STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 22554: Easter Eloquence from Stanfield, Oregon

Well, in all probability I’m finished working today. Freight is still slow, and being Easter Sunday, I doubt if I will receive a PrePlan until tomorrow. It’s overcast with occasional sprinkles, but the temperature is mild, in the mid 60’s. I had a dandy dinner of left over Meat Loaf with some mashed potatoes and broccoli. All they have to eat here at the Pilot truck stop is Subway or Mickey D’s.  I also had a dinner salad from Mickey D’s with Caesar dressing along with my dinner.
Now to chronicle the past few days.

Ash Wednesday, April 8th:  I finally relieved a PrePlan which picked up in San Diego and delivered in Hermiston, OR. I picked up the load and departed San Diego at noon. I drove to our terminal in Fontana where I fueled and walked the MMM. I left at 1615 and drove to Las Vegas, NV where I stopped for the night. I deviated from the shortest route, which would have been through Bishop, CA, and Winnemucca, NV, but I had business to tend to in Vegas that required my presence during the week. Routing myself through Las Vegas will only add about 80 miles to the trip.

Thursday: Thursday was register my car/laundry day. My registration expired last month and I haven’t been through town during the week. I tried to register online, but my car required a Smog Certificate, so I couldn’t. Everything went well. I got the Smog Certificate, then drove to the DMV. I wasn’t looking forward to this because my registration had expired. I thought that I would have to wait in line to re-register. The facility was packed, with about 60 people in line. I decided to try the self-service Kiosk first just on the off chance it would work. The Gods were with me. I was able to use the Kiosk and was finished in less than 3 minutes. I had to pay an extra $40.00 in penalties and interest, but if I had waited in line, I still would have had to pay the extra fees. It took me longer to install the new plate than to register.
Next on the list was laundry. About everything I own needed washing. It took about 3 hours to do it all. Then I went back to the WWW and settled in again for the night.

Good Friday:  I was planning on leaving today, but I decided to extend my stay for one more day. I didn’t sleep well last night because my neighbors in the hotel were in and out all night, making much more noise than necessary. Also, twice during the night, Walter woke me up to go outside. He had some ‘intestinal issues’. I vegged, geeked, and napped in my truck most of the day. I did venture forth to check my mail around noonish. I was expecting, and received, two packages. The first was a microwave Browning Plate. The second was a microwave Pressure Cooker. I ordered both about a month ago.

Saturday:  I worked hard today and covered a lot of ground. I left Vegas about noon. I drove to Ely, NV. I walked the MMM and had lunch. My next stop was Wells, NV. I took a quick MMM break here. I drove from there to Boise, ID where I ran out of hours (11 hour rule). I arrived at the stroke of midnight. I drove 662 miles in 12 hours, including all my breaks.

Easter Sunday:  I awoke in Boise this morning to moderate temperatures (high 40’s) and sunny skies at about 0730. I hopped over to IHOP for breakfast. I had Swedish crepes with (with Ligon berries), sausage, bacon, eggs, and hash browns. I also ordered 2 hard boiled eggs to go. When I got back to the truck, it was time for the MMM’s visit from the Easter Bunny.

After I had everything set up, I released the MMM.

The Easter Bunny didn’t hide their treats too well. They found them immediately.

I left Boise at 1030, and drove directly to the consignee in Hermiston, OR. I did the drop/hook delivery. I then drove the 4 odd miles over here to the Pilot truck stop in Stanfield. I’ve just been geeking ever since.  

Life Day 22549: Sanguine in San Diego

Not much to write about since I just posted 2 days ago, but I’m sitting here in Otay Mesa (San Diego) bored to the point of apoplexy, so I decided to try something new with the pictures on this BLOG. I’m using a program called Picasa to label each picture. This will help the reader discern the actual content of the picture when it is viewed.
Now, the short chronicle.

Monday, April 6th:  I checked in with receiving a little before my 0730 appointment time. I was immediately assigned a dock and backed in to the door. I was finished by 0845 and departed for my final customer in San Diego. I drove to the Las Flores View Area just a couple of miles south of Dana’s Point on I-5, about mm-63. I took a long break here. I walked the MMM. They were unimpressed by the Pacific Ocean and the seagulls. I, however was quite impressed; so impressed in fact, that I took the pictures below.

It was a “picture perfect” day. The passing ship was a a bit of serendipity.

Catalina Island is over 50 miles from this point, so it was difficult to get a really good picture. I used my little Kodak camera for this picture of the island.


The Seagulls and Chipmunks were in abundance because people were feeding them. The little black bird in the bush managed to steal his share as well despite his/her diminutive stature in comparison with the larger, more aggressive Seagulls.
I spent well over an hour here enjoying the day. Then reality set in, and I continued on to my stop in San Diego. I arrived about 1530. Again, I was immediately given a dock and was promptly unloaded. I then drove to the Pilot truck stop, a mere 2½ miles away. I settled in here for the night. I received a PrePlan going to Phoenix, AZ about 2030, but I didn’t have the hours remaining to complete the load on time, so I had to decline it. Drat!!

Today:  Nothing happening so far today, as far as PrePlans anyway.  I’m just geeking until I get load. It is another beautiful day. About 70º with lots of sunshine. There is a gentle breeze of about 5 mph which makes it even nicer. If there were a place somewhere that I could call and order a day, I would order one exactly like this.

Life Day 22547: Sitting in Shafter

Since leaving Lathrop, CA, I have seen virtually every variety of road conditions one can encounter on the road, with the exception of tornadoes and hurricanes; all within about a week. Freight has been tolerable the last week or so. I’m not doing as much sitting around as the past few weeks.
Now, I’ll continue the chronicle.

Saturday, March 28th:  Actually, this is also a continuation of the 27th. Shortly after my last post, I received a PrePlan which picked up in Hayward, CA and delivered in Longmont, CO, with an additional stop in Denver. I left Lathrop about 1430 and arrived in Hayward about 1600. The customer took forever to load me. I didn’t even get a dock assignment until 1930. Then, they had to wait for some product for my load to arrive on another truck. I finally got out of Hayward at 2215. I drove to the TA truck stop/ Sierra Sid’s Casino in Sparks, NV and called it a day/night. I didn’t arrive in Sparks until 0315. It was pretty ugly, but at least Donner Pass was ice and snow free. I crashed immediately upon arrival. The MMM wouldn’t let me sleep much past 0900, but I couldn’t leave until 1330. I went across the street to the Black Bear Diner for a delicious breakfast. I made about $50.00 in the casino playing Black Jack, then left Sparks at 1330, as soon as I legally could. I drove to Carlin, NV and took a quick break for the MMM. I then drove to Wendover, NV. Here, I took a nice break for a much needed free shower at the Drivers Lounge. While I was there, I happened to catch the weather from a Salt Lake City TV station. It forecast snow arriving in the early morning. I drove on to our terminal in Salt Lake City. I picked up the sticker for my license plate which was there waiting for me. My original plan was to spent the night here, but with the impending storm, I decided to continue on into Wyoming. I got as far as Rock Springs, where I ended my day.

Sunday:  With blue skies ahead of me, and the storm “hot on my heels”, I left Rock springs at noon. The storm caught up to me around Rawlins, but it got slowed down by ‘good ole’ Elk Mountain, so by the time I got to Laramie, I was running with clear weather again. I stopped in Cheyenne for dinner, then drove to the customer in Denver, arriving about 2000. I parked there for the night.

Monday:  I awoke to a blizzard about 0700 (Elk Mountain couldn’t hold back the storm forever). I checked with receiving and was told that their unloading crew wouldn’t arrive until 1000. I backed into the door, and settled in to wait. I was finished about noon, and drove to my final stop in Longmont. I was under the impression that this was a drop/hook delivery, but was informed upon arrival that it was a live unload, and not until midnight. I drove 4 miles back to a truck stop and settled in to wait.

Tuesday:  At midnight, I again arrived at the consignee. I was eventually given a dock and backed in. I was finally unloaded at about 0330. I drove back to the truck stop and went to bed. These hours are taking their toll on me. After I was again conscious I received a PrePlan which picked up in Cheyenne, WY and delivered in Meridian, ID. I departed Longmont at 1430 and drove to the shipper. This was a drop/hook pick-up and it went well for a change. I left Cheyenne at 1700 and drove to Rawlins. After dinner, I decided to call it a day. I was pooped and the weather was crap once again.

April Fools Day:  I didn’t do much fooling around today, but Mother Nature sure did. I think she was PMSing or something. I left Rawlins once again in a blizzard. Along the way, I watched two different cracks in my windshield begin to spread. Within 30 miles, one of them expanded from a barely noticeable 2¨ to about 30¨ right in my line of sight across the drivers side. I drove to Little America and took a break for the MMM and lunch. I was pretty much out of the snow for the moment. I drove to Evanston, WY where I topped off my fuel tanks. I then drove to Twin Falls, ID. It started to rain around Ogden, UT with the added bonus of fog over Sweetzer Summit on the Utah/Idaho border. I took a quick break, then drove to Boise and called it a day.

Thursday, April 2nd:  My appointment wasn’t until 1700 this evening, but I called the customer about 0900 and was told that they would unload me as soon as I arrived. I had a nice breakfast at a nearby IHOP, then drove the 10 odd miles to Meridian. It was a drop/hook delivery. About an hour after I was unloaded, I received a PrePlan which picked up in Vale, OR and delivered in Chicago, IL, but was set-up for a T-Call at our terminal in Salt Lake City. I wanted to get my windshield replaced there rather than “on the road”. I drove to Vale and was promptly loaded. I then drove to Boise, ID where I had dinner. From there, I drove to Salt Lake City. I did the T-Call, then went to bed.

Friday:  Today, all I did was get my windshield replaced. Well, not exactly. I checked in with the shop about 0800. They set up an appointment with the contractor that does their ‘glass work’ for 1400. I drove to the Sapp Brother’s truck stop for breakfast. I then returned to the terminal. It was snowing most of the morning, so about 1300, they put me inside the shop so my truck could ‘dry off’ before the glass man arrived. He finally showed up about 1545, almost 2 hours late. It took him an hour or so to replace the windshield. After the installation, I couldn’t move my truck (other than out of the shop) for 2 hours. After the 2 hours, he recommended limited driving until the morning so the sealant could properly cure. I ‘dinked’ on the computer until about 2130, then drove to the Kenworth Dealership to buy a couple of things I needed; a windshield wiper knob and 2 fluorescent tubes for the light in my sleeper. I also received a PrePlan which picked up in Salt Lake City and delivered in San Diego, with a stop off in Shafter, CA.

Saturday:  I picked up my load about noon and drove to Scipio, UT, still in intermittent snow. I walked the MMM and had lunch. I then drove to Las Vegas where I, naturally, stopped for the night at the WWW. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter any more bad weather for the rest of the day.

Today, Sunday, April 5th:  I left Vegas at 1300 and drove to Barstow. Traffic was abominable. It was ’stop and go’ all the way from Jean to the top of Baker grade. It spread out a little after that and I made much better time. After the MMM break in Barstow, I drove to Bakersfield; specifically to Bill Lee’s Bamboo Chopsticks. I had the #1 Family Dinner (for one), my usual when I dine here. After dinner, I drove to the customer in Shafter. I deliver here at 0630 tomorrow morning, then I drive to San Diego to finish the load. It delivers there anytime before 1500.