Joplin, MO

DATELINE: JOPLIN, MO, 5:15 p.m. CDT

Miles Today: 323

I'm frustrated as all get-out today. It started yesterday afternoon. After I had blogged and taken a nap, I figured I'd finally get back to the online poker tables to work on that second income. I logged on and signed up for a free (well, it cost me a sum of Frequent Player Points, but no cash) single-table sit-n-go tournament, with the winner being awarded a free seat in a tournament later that night. The second tourney had some nice cash prizes, so I was a-hopin'.

Anyway, just as the sit-n-go started, I noticed that my laptop was running on battery power, not AC, even though I had the darn thing plugged in. (I have a power inverter that lets me plug the laptop into the truck's cigarette lighter-like outlets.) I tried jiggling the various connections, but never could establish the AC. So I had that stress and distraction bothering me as I played the tourney. I was in the lead for quite a while, after an early double-up with pocket aces, but the power situation kept me from paying as much attention to the action in the game as I needed to, and I'm sure I missed some opportunities to make some plays to increase my chip stack. As my battery power shrank, so did the quality of cards I was getting dealt, and eventually I blew out in 5th place. Grrrr. At least I didn't have to worry about qualifying for the big tournament, then not being able to compete because of a power outage.

So I stowed the offending unit, hopped out of the truck, and went walking around the area to burn off steam and calories. It was still fairly early, and it just frustrates me that just when I finally do have some free time for pokering, I run into this problem. But I'll come back to that topic down below. Let me tell you 'bout my work day today.

With my pickup scheduled for 8:00 a.m. at a company just 17 miles up the road (in Ardmore, OK) from where I was (Marietta, OK), I had my alarm set for 6:30. Of course, I woke up before 4:30. So I sat and read, and heated up some grub for an early breakfast. Eventually, 7:00 rolled around, and I headed out to go get today's load. I've made a pickup at that company once before, so I knew the drill there. It was a drop-and-hook pickup, so I was done there before I was even supposed to arrive.

When I was done making the pickup, I had only 5-1/2 hours left available to work today, so I could take my time, make a nice long stop for fuel, a shower, shave, and lunch, and still finish up good 'n early. By my calculations, I'd have just enough time to make the mileage to Joplin, MO. So I made that stop at the Flying J in Oklahoma City, then continued on eastward over here to Joplin, making it just as I reached the end of my available hours. I'm parked at a Petro Stopping Center for the night.

Since I wasn't sure if the power problem with my laptop was due to the power inverter, the power cord (which I'd just gotten to replace the original), or the laptop itself, I took it inside to see if plugging it into a wall socket would work. Lo and behold, it did! I got the AC power/charging icon in the status bar at the bottom instead of the battery power icon, so that pointed to the inverter as the culprit. I couldn't find any inverters in the Petro store, so I walked over to the Pilot just down the street and bought one there.

Back in my truck with laptop and new inverter in hand, I set up my "workstation". Now, 'splain this to me: I had everything plugged in, and the new inverter's green indicator light was glowing, but the laptop wasn't getting AC power. What up with that? Unfortunately, I don't have any other appliances with standard plugs with me in the truck, so I can't test the inverter with them. Besides, the one I bought was the last one on the rack at the Pilot, so I can't just run over and exchange it for one that might work. So again, I have copious time to kill, and my main source of entertainment is unavailable. AAAAARGH! I may have to resort to sitting in the Petro's theater, watching whatever movie(s) they're showing tonight.

I brought the laptop back inside to connect up and file this report. I'm in their public phone room, which has counters and chairs around 3 walls, phones along 2 of those, and windows on the third (the door into the room is in the 4th wall). So it's not a place I want to spend a lot of time, since it's not a no-smoking area, and the chairs are just wood, no cushions. While I've been composing this, my battery has been recharging, so if I can't find a place where I can plug in tomorrow, at least I'll (probably) have enough battery power to file a report. This is also notice that if I miss posting updates some days, you'll know why--or at least have reason to suspect why.

Anyway, I'm on my way to Lake Orion, MI (just a bit north of the Palace of Auburn Hills) to deliver this load on Monday morning. Tomorrow I'll have 10-3/4 hours available to drive, so I expect to make it to the Indianapolis area. I'm sure I'll get up and rolling early again, since that's my preferred work schedule. I'll also get back on the road early on Sunday (when I'll have 12 hours available) so I can get to that TA near my hometown good 'n early and have some time to see Mrs. R.T. and any other family members that would deem me worthy to be in their company.

So that's my story for today. Thanks for taking a peek, and keep on truckin'.