Monday, February 27th, 2012
Uncertainty breeds erratic behavior. I'm not entirely sure about that, but not knowing if I am going to work or not certainly screws with my routine. Obviously I did not post the last few days because I did not, in fact, work. Instead, I enjoyed a wonderful weekend with my sweetheart doing things unrelated to getting paid. What a relief!
In our last episode, I was conscripted into the heavy haul fleet as part of a nefarious scheme to take over the world. I stated in very clear terms that I would have no part of this twisted plot to add that much more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by pulling heavier loads up really big hills, reducing fuel efficiency to about 2 miles per gallon. I think the idea is to hold the nation's supply infrastructure hostage to the trucking industry and ransom it for $100 billion. Oh wait, I guess that's already the case, but without the ransom.
Today I walk into the office, checking in on my DM. Hew was out Friday, with what doctors allege is a ruptured ear drum. In his good ear. I have no proof of this physically, but one ear certainly was stuffed with cotton. He takes one look at me and says something about getting right on it. I was open to exploring the possibility of staying a bit longer (weekends off are quite novel for me!) but before I could say a word (that he could hear anyway) he was off and running setting events into motion that I had demanded last week from my previously limited perspective. I had no idea how powerful my words could be, almost as if they create the very fabric of reality, and bend situations to whatever I will.
The overnight load down to Roseburg was taken off of my to do list. Instead, I was given a load to Fairchild AFB just outside of Spokane. I swear this town is stalking me. I've spent so much time here the last few months I wonder if I should get an apartment here (for people who may take the seriously... that was a joke). The road from Sumner to The Petro is now quite familiar to me, and probably to everyone else out there by now, so I won't be posting a map. Seems a bit of a waste.
That said, the trip was beautiful, particularly the journey through the Cascades. It had been snowing in the pass for the last few days. At one point over the weekend, Snoqualmie was closed to all traffic, as road crews were performing avalanche abatement (no kidding!). In Sumner, the sun burst forth this morning, bathing everything in radiant warmth. Tiny rivers sprang up as snow and frost melted away from trailers and tractors alike. The sky was that beautiful blue we remember from childhood, mottled by sparse fluffy white clouds, hanging limply in the air, their fury spent. From the junction of WA-18 and I-90, the is a magnificent view of some serious mountains. Erect and proud, the stony mass was bedecked with new fallen snow. Pines laden with the white stuff dotted the hillsides, adding a rougher texture to the whole scene, like so much lime stucco sprayed haphazardly. This kind of snow cover severed to emphasize the contrasts more than I would have imagined. Every dark line stood out in stark relief. The south side of the hills saw a bit more melting action as the sun permeated the dense white masses resting upon the tree boughs. Evergreens dropped huge dollops of snow as they warmed in the light. Further away, one could see the subtle gradient of temperature and insolation as altitude increased. There is something very special about the day after the storm.
Now back to world domination. Time to ship whatever it is to the military wing of our country.
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