew that the worst was over and I was on my way to getting better! Woo Hoo!
The rest of the day went pretty well. I battled the sniffles and kept taking my Sudafed PE as regularly as I could remember it. I traded my empty for my loaded trailer pretty early in the morning and was headed north again much earlier than I'd anticipated.
Then... I hit traffic. There was an accident that started as a police chase and ended in a 4 car crash in the fast lane of I-95 just south of Washington, DC. The parking lot stretched for about 10 miles when I came upon it. Rumor has it that it grew to over 25 miles by the time I passed by the scene of the accident.
Quite a scene it was too. Three cop cars had formed a sort of barricade into which the moron fleeing police crashed into. Apparently they had to shoot the guy also. A medivac helicopter landed which closed the interstate down for just about half hour or so and then I saw it take off in the distance. I'd never seen so many police cars in one place before though. Aside from the three involved in the crash there had to have been 20-25 other's parked on and along the highway leading up to and around the accident site. It was just nuts. They had the 3 lane north bound side of the high way filtering down into one lane... on the right shoulder. It was nuts. Not to mention that it took me nearly 2.5 hours to go 11 miles.
But I digress... So I get through the traffic and on my merry way. The rest of my northward journey for the day went fairly well. But I didn't make it nearly as far as I'd wanted to before I was growing too tired to drive. I ended up stopping just south of the PA border in Port Deposit, MD at a service plaza for the night.
I awoke to a severe sore throat, major coughing, sniffles from hell and rain. I grabbed myself a Starbucks Coffee. And then....
I drove into snow.
At first it was just light snow, maybe a healthy dusting in most areas. Barely enough to provide ground cover. But then I started seeing cars going south that had large amounts of snow on their roofs, hoods and trunks. I was getting worried.
Thankfully the roads were just wet, even as I ascended into the Pocono's. The snow cover was just breathtaking there though. Seriously... I am not a fan of snow or being cold or being out in cold snow. But the 6-8 inches of snow that had fallen the night before and that morning was just splendid and on display for me to enjoy. I took a few pictures which I will upload in my new pictures album soon.
I did get the pleasure of plodding around in the snow as I dropped off my load and picked up an empty trailer. I had wet socks and all! I got the order via the Qualcomm to head back down here to the Carlisle OC. So here I sit... waiting. Resting.... What a day.
I have a feeling I'm starting to ramble or perhaps not make sense. So I am going to go for now. Maybe watch my new movie I picked up the other night at the Flying J - "Blade". I watched it last night too but it's good and I just might watch it again!
Toodles!
Comments
Planning on going to truck driving school next month; having read 'all' your posts, I have been much encouraged and entertained ! Keep the road reports comin'...
Check this out ! http://bp3.blogger.com/_ORv1P4sIoSY/RuC-nmKvA0I/AAAAAAAAABc/MVMX-3lBBCA/s1600-h/1337710900_d772f18d68_b.jpg
I wonder if they cover this on the simulator ?!
I've been out here for three years and have yet to have a cold. Next time you are at home, head to the health food store and get some real Vitamin C and zinc tablets. They will help build up your immune system and help fight off colds and such. And drink lotsa water! Also, get yourself a Burton stove (lunchbox oven). Not only will you save a TON of money by heating up food in the truck, chances of a case of the screamin' meanies in the middle of the night is all but eliminated. Drive safe!