STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21688: Irked in Edwardsville

November 28, 2006 on 9:32 pm | In On The Road |

Sunday, November 26th:
I think i’m being stalked by geese. As I left Menasha, I saw these fowl lurking furtively at the gate of out terminal. They look suspiciously like the same geese I saw in Michigan. Coincidence, I think not. Maybe they have become too lazy to fly, and are looking for the opportunity to “stow away” on my trailer.

Anyway, I left Menasha at 0800 and drove to Amana Colonies, IA.  I took a lunch break here, then drove to our terminal in Edwardsville. After T-Calling this load, I was informed that the load I was to take to Las Vegas had been given to another driver. Having already driven 10 hours, I decided to just go to bed and deal with it in the morning.

Monday:
After trying vanely to find out why my load to Las Vegas was given to another driver, I decided to become obstinate. I sent a message to the Planners that I would only be accepting a load destined to Las Vegas. Needless to say, I sat for the rest of the day. The “method to my madness” was that I would be starting off tomorrow with a fresh 70 hours. About 1800, I left the terminal and drove to Cabela’s. They are similar to Bass Pro Shops, but I like them better. They have truck parking.


There’s those pesky geese again. Actually these are statues. They look realistic though. On the right is one of the displays inside the store. I won a $25.00 Gift Card in a drawing. Cool huh.
Nearby was a Famous Dave’s Bar B Q, so I went there for dinner. It was delicious. 

Tuesday:
About mid-day, I recieved a couple of “stacked PrePlans. The first was a local delivery picking up in Indepencance, Mo and delivering in Kansas City, MO. The second picked up in Kansas City MO and delivered in Kingman, AZ. Close enough. I accepted both and set off for Independance, after hooking to a specialty trailer (a shipping container). When I arrived, I found out that the load had already been picked up. Here we go again!! After a half an hour, I was told to take the container back to Edwardsville. I responded that when I arrived, I expected to have an empty trailer waiting for me. I was assigned an empty trailer (by number) before I arrived back at the terminal. I dropped the container and hooked to the assigned trailer. While doing my PreTrip inspection, I saw that I had a flat tire on my truck. I reported to the shop to get it repaired. 7 hours later, I finally got in. The mechanic said that the this was the “thinest tire he had ever tried to patch. I told him to go ahead and try, because I would be turning the truck in in a couple of weeks and didn’t want to buy a new one if I didn’t have to. The patch was succssful (so far). I then drove to the shipper in KC, MO. I was raining hard when I arrived so I decided to wait until the AM to pick up the load.