September 2, 2008 My ‘poor me’ blog.

I'll have to admit, Thursday was pretty stressful. I had thought I would be traversing the Rockies but as it happened we went through a pass in Arizona, I-17, instead which, for all I know, might have been worse or better as far as the steepness of the grade goes. This was a 6% grade and to me, that was pretty steep. It felt as though I were driving a rocket because, at times, I was driving 65 – 70 miles per hour; the speed limit is 75mph. Oh, and it turned dark before I got through the mountains.

All the while I was driving down the mountains I was afforded a spectacular lightning show; it was hard not to watch. This storm actually lasted until 2 or 3 in the morning and even got better as we got into Phoenix with the whole sky lighting up constantly with spectacular displays of bolts piercing the night. I love to watch lightening shows and this was the best I have ever seen.

After having driven through the mountains, the next challenge was construction and then the city of Phoenix itself. The speed limit when entering the city of Phoenix is 65mph. In Wisconsin we would be driving 55 and that is what I am used to. I was glad when we finally parked to take a break and eat some dinner. I was beat.

When we were done, it was Dallia's turn to drive and the weather had turned. Whereas the temperature going in was hot, coming out it was now a bit cooler and windy. I started having thoughts that perhaps hurricane Gustav had come our way. Leaving the parking lot a shopping cart shot across our path. Headed toward the freeway it started to rain…sideways. By the time we reached the freeway, about five minutes away, the rain was coming down very hard, so hard our wipers were not keeping up. Traffic was stopping because of the reduced visibility and we did too. Even though we were stopped, the rain being pushed along the pavement towards us caused the eerie feeling of still being in motion. Then we came to a tunnel and thought there would be a small reprieve from the onslaught. Instead, the rain had accumulated into a foot-deep river and was coming towards traffic at the opening of the tunnel. Three lanes of cars now were trying to merge with the other three lanes of traffic in an attempt to get out of the way. It was very chaotic and I am glad I was not driving.

We finally got to the consignee, managed to back into that tiny space between two other trucks amidst the comings and goings of the other trucks, got wet, got unloaded and were really ready to call it a day. Dallia dropped me off outside the terminal saying that if she drove her truck onto the property she would have to take it through the safety lane and possibly get red-tagged because actually the fuel gauge was acting up again like it was the time we were low on coolant. So, OK. She helped me bring my stuff (where did I get all this stuff?) to the guard shack and went on her way saying she would call me Monday.

The guard was pissed. First, he thought it deplorable that she just dropped me there as that was NOT what a trainer was supposed to do and it was NOT Werner policy. He was writing a report about her as we spoke. I agreed but then I knew all the problems she had had up until this point and could better understand her actions. Plus, I did not want to have to wait for another trainer as females, smoking or otherwise, were hard to come by. He told me that he had nothing to do with the training dept and so, could not help me (except write that report) get transportation, etc. He pointed out the direction to the driver's lounge…way over there, assuming I needed to use the phone on the wall in there. Where ever did I get 50 pounds of stuff?! So I went over there, not really thinking clearly at this point, not realizing that I could have just stood there and called my SDM on my cell phone (which was dying) and saved myself the trip. The SDM said that he did not know what the van schedule was, I would need to find shop personnel for that but that my motel room was secured for me, hurrah.

Shop personnel, huh? Oh where, oh where, could shop personnel be? Hello? Boy is this stuff heavy and expensive so I dare not leave it anywhere to freely and lightly walk around. Every step is becoming agony. "Oh, hello, I'm supposed to ask you about the van service here?" "Oh, the foreman?" So I go looking for the foreman, the man who knows. I open a door, whoosh, out comes blessedly cold air at me. Yoohoo! No one. Geez. Where could the foreman be? I open the service window (cold air, ya know) and stand there bringing my internal temperature down to 'not sweating so much'. I call my SDM back and ask him to please call the shop and scare up someone who can help me. I hear the phone ringing and the "unable to help you" person comes to answer the phone. Geez, am I tired! But lo, and behold, he finds the foreman!

Mr Foreman does not know, offhand, what the van schedule is. He says I need to call the motel to get that info. I tell him I need the number. He gives it to me, I call and no one answers the phone. Great! Luckily I notice the schedule behind him on the wall and he tells me the next van to come along is at 6:30. It is 3:30 now. My phone is dying, I'm dying…my husband says to get a cab. So I ask Mr Foreman if I can borrow his yellow pages. He can't find the book with numbers…geez. But he says he'll look a cab company up on the computer…my hero. I call and they say they don't service this address…but, of course! My hero looks up another address; I call, arrange for a cab and head out to the oven where the guard shack is sitting and where I am now sitting so I don't miss my cab.

An hour later I am wondering where my cab is. Did I mention my phone is dying and the only way I can charge it up is with my car phone charger? I call the company back to check on the status of my cab and find out they haven't even dispatched the order yet…geez. I'm too tired to be mad. Did I mention that I haven't slept since 1 or 3 am, not sure which cuz of the time zones? The dispatcher says he'll get right on that. 40 minutes later I call to get the status of my cab again. Oh, he's fifteen minutes away. 20 minutes later I get a call from the cabbie wanting to know where I am located, like I know. So I hand my phone to Mr Guard and ask him to inform Mr Cabbie of our location. Mr Guard says I should just wait another 45 minutes and take the van for free. I wait another five minutes, drum up the required energy to be spiteful and cancel Mr Cabbie. Oh, and Mr Guard informs me I have to catch the van…way over there.

I finally make it to the motel about 6:45 and found out that the reason no one answered the phone is because the phone and electricity were knocked out by the storm. Well, I say, I don't really care because I am just going to drop dead on the bed and I don't need any electricity for that. And that is what I did.

My plans before I arrived in sunny/stormy Arizona were to rent a car and head up to Sedona because my dad and step-mom are enamored of the place and I could see why when I got there. And, of course, the renting of the car did not go smoothly. I got up around four, took a shower (half way through I realized I didn't remember seeing any bath towels hanging around) and called good ol' Enterprise and killed my computer. Putting panic on hold for a moment to get the arrangements with Enterprise handled, I discovered that they were closed on Monday, Labor Day, so I would need to keep the car one more day than I needed it. But they would pick it up the next day in the motel parking lot and get the keys from the front desk. How nice. I was told to call back tomorrow at nine when they opened for business. My computer was still dead. I had killed it by blocking the air vent and overheating it. Now I was really lonely…no transpo, no 'puter, and my phone was dying, still. So I called my honey and asked him to call me on the phone in the room and gave him the number…and waited. I called him back, wellllll? No one answered the phone he said. Correctamundo the front desk said. We have no phone or internet service but Mr Verizon tech is working on it….geez. Later, I called him and told him that I now had a room phone and he could call me on it. I waited, then called him back and he said it doesn't work. I told him the number again and it turns out he had transposed a coupla numbers. He said he'd call again. He called on my cell and said it's that it's a fax number. No, I said, the fax number is on the phone and nowhere near the same. So I called the front desk and it turns out two of the numbers are transposed on the phone…geez.

9:00am I call Enterprise. I say I would like to rent a car and Mr Customer Relations Guy asks me what my reservation number is. I say I haven't one. Hmmm. I say I need to be picked up and he says, "Sure, I'll have someone come by later this afternoon to get you." NO! I shouted at him. No, that won't work. I was already told that I need to pay for an extra day that I don't need the car and now you are telling me that I can't get the car on the day I need it, no that won't work…geez.

So I called the main number to ask if there are other Enterprise locations close to me and she rattles off three. Savvy gal that I am, the first number that I call I only ask their location and my assumption is correct; I just spoke with them. I call the second location and they are all sold out. I call the third and I get to leave a voice message. No, this won't work at all…geez.

Avis to the rescue a mere couple of hours later and ten dollars more per day but I now am mobile. But before I go north I need to take my computer to the Best Buy Hospital where surely they will be able to revive my poor 'puter in a timely manner and for not so much money. Now, savvy gal that I am, I decide to get rid of some of the extra poundage that I have stowed away in the computer bag that is adding stress to my neck muscles and I dump the heavy books and opt not to take the charger. Why do I need to carry that around for; they are going to keep my computer and they have got to have chargers at the store…don't they? No, they don't…geez. But in all fairness to Dr Best Buy who at first was telling me that it was most likely the processor that overheated and that he would ship my computer to the manufacturer and that they would not be able to "prove" that I had killed my computer by setting something in front of the air vent and that then it should be covered under the manufacturer's warranty. Dr Best Buy's smile was killer but I said, NO, that won't work! I won't be here to pick it up and I must have looked pitiful cuz then Mr Killer Smile told me that my processor should be intelligent enough to turn itself off before death could ensue, that I should take my computer back to my room, take out the battery, plug it in and turn it on. I did just that and you should have seen my Killer Smile. Well, then I discovered that I had completely discharged the battery so I wasted a bit more time charging the battery a little and that was when I decided I needed to detour to WalMart to get an inverter. One inverter purchase later I was on my way up the hill and things was looking good!

I actually had a nice time; about time, too cuz things wasn't gonna stay that way, no way. Anyway, somewhere in this story my hubby figured out that he was gonna be in the next town down and that when I got done shopping and having myself a ball I could just shoot on down there…350 miles down there. No prob, hun. Besides, I did miss him. It was funny cuz I got into town 10 minutes after he did. What timing, eh? Anyway, I left the next night and got back to my room at four in the morn. I slept.

Got up that morning around 10 or so to my husband saying, "She hasn't called, has she?" Damn, he was right, but I told him I would have been highly stressed thinking that she would call, ready to roll, and that I would be not so ready to roll. So I called Dallia and she told me we should be headed out in the morning and that I should be at the terminal by 10am. Insight from husband, "You're not going anywhere today, are you?" Damn, he was right again! But I would be OK because I had a car, a phone, and Internet access. What else could a girl need 'cept for her huney.

Time to look up a health food store and get some good grub, "tired of Denny's!" Found a nice salad at Sprouts and hey, looky there, Bookman's is next door. I can't believe I walked in there and came out with a $20 book, not some piddly assed three dollar paperbook. No, I had to find a medical hard back that just called to me entitled "The Hidden Story of Cancer". Oh, well, I was set now. Now I had a car, a phone, Internet access and a book to read. Hallelujah! The rest of the night? No problemo. Not even the discovery that I had no juice in any of the four outlets in the bathroom could faze me now.

Tuesday is upon me. It is 8am and time to return the car. I called the desk to find out when the van would be coming by. I was figuring every hour on the hour so I simply asked to confirm that thought and Ms La Quinta told me that the van would be here at 10am…geez. So I left a message on Dallia's phone telling her that I would be arriving at the terminal a little after 10, was that OK, otherwise I would take a taxi to get there by ten. Dallia returned my call when I was getting a ride back to my room and she told me don't worry cuz we don't have to leave until four so I had plenty of time…and no car. But I was all set with my toys so not to worry. I called the front desk to find out what time I needed to take the van to get to the terminal by four. Ms La Quinta told me I should be catching the one o'clock van. Ya gotta be kidding! But I got my toys, remember. So I get to the terminal with plenty of time to spare, just like she said, and forty five minutes later Dallia is calling me and asking if I've already checked out of the motel. "Why yes, I did." Well, in typical fashion, plans have changed and we are now leaving tomorrow. She'll pick me up at the motel room by eight. Well, that should simplify things, eh? But for now, I have to get back to the motel. Voila, savvy gal that I am, I have written down the number to an 85 cents a mile cab service, who can beat that? Sorry, but we don't service this address. Sound familiar? Looking around for the yellow pages in an attempt to find another cab service but not being able to find the book of numbers (sound familiar?) it just so happens, if I think real hard, I find I can remember the phone number to the cab service that delivered such crappy service to me. So I call 200-2000 (hard number to remember, huh?). We'll be right out they tell me. Knowing full well that I should just stay in that air conditioned room for an hour I head out to the guard shack once again and this time it only takes one phone call to check on the status of my cabbie and one hour to get my $20 ride to the motel. In transit I realize that I don't have a motel room, that I need to call my SDM to make arrangements to get one. Relief! That only took 15 minutes on my again-dying cell phone.

I grab my gear and head on into the lobby. I immediately notice a twin of my phone lying on the counter in front of a man looking distinctly like the owner of that phone standing at the counter and, bold gal that I am I say, "Excuse me, but if I give you $2 could I please borrow your phone charger to charge my phone for half an hour. I only have a phone charger for the car and no car". Gentleman that he turned out to be he says, "Hold on to your money. You may borrow the phone charger if you'll only agree to return it." Simple enough, you're on. Then, because it turns out that my room is right next to his, he grabs my gear and takes it to "my" room. Oh, yeah, did I mention that I was sharing a room? Well, I wasn't about to just walk in but then, I had a key. So I knocked, waited a sec, probably should have respectfully waited two, slid my key in and started to open the door when a pretty big gal opened it some more and said, "Yes?" I said, "Hi, I'm your room-mate". She replied, "No, you're not, I'm a qualified driver." I hope the extremely sarcastic response zinging around my brain did not shoot out of my mouth cuz I can't really remember. Did I mention she was a big gal; not fat but more the type that had kicked some ass in the past. That response in my head was, "And that means what to me?" See how utterly rude that would have seemed? But I think I actually said, "Oh." Because she ushered me in and offered to handle the problem. After awhile she told me that Ms La Quinta was going to put me in another room and then, noticing how I was starting to resemble a beast of burden, grabbed my gear and took it to the lobby for me. That was awfully nice of her. Savvy gal that I am, I kept my mouth shut for once and look what it got me.

But savvy can only go so far and when I inquired about Mexican food I claimed that I could walk the distance, which I did. It was the mile back that did it, I think, and I ended up so worn out by the time I got back to my room that I can't believe I was able to type this. I guess its because I have been wanting to complain ever since Thursday. I believe, after all this, that if Joe were not telling me of his experience I think I would have gone back to nursing by now. I have mustered up an abundance of patience so far along with a laid-back attitude and plenty of positive thinking. I guess having my toys helps. Ya think? I'm looking at 11:30 so I think I'll turn in and see what tomorrow brings. Should be interesting…

PS Happy Birthday, Alizea 8/31/08

 

August 27, 2008 Just 100 miles from Colorado

Geez, do you think we could have any more drama? We made it to Central, Nebraska and can you guess? We "broke down" again. Actually, the engine is fine but the secondary air pressure gauge was flat-lining it. Figuring we had a leak somewhere, I turned off the engine and got up off the seat to get something in the back, when all of a sudden, I heard a loud 'air-escaping' sound right under my seat! Well, there's the leak! So it's in the shop in we go but it shouldn't be long now before we're on the road again. Can't wait to drive the Rockies although I'm a wee bit apprehensive about something going wrong while we're driving those steep grades.

August 25, 2008, Monday ~ We’re back in Omaha

Went to bed early last night, about 9pm and found myself awake at 5:30. Went into the store to get some coffee and Dallia was on the Qualcomm. She said Werner had asked if we could drive the truck back to the terminal and I said that beats just sitting here. We drove back and only had to stop three times. Its noon now as I'm writing and Dallia is telling me that she has put a call into another company who has already done her background check and is ready to hire her. She says is fed up with not having made any money this past month and I see her point. For me though, I suppose I will be asking for another trainer and I'm not happy about that because for one, non-smoking female trainers are hard to come by (I think I got lucky) and I've already been sitting a week and, two, what are the chances I would find someone who prefers to eat healthier. I don't really feel like going back to the motel and waiting some more although I would have internet. But I also have the chance of sharing the bed with some lady I don't even know. That's what happened Saturday morning. My phone would ring a couple of times, I'd go answer it but there would only be the dial tone. This happened a couple of times so I called the front desk and they told me I was getting a room-mate. I was already packing up to leave so I knew that wasn't happening but still I asked, "Even if I have a double bed?" "Yes, it's in the contract you signed (that I didn't read because I had a room-mate already)". But what, really, are my choices now? I think the right thing for Werner to do is give us a truck that works and put us on the road. I want to get going, too, because Joe is driving and the time we should be getting back together is getting further along. I had already figured it wouldn't actually be two months but more like two and a half months until we met again because of where we would be when we qualified and when we would each qualify. Also, if the trainer thinks you're a safe driver and you've got it then they can qualify you at 210 hours instead of 275 hours.

August 24, 2008

I'm starting to lose track of days but today should be the big day, the day I drive the rig for real. But let me go back to Wednesday.

On Wednesday Joe and I were in limbo, so to speak because we were done with orientation and now we were just waiting to get assigned to our respective trainers. We decided to go take a look at the terminal and see what it had to offer. It's a nice place. It has a beauty shop, an arcade room, a game room with a couple of pool tables, an area with a number of recliners in front of a TV, a gym, a laundry room, and a store. There is also a machine to check your blood pressure; mine was up a bit but not bad (yesterday I checked again and my diastolic, the low number, was 77 but my pulse was 104! What was that about?). Anyway, we popped some clothes into a washer, went to eat breakfast at their cafeteria which I was told was "good" but I beg to differ, not good. They had your basic cafeteria fare; I had a bagel, melon, and tomato juice.

We were told to go by and meet our Student Driver Managers (SDM) so we could all put a face to our names so we did that and that was when Joe was assigned his trainer. He looked at me and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout. It was so cute but my world rocked at that moment. So he got the name of his trainer, Octavio, and we went back to the room to pack. It took about two hours for Octavio to get there and I had a good cry, actually a lot of them. I'm much more stable now but that was hard. It's been about fifteen years since I've been apart from Joe for any length of time and you just get used to things. But, like I said, I'm OK now. I walked out with him to the truck, took a peak, and then he was gone.

And then he called me a little while later and that brightened up my day. I didn't think I would be talking to him very much but he calls me frequently throughout the day so that's nice, too. I decided I needed to get some good food. I didn't want leftovers from restaurants, I wanted some real food. Before Joe had left, we dug up all our money and split it evenly between us. I promptly found a Whole Foods Market and spent the majority of my money there. Good going, Ali but now I had some vegetables to make a salad and some fruit and yoghurt to make a fruit salad in the morning. I tried to be wise about my spending but unfortunately I passed by a cart that had barbequed meats and since I trusted these meats were from animals fed a natural diet, I couldn't resist the smell, my mouth started watering and my feet got stuck and my mind got focused and the little good angel and the little bad devil started arguing and the devil won. I bought a small amount of each at ten dollars a pound! Oh, but did it taste sooooo good! It was worth it, though! But now I was basically broke and a bit worried because I wasn't sure where I was going to get some more cash. I certainly wasn't going to tell Joe I just blew my money. Oh, no, that wouldn't work at all.

I went to the room, put my groceries away, and decided to check out the lake. So I took my barbequed meat down there and my school stuff. I didn't think to bring a fork or a napkin though, stupid. So I ate with my fingers and tried to read but it was too windy. Trying to keep the pages down with barbeque sauce on my fingers was not working so I went back to the room. I decided to call my SDM and find out if he'd heard anything. Well, lo and behold, I too, now had a trainer. Yahoo! Her name I was told, was Dallia …and that's all I was told. Based on what happened with Joe, I figured I would be outta there in a couple of hours so I got everything packed up, fretted about what to do with my food cuz I didn't know if she had a fridge or any room in that fridge. And then I waited…and waited…and got pissed. What the hell? By the time I went to bed she still hadn't called.

The next day, Thursday, I went downstairs to get some new clothes to wear out of my duffle bag in the trunk, took a shower, ate my fruit salad, answered my emails, complained to my mom, Joe, my friends. Around 10am I decided to call my SDM and find out what was going on. He gave me Dallia's cell and I called her but all she told me was that her truck had been being repaired and she was on another phone call. I waited for her to call me back but after about another 4 hrs I called her again and she told me she would call me when she knew something. I didn't hear from her for the rest of the day.

I decided I needed to get some more food but not at Whole Foods. This time I went to Super Saver. I don't like those stores. It was a carbon copy of Food 4 Less in California that I would go to when I was poor. I couldn't even get my loaf of bread at this store but one thing I did appreciate…I got to buy a mangosteen. Apparently the store features exotic fruits, a different one every month. This month it was the mangosteen which I have never had an opportunity to even consider trying. I am glad I did. It was tasty, very sweet but didn't last too long and it cost me $2. I was going to get two but $4 for some fruit?

Friday, I just stayed in the room, worked on the computer, and waited. I decided that if I did not hear from her by Saturday morning I would call my SDM and ask for another trainer. I was thinking, "How rude not to just call and let me know what's going on." But then I would remind myself that I don't know her situation so I made myself be patient and calm. At 6:30 she called and asked me to meet her at the terminal by 8am. OK, now things were rolling.

Well, let's just say that first, we get along just fine and we even desire to eat the same kinds of foods, in other words, eat as healthy as possible given the lifestyle we have. I transferred my gear into her rather small cab and then we went to go pick up a trailer. Well, it was red-tagged and we couldn't take it. That meant they had to do something with the trailer but it should be ready around ten in the morning.

Sunday we get up and discover that we have a message on the Qualcomm informing us that we have had a new trailer to pick up since 4:30 that morning! What the heck? So we pick up this new trailer and now have a new destination, too; Grand Junction, Colorado. Yesterday was Helena, Montana. Finally we are actually on the road, yippee! Over the mountains we go. This is gonna be great! Well, I'd say about 10 miles out I start smelling some kinda smell you don't wanna smell when you're driving. And then, some lights on the dash started coming on but all of our gauges were showing normal. We drove maybe another 10 miles and the lights on the dash came on again but by the time Dallia could look they were out. Finally, one of them started blinking and I lost power and had to pull over. Dallia climbed into the driver's seat, turned the key on and off we went. She said she knew the drill by now about breaking down, that they would ask, "Did you try starting the engine?" Hmmm. So we drove to a rest stop and took a look to see if we could find a problem. Couldn't find anything wrong but did smell that smell by the catwalk area, behind the tractor. Off we went again, this time me driving…until lights started blinking and I didn't have any power again. I pulled over, Dallia took the driver's seat and we drove to the Petro truck stop in York, about 90 miles out of Omaha. According to what Werner could see by the Qualcomm, we were low on coolant. So we popped the hood but no, we weren't low on coolant. We had a mechanic take a look at things just to be sure but he couldn't find anything wrong either. So, here we sit. And now we just got word that we are going to be swapped out; someone is coming to get our trailer and we're to stay here to get the truck fixed tomorrow morning. Apparently there is a dealership across the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 20, 08 Waiting...alone.

My honey left me today. I knew this day would come but I cried anyway. I'm OK now but my eyes are swollen and I'm a bit tired...and alone. And I can't find my phone charger. Tomorrow I will go to a Wal Mart or a phone store and get one. God forbid I wouldn't be able talk to him... or anyone. That would be real isolationism, i.e. torture.

As students, we have been assigned what are called SDMs, student driver managers, to help us with any issues we might have including issues with our trainers. I called my SDM around 4:00 to ask how late at night should I expect to get a call from someone about a trainer for me. He didn't answer that question, instead he told me that I had a trainer assigned to me and I should be expecting a call from her. Well, it is now 9pm and I am thinking sleep would be a good thing. At this point, I think I will get a call tomorrow but, funny, I packed everything 'cept my 'puter and put it in the car already and I've already been back down to bring some stuff back up (second floor, of course).

I've been kinda of tense about getting this phone call that is going to send me on my way. There have been a few times today when someone has called me but my phone didn't ring and also did not show that I missed the call. I don't want to be considered missing in action and fired before I even start. But they said they would call the room, too and there is no message waiting. OK, tomorrow then, I'm resigned.


Joe and I went over to Werner today to check out their facilities, do some laundry, and meet our SDMs. That was when Joe was told that his time was up. Two hours later he was gone. I kinda thought that's how it would happen for me too but, no. I'm still here. Well, that's OK, too, cuz I had just come back from Whole Foods Market and had dinner and breakfast in a bag. When I was told I had been assigned to a trainer my first thought was, "is all of this food going to fit in her cooler?" So I ate my salad and I will have my fruit salad in the morning and that should reduce the amount of "stuff" I bring on her truck. I do not want to impose.

I have heard from Joe a couple of times since he left (thank goodness) and sooner than I had thought I would, so that was nice. He said it was much better driving a fully loaded tractor/trailer, much smoother. I asked him if it was quiet in the cab and he told me, "yes, much quieter than the trucks we used to train in". He also said the AC worked just fine as I sit in the room with no AC on, just the windows open and the fresh air coming in.

I guess I'll go down to the car and get my comfies and turn in for the night. I need to be refreshed and I'm actually relieved that I am not (I think) going to be asked to drive tonight. Students can't drive between midnight and 6am for the first two weeks. I'm relieved but I wished I had had more of a head's up, ya know. Will post when I can~~~

Orientation; day one

Happy birthday, Alexis.

Well, other than a huge amount of paperwork along with a significant amount of information packed into a very long, 12 hour day, day one was fairly insignificant. However, I have been wanting to find out more about the training period and my trainer. As it happens, I get the sneaking suspicion that I'm not being told everything outright.

This is some of what I understand "could" happen. Tomorrow is the second day of orientation and for some people that could mean they start their training. In fact, we were given computer-based-training modules to compete after class today. We were told we would want to complete the majority of the modules today so as to be more available tomorrow should a trainer be ready to take you away.

As for me starting training tomorrow, I understand my chances have been reduced greatly by my having asked for a non-smoking female given the fact that most drivers are smoking males. This means that Joe has a much greater chance of leaving me tomorrow or the next day and starting his 275 hours ahead of me. I also asked if I can complete my training all in one shot and was told, yes. I was also told that they try to arrange for a trainer in my geographic location so if they would want some time off I might get some time off as well but to my way of thinking that conflicts with what I was told about the completing the training all in one shot. But here is the worrisome part. Joe could possibly finish his training before I do and, in that case, instead of him sitting around waiting for me, he would likely go do a solo run. And I (and Joe, too) will likely finish our training anywhere in the US. So, on top of finishing our training at different times, we will probably finish them in different locations. And I did not anticipate doing a run by myself. No, I will not like that. The training is already going to be 6-8 weeks long, how much longer then, are we going to be doing solo's trying to get back to Omaha so that we can get home? Remember, we drove our car here and one of us needs to get that car back home. I am not going to relish the idea of driving 500 miles home by myself. Then again...my music, my temperature setting, windows open if I want...or not. Hmmmm. But no, way too boring.

I did find out something good, though. I learned that because of the increase in fuel costs that the tractors are being outfitted with APU's. I think that stands for "auxillary power units" and that means that I can plug my laptop into an actual plug. Yeah.

Post test revelations

Hi,

Yeah, that's me; I did it. I passed my CDL exam! Nurse gone trucker. What's the matter with me anyway, huh? Well, if you knew me you would understand. Not gonna be a degreed drug pusher for Big Pharma anymore.

I guess I would have to say that I really wasn't too worried about taking the exam. I knew I wouldn't be perfect but I didn't think I would fail and I didn't. BTW the old gent I was talking about in a previous blog didn't turn out to be old and crotchety like I had thought; he was actually pretty nice (especially since he passed me ;).

I think the most difficult thing about driving a truck is the shifting. But while you are shifting you also need to be double-clutching (NOT putting the clutch pedal all the way to the floor like my leg would do all on its own as if I were driving a car), holding onto the steering wheel, and looking in ALL your mirrors all at the same time. Funny but, yeah, important.

"D" day seems to Monday, our day of orientation, actually, Monday and Tuesday and then, Wednesday, we are supposed to go our separate ways with our respective trainers, for, OMG, 6-8 weeks!!!