Post Election...

...in Texas
November 1 / 4, 2020
A river

PhotoCredit: Christopher Klein

My photo for the month is blurry. And I kinda like it that way. I actually think that I look a bit like Patrick Stewart. Interesting. I am feeling old and that is being reflected in my physical appearance. It does not really upset me, but I am starting to feel my age. Part of it may be the run-run-run that I am working right now. Since the truck broke down last week, they have been pushing me hard. And right now, I am on a 34 hour reset in Texas, just outside Houston. I am taking the time to re-center myself and gain a bit of balance and perspective.

The Biggest thing...

The biggest thing going on right now is the election. Yesterday was election day, but there are still about five states that are counting votes, and no one can call the winner yet. It has people on edge, including me. I have stayed off the news as much as I have been able to, but it is tempting. I am just ready for it to be over. The biggest concern that I have in all this, is that this election proves that half of this country is a bunch of self-righteous "people" that do not care about the leadership or the morals of that leadership, as long as they get what little crumb they have been promised. What is amazing, is that they still believe that they will get those crumbs, even though the proof of the past four years says otherwise. It is, at the very least, disheartening.

The State of me

I am actually doing okay. I was a bit down and frustrated after the three day breakdown followed by the one day trailer chase. But I am making up for it now. I was afraid that I would slip into a bout of depression, but that did not happen. At least not too much. I did get a bit lethargic, but nothing worse than that. I had one day where my sugar spiked for now reason, and it made me feel like the wrong end of a cat. But that went away quickly and things leveled out. Now I have done about 1100 miles in two days, with 1200 sitting for tomorrow night on a run from Texas to Georgia. Fun times.

A Reflection of NOW

My final note today is a reflection on the times. We, the American people, and the world, have fostered a horrible understanding of truth. Lately, when logging into YouTube or Hulu, I have received advertisments for a Home Title protection company. I have reported these advertisments, because they are shouting falsehoods to the world that are obvious. The fact that we can see this kind of fraud, pushed down our throats, tells me that we have come to accept dishonesty as a practice. Companies like this prey on those that are paranoid - and that is a lot of people right now. Scary times.

The spooky season

As we come to the end of Halloween, I remembered working on South Street Philadelphia one spooky season. I would dress in nothing but a micro-thong with penis-pouch, paint myself silver, and walk up and down the street giving out flyers for a holiday store. I miss those days.

Down...

...in Baytown.
November 5 / 6, 2020
Image

PhotoCredit: Christopher Klein

I am down for 48 hours in Baytown TX. This is not my favorite place in the world. There is a Love's, a Flying J and a TA Travel stop, but the area is terrible. I tried to do some recruiting for Variant and was told to cease and desist by the local law enforcement. The same law enforcement that overlooked the panhandlers and hookers going truck to truck. I will not be setting down here again.

The state of the election

As of this morning, Biden took the lead in Georgia. Of course, the GOP is calling foul again and again, pulling everything that they can out of their hat, as always, within proof. They just can't believe that they could lose, if that happens. We are facing an amazing world right now, and not in a good way. I am curious to see what the next few weeks brings to the table.

Some good news

I am heading into my final week of financial decision making. Right now, I am rocking a 99.7% in the course. It has not been easy, but I am rising above and learning a lot, so that keeps things interesting. In about two weeks, I will be starting into my new Ethics course. I am looking forward to it.

David

When I was in high school, I was hanging out with my friends David and Al. David had a mini-bike that he was trying to get running. He had stolen it. When the cops came up, we all, knowing it was stolen, just stood there talking, ignoring the bike. Since none of us even glanced at it while the cop was questioning us, they could not do anything. But it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life as yet at that tender age.

The good...

...and the bad.
November 7 / 10, 2020
A Random Tree

PhotoCredit: Christopher Klein

The photo

There is going to be some good, some bad and some ugly in this post, so I wanted to start out with a nice autumn tree. I snapped this while I was loading at a dock. Since a nice looking tree.

The Political world

I really thought that Mr. Trump was going to pull some magic out of his butt and find a way to steal the election. He would come up with some magic cure for CoVid that he found under his bed, or make peace with invaders from space, or something like that. But that did not happen. Biden and Harris are the team-elect. Of course, Trump is doing his normal whine like a baby, kick his feet and scream baby thing, but that was to be expected. I have spent the better part of three days listening to the opinions of the left, the right and those that stand in the middle. Right now, I am guarded. I have never liked Biden; thought he was too wishy washy, but I am willing to give him a chance. Just like I did with Obama, just like I did with Trump. Right now, it is a one for one, Obama excelled, Trump...well... he's trump.

Health and school and work and all

I am in my final week of class and still rocking well over a 97. I have one more paper to go and then that class is a thing of the past, and I am on to ethics. Fun times. The heath is rocking. I have not had as much time to exercise and meditate as I normally like, but that has been environmental I think. I have been very tired and lethargic on my down-time. I am pretty sure it is a type of burnout. But when I am working, I am fine. I have had a lot of downtime lately with a couple break-downs and then some slow-roll runs. Right now, I am headed into Port Washington WI. And I was given 48 hours to get there. It's just a bit over 500 miles. Not good.

Updates

I have put my political book on the back burner for right now, seeing how the Biden / Harris team do. So I am shifting gears over to "the Shack" I think. We shall see. I have managed, almost two weeks into the month, to update the main Triumph page and the Journey page so they point to the right things. And I am working on my social media prenences for my Variant operations. I find it hard to believe that I have sent more than 100 people over to Variant and not one of them was hired. Hmmm.

The Ice Queen

I dated a women that was mentally unstable. She was not dangerous, but she was so medicated that she could barely feel the world around her. But she could, in a moment of culinary passion, polish off a whole chocolate cake in undre two minutes. It was amazing to watch.

The wheel turns...

...let it turn.
November 11 / 15, 2020
Petro At Night

PhotoCredit: Christopher Klein

Petro At Night

During my travels I had to set down late at night. I found a Petro near Marion IL and pulled in. The parking lot was a mess. A lot of construction and such, but the funniest thing was this giant puddle in front of the fuel islands. Care for a swim?

A few days...

The wheel is always in motion, even when we do not want it to be. I have been away from home for a very long time, and it is grating on me. It is making me bone weary. And in a few days, I will get two days home. I am not sure that it is going to be enough to hold back the darkness within. This is not an evil darkness, it is the darkness that presses in from the fringes, like a constricting knot within. It would be better if I was in run run run mode, but this tour out, that is not what happened.

So what did happen?

Fleet management is excellent with Variant. But they are still human beings, and there are some cycles that it is just hard to break out of. For the past six weeks, and a bit before, I have been stuck in the Eastern Corridor. Runs that are between 400 and 600 miles. And normally, that would be okay, because the computer tends to stack runs. As you drop one run, the next run is ready for you. But for a few weeks, that has failed. I have had 24 or more hours between runs, or worse, runs that give me 500 miles, and 48 hours, with a scheduled delivery time and no early delivery. This has made me sit on my butt for a lot of time, and that is a lot of lost money. It is frustrating. This has just been a frustrating tour. I finally took the time and discussed the issues that have been happening with Fleet, and they agree that something looks "hinky". On Monday, they are going to review the information and take steps. The final straw was an unscheduled 34 hour break, much caused by traffic conditions headed over to Ohio and then a failed pickup. I got irritated, but made it home for hometime and a new light on the situation.

Home Time

I get 48 hours home and then I am back on the road for at least another six weeks. While I am here, I have a lot of things to get done, including a new class. My final grade in my Financial Decision making class is about 93.7%. I took a big hit with my final project because I simply could not get my thoughts to come into focus. But that is behind me now. On to Ethics. What fun. I eye-balled the course and was able to get my introduction and first post into place for week 1. But this is going to be a fun, if not difficult, course. I should learn a lot.

Tempus...

...Fugit.
November 16 / 30, 2020

The Update

Time flies. As you can see, it has been more than a week since my last update. This is because I got back on the road, away from home-time about that time, and since then, I have been running my tail feathers off. But that is okay, a 3300 mile week, and I am set down at the end of my 34-hour break in Neosho, MO. Fun times.

The State of ME

I have not been doing so well since I got back on the road. I am pretty sure that it is environmental stress. I just can’t seem to get my wheels under me. My creativity has slipped to a null, the state of the CoVid-19 pandemic is boarding on biblical, the transition was just resolved yesterday, two weeks late. And I am in a constant state of short grumpiness. But I look forward to brighter days. I am just not sure when they will come. Part of the problem is that with the pandemic, I am pretty sure that we are not going to be able to do our Colorado trip in February. It is just not going to be safe. And when you have to say that about the world, we are in strange times. I would really like to get that move into motion, but you have to swing with the times.

The Political State

I have actually managed to stay out of politics for the past 7 or so days, mostly because the world is a powder keg. The slightest comment, for or against the current situation, can send John And Jill America off on some crusade to destroy you. It is annoying. Trump refuses to concede the situation and recognize Biden as the winner. He brings lawsuit after lawsuit, in multiple states. But the funny thing is that he tweets about the wide-spread corruption and voter fraud, while his legal team stand before judges and say no such things, in fact, they offer no evidence at all. It is a dog and pony show, and the world knows it, but they still stand behind him, about 50% of the American people. I simply don’t understand. Yesterday, the GSA finally stated Biden as the President Elect, and now he can do his future job. But that is two wasted weeks while a pandemic rages out of control. It is sad.

The flight of the muse

As I put in my introduction, my creative muse has abandoned me. I can no longer look at a blank page and fill it in my mind. For now, I have put my Fixing America project on the back burner. I really thought that Trump was going to cheat his way to a second term and there would be a place for it. But it is time to sit back and watch. I look through my dozens of short story ideas and my novel ideas, and nothing will come. I am pretty sure it has to do with my mood.

The State of Variant

I plunge forward with Variant. I have talked to hundreds of people, literally, but none of them are biting. Companies are highly competitive right now, and even with holiday perks, it is hard to recruit people away from what they have. I did get a notice today that Variant is buying all drivers on the road for Thanksgiving a meal. Up to $20, just submit the receipt. But I have good noms in the truck. I will have to think about it. I am about to break into my second week on the road, headed to Dallas TX and then who knows where. I continue to try to recruit, but it seems hopeless. However, I never give up without a fight.

School and beyond

School is okay. I finished my finance course and I have moved into an ethics course. I did very well in finance, and figured that Ethics would be a hoot, but there is that creative muse thing. It is pounding me down and I am doing the minimums to carry an A. I really need to get past that. As for what is coming, I am doing my daily mediations, getting too much sleep and working on the old brain. Hopefully, this week will be better.

The beginning

Did you know that I started in the work world when I was eleven years old? Yep, I worked on a farm as a farm hand. And I have worked since then, with little downtime. I think I am due for rest.