DJ Brian's Trucking Journal
Journal Entries Nov2002-Mar2003 Apr2003 May2003 June2003 July2003 August/Sept2003
October 2003 November2003 thru April2004 Current
August-September 2003
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August 01, 2003- I woke up around 5am my time and I was kind of in a grumpy mood. I was listening to the radio and they were talking about the anti-gay marriage amendment proposal and that got me a little mad. That was soon replaced by sadness as I realized it wouldn't have any affect on me anyway since my lovelife basically sucks and has always been non-existent. I was well into Washington state by the time the sun was coming up and came around a bend and saw a lake with a neat looking bridge
. I crossed that bridge and headed up the hill on the other side. As I continued to wallow in self-pity about how much my lovelife sucks, I came around another hill and before me I saw a mountain, capped in snow and basking in the sunshine of a new day
. My mood instantly changed and I knew it was going to be a good day. I drove on and soon was climbing the east side of the Washington Cascades
, the air was dry, cool and crisp with a slight breeze. It was a sunny day and I always thought Washington was supposed to be a cloudy state. I was unprepared for what was to come just up ahead. I was coming up into Snoqualmie Pass and I saw a sight that will be forever etched in my memory. I could almost hear Charleton Heston saying in his best Moses voice "Behold the beauty of nature" as I now realized where all the clouds were. The Cascades act as a dam that keeps the clouds on the west side of the mountain range, but in this one pass, it was low enough to where the clouds on the west side were being pushed up over the pass and flowing down the east side like a river -a river of clouds. The clouds were flowing at a rate of about 20-30 mph and looked very much like dry-ice fog.
. In this picture you can see the buildup of clouds that have just come over the top before disintegrating into the dry east-side air
. I wish I was able to capture this on video because it was incredible to see the clouds flow like water over the mountaintop. I soon drove up into the pass and was engulfed in the dense fog of the clouds and as soon as I hit the clouds I started descending on the west side. This side was the cloudy Seattle like weather we associate Washington to be. Before me stood tall majestic fir trees in a lush green forest much like a rain forest. I made my delivery in Seattle and Federal Way and headed back to Spokane where I am taking my hometime for the next several days at the High Mountain Ranch just to the north of Spokane.
August 04, 2003- What a wonderful weekend. I parked my truck up at Tim's Place
and Saturday night we watched comedy skits put on by the gang
. I got up early sunday morning and started my day out with my usual bowl of Lucky Charms overlooking the river below
from the house. Around noon we headed to the Kalispell Indian Reservation to watch their Pow-Wow finals On the way there, Abba started playing over the Lane's truck's stereo and the four of us, Lane, Tim, Kevin and myself all started singing along to "Dancing Queen" and we drove down the country road to the reservation. Once there, we took our seats and watched the Kalispell tribe
. Again, I wish I could have videotaped this event and as you look in the picture, you will see a small group of Indians in a circle. The were playing the drums and singing/chanting as the participants in the arena danced
. After the Pow-Wow, we headed back to the ranch and then went on a long boat ride up the river
and I fell in love with the area
so much so, that I have decided to purchase a 5 acre parcel overlooking the river. I hope to make it back up here in a month to look over some properties.
.
August 20, 2003- Well I have somewhat of a gap in my journal cuz I've been trucking like there's no tomorrow. I'm currently in York, PA and just finished several runs into New England, mostly Philadelphia area, New Jersey and Maine. I had a very scary mishap while in New Jersey. the directions I had said to take exit 15 on the New Jersey Turnpike but there was no exit 15, but several exit15's with letters attached at the end. I didnt know which one to take and soon found myself heading towards the Lincoln tunnel going into New York city. I started to panic because there wasnt anyplace to pull over to look at a map and at the last moment took a guess at an exit and that finally took me out of the area and to a rest area where I stayed for 8 hours till my heart started beating at a more regular pace. At the end of the day, I looked and felt like a scared, panting wet poodle that had just dodged 20 lanes of traffic to get to the other side.
August 21, 2003- I locked my keys in the truck while heading to the shower. After I came back from my shower I called my company and they told me how to break into my truck, a real comforting thought. I followed their directions and an hour and a half later, drenched in sweat from the hot muggy Pennsylvania weather found myself finally reaching my arm into my truck to unlock the door. I then tried to put the window back into place but it wouldnt go. I was almost to the point of throwing a temper-tantrum and breaking the window onto the pavement when my dispatcher messaged me to take the truck into the shop here at the truck stop. The mechanic makes it look so easy, he just slid it back into place. What did I learned today; to always check my keys before exiting the vehicle, that I would not make a very good car thief and that I need another shower again.
August 27, 2003- I've been condemned to eternal servitude in the Northeast part of the country. Did I mention that I HATE driving in the northeast. I'm sure with all my writings that it has shown up in at least one day's journal.
On the 24th, I made a delivery to the post office near Pittsburg and missed the last road I needed to take because the directions said go down 3 traffic lights but I didn't think they were counting the traffic light at the end of the highway ramp as the first light so needless to say I had to try and turn around somewhere. It was 2am and I turned into a road that looked like I could get turned around but it was too small and so I had to headed up a side road hoping there was a parking lot at the top of the hill. Well it was kind of a parking lot. It was a new car dealership for Jaguar cars and now I'm in a big semi in the middle of hundreds of brand spanking new Jaguars and still no place to turn around. I tried to turn around by backing up yet another hill and going down the original road but it was such a sharp turn and both roads were at different downslope angles that the trailer leaned way far too the right and the tractor leaned far to the left and I got jackknifed and stuck. The truck wouldn't move and now I couldn't go forward or backwards. At that point I envisioned myself being on the next day's evening news with a helicopter camera shot of a "stupid truck driver" jackknifed and in the middle of a Jaguar dealership and that they would have to bring out a crane to pick me up and turn me around. I then tried locking the interaxle differentials on the tractor to get power to all the wheels at the same time and slammed it into reverse to get straight and back up the hill. I finally got straight again and got out and took a long walk around the area and found a place I could actually get back out onto the main road but it would be tight and new cars on either side of me during a turn. Well I made it out.
I am now in the Chicago area and my load yesterday was a "shag" load meaning under 100 miles. It was to a Ford plant and that is the last time I will ever make a delivery to a Ford plant. They make the driver's wait 6-18 hours to get loaded or unloaded. It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever buy a Ford product. If you are a Ford employee you might be saying that I should support American workers and buy domestic and by buying a Ford automobile you support the families of Ford employees, but I'll come right back and say that you didn't give a damn about my income by making me sit in your parking lot for 10 hours making no money while you finish your damn cigar in the office and popped your fat ass on that forklift to get me unloaded. I am happy to hear that my company said to me that they were no longer going to accept anymore loads from Ford because of the way they treat the drivers and that there were just a few more loaded trailers for Ford and then they would no longer do business with them. Good Riddance FORD. After all that wait, I made about $25 for the whole day.
Today I got another shag load but a totally different problem. I got to the consignee in Marseilles, IL and there was no place to park so I drove down the road and was soon among crop fields on either side. When I tried to turn around my left side back trailer tires started to fall into a 3 foot field ditch. If they fall too much the trailer would tip over. I remember looking in the mirror seeing the tires go and saying to myself "Oh My God..here I go" so I gunned it to get the tires back up the ditch and around the turn. I made it out of the ditch and back to the consignee and again no place to park so I parked it right in the middle of the street, "Main Street" as a matter of fact. I'd rather get a traffic ticket. Looking at the situation, the were 5 other trucks there and the only way to back into the dock is to start in "Main Street" on a small bridge, make a sharp 90 degree backing into the lot and then 200 feet straight back to the dock between 2 rows of employee parking. Well not exactly straight, I'll have to back at a slight curve toward the right side. Anyway I walked in and the shipper said no more loads today. Thank Goodness because at this point, I am practically in tears (actually I WAS in tears earlier today) from all my problems in the Northeast and on the verge of going over the edge and quitting. Sometimes there is only one thing that keeps me from quitting. I bet you'll never guess...its my Sirius Satellite radio. Thank you Sirius Satellite Radio. Well, what can I say....I had a new sound system professionally installed and unfortunately (or fortunately) I don't know how to uninstall it myself so I can't just throw my hands up in the air and quit. I called my dispatcher and dumped all my unhappiness about the Northeast on her and said that I need some time off. So now my backing load from hell is on hold until the 29th so I can actually sit and relax at a truck stop. My dispatcher is keeping me on this load because it will take me straight back to the west coast. I MISS YOU WEST COAST kiss kiss. So that brings me up to date. Here I am relaxing for a change and will be heading home to Phoenix for a whole week. I am so looking forward to getting home and the first thing I'll be doing is buying a case of beer, maybe two, and filling up a cooler and spending the next 24hours in my dj booth at home mixing dance music....and lose myself in the music. I still keep my dj music services paid and up to date so I'll have tons of new music waiting for me when I get home, a home I haven't seen since June 2nd. I love dance music, its the only thing that has stayed with me the past 23 years.
September 2, 2003- Finally...W I D E O P E N S P A C E S.
. My stress level has completely dropped and when I was in Denver the other day after I dropped off my load, I had an unexpected surprise. I was parked at a truck stop reading a book on farming and I turned down the radio in my truck and could hear people hooting and a hollering. I looked in the mirrors and could see a crowd of people across the field behind my truck. I looked closer and they were having bull riding competitions so I put down my book and headed over there. I wish I brought my camera because it was really exciting.
September 8, 2003- In talking with my dispatcher, I've decided to take a leave of absence for trucking and have 30 days to decide what I want to do. If I continue in trucking, I will probably just do regional because I missing home too much and being by myself so much is really getting to me.
September 9, 2003- I bought a concert ticket for the Cher Concert being held at America West Arena this coming Saturday. I am so EXCITED!
September 11, 2003
September 14, 2003- The Cher concert last night was fabulous. At the end when Cher left the stage after the last encore and the house lights came on, they played a video tape on the large projection screens where Cher was introducing her crew, dancers and bandmembers that travels with her to put on each concert and it surprised me when a guy come on to get introduced and he said, "Hi, I'm Steve, the truck driver" that drives all of Cher's equipment and props from show to show...and when I left America West Arena, sure enough, there were the semi trucks parked right in front of me. A sign for me to continue in trucking? I thought about all the possibilities there are for trucking. I'm starting to really miss the road and think I will probably end my leave of absence early. The last month was really tough for me because I volunteered for Bulk Mail dedicated runs and it was not the type of trucking I like because they were all short runs that needed to be there yesterday and with multiple stops right in the smack of each cities' downtown (the post offices) in the northeast part of the U.S. and I was driving a Freightliner Classic XL that has a bad turning radius. Up until that point I was happy with my runs for the most part. Lesson learned..don't volunteer for things....
September 30, 2003- Well my time off ends tomorrow and then I'm back to trucking. I decided to stay national running all 48 states instead of regional or the dedicated routes. I've been missing the traveling and looking forward to getting back "On the road again".
