I finally got a load opportunity yesterday, the timing of it was quite curious. I spent the morning sleeping in and getting laundry done while watching a couple of TV episodes that I had brought with me. Once that was done, I packed up everything, cleaned up my sleeping area and moved everything back out to the truck, "Just in case". Figuring that spending some time in the truck waiting would be beneficial. Turns out, getting into the truck was not in the plan. Once outside the passenger door, the phone rings and its a load opportunity. Scrambling to answer the call, it was disconnected. Luckily there are two safeguards in place. One is that one an opportunity is sent, there is a tem minute window in which to replay to it. Second, there is a phone number to call in to listen for any available opportunities that are available.
Once accepted, the ten minute window must expire before finding out if the load was awarded. So I ran back inside and said my quick goodbyes and ran back to the truck. My on board computer is called a C-Link and it's made by Qualcomm. The C-link bursts to life with all of the load information and I start to work in trying to remember what to fill out on my Bill of Lading. Once thats done, I pop the address into the GPS and take off. One of the many key points that a driver is graded on is arriving within the time frame given for pickup and delivery. Since I am in an expedite branch of FedEx, these are live orders that came in and MAYBE were places 5 minutes before I was given the info. The expectation is that once a customer calls, you are there to get the load, whatever it is, and then head out and deliver it.
Once I was all packed up and cleared to leave, that was when the realization hit me that the dropoff was in North Carolina and that it didn't need to be there until 7:30am on Monday. So with a bit of executive privilege, phone calls were made to verify that the delivery was indeed on Monday. This was done because the actual delivery was not confirmed on the original order. After calling a couple of times with 3 hours between calls, it was pretty obvious that Monday was the correct time. So I started calling family in Charlotte, NC to see if I could hang out there for the weekend instead of wasting money I don't really have yet at a truck stop or a motel.
So here I sit now in Charlotte, NC at my wife's grandparents house visiting family. Then it struck me that I have been wanting to come visit Charlotte for quite awhile. Driving to the house, memories and emotion struck me with an almost physical force as I went past familiar places and crossed familiar streets. Charlotte was my first true home after leaving Massachusetts. This was where my second attempt of life began. I grew up here in more ways that I can count. Some days were good, some were bad, but all were important. Breaking out of old habits and shedding off shadows of my past layer by layer. Perhaps one could say I was reborn or that I finally opened my eyes a little wider to see what was going on. Breaking out of the shell I built around myself growing up and conforming to the ideals of the world around me instead of finding my own path as I do now. This place is dear to me. Only coming back here, as I have now, shows me how much I have missed this place.
Living the dream.
I have heard this term countless of times in the last few months as a sarcastic response from a Co-Worker anytime he was asked by a person on the phone, "How's things?"
I never really took much stock in it after the first few times I heard it. The depth of the term is subtle and can be as simple or as complex as one wants it to be.
What does the term mean for me though?
I find that it means that one follows their heart, grabs opportunity to see where the path leads. To not worry about consequence of the day to day, and enjoy the moment.
I drove 12 hours straight through mountainous countryside from Pittsburgh, PA to Charlotte, NC. It was the most enjoyable trip I have ever had in my entire life. Towards the end, I was a little punch drunk, I will admit. The energy and challenge of the trip was nothing I have ever experienced. There was no stress, there was no second guessing. All I had to do was drive and it was all good.
Life will be a bit inconvenient at times, but that's ok. I know I have people looking out for me everywhere I go. I know that I won't have the availablility of sleeping in a bed every night and that my truck will be my home. That's ok too and I accept that. To me, this is living a dream. Having the ability and freedom to actually go see the people I talk to and build friendships with. That in itself, blows my mind.
For ahile there, I thought my ability to travel was dead. The last few car trips I were on, I couldn't stay awake long enough to make it out of one state. I nicked 4 states yesterday. I think I got this.
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