DATELINE: SPARTANBURG, SC, 7:40 p.m. EDT
Miles Today: 445
'Twas another long workday, mostly consumed by driving. I woke up at 5:00 this morning as planned (despite a hard time getting to sleep last night) and was on the road at 5:30. The drive across Tennessee and a corner of North Carolina, then a portion of this state, was just lengthy and uneventful. I stopped in Knoxville for fuel, a shower, and a quick lunch at a TA truck stop. (They had a Burger King and Pizza Hut inside; I opted for a Whopper Jr. and onion rings.)
I found the delivery customer without any difficulties, but was about 2 hours early for my appointment. I have delivered to 2 other locations for this company--a national discount retailer that shall remain nameless, but probably not one you'd think of--in the past, and both of those times the deliveries had been drop-and-hooks. This one, however, turned out to be a live unload, and I had to sit and wait in their staging area 'til they were ready for me. That turned out to be at my appointment time, anyway.
After backing to my assigned door, the weather turned. The wind picked up and dark clouds started rolling in. I turned on the weather band of my radio and heard severe thunderstorm warnings for the area. It rained just a little bit and we got a few chunks of hail, but nothing very much at all. The brunt of the storm must have passed by where I was.
My delivery was only about 15 miles or so from USA's terminal here in Spartanburg, off the same exit off of I-85. So after completing the delivery, I headed over here. While on my way, my next assignment message came in. I did get a chance to glance at it while stopped at a traffic light, enough to notice that the pickup time was 10:00 p.m. tonight. That is far after my 14-hour window for the day would have ended, and getting there would have used up my available work hours, too. So after reaching and parking at the terminal, I sent back a message stating those facts. Apparently they want me to take my 10-hour break, then go make the pickup in the morning, which I'll be happy to do.
The pickup will be in a town just north of Columbia, SC, about 90-ish miles from here. I'll get up at 4:00 (well, maybe 4:30) to hit the road at 5:00, when I will have observed my requisite 10 hours. The load is headed for Dallas, TX (due on Friday), so it'll be one highway, I-20, the whole way. I haven't taken that route yet, so I'm looking forward to it. That is, IF I can make the whole trip.
I'm bumping up against my 70-hour limit, and I may not have sufficient hours available to get there on time. I only have about 16 hours for tomorrow and Thursday (10 tomorrow, less than 6 for Thursday), and at least 2 of those will be taken up getting to the pickup in the morning. It's over 1000 miles from Columbia to Dallas, for which we would plan 20+ hours of driving. I can finish up Friday morning though, as the delivery appointment is not 'til 11:30 a.m. So we'll see if I can make some good time on the trip. (I'm going to have to check into how my available hours line up for the return trip, too; I'm scheduled to get home on Monday, my birthday. Don't want to miss that schedule.)
Anyway, I'm here now and getting tired. Since I gotta get up early, it would behoove me to wrap this up and get off to beddy-bye. Thanks for dropping by, keep those cards and letters--er, comments and questions--coming, and keep on truckin'.
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How's that little refrigerator you got working? Is it big enough for a sandwich and a can of pop? Or some fruit, maybe? I remember you mentioning it ages ago, and not since.
Line of the day: Last Sunday, after rehearsal, we were in our normal after-rehearsal restaurant. I was seated next to the younger Mr. Moore, who was looking at a menu list of specials--pita sandwiches, "served with a fattoush salad." When I asked, "What's that?", he replied: "That's what you get when you eat too much of it--a fattoush." 8<)
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