Enjoying North America while earning a living...: September 26, 1989, 2009

About this blog's layout...BLOG UPDATED ONCE PER DAY...

I follow my journal daily by writing under the daily title, "FIRST 5 YEARS:" The first five years will strictly follow my 5 year journal. If I find the day I am writing about to be boring, I will either write about thoughts I remember(placed under the title of "SECOND 5 YEARS"), write a trucker tale(placed under "A Trucker's Tale"), give a helpful trucker hint, ask a "student driver" question or do something.....When a location appears after the day of the week after "FIRST 5 YEARS:", it is where I am at the start of that day((IE: FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Kansas City, Missouri))..... I would encourage those that find themselves enjoying North America to follow me day by day.....REMEMBER: THIS IS A BLOG ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE FOR A TRUCKER THAT DOES NOT HAVE A DAILY ROUTINE ROUTE(called a "dedicated" route). THERE WILL BE MANY TIMES WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE SIMILAR(boring???) TO PREVIOUS DAYS; THAT'S TRUCKING! THERE WILL BE DAYS WHEN THE ROUTING, SCENERY AND DAY'S ACTIVITIES WILL BE TOTALLY NEW; THAT'S TRUCKING. Frustrations? I mention the frustrations I had as a driver. I loved my job while earning a living and realized that all jobs have frustrations; truck driving is, and was, no different..... Many pictures on this blog can be left-clicked and made larger.....Questions?...Please E-mail PT at fabalt2000@centurylink.net

September 26, 2009

September 26, 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS: (Tuesday)
Got to our Joplin(Missouri) yard a little after 1AM and dropped my trailer. I was really tired so I parked my tractor and went to sleep. It was almost noon before I felt like getting up. I had told dispatch that I didn't want a load today so I walked to the shopping area where I shopped and ate. Came back to my tractor and just watched TV until I went to sleep again.

SECOND 5 YEARS: ( a trucker want-to-be...really)
I was parked at a mall waiting for a load one day. I was walking around my rig just doing a vehicle like inspection when a police car pulled up. The police officer asked if I had a few minutes to talk. I didn't have anything happening so I said yes. He then told me that he was quitting the police force and wanted to know about trucking. I asked him why he was quitting. He was only about 30 years old and was by himself in the car. He had been a "cop" for seven years and felt that after being chewed out for not chasing frogs from under a little bridge(they were bothering an older lady) one night when they were choking, he had had enough. Yes, he told the woman that he wasn't there to chase frogs and she reported him...and he got his %$#&^ chewed out. He also said that one night he was on patrol and there was a terrible accident. He, along with other officers, were attending to the injured or taking care of the situation. He decided that a man with a ripped open arm was low priority and went to help others. He turned to look at the man with the ripped open arm when he saw an older lady trying to help. She had got her needle and tread out and was sewing the man's arm up!!! Trying to be humorous, I asked what color tread. He said he didn't remember, and I could see he wasn't really being funny. He told me a couple more strange stories but they would probably insult some of us heavier people. I told him what I liked about trucking and what I didn't. I also told him that I knew a Missouri Highway Patrolman in Kansas City(MO) that told me that he wished he had the "GUTS" to change. I also had a friend on a city police force that I would stop and see in the early AM if he was on patrol. My friend loved to sit in my driver's seat, play like a trucker(yes, a policeman), toot on my air horn and play with my CB radio. He said he'd like to be a trucker after he retired(he was close to it) but his wife said, "Over my dead body!"when he asked her. The policeman and I parted; me being happy again to be a trucker.