A Week From Hell

Guess what? I had a crappy week. (as if the title didn"t clue you in) Not crappy in the mile sense, miles were good. But I worked my ASS off to get them. And mostly it was due to ignorance.

So I could tell you how I hurried all of Monday only to sit at a Walgreen's distribution center for 8 hours to unload. I could tell you how that screwed up my sleeping schedule and I was on third shift hours for most of the week. I could tell you how a broker, and a paper mill had no regard to my hours or my need of parking. I could also tell you about the race I had against my clock, the customer appointment time, and a funeral for a state trooper that was gonna shut down the interstate. I could tell you about how in one day I faced extremely dense fog, snow, ice, rain, mountains, and an engine alarm going off every five minutes because I was low on coolant. Not low enough to hurt but the sensor would get out of whack when I hit a steep grade. I could also tell you about how I learned at the last minute that big trucks aren't allowed on US30 through Gettysburg, PA. I could tell you about my uturn and my detour through these small Amish trails.I could also tell you about my 8 hour load time in Bolingbrook, IL. And about how it's partially the fault of the guy who never came and told me I was loaded. And I could tell you how it was originally a one stop in OKC but a second stop was added at the last minute putting me back on the road at 2 am tomorrow.

I could tell you all about this crap but I am not going to. There is already too much negativity in the trucking industry. There is too much negativity in the world for that matter.

So let's be positive. Tomorrow is a new day. I was able to get through the yard. Got a shower at the house,had some sushi for lunch, and I restocked my cooler with fresh good whole foods. The next few days I will only pick up 7s and 8s for hours giving me time for some exercise. Not only that but a friend fixed my laptop. So now I can blog more. Try to stay positive.

Shaking the cobwebs off.

Finally my band got a practice in. You see when I am not grinding gears in my truck I make music. Well some consider it noise but I call it music. Death Metal is an acquired taste. I like all kinds of music but the old-school thrash and death metal is what gets my blood flowing.

I was kind of worried that my band might be getting impatient with me because we haven't practiced in a looong time. But everyone seemed ok. With no call from dispatch we finally get in a long needed jamming session. Sometimes I will plan on a sunday night practice and then I will get a call from work telling me I need to leave ASAP.

This music is a mental release and a physical release. It puts one in the zone. We were doing pretty good last night. We have been working on a new song and it is kicking butt. It felt good and I am reasonably in a decent mood this morning. Although as I type this I am wondering when dispatch will call.

We also discussed doing a video so some works are gonna go into that. The best low budget idea I had was to film each of us playing the song and then it's just a matter of editing. We will see what happens.

For those of you who want to know what my noise sounds like go to www.myspace.com/apneadeathmetal
If you listen to Freewheelin' on the Road Dog channel (Satellite radio) you may have heard me as Snorelord call in on the show. One time they even featured the band and played a few seconds of my noise on there. Because of the show I learned I wasn't the only trucking metal head out there.

Thanks for reading...time to make a phonecall so I can go back to being a trucker.