Decided to do something different here. What follows is a day by day account of the last few days on the road:

20 Jan 2006
-Awake at 5AM. Not a shower day, unfortunately. Slept on hair funny so that a strand keeps curving around the front of my face and trying to go up my nose. Coffee at Petro Truck stop is a little weaker than dishwater.

-One hour into the trip, on I-84 into New York state, the sun begins to rise. Sunrise over the mountains prompts classical music on the satellite radio. Can anyone see such a magnificent sunrise over such majestic countryside and doubt the existence of God?

-Listening to the news as I travel into Waterbury, CT. They keep playing quotes from Hillary Clinton and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. One compares majority rule in the House of Representatives with slavery, and the other wants New Orleans to be a “Chocolate City.” One wanders what would become of the Mayor of, say, Nashville, if he said he wanted his city to be a “Vanilla City,” or what would happen if a Republican senator had compared years of Democratic filibusters of judicial appointments to life on a plantation? By the same token, one is thankful that these nitwits keep exposing themselves (bad choice of words when talking about the Clintons) to the electorate. They are the best things the Republicans have going for them at the moment.

-Hartford, CT: Am reminded that Mark Twain loved this city, and lived here for quite a while. The interstate runs not far from his home, which was an architectural marvel at the time. Must finish the biography of him that I’m reading.

-The sign welcoming me to Massachusetts has a big turkey on it. Not sure why. The “Screw You” state is in typical form today. Drivers merging onto the highway insist that I move over for them, which I can’t because their fellow jerks to my left refuse to let me move over to allow them in. Merging drivers can either, A) speed up and get in front of my truck, B) slow down and get in behind my truck, or C) stay even with me while driving on the shoulder. They routinely choose option C.

-Worcester, MA: Wife’s father’s home town. Very pretty place, though I can’t pronounce it. Old churches abound, historic structures of one sort or another scattered about. Rolling hills. A massive cemetery on the edge of town as you enter from the southwest. A postcard of a place,…but the drivers are about as inconsiderate as imaginable.

-Interstate 495 north has an on-ramp every 25 feet, with cars lined up to cut in traffic. Can’t move over because of the afore mentioned lemon licking louses. People cutting in front of a loaded 18-wheeler weighing some 40 tons and then hitting their brakes. I must get out of this place.

-Entering New Hampshire, there is a sign that reminds motorists that New Hampshire stresses driving courtesy. Is there any wonder that the need for such a sign exists when entering the state from MA?

-Delivery made and finally stopped for the night. The restaurant has old photos of the town on the walls. Greenland, NH has an interesting history. Photos from 1888 show a colossal snow storm, with snow piled several feet high. Amazing. Also, in the late 1800’s Tom Thumb and family passed through the area. There is a photo of him, his miniature family, their miniature horse and buggy, etc. No one in these photographs from so long ago smiled. Why is that?

- Must go back into Maine tomorrow to pick up a load destined for Kentucky on Monday morning. The challenge is that I’m to be home by Tuesday so that I can get three days rest before heading back out with Ben on Saturday. This will be interesting. Good hot meal in the truck stop. Met a driver named Mark, whose name is pronounced “Mack” by the locals here. Heard enough about “pawking cahs in the yahd,” to last a lifetime. Some Hooked on Phonics kits would be a good idea in this area. Excuse me, I meant to say “Idear.” Time to go to sleep.

21 Jan 2006

-Overslept. No big deal today. Was up at 7, on the road by 8:30. It was shower day. I feel human again!! Long clean hair, feeling brisk and ready to drive. Time to crank up the heavy metal station. I’m afraid I’m blowing holes in the speakers on days like this.

-Driving through Maine, I saw a lake frozen over, and men seated on lawn chairs on the frozen lake drinking a cold one and talking. I wish I could have photographed it. I don’t know how thick the ice was, but it was unseasonably warm here today. The ice had puddles of water on it,…yet there they sat, only a precious sheet of ice between them and a very cold lake. This is sheer madness. Something fundamentally not right around here.

-Picked up the next load at a small town called Rumsford, Maine. Very nice people. I really am getting to like Maine. Small town atmosphere, beautiful scenery, good earthy and kind people. Too far north, and too cold, but I still like it. It’s the only place I’ve seen in the northeast that is worth a damn. The rest of it could fall off into the Atlantic and the rest of the country would be better off for it.

On I-495 in MA, I ran right smack into a storm front I had heard about on the weather channel. Wind gusts up to 50mph. Very glad I had 44,000 pounds in the trailer which brought my gross weight to around 79,000 pounds, a little less than 40 tons. A light trailer would have been catastrophic in those winds. It was like trying to drive a sail boat down the highway. Made it into Connecticut, just north of Hartford again before stopping. Not safe to press further tonight. Another warm meal (winter is expensive), and here I am. Will try to drive from Hartford to some place in West Virginia tomorrow. It will be a long day, but I need to make tracks to try and get home in time to pick up my first-born for his first adventure in a big truck.


22 Jan 2006

-Have finally made it south of the Mason Dixon Line, after two weeks of being stranded amongst people with an underdeveloped sense of courtesy, decency, or the faintest idea of what a good cup of coffee should taste like. But my escape did not come easily nor without penalty:

--7AM: Walk into truck stop with my little coupon entitling me to a free shower. Fuel desk cashier tells me they are out of “hat wahtuh,” otherwise known as hot water. Since it is in the low 20s outside, I decided against a cold shower. Decide on a “hat” cup of coffee instead. It’s hot alright, but it isn’t coffee. It’s closer to a mixture of dish water and strained sock juice. I pour about a third of it out and add hot chocolate to the remainder. It will suffice.

--7:30AM: On the road with a gross weight of over 79,000 pounds. Lots of hills in Connecticut, and the road is full of holes. A 79,000 pound vehicle going over potholes will rattle you to the very foundation. Truck is plunging into these craters, coffee going everywhere. Drivers cutting pulling in front of me and hitting brakes, others doing what they can to either cut me off or outright run into me. If Massachusetts is the “Screw You” state, Connecticut is the “Screw You Some More” state.

--8AM: Turn on Elvis gospel hour on satellite radio. It features grand versions of old hymns, plus rare recordings of Elvis singing some wonderful Spirituals. Hoping some infusion of gospel music on a Sunday morning will counteract the creeping hostile feelings I’m having regarding these jerks.

--10AM: Out of Connecticut and into New York. Roads are getting worse, though traffic has abated. Potholes in the road have given way to craters which have given way to canyons that send things flying inside the truck, which feels like it will break in half. It is possible to escape the northeast in a heavily loaded big truck with either your religion or all your teeth intact, but I wouldn't place bets on both.

--6:30PM: What should have taken 9 hours to drive took 11 instead. Took a 79,000 pound vehicle and drove it through the mountains of New York, the bigger mountains of Pennsylvania, the even taller mountains of western Maryland, and into the monstrous mountains of West Virginia. Average speed up these mountains was 27 mph. Had to down shift from 10th gear to 7th most of the time, down to 6th gear once. Left leg is killing me. If going up the mountain was an evolutionary process, going back down the other side was like riding a wild animal over a cliff. I was singled out by cars most of the day who had their cruise control set about one half a mile slower than my trucks max speed. On a level surface, it took forever to pass them. Going up a mountain they would pass me. Going back down the other side, they would block me as I attempted to gather what speed I could to give myself a “snowball’s chance” of making it up the next hill at something faster than the speed of a moped. If they had just bumped their speed up a mere 5 mph, they would have steadily gained on me, keeping me from having to try and maneuver around them, or worse yet, be stuck behind them riding the brakes to keep from running them over while their fellow northerners ignored my turn signal and prevented me from getting around them. A mere 5 mph more would have solved the problem, and still kept them within the speed limit. But no, these two legged turds would hear nothing of it. They must constipate traffic and annoy other people, else their existence on this earth would be pointless. Last hour of the trip, in West Virginia has the added feature of pouring rain. Traffic increases exponentially, everyone speeds up to get the full effect of racing up and down mountains in bad weather. I slow down, let them fly all around me, and find the “Jane Lew Truck Stop,” at Exit 105 on I-79. An amazing thing happened. I was making a left turn onto the street bordering the truck stop, and the car approaching the intersection on my left stopped well short of the stop sign and actually dimmed their headlights to give me space and clear vision to safely make the turn. Such courtesy. I wanted to get out and hug the guy. Had I been back in the northeast, the driver would have tried to run through the stop sign and stopped just inches from my trailer while glaring at me, daring me to run into his car and tempting me sorely in this regard. This isn’t a bad place. Restaurant was one of the nicer ones I’ve seen on the road, and the food tastes like real food. The tea tastes like tea, rather than just brown water with some sugar thrown in. The staff were very nice, not too talkative, but sincerely pleasant. It feels good to be heading south again.

Tomorrow’s goal is Kentucky. Forecast for West Virginia over night calls for snow. This dashes any hope of a predawn departure and drive through the mountains, and probably dashes any hope of getting home on the 24th. Might end up leaving a day later with Ben, which I hate because he only has one week on the road with me. Sending me up into Maine yesterday was not the best idea the company ever had. They are trying out a new “Time At Home” program, and the results thus far are mixed. Seems they are less successful at getting me home by the date requested lately than they were before the new program was unveiled. I hate it when it screws up the family’s plans. Then again, were it not for the weather, I might have been able to get back on time. Trucking is an inexact occupation in some regards,… but it is an enjoyable line of work.

23 Jan 2006

-Sonora, Kentucky: Must have looked frightful this morning because the cashier took one look and let me shower for free. Feels good to feel good. Not sure how much the shower helped aesthetically, because the same cashier let me have a free cup of coffee as well. Some people think I look like Jesus now,…but she must have seen Charles Manson.

-Pouring rain through West Virginia. The sky cleared over Kentucky however, and I made my delivery by 4:30. It would have been sooner, but I got lost. The company’s directions were wrong, and I ended up on a two lane road that was so narrow that it was impossible to keep the truck and trailer between the lines. I put my left tires just inside the center line dividing traffic, with my right tires half off the right side of the road. Mail boxes, trash cans, and the occasional large ditch were a problem. Traveled about 5 miles through this before I could find a place to pull over and call for directions. The warehouse told me where the company screwed up the directions, and advised me to turn the truck around somewhere between my present location and, say, Illinois. I went another five miles before finding a parking lot big enough for me to turn around in. It was a small church, and I hope they didn’t mind me using their lot. The road was getting progressively more narrow, and I didn’t know beans about what obstacles / sharp curves / no truck zones, etc., might lay ahead of me.

-Delivery made, and the next assignment is in. I am to go to Lexington, KY tomorrow and pick up a load bound for Marianna, FL, not far from Panama City. Only problem is that the delivery is an appointment for the morning of the 26th!! That’s two days later, which takes two days off of my son’s trip next week. I sent a message to my dispatcher asking if I can drop the load off somewhere on the 25th and let another driver take it to the appointment, as I absolutely do no want to be this late. Ben gets one week off,…that’s it. Every day that I’m late cheats him a day on the road. Dispatcher said she will see what she can do. I’ll bug her about it some more tomorrow.

-All in all, it feels good to be in warmer climates, among people with a sense of civility. Think I’ll get the truck washed tomorrow too.