STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Addendum to: Blather from Blairs, VA

When I drove the few hundred yards to the customer and checked in with Shipping, I was told that I was to be loaded at their satellite location; their original facility from where they had moved. It was in town about 4 miles away. I was given directions in typical “southern style”, meaning that when I left, I had no idea where I was going. The directions were as follows: “Go out to the highway and head towards town. You’ll go through a couple of lights. After you pass the second light, look for the beauty shop. Go past that and the Post Office, and it’s just a ways down the road. Look for a little Mall and turn there. It’s back off the road a bit. Ya cant miss it.” I found the place despite the directions. I had to wait ½ an hour for a door, and then it took another two hours to load me.
After I was loaded, I drove back to the truck stop. I had dinner at Bojangles. They compare favorably to KFC. Their portions are a bit larger, both in the size of the chicken pieces and the side dishes. I don’t know how many ‘herbs and spices’ they use in their breading recipe, but it is good. Their chicken more resembles KFC’s “extra crispy” recipe, which I prefer anyway. I tried three of their sides. Their mashed potatoes and gravy surpass KFC in every way; consistency, flavor, aesthetics. Their “Cajun” beans are delicious. Spicy with a hint of sweet. I don’t think KFC even offers anything similar. I saved their Macaroni and cheese for a later meal, but it looks delicious as well. Their biscuits are 1½ times the size of KFC’s and they will actually melt butter when served. They are famous for their iced tea, and it lived up to the reputation.  One negative is that they don’t offer corn-on-the-cob on their menu. How can you serve fried chicken without corn-on-the-cob? All in all, it is better than KFC in my opinion. It’s worth a return visit if the opportunity presents itself.

Life Day 22569: Blather from Blair’s, VA

Good morning. I have a little while before I have to pick up my load, so I may as well do something productive. There is not much to write about since my last post on Friday. I’m not even going to use my usual “chronicle” format on this post.
I’ll just say that Saturday was totally unproductive. I basically vegged and geeked all day long. I was tormented by various and sundry miscreants, all with the same basic “sob story” about how they were stuck there and needed money. They aren’t even creative anymore. I’ve noticed that they all want money now. No pretense of asking for food. In fact, if you have the audacity to offer to buy them a sandwich, they become indignant and look at you like you just asked them to fly to Mars. One in particular (I cant remember if he was the fourth or fifth to bother me today) became quite aggressive when I refused him. I had to threaten to call the Police before he finally left me alone. He did not look like the type that would welcome an interview by the local Constabulary.
Sunday started off about the same, but improved late in the afternoon when I was sent directions to a customer where I was to pick up an empty trailer. The problem was that there were no empty trailer available there. While I was waiting for further instructions, I stopped by a local supermarket for consumables. It was called Bloom. They have “smart carts” there that allow you to enter your shopping list into a computer on the cart. The cart will then direct you to the items you entered inside the store. I was browsing, so didn’t use that feature, but it sounds like an interesting feature. The future of shopping?  Anyway, I digress. Their second attempt to find an empty trailer for me was successful. After I picked it up, I drove to a nearby small truck stop I spotted on the way in. I had endured all that I could of the Pilot where I had spent the better part of the last two days. It was full, but as I was passing the Waffle House for the second time, the cook actually came out and flagged me down. He said that I could park in the back of their lot for the night if I wanted to, so I did. Quite naturally, after that, I went inside to eat. Although it was late afternoon, I opted for breakfast. It was good. About an hour after I finished “breakfast”, I received a PrePlan that picks up here in Blair’s, VA and delivers A.S.A.P. in Ottawa, KS. I left Charlotte about 1815 (2015 local time) and drove here to Blair’s. I parked for the night at a small local truck stop. It is quite clean, and has a nice large manicured lawn on which to walk the MMM.
Today, Monday, is a good news, bad news, good news, bad news kind of day. The first good news was that I found this truck stop last night. The first bad news is that my customer had moved. I was not happy when I discovered that this customer had moved. The last time I had a similar situation, the customer had moved 180 miles from a small town in central Pennsylvania to the suburbs of Philadelphia. It took half the day to convince the CSR that the customer had actually moved (they had moved over two years prior), and to get him/her to do their job and send me the correct information. I’m off on a tangent again, so let me come back. The second good news which I found out this morning when I called for directions, was that their new location is directly behind the truck stop in which I’m parked. The second bit of bad news is that this is a “live load”, and it won’t be ready until 1430 this afternoon.  I had breakfast this morning at Bojangles Chicken and Biscuits next door to this truck stop. It wasn’t too bad. I’ll try them again for lunch/dinner and let you know how they compare to KFC in an addendum to this post.

Life Day 22566: Chit Chat from Charlotte, NC

Well, it’s been a few days since my last post. It looks like I have a little time today, so I may as well bring you up to date. The weather has been seasonal for the regions of the country to which I’ve been traveling. The MMM and I are well, but Walter is getting a little shaggy. It’s time to get him to the groomers. He doesn’t like the heat.
By the way, today is Arbor Day. Did you plant a tree?
The chronicles follow.

Today, Friday the 24th:  I was unsuccessful again when I tried to fuel. The computers were still down. I left Decatur, disgusted and frustrated, at 0715. I drove to the Flying J truck stop in Commerce, GA and put on 50 gallons of fuel. After I fueled, I had breakfast. I then drove to our terminal in Greer, SC and topped off my tanks there. The difference in fuel price was about 20¢ per gallon, so I put on just enough fuel in Commerce to qualify for a free shower for later in the week at another Flying J location. I left Greer at noon and drove to the consignee in Fort Mill, SC. I did the drop delivery. The customer had no empty trailers. I drove the 13 odd miles to the Pilot truck stop in Charlotte, NC. Fort Mill, SC is right on the border with North Carolina, or, to use the local vernacular, just a “spit and holler” down the road. I arrived here about 1500, and have been sitting ever since. It doesn’t look like I’ll get a load out today. Oh well, nothing new about that.  

Life Day 22562: Befuddled in Brownsville

There is very little to write about today. I just posted 2 days ago, so the BLOG is mostly up to date. I haven’t encountered any more “Kodak Moments” since the buffalo herd. Today was a wasted day. I’ll explain in more detail in the chronicle below.

Sunday, the 19th:  I left Del Rio about noon and drove to our terminal in Laredo. I fueled, then walked the MMM. I next drove to the customer in Brownsville. I had a difficult time finding them. There were no directions available and the telephone number was bogus. I used Microsoft Streets and Trips to get an idea of where I was going. The problem arose when I exited the freeway and started driving on the local roads. There was a massive construction project underway, so most of the street signs were either removed or obscured. I finally found a company that was open and stopped there for directions. They set me on the right path and I then found the customer with relative ease. Dinner was left over BBQ.

Today, the 20th:  As alluded to above, today was a total waste. I awoke at 0530 and walked the MMM. At the appointed time of 0600, there was nobody yet at the customer. The crew finally arrived and began the unload at 0700. They said that it would take most of the day, and they weren’t off by much. It took them 6 hours. I walked about ¼ mile to the Mickey D’s and had breakfast. I then returned to my truck and “cat napped” until I was unloaded. I next went to the nearby Wally World. Unfortunately, this was one that does not allow truck parking. Fortunately, there was a dinky little truck stop about a mile away called Gordon’s Bait and Tackle. I found a place to park there and settled in for the day. Since then, I’ve been geeking and vegging.

Life day 22560: Dawdling in Del Rio

It’s been an interesting week. Not much sitting around for a change, which is good. The weather, once again, was seasonal; meaning that you never know what to expect. Some sunshine, some rain, and still even a little snow over some of the mountain passes. All in all, a pretty good week.
The chronicles now begin.

Monday, April 13th:  I received a PrePlan a little before noon. It picked up in Usk, WA (no, I’m not clearing my throat, that’s the name of the place) and delivered in San Diego, CA. I departed Stanfield at noon and drove to the Sprague Lake Rest Area on I-90 at mp-241. I took a break here, along with the following pictures.


When I was finished here, I completed the trip to Usk. Usk is little more than a paper mill located about 50 miles north of Spokane, WA. It was a drop/hook customer, and it went smoothly. The load scaled legally on the first try. I left Usk at 1900 and drove to Ritzville, WA. Here, I had dinner at Perkins restaurant. I then drove to a rest area a couple of miles from Stanfield, OR where I stopped for the night.

Tuesday:  I left the Rest Area at 1030 and drove to Ontario, OR where I had lunch, put on some fuel, and naturally, walked the MMM. At 1500, I drove to Winnemucca, NV. I took a short break here, then finished my day by driving to Fallon, NV.

Wednesday:  I left Fallon at 0930 and drove to Montgomery Pass, NV. I took a quick break here, then drove to Pearsonville, CA. Another quick break, then off to  our terminal in Fontana, CA. I fueled here, walked the MMM, then fixed a snack in the truck. I then drove to San Diego and parked at the customer.

Thursday:  I was first in line this morning, and was unloaded about an hour after my appointment time of 1000. I received a PrePlan shortly thereafter. It picked up in Chula Vista, CA and delivers in Brownsville, TX. It was a “live load”, and took about 3 hours. I left Chula Vista at 1545 and drove to Yuma, AZ. I took a quick MMM break here, then drove to Tucson, AZ where I had to stop for the night (14-hour rule).

Friday:  Between today and tomorrow, I only have a total of 12.5 hours to drive. With this in mind, I left Tucson at 0945 and drove to El Paso, TX. I stopped here for the day after using only 5.5 hours. I wanted to have something to do tomorrow. There was nowhere past El Paso, on my route, where I wanted to stop. Just a few dingy truck stops in dingy towns.

Today, Saturday, the 18th:  I left El Paso at noon, with 7 hours available to drive for the day. I drove to Alpine, TX where I took a short break. Along the way, I encountered a UFO, and a herd of Buffalo. The UFO, I encountered at a picnic area on US-90 between Valentine, TX and Marfa, TX. It broke up the monotony of the day, so I thought it BLOGworthy.

As you can see, it was actually some sort of observation balloon, although what it was supposed to observe, I have no idea. It was tethered to the ground.
I encountered the herd of Buffalo meandering in a field along US-90 between Marfa and Alpine.


Again, I just had to stop and snap a few pictures. It’s not every day you see a herd of Buffalo.
Anyway, after I  left Alpine, I drove here to Del Rio, TX where I ran out of hours. Del Rio is not a bad little town. I spent a year here at Laughlin AFB in 1971/72. I usually park at the Wally World when I’m here. Today was no exception. After I arrived, a little after sunset, I walked the MMM. I then went to Rudy’s Bar B Q for dinner (my Luby’s closed at 2000). It was pretty good. After that, geeking, then bed.