Go See Gran Torino

Go see the movie Gran Torino. If you have not seen the Clint Eastwood movie, Gran Torino , I urge you to go see it. It is in theaters everywhere at the time of this writing. If you are reading this much later, I would urge you to buy the DVD when it comes out. But if you can go see it with others in a big screen setting, the audience reactions to the movie adds a dimension that you wouldn't get just watching it at home on DVD.

Terry and I went to see it last night here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where we have been sitting waiting on a load since yesterday morning when we delivered our last load (which we picked up in Brownsville, in The Great State of Texas).

Okay, let's get this part out of the way: there is a lot of profanity and a little violence in the movie. However, I would say, even if those things normally disturb you on some level for whatever reason, go see this movie.

On a scale of 10, 10 being the best, I give this movie a 10 very easily. Wonderful story, great character played by Eastwood. Most of the folks in the movie are not professional actors, and it's obvious, but for the kind of movie this is, it is not a bad thing, in my opinion.

I won't get into a detailed review of the movie – you can read plenty of reviews on the net that are better than what I would write, but no matter what reviews you read or don't read, just go see this movie.

I can't say it any plainer than that.

Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We picked up our load in Illinois last Thursday morning and delivered it to Laredo, Texas with no problems. The truck is running okay, and the weather was good all the way to Texas.

From Laredo, we drove down to Brownsville, to pick up our next load. It was the first time I'd ever been all the way down to Brownsville, the southern-most point in Texas. When you get to Brownsville, if you go one way, you're in the Gulf of Mexico. If you go the other way, you're in Mexico.

I loved going down there. It's the kind of place I'd think about living if I ever decide to actually get a place other than the truck to live most of the time.

The load we picked up in Brownsville was going over to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We delivered that load yesterday morning, and we have been just sitting here waiting for our next load. At least we are not stopped this time because of weather or truck problems. It's just a result of the slow economy.

I heard an update from Schneider on the current freight situation. Basically, and ironically, it said that everywhere the weather stinks, freight is good, and where the weather is better, freight is softest. So, we are in a very soft market for freight. We probably won't get a load until Monday – that's my thought. And I think we'll have to drive a long way to pick it up.

At this point, just get us moving.

Now – go see Gran Torino.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

"Go To California -- Just Kidding!" :--}

“ Just click your heels three times.” Well. We are not in Davenport any longer. We are in our own truck. And it appears to be running.

When I last wrote, we were waiting on the Freightliner shop in Davenport to fix what they didn't fix at the Schneider maintenance shop in Gary, Indiana, when the truck was there for a week.

Monday afternoon, we called and they told us it was ready. So we pack up all our stuff, and Terry takes the hotel shuttle to pick up the truck, only 5 miles away. A while later, he arrived, and told me that the truck was doing exactly the same thing it had been doing before, and he didn't think he was even going to make it to the hotel.

So, right back he goes. We unpack our stuff, and settle in to wait some more.

Finally, yesterday afternoon, we called, and they told us they had replaced a range modulator on the actual transmission (this was a mechanical problem and not just some kind of electronic computer problem like everyone thought but Terry and me). Sure enough, we picked up the truck last night, and it's been running well since then.

“ Here. Take this load to California.” “Ah, just kidding!” So, we pick up our truck in Davenport, Iowa, last night, check out of the hotel, and we are ready to go. We let Schneider know we are ready to actually do some driving.

It took a couple of hours, but finally the load came through. We were to go over to Normal, Illinois, and pick up a load going to California, but it wasn't going to be ready until this afternoon at 3:00 pm. So Terry drove until we stopped about 20 miles away from the place, where we parked for the night.

It was snowing and the temperatures were cold enough to make me glad we were on our way to Otay, California. Our strategy was to call this morning to see if the load might be ready earlier than 3:00 pm.

So, about 7:30 this morning, I called them.

Could we pick up the load early? Would it be ready before 3:00 pm?

“ Well, normally you could. But there isn't enough freight for a load on this order, so we are cancelling the load.”

“ Cancelling the load going to California. You're sure?”

“ Oh yes. Quite sure.”

“ Thank you.”

All dressed up with nowhere to go. So now our truck is running again, but we have no load.

So we wait. And wait.

Terry wakes up sometime around 11:00 and asks how it's going. I tell him what's happened to our load, and he can't believe it either. Nothing to do but go back to sleep.

Finally, close to noon, we get another load. Picking up in Effingham, Illinois, about 150 miles from where we were, and it's going to (yay!) Laredo, Texas. As good as California to us.

It won't be ready until 3:30 in the morning, so I drove to the Flying J truck stop here in Effingham, and we are about 2 miles from the place. If they don't cancel this load, we're on our way to Texas.

Now, if we can remember how to drive the truck, we will be in good shape.

Movies and videos. While we were in the hotel in Davenport, I watched some TV. More than I've watched in months. We saw some good movies and some so-so movies, and I got to watch some episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond and Friends I hadn't seen before. Quite relaxing.

The best movie we saw was one we ordered on pay-per-view: Body of Lies, starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe. It was great.

Another movie we ordered that we had high hopes for that was only mediocre was What Just Happened? with Robert Dinero.

A movie I watched on a movie channel I had never even heard of was called Vacancy and it was an entertaining horror flick. Not a lot of depth, but at the time I watched it, I wasn't looking for depth, so that was fine with me.

We also watched the two-night opening episodes of the new season of 24 , and already I can't wait to be able to get the DVD's when they are released later this year or next year.

Reading. I finished Shadow of the Sun by A. S. Byatt earlier today, and started A Confederacy of Dunces which I've been meaning to read for years. The Byatt novel was fascinating and enjoyable. And many thanks to Terry for Dunces.

I'm reading some other stuff also, as always, but that's the main focus right now.

The World Tour of Music continues. Today was John Denver day, and that continues tomorrow. Didn't know I had so much John Denver, but it's all enjoyable.

As I write this entry, I'm listening to Larry Norman . . . not part of the World Tour, just something I felt like listening to.

That's about it for now, I suppose.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility

Allan

Musical Trucks

UPDATE:If you read this entry in the past day or two, there's an update below. If you haven't read, it you won't believe it!

Are we on Candid Camera ? Okay. Any moment now, Allen Funt is going to come around a corner and tell us they've been messing with us for the past month, with Schneider's permission, and we'll smile like good sports into the camera, and it will all be over. Our lives will return to normal.

Or, it will be like the wonderfully funny (and thought-provoking) book by Robert Heinlein (if you like science fiction and you haven't read him, where have you been?), Job: A Comedy of Justice , where the gods are playing practical jokes on their followers and laughing at their demented cruelty. There is a similar scene in one of the Hitchhiker series books by absurdist genius Douglas Adams.

Musical trucks. Last time I wrote, we were in Gary, Indiana, where our truck was in the shop because of transmission problems. We have had this truck almost two years, and have had major transmission problems four times.

We have broken down in Eufaula, Oklahoma, and Los Angeles. And last year, when I was driving solo in that truck, I broke down in morning rush hour traffic in Cincinnati. And, this week, in Wisconsin.

Our truck was not finished on Monday, so we had to leave in the borrowed truck Monday morning to deliver our load to California on time. We made it with no problems, and the weather was great.

However, this truck (also an automatic transmission) has been acting really weird every time we backup.

From California, we got a load to Dallas. Our truck is ready up in Gary, so they will eventually route us up there if they can ever find a truck that will make it up there.

We arrived here in Dallas about midnight. Park the trailer, and when we stop, the dash starts flashing fault codes for the transmission – there's a problem. So, we let Schneider know that our borrowed truck is having transmission problems and we have a load to deliver over in Grand Prairie in the morning at 7:30.

They find yet another truck here in Dallas for us to use to deliver the load in the morning. Meanwhile, the borrowed truck we picked up in Gary will go into the shop here in Dallas in the morning.

The truck we will use in the morning belongs to a guy who is on vacation. So we will deliver the load in the morning, bring that truck back and sit here until they get the second truck fixed. I will absolutely refuse to get into a fourth truck if they press for that.

So, as I sit, sleepless because of all this excitement, in the Schneider Operating Center in Dallas, Texas, I have stuff scattered in three different trucks.

The bright side. If I sound negative the past few entries about all the things that have happened to us, I apologize. It's really hilarious at times, and Terry and I both joke about the past month every day, sort of looking back over our shoulders to make sure the boogeyman isn't right behind us.

That aside, it's been the most stressful month I can remember in several years (probably since my divorce and subsequent final breakup with my precious ex-wife, Charlotte).

But, since we left Gary, Indiana, we have had great weather, great driving conditions, and all the way to California, Terry and I relaxed back into a somewhat normal routine, even though we were in a borrowed truck, and had the minimal necessities for life on the road with us.

And, then, even though they didn't send us right away back to Gary from California, they sent us to Texas. There is no place either of us would rather go (excepting to visit our families) than Texas. And, all the way here from California, we had great weather, good roads, beautiful country.

So, the past few days have reminded me once again why I love this job and this life, even with all the hassles of the past month.

Beyond that, Terry and I both realize that in the big picture, this past month is nothing momentous: we are safe, making money, haven't been in any accidents, and we've both learned things that we will be able to use in the future, especially in severe winter conditions.

But we still want the joke to end. NOW.

World Tour of Music continues. I think I mentioned a few entries ago that I am going through my music collection, alphabetically, to hear everything I've got. I'm in the letter J now.

Today was typical: finished listening to stuff by Jerusalem (one of my favorite Christian rock bands); then Jesse Coulter; Jessica Simpson; Jewel; Jimi Hendrix; Jimmie C. Neuman; Jo Dee Messina; and I'm in the middle of the legendary Joan Baez.

I'm enjoying this little diversion immensely.

And so, this part of the story ends.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

Allan

UPDATE: It is two days later. Sunday. We finally picked our truck up last night in Gary, Indiana, moved all our stuff from the loaner truck we'd been in for a week, and headed for Iowa City, Iowa, to pick up our next load that was going to North Carolina.

Just over 100 miles into the trip, I woke up when Terry pulled into a rest area.

He told me the truck had started doing the same thing it was doing before, only it was worse this time. Whatever they had done in Gary had not solved anything.

We made it as far as Davenport, Iowa, before it got so bad Terry didn't feel like it was safe to continue. We called Schneider maintenance, and they had us take the truck to a Freightliner place here in Davenport, about 15 miles away. We got there, and they told it would be Monday morning before they could even look at it.

So, here we are in another motel in Davenport. It's actually a very nice place for the price. Terry is sleeping and I am sitting in the dark with the glow of this laptop screen for company.

We are both so frustrated and tired of these truck problems!

Our dispatcher told us last week that we are on the short list for a newer truck. In my mind, it just got shorter.

They took us off the load going North Carolina, of course.

So, here we are. I hope things are going better on your end.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' (if you can get wheels that will roll) . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

Photos From the Road on Flickr

Hello. The main object of this blog entry is to let you know that I've uploaded some photos from the road to Flickr.

Photos on Flickr! For several months, I've been wanting to go through the scores of pictures I've taken on the road, and put some up for the blog. The easiest way to do that is through a site called Flickr, so that's where they're at. They are in order according to the name, and I tried to name them so you'd know where they were taken and when.

You can go here to view them – just click on the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/allanmills2009

Let me know what you think.

Currently. Well, we finally got a load to California, and better weather yesterday. But, on the way over to the place just south of Milwaukee to pick up the load, our truck started having transmission problems. Schneider sent us down here to Gary to have it worked on, and they said they won't even be able to touch it until tomorrow (Monday). So, once again, we are in a motel.

If they don't get our truck done in time for us to deliver the load to California on time, we have a loaner truck we can use, but I didn't feel like dragging all my stuff from one truck to another, especially when we don't know how long we'd be stuck in the other truck before they sent us back to Gary to pick ours up, so we are hoping they have our truck fixed in time for us to deliver on time to LA.

So, our last month of breakdowns and winter weather continues into the new year.

Otherwise, things are going well.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

Allan

Happy New Year!

Currently. Last time I wrote, I was sitting in the truck in Hermiston, Oregon, because of weather. This New Year's Day, I'm sitting in the truck again, but this time it's in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We are sitting this time because we are waiting on Schneider to send us our next load. We could be here 10 minutes or we could be here a day. No way to know what the freight situation is like, even though I sent a message to our dispatcher earlier asking what it was like.

At least here in Scranton the sun is shining, and the roads are in good shape. The time since I last wrote was pretty much a continuation of the previous couple of weeks. Non-stop delays because of weather or truck problems. Terry and I both are so fatigued on so many levels, it's almost hard to describe.

But, even with that said, things are not so bad. We are both safe and we have learned some things the past few weeks that will help us in similar experiences in the future when dealing with winter conditions or truck problems.

Happy New Year! My main motivation for writing today is to wish you a Happy 2009. At the end of the year, my thoughts always turn reflective to examine the year just past, and to sort of chart some goals and intentions for the coming year.

So – what was 2008 like for you? What kind of year was it? What would you like to repeat in 2009, and what would you hope to never go through again? Did the election or the economic problems impact you very much? Did you grow personally, accomplish some things you wanted to accomplish? Are there mistakes that you hope to avoid in 2009?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the last year and the one coming up. E-mail me or post a comment. I always enjoy hearing from you.

2008: A Good Year. Looking back over the past year, I'd have to say it was a very good year for me, personally. I spent the year doing what I love doing, living the kind of life that I've chosen to live. The first eight months of the year, I enjoyed driving solo, valued my solitude, and experienced a lot of growth during that time. And, since August, I've enjoyed very much teaming with my best friend of 25 years (wow! We are getting to be old men, like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau! And sometimes we remind me of the two old guys sitting up in the balcony of the Muppet Show.), Terry.

I read more this year (either physical books, electronic books on my Palm, or audio books on tape or XM radio) than I have in many years; you can read about some of what I read in blog entries from the past year. Perhaps my favorite of all was the Life of [Samuel L.] Johnson by John Boswell.

I was able to make substantial progress with my debt, so that now, I'm looking at being able to pay off my car early, and that will enable me to do some nice things I wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

I've done more writing this past year than I've done in a few years, including working on a collection of short stories and writing my first song. Some of the best writing I did this year was in this blog (my opinion, of course), especially the entries for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day.

I think some things have become settled for me about who I am and how I view and live in the world this year that have been in some kind of process since I got sick in 2001. I have grown over the past year in ways that I've been hoping to do for several years now.

I am about as content and my life is about as simple as it's ever been.

Not bad for 2008. I'm hoping 2009 continues the same way.

Until next time . . . keep the wheels rollin' . . . making choices and taking responsibility . . .

Allan