Enjoying North America while earning a living...: October 14, 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 14, 2009

October 14, 1989, 2009

FIRST 5 YEARS: (Saturday)
Traveling to our Kansas City, Missouri company yard as the new day strikes midnight. About 12:45 AM I pulled into the terminal where I dropped my trailer for the next driver to pick up. I parked my tractor and it will be parked there until next Saturday. Checked in with dispatch and checked the drivers' lounge for drivers I might know. No drivers in lounge at all. Went back to my tractor where I started the engine for the heater, turned on the TV and went to sleep. Slept 'til 10 AM and then went to my pickup truck-with camper shell-to find my battery less than operating. Grabbed a driver in his tractor and got a jump to get the truck started. The engine running pretty bad(gets 75 miles/quart of oil with 3 bad cylinders) but drove it. Stopped at the "All Right Truckstop" for lunch before moving onto Fulton(Missouri). Drove out to my ex-wife's place the see my children. Talked with Barbara(ex-wife/we get along fine) about their progress in school. I wanted to take the kids to the Jefferson City mall but Sandi(oldest daughter) was busy with a school project. Took Bill and Ron(!st and 2nd son) to the mall. Nothing special and got them home by 7 PM. I stay at the Barne's when in Fulton, so I went over there. Spent evening watching TV with them.

A Trucker's Tale: (plain wrappers...not really)
I only put this under trucker tales as truckers just love to tell each other where the "cops" are...even if they aren't "cops". Truckers refer to unmarked patrol cars as "plain wrappers". I usually don't get excited when I hear on the CB radio that a "plain wrapper" is moving near me as truckers usually don't know how to recognize them OR they just want to seem important. The greater majority of the time I see what is supposed to be a "plain wrappers" they are just cars that look like something an officer would ride in. Often they will have a senior citizen in them and what really makes these pseudo patrol cars look like a plain wrapper is the occasional CB antenna on the trunk. If you are a future trucker, there are many pseudo plain wrappers in your future.