Well once again its good to hear from you I always like to read what you post. Being an owner/op how do you pick a shop to fix your truck? What I mean is do you have someone you trust to fix what needs fixing on your time off that you trust? For example I own an 03 accord which I commute with to work. The rate at Wal-mart to change the oil is about 16 bucks but at my favorite place TOYOTECH its 24 bucks. I'll gladly spend the 8 bucks knowing someone that gives a damn is working on my car not some flunky that could give a rats ass. I'm sure being an owner op it has to be the same thing. Yes I could save 8 bucks by going to Wal-Mart but do I really trust them..? Uh-no! Spending an extra 8 dollars is worth it to me knowing the job is done right. What savings would that be if some flunky didn't put oil in my engine and I blew it up down the road..Big savings huh?..Your pal VM-out!
You bring up a good point, VM. It's often a better deal to pay more for quality than to pay *lots* more for lack of quality. I've had several instances where a mechanic's lack of ability or outright negligence cost me severely in time wasted and extra repairs. The problem with us O/O drivers, especially the ones who free-wheel all over the country like ourselves, is that we're never sure where our downtime will be. So we can't really keep any dedicated mechanics, let alone good ones we can trust. Mechanics like to have steady business, and they can count on that with the larger local carriers. But a single-truck operation doing coast-to-coast hauling is not very appealing to anyone. So it ends up being kind of a crap shoot. The next time you hear someone talking about how much money O/O's make, remind them about this little wrinkle. It's one of many little details that can end up hitting you real hard in the pocketbook. Fortunately, there are other factors that enter into the equation, which we have a lot more control over, and so we're still able to come out ahead...
I have found myself *really* enjoying a break from the details. I guess things were a little more stressful than I realized, because it has been so easy to do absolutely nothing for several days now. At first I struggled with some guilt, but now I have no regrets. I'm looking forward to a fresh start at the beginning of the next month. (One of the advantages of being an O/O is that sometimes you can vanish from sight for a time.) Atlas had some reloads to run by me, but they needed to start loading too soon. To explain, first you have the vacation time itself. But after that, you have all the repairs and other things that were put on hold in order to set up the vacation. Since the repairs, etc. still need to be done after the vacation ends, and since they've been put off for quite a while now, we need more time for these things. And considering that it took 4 or 5 days just to get a water pump replaced, a list of *several* repairs could take the same amount of time very easily, depending on the abilities and availability of the mechanic(s) we hire.
Here's some comments from the last post:
Long time no-post its good to hear from you once again. As for forgiving please forgive me for going off the deep end once a while with my non-stop ranting. I am wishing you and your the best. VM-out!
My prayer is that God will bless your marriage. I have been following you guy for some time now and have always admired your relationship. Thinking all the while it must be difficult living out your marriage kooped-up in a truck all the time. It would be hard at best cruising in a motor home on vacation but cruising the country and working day after day would be tuff on the best of relationships. I could imagine there could be a tremendous counseling need for couples that truck together. I have been thinking about starting a second careerer as a truck driver, my wife does not want to drive but said she would like to travel with me...Needless to say this is why I have been watching you guys. It would be cool to meet you some time. Any way thanks for being real and sharing your life with others. I am sure your story helps others in the same boat (or truck). P.S. I love your podcast
(The above quote was from "jn")
Thanks for the good wishes, VM. Believe me, se
Okay, love forgives all. It wipes the slate clean. And as much as I want to hold a grudge sometimes (O.J. Simpson, Hillary CLinton, Bill Clinton, the entire United States Federal Government, etc., etc. [the list can just go on and on...]), I am bound by my own professed beliefs to forgive. *Unconditionally*. Because every day I wake up is a day that I screw up in some small or great way. And if I'm going to count on forgiveness for my own constant failures, how can I hold onto a grudge against another fellow failer? Notice, I did not say "Failure"! Nobody fails who has the honest desire to succeed. But this world is hard-wired for failing [in the present, but not in the big picture], even among the highest examples of humanity. Did Ghandi succeed? Or Buddha? Muhammed? Martin Luther King? John F. Kennedy? Bobby Kennedy? "Mother" Theresa? Or, to the possible offense of many of my Christian brothers and sisters around the country, Jesus himself? To be honest, Jesus *did* succeed, actually far beyond what many evengelicals, charismatics, pentacostals, etc. could presently understand. But He has failed to change things in a dynamically tangible way, that people can "latch onto" and say, "See, here's the evidence. God is surely at work in His creation." They make up all sorts of things to try to invoke His presence, not understanding that His presence is there, tangible or not...
Okay. All this to say, I must forgive Karen as much or more than she must forgive me. For if we are children of the King, then forgiveness is unconditional in every way. Hey, y'all, check it out. I *want* to be a child of the King. So I have no choice. I *must* forgive. So, if anyone understands this wonderful truth, then they say "Forgive, forgive, forgive, and *never* stop forgiving!" This is the message we need to understand, my brothers. If we can accept it, then we will find a wonderful, new fellowship that will cause the very foundations of this world to tremble. Why hold a grudge, that saps all your strength and makes it so hard to find pleasure in the things you do?
Yes, I have a problem forgiving sometimes, but am I forgiving everyone now? Yes. 100 percent! Because my own forgiveness amounts to 110 percent! There's a book that was written called "I'm Okay, You're Okay", but someone needs to write a new book titled, "I'm screwed up, and You're screwed up, but someone else is gonna make it all work out!"
And this is where evolution breaks, down, of course. For many reasons.
But there *is* someone who makes it all work out *NO MATTER WHAT*!!!
(If you want to know, I'll gladly tell you. Otherwise, ino problemo!)
Onto the subjects at hand:
We have a double feature of "What's My Twenty?" Okay, ---Jeff--- and many of our other road savvy commrades. Here's the first one for ya, which ya either know or ya don't:
Okay, here's another one for ya...
This one is a famous landmark that was magically transported from one continent to another. Now, why someone wanted to do this is kind of a mystery to me, but I guess when you get someone with lots of bucks who finds something that's a bargain (even before e-Bay), and has the funds to do an incredible feat of repositioning, they just can't resist. Let me know whatcha think this thing is...
And for a little extra fun, here's a Google satellite image of our own agency in Southern California, of which the southeastern third of the building is occupied by another agent which shall remain nameless...
Otherwise, I'm just kinda makin' it here in berry town. Things aren't real good, but thay've sucked a whole lot worse before. I really needed some time to chill, being under the gun 24/7 for a couple of months. there wasn't much pressure from the top, but it can still take its toll. shouts out to vm and se
