Howdy

Well it has been a month since my last post and I must say I am finally hitting my groove with the new job and couldn't be happier.

I run pretty well all Vancouver-Calgary twice a week and so far so good. I just wish the snow would stop in the Rockies.

I am starting to make some friends on the road that I run with and that is a huge help.

So as I go into the summer I will try and post some pics of my travels

Later

Feb 28, 2009, some changes afoot.

Had a great week, ten days and ran close to 5800 miles..  Three Delta-Calgary's, San Bernadino, LA, Malibu/Santa Barbara back to Cal then off to Delta.  It has taken it's toll however and I have made some changes in my working arrangement with HR.  Again, they continue to see that I am taken care of.

Beginning next week I will take on a London Drugs run that bounces between Calgary and Vancouver twice a week.  This will net me about 10,000 miles per month and have me home 2-3 days per week. ( only if all falls into place. ) This will be good for the family for sure and puts me home in the summer.

So all in all it seems like it will be pretty decent.  All this said, my blog will become quite boring unless I come across some interesting tidbits along the way.

Take it easy,

Later

February 12

Well I am in the middle of my trip and had some time on my hands so thought I would post.

This is actually one of my longer trips out with HR and really not by choice.  I still like to reset back home in White Rock every 8 days but was too late booking it off.  No biggy I will be home Sat or Sun then off for a couple of days.

I started my blog for my friends and family to have some understanding of what I was up too and to see some of the road through my eyes.  I have been becoming concerned that as I read other blogs that some are misconstrued as slamming HR or the industry in general.  I at times complain about wait times etc but some are my own doing.

My message is plain and simple: If you do not like where you are employed, move on, life is too short to be miserable.  

I have chosen HR and really can't say much bad about them.  I have day to day issues but who doesn't (refer to my plain message).

So, enough said.  Here I sit and wait for my load in Schuyler Nebraska.  This wait is probably more my fault than anyone else.  I am not a good tourist and being from this side of the pond one corn field looks just like the other one.  

When I have miles to run I bust my ass to get there, even if it is early.  This week I pay the price as I am early for my reload.  This is my MO in this industry and perhaps I need to relax but I probably won't.

My load is ready but the vets need to sign off that the poor bovine died with dignity.  Gross but whatever.  Then it is across NE, WY, MT, WA up to Delta.  

Well will post more later.

Blog still not quite right.

I still am having a tough time with the Blog. If you wish try using FireFox.

Al

Jan 26, pleeeeaaasssee no more mountains.....or snow.

Well good week, no real news. I spent it bouncing back and forth from Vancouver to Calgary, Edmonton and back to the tune of 4 time through the mountains in four days. Mountain vistas can be equally therapeutic, awe inspiring while scaring the crap out of you within seconds of having a zen moment.

I had one of those weeks. I chose to stay close to home this week and was not able to run south. Hence, spent the week in the hills. Almost jackknifed twice (rookie) you see these trucks have so much power that when you are running light you need to be careful how much throttle you apply. The back end with little weight can break traction fairly easily. Saw a herd of big horn sheep in a parking lot (cool) and ran down hills that had me biting the nails off me little sausage fingers.

I survived but after only 2400 miles chose to shut it down and put the truck in for repair. Needs windshield, tires etc. Anyway boring post but that is the week that was.

Later

January 19th, decent week.

This was by far the best week I have had back on the road.

Primarily because I ran direct south out of Vancouver to Tracy, California. ( about 60 miles outside San Fransisco. I got off loaded on time and without having to sit around for ever was directed to head towards LA.

On the way I was told to head to Port Hueneme. This is located between Malibu and Santa Barbara CA south of Oxnard CA. The drive there is out standing on the Ventura Highway, apricots out and oranges on trees.

I jokingly put on my blog that it was 21 when I loaded but a cool 21. The weather gods got me back though. I left the port at dinner time Wednesday and by the time I had hit Idaho Falls, ID it was full on snow and friggen cold...who was laughing now.

By the time I hit Calgary on Friday evening it was -25, yuk. That is ok it was not snowing. Then i was off to Vancouver Saturday noon and home by midnight. All in all it was decent weather wise, load wise and the fact there was no waiting anywhere....well except Calgary.

Not exciting to most but a good week on the road is not something that happens every week. 6 days out 3200 miles logged.

Later.

Crazy week, things happen for a reason?

Well what started out to be a decent week came to a grinding halt before I got out of Vancouver. Damn weather. My normal route to Calgary was closed due to avalanches and all other viable options were closed for the same reason. So I got to stay 36 hours at a truck stop in Kamloops…..whooooo hooooo.

Made Calgary and was pretty slow getting out of there to pick up my new load to Cali. I waited 6 hours for them to find me an empty trailer to bring to the customer and when I arrived my load was not legal to bring to California due to weight. So another wait until they shifted the load around.

Ok so finally on my way and drove like a idiot to Sacramento for drop 1 then Tracy for drop 2 and finally Oakland Navy docks for drop 3. That is where the shit hit the fan and my week took a turn.

While backing in I rubbed another truck mirror….so lightly I didn’t even wake the driver up. So not prob, pride hurt, minor damage and I apologize like a good little Canadian and exchange my info.

When this driver left he all but took my front right fender off while he turned. Here is the kicker….he kept going…in fact he may not of even know he had hit me. So lesson learned…trust no one. What is cool is I took damage pics with my new phone…..haha got him.

I have just learned that I am inept at using my new phone and have no pics. Oh well. All week I kept telling myself that all things happen for a reason. My wife had me convinced of that.

I have learned that you never trust anyone to be as stand up as you, never attempt to use fine motor skills when in a hurry and fatigued and that things don’t happen for a reason….they happen to piss you off.

Would post pics this week but………… shut up.

Later