Temple Time

DATELINE: TEMPLE, GA, 7:20 p.m. EDT

Miles Today: 390

I'll start today by answering reader Dennis the Accompanist's inquiry about my little 'fridge. I do still have it, of course, and use it. It is a soft-sided cooler instead of an actual refrigerator, and it is small; large enough for at least a 6-pack of sodee-pop cans. I keep some milk, small jars of salsa and mayo, and 20-ounce or 1-litre bottles of Diet Coke (my beverage of choice, but they're not paying me for this endorsement--yet) in there. Sometimes a sandwich or side salad if I pick one up and want to save it for later. But it's not big enough to keep a comprehensive stock on hand. I do also have a plastic bin in my storage compartment that I keep non-perishable foods in, too. Those no-refrigeration-necessary entrees are quite handy. I can heat 'em up in my little lunchbox oven, which I need to do more of so I can keep my food costs down. (And I know I've ended a couple sentences and/or clauses with prepositions; that's something you English majors will just have to deal with.) Now on to today's report.

I woke up at 4:15 per my watch alarm, groggy from a bad night's sleep (all too common--probably too much caffeine too late in the day). But I had an appointment to keep. I hit the road at 5:00 as my requisite 10-hour break ended, and reached the shipper at 7:00. It rained just a bit early in the drive, but cleared up as the sun rose. The pickup turned out to be a drop-and-hook, so I was back underway by 7:30. The longest part of the stop was waiting at the shipping clerk's window while he handled the paperwork.

Not much to say about the westward drive today. I made a stop shortly after the pickup for breakfast, made a couple other rest stops, then stopped in this town at around noon with the intention of just fueling up. I'm at a Flying J here that is on our network list, but as I was pulling in, I decided that I was just too plumb fatigued to continue today. I only had another couple of hours available for today, but I'll save them for tomorrow since I'd only have 5-3/4 hours to use then. So I'll drive for about 8 hours tomorrow instead (after fueling up in the morning). I imagine I'll make it across AL and MS and into LA, then have to get up good 'n early on Friday to complete the drive to Dallas.

I guess I'll tell you about my frustration for the day. As you regular readers know, when I'm driving I listen to books on tape that I borrow from my father-in-law. I've been listening to a Ridley Pearson cop story ("Middle of Nowhere") for the last couple of days, and finished the 6th of 7 cassettes. The action was good and tense--the bad guy was holding a policewoman hostage, the good guys were on their way to the rescue--and I discovered the 7th tape is broken. GRRRRR! Guess I'll have to find another source to catch the ending of that one.

Speaking of the books on tape, a few days ago I bought a CD player with cassette adapter, so I'll be able to listen to CDs now, too. My F-I-L has some audiobooks on CD, too, so I'll be raiding that part of his library next week when I'm home.

On another note, how 'bout that Justin Verlander kid, huh? 'Bout time a Tiger threw a no-hitter. Last time that happened, as you all know, they went on to win the World Series that fall. I'd be fine with that happening, too. I kind of caught the no-hitter live; I was online playing poker when my brother-in-law found me on the site and started a dialogue via the site's chat feature. He told me about the no-no in progress. I inquired about the inning, who he was shutting down, etc. He told me it was going into the 9th inning, then he gave me the play-by-play of the last 3 batters (strikeout, strikeout, fly out). Way to go, Justin! And GO TIGERS!

That's enough rambling for today. Thanks for dropping in, and keep on truckin'.