Wednesday, December 14th, 2011
Today has been a long day of trucking and related activities. Ergo, I've got a good bit on my mind from all of my adventures. The writer's conundrum lies in deciding which of these many things to write about, or to shun the idea of going into great depth about one thing, and choosing instead to write a little about many things, which may be more of a challenge to convey the feeling and meaning of the events that occurred. Let's stretch that comfort zone.
Of the many things to love about this time of year, perhaps my favorite is the ceremonial lights. Since the days are getting darker and the sun is “dying” as the axis of our planet tilts away from our star's warmth, we comfort ourselves by festooning any number of surfaces with self contained miniature fires, often in varying colors. Perhaps if we put enough of these things up, the sun will come back and the evil spirits will retreat into the underworld from whence they came. Driving along the state highways, one gets more of a chance to see these primal displays, ranging from the simple to the atrociously complex. Perhaps the most spartan I saw today was a simple lamppost, adorned with a single stand of white lights, topped with a blue incandescent bulb. A Chanukah pole? Tasteful, simple and modestly festive, like having a glass of scotch on the rocks at a cocktail party. Then there are the monstrosities. One particular house along the route had the following: 2 luminescent plastic Santa Clause props, a set of reindeer (also lit internally), a few plastic candy cane cutouts stuck into the ground and bordered by blinking white lights, and several strands of multicolored christmas lights that blinked. It would have been something if these lights all followed the same pattern. This was My impression. *BLINK* .... *blink, blink* *blink blink blink blinkety blink* blink blink blink blink now in a clockwise pattern, BLINK FLASH BLINK BINK* Were I prone to epilepsy, I may have gone into a seizure. This kind of display is the equivalent to going to a Christmas party with your own bottle of rum, drinking it in one go, then continuing with the eggnog and gin. There is a lot of love there, but maybe a tad too much for my taste.
In the same vein of Christmas time, giving is a wonderful aspect of the season. People open their hearts, which so often seem to be connected to their wallets in the name of other people. Charity is a bit more noble in that you are giving to people you'll never see, simply for the sake of sharing love across time and space. Driving down I-5 today, I told myself I wouldn't get any coffee. So I didn't. In spite of not having coffee, my bladder decided it needed to empty itself, so I pulled into a rest area, advertising free coffee. To be honest, I told myself I wouldn't PAY for coffee, for as decent as the coffee is at Pilot (truck stops) I had access to free coffee all over the place. So at this rest stop is a booth in which the Moose (club?) offers free coffee to bleary-eyed travelers. And cookies. I spent some time chatting with the lady and learned that the Moose (order of?) are more than just a bunch of people that hang out and drink beer like the Eagles. I learned that they make gift baskets for the needy, support orphanages, and other community services that elude me at present. I remember getting those gift baskets as a kid. Our family was destitute, and the baskets were quite a blessing. I could feel it in my heart, how needy people could be, and how hard it is to choose between seeing your kids happy and buying decent food, I was that kid once. I ended up leaving $20 lighter and with a lighter heart.
Driving down the road again, probably I-5, I get a phone call. The number vaguely resembles my dispatcher's number (dispatcher/DM are interchangeable terms) so I take the call. Hands free of course, I obey all the laws of the land *ahem*. Turns out it is not my dispatcher, but some other dude calling himself Jesse. Right on. What the hell do you want? (I'm a bit more polite than to say such crude things to complete strangers) He wants to offer me a job. Doing what? Traveling and working with big companies in regard to solar, wind and high efficiency HVAC stuff. I didn't quite get the details, but I would either be 1) selling this stuff (awesome) or 2) repairing, installing, or maintaining this stuff (awesome x100!). I would get a company car, $300 a week traveling money (in cash), a cell phone, a laptop computer, a company credit card, keep all the frequent flier miles, leave on Mondays and be back on Thursdays, and make a bit more than I make driving trucks. My jaw nearly fell out of the truck. The only thing was that I had to be in the Raddison in Seattle tomorrow for an interview. This would be possible if I did a whole bunch of crazy things, but it turns out that I am not adequately prepared to receive this opportunity. I could buy some dress clothes in a hurry, book a flight out of the Tri-cities, or even take a bus. Reserve a room online, and so forth. At one point, I was telling myself that I needed more warning to prepare for such things. I think the real lesson here is to always be prepared to jump on opportunities as they arise. I'm almost to that point, but I've been so busy creating this whole trucking thing that I've been unprepared to receive anything other than this that comes my way. What a fantastic lesson! On the upside, I now know that a job like that actually exists out there.
Opportunity is only wasted if you gain nothing from it. I got a lot of good things today, and I'm grateful.
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