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...My Life ... 35 hours on the bus
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Trip 7 - Back to TX, second trip in two
weeks. Delivering a GMC single axel with a refer box to TX Date July 10, 2003 There was a rumor that I would be going to FL with some other drivers to deliver some trucks to port. But the trucks didn't get ready on time and now have to wait until they can be booked on another ship. . ... But they did have another trip to TX if I wanted ... I should have told them what I wanted last week. After my last trip to TX I had decided I would let dispatch know that I was interested in anything going to AK or ME, having not heard of any drivers going there ... I figured those trips were rare. But when I showed up for my TX truck, one of the other drivers was heading to ME, so after the fact I told dispatch. Am working on some other things right now besides driving, so I'm not always paying attention to the details ... forgot to stop for cash and forgot my cap (something to cover my hair on the days I can't wash my hair) ... and I didn't pay close enough attention to the delivery location ... gotta learn to do that. One of the drivers was someone who I thought had been fired ... either for swearing at the boss or dropping a drive shaft by coasting down the hills in neutral. But she was back (she only lasted a week this time and before an executive from one of the companies we deliver trucks for happened to follow her ... guess he didn't like what he saw ... she will never be back.) ... This gal said some interesting things on our little ride, but those are for another site. Another one of those trips that would have been better if I could have picked up the truck at the office ... again a trip listed at over 20 hours, to be delivered in two days, and by the time I pick it up it is almost noon. Heading out my first stop is the Flying J in Des Moines ... I had fueled behind this odd sort of guy pulling a motor home, then when I went to use the rest room a waitress was following him down the hall telling him he had to pay for his meal before he left. Watching them is my excuse for what happened next. I didn't remember this rest room having doors on all the stalls, although I have now been in at least one that does have doors on the urinal ... But when someone walked out of one of the stalls and said "Excuse me" I knew what SHE was going to say next so I quickly left and used the other rest room. ... this has happened more than once, how many I would rather not say. I was trying to buy some time by stopping a few minutes and logging a full 15 but that didn't seem to be working, I wasn't gaining anything by the time I got back up to full speed on the freeway ... but now I think I have a better way ... it's called logging by miles. I wanted to get over halfway tonight, but that would put me in the middle of the I35 toll way. Didn't want to pull off the tollway and driving the full distance would put me way over my hours and miles. So I stopped at the Flying J the last exit before the toll ... I knew it was late so after I parked, I asked if anyone could fuel me yet tonight ... the last guy who could was still there, but he had punched out already so I told them I would wait until morning. The next guy who could fuel me would be in at 6 AM. I ate something but it was a long day and I don't remember what it was. It was busy for this time of the night and it looked like my waitress was supposed to be off the clock, but that would have only left a shift of one and two weren't keeping up very well. Now that I think about it, it was a Philly cheese steak sandwich I think. All day, or so it seemed I had been getting passed by vehicles towing other vehicles ... now at the Flying J I had caught up to some of them, there was at least a dozen and they seemed to be traveling together ... ?? There was an interesting drive-away driver at the stop ... driving a school bus, pulling a mini van ... for curtains he (I doubt it was a female) had his clothes on hangers all the way around the inside of his van 'blocking' the view for outsiders. What ever works I guess. Date July 11, 2003 Didn't sleep real well in this truck, it was hot but I was afraid the bugs would find me ... and even after I rolled the windows down there was no breeze. Then I heard raindrops, good, that ought to cool things down ... but it was the sprinkler system and I had to roll up one of my windows. I looked at the time a few times and soon it was 5:30 so I tried to wake and then used the rest room. By 5:45 I decided to be first in line for propane, and by the time I got in position the guy was there to fuel me, this would help in getting a good start this AM. Bought enough fuel to get a free shower ... yes I'm green at some of this and it must have shown ... because the cashier asked if I had ever used their showers before. When I was done with my shower and getting dressed I realize the T-shirt I had grabbed was from the driving division of our local vo-tech school. I know the guy who is in charge and he had given it to me at a transportation expo. But ... it could come in handy if I get caught doing something really stupid, otherwise I would throw a button up shirt over it whenever I got out of the truck. Halfway through the tollway I stopped for McD's ... man I miss fast food ... no one pre-makes their food. If I was in a rush, I used to be able to look at what was on the shelve and order and be out the door. Now you have to wait for everything. I ordered and it took mine forever as did the food for the guy ahead of me ... but for some reason when our orders came up, I got a free apple pie for my wait and the other guy didn't ... ahhh the little perks in life. Next stop was Flying J in Oklahoma City ... glad it wasn't 123 degree's like last week, only 100, or 90 plus anyway. By the time someone came out to fuel me, someone else was waiting. They said they would wait, they were on the clock, but I insisted ... good thing I did, that pump was sssslow. By now I should have looked at a map, my computer print out said take the next tollway west and I had decided not to. I knew Midland was on I20 and that I20 went through Dallas, what else is there to know??? (how many extra miles it would take for one) Having just been this way last week I was ready for the unmarked intersections by Dallas. If I had looked at a map I would have known to take the bypass or not ... I hadn't so I didn't. Then I hit I30, now I couldn't remember for sure which highway it was ... I20 or I30 that I was to be on ... after a few miles and no signs saying "Abline ## miles" I stopped to look at a map. I should have taken the bypass, and taking I30 would run me into I20 in a few more miles ... but I still did not look at the milage ... just knew I had traveled so many miles, and how many should be left (had I gone the way the computer routed me). At some point I picked up a TX map ... and much later I actually looked at the miles ... about two more hours than I had thought ... and I had thought I was going to be over by a couple of hours anyhow ... HELP. What else was there left to do but drive .. I had talked to my drop earlier and told him I would be there Friday eve. And I already knew that they would only take me to the Greyhound depot about two miles away, not the airport 90 miles away. So if I wanted a rental car I would have to take the bus to get one. Midland, TX - home of the President ... and they let you know that on billboards and government signs. Not much to see from the Intestate. I have mentioned before how there aren't any Interstate fences in this part of the south ... well in this part of TX the take advantage of the situation and have a few 'express exits,' ie places where you just exit the freeway by driving off the side of the road. Seems to work for them. I had called my drop again tonight and told them where I was and that I'd be there in a couple of hours ... after that was when I finally ran the final milage after I would exit the freeway. Off by another 50 miles ... on two lane highways ... the good news was that even the two lanes down here are 75 mph ... and then you push that a little. Somewhere between Midland and Fort Stockton is a little has been town ... a house that was only half there, the way it was ripped apart you could still see the clothes hanging in the closet ... at least a half dozen gas stations, the kind with two pumps and a roof going from the store out to the first pump, the kind that was popular back in the 40's and 50's. Most looked like they had closed 30 years ago and haven't been used for anything since ... Now things could get interesting ... I thought I was going to be in town by 5 PM or so ... plenty of time to catch the 9:40 bus ... now it was after 8 PM and I still wasn't there. Doesn't help when the map doesn't match the street signs ... but only one U turn and I was on a back alley that looked like it might be going the right direction. It did and I was at my drop ... good there is a pickup there, now just to get this thing signed off and I'll be on my way. Wrong ... no one there ... the clock is closing in on 9 PM and even though my bus doesn't leave until 9:40, the Internet says that the depot closes at 9 PM. I could walk, I'd make the bus but not the close time and I need the paperwork signed off on ... I had told my contact I had to catch the bus and at what time ... so I was a little 'disappointed' when he wasn't even there yet. I waited until almost 9 and finally called ... "You're there already? We'll be there in 10 minutes." By now I had called the depot to see what my chances where after 9 PM ... yes, there would be someone there ... GOOD. ... He didn't show in 10, 15 or even 20 minutes ... I didn't know what to think, he hadn't seem to know what was going on ... about giving me a ride, but I didn't think he'd just leave me stranded ... Finally they came ... he was "new to the area" and didn't realize how far away he was ... He signed off and we were off. He was a little confused because he was new ... only been there six weeks ... him and his wife had come from my home state ... about an hour from where I grew up ... she had graduated from my school (20 years later) ... and had lived next door to a guy my Dad was on the school board with ... they had driven down in a U-Haul, so they knew the trip I had just taken ... if I wanted a ride to the airport he was flying out early in the AM, back to our home state. They got me to the depot AND made sure it was still open before they left ... THE BUS "Sorry, we can't take credit cards" was the first thing I heard ... HELP ... I only have $20 ... another thing I forgot before leaving ... get cash. This gal had only been there a couple of days, but her boss would be by before the bus was would get there ... I've called my wife and she, getting her out of bed to call Greyhound to see what else can be done ... nothing the time frame is too small. And we were nowhere close to an ATM ... The next bus would leave in about six hours, and I would have time to walk to an ATM and back, and this place would be open ... again. The guys who own this location are doing whatever it takes to make a buck. They are open all day, plus they re-open whenever the bus comes in during the night. They are almost a convenience store, but with only the stuff that bus rides would buy. Also the bus drivers switch here, which gives the passengers plenty of time to spend money. Because the bus switches drivers here and the next driver was waiting for the bus which, luckily for me, as I needed time to get a ticket. Even the driver got involved, calling San Antonio to see where / how I could get a ticket ... they said this location does take credit cards. By now the driver had offered to take me as far as needed to charge a ticket. The gal behind the counter was trying to call the owners of the bus depot, it was not a corp location, but no luck. They must have been watching, because they showed up the same time as the bus... The bus was about 20 minutes late, sounded like an earlier bus had broken down and the prior schedule was canceled so the bus was packed with two schedules of drivers. And it was almost full, only a couple of seats left, but only a couple of us getting on. Yes, they did accept credit cards, but only for Greyhound, they had to hand write the credit receipt and call in by phone for authorization. But, I was going to make the bus. I grabbed a seat next to the rest room in the rear of the bus, that left the other driver to sit and talk Spanish with his seat-mate ... I've got to learn to put the seat divider down when I'm sitting next to a big guy ... soon he was sleeping and sliding into my seat. It took about six hours to be to San Antonio ... I don't think I slept, and kept loosing seat space. Off the bus ... at San Antonio. Because all I had was a hand written seat, I would have no idea what my stops or scheduled were for the rest of the trip. No one was behind the ticket counter when we arrived so we all had to wait. Finally after an hour of watching passengers and reading the walls ... I found my line and waited in it. When the ticket line was finally empty I talked to the person behind the counter and found that there were two buses going to Dallas that would get me home at the same time. If I took the first bus out, I would have to wait up the line for the next bus ... I decided to wait here and then I would be able to keep my seat as long as possible. So I watched everyone in my line leave for Dallas, and assured the Greyhound manger that I did not want to board. Finally my bus is here and I am first in line here, but the bus isn't empty when it arrives. Plenty of seats and I settle in for the next leg. Our new driver did have a little attitude problem, but most of the passengers don't listen or don't know what is going on ... example, Dallas has two depots, the driver had said "Thirteen of you are getting off in South Dallas. Only those getting off in South Dallas are to get off the bus, no one else." So I knew we were in for trouble when about 20 got up to exit. Sure enough, the driver had to go through the tickets one by one. "Back on the bus..." plus some who were supposed to get off, didn't. Then when the bus driver wasn't leaving a couple more got off ... It's a small location and the driver quickly hopped on the bus to move it all the way to the front of the line so other buses could pull in behind ... this left the smokers running for the bus, but the driver didn't stop until he was all the way forward. 'Servers them right' I thought, but they were going to file a complaint when the got to their stop ... What concerned me more was this guys driving ... after we left the depot we were on the top level of one the five level Interstate intercections ... and this driver is trying to figure out how to close the door, not paying nearly enough attention to his driving. He is also the only driver I have had so far who was blowing is horn at drivers when they wouldn't get out of his way ... Somewhere on this leg of the trip a young gal and her two little kids got on. I though I could offer to help, but didn't. The kids were under two and under one years of age. This could get to be a long trip if they got loud. They did fuss some but I was a ways back and on a window seat with a seat mate to easily offer to help. We switched drivers in Dallas and again in Oklahoma City ... before we got to Oklahoma City we were full, and this driver didn't want anyone standing ... at least a couple of people were told to wait, and one was given the OK to sit on his suitcase in the rear of the bus. By the time we got to Kansas City things got really interesting ... "Everyone off the bus, we need to clean and fuel it." I had been watching the gal and her kids on previous stops and decided to offer to help. She stepped out in front of me as we exited with the little one in hand and trying to coax the other one to walk ... "Want some help?" I asked. "You can try, but he doesn't go to strangers." was her reply. I held out my hand to pick up the two year old and he walked right to me ... I'm sure his Mom was more surprised than I was. Somehow little kids seem to know I'm OK ... its happened a few times before. But by the time we got off the bus he was wanting his Mom so we traded and I help the younger one for a while. Found out she was heading for Tomah, WI and would be on the bus for another half a day after I got off. Her folks had never seen the younger child ... and no she had never ridden the bus before, and NO she would never do it again ... she had a different ride home. She had to go change diapers and stuff when she had the chance and was off. This depot didn't have as much security as the others I've seen and it could have used it. There was a (drunk / high) passenger there who was bugging one of our young passengers ... I would guess the one getting bugged was 18 and the drunk was about 30 plus. He wanted to give him a $100 bill and have him get change ... then it was something else. Finally the drunk realized his bus line was gone and was out the door chasing down his bus. Not sure how he made it one, I've seen a few getting questions ... but none refused service yet. Back at San Antonio I did see one guy get escorted out of the depot, he looked clean cut to me sitting there reading paper. But he must have been a regular, because security was asking to see his ticket, then asked him leave. Didn't see security ask for anyone else's ticket in the hours I was there. Another set of people that got on the same stop as the gal was a couple of guys in their twenties and about a five year old kid. By the time they got on, all window seats were taken ... someone offered to move but they declined, leaving the kid sitting with a retired man. During the next 12 plus hours, I would see the old guy talking to the kid, playing games with the kid, and the kid sleeping in his lap. All the two who should have been watching the kid slept. I found out hours into the trip at a stop that one was the kids Dad, the other was his uncle. At one point when the bus stopped the Dad got off the bus and the kid tried to follow ... Dad never looked back, so the old guy followed the kid off the bus and into the store. Finally when the Dad got back he realized the kid was gone ... so I told him he was with the old guy ... hours later when someone got off the bus the kid went and sat by his uncle ... and slept the rest of his trip. ... back to our stop in Oklahoma City. They had told us we would be back on the same bus and to leave everything on ... to keep our seats. That changed, guess they had to switch buses because a driver down the road couldn't drive a stick shift ... Poor planning I'd say. Now we had to switch our stuff and get new seats ... nice guy that I am I helped move all of the stuff for the gal and her kids before moving my own and finding a seat ... that meant my not having an window seat for the rest of the trip. And the difference between an isle seat and a window seat is not sleeping or sleeping. What a mess, the driver told us that our checked luggage would be moved ... some thought that meant all their luggage and left their stuff on their seat in the old bus ... Then the baggage handles told someone that they would NOT be moving the luggage and for the passengers to do it ... the driver was getting upset because not everyone was on the bus ... people were now trying to get back off to smoke ... which would put them in danger of loosing their seats to new passengers. Then there was the two who had 'AmeriPass's' but no tickets, they had to get off the bus. Oh, one other problem, the first bus held 55 passengers, the new one only held 49. After kicking off the two guys with the AmeriPass's ... we had two empty seats, and we hadn't loaded a single new passenger from Oklahoma City ... Don't know how many there was, now many opted not to ride but we would have 15 standing from Oklahoma City to Kansas City ... an all night ride. By now everyone knew to be back on the bus before the new passengers started getting on ... At Kansas City there would be enough getting off that all standing would have a seat. And the new passengers would have to stand or wait. Same at Des Moines. The Des Moines crowd was younger and more vocal ... but no one offered them a seat, my self included. Neither did the two guys in the front seat who I found out later were going to be new drivers ... they had a free ride to Minneapolis for training at Jefferson. Oh boy, I sure wouldn't have picked them out of a crowd as drivers. The first gal on in Des Moines was saying "There is no way I am standing, my body won't stand this ... and it's illegal." She went on for a while about the illegal thing even after she had a seat reserved for the handicapped and elderly. Guess she's never been on a city bus ... This last bunch did not want to stand, but weren't going to wait, so the complained ... not sure how many didn't get on in Kansas City or Des Moines, but everyone at the little towns did get on ... to stand. All the gals standing were under 25 ... no one offered them a seat, but I guess a couple of guys offered them their laps... A ways down the road, someone sitting on the floor next to me jumped up an cursed ... the person across from me was sleeping pushing their foot into the isle and into this gals side. So she traded places with another gal who was standing, who didn't have any better luck trying to lean on this couples seat, guess they managed to push here away from that too. Not sure what this couple across from me took but they slept for about 12 hours without moving ... not waking up for any bus stops or breaks. I would guess them as in their 50's, dressed in their Sunday best, but looking like they had never left their hometown before in their life. At one drop in Iowa, we drop off this old gal who was using oxygen tanks ... I remember her getting on, and them wanting to put her bags under the bus as checked luggage ... and her not giving up the one with her pills. That was a good thing, because when lost the rest of her stuff, most likely when we switched bus's ... Someone immediately took her seat and when a old man got on at the same stop he had to sit on the steps. Finally a kid in front of me offered the guy his seat, and he took it. Back on the highway the driver suggested that "Some of you young guys" offer your seats to the ladies who have been standing for hours ... Not sure if anyone offered, but no one switched places. After loosing my window seat when we switched buses, I had spent the rest of the trip with a gal who had boarded somewhere in Texas. When I saw her get on I had noticed that she looked like a cross between a biker, Native American (but she was white) and lost in the 70's. She had the tatoo's, the jewelry, leather and polyester. She had grown up on my home state and hadn't seen her folks in years ... always too busy. Both her and her husband had great jobs in a skyscraper ... then were transferred to Texas in time for the company to close its doors a few years back. After months / years he became an over the road trucker and she decided to follow her dream as an artist. Sounds that like most, she falls in the "starving artist" category. Somehow the subject of the power company and nuclear power came up ... and surprise, surprise ... she had been arrested back in the 70's for protesting at the nuclear power plants. No you can't judge a book by it's cover ... but sometimes you can guess pretty close. It's been 36 hours since I boarded the bus ... doing this is not in my top 10 of things I want to do again ... but not that bad either. |