Loads that matter and Texas

As we are sitting in North Dakota, I have the OSU football game playing in the background while I'm writing. This week presented us with lots of decisions on loads but thanks to God, no breakdowns or time in the shop, a couple of scares but worked themselves out.

After church on Sunday, we received a load that picked up in OH on Monday morning, so we headed over to Ohio to get some rest before we picked up since the load was heading to Tennessee. If we had found out a little sooner and the load pickup was a little closer, we could have headed home for a couple of hours but of course it was over in the Cleveland area. This was the second time we were in OH since we started, the problem is that we are always picking up not dropping off. If we could deliver to OH we could then choose to come home for a little while. Expediters pays fuel if we are 150 miles from home, so it would be good to get a load to OH so the fuel is paid. We are looking for a load to OH but if it doesn't happen, we'll probably go home for a few days in the next week or so anyway to see everyone!

The load from OH to Tennessee was an interesting one for me. We delivered liquid Helium. This was the first time I came into contact with containers called "Dewars". They were huge and on four wheels. The "dewars" help keep the Helium at the correct temperature. This was not new to Jim since when we were first married he worked for Airco which transported all kinds of gases to customers. He was excited about it because this was a load that he knew how to secure and had experience with. The dewars were covered with ice on the top which was interesting to me. We didn't get a chance to talk to the shippers too much. Since Helium is hazmat, on the paperwork, we have to be able to read the signature of the person who signs the Hazmat paperwork. Of course I couldn't read it. We joke about the fact that some of our signatures indicate that we either studied to be doctors or should have because the signatures are illegible. Well, this signature was something I couldn't read, so of course I had to ask. One of the guys commented and said, "That's my signature, you mean you can't read that, I don't understand." Of course he was being a little sarcastic. Once I had a name that I believe matched his signature, we were off to Tennessee.

As we traveled through OH, Jim was driving and of course there was construction being done. He began laughing while he was driving and yelled back at me in the sleeper. I can't believe what that sign just said. I asked him what it said and he shared, "Clean water falling". Evidently there was water falling from construction on a bridge overhead. We both just weren't sure why it was necessary to post a sign like that. My question was, "As opposed to "Dirty water falling" or maybe they thought that people would then appreciate construction on the road that provided clean water just in case someone's car had just been washed or something. It was just one of those things that made us giggle. Not too far down the road we were going through a residential area where they were pouring concrete. Again, Jim started laughing and said you have to come and see this. I am so lucky to have a husband who is amused so easily. I went and looked out the front. He said, "They have a powered wheel barrow." Sure enough there was a guy that was on the back of a wheel barrow just scooting around. It kind of reminded me of the lawn mowers that you stand on to control and maneuver. He wasn't the only one at the site who had it. They filled the wheelbarrow with concrete and then wheeled (or gasoline powered) it over to where it needed to be poured. Jim's uncle used to work for a concrete company and it made us smile when we thought about how much they would have appreciated something like that. I also thought about my son who while helping his grandfather on a construction site had a wheelbarrow come back on his leg. He was moving scrap concrete and if he would have had one of those machines, he wouldn't have had to worry about getting run over by one going down a ramp. The things you see while driving can make you smile and also make you think..."Boy I wish I would have been the one to think of that!

Jim and I are still trying to work on a sleeping pattern and a driving sleeping schedule. We discussed when we first decided that we would try a 2:00-2:00 driving schedule so that both of us would drive a little during the day and a little at night. I think we did that once in the past three weeks. Between the two of us, Jim has always required less sleep than me but he is even getting tired. I think our problem is that there are times when we both sleep at the same time and then we aren't able to sleep when we are supposed to. This is something we definitely need to improve on. Now that we've had a somewhat normal work week, we might be able to figure this out. Any ideas or suggestions that any of you have would be greatly appreciated.

When we delivered to Tennessee, it was like Christmas for the company we delivered to. They were patiently waiting on the Helium. It was extremely important that they had the Helium to do their work and their work was at a critical stage. There were three men who assisted us in getting the dewares off the truck, but as soon as one was off they all disappeared. Jim and I continued to unload and just put the dewars on the dock and went to see if we could find someone to sign the paperwork. I know most of you are thinking, well that was kind of rude, just leaving us in the midstream of unloading the truck. We did know that one of the guys had taken a phone call and left but the other two we weren't sure what happened. As we went back through the warehouse we found two of the guys with the Helium dewar standing on a ladder over an MRI machine. They told us that the one who needed to sign the paperwork was at the desk on the phone. We went over to him and waited until he was done and then had him sign the paper work and talked to him a little bit about what their company did. The warehouse was filled with pieces and parts, some of which I recognized and other parts I had absolutely no idea what they were. He shared with us that his company worked on MRI machines and that this shipment was critical and that he was the one who had forgotten to order the Helium and now they needed it to fix the machine.

One of the things that I learned was that the liquid Helium was at a temperature of 4 Kelvin. Now, not being too familiar with the Kelvin scale I asked about the temp in Fahrenheit. He shared that it was about 400 degrees below zero. Now that is cold! They used the Helium to work on the MRI machines and they needed the very cold temperature to do the work but if the temp was too warm, they wouldn't be able to fix it. Needless to say, they were very appreciative that we made good time. We were about an hour earlier than they were expecting. It felt really good to be a part of saving a machine that in the future would be saving lives.

I also noticed that to these men, their work meant everything, even if it meant that they had to stay late to get the job done. They believed in what they did even though at times it was extremely frustrating it had such great rewards for them. They also gave me a smile while I was walking through the warehouse. In the middle of the aisle leading back to the desk, there was a trike with a basket on it. As we went around the corner there were two Razor scooters. I asked about them and he shared that's how they are able to get around the warehouse, unique, he said, but works quite well. Just by the few observations, you could tell that they were unique, creative individuals and God gave them gifts of problem solving and serving others. I never really thought about a company fixing MRI machines, not sure why not, obviously they probably need it, after all I don't think they would just throw them away and get new ones. I think that would be just a tad bit too expensive.

Before we arrived in Tennessee, we accepted our next load. We would be picking up in Tennessee and heading to Laredo, Texas. After we dropped off the Helium, we headed over to our next pick up. We figured out that this load was a transfer, we would be picking it up at FedEx, so we headed to a truckstop close since the pickup was at 3:00 am. We thought that we would be able to get a little sleep before we had to pick it up. Jim called dispatch and asked it we could pick it up early and they shared that the truck wasn't there yet. So we parked and went to sleep. About an hour so later our phone rang and thinking it was probably FedEx, I picked it up. It wound up being cousins of mine who had just seen a FedEx truck and thought it was us. They were outside of Findlay, I shared with them that we were in Tennessee and heading to Texas. We love hearing from friends and family on the road. Later I explained to them how to know if it was us to try to help them narrow down the whole FedEx truck since there are so many out there. Our truck is red and we have a blue EX on the back of our truck and it says Custom Critical. Although I believe in October we are switching over to the red EX, so we won't be as easy to identify. I shared with family and friends before we left, that every time they saw a FedEx truck that they were to think of us and say a quick prayer for our safety and patience on the road and now I'd like to add also say a quick prayer for blessings on our customers and their families.

A couple of hours later, we received another phone call, this time it was FedEx and they said that driver was there, if we could meet him that would be great. This was now just two hours before we were originally supposed to pick up. We went to the FedEx terminal and switched the freight that the other driver had to our truck. His truck was a straight truck without a reefer and for some reason looked a little wider than ours, so we were hoping that the pallets would fit on our truck. With the help of an amazing forklift driver, they went right in together with not an inch to spare side by side. Now that takes talent! The other driver was a solo driver and had just started driving for FedEx and this was actually his first load. For once we were more experienced than someone else. He had previously driven for another expediter service and just switched over to FedEx. We left them and headed for Texas.

We knew that Texas was hot and dry and we could really feel it when we stopped on our breaks. Someone Jim had talked to said that the heat reminded them of someone taking a hair dryer and blowing it in your face. They were not kidding. That is exactly what it felt like. It was also about 105 with a heat index of 115. Hot doesn't even describe it, but as someone on Facebook said, at least you have air conditioning in the truck. True and we also were very glad that it had been fixed and prayed that it would stay fixed. The ground was so brown and other than some trees and some cacti, nothing else was growing. Other than the cities, houses were very few and most of them you couldn't see, you could see the ranch fences and openings but the houses were somewhere else. Lots of land, lots of cattle and lots of brown grass, very different from our Ohio landscape.

We were supposed to deliver in Laredo at 2:56 am and left Tennessee at about 2:30 am. We were able to avoid most of the rush hours in the major cities. I hit a little in Memphis and then Jim hit a little in Dallas. This helped us make some pretty good time and wound up stopping about 40 minutes from Laredo to stop for a break. About that time, we received a message from dispatch that we couldn't unload until 9:00 the next morning because the border didn't open until the next morning. So we were able to stay at that truck stop for the night. We decided that we would leave about 7:30 or so. When we got to Laredo, all we could see was trucks. I felt a little sorry for cars because they were hard to see in between all of the trucks. The highway architecture in Laredo was really neat. It was like sky scraper highways going over top of us while we were on the bottom. The decor of the beams was interesting and different than I had ever seen. At one point I looked up and told Jim to look because it looked like one of the highways didn't get finished, it just ended in the sky. I'm not sure how to explain it just ended, now I suppose the good thing was that there wasn't any traffic on that particular part of the highway. Maybe someday they were planning on finishing it, maybe it was a government highway grant that dried up, who knows, but it would be interesting to find out.

We arrived at the gate of our delivery at about 8:00, we were supposed to be there at nine. The gate was locked and closed and there was one truck in front of us. After a short period of time, we were glad we were early because soon there was a whole line of trucks behind us. While we were waiting we received our next load opp from Laredo to Illinois. We were excited and disappointed at the same time. We were excited because we knew that it wasn't always easy to get freight out of Laredo and if you were lucky enough it didn't pay pretty good. This load was right out of Laredo and paid pretty good, so we were excited. The disappointment was that we were kind of looking forward to spending some time down there to see a little more. The load didn't pick up until 1:00 so we had a little time. Well, once the gate opened at 9:00, we went in and unloaded. Drivers weren't allowed on the docks, the paperwork was done through the shipping office. We didn't get a chance to really talk to much to anyone. I did find out that they pretty much all speak Spanish unless you speak to them in English then they speak to you in English. That amazes me, how people can just switch from one language to the next without even breaking the conversation. My brain would not function like that. The office people were upbeat and had music playing while they were working. I didn't talk to them very much but in that small amount of time, I could tell that it would have been a good place to work. There were smiles on their faces and they were helpful to all who walked through the door.

From there we decided to go to a truckstop that one of the expediters online members had recommended. It was up on a hill about 5 miles down the road. As promised, there was a little Mexican restaurant, quiet, clean and a screened in porch with rocking chairs. This is where we took our pictures that we put on facebook. Jim and I decided to eat at the restaurant even though Texas time told us it was still breakfast. We had a breakfast plate complete with sausage, scrambled eggs mixed together, refried beans and two tortilla shells. It was great and hit the spot. I wish we had been there a little later because I would have liked to try some of their salsa, my stomach just couldn't handle it in the morning. Maybe next time. Jim slept and I enjoyed the screened in porch catching up on facebook and emails. We said that if we were ever back in that area, we would layover there if needed. Great small town atmosphere!

At about noon we left for our load that picked up at 1:00. We knew the load was supposed to weigh about 9700 pounds and was 9 pieces, so we knew we would be using our tag axle and that we figured we would also need to put our new dollies down. Once we got to the shipper, the forklift driver handed me the paperwork. His paperwork said 9 pieces that weighed 12,500 pounds. Our truck should be able to take 13,000 but because our truck has a reefer on it and evidently Jim and I weigh alot and all of our stuff weighs so much, we can't take 12,500 without being really careful about being overweight on one of the axels. If you are overweight for your truck, fines can be pretty high and of course we didn't want to break this rule because it also isn't good for the truck either. So Jim calls dispatch and explains. The forklift driver was very kind and said he wasn't sure if the weight was correct and offered to go back and weigh one of the pieces. Jim said that would be great. The forklift driver came back with a packing slip that showed that the weight totaled 5700 pounds, so we decided to risk taking the pieces with the knowledge that we were going to stop by the first scale to see what they really weighed.

While we were waiting for Jim to talk to dispatch and figuring out how to load those very heavy parts, the forklift driver and I had a good conversation. He asked about how the whole team driving thing worked for FedEx. I shared with him that both of us took turns driving and that we went from load opp to load opp, not really knowing where we would be next. He then asked, "Do you have any kids?" I shared with him that yes we did and told them their ages. He responded, "They aren't too far from my kids' ages" and then went on to share about his kids. He asked what we did before we worked for FedEx and I shared with him that we were both in education. I shared that this was our retirement job meaning that we always wanted to see the country and were going to wait for retirement and decided that we don't know how our health will be or if there will even be a retirement for people our age, so we decided to see the country now and get paid for it. The company was full of Hispanic people who talked in Spanish to each other and when you talked to them, they spoke in English. That is just amazing to me, how people can just jump from one language to the next. I brought this up because in my experience with people I know, in the Hispanic culture family is everything and when the forklift driver's first question was, "Do you have any kids?", to me that was an indication of his commitment to his own family. He never once asked about the money or if we were able to make ends meet by driving, it was about our family and kids. He also didn't talk about himself and his job, he talked about his kids. One of his children, as he put it, is book smart and was studying to be an RN with the hopes of being a doctor one day. She wanted to be a doctor but decided that the RN was the place to start and then she could move on to be a doctor. He was beaming when he talked about his kids and was obviously involved in his children's lives and loved them dearly. Conversations like this one have me missing my own family and the involvement we had when they were younger and then I receive a call from one of them and that makes all the difference.

After we were loaded and had the weight distributed properly as far as we knew, we got in the truck and did our departure call. One of the questions that was asked I didn't have the answer to because it wasn't on their paperwork, so I had to go back in and see about getting an answer. I talked to another one of the guys and he said, we'll get an answer for you. About a half hour later, he gave me the answer. On this part I learned a little lesson. Once he gave me the paperwork with the question answered, I noticed that the other paperwork did indicate it by putting it in bold but for the record, the plain black was almost as dark as the bold, so I didn't see it and he didn't either. The second paperwork had xxxx's marked beside it which made the answer evident. I can blame it on my eyes but the other guy was probably a good 10-15 years younger than me and he didn't see it either:) So...2 hours after our pickup time, we were on our way to Illinois. I guess I should say, after we stopped at the truckstop to weigh the truck and make sure that we weren't over. We weighed it and as it turns out the weight was closer to the original 9700 pounds that we were told in the first place. Paperwork makes everything look so official but yet it sometimes only holds half truths or just plain mistakes.

Jim had asked me to stay in and wait for the fuel receipt and weight ticket. Knowing that it would take him a while, I decided to make a trip to the ladies room (I know TMI). While I was in there, I noticed that a woman was cleaning. She was down to the end of the stalls and then with me, there were about 5 of us that walked in to use the bathroom. I thought to myself, this job is never done, once clean, someone comes right in and messes it up all over again. I know some people would say job security which is most certainly true, but I believe that it has to get a little old. I don't normally want anyone to know when I decide to leave a little money for someone but this is the start the rest of a story that I think needs to be spread. After going to the bathroom, I decided that I would get something to drink. Anyone who knows me knows that I drink a lot, so I decided to get a large drink. After I filled it up, I noticed that there weren't any lids for the cup I used. Trying not to be too nosy and not wanting to bother anyone I looked in the cupboards under it and didn't see any. I then decided to go up to the counter and ask because cups without lids and me do not do too well. She said, we have some, if you just give me a minute, I'll get one for you. I said sure, no rush. She was putting money into a counter and couldn't stop what she was doing. As she was doing this, she said, I can't get you a lid because I can't leave without anyone being here. I was just about ready to say that it was all right and never mind, my drink would be all right, then she saw another worker and asked her if she could get a lid for me. She went over to the other cabinet where I hadn't looked and got a lid for me. I told the clerk, if I would have known they were right there I could have gotten them myself. She told the other worker, thank you and I said across the room, Thanks so much. I then waited for the clerk to tell me how much I owed. She looked over and said don't worry about it. Now I've heard stories about people giving money away and they always get it back and sometimes even more. I've even had it happen to me but this was within 1/2 hour. Amazement. I also want others who read this blog to know that there are some really good and amazing people in this world. Sometimes we all tend to focus on the negative in others. I believe that positive breeds positive and we all need to focus on the positives in the world, it really helps to bring hope and good feelings. This is just one of those "people are amazing" stories. You will find these stories within my posts and sometimes separately.

Before I go on to our trip to Illinois, I have to comment on another thing that made us laugh while we were at the truck stop getting the truck weighed. We had noticed sometime before, probably at the other truck stop, a bird that we didn't recognize but I would describe it as kind of blackbird looking but with a huge fanned out tail. We still aren't sure what they are. Anyway, there were a couple of them walking in the fuel isle at the truckstop. As we were walking, one of them flew up to one of the truck's front grill and took a dragon fly off the front of it. I thought to myself, what a lazy bird, he has to get one off the grill of the truck and can't even fly after one that is alive. (my nephew shared with me that it was probably because they couldn't fly as fast as they dragon fly, makes sense to me). Those dragon flies must be pretty good to have to eat one off the grill of a truck:) It is probably one of those stories...I guess you had to be there but it made both of us laugh. Weight good, bird fed...off to Illinois.

We added Oklahoma to our list of states on the way to Illinois. I was trying to sleep while Jim was driving down some back state routes in Oklahoma. Needless to say I slept some but the curves and bumps were a little crazy at times. Oklahoma was great to travel through. Different landscape and since it was light we were able to see some of the ranch animals and some of the layouts of the ranches. We continued through Missouri up through St. Louis and then on to Illinois. We were about 150 miles from our delivery and the traffic went to a stand still. In the middle of nowhere Illinois traffic was at a standstill. There was some construction and we never did figure out what happened but we spent about a 1/2 hour in traffic. While we were sitting in traffic our AC decided to stop working. We were no longer in Texas but in Illinois but the temperature was 102 on the highway (it should never be as hot in Illinois as it is in Texas, that just isn't normal). We decided since we were stopped we would shut off the truck and start it up and see if that would work. We shut off the truck and then it decided it wasn't going to to start. Great, now what, traffic had started to move. After a couple of things, none of which we know was a problem the truck started again but the AC still didn't work. So, a little more start and stop traffic and then 140 miles without AC. Windows down provided a little breeze but not coolness. We were able to get to the delivery on time and got everything off the truck. After the delivery the AC went back to working again. Talk about being thankful!!

We then headed off to a truckstop and put ourselves out of service for a few hours. We needed showers and were just plain exhausted. Jim wasn't able to sleep because of the heat and I was exhausted from driving in the heat. Not to mention we just plain stunk (stank, past tense of stink anyone??). We also decided that a few hours would give us some time to do laundry and get something to eat. Showers were first on our list. Our wait was going to be 28 minutes. This was actually the first time we had to wait for a shower. We had heard that you had to wait on showers but had not experienced it yet. So, we went to the laundry room to do some laundry. There were four washers and four dryers. The problem I already knew was that 2 out of 4 of the dryers were out of order. Dryers take about an hour and washers take about 1/2 hour. I knew we were going to be there at least a couple of hours to do laundry. We put our laundry in and decided to go and wait for our shower. We were so exhausted, we just stood in the hallway. An attendant saw us and asked us if we were waiting on a shower, we said yes. He asked, what is your number? We told him and he said follow me. He shared that they had a shower clean and ready to go but the driver never showed for the shower and said we could take it if we wanted. He then grabbed and extra towel. Now I know that he was probably risking getting yelled at by other drivers and could probably get in trouble for allowing us to go ahead but I saw him as an angel that saw that we really needed that shower, sooner than later. He put himself on the line to help someone else. He took a risk just being nice to someone else. Not only did we get a good shower but we saw Christ in another person, doing and acting Christlike. God knew what we needed and sent that special person to us.

After shower and laundry, we decided to stay out of service until Friday morning. We knew we were risking not getting a load especially since it was Labor Day weekend, but decided we needed it. We went back into service at about 10:00. We had gone to Walmart and gotten some things we needed and stayed in their parking lot for a little while getting organized and cleaning a little inside the truck. At around lunch time we thought we'd go to McDonald's where they had truck parking and also outlets for charging our computer. I planned on doing some paperwork while Jim got a little sleep knowing that we could have a load and he would need to drive. We went to McDonald's got something to drink and Jim headed back to the truck and I set up the laptop to start working. It probably wasn't five minutes after I set the laptop up that we received our next load opportunity. We replied that we would take it and got the load. I called Jim and packed up. The load was from Illinois to North Dakota. North Dakota...another state we hadn't been to yet.

Once I got back to the truck Jim said, did you realize that the pickup is a couple of hours away and they have us picking it up in an hour. No, I didn't realize that, so Jim called dispatch and they moved the time up so off we were to pick up at 4:30. The pickup was non hazmat but it was described as chemical/paint. Had no idea what that meant. The weight was 10,300 pounds with 4 pieces. When we got to the pickup the dock was inside and down a ramp. It was really nice, there were lights on both sides that were easily visible by the mirror. They made backing in a lot easier. The shipper shared that this was a rush load and then he chuckled. He said that they day before the customer called and said that someone would come and pick it up at 6 in the morning. He was there and no one showed. Then they shared that someone would be there at 12 and again no one was there. Then they said 2 pm and again no one was there. Then they said someone would be there at 3:37. He said he sent a joking email back to them and said, so they will be here at 6, right. We showed up just about fifteen minutes before we were supposed to. The customer was a government agency and he shared that all of the people who used to organize the shipments and deliveries had left and there were younger less experienced people working who hadn't gotten a handle on how it all works. We also had a discussion about someone who had actually come and picked up similar units to the ones we had with a budget rental truck with no tag or dollies and wanted him to load them with the forklift. He shared that he had been doing this way too long and said that he wouldn't be able to that because it wasn't safe. I'm still not quite sure how that story ended. He signed the paperwork and said that he learned how to write his name when he went to school to be a doctor and then he decided to drop out but he decided to keep the signature. I thought that was quite humorous. We then started talking about drinks and health. When I told him I drank diet coke, he said, "That stuff will kill you, you need to stop drinking it." He told me regular was better for me or even try coffee. I said that I didn't like the taste of either and then shared that we have diabetes in the family and knew that I needed to watch my sugars so that's why I drink diet and because I like the taste. Then he shared that his doctor said he was diabetic and he had no family history and said that he was going to tell his doctor to test him again because he thought it was wrong. We then talked briefly about his son. His son had tried little league but was bullied and teased because he wasn't very good and he also had a disability. He said actually the parents were worse than the kids. That topic came up when we were discussing watching sports on TV. He said he doesn't watch them anymore after the way his son was treated by others who were talented in sports. We were loaded and wished him well and were off to North Dakota.

I drove and we went on state highways. As Jim said there isn't an easy way to get to an interstate from here. I kept thinking to myself, I sure am glad that we drive an automatic because a standard would have been a pain with all of the traffic and the stops and starts that needed to be made. At one time on the edge of one town there were scales signs. The scales were on the left side of a two lane highway, there were no other trucks ahead of me in traffic to follow and there weren't any closed signs or signs that shared that the easy pass would be triggered. I decided that I'd better stop, I didn't want to get in trouble. It looked deserted but I went ahead and stopped. It took a long time to get to the scales and after seeing no one there, I said it was going to take us a very long time to get back on the road. There was not a sign of clearing traffic in either direction. It probably took us a good 15 minutes to get back into traffic again. It took me a while but I finally realized that it was labor day weekend and that was why there was so much traffic. I drove through Wisconsin and then Jim took over at about 11:30 pm so that we could deliver at 6am.

We arrived for delivery at 5:30 am. It was a gated plant and we had to wait for someone to come and let us in. The smell reminded me of a feed mill. They did a lot of work with corn. This delivery was going to be a little tougher than what it was at the shippers. There wasn't a dock and Jim said, so how do we want to unload this. The guy was helpful, he said, however you want to. You all can do the math 10,300 pounds divided by 4. Each container was about 2500 pounds. They decided to use the pallet jack and get the containers to the edge of the truck and then use the forklift to get them off. Getting the containers moved around so that the forklift could pick them up, was the trick. One guy was on the fork lift and the other guy got up in the truck with Jim to help him get them turned and over to the edge of the truck. The guy who helped was pretty comical and made us laugh. He shared that it was almost time for him to go home. We all goofed a little and I asked for his signature. He shared that he had just had practice with that at the bank the day before, so it should be good. He said that he had just purchased a truck and was hoping that he would have a job to be able to pay it off. He shared that he was extremely thankful that during this economic time that he had a job and that he felt for those who didn't. Once we were unloaded we went outside the gate and did our delivery message.

Jim noticed that we hadn't gotten a layover option. We usually get those once we tell them we arrived for delivery and now we were confirming delivery and we still hadn't gotten an lay over option. He called dispatch and they shared that the computers were down. He told them that we would find the closest truck stop and head there since they didn't give us a option. Jim found a Petro station, so we headed there.

We've been here since about 8:30 this morning and it looks like we will probably be here for the rest of the weekend. Dispatch said freight is slow right now because of the holiday weekend. Jim chose this petro because we thought we would be here for a while. There are quite a few things within walking distance. We have our bikes with us, but the wind is a little crazy right now and there is a wind advisory out. I know that the midwest is dealing with very high temps. Currently the temp is about 65 and the high today was for 68. Clouds have rolled in so it actually feels a little cooler than 65 and of course since just yesterday we were without AC in 102 degree weather, this almost feels a little winterish to us, kidding.

Interesting people I've noticed today while I have been sitting at McDonalds charging the laptop and writing the blog. I have a window seat, so I can see things that are happening outside. I saw a younger couple walking with hiking backpacks, carrying guitars in cases and walking two husky type dogs. I thought, are they hiking somewhere and then I noticed a sign on the back of one of the backpacks that simply said West. I was hoping that they would stop by so that I could talk to them but they were down the road and across the street before I knew it. You could hear people chattering about them and what they thought they were doing. It is so interesting to listen to people talk about things they don't understand and boy does the imagination take over.

Another person I noticed, stood outside for a very long time. Just standing, not talking to anyone, not trying to be noticed but because he was just standing out there he was noticed. At one point I saw a father and daughter coming in the door and I caught a glance of them and how they passed by him. The day was making a bee line for the door, almost like he was afraid that the man would talk to him. His daughter probably about 6 or 7 just beamed him a huge smile. I couldn't see the man's face to see what his reaction was to her smile. To everyone including myself, he was probably thought of as a homeless person or a beggar. That was my first impression...his hair had not been combed and it was longer and he had some facial hair. One thing that was missing was that he didn't seem to have any personal possessions with him. I decided to get something to eat so went to stand in line. After waiting a while, I decided that I would just wait until the rush was over and turned around to head back to my work space. I am not sure how it happened but the man was standing directly behind me and I didn't even know that he had come in. Scared me and I'm sure my reaction was a look of fear. I thought to myself, of all people to see that I was scared, as I was observing him earlier, I thought what a shame that no one stops and talks to him. He is a real person and then I find myself startled in his presence. Well, truth be told I wasn't expecting anyone to be standing behind me and no matter who it was, they would have scared me. I told him that I was sorry for almost knocking him over and he said don't worry about it. He ordered his food and sat down. Of course I think to myself...why don't you go over and talk to him, but my human fear sets in. I'm still not sure why I am afraid. I think that I'm more afraid of not being able to help someone in need. I know that sometimes just sitting with someone and talking to them is all of the help they need. Many people won't talk to them because they fear they will get taken advantage of. But then I think...wow, do I have an inflated ego, maybe he doesn't need my help, maybe I need his help, maybe he can help me see something that I've been questioning or looking for. I have heard and have experienced times when I think that I've wanted to help someone and instead they wind up showing and teaching me much more than I could have ever helped them. I also think, what if Jesus came back as a homeless person, would I sit and talk to him or shun him? I know that someday God will give me the courage to reach out and talk even though I may have fear. All those who differ from us are God's children too and we are to love one another even though we do not all live in this world in the same way.

Unless we get a load tonight, we are off to church tomorrow. We may walk if it is nice, it is only a mile up the road. If time allows, I'll post about that tomorrow and if we are here I will post what kinds of things we do while playing the waiting game.

Remember to see the positive in people and remember those things that make you smile because every time you remember them, your smile comes back.

Love, peace, joy and hope
Judy