Saturday, March 10th, 2012
What would life be like if your sleep cycle was always in flux? I wonder that sometimes, then I get to live it on occasion. Now that I am, more or less, back to my normal schedule, I get the leisure to take the day off. Maybe “take the day off,” is a bit incorrect. Rather I should say, “there's no freight so I get to sit for the day.” Sounds less exciting, and certainly beyond my control, which is a more accurate assessment.
Yesterday, I delivered about an hour ahead of schedule. That worked out really nice. Normally at distribution centers like the one I was at yesterday, live unloads are simple affairs. Back into a dock, and the forklift guy comes and takes the pallets out. Right on. Then the pallets get broken down and sorted onto a massive conveyor belt running through the entire building. This is no small feat. If I had to guess, I would estimate this particular center to have a footprint of around 5 acres. Huge.
I was a special case. I'm sure lots of people said that about me from time to time, but the flat screen televisions are known as NC, or non-conveyable. I was informed at the window that it would take the better part of three hours to unload a trailer that was approximately 1/3 full. I could either park then return to the driver's lounge and take a long nap, park, drop the trailer then head over to the truck stop and wait for a call, and sleep in my cab, or I could help unload.
Seeing as I had been awake and working for the last 9 hours, a nap sounded good, but potentially losing the trailer did not. I chose to help. We unloaded all the pallets, then broke them down. There were huge rubber bands employed to keep full pallets together, 2 to a layer. On double stacks, the were four sets of 2 bands; one for each layer and 2 going diagonally. In the end it took us just over 2 hours to unload and break down the trailer. Not bad, and I got to see the inside of a distribution center.
Today, I've been simply relaxing and doing my best to enjoy myself. Well, that and consider where I am going in life. I think my current headache is a result of the latter. Trucking is a dangerous profession for many reasons, including the constant travel. Not because of the other people on the road. It is far more insidious than that. Most people spend their lives in one place, maybe doing a bunch of different things. Now and then, people get out and take vacations. Or maybe even move to someplace else. By and large however, the bulk of time is spent in one area doing one thing. It gives you a sense of doing-ness, or maybe a sense of stability, even if the situation is less than ideal. Such situations allow you to develop a perspective on things. Going places helps to alter that perspective. If you are impressionable the same way I am, you pick up the energy of these places. See where I'm going with this?
Bouncing all over the country gives me all sorts of perspectives. Constantly changing views. New information all of the time. I am beginning to feel a bit overloaded by all of this information, as well as pressure from outside forces to choose a path. Having a sense of place and purpose can be difficult when you live out of a truck. I'm not sure how to properly convey this notion. When the world around you is always different, it is hard to form a concrete idea in your head. Even while the truck will always remain the same, it is always someplace else.
For now, I'm taking the day and stepping back from my normal routines, like meditating and doing things that are simply enjoyable. I promised myself that I would have a plan of action by next week, and I will, despite the constant change. I will.
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