Oh Deer....
In the early afternoon on Monday I picked up a load in Quakertown, PA bound for Seekonk, MA, just east of Providence, RI. The load was for a 2am delivery, which I was not thrilled about but managed to deal with. I sat around as long as I could stand (mostly long enough to get my full two days' worth of layover pay) and was finally too antsy to sit still around 3pm, so I hit the road.
I acquired the load and started to make my way eastward. I took my time and was enjoying the drive as dusk was rapidly approaching. I stopped in Milford, CT for fuel at the pilot, which took over an hour because for some reason the traffic was more insane that I've ever seen it in the northeast that evening. The truck stop was packed and it took me 45 minutes just to make my way through the line to get to a fuel island, then after I spent a whole 10 minutes fueling, it took me another 10-15 minutes to get out. Seriously, I've never seen that place THAT backed up before.
So finally on the road and rolling once more, I was be-bopping along I-95 at a fair clip. Cruise set at 60, radio busting out 90's hits, and the coffee I'd bought at Pilot warm in my belly. Things were going great. And then, ahead, in the distance, I spotted something in the road.
It wasn't moving even though right away I realized it should be. I was about to engage in a game of chicken with a white tail deer. Great. I quickly tapped off the cruise control, sat my coffee in the cup holder, and braced for impact. Lucky for me, the traffic was sparse and I didn't have to worry too much about causing a panic by slowing down. But just in case, I put on my hazard lights.
Now, the deer I was approaching just kept standing there, right in the middle of my lane a fair distance ahead. A staring contest of sorts I suppose between a deer in headlights and Trucky's headlights. The deer obviously mesmerized. Trucky is slowing down pretty well... and I'm just sitting there thinking, "oh crap I'm gonna hit a deer".
By the time I was close enough to see the fear in the deers eyes, Trucky was only rolling at about 45 MPH. So even though impact was imminent, it wasn't going to be as bad at 45 as it would have been at 60. I held fast to the steering wheel, keeping Trucky between the lines and braced for the impact. The deer, at the last minute, zigged left then zagged right and I immediately heard the front of the truck shudder upon contact with the deer.
I didn't look over to see if it had continued off into the woods or if it was laying in pieces on the side of the road. I just started to ease off onto the shoulder where I could park, swallow my stomach and then get out to assess the damage.
Of course, my first thought after setting the brakes was, "damn, it could be lodged under the truck somewhere, still alive and really pissed off." So I turned off the engine and listened for a few moments to verify that there wasn't any kicking or movement under the tractor. I grabbed my flashlight and my courage and got out to take a look.
I was happy that there was not a single lick of damage to Trucky's front end. Nor was there any damage evident anywhere else on the rig. Relieve washed over me.... and then I felt jipped! How the hell am I gonna hit my first deer and not even get a smudge of blood or a tuft of fur to prove it!?!?!
Leave it to me to be offended by something of this nature!
.....After confirming that all was well with Trucky, we hit the road and made the rest of our journey, rather uneventfully to Seekonk, MA where I delivered my load and slept it all off until the next day.
From Seekonk, I was to head to Devens, MA to pick up my next load bound for Mehoopany, PA. I spent the night at our drop yard there which is always nice. It's lovely as can be and quiet and dark. One thing I hate about truck stops is all of the well lit parking areas... I'd prefer to feel like I'm in a cave, not a discotheque. Our drop yard in Mehoopany is just like a cave... nice and dark... well provided that you pick the right spot to park!
The next morning I headed around the mountain to pick up a preloaded trailer bound for a Sams Club in Vienna, WV. I made it as far as our terminal in Carlisle, PA where I got laundry taken care of and made a trip to the local Target store for some supplies. I ended up having to layover there at the terminal because the load was not due for delivery until 11 pm the following night.
When I did finally arrive at the Sams Club I was docked and unloaded in no time and then I shut down there for the night. Friday morning the sun came up and I got up and packed up stuff in my truck and got things ready for my time off. Then I made the two and a half hour journey home, waking my sweetie up to come retrieve me from the truck stop.
My time off was well spent vegging out and enjoying the down time. I have been suffering greatly with allergies and had been off all medication for a week by the time I got home. I had an appointment scheduled for the following Monday to see an allergist and had to stop all meds a week in advance. So most of my time off was spent sniffling and sneezing and trying to not let misery be my primary company.
I felt like ass but survived and even managed to have quite a bit of fun. Friday night we had dinner with friends at our favorite beer and hot wing hot spot. (ironically called the cold spot) Saturday I drove out to catch the last half of my nieces' soccer game then made a mad dash to my tattoo guys' shop to get started on the upper portion of my sleeve. We went thru pictures and design ideas, then I left him alone to do the drawing.
When I got back to the shop he finished up what he was doing and then it was time to get started. He only did the outlining, what I call the rough sketch, for now. I scheduled another appointment for July when I will go back to get the first session of the coloring done. It's gonna hurt like a bitch and I really don't look forward to it. The outlines hurt bad enough... it's in a tender spot, basically working around the elbow joint at this point. Owie! But it's gonna be awesome!
Saturday night the ol' man and I decided to purchase some fine beef and have ourselves a cook out. We're traditional and prefer to cook on charcoal and since it was raining, we decided the front porch was the best place to do the cooking. Well, my sweetie fired up the coals and sent a three foot flame a'goin' and within 5 minutes we heard fire engine sirens. He joked that they were coming for us... little did we realize they were.
Turns out the crazy lady across the street saw the flames and thought out house was on fire. How she didn't see the grill or my sweetie standing next to it is beyond me...but whatever. The fire department at least got in a little training exercise on suiting up and hauling ass three blocks south!
Sunday we piddle farted around doing this and that. I was still sneezing and snotting up a storm so we didn't do as much as we'd have liked. We really wanted to get some bicycle riding in but I didn't really feel like it. So I did some laundry and we watched a movie and called it a day.
Monday was up and at em and get shopping taken care of before heading back out on the road. We hit the K-Mart and drug store and then it was getting close to time for my dr. appt. So we headed home and traded the pick up for bicycles and off we went. My doctors' office was about a mile and a half away so we took our time getting there enjoying the ride. We still got there about a half hour early so we stopped in next door for old fashioned milkshakes.
Then came the dr. appointment. Yikes. I was to be tested for allergies that day. I didn't know how bad it would be... but it wasn't as bad as I'd begun to anticipate on the ride over. They tested me for all sorts of things, after making a big stink about having to do it on my back instead of my arms. They could've used my left arm, but since my right arm is covered in tattoo's they decided the best thing was to just to it all on my back.
Of course, it didn't bother me. They said they prefer to do it on the arms so the patient can see what happens and such. I didn't really care to see it... and was glad they did it out of my line of sight. Still, I had to see a little of it as sweetie took a picture of my blotchy, blistery, itchy back with his cell phone camera.
They also ended up using the upper part of my left arm for retesting a few things that they weren't sure about on my back. So they upped the doses and injected them with needles instead of doing it like the scratch tests on the back. I didn't like the needles, they hurt... the scratches didn't. I was brave though... very brave. But still don't know why they didn't give me a sucker for being so good.
So the results were startling for me actually as I'm allergic to way more than I thought. Trees being a biggie on the outdoor allergy range. Dust mites and *icky* cockroaches being my biggest indoor triggers. I'm apparently also allergic to tomato's and fish, though mildly. I had what they called a negative/positive (if'y) reaction to soy, eggs, milk, and peanut. I've had reactions to peanut so I will still avoid that... but the others I've never noticed. I suppose I could try to cut them out of my diet and see what happens.
But the doctor seems to think my primary trigger is the dust mites. So, after taking this round of steroids and antibiotics I go back to see him in two weeks and learn what he has in store for my allergy future. I have a feeling it will be injections, as the literature he provided me to read about the allergies I tested positive for reiterated several times how well injections help with mite allergies. Ugh... I dunno about it, but if it works... I'll give it a shot! (pun intended)
So there ya have it. My most recent adventures. Boring I know... but whatever.
Right now I'm sitting in Niota, TN laid over until I can leave to head the rest of the way to Huntsville, AL to deliver the load I am under. From there....who knows where the wind shall blow the Gi-Gi.
I acquired the load and started to make my way eastward. I took my time and was enjoying the drive as dusk was rapidly approaching. I stopped in Milford, CT for fuel at the pilot, which took over an hour because for some reason the traffic was more insane that I've ever seen it in the northeast that evening. The truck stop was packed and it took me 45 minutes just to make my way through the line to get to a fuel island, then after I spent a whole 10 minutes fueling, it took me another 10-15 minutes to get out. Seriously, I've never seen that place THAT backed up before.
So finally on the road and rolling once more, I was be-bopping along I-95 at a fair clip. Cruise set at 60, radio busting out 90's hits, and the coffee I'd bought at Pilot warm in my belly. Things were going great. And then, ahead, in the distance, I spotted something in the road.
It wasn't moving even though right away I realized it should be. I was about to engage in a game of chicken with a white tail deer. Great. I quickly tapped off the cruise control, sat my coffee in the cup holder, and braced for impact. Lucky for me, the traffic was sparse and I didn't have to worry too much about causing a panic by slowing down. But just in case, I put on my hazard lights.
Now, the deer I was approaching just kept standing there, right in the middle of my lane a fair distance ahead. A staring contest of sorts I suppose between a deer in headlights and Trucky's headlights. The deer obviously mesmerized. Trucky is slowing down pretty well... and I'm just sitting there thinking, "oh crap I'm gonna hit a deer".
By the time I was close enough to see the fear in the deers eyes, Trucky was only rolling at about 45 MPH. So even though impact was imminent, it wasn't going to be as bad at 45 as it would have been at 60. I held fast to the steering wheel, keeping Trucky between the lines and braced for the impact. The deer, at the last minute, zigged left then zagged right and I immediately heard the front of the truck shudder upon contact with the deer.
I didn't look over to see if it had continued off into the woods or if it was laying in pieces on the side of the road. I just started to ease off onto the shoulder where I could park, swallow my stomach and then get out to assess the damage.
Of course, my first thought after setting the brakes was, "damn, it could be lodged under the truck somewhere, still alive and really pissed off." So I turned off the engine and listened for a few moments to verify that there wasn't any kicking or movement under the tractor. I grabbed my flashlight and my courage and got out to take a look.
I was happy that there was not a single lick of damage to Trucky's front end. Nor was there any damage evident anywhere else on the rig. Relieve washed over me.... and then I felt jipped! How the hell am I gonna hit my first deer and not even get a smudge of blood or a tuft of fur to prove it!?!?!
Leave it to me to be offended by something of this nature!
.....After confirming that all was well with Trucky, we hit the road and made the rest of our journey, rather uneventfully to Seekonk, MA where I delivered my load and slept it all off until the next day.
From Seekonk, I was to head to Devens, MA to pick up my next load bound for Mehoopany, PA. I spent the night at our drop yard there which is always nice. It's lovely as can be and quiet and dark. One thing I hate about truck stops is all of the well lit parking areas... I'd prefer to feel like I'm in a cave, not a discotheque. Our drop yard in Mehoopany is just like a cave... nice and dark... well provided that you pick the right spot to park!
The next morning I headed around the mountain to pick up a preloaded trailer bound for a Sams Club in Vienna, WV. I made it as far as our terminal in Carlisle, PA where I got laundry taken care of and made a trip to the local Target store for some supplies. I ended up having to layover there at the terminal because the load was not due for delivery until 11 pm the following night.
When I did finally arrive at the Sams Club I was docked and unloaded in no time and then I shut down there for the night. Friday morning the sun came up and I got up and packed up stuff in my truck and got things ready for my time off. Then I made the two and a half hour journey home, waking my sweetie up to come retrieve me from the truck stop.
My time off was well spent vegging out and enjoying the down time. I have been suffering greatly with allergies and had been off all medication for a week by the time I got home. I had an appointment scheduled for the following Monday to see an allergist and had to stop all meds a week in advance. So most of my time off was spent sniffling and sneezing and trying to not let misery be my primary company.
I felt like ass but survived and even managed to have quite a bit of fun. Friday night we had dinner with friends at our favorite beer and hot wing hot spot. (ironically called the cold spot) Saturday I drove out to catch the last half of my nieces' soccer game then made a mad dash to my tattoo guys' shop to get started on the upper portion of my sleeve. We went thru pictures and design ideas, then I left him alone to do the drawing.
When I got back to the shop he finished up what he was doing and then it was time to get started. He only did the outlining, what I call the rough sketch, for now. I scheduled another appointment for July when I will go back to get the first session of the coloring done. It's gonna hurt like a bitch and I really don't look forward to it. The outlines hurt bad enough... it's in a tender spot, basically working around the elbow joint at this point. Owie! But it's gonna be awesome!
Saturday night the ol' man and I decided to purchase some fine beef and have ourselves a cook out. We're traditional and prefer to cook on charcoal and since it was raining, we decided the front porch was the best place to do the cooking. Well, my sweetie fired up the coals and sent a three foot flame a'goin' and within 5 minutes we heard fire engine sirens. He joked that they were coming for us... little did we realize they were.
Turns out the crazy lady across the street saw the flames and thought out house was on fire. How she didn't see the grill or my sweetie standing next to it is beyond me...but whatever. The fire department at least got in a little training exercise on suiting up and hauling ass three blocks south!
Sunday we piddle farted around doing this and that. I was still sneezing and snotting up a storm so we didn't do as much as we'd have liked. We really wanted to get some bicycle riding in but I didn't really feel like it. So I did some laundry and we watched a movie and called it a day.
Monday was up and at em and get shopping taken care of before heading back out on the road. We hit the K-Mart and drug store and then it was getting close to time for my dr. appt. So we headed home and traded the pick up for bicycles and off we went. My doctors' office was about a mile and a half away so we took our time getting there enjoying the ride. We still got there about a half hour early so we stopped in next door for old fashioned milkshakes.
Then came the dr. appointment. Yikes. I was to be tested for allergies that day. I didn't know how bad it would be... but it wasn't as bad as I'd begun to anticipate on the ride over. They tested me for all sorts of things, after making a big stink about having to do it on my back instead of my arms. They could've used my left arm, but since my right arm is covered in tattoo's they decided the best thing was to just to it all on my back.
Of course, it didn't bother me. They said they prefer to do it on the arms so the patient can see what happens and such. I didn't really care to see it... and was glad they did it out of my line of sight. Still, I had to see a little of it as sweetie took a picture of my blotchy, blistery, itchy back with his cell phone camera.
They also ended up using the upper part of my left arm for retesting a few things that they weren't sure about on my back. So they upped the doses and injected them with needles instead of doing it like the scratch tests on the back. I didn't like the needles, they hurt... the scratches didn't. I was brave though... very brave. But still don't know why they didn't give me a sucker for being so good.
So the results were startling for me actually as I'm allergic to way more than I thought. Trees being a biggie on the outdoor allergy range. Dust mites and *icky* cockroaches being my biggest indoor triggers. I'm apparently also allergic to tomato's and fish, though mildly. I had what they called a negative/positive (if'y) reaction to soy, eggs, milk, and peanut. I've had reactions to peanut so I will still avoid that... but the others I've never noticed. I suppose I could try to cut them out of my diet and see what happens.
But the doctor seems to think my primary trigger is the dust mites. So, after taking this round of steroids and antibiotics I go back to see him in two weeks and learn what he has in store for my allergy future. I have a feeling it will be injections, as the literature he provided me to read about the allergies I tested positive for reiterated several times how well injections help with mite allergies. Ugh... I dunno about it, but if it works... I'll give it a shot! (pun intended)
So there ya have it. My most recent adventures. Boring I know... but whatever.
Right now I'm sitting in Niota, TN laid over until I can leave to head the rest of the way to Huntsville, AL to deliver the load I am under. From there....who knows where the wind shall blow the Gi-Gi.
Comments
Are you going to give us a clue about the design of your sleeve?? Any chance of pictures? You're not going to make us wait until it's finished, are you??
;-)
M.
:oP