Northern NJ Turnpike

DATELINE: VINCE LOMBARDI SERVICE PLAZA, NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE, 7:30 p.m. EDT

Miles Today: 392

Well, another couple of days to catch up on, so I'll get right to it.

Yesterday I woke up in the morning still not knowing the disposition of my load. I was in the midst of a 34-hour break to reset my 70-hour counter, so I couldn't take the load toward its destination. After sending in a couple messages to Dispatch to ferret out an answer (and a goodly time lapse in between), I finally got an answer. Another truck was on its way with an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of 1900, or 7:00 p.m. So I had some time to haul my laptop inside the Flying J and set up camp at one of the booths they have in front of the drivers' lounge.

I played a couple of sit-n-go (SNG) poker tournaments, and won one and took second in the other. Woo-hoo! Total gain of $4.80. For those of you tracking my poker bankroll experiment (http://ZipToChips.blogspot.com/), it's now up to $19.08, growing slowly because of my laptop power issues and resultant lack of playing opportunities. Of the last 7 SNGs I've played, I've won 3, taken 2nd place twice, and finished 4th and 5th in the other 2. I think I've discovered a successful strategy. Keep an eye on ZipToChips for the ongoing story.

During my day off I also hiked down the road and across the freeway to the Pilot truck stop (Elton John's "Take Me to the Pilot" always comes to mind for some reason when I'm headed for that chain) because I wanted to splurge on a hot fudge sundae at their DQ outlet. Which I did. But I also browsed their convenience store and decided to buy yet another, larger power inverter to see if that would solve my laptop issue.

Once back in my truck after the hike back from Pilot, I plugged everything in, and it worked! The laptop displayed the "On AC Power" icon and the battery was recharging! Woo-hoo again! Then a while later, the truck's engine cycled on to maintain the cab's climate, which interrupts the power supply to the outlets, and the laptop reverted to battery power. Drat! I shut the laptop down, unplugged everything, re-plugged 'em, turned it back on, and it was still running on the battery. Sheesh! Such inconsistency really burns my biscuits. I can't figure out the exact set of circumstances that gets everything to work correctly. But I'll keep working on it as I have time.

I also treated myself to a Carne Asada Sirloin Steak Salad in the FJ restaurant because I had $7 in coupons from last month's fuel purchases. Ehh, coulda' been better. Not top-grade sirloin, apparently. But at least it was a salad, and with salsa for the dressing instead of something oil-based, for once I had a somewhat healthy meal. ;-) But back to my load's story.

By 7:00 I was back in my truck, waiting for the other truck to come make the pickup. And what I've come to expect occurred. By 9:30, with no pickup yet made, I sent in a message inquiring about the other truck. Dispatch informed me that it was 100 miles out. So that left me a couple more hours to wait. I used that time to grab a slab of pepperoni pizza from the FJ pizza stand (fresh and tasty this time, but making up for the healthy lunch), and do some reading (another poker strategy book, of course) in my cab. 11:30 came and went, and the other truck didn't show 'til after 12:30.

The other truck was manned by a trainer and his student, a team that could make it to the delivery in Illinois on time. The trainer, of course, was in too much of a hurry to actually back his empty trailer in a parking spot (there was an empty one right next to where I was parked), instead dropping it in front of the row of trucks alongside. So after swapping, I had to do the parking maneuver, which I was hoping to avoid because FJ lots--this one included--are typically very tight, and it was quite dark. Thankfully, the empty spot next to mine made things MUCH easier, so I didn't have to swear at the turn of events too heavily.

So I didn't get to bed 'til after 1:00 a.m. I had planned to get up at 4:00 to get back to work good 'n early, but the relay delay put the kibosh on that. Amazingly, as tired as I was, it still took me quite a while to fall asleep. Probably from the built-up stress from my wait.

This morning I woke up before 6:30, sent in my "back to work" message to trigger Dispatch to assign me a new load, and went back to sleep. An hour later, the new assignment came in: Pick up a load in Richmond (just over 20 miles away) at 9:00 a.m., for a Thursday morning delivery in Bethany, CT. OK, easy enough.

I got to the pickup site 15 minutes early. First glitch: Dispatch hadn't included a load number in the assignment message, and this company needed it to find the right paperwork. So I returned to my truck and sent in the appropriate message. 30+ minutes later, I got a reply with a "try this" number. Naturally, it was the wrong number, so this time the Shipping Department guy called someone in the know and got the right number. He also told me that they had 4 loads scheduled for USA Truck today, so he had some angst about what would happen if the other drivers showed up without proper load numbers when he wasn't there.

Anyway, we got my data worked out, and he directed me to their dock for loading. Second glitch: The company had my pickup appointment for 1:30 p.m., so they weren't quite ready for me. So I had another lengthy sit in my truck while: a) they found someone to handle the load, b) that guy got the load together in the warehouse, and c) he put the product on my trailer. All in all, I was at that company for over 2-1/2 hours.

Truck stops are non-existent between mid-New Jersey and where I'm headed in CT, so I knew that I'd be spending tonight at a Service Plaza along either the NJ Turnpike or I-95 in CT. Because of the delay getting underway from the shipper, I calculated that the small truck parking areas at the CT Plazas would likely be full by the time I'd get there, so I set my sights on the Vince Lombardi Service Plaza at the northern end of the NJ Pike, which has a HUGE lot. I don't know the exact number, but it's gotta' be several hundred truck spaces. But, lo and behold, by the time I got here at 6:30, the darn place was full! The saving grace was it was dinner time, so I figured that many of the trucks here were just stopped for some grub, and would leave again. After 15 or so minutes slowly circling the lot, I found a space that had been abandoned. AWWWRIGHT! Of course, it's WAY at the back of the lot, and almost directly beneath the Turnpike bridge, so I'll be listening to the sounds of vehicles rolling across it all night. But at least I found a place here and didn't have to continue down the road with faint hopes of finding refuge.

I am a little bummed about having to stop here, because had I continued into CT, I would have made today a 6-state day (VA, MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT)! I don't think I've had one of those yet. But a definite parking place takes priority, I think. And this joint has a decent place for me to plug in and charge up the ol' laptop and blog for y'all.

So now you're caught up with my exciting exploits once again. Hey! I haven't seen any comments or questions from my fan base in a while. I do like it when we have a 2-way street going here, so please let me hear from you. But thanks for checking up on me, and keep on truckin'.