Jessup, Md

Wow, I dont know where to begin telling you about yesterday. I will say that I will never type the words "Tomorrow will be a better day" as I did in my last blog posting. Needless to say, tomorrow was not a better day. Yesterday morning I delivered just east of Atlanta and a couple hours later picked up another load in Tucker, Ga going to Beltsville, Maryland. I delivered that load today but the trip up here was anything but pleasant. I left Georgia with the intentions of driving the entire 680 miles without taking a 10 hour break. Considering I had already started my 14 hour clock 2 hours before even picking the load up, it was going to be tight on the logbook but I had it planned to barely make it legally, but with no time to spare. And then....BOOM....yes we all know that boom oh so well...The trailer tire blew in Charlotte and I drove it to the TA in Whitsett on 17 tires. Thats 90 miles. I knew the TA would be a lot quicker than a roadside service. And it was, an hour at the TA and I had a new tire, a full belly, and an empty dog. It worked out great. And then....BAMBI...Bambi had fallen victim to a car or truck earlier and was laying dead in the slow lane just north of the 40/85 split in NC, only 30 miles from where I had the tire fixed. I had a car on my left so my only choice was to straddle it and drive over it. It was a small deer but that didnt stop her from busting my airline from my brake chamber on the trailer as I drove over her. Needless to say, I came to a stop very quickly. Ok now I am thinking that I will never make it to Maryland in one driving shift, I will have to take a 10 hour break and take it in there tomorrow (today). The load was due anytime today but I sure wanted to get here last night to insure being unloaded early. I called my company who then called Petro roadside service. They showed up about an hour after I hit the deer. As I sit on the shoulder of I-85 in NC waiting for them to get there, I can hear what sounds like Hurricane Katrina headed my way. It is dark when he arrives and we both know that he has maybe 30 minutes before the rain hits. IT HIT and it hit hard. We were both under the trailer trying to stay dry in the hardest rain that I have seen in a long time. I am thinking that he is probably almost done with the repair when he says "well, I got it fixed enough for you to follow me to the shop". He hadnt brought the correct fitting and I had to go 10 miles back to the Petro so they could fix it. By this time, it is about 10pm, raining a monsoon and I am soaked. The 10 mile drive back to the Petro took 30 minutes and it was 1am when my head hit the pillow. At 430am it came off that pillow and headed to make my delivery. It did make it, on time, and I am damn proud of it.

Ya know...screw it...Tomorrow WILL be a better day