Just A Spoon Full of Sugar.....OR....a Starbucks Frappuccino

You ever have one of those days....dumb question.
Well, we've had one. If you read the following post, you'll hear me in a nostalgic, slightly "woe is me" mood. That was written on the way to our next load.
But let me back up and tell you about the past few days.

Like I mention in the following post...its time to go home. Week three....we're both reaching the end of our rope. Time to go home, but we stretch it out to four weeks because thats the responsible thing to do...that also allows us to stay home longer. Plus:
1. the truck needs to go to the shop in Billings to have a couple of things done.
2. it was time to replace the steer tires on the truck, and we had a trailer tire go bad, so we had to stop and do that on the road, instead of waiting till we got home....where its cheaper
3. the computer, as you may have heard, has been possessed by an evil force, and I need to get home to my software to do battle
4. On a good note we sold our older hopper trailer this week and the guy came to get it yesterday. But then we found out it's going to be 2-3 weeks before the check clears and we were worried that it might be a forgery, even though its a bank draft, and now we have to wait so long. Kind of depressing.
5. I'm totally uninterested in the books I have with me to read.
6. There's other things that escape my mind, but thats good...why dwell on them?

There have been a list of things in the last few days that were irritants or just not going right, and we're both ready for a break.
This morning was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. The back hopper was full so we backed up to fill the front hopper, and apparently he hadn't looked to see if we cleared the back auger that was hanging out over the runway, and....well.....I kind of backed into it and it ripped the end cap on the trailer. I don't have a picture, but lets just say its like a foot and a half wide and it covers the tail end of the hopper and it was ripped in two and crushed downward. Its basically what the tarp rests on at the back and it keeps things sealed up and water tight....or at least it used to.

So being at the end of the rope, and the rope is frayed beleive me, Malcolm called Mark, our broker, to tell him we need to get towards Billings to get the trailer fixed (and go home because that was the last straw) and besides that, his medical card expires the 30th so he has to get in for his DOT physical. To which Mark replyed that there isnt' anything going to Montana....at all....until July sometime.
All four of us kind of withered right there.

And after about an hour of being really frustrated over the whole going home thing and working on the trailer (pounding on the trailer with a hammer, wedging it with a pipe, and using that all powerful tool......a roll of duct tape) we're fairly water tight again and thinking that maybe this is a good thing (sorta?), because we would have just gone home, but we really ought to be responsible and stay out at least another week. And on top of that....maybe since we now know that going home isn't actually a possibility right now, even if we decided to...maybe it won't be such a nag in our mind.

Things continued.....We called the receiver of this load and they said it was unloading by appointment only, except the appointment setter was out and would have to call us back..hasn't happened yet and its almost closing time. Then we get north towards Sacremento, and shock of all shocks....a traffic jam...in California? No way! Beleive it! Expect Delays of 45 Minutes.

Well, when things are bad, they eventually look up. We nursed our wounded spirits. We stopped to get a little fuel. While Malcolm was getting fuel I walked across the parking lot for Starbucks (the second one of the day) because I NEEDED it. We both did. And I blissfully ordered two drinks, feeling satisfied in doing something so enjoyable as standing in a Starbucks listening to the whine of the espresso machine and admiring the choices of mugs available (and trying to forget that Malcolm was across the way pumping fuel into the truck...as little fuel as possible because it was $4.92 a gallon and we just got enough to get us out of California and into Nevada where its SO much cheaper...only $4.87!)

Mary Poppins said a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down. Well, we had a lot of bad medicine this morning, but since I'm 30 and not 3, I pass on the spoon full of sugar and followed our medicine with a Starbucks Caffe Vanilla Frappuccino. Ahh....I feel so much better already, and the bad taste of the medicine dissappeared quickly.

While sipping my little drink of sugar, I was playing around with the computer and discovered a way to trick the internet into not shutting down on me when I try and post pictures to my blog. (take that you fiend that has possessed my laptop companion), and so ...though the computer problem isn't fixed....I've been emptying my mind of its stored up things that have needed to spew forth the last couple of days. They are saved for an uninspired day, so I'll have something to put up on the blog.

Ok, so we're feeling much better, and...provided we can get past the scale in Sacremento without a ticket because we are a LITTLE over weight (the truck, not me....don't go there), its looking like a better day.

Curses....another traffic jam...and its not even rush hour yet!