Short Day, Long Wait

DATELINE: BLOOMSBURG, PA, 11:00 p.m.

Miles Today: 291

Today wound up being a rather short work day, even though I delivered 2 loads. I started this morning by taking the load I had to the Bethel, PA terminal and dropping it there (delivery #1). That was about a 3-1/4-hour drive. Next, dispatch assigned me to take another load from Bethel and deliver it to a company in Northumberland, PA (a bit north of Harrisburg, and about 2 hours from Bethel). The delivery appointment for the new load was 7:00 p.m. this evening, but I sure didn't want to just sit around all afternoon waiting for the appropriate time to head towards Northumberland. So dispatch gave me the OK to head out early.

That drive did take just about exactly 2 hours, and I arrived 6 hours ahead of the appointment time. The receiving department there was happy to let me back into a dock so they could unload their goodies. (This was a smallish company with only 2 dock doors, and they weren't very busy on the docks anyway.) That unloading took about 30 minutes (nice 'n quick), and I was ready for my next assignment.

That message came in pretty quickly: Pick up a load in Berwick, PA and haul it to Opelika, AL. The downside: Pickup time is 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, so I have nearly 24 hours between that last delivery and the next pickup. Berwick is only about an hour from Northumberland, so I covered most of that distance today. I'm parked for the night at a TA here in Bloomsburg. It's in the midst of a busy commercial intersection, with a mall and several eatin' places right nearby. After I arrived here I walked over to a place called Quaker Steak and Lube (you've seen them on your travels out this way, si?) for an afternoon snack. I had an order of chicken wings with their spicy garlic sauce. Verdict: Not too bad, but IMHO they don't match up against those at Buffalo Wild Wings.

After the snack I walked over to the mall and took a lap around the inside. It's a small mall with many vacant stores, and was nearly deserted. With my lap complete, I headed back to my truck and hit he ol' laptop for some online work and play. I played a couple of 45-player Hold-Em Sit-N-Go tournaments--I haven't had any time to play any online poker for 2 weeks! I finished 13th in the first one, in which I was "card dead" pretty much the whole way through. In the second one, though, I took 4th place! The top 6 get paid, though with only a $1.25 entry fee, the prizes are small. But I wound up ahead for the day, so I'm pleased about that. I also played in a 2700-player freeroll tournament (no entry fee) and came in 149th, again being mostly card dead throughout.

All in all, I woulda' done better if USA woulda' had a load I coulda' picked up this afternoon and gotten headed down the road. The low-stakes poker I'm playing doesn't pay as well as driving miles does. But the poker is more fun. ;-)

And now it's getting late and I'm gonna' have to get to sleep soon. Thanks again for reading up on my travels and travails. Please send in a question and/or comment--they do brighten my day when I find some. And, as ever, keep on truckin'.