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 ...

Well folks, I've made it to the halfway mark finally. Week four has ended on a good note and I'm glad to have next weekend off to catch up on much missed sleeping and "me" time. It's been four weeks and I'm still struggling with the early mornings. But I digress... This weekend of training was a little more stressful in that we were forced to work through these ridiculous worksheet scenarios of travel and such and plot it all on a log book sheet, figure out hours, mileage, stops, fueling, taking a crap, you name it. Yesterday I saw my brain climbing out of my ear on a rope screaming for help. I swear. I came home with an aching empty head cavity. I know that once I get out there and I am managing my own time and Log Book I will be okay. As long as I keep close track of my hours and such I should be good to go. But man... doing those worksheets was just plain insane. And it's not like we did one or two... no sir! We had 10 hours of doing that stuf...

Well we're moving right along in class. This weekend we began learning the fine art of "Log Books". Fun stuff, lemme tell ya! (please note the sarcasm) I think that the Log Book part of my future trucking life is going to be one of the most difficult things I'm going to have to deal with. Upon first sight, the Log Book doesn't look too difficult. The theory is basically, use a single solid line to plot out every move you make in any given 24 hour period. Simple enough, right? Well it would seem simple anyway. But when combined with the Hours of Service regulations it can be quite a headache from what I can tell at this point. I'm sure that after a bit, I'll have it down pat and hopefully be able to keep a quality accurate Log Book that will keep me fine free. Yes, I said FINE FREE. $$$ Apparently there are a gajillion people out there who are just waiting for a bad Log Book to come their way so that they can pile on the fines. Fun. Not. Aside from learning...

Today I went back to the DMV to retake the Tankers portion of my CDL Permit tests. I had to do a lot of waiting around, but I took and passed the test with zero missed questions! woo hoo! I had to do a bit more waiting to get my foto taken and to be given my official "Gi-Gi The Trucker-To-Be" driving permit! I rock! And here I am one step closer to fulfilling my dream. I'm anxious to go to class in the morning to see how the other fella's did on their first shot at the test. I'm afraid that neither of them will pass in time. But I could be wrong. Maybe they'll get really lucky! I do wish them the best of luck. But I wouldn't be being honest if I said I wasn't a little hopeful that I'd get to have more one on one truck driving time without having to take turns at the wheel. I've also already decided where I want to try to go for my first over the road trip in class later on. Up I-77. There is a good mix of just about everything I wil...

Week two is done. Man it was a little bit more intense this weekend. Yesterday we had a fill in instructor who is very spunky, to say the least. My head was crammed so full of information yesterday I thought it would explode! Not to mention the fact that we took not one or two or three, but FOUR tests! EEK! Thankfully only two of the four count towards our classroom grade and I got a 96% on one and a 100% on the other! Go Gi-Gi! It was a long day but it was exciting. We finally got our first taste of the training rig we'll be driving in a few more weeks. We took the field trip pretty early in the day, before lunch and before the rains came. We walked out to the one truck which was parked at the other end of the range and the instructor was showing us bits and pieces we had been learning about on the outside of the rig. We were standing front and center staring straight at the cab of the rig when the instructor said, "Hey open that up!" I turned to look at him and he said,...

I took my lunch and headed up to the DMV. I entered and was wisked into the testing room right away. I was hurried in so swiftly in fact, that I forgot to tell them I only wanted to do the first portion of the tests needed for my permit... because I'd not even started to study for the individual CDL endorsements (doubles/triples & tankers) yet. So I get to my testing station and place all my crap in the floor beside me and take a huge deep breath and starting navigating through the touch screens and instructions. I started to get nervous when I saw that I was indeed taking ALL of the tests instead of just the basics. Dang! But I quickly calmed down and commenced the test taking. I did really well on the General Knowledge, Air Brakes, and Combination tests, which are the three basic tests by the way. Then I began the Doubles/Triples endorsement test. Surpisingly... I passed it with flying colors! Then came the Tankers test. I was feeling good at this point. Probably too good... ...

Day 1 - First day went ok. Lots of information, but the instructor insists on not getting ahead of schedule, so we got to leave early. I'm not complaining really. And I'm taking advantage of being home early by heading to beddy-bye for a nice little afternoon nap. The Instructor, Mr. E, did tell us that this weekend will probably be the only "early out" weekend we'll have. As we progress we'll be hard pressed to get out on time! Fun Fun! I'm really looking forward to what the future classes hold. Mr. E is a 30+ year veteran driver. He's been there, done that and see it all! Some great stories and real world information has already came out of his mouth. I'm looking forward to more! That's it for now... I'm tired. 5:45am is painful... Day 2 - Today was much the same as yesterday, read read read, watch a video and read some more. A few more videos and then multiple breaks in between it all. We took lunch a little earlier than was planned, but...