Getting around

After a few days at home, I came back to the terminal and spent the day waiting for a load. Looks like I'll have one for the morning, but today was very, ah, relaxed.

Waiting for a load, you have to just hang around. If you miss the satcom message, you may be out some money. On the other hand, there are days when you can't go anywhere anyway. Either you have a load and you can't deliver it today (as happened in Thomasville (see previous post)), or you've been working hard lately, and you're running out of hours.*

That last hasn't happened to me lately, but it was not that uncommon when I was out for three or four weeks at a time. And if you can't haul anything, you might as well play tourist. If you can. We've discussed how close the average truckstop is to the average sightseer's haven. Thomasville was barely within walking distance--MY walking distance.

I have a folding bicycle I picked up years ago. It looks funny and it isn't too fast, but it folds up almost to suitcase size. Back when I was doing the 3-to-4-weeks thing I was seriously thinking bringing it along. I wouldn't have used it much, but a few times it would have been so nice.

I was actually starting to look for a place to hide it in the cab. But then I ended up on my present assignment. And now, unless something strange happens (like an Interstate backing up for nearly twelve hours...see previous), I'm not out for more than a week at a time. I hardly ever run out of hours.

And though I do have to sit for a day every so often, it doesn't happen enough to justify hauling around thirty-plus pounds of folded-up two-wheeler.

So this week I'm trying something else. Some time back we got one of those silly little scooters you find at Wal-Mart's and the like. And I discovered, to my great surprise, that it actually does let you get around faster. Sort of. A bike will leave you in the dust, of course. But on level ground it's faster than walking. And downhill it's kinda nice. And uphill? Well, it weighs, what, five pounds? You pick it up, trudge up the hill, and you're still ahead of the game.

It's tiny, it's light, and it fits in the cargo bin on the truck. All I lose is dignity. We'll see whether it's worth the trouble.
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*If you're lucky you run out of hours on a weekend, when there isn't much to do regardless. Sunday is a good day for a restart.