FIRST 5 YEARS:(Friday-Phoenix, Arizona)
Was up and out of the motel by 6 AM PST(Arizona doesn't do DAY LIGHT SAVINGS) and heading toward my last drop of tires for this load. Headed north about a mile to Bell Rd. where I headed east. It was a couple miles before I found the tire store. I got there as the manager was showing up. I pulled into the lot and he hadn't entered the store yet so I talked with him for a minute. He told me where to back and he checked my door seal(it verifies that no one has been in trailer since it was sealed). He said it would be about an hour before we would get started. I said fine.
This store didn't have donuts like the store yesterday so I went across the street to McDonalds and had some "stuff"(I like "stuff") for breakfast.
I really enjoy delivering this companies tires(Discount Tire Stores--America's Tire Stores in California and I believe Oregon) as I never, in the years of delivering, met any one that was rude to me; they all were friendly at least. In Roy, Utah-as I will report in years to come-when I had a long lay over(days with no assignment) the manager let me send the last night I was there with his family and the assistant invited me to his home for Sunday dinner if I was still there(I wasn't). My empty truck sat next to the side of the unused area of the building. When the store opened the first couple days I spent in my sleeper there, The guys would wake me up by tossing out valve stems at my sleeper. When I got up, I would go to McDonalds and have breakfast with them.... When I was in training, the Discount Tire Store my trainer and I went to in northern Indiana was so friendly that my trainer bought their whole crew pizza for lunch. Yep, I never disliked delivering tires to any of the stores I visited in California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Florida, Arizona, Indiana or Michigan.
Got empty by 9 AM PST and called dispatch. I was told to call back in an hour. This tire store didn't have the room for my truck to just sit there for awhile so I traveled back to I-17 & Bell Rd. When I got on Bell Rd. earlier today, I noticed a small convenience store with dirt parking behind it and it was there that I went to wait for a dispatch.
At 1 PM PST I called my dispatcher and asked he knew of any loads for me this late on a Friday. He went and talked to the load planners and came back with a load for me. I was to pick up in San Manuel, Arizona Monday AM. I was told to be there Sunday night as they start loading after midnight. I went back to the motel I stayed at and spent the weekend there...
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 18, 2010
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