Keeping the Home Fires Burning

Time for the brain dump on the goings on of the last few days, but first, I need to do a little shout out.

You're gonna be home when??!

My family seems to have the gift of prose, my dad has written me letters that will bring tears to your eyes. My mom will send very heartfelt thank you notes at the drop of a hat, and I'm convinced that my sister should be writing books for a living.

Forgive me if I try to wax a little poetic for a few minutes, I'll get to the good stuff, I promise!

My job keeps me away from home for weeks at a time, and when I do get home, it is only for a few days before I hit the road again. This is a little hard on my fiance', Linda. I really didn't have much of a time at home this Christmas. I made it for the 25th and I had the 27th off, but ended up working Christmas eve, and running an "emergency" load on the 26th. I was tired, and probably not the type of home body Linda was expecting.

Samantha was home from California for the holidays, so we had a house full for a while, but time moves on, and now Linda has the house to herself again, and I think that the transition from lots of people to an empty house has been a little hard. I had a tough time getting back in the truck myself this time. It was great to see everyone, but it seemed way to short, as it usually does, but it is hard to leave knowing that the tree is still up for someone else to have to deal with.

Linda has been very supportive of my career decision, and she deserves to be recognised as one of those behind the scenes rocks that I lean on all the time. We find a way to talk every night, which if you know me and the way I ignore the telephone, is a major operation!

Way to go honey! Thanks for all you do. I love you, I miss you, and hope to see you soon!

OK OK OK Time for NEWS!

I'm one of those guys who had a car before I had my license, I passed my commercial drivers license at 19, and have been driving all sorts of cars and trucks through every type of weather imaginable. I'm not a pro at OTR driving yet, but I do have a point of reference about driving.

I left Carlisle PA heading for Nitro W VA at 2am heading for I-68 west. Driving through Maryland was fine, and I was making great time, as one can do in the wee hours of the morning. As I got closer to West Virginia, the winds picked up and the temperature, went down.

Obviously I was driving towards some really nasty weather while driving on a mountain highway. Needless to say, I was concerned. Then the snow started falling...HARD. Maryland had plow trucks out, salt and sand were being spread, and things were under control. I was still at about 35 mph being very careful, but the wheels were rolling, and that is always a good thing.

Then I crossed into West Virginia...

No plowing done, no salt and sand on the roads, I was passing cars off in the ditch, you know the drill. I was beyond concerned at this point, so I did what anyone would do at this point.

Found a rest area and took a five hour nap!

Not quite heaven...West Virginia

For me, taking a nap half way through the day is not a good idea, I'm a little groggy for the rest of the day. I pushed on for a few hundred more miles and shut down for the day. My delivery had been rescheduled for the following morning, so the pressure was off. I had to come up on a tanker rollover which had the whole highway shut down. I must admit I have encountered more traffic tie ups this time of the year than any other. Looks like all the stats are right about holiday travelling and bad weather. Be safe out there!

Imagine that...Stuck in traffic in West Virginia!