Disappointment, But Some Positives

DATELINE: ROCK HILL, SC, 8:30 p.m. EST

Miles Today: 108

A nice short day today, but if I had my druthers, I'd rather have had a good long drive. A short day means few paying miles, which is what I get for someone else's mess-up from yesterday. (If you didn't read about that yet, look at yesterday's update.) Anyway, here's how today went.

I woke up around 5:30 to send a message to Dispatch to find out if they had a load assignment for me yet. (I halfway expected them to send me one during the middle of the night, waking me from my beauty sleep. But they didn't.) It took quite a while for them to respond--perhaps an hour and a half--with, "Not yet". During that wait, I tried to sleep some more but was largely unsuccessful. So I got up and did some reading. And more reading. And heated up some ravioli for breakfast. And read some more.

As 10:00 approached, they finally sent me an assignment. I was to head to Fort Lawn, SC for a 1:00 p.m. pickup, the first of two pickups for this load. The second is Monday morning in Mt. Airy, NC, then delivery is on Tuesday (perhaps) just southwest of Columbus, OH. The load assignment says the delivery time is one minute after midnight on Tuesday, but I suspect that's just a default value 'til we set an actual appointment. There's no way I can deliver at that time within DOT hours of service guidelines, so I'll have to make that delivery either Monday evening after driving up from pickup #2, or later Tuesday morning after I can get in a 10-hour break. I'll have to check with Dispatch about that.

Anyway, this is a disappointing assignment 'cuz it's too few miles for the amount of time involved. But that's often what happens on weekend pickups. Because of the problem with my original pickup yesterday, I lost not only the chance to stop by home, but also a lot of paying miles. Drat! (And I really mean a much stronger word than "Drat". But I'm too polite to use such language for public consumption.)

So I made the drive from Shelby, NC to Ft. Lawn in about 1:45, arriving at 12:15. I checked in, backed to the dock, then had to wait a few minutes before they started loading 'cuz I had arrived during lunch break. Otherwise the load went pretty quickly--after all, they weren't loading the entire trailer.

Once done there, I had a decision to make. I could drive all the way up to near the site of my Monday pickup (another 120 or so miles), or stop for the night at the Flying J here, then drive the rest of the way either tomorrow or Monday morning. Since there's a dearth of "brand-name" truck stops along I-77 between here and the northern part of NC, I decided just to stay here. Besides, I have a shower credit outstanding with Flying J, and I'll need one in the morning. Since I spent Thursday night at a turnpike service plaza, and last night alone in a gravel parking lot at a city park baseball diamond, I haven't had a chance to shower up since getting back on the road. Well, I could have this afternoon when I got here, but I perfer to shower in the morning to get my "bed head" under control. Besides, I haven't had to do anything the past 3 days that worked up a sweat, so I'm not too bad off.

As for tomorrow, after sleeping in as late as I want and getting cleaned up, I think I will just make the drive to the Mt. Airy area (say that 3 times fast). My truck stop directory tells me there's a large truck stop--though not a name-brand one--at the exit off of I-77 that I'll need to take, so that looks like my target. But I'm tempted just to stay here to watch the Super Bowl 'cuz I know this place has a TV in their drivers' lounge. I don't know what awaits up north. But I think duty calls, and I'll need to be nearby for the pickup (set for 10:00 Monday morning) so I can drive as far as possible after making it, possibly all the way to the delivery.

With all my free time this afternoon and evening (I arrived here about 1:30 or 2:00), first I treated myself to the buffet at the Flying J restaurant for lunch. I've been eating cheap the last couple of days, and mainly stuff I've brought along with me in the truck, so a splurge was in order, especially after yesterday's fiasco. After lunch I headed back to my truck, pulled down my laptop from its storage space, and went online to the virtual poker rooms. I entered a tournament with a 10-cent buy-in, and turned that dime into $1.06! Not a bad ROI. That was for finishing 39th out of 6120 entrants. But it took a bit over 2 hours, so it's a bad hourly return. Then again, I'm trying to build up a bankroll after having started with nothing, so the 96-cent profit was a nearly 15% increase in the $7.26 I started the day with, so not too shabby. Read all about it in my other blog, http://ziptochips.blogspot.com/.

After that tournament success, I decided it was time for some much-needed exercise. Today had been a beautiful day, sunny and probably in the low 70s, maybe upper 60s. It was dusk when I finally flamed out of the tournament, making a perfect time for a walk. I spent an hour taking laps around the truck stop's property. My legs were getting pretty heavy shortly after the mid-point of that hour, due to my physical inactivity the last few months (I haven't kept up the fitness regimen I tried to start back in the summer), but I made myself finish the whole hour. And boy I'm tired now; I ought to sleep well tonight!

I think that's my whole story for today. Thanks for looking in. Do please drop me a line so I'll know you're out there, and keep on truckin'.