Enjoying North America while earning a living...: October 1, 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

October 1, 2009

October 1, 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS: (Sunday-Walcott, Iowa)
Started my day(midnight) off at the "Just A Truck Stop"in Walcott, Iowa watching movies with the other drivers. Got to my tractor around 2:30 AM and bedded down with my TV going. Woke up at 11 AM and decided that it would be best to go on to Iowa City so I would be ready for my load pick-up tomorrow. Took I-80 west to Iowa City where I parked my rig for the night at the medium sized truckstop off of I-80. Looked at the truckstop's city map and found where I needed to be at 10AM tomorrow. Nothing special the rest of day...

SECOND 5 YEARS: (only speeding ticket)
My first "speeding" ticket(violation)...I was sitting at "Just a Truckstop" in Berkshire, Ohio waiting for a load. I had called my Mother and she told me that an old friend from high school(George) had contacted her and wanted to know how I was doing. She got his address so I decided to make him a cassette tape(I had a sound activated recorder-whole new story...later) instead of writing a letter. While I was thinking about the tape and making notes on what to talk about, my satellite box(satellite link with dispatch) beeped and the light lit. I had a load to get in Lima, Ohio that afternoon going to Dallas, Texas. I got my cassette recorder ready to speak into, my vehicle inspection done and I was off for Lima. I decided I would take Hwy 36 to Delaware(Ohio) then caught Hwy 23 north to Marion, Ohio. At Marion, I would take Hwy 309 to Lima. It was on Hwy 23 north that I started talking onto the cassette recorder as the traffic was light and it was a four lane highway. I turned down my CB radio, which was a mistake as some trucker probably tried to warn me of the coming Smokey(Ohio Highway Patrolman), and continued north on Hwy 23. I saw the Smoky coming at me and out of habit looked at my speed. I was doing what looked like 65 mph(55 mph was the limit). I didn't have a fuzz buster(radar detector), but when I saw the Smokey slowing down I was sure he was doing it for me...He was. I was invited to his vehicle where he was very pleasant. I thought that I was going to get away with the speeding(in Ohio??...get real!!) but he wrote me up for 62 mph in a 55 mph zone. I have several 2's in my social security number(was your drivers' license number) and he wrote all of them looking like 7's. I thought I could fight this but then I thought that I had got away with so many speedings(a noun) that I can pay for the one that I got caught at for not doing what I should have been doing...listening to the CB radio. I went on to Lima where I picked up several 4 cylinder engines going to a fork truck company in Dallas...After I delivered my load in Dallas, I found a post office and mailed my speeding fine into Ohio. I also mailed the tape I made. With the Commercial Drivers' License laws, this speeding fine never showed up on my driving record.