Someone has come up with the idea of e-tagging, and I became a taggee. My responses took awhile to come up with, with some areas lacking info and other areas having possibly too much. Be that as it may, the following is what I had to say….
1. What was I doing ten years ago?
Ten years ago was a crazy time for me; and a challenging time! I was living in Lakeside, CA (San Diego County) while my kids were living in Georgia. I came to the end of a two-year hitch with the Naval Reserves. I lost the best job I think I have ever had, working aboard a research craft as a sub-contractor for the U.S. Navy. I was underway often back then, either driving an inflatable boat on the ocean, or operating the cranes that launched said boat, along with other equipment, into the ocean. Losing the job was not due to anything I did, but rather it was a decision by the U.S. Congress to stop funding on our particular project. Fortunately, I was able to switch over to another division within the same company and work as a mechanical drafter. The drafting was another good job, but not nearly as fun as the research project.
During my off time I took wilderness survival classes with friends living in a nearby canyon. I eventually moved in with them, or actually onto their property, in an experiment of wilderness living. I lived in what I called a primitive hut – just a simple one-room hut with no plumbing, nor cooking facilities. This arrangement lasted about three months before I moved on.
It was during this period of my life that my car broke down, leaving me without transportation, yet I had to get to work. There was no public transportation heading directly toward the area I worked, so this is what I did:
Get up at 2:00 a.m. Get myself ready, then walk three miles out of the canyon where I lived in order to catch a city bus out of the town of Lakeside, CA. The bus took me to the neighboring town of Santee, where I had to transfer to the San Diego Trolley. The Trolley then took me through the towns of El Cajon, La Mesa, Spring Valley, Lemon Grove, and into downtown San Diego. One more transfer had me on a commuter train, the Coaster, which left downtown San Diego and followed the coast northward. I got off the train near the town of Sorrento Valley and walked another mile and a half to the office. After spending my eight hours at the office, I repeated my commute back to the canyon in Lakeside where I lived. My commute alone took eight hours a day, which when added to my time at the office, made for a very long day. I would get home around 7:00 p.m., eat dinner and then sack out so that I could be up at 2:00 again the next morning and repeat the process. This went on for about two months before I was finally able to move out of the canyon and purchase another car.
2. What was I doing one year ago?
One year ago was somewhat better for me, although it ended up being yet another transitionary period. I had just finished my second Associates Degree not long before and was working with the US Geological Survey in their surface water division, measuring the flow of water in various streams. I maintained thirteen sites from the southern end of California, to the Salton Sea, the Anza-Borrego Desert, and up to the Palm Springs area. Down on the southern end of my route I measured stream flow in the most polluted river in the country, the New River, which flows into the united States from Mexico at Calexico, CA. In the Anza-Borrego desert (San Diego County) I used to run into several Big Horn Sheep on every visit. Then up in the Palm Springs area I had several sites including a canyon which I truly enjoyed hiking. The canyon is owned by a research division of UCR and is therefore off-limits to the public. I frequently saw Big Horn Sheep in this canyon, as well as the tracks of mountain lion. I never did see the actual feline critters, but I sure did want to.
3. Five snacks that I enjoy.
- Peanut M&M’s
- Ice Cream
- Sunflower seeds
- Fruit
- Popcorn
4. Five songs I know all the lyrics to:
- Lorelei, by Styx
- The Grand Illusion, by Styx
- Give Said the Little Stream
- Cat’s In The Cradle, by Harry Chapin
- Corey’s Coming, by Harry Chapin
5. Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
- Purchase acreage and build homes for family and friends to stay in when they visit
- Take a number of classes to learn new skills/hobbies
- Hike the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide
- Bicycle across the country, several times using various routes
- Establish an organization similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation
6. Five bad habits:
- Procrastination
- Slouching
- Falling asleep at the wheel (not good when you’re a truck driver)
- Eating too many peanut M&M’s at a sitting
7. Five things I would never wear again:
- Bell bottoms
- Plaid pants
- A nightgown
8. Five toys I love:
- Camera
- Laptop
- GPSr
- Magnifying glass
- Bicycle
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
First thoughts on truck driving
For those who might not know, I am currently in a training program to drive trucks for CR England. I have been on the road as an apprentice now for a few weeks, first with a trainer that I had to leave because he was an idiot, and then with a second trainer who has been awesome to work with.
I first joined up with my second trainer, Andy, on Friday, July 6. He initially told me to meet him Thursday evening between 10:00-11:00, so I drove down to the England drop yard in Mira Loma to meet him. Due to an unforeseen situation, Andy didn’t arrive to pick me up until Saturday morning at 3:00 a.m., so I had to wait awhile.
Since meeting Andy, I have been back and forth between Salinas, CA and Chicago, IL. As I write this now, I am sitting at the world’s largest truck stop off of I-80, exit 284, near Walcott Iowa. And now, here are some thoughts I’ve had, and sights I’ve seen while meandering the highways….
I drove through Donner’s Pass, near Lake Tahoe, for the first time. I thought the area was beautiful and I would love to camp/hike there some time.
As I drove through the Nevada desert Friday night, July 6, I remember looking to the north and seeing a single line of lights in the dark heading up the mountain. The sight was quite curious to me and I wondered who in the world would develop a community so that there was one single line of lights like that. When we arrived in Mill City and stepped out of the truck, the smoky smell of fire hit us and I realized what the lights were – fire. The next morning as we drove out of the area, we saw crews shutting down the highway due to the heavy smoke.
The first time that I ventured into the state of Wyoming was at night and I regretted it because I couldn’t see anything – except the stars, LOTS of stars in the wide open spaces of Wyoming. I remember seeing a sign at the side of the road stating that I was crossing the Continental Divide. Interesting. I’ve crossed the divide many times before, but never at that high latitude.
Now for those of you who don’t know what the Continental Divide is, please bear with me while I explain that this is basically a ridgeline running north-south that divides the direction rivers flow down the Rocky Mountains. Rivers on the west side of the divide flow west; rivers on the east side flow east. With this explanation out of the way, imagine my confusion when I came across another sign stating that I was crossing the Continental Divide – again. How in the world could that be?! Is there not just one Continental Divide – only one ridgeline dividing the flow of rivers? I knew that I had not reversed direction on the highway and was then driving in the opposite direction, and was thus seeing the same sign I had previously seen. So what was the story?
When Andy and I swapped seats in Nebraska and I went into the sleeper, I could not go to sleep until I pulled out my atlas and looked up the Continental Divide in Wyoming. Aha! The I-80 highway travels through a basin known as the Great Divide Basin. So what I did was drive up and over the ridgeline at the western end of the basin, then dropped into the interior of the basin before driving up and over the ridgeline at the eastern end of the basin. The cloud of perplexion hanging over my head dissipated and I was able to rest.
Iowa was, um, well, there was a heck of a lot of corn spread out across the rolling hills. Lots of cows, too. One thing that I found quite interesting in Iowa was the fireflies. Not the fireflies themselves, which are always fun to watch, but rather the results of a firefly making contact with a windshield in motion. In one rapid swoop there will be the glow of a firefly in the air and then suddenly the glow becomes a translucent green-blue smear splattered across the windshield that continues to glow for several seconds. It’s a fascinating sight.
In Chicago, had the opportunity to scare the be-jee-bahs out of a woman sitting in her car. She was waiting at a red light at an intersection where I had to make a right turn. Mind you, now, I am still learning how to maneuver this truck, with its fifty-three foot trailer in tow. While driving down a main street with very narrow lanes, I slowed down as I approached the intersection and then made my turn. Due to the length of my trailer, I have to pull way into an intersection before actually turning the tractor so that the trailer wheels do not roll over the curb. In this particular case, the lady in her car was in my way.
I inched forward with my tractor and then turned right swerving right in front of her car and along her side. As I made the turn, I watched the lady on my left side with her eyes bulging out of her head. At the same time, Andy is hollering at me to take the tractor wider because the trailer wheels were about to go over the curb. If I took the trailer any wider, the lady on my left would be fleeing for her life. I was in a tough situation where in the end, the trailer tires ran over the curb. If I was still in school in Mira Loma, the curb thing would have been a fail. As it was, I was in Chicago, late at night, and I just continued driving down the road.
I first joined up with my second trainer, Andy, on Friday, July 6. He initially told me to meet him Thursday evening between 10:00-11:00, so I drove down to the England drop yard in Mira Loma to meet him. Due to an unforeseen situation, Andy didn’t arrive to pick me up until Saturday morning at 3:00 a.m., so I had to wait awhile.
Since meeting Andy, I have been back and forth between Salinas, CA and Chicago, IL. As I write this now, I am sitting at the world’s largest truck stop off of I-80, exit 284, near Walcott Iowa. And now, here are some thoughts I’ve had, and sights I’ve seen while meandering the highways….
I drove through Donner’s Pass, near Lake Tahoe, for the first time. I thought the area was beautiful and I would love to camp/hike there some time.
As I drove through the Nevada desert Friday night, July 6, I remember looking to the north and seeing a single line of lights in the dark heading up the mountain. The sight was quite curious to me and I wondered who in the world would develop a community so that there was one single line of lights like that. When we arrived in Mill City and stepped out of the truck, the smoky smell of fire hit us and I realized what the lights were – fire. The next morning as we drove out of the area, we saw crews shutting down the highway due to the heavy smoke.
The first time that I ventured into the state of Wyoming was at night and I regretted it because I couldn’t see anything – except the stars, LOTS of stars in the wide open spaces of Wyoming. I remember seeing a sign at the side of the road stating that I was crossing the Continental Divide. Interesting. I’ve crossed the divide many times before, but never at that high latitude.
Now for those of you who don’t know what the Continental Divide is, please bear with me while I explain that this is basically a ridgeline running north-south that divides the direction rivers flow down the Rocky Mountains. Rivers on the west side of the divide flow west; rivers on the east side flow east. With this explanation out of the way, imagine my confusion when I came across another sign stating that I was crossing the Continental Divide – again. How in the world could that be?! Is there not just one Continental Divide – only one ridgeline dividing the flow of rivers? I knew that I had not reversed direction on the highway and was then driving in the opposite direction, and was thus seeing the same sign I had previously seen. So what was the story?
When Andy and I swapped seats in Nebraska and I went into the sleeper, I could not go to sleep until I pulled out my atlas and looked up the Continental Divide in Wyoming. Aha! The I-80 highway travels through a basin known as the Great Divide Basin. So what I did was drive up and over the ridgeline at the western end of the basin, then dropped into the interior of the basin before driving up and over the ridgeline at the eastern end of the basin. The cloud of perplexion hanging over my head dissipated and I was able to rest.
Iowa was, um, well, there was a heck of a lot of corn spread out across the rolling hills. Lots of cows, too. One thing that I found quite interesting in Iowa was the fireflies. Not the fireflies themselves, which are always fun to watch, but rather the results of a firefly making contact with a windshield in motion. In one rapid swoop there will be the glow of a firefly in the air and then suddenly the glow becomes a translucent green-blue smear splattered across the windshield that continues to glow for several seconds. It’s a fascinating sight.
In Chicago, had the opportunity to scare the be-jee-bahs out of a woman sitting in her car. She was waiting at a red light at an intersection where I had to make a right turn. Mind you, now, I am still learning how to maneuver this truck, with its fifty-three foot trailer in tow. While driving down a main street with very narrow lanes, I slowed down as I approached the intersection and then made my turn. Due to the length of my trailer, I have to pull way into an intersection before actually turning the tractor so that the trailer wheels do not roll over the curb. In this particular case, the lady in her car was in my way.
I inched forward with my tractor and then turned right swerving right in front of her car and along her side. As I made the turn, I watched the lady on my left side with her eyes bulging out of her head. At the same time, Andy is hollering at me to take the tractor wider because the trailer wheels were about to go over the curb. If I took the trailer any wider, the lady on my left would be fleeing for her life. I was in a tough situation where in the end, the trailer tires ran over the curb. If I was still in school in Mira Loma, the curb thing would have been a fail. As it was, I was in Chicago, late at night, and I just continued driving down the road.
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