Ok.  So where was I ...  Sorry that I don't post as often as I would like.  Sometimes it just gets a little hectic, I may be a little tired, or I might not have a good signal for my internet.  Anywho, here I am ... in Jersey.  Newark to be exact.  Right by NYC.  I don't mind the area up here.  Driving here is another story.  The NJ roads suck.  The people are dumb.  Not to mention the weather today added with the dumb people.  The weather wasn't too bad but the roads are wet and the temps are low.  Didn't really see a lot of problems but you never know so I slowed down a little bit. 

Ok, let's try to catch up to my last post which was made from Waukesha, Wisconsin.  From Waukesha I went down to Romeoville, IL (a Chicago burb).  From there I headed over to Hazleton, PA with a load of something or other headed to the Michael's Distribution Center.  I wound up picking up a load at the same place and delivering to three Michael's stores scattered around Ohio, finally winding up in NW Ohio.  After delivering my last load of Michael's product, I picked up at a Campbell's Soup Distribution Center and headed toward Virginia.  I delivered just south of Roanoke and from there I picked up a load at QVC in Suffolk, VA (near VA Beach).  This load was headed to another burb of Chicago for a Wednesday, November 21st delivery.  I was almost to Rockford for Thanksgiving but it was not to be.  I delivered my load and got on the board.  They wanted to send me to Clearwater, FL for a Friday delivery which would have been good miles but I couldn't do it due to hours.  Got into it with dispatch over that one and I will say that my fleet manager (Daniel Turner) and his boss (my team leader, Bill White) are both jackasses. 

Allow me to go off on a tangent for a moment ... If anyone at CFI ever reads this, and I hope they do, they should know that the people in Ops are doing their job by pushing freight to be delivered on time.  Unfortunately for them, there are laws that I am required to abide by that limit my driving time.  However, they push and push their drivers to take these loads anyway, knowing full well that LEGALLY the driver cannot meet the required times for dispatch.  I refused the load.  Other drivers take them and that is their prerogative, but dispatch needs to understand that if I'm not willing to take a load because of my hours, they need to find another way.  Whether that be pushing the required delivery time later or finding another driver to take the load, they need to do something.  What I thought about after the fact was that since they were both jerks, I should have had Turner (my fleet manager) send me a message saying that it was okay for me to take a break immediately following pickup (he did say this but I should have had him document it by sending it to my Qualcomm).  Then I would have evidence to this fact and when I delivered late (and I would have), the service failure would have went to none other than Daniel Turner, and not myself.  This is what I will do the next time they treat me the way I was treated that day, the day before Thanksgiving of all days.

Okay.  Sorry about that but going through the last couple weeks of my journies reminded me of that little episode.  I didn't take that load.  What wound up happening was I got a load to pickup Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning in Fremont, IN (NE Indiana) and run to New Columbia, PA the same day.  It was a Con-Way load so it's always a drop and hook, therefore no big deal that it was Thanksgiving as nobody really needs to be there for me to drop the load.  Anywho, from there I went back to Lamar, PA (about 40 miles west) and ate Thanksgiving dinner at the TA truckstop.  It wasn't too bad.  It was kinda crappy eating Thanksgiving dinner at a truckstop but it was a good meal.  I was in Lamar from Thursday night until Saturday morning (was paid for a day's layover, $60 isn't terrible).  I picked up right down the road in Lock Haven, PA and made my way down to Knoxville, TN for a Monday morning delivery.  From there I picked up a load on the other side of Knoxville the next morning that was another Con-Way load headed back to New Columbia.  Delivered that Tuesday late in the afternoon and went to bed that night not knowing where I was headed.  Woke up around 7 AM on Wednesday with a load that picked up in Spring Grove, PA around 5 PM EST that day.  Spring Grove was about 2 hours away so I waited a while and headed down there.  Got there around 2 PM and my load was ready so I started trekking to Butler, Wisconsin (a burb of Milwaukee).  Got up to Ohio and decided to park for the night in a service plaza along the Ohio Turnpike.  Woke up the next day and parked at River Glen Christian Church in Waukesha, WI around 430 PM.  Rode with my buddy Kyle Turner (I know him from my days with LCC baseball and he is the youth minister at River Glen now) to his house and we watched the Packers game that night.  Glad I got to see it, sad that they lost.  Stayed at Kari's house that night (right next door) and got a lift over to the church the next morning so I could deliver in Butler on time.  From there I was dispatched to Franklin, WI to pick up this load that brought me to Newark, NJ.  I didn't have to pick up until early Saturday morning so I dropped my trailer there, grabbed some lunch and then went and hung out with Kari til around 930 PM.  Went back to the Con-way yard, got some sleep and woke up around 330 AM Saturday.  Got this load picked up and just chewed up some road yesterday to get to Dubois, PA where I spent the night.  It snowed overnight but nothing terrible.  From there it was about 4 and a half hours or so over here to Newark so just a little jump to get here today.  Waiting on a load that will get me somewhere warmer and so I can quit running that dang Ohio and Indiana turnpike.  It's a good road but it's a pain because those roads are on the list of roads that the driver has to pay the tolls and get reimbursed.  I've run them  several times this month so it's killing me to keep taking advances and then not get the money until the next check.  Oh well, I'll quit whining now ....

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Well, if I'm not gonna whine, I don't know what else to say other than I will talk at you another day.  Y'all have a good one and keep it shiny side up!

Sooooo, it's been a while.  A lot has happened since I posted last.  On Friday, October 26th, I received a phone call from Javier, my brother-in-law.  He told me that my cousin, Beverly Jean Gorrell, had been killed in an ATV accident.  I was in absolute shock.  How could this happen?  Why Bev?  How could this happen to the mom and sister that have gone through so much?  I just don't get it.  I still don't get it.  It is just weird.  So, I was in Arkansas that day already requested for home time.  I delivered my load in Wynne, AR and headed over to our terminal in West Memphis, AR.  They had a load going to Kentucky for the next morning so I headed that way.  I don't remember when I got the news that the memorial service for Ms. Beverly Jean Gorrell was going to be on Tuesday evening but I found out somewhere in there.  After I delivered that load in Kentucky (they let me deliver early, yay!) I went to bed and was assigned a load the next day to pick up in Shepherdsville, KY heading to Wichita, KS (delivering Tuesday morning).  I called them and asked what they wanted me to do.  I had planned on delivering the load and shooting over to Joplin immediately after I was empty and jumping in the pickup and getting on a plane to Chicago out of Springfield.  They told me to bring the load to Joplin instead so I got in on Sunday night and I drove up to Rockford with my buddy Nate Pugh on Tuesday.  Did a lot of talking, thought about some stuff, and even went to church this last Sunday with Nate.  I still can't believe Bev is gone but I know I can't keep "running from God" (as Wayne puts it).  So anywho, headed back to Rockford Wednesday after the much needed Stockholm Inn breakfast of Swedish pancakes and strawberries (not into the lingonberries yet but maybe someday).  And don't worry, Tuesday I hit up Beef-A-Roo.  Those are two necessary places to eat when in Rockford.  After that I took a few more days off and was due back by 730 am Monday.  Called in and had a load that delivered in Wichita (wasn't I headed there a week ago?) on Tuesday night so I got another day off.  Headed down here to Wichita yesterday and delivered last night.  Currently being loaded at Pepsi for a load to ... guess where .... JOPLIN.  As if I haven't been around there lately.  Anywho, hope you have a great one and we will talk to you later.

Yea, I'm bummed.  The Red Sox are going to the World Series.  Not only are the White Sox, Yankees, and Brewers all out of it ... but the hated Red Sox are in it.  You know the only thing that could make it worse?  If they were playing the Cubs.  ;)  Then I may just have to jump off a building.  Haha.  Just kidding.

Moving on ... today I am parked in Longview, Texas.  I delivered in Cullman, Alabama yesterday and was assigned a load that picked up in Pennington, Alabama.  It was supposed to pick up by 4 pm today but when I arrived last night around 8 pm I was told that it was ready.  Well, I was due for my break so I took my break, slept in today, and left out about noon.  I headed on over here to Longview to spend the night.  I deliver tomorrow around noon about 45 minutes from here in Tyler, TX.

Oh, I almost forgot ... I watched the game tonight in the restaurant of this truck stop.  I was talking with another driver and watching the game.  After the game I joked about this truck stop having a Colorado Rockies t-shirt.  Funny because we are in Texas and the Rockies aren't exactly a nationally followed team.  Well, they didn't have any t-shirts but the other driver was looking through the hats.  He found a Northwestern Wildcats hat which we found quite funny.  Then what should he find about 3 hats later?  Nothing but a Colorado Rockies hat!  I bought it for $5.99!!  Yea, I love amusing myself ... it's too easy.