I didn't see any kitchen sinks in the road on the back from Minneapolis, MN to Milwaukee, WI. I did see two squad cars on the shoulder (my side) with a "customer" on the way towards Milwaukee from Madison, WI on I-94. The way the sun was rising in the East, I didn't make them out as soon as I would have liked to (since I'm so tall, the top of the cab acts as a sun visor meaning that I don't see as far down the road as I would like to--especially going up a slight hill as in this situation). I changed lanes right before the vehicles. The officer who had been talking to the "customer" walked to the front of the car because he didn't think I'd go into the other lane to give him some room (they were right up against a guard rail--the officer's butt was literally in the road as he was talking with the driver of the pull-over vehicle). He gave me a look as I passed him that I interpreted as not too friendly. I bet he had to move his butt out of the way for more approaching vehicles as well (maybe next time he will have the vehicle stop where there isn't a guard rail next to the shoulder!).
Back at the ranch (warehouse), I unloaded the trailer and read my next load assignment. Couldn't go there (Minnesota stop)--I didn't have enough hours left to drive unless I wanted to start my 10-hour break mid-morning and then drive all night to get there (however I was wired already with caffeine and I would have got an hour or two of rest--not really enough for a 30-hour schedule. The dispatchers were not thrilled that I was not accepting the assignment. I was too call in a while to see what else might be available (who knows--they may have encouraged me to drive all night as there was no one else available).
This was preventable if dispatch would have told me about the assignment yesterday instead of today. That way I would have kept on driving for 2-hours thus freeing up the needed driving hours for that load today. Later, Mr. T informed me that they were unable to do so since they weren't sure if this route would be needed (or if more than one driver was needed because they split the stops because one trailer wasn't enough for all the stops).
So I took off for home and spent some needed time with the family.
A bit later Mr. S informed me that I'd have another Minnesota run for tomorrow (shorter distance). I decided to head out early in the morning instead of later in the afternoon. That way I could spend some time with my son (who needed some dad-son time). However, Mr. T. called a short time later with another request for a different route to Michigan. I thought I could deliver that route in time (and he preferred that I'd take it) so I decided to go for it. That meant that I needed to leave immediately. That also meant that my son was very despondent that his dad went back on his decision to stay home the rest of the day. After a few tears, he seemed better, but it was tough to head out the door.
The ride towards Marquette, MI started out warm and then ended up cooler as a cold front (along with wind and rain) moved through.
Had a major hiccup where I fueled (near Escanaba, MI)--the truck stop declined my auto-payment arrangement which meant that they had to call my company and get a manual approval. That happens every time I hit a new fuel stop where I haven't been before. It delayed my trip more than I had planned to and as a result, I had to do so some "fuzzy" logging in my log book. I hate to do that. However, every now and then circumstances will crop up where I will need to do some "creative" logging. I hate to do it (and thus try to avoid it altogether) but sometimes the unexpected happens resulting in "fudging" the log book.
I tried calling the family using my Sprint PCS phone from Marquette. No signal. Hello Sprint--put some towers up in the UP!
Tomorrow I'll have 4-stops and be home for a late supper.
miles driven = 656
10:00:42 PM
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