Enjoying North America while earning a living...: April 8, 1991, 2011

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

April 8, 2011

April 8, 1991, 2011

FIRST 5 YEARS:(Monday-Cleveland, Ohio) I had my alarm clock set for 6 AM EST and it went off then. I got up and was in the receivers unlocked gated yard be 6:30 AM EST. I checked in and was told that it would be a while before I could get unloaded. Well, just before 8 AM EST I was told to back into an enclosed dock and I did. This dock was also sunken so that when I got totally docked, my trailer floor was the level of the unloading floor. I got out and watched the four men unload my trailer; I was unloaded at 10:15 AM EST. I called dispatch and was told to "call back in an hour". I decided to go to our truckstop(the Union 76 Truckstop inside one of Cleveland's huge pits) which wasn't too far away. I got parked and walked into the truckstop building, going first into the game room. I saw something that I found very humorous(see "A Trucker's Tale" below). I called dispatch after the game room incident and was told to "call back in an hour" again. I went into the restaurant and found two drivers from my company eating. I sat down with them and found the meeting "OK" at best. I wasn't sad when they left and I was sitting there by myself. I called dispatch again and was given a load to pick up tomorrow in Lordstown, Ohio at 4 PM EST. I hung around the truckstop until about 2:30 PM EST and them left for the night at "Just a Truckstop" in Girard, Ohio. Followed I-480 to the Ohio toll road(I-80) and went east to Youngstown and kept following I-80--off the toll road--to the truckstop in Girard. I had the barfet and then went to the movie room and was in there past my day ending... A Trucker's Tale:(mine) I walked into the building of the Union Truckstop of Cleveland, Ohio and a commotion was going on in the game room. I walked into the room to see what was going on. I kid you not, about a third of the room was gathered around one video game. The game turned out to be one in which the player buys a chance to win a hand of poker. If they win, then a video picture of a female or male(player picks from a number of choices) disrobes further. The female that had been closen was next to being totally disrobed and the last hand was being played as I walked in. The player won the hand and the figure totally disrobed. Everyone--it seemed that everyone did--cheered and then the game asked if they wanted to play again. "Yes" was the overall opinion until the choice of figures came up. I don't know if there were any females in the group but one guy said, "Let's try a man this time." As soon as the guy said that, the room started emptying out and I was standing there by myself in a little more than a minute. With the commotion over and me not being a "game guy", I left the game room...