I go to orientation for Marten tomorrow, and thenceforce I shall be "off the grid" for a few weeks.

We fully intend to set my laptop up with a mobile internet plan from one of the wireless providers, but until we do that, I return to my 'net-less ways. If I run across free internet access, I'll use it, but that kind of access is far between...and often unreliable (at best).

It shouldn't be too terribly long before I can rejoin the ranks of ether-centric humanity, and I'm glad of it, because with a wife and an ever-exploring 10 month old, it'll be really good to stay in touch via more than just a phone line.

The best to everybody until I "see" you again.

And Bye-bye car

I sold my first car today.

As in, it was the first time I sold a car and the car I sold was the first car I ever owned.

Not gonna lie, it felt a little like selling a family member.

But, we don't need it anymore.

So I posted it on craigslist and got a couple of offers, and one came through. So they drove away in my car (their car, I suppose) and I came back to the house with a wad of cash in my pocket.

I think the oddest part of the whole thing is that I didn't get "closure" with the car. That's a little misty, I'm sure, but it would have been nice to take a real, defined last drive with it. Knowing that I won't ever see the car again that I drove for basically all of its 100,000 miles is a bit strange.

That's all. I'll stop crying now. I sold a car and can save some money on my car insurance. I can also pay bills.

And...

I think....

Yes.

I'm over it.

Employment Ho!

I've been hired.

Conditional upon the usual pre-employment drug test, agility (read: not a broken down old horse) physical, and road test, I'm a new employee of Marten Transport out of Mondovi, WI.

Ironic somehow that the way I get back in to the business of driving is through a company headquartered 30 miles south of the college town I left to come pursue an acting career.

Still with me?

I'm quite [preliminarily] happy with them. I'll be an employee, not a contractor, so even if I have a low mileage week, I'll still be getting paid something (as opposed to owing for payments and fuel). They run a blend of make and model of '06-'09 tractors. And pretty much every tractor they've got has an APU.

An APU, or Auxiliary Power Unit, runs off of the primary fuel tanks and allows the A/C compressor, heater, and power accessories to run without idling the primary engine. This a) saves fuel and b) protects the average driver from an idling citation in the ridiculous states in this union (home sweet California home included) that think it possible for a grown man to get good rest (and not die, while we're at it) in 100+ degree heat without an air conditioner. Wildly proactive law makers have decided that not allowing trucks to idle their engines is a really good way to clean up the atmosphere. Turns out they wrote the laws and either forgot or ignored that truckers both sleep during the heat of the day sometimes and live in their trucks. This is not conducive to being disallowed climate control.

Anyhoo. APU. Cool beans.

Also, good fit as a company because I have HAZMAT, which they require. I have a TWIC, which they recommend. I have a passport, which simplifies the into-Canada deliveries that they do. They prefer fueling at Pilots, my favorite. Aaaand their health insurance kicks in after 30 days. Faboo.

I go to orientation in Ontario next week, and that's only 2 and a half days long...which is a huge step up from the 3 weeks of unpaid school the last time.

It's a pretty big company, and I've done my research, so I've necessarily run across a handful of negative complaints about this, that and the other thing. But compared to the flurry of cautionary tales I've seen for other companies, I'm not too concerned. I suppose they seem like a "value match" to me.

Of course, we'll see how things go, but I'm really prepared to take this driving thing seriously, and develop habits for the long haul...No pun intended.

It's a massive blessing to be within two weeks of paying work when I only applied a week and a half ago.

Background Endgame

In the process of transitioning back into trucking, I'm conscious that each background gig I do could very well be my last ever.

I've had one more since Friday, but Friday wouldn't have been a bad way to go out.

It was just down the road. And by "just", I mean, just. I drove exactly five miles to get there. We were filming a promo for the Las Vegas chamber of commerce or tourism council or something...but you could never have guessed because we were just a bunch of guys smeared with filth makeup and decked out in kilts and animal skins. There was running, there was grunting, there were war cries, and there were broadswords. There were also, I believe, tastefully clad male strippers. I worked with a stunt guy, I swung a styrofoam mace. I "played" a bagpipe.

So the next time you see a friendly invite to Las Vegas that looks like an excerpt from Braveheart, look for the scrawny white boy with the tousled scuzzy red hair. I'm in there.