FIRST 5 YEARS:(Friday- Laredo, Texas)
I woke up and found that I was in the 200s on the trucker's ready board. That meant that I would be here for a couple days. All I did was drop my trailer in the yard as instructed to do by dispatch and hand the paperwork over.
Got a motel room and the motel's parking lot looked like a parking lot for our tractors as there were so many of them there. I walked over to Wal-Mart and said hello to Laura, a gal I met awhile ago. She was busy working so I just shopped...Didn't get anything.
Went over to the Chinese Restaurant I like and it was OK today. My day has only been OK today and nothing exciting. Went back to the motel room and then out to the pool. No one at the pool so I went back to my room...Stayed in my room and watched TV the rest of this exciting day...
Trucking Frustrations: I had just dropped a meat load and my trailer needed washed out as it had a good amount of cow blood on the floors. I called dispatch and was told to go to Lititz, Pennsylvania and pick up a load to New Braunfels, Texas. I hadn't been that far down I-35 in quite awhile and was excited about going. Going to Lititz, the only place to get my trailer cleaned out was down in Lancaster(Pennsylvania) through a bunch of highway construction. I got the trailer washed out and to the pickup, through small streets made for horse pulled buggies, before 11 AM EST. I reported in and dropped my clean trailer. This pickup didn't want us to keep asking how the load is doing, or when it will be ready, and had it posted so. I waited for the load with excitement. The gal that took over the shipping window for second shift was pretty nice so I asked her about my load. She looked for it and couldn't find it in the ready pile. She checked the "gone" papers and found that it left around 2 PM EST. I couldn't believe it...The load I really wanted was gone!!! I was waiting for a load that wasn't , and wouldn't be, there. I called dispatch and was told to wait until the next day. The next day came and I was sent to York, Pennsylvania for a heavy load to the Kansas City area.......
I kept a day by day journal the first 5 years I was enjoying North America. While earning a living,I kept track of where I went, often what I did, feelings I had and various other details. I am writing this blog day by day as I lived it. The month/day I lived it is the same as the month/day I write about it. The years are obviously different...thus the days title: ie: August 30, 1989, 2009.
About Me
- The Protraveller...
- Starting as a preschooler, I remember my Grandfather bringing me rocks from his trips he took after he retired. Each rock had a story to tell. In the sixth grade, I watched a freeway be built and then wondered where all the trucks would go. I remember in high school looking at the mountains and wanting to travel. I did many jobs BEFORE trucking but I always wondered what driving would by like. I really wanted to see things and drive a big truck. So after almost finishing nursing school, a divorce and three cute little kids, I became a truck driver. While earning a living, I found myself enjoying North America and seeing the land and people. NO ONE ENJOYED TRAVELING MORE THAN ME. There are two things I have enjoyed in this life and they are traveling and writing. I use to call myself "Protourist" but my Mother-in-law and Wife would become upset with me as they know I really love THE "travel" and not THE stopping to see things. I now call myself "protraveller"(I like it with a double "L") and my Mother-in-law and Wife are now happy!!! I love to write and this blog gives me the opportunity to share my past and thoughts with the public.
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
Blog Dictionaries...
The Trucking Dictionary...words in this dictionary will many times appear highlighted. If a word isn't highlighted or in the blog dictionary and sounds "different", check it out in this dictionary. Please note: Many times when clicking on these dictionaries anywhere in the blog, the first thing that comes up is an advertisement which I have no control over.
The Blog Dictionary...This dictionary contains words I use that aren't "trucker" words and thus not in the "trucking dictionary". I separate them--the dictionaries--in case someone wants to copy the trucking dictionary for personal use. This dictionary also contains names of people(not real names) that I dealt with many times through my trucking career. Blog word found in this dictionary often will be licked to it.
DAILY UPDATES SHOULD BE UP BY NOON CST...
May 11, 2010
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- 666--Highway (2)
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