STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21716: Out With the Old, In With the New

Tuesday, December 26th:
 
Today, I had my Qualcom transferred from my old truck to my new truck. They started on it about 0630. They said it would take about 6 hours, but it was finished by about 1030. I had them upgrade my Key Board to a newer version.

The screen on my old one was so scratched that it it was unreadable. The new screen is a little bigger and easier to read although this picture doesn’t show it. The experience was made more bearable in that I didn’t have to ’wrestle’ with the MMM. When they were removing my old one, we waited in my new truck. While they were installing it into my new truck, we waited in the old one. I took my Laptop with me for more company. 
With my QualCom now working, I made myself available about 1100. I requested a load to or through Las Vegas so I can purge my cab of accumulated clutter. I recieved and accepted a load to North Las Vegas, but it doesn’t pick up until tomorrow. It’ll still work. Then I can start making some $$$. I sincerely hope that whatever “demons” possessed the Columbia stay there and don’t transfer to the T-2000. I hope it isn’t me that’s possessed. I don’t want to endure an exorcism. I’ll drive over to the shipper tonight and stay there so I can get an early start in the AM.

Life Day 21714: Ho, Ho, Ho, Hum

It has been a greuling week, but worth it. I FINALLY HAVE MY NEW TRUCK!! Let me catch you up on my most recent cavortings.

Monday, December 18th:
This was a long day. I was up at 0530, first in line for a Trade Inspection. While it was being done, I went to the Driver’s Lounge for a shower and breakfast. I then went to see the co-ordinator about today’s itinerary. He said that it would take most of the day to do the paperwork and get me out of here. This was good because I still needed to pack a bag, and run a couple of errands. I was told that after the Trade Inspection was complete, the shop would have to work up the paperwork to determine the trade-in value. This took until about 1300. Next, the new contract needs to be prepared, and the Permit Book put together. This took until about 1530. Then, after signing the new contract, I was ready to fly to Columbus, OH. I was hoping to be able to get to Columbus in time to get a motel room and get some rest, but it turned out I had to catch the “red-eye” flight. I caught the bus to Sky Harbor International Airport.

I arrived about 5 hours before my flight, but I was tired of hanging around the terminal in Phoenix. I soon discovered that the only place to smoke in the airport was in the Bars in the Concourse. To reach there I had to go through Security. Despite the fact that I was a single male, traveling alone, with a one way ticket, and no checked baggage, I breezed through with no extra scrutiny. I located the closest Bar and settled in to wait for my flight. I had dinner even though I wasn’t hungry, and had a few glasses of Sprite while I waited. The first leg of my flight was a short hop from Phoenix to Las Vegas, NV which departed at 2100. After an hour lay-over here, I caught a flight directly to Columbus which departed at about 2300. I arrived in Columbus at about  0530 (local time) Tuesday AM. I managed to sleep, “sort of” for about the last 2 hours. I then called the terminal for a ride. I arrived at the terminal at about 0630. By 0700, I had the taken possesion of my new truck and settled in to wait for a load back to Phoenix.

Tuesday:
Finding a load to Phoenix proved to be quite an obstacle. About 1500 the Planner gave me a couple of “stacked” PrePlans which would take me as far as Flagstaff, AZ. The first picked up in Dunbridge, OH and delivered in Harrisonville, MO. The second picked up in Independence, MO and delivered in Flagstaff, AZ. Everything was a big hassle because the only communication I had was my cell phone. I have to get back to Phoenix ASAP to get my QualCom removed from my old truck and installed in my new one. I went to pick up the first load and try out my new truck. After I picked up the load, I drove to New Paris, OH. I took a short break, then drove to Brazil, IN. I had dinner there, then drove to Greenville, IL where I collapsed for the night.

Wednesday:
I left Greenville at about 0900 and drove to Booneville, MO. I stopped here for lunch and some fuel. Then I Drove to the consignee in Harrisonville and did the drop/hook delivery. I then drove to the “staging area” at the shipper in Independence and went to bed. The next load is a “live” load in the AM.

Thursday:
I awoke at 0530 and called for directions to the shipper in the Industrial Complex. This is an interesting place. It is called the Geospace Industrial complex, and is entirely underground.

My poor little camera phone has trouble focusing in low light conditions, but at least you can get an idea of the facility. It is huge. It was foggy outside, but wasn’t that cold.
After I was loaded, I drove to Newton, KS where I had lunch at Newell’s truckstop. They have the best sausage pattys. I was warned about the weather farther west, but my priority is to get to Phoenix ASAP. I then drove to Guymon, OK. No bad weather yet, but I did start seeing remnants of the storm in the form of snow on the side of the road, but the roads were in good shape. I pressed on to Tucumcari, NM where I ran out of hours.

Friday:
I left Tucumcari as soon as I legally. Phoenix today for sure, but not in time to get my QualCom installed. They go home at 1530. I may be able to get the MMM out of the kennel though. It’ll be close. I drove to Milan, NM where I took a quick break. I then drove to the consignee in Flagstaff. This turned out to be a drop delivery. They had a fire there about 2 days ago, and the recieving area was still being cleaned up. Thius worked to my advantage beacuse after dropping my trailer, I decided to just bobtail to Phoenix from there. I set my PTA out to noon on the 26th. Looks like i’ll be spending Christmas in Phoenix. Oh well, at least i’ll be able to take my time moving all my stuff to my new truck. I arrived just in time to pick up the MMM. They were happy to see me, and I them. We then went to Wally World. I bought a complete set of bedding including sheets and pillow cases. The set was for a full size bed, so I bought a King size pillow and pillow cases to match. Total cost about $65.00. Then I went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. After dinner, I drove to the Flying J and went to bed. I was exhausted.

Saturday:
Today I began the transfer to my new truck. Mostly, I sorted and organized. I’m amazed at how much junk I accumulated. Lots of trips to the dumpster. Dinner was the buffet at the Flying J.

Sunday:
I mostly spent the day removing all the hard-wired electronics and extemperaneous stuff from my old truck. My load lock carrier took the most time. I had to find a work stand so I could reach the upper portion. I also needed to install it today because I had no other place to store my loadlocks. I found a good place, but had to have the shop drill some holes so I could mount it. The whole process ate up almost 4 hours. Tomorrow i’ll do the actual moving now that it’s all organized. It shouldn’t take too long. Dinner tonight was Red Lobster. I had the Ultimate Feast (a small lobster tail, crab legs, fried shrimp, and shrimp scampi with garlic mashed potatoes and a Caesar salad). It was good. Then back to the Flying J to spend the night.

Christmas Day:
Today was “move in” day. After a light breakfast at the flying J, I went back to “the salt mine” and began to move all my stuff from the old into the new. It was a daunting task. The ‘Columbia’ was much fuller than I thought. Even after a good purging of unnecessary stuff like my old bed linens and towels and some clothes that no longer fit, there was still too much stuff left to fit into the T-2000. It’s not that the T-2000 is any smaller, it’s just designed differently. It has just as much room if not more, I just have to adapt to it. Still, my first stop after the QualCom installation tomorrow needs to be my storage shed in Las Vegas. I promised myself that I would no longer travel around like “the Beverly Hillbillies” and become more disciplined in what I take on the road with me. No more folding down the top bunk and using it for storage. That’s just too tacky for a “class” truck like the T-2000. Hence, one more good purge at the storage shed. Christ, I have 3 computers & associated folderol in here. One is plenty. Some of the stuff, I haven’t used since I put it in the truck to begin with. It just seemed like it would be “handy” someday.
I took a quick break this afternoon to take some ’still’ pictures with my Sony Video Camera using the Memory Stick.



Much better than the ones taken with my phone camera don’t you think. They are in the posting just below this one if you want to compare. Notice the MMM in some of the photos.
Dinner tonight was the Holiday Buffet at the Flying J. When I left this morning, their advertisement said “Holiday Buffet. Carved Turkey, Carved Ham, etc, etc, for $8.99. When I arrived this evening it had changed to Holiday Steak Buffet. Carved Steak, Carved Turkey, etc, etc, etc, for $10.99. Not a bad deal, if there was steak, but there wasn’t. Had I not seen with my own two eyes this very AM, the other sign, I probably would have paid the $10.99. BUT, I had a long day and this was just enough. I asked to see the restaurant manager and pointed out the discrepancy. She said they had been “slammed” and had ran out of steak. She said she would “comp” me the difference. How many other people didn’t see the other sign this AM and overpaid?? It wasn’t too bad except for the macaroni and cheese. It more resembled macaroni soup with an essense of cheese. On my second round it had been replaced with something like macaroni and cheese pudding, but it tasted alright. Just to be contrary, after I recieved my revised bill with the “comp” included, I asked for and recieved the Senior discount at the register, so I ended up paying just over $9.00 for the entire meal including the drink and tax. That made it even better.

Preliminary Pics

Here are some preliminary pictures of my new truck taken virtually the minute I signed for it at our terminal in Columbus, OH. My feeble little phone camera hardly does it justice.



There will be many more to follow in future posts, rest assured….

Captive Canines

Sunday, Dec 17th:
Getting the MMM into the the kennel proved to be a daunting and frustrating task. They first needed to get 2 shots each. That is where the daunting and frustrsating comes in. I tried the Petsmart closest to the Swift terminal first. It was only a couple of miles away. The Clinic there was closed on Sunday. I asked and was told that the Clinic at the Petsmart on Bell Ave was definitely open on Sunday, so I went there. Turns out they stopped opening on Sundays sometime in July. I asked again and was told that the one on Peoria was open, so I went there. Again they were wrong. I explained my situation to ther manager, and asked her to call the other PetSmarts in the area to see if any of their Clinics were open today. I was already tired of wasting my time driving to them. She tried, but couldn’t find one open. I asked her if she knew of anyplace where I could get the MMM their shots today. She referred me to an Emergency Clinic a mile or so away. I went there and was told that they only did Medical emergencies and didn’t even have vaccines. The receptionist did give me a list of Clinics that were open on the weekend, and recommended Arrow Animal Hospital on Thunderbird and 51st Ave. I called and made an appointment. At last, progress. I was done by about 1500, 60 miles and 5 hours after I started. So much for the Nationwide reliability of Petsmart.
Next, I took the MMM to the Canine Country Club and Feline Inn, their temporary home for the next 5 days. They don’t have a website, so I can’t give you a link. This is the same “doggie Spa” I used 3 years ago. It is a highly rated facility on 5.5 acres.

There is plenty of grass and shade. The kennels are large and kept clean. The MMM will be exercised twice daily. They will be housed together in their own private “room”, with plenty of neighbors with which to converse. I left them a blanket and pillow with “daddy smell” and their “tug toy”. To keep consistancy in their diet and ease the trauma of separation, I left them their usual Kibbles and Bits and their favorite Milk Bone dog biscuits. They’ll probably fare better during the separation than will I. 

Life day 21706: Phoenix Pharewell

Monday, December 11th, 2006:
Today started out bad and went downhill from there. I accepted a PrePlan which picked up in North Las Vegas and delivered in Ft. worth, TX. Before I left the WWW, I called Phoenix to find out the status of my new truck, but could get no difinitive answer yet. Enroute from Las Vegas to North Las Vegas to pick up the load, I found that my truck had no “power” at all. I guess it didn’t like being left alone for a week. That, or it is just another “casualty” from that horrid Ice Storm I went through in the mid-west before I went on vacation. After consulting with DM, we decided that I should pick up the load first, then take the truck in for repair. I did so, then went to the Detroit Diesel shop in NLV. It took about 3 hours to get the truck in for Diagnostics. After a couple of hours, I went in to check on the status. They said they were still troubleshooting, but that it seemed to be an electrical problem in that the Turbo wasn’t getting any power. A while later, I was informed that it might be in the ECM (Electronic Control Module), a $12,000 item. He said that the engine was no longer under warranty, so I would have to bear the cost. I told him that there was no way in H___!! that I was going to spend $12,000 on a truck which was scheduled to be turned in within a week or so. I also asked him why, with the history this truck has with intermittant electrical problems, they were only now, after the warranty has expired, getting around to diagnosing the ECM. It very well could have been the cause of all my previous problems. They continued troubleshooting and a while later came back and told me that I needed a new Turbo, only a $4,000 item this time. I told them that there was no way in H___!! that I was going to spend $4,000 either. I’d rather “limp” the truck to Phoenix, TCall this load, and wait there until my new truck was ready, no matter how long it takes. They said that all they could do was put the truck back together and charge me for the diagnostics. I said that would be fine. The total bill was $226.00. After I hooked back up to my trailer and started out for Phoenix, I noticed that the truck was running normally. No loss of power at all. I guess in all their “tinkering” they “jiggled the right wires and inadvertantly (i’m sure) fixed the problem. What a bunch of JERKS. Anyway, I drove to Phoenix and called it a day.

Tuesday:
I checked on the status of my new truck again. This time I went in to see the guy in IEL (Interstate Equipment Leasing) the part of Swift that orders new equipment. He said that my truck would be ready imminently. It was the next one expected to be delivered to Columbus, OH. After conferring with my DM, I decided to go ahead and make the delivery in Ft. Worth, then get back to Phoenix asap, then “hover” if necessary. I left Phoenix about 1100. I stopped in Wilcox, AZ for lunch, then set off for El Paso. Before I got there, I got the message that my truck was ready. I once again, conferred with my DM about TCalling the load in El Paso and getting a load back to Phoenix. The freight situation was so abysmal in El Paso, that I decided to proceed as planned to Ft. Worth. I don’t guess an extra day or two will matter much one way or another. With the good news about my truck being ready, I called it a day and celebrated with a good dinner at Outback Steak House.

Wednesday:
I drove, uneventfully, the 600 odd miles from El Paso to the customer in Ft. Worth.

Thursday:
I delivered the load first thing this AM, then settled in to wait for my load back to Phoenix. This turned into an all day deal, but I finally got the desired load around 1600. While I was waiting, I was geeking on my computer. While running the HP diagnostics, I found out that Lightscribe was on my computer after all, but the “drivers” hadn’t yet been downloaded. After I successfully downloaded them, I attempted and succeeded in making a CD label on a Lightscribe disc. Next, naturally, I made a compilation CD. All of my music is now in the mp3 format, so I was able to get 171 of my favorite songs on 1 disc. YEAH!!!  Anyway, I drove to the shipper in Dallas, and on arrival, was imformed that they were not accepting Swift empty trailers at that time. They had too many sitting around. I asked if I could park out of the way for a while until I found out what Swift wanted me to do. They said OK, as long as it didn’t take too long. I called Swift and they said they would arrange something. About 45 minutes later, just as I was about to send a “nasty-gram”, a Swift driver showed up for my trailer. After hooking to my load, I drove to Sweetwater, TX, where I ran out of hours for the day (pesky 14-hour rule).  

Friday:
I left Sweetwater around 1000. About 15 miles east of Pecos, my truck lost power again. I stopped in Pecos and had lunch. I also checked and “topped off” all my vital fluid levels. Without the Turbo, it takes “forever” to accelerate under a load. Fortunately, there aren’t too many hills between Pecos and Phoenix. My AC also stopped working. Heck with it. I left Pecos around 1600 and drove to El Paso. I stopped here for the night again. I needed a shower, and another good meal, this time at Cheddars. I didn’t want to be running at night just in case something else happened.

Today, Saturday, Dec. 16th:
I left El Paso at 1000. Again, I took a break at the TA truckstop in Wilcox, AZ. I then drove the rest of the way to Phoenix. Without the Turbo, the truck will still run at the governed speed of 68 mph, it just takes a while to get there. The slightest rise in the elevation of the roadway causes an immediate decrease in speed. This load was about 20,000 lbs. Without the Turbo, it pulled like a load of about 46,000 lbs, but I eventually made it to the consignee and dropped the trailer. Around mm 170, traffic was backed up for a few miles due to a roll over accident. I saw 3 different Life Flight helicopters arrive and depart, so it must have been a bad one. There were also a couple of ambulences that left too.
I am officially DONE WITH THIS INFERNAL CONTRAPTION!!!  Tomorrow, I have to take the MMM to PetSmart for a couple of shots they need before I can board them at the Canine Country Club. It will cost a total of $32.00 a day for both of them ($20.00 for the first one and $12.00 for the additional one). That’s not too bad. They supply the food and exercise them twice a day. They also give them a bath on the day you pick them up, or the day before if you are going to pick them up early in the AM. It is the same place I used 3 years ago when I went to Greer, SC to pick up this piece of CRAP. 
On Monday, I take this truck to the body shop where they will do a “trade inspection” to determine the trade in value. I may wind up owing them $$$$$ for this junker. Then, depending on how long it takes and the availability of flights, I will fly to Columbus, OH either Monday afternoon or Tuesday AM. Then I come directly back here to pick up the MMM (priority 1; if i’m not back by Saturday afternoon, the MMM will be spending Christmas in the Kennel), get the PDI (Post Delivery Inspection), and transfer all my stuff to the new truck. Then i’m back in business, just in time to start running for the Christmas Bonus.  HOPEFULLY!!!