Got behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer for the first time yesterday.
Got a feel for its handling (my first time driving a manual transmission just so happened to be in a truck), drove around in a few circles, disconnected and reconnected the trailer, did a bunch of straight backing, and... realized I need to work a bit on my alley docking. Heh.
I'm on track to have my CDL in six weeks, and head out for my year over-the-road the very next day.
I hope I make it out to the West Coast quick, so I can have some good Mexican food again! The last truly great Mexican food experience I had was at a taco truck in Ogden, Utah, out front of the courthouse, in March 2012 on my move back east.
These are the things I think about when embarking upon a new career.
"When can I get to California for Mexican? When can I tour Southern Barbecue? When can I get to Houston for Vietnamese? When can I try a Hot Brown in Louisville? Send me to Minnesota and I will eat lutefisk. I need to hit St. Louis and try a Provel pizza. New England lobster shacks are calling my name. When can I get to New Orleans for everything?"
I should have been a traveling celebrity chef with a teevee show, is what I really should have been. ;)
You gotta pay your dues in the trucking industry before you can get a local (home every night) or regional (home weekends) route, so I'm getting myself ready to live out of a sleeper cab and truck for the next year, beginning in about six weeks.
"When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail.""
Got behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer for the first time yesterday.
ReplyDeleteGot a feel for its handling (my first time driving a manual transmission just so happened to be in a truck), drove around in a few circles, disconnected and reconnected the trailer, did a bunch of straight backing, and... realized I need to work a bit on my alley docking. Heh.
I'm on track to have my CDL in six weeks, and head out for my year over-the-road the very next day.
I hope I make it out to the West Coast quick, so I can have some good Mexican food again! The last truly great Mexican food experience I had was at a taco truck in Ogden, Utah, out front of the courthouse, in March 2012 on my move back east.
These are the things I think about when embarking upon a new career.
"When can I get to California for Mexican? When can I tour Southern Barbecue? When can I get to Houston for Vietnamese? When can I try a Hot Brown in Louisville? Send me to Minnesota and I will eat lutefisk. I need to hit St. Louis and try a Provel pizza. New England lobster shacks are calling my name. When can I get to New Orleans for everything?"
I should have been a traveling celebrity chef with a teevee show, is what I really should have been. ;)
Jay, what exactly does "year over the road" mean?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you mean a year-long stint more-or-less on the road.
Is that correct?
Yup, just that.
DeleteYou gotta pay your dues in the trucking industry before you can get a local (home every night) or regional (home weekends) route, so I'm getting myself ready to live out of a sleeper cab and truck for the next year, beginning in about six weeks.
"When some wild-eyed, eight-foot-tall maniac grabs your neck, taps the back of your favorite head up against the barroom wall, and he looks you crooked in the eye and he asks you if ya paid your dues, you just stare that big sucker right back in the eye, and you remember what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like that: "Have ya paid your dues, Jack?" "Yessir, the check is in the mail.""
;)