Oi, Vey!
No, I'm not Jewish, but thanks to popular culture and over use of that coined Jewish phrase, I can use it... so there.
I'm in rare form today. I've been on a wierd emotional roller coaster these past few days, partially due to whatever sickeness I endured for three freakin' days and partially due to the fact that...well... I'm a woman.
I last left off sitting in Atlanta overnight, again.
The following morning I obtained the load I was assigned to pick up and headed north and west with it, towards northern Illinois. I made it as far as the Indy terminal where I pooped out for the night. I was exhausted and feeling rather crappy. I knew I had a slight fever and on top of that I had a killer headache, sniffles and a sore throat. I believe I had a mild flu. I called in to let the folks at my company know of my ailments and their advice was to sleep it off and call back in the morning if I wasn't any better.
And that's exactly what I had to do. When I woke up in a cold sweat at about 6:30 am I knew it was going to be a long day and an uphill battle of wills if I decided to hit the road. I only had about 3.5 hours of driving left to deliver my load, but with a fever and chills and everything else... I knew it wasn't safe for me to go anywhere. I needed rest. And they allowed it.
I called in and was told to drop the trailer and get rest and drink lots of fluids. Apparently, my symptoms were particularly common symptoms of the mild flu that is going around. I think it would have been much worse had I not gotten my flu shot, honestly, because apparently people who were not innoculated this year are getting it REALLY BAD.
The worst of it lasted only about three days. Two days with fever and chills, three or four with headaches and congestion. I am nearly 100% now... which is awesome.
But that second day of it was horrible. So I called back to ask if I would get in trouble if I abandonded my truck for a comfortable hotel room at my own expense. They said it wouldn't be a problem and I was on my way to the Holiday Inn. I really needed that day off. It was insane how crummy I felt and being able to vegetate for a day really did help. I drank lots of water and got a good hot meal .....room service of course..... and even took two showers during my stay.
After a better nights sleep than I'd had since I was home last, I was feeling better... albeit not 100%, but much better and felt able to drive. So I was dispatched to pick up an empty trailer in Noblesville, IN and then head to get a live load put on that empty in Winchester.
Of course, after considering and then dismissing the idea of looking for an empty at the terminal before I left... the adventure really began.
I headed up to Noblesville to retrieve the assigned empty. It was at a private residence, a small horse farm/stable area. I assume that the reason they had it was because they received a load of hay bales in it. I found the place easily and turned into the driveway. It was snowy and icy, but I just took it slow and was maneuvering quite well.... until I had to stop so I could put the truck in reverse to back up to the trailer.
That's when I became stuck. On ice. I tried forward, reverse, forward again... 1st through 5th gear... nothing was working. I got out and pulled open my first bag of emergency kitty litter and poured it on and around the drive tires... all four sets of them. I got back in the truck and tried again.. forward and backward 1st through 5th gears... nada.
So I got back out and opened up my only container of emergency de-icer pellets. I poured some on and around the drive tires. I got back in.... same routine and nothing. I just sat there spinning. I got back out, grabbed my miniature snow shovel and started moving the slushy kitty litter and ice mix around, trying to get down to solid ground and of course there was nothing but mud under the ice and kitty litter. I was stuck... and sick and tired and frustrated.
I couldn't locate anyone on the "farm" to help me out. I figured if they had a tractor or something we could hook up a chain and I could be pulled free from the muck I was in. But no such luck.
So I called Emergency Maintenance and after 30 minutes of holding I got to explain the situation to a live person and they dispatched a tow truck. While waiting for him to arrive, I continued to try and rock myself out of the mess I was in. Forward, reverse, 1st through 5th gears... nada. Eventually I just sat there and cried out of frustration. It was annoying.. and I had a headache the size of Texas.
After an hour and a half the tow guy finally showed up.... he hooked me up to a chain and pulled me free and that was that. It took less than 5 minutes to get me out of my jam after sitting there for over two hours. I didn't bother with the empty trailer, because the ground all around it was the same shit I had just finally escaped.
Of course, the funniest part of the whole thing is... I never once thought about the fact that I had SNOW CHAINS in my chain box.... it wasn't until the next day that it crossed my mind. DUH!
So anywho...I headed back to Indy where I found a good, empty trailer and was finally on my way to pick up my load. Getting the load was definitly the easiest part of the day. I was taken right in, loaded right up and on my way in about an hour. I love live loads like that.
I had to bring the load to Baltimore, MD today. I delivered it early, actually, and made my way to the Jessup TA Truck Stop... gawd this place is a dump! I was hoping to be able to get together with my dear friends, as I ususally do when I come here, but it wasn't in the stars. I did get to hear Baby Mason gurgle and coo at me over the phone though, so that was worth it!
And now, here I sit... blogging away the rest of my day. Tomorrow I will hopefully be getting a load that will take me home.. or at least closer to home. I was supposed to be home yesterday, but that never works out the way we want it to. So hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I will be pulling into Charleston for some much needed rest!
Toodles....
I'm in rare form today. I've been on a wierd emotional roller coaster these past few days, partially due to whatever sickeness I endured for three freakin' days and partially due to the fact that...well... I'm a woman.
I last left off sitting in Atlanta overnight, again.
The following morning I obtained the load I was assigned to pick up and headed north and west with it, towards northern Illinois. I made it as far as the Indy terminal where I pooped out for the night. I was exhausted and feeling rather crappy. I knew I had a slight fever and on top of that I had a killer headache, sniffles and a sore throat. I believe I had a mild flu. I called in to let the folks at my company know of my ailments and their advice was to sleep it off and call back in the morning if I wasn't any better.
And that's exactly what I had to do. When I woke up in a cold sweat at about 6:30 am I knew it was going to be a long day and an uphill battle of wills if I decided to hit the road. I only had about 3.5 hours of driving left to deliver my load, but with a fever and chills and everything else... I knew it wasn't safe for me to go anywhere. I needed rest. And they allowed it.
I called in and was told to drop the trailer and get rest and drink lots of fluids. Apparently, my symptoms were particularly common symptoms of the mild flu that is going around. I think it would have been much worse had I not gotten my flu shot, honestly, because apparently people who were not innoculated this year are getting it REALLY BAD.
The worst of it lasted only about three days. Two days with fever and chills, three or four with headaches and congestion. I am nearly 100% now... which is awesome.
But that second day of it was horrible. So I called back to ask if I would get in trouble if I abandonded my truck for a comfortable hotel room at my own expense. They said it wouldn't be a problem and I was on my way to the Holiday Inn. I really needed that day off. It was insane how crummy I felt and being able to vegetate for a day really did help. I drank lots of water and got a good hot meal .....room service of course..... and even took two showers during my stay.
After a better nights sleep than I'd had since I was home last, I was feeling better... albeit not 100%, but much better and felt able to drive. So I was dispatched to pick up an empty trailer in Noblesville, IN and then head to get a live load put on that empty in Winchester.
Of course, after considering and then dismissing the idea of looking for an empty at the terminal before I left... the adventure really began.
I headed up to Noblesville to retrieve the assigned empty. It was at a private residence, a small horse farm/stable area. I assume that the reason they had it was because they received a load of hay bales in it. I found the place easily and turned into the driveway. It was snowy and icy, but I just took it slow and was maneuvering quite well.... until I had to stop so I could put the truck in reverse to back up to the trailer.
That's when I became stuck. On ice. I tried forward, reverse, forward again... 1st through 5th gear... nothing was working. I got out and pulled open my first bag of emergency kitty litter and poured it on and around the drive tires... all four sets of them. I got back in the truck and tried again.. forward and backward 1st through 5th gears... nada.
So I got back out and opened up my only container of emergency de-icer pellets. I poured some on and around the drive tires. I got back in.... same routine and nothing. I just sat there spinning. I got back out, grabbed my miniature snow shovel and started moving the slushy kitty litter and ice mix around, trying to get down to solid ground and of course there was nothing but mud under the ice and kitty litter. I was stuck... and sick and tired and frustrated.
I couldn't locate anyone on the "farm" to help me out. I figured if they had a tractor or something we could hook up a chain and I could be pulled free from the muck I was in. But no such luck.
So I called Emergency Maintenance and after 30 minutes of holding I got to explain the situation to a live person and they dispatched a tow truck. While waiting for him to arrive, I continued to try and rock myself out of the mess I was in. Forward, reverse, 1st through 5th gears... nada. Eventually I just sat there and cried out of frustration. It was annoying.. and I had a headache the size of Texas.
After an hour and a half the tow guy finally showed up.... he hooked me up to a chain and pulled me free and that was that. It took less than 5 minutes to get me out of my jam after sitting there for over two hours. I didn't bother with the empty trailer, because the ground all around it was the same shit I had just finally escaped.
Of course, the funniest part of the whole thing is... I never once thought about the fact that I had SNOW CHAINS in my chain box.... it wasn't until the next day that it crossed my mind. DUH!
So anywho...I headed back to Indy where I found a good, empty trailer and was finally on my way to pick up my load. Getting the load was definitly the easiest part of the day. I was taken right in, loaded right up and on my way in about an hour. I love live loads like that.
I had to bring the load to Baltimore, MD today. I delivered it early, actually, and made my way to the Jessup TA Truck Stop... gawd this place is a dump! I was hoping to be able to get together with my dear friends, as I ususally do when I come here, but it wasn't in the stars. I did get to hear Baby Mason gurgle and coo at me over the phone though, so that was worth it!
And now, here I sit... blogging away the rest of my day. Tomorrow I will hopefully be getting a load that will take me home.. or at least closer to home. I was supposed to be home yesterday, but that never works out the way we want it to. So hopefully tomorrow or Saturday I will be pulling into Charleston for some much needed rest!
Toodles....
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