It's not the one I was looking at, but it's actually better!
This is a small company doing contract hauling. There is plenty of freight, good pay, benefits are acceptable but nothing really special and the only real bad feature is that they currently slip-seat their drivers. But for the kind of money they pay their drivers, I will put up with that little inconvenience. In a few years, I might even have enough money saved to buy my own rig and then no more slip-seating. I can dream, right?!
We are still moving up to Dallas; my wife is very excited to be doing that. She is actively looking at places in the area of my job. Her job is portable and thus she can move it anywhere and still be okay.
Our combined income will be enough to pay our outstanding bills, cover a few wants/needs like finishing my teeth, LASIK for me, a health club membership for her, maybe a new car for her and that RV we've been dreaming of for years!
I am still going to complete my resolution list and this is a big part of it. Next up, get off the cowboy killers! Starting tomorrow!
More updates as they come!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
It's been a while again
I quit my last company on November 20, 2009. It is now January 2010 and I'm looking at several new companies.
I've narrowed the search to one and I'm in the process of applying. This will fulfill my #1 New Year's resolution: Get a better job.
Next up: Stop smoking!
Obviously, I will not identify the new company any more than I did the last one for security reasons. Plus I don't want to get fired!
I am looking forward to driving for a company that treats their drivers as more than an expense. I am also looking forward to larger paychecks. I have such a long wish list of things to spend it on. My wife wants an RV, I want a new motorcycle and some stick time in a plane, which I haven't had since 1999. Yeah, I really want that!
We want to move up to Dallas by the summer and that'll take some serious dough but I need to get out of El Paso. I hate life here. It's too far from anything else and I'm hoping that I can find better doctors in Dallas. Here, there's not a lot of choice and a month waiting list to see them.
My health is improving daily. I've gained weight again, I look MUCH better, my guts are in remission, my thyroid seems to be controlled and I have more energy than I used to. Most importantly, I FEEL good!
I've been goofing off around the house for the most part these past two months. I have gotten my honey-do list caught up, done some things I've been meaning to do, survived another Christmas season, spent enough quality time with my wife (even though she wants more) and generally investigated the darkest corners of the internet. Made some new online friends, reconnected with some old ones, and enjoyed them both.
But.
I'm getting stir crazy here. I'm itching for the open road, to feel the wheel in my hand again. I miss the challenge of delivering a load to some place I've never been before. To meet new people, see some cool trucks, have some new experiences; that is the essence of professional driving. The old-timers called it White Line Fever. I agree. I need to get back to work and not just for the money. I need to feel useful again! I'm sick and tired of just being chief cook and bottle washer and personal chauffeur to my wife. I liked being off for a while but I need to work.
My wife says she makes enough to support us. And she does. But she has to work long, irregular hours to do it. And we can't afford sudden surprises or luxuries. My income is for the luxuries that we want, as opposed to need. RVs are nice to have, but if you can't afford to buy fuel or pay insurance, they are useless. And we'd like to take a few driving tours through the US someday. To run Route 66 from east to west perhaps. See the old towns, the kitschy places that you don't see from the superslabs. We want to hit county fairs and flea markets. We want to meet interesting people and be able to share a pot of coffee and nice conversation with whomever we want. We can't do that from our front porch.
I could stay home. My wife only needs help around the house. Someone to wash dishes, move sofas, wash the dogs, run errands for her so she can concentrate on work. I'm just not that domestic. I'm a trucker and that means I gotta keep moving! I must have some gypsy blood in me.
Personally, I want a few thousand in the bank so we can take an annual vacation for a month. Go someplace new and interesting and camp there. Drive around in the car and visit stuff. Take a bunch of pictures so she can put them in albums. This way, when we're old and gray and sitting on our rockers, we can take out the albums and remember. To be able to say we were there and did that, not that we WISH we'd been there and done that. I don't want to waste any more time; I'm over 40 already. Where did the time go? Seems only yesterday I was turning 30 and still full of life. 40 seemed a lifetime away. Now, not so much.
Anyway, there are some big changes for us this year. We're going to improve our lot in life. We're going to buy that RV. We will start driving places in it. We'll start small, to get the feel for it by going to places close to home for a week. Then move up. I *will* return to the air. I'm most at home when I'm flying free above the clouds. I might even buy myself an old, used airplane if I can. Something to putter around in. Go for a long trip now and then. Just pack up the wife, put the dogs in a kennel and head off to wherever. Rent a car when we're there, get a hotel and see that place, much like RVing but without the portable hotel room. And no dogs! I'll miss them, of course. But they do tend to tie one down a bit. So at least once in a while they get to spend time at the doggie spa and we get to go someplace for some alone time. No walks, no fights over a favored toy or the best nap spot. Just the two of us.
Won't that be nice?
Until next time!
I've narrowed the search to one and I'm in the process of applying. This will fulfill my #1 New Year's resolution: Get a better job.
Next up: Stop smoking!
Obviously, I will not identify the new company any more than I did the last one for security reasons. Plus I don't want to get fired!
I am looking forward to driving for a company that treats their drivers as more than an expense. I am also looking forward to larger paychecks. I have such a long wish list of things to spend it on. My wife wants an RV, I want a new motorcycle and some stick time in a plane, which I haven't had since 1999. Yeah, I really want that!
We want to move up to Dallas by the summer and that'll take some serious dough but I need to get out of El Paso. I hate life here. It's too far from anything else and I'm hoping that I can find better doctors in Dallas. Here, there's not a lot of choice and a month waiting list to see them.
My health is improving daily. I've gained weight again, I look MUCH better, my guts are in remission, my thyroid seems to be controlled and I have more energy than I used to. Most importantly, I FEEL good!
I've been goofing off around the house for the most part these past two months. I have gotten my honey-do list caught up, done some things I've been meaning to do, survived another Christmas season, spent enough quality time with my wife (even though she wants more) and generally investigated the darkest corners of the internet. Made some new online friends, reconnected with some old ones, and enjoyed them both.
But.
I'm getting stir crazy here. I'm itching for the open road, to feel the wheel in my hand again. I miss the challenge of delivering a load to some place I've never been before. To meet new people, see some cool trucks, have some new experiences; that is the essence of professional driving. The old-timers called it White Line Fever. I agree. I need to get back to work and not just for the money. I need to feel useful again! I'm sick and tired of just being chief cook and bottle washer and personal chauffeur to my wife. I liked being off for a while but I need to work.
My wife says she makes enough to support us. And she does. But she has to work long, irregular hours to do it. And we can't afford sudden surprises or luxuries. My income is for the luxuries that we want, as opposed to need. RVs are nice to have, but if you can't afford to buy fuel or pay insurance, they are useless. And we'd like to take a few driving tours through the US someday. To run Route 66 from east to west perhaps. See the old towns, the kitschy places that you don't see from the superslabs. We want to hit county fairs and flea markets. We want to meet interesting people and be able to share a pot of coffee and nice conversation with whomever we want. We can't do that from our front porch.
I could stay home. My wife only needs help around the house. Someone to wash dishes, move sofas, wash the dogs, run errands for her so she can concentrate on work. I'm just not that domestic. I'm a trucker and that means I gotta keep moving! I must have some gypsy blood in me.
Personally, I want a few thousand in the bank so we can take an annual vacation for a month. Go someplace new and interesting and camp there. Drive around in the car and visit stuff. Take a bunch of pictures so she can put them in albums. This way, when we're old and gray and sitting on our rockers, we can take out the albums and remember. To be able to say we were there and did that, not that we WISH we'd been there and done that. I don't want to waste any more time; I'm over 40 already. Where did the time go? Seems only yesterday I was turning 30 and still full of life. 40 seemed a lifetime away. Now, not so much.
Anyway, there are some big changes for us this year. We're going to improve our lot in life. We're going to buy that RV. We will start driving places in it. We'll start small, to get the feel for it by going to places close to home for a week. Then move up. I *will* return to the air. I'm most at home when I'm flying free above the clouds. I might even buy myself an old, used airplane if I can. Something to putter around in. Go for a long trip now and then. Just pack up the wife, put the dogs in a kennel and head off to wherever. Rent a car when we're there, get a hotel and see that place, much like RVing but without the portable hotel room. And no dogs! I'll miss them, of course. But they do tend to tie one down a bit. So at least once in a while they get to spend time at the doggie spa and we get to go someplace for some alone time. No walks, no fights over a favored toy or the best nap spot. Just the two of us.
Won't that be nice?
Until next time!
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