I Have Returned

DATELINE: TEKONSHA, MI, 9:30 p.m. EDT

FINALLY back online! It's been a L-O-O-O-O-O-O-N-G time coming, but I finally have a setup in my truck that provides AC power to my laptop. Many thanks to a loyal reader who provided a proper (i.e., matching the original equipment) replacement transformer for my machine. I'll let him retain his anonymity unless he begs for the deserved attention. But it's been a long day and I have to get started early tomorrow, so I'll get right to a quick update of my last month and a half on the job.

In my offline period I've been everywhere from Laredo, TX to Maine; from Orlando, FL to Oklahoma and Kansas. My trip to Maine, 2 weeks ago, was noteworthy for a couple of reasons:
1. I now have trucked in all of the states east of the Mississippi River--New Hampshire and Maine being the last holdouts--and
2. When I drove into that state, it was the 9th state I'd been in that day (MD, DE, NJ, NY, CT, RI, MA, NH, ME). You've read my mentions before about having 4- and 5-state days, always missing that elusive 6-state day. But I blew that out of the water with the 9-stater. And I followed that up with an 8-stater (ME, NH, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA) the next day.

I started a new tour of duty today, after having been home for nearly 48 hours over the weekend. I had one short run--a pickup in Wyandotte, MI this morning for a delivery in Upper Sandusky, OH (which is NOT near the Sandusky with Cedar Point) early in the afternoon--then another pickup this evening in Battle Creek, MI. I'm taking that load to Randleman, NC for a Wednesday morning delivery. I've stopped for the night at an independent truck stop--er, Travel Plaza--by this small town along I-69 in the south-central part of the state. I'll have to make serious tracks tomorrow--that is, drive a lot of miles--to get in position to make Wednesday morning's 7:00 a.m. delivery appointment. However, a lot of those miles will have to be on US highways instead of Interstates in order to take the most direct route. So my overall MPH is going to be a bit lower than if a direct Interstate route was available. Oh well, I'll just do the best I can.

Like I wrote earlier, I gotta get started early tomorrow, so I need to wrap this up and hit the sack. I hope to have ample time to blog a bit more in-depth in the days to come, but at least we now know that my online access is back. Thanks for checking in, I apologize (and deeply regret) my lengthy absence from the airwaves. Drop me a line to let me know you're back with me, and keep on truckin'.