I got fired on April 1st

The Aprils Fools Joke was partly true!
I didn't get fired, i quit. The entire time i was there i was job hunting and working on working for someone else. I'll leave the details for another day. All this employment drama is for the birds.
Funny thing is i am making the same i was hauling fuel. Without the...
Without the headaches.
Yes, i am still in a big truck.

With a GPS unit stuffed in my pants!!

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Garmin nüvi 850 AM

I bought this Garmin G.P.S. unit to help me find gas stations but ended up relying on it as a MP3 player. GPS MP3 player? Yup. With a 4 gig memory card it's a great way to listen to endless podcast's and or music while driving down the road going to gas station after gas station after gas station.
It can broadcast on any FM radio channel as long as it is clear. Unfortunately the signal it puts out is so meager, it's useless in most city's where every blank station has bleed over.

UNLESS YOU TOUCH THE UNIT ON THE SIDE.

Shift, put elbow on shifter, touch GPS, listen. Shift, put elbow on shifter.... All night long. My arm got tired so i put the GPS in my pants. Now my arm isn't aching from being stretched all night long but i can no longer use the GPS part.
Maybe i need two Garmin and some duct tape.
And an antenna attached to a football helmet.
Ill figure some thing out.
I don't really need the G.P.S. part anyway now. I should duct tape it to my stomach like they do when the put a wire tap on guys, in the movies.

The not-so-good parts (Cons)

• The unit is inoperable when the USB is plugged into the laptop. The battery can be recharged when plugged into a computer. In fact it charges automatically. While it is plugged in all the normal functions are disabled, you just get a black screen with an image. You can still transfer files but you can't look up an address's or mess around with the GPS or use any of the other features.
• It is nice that you can recharge it via the USB cable though.
• You cant delete files! You have to plug the unit into a laptop to delete stuff. So lets say you have a 2 hour radio show in MP3 format and its cut up into 4 segments and you have 6 days of shows. You might want to delete each file after you listen, you have to plug the USB cable in to access the memory card so that you can delete these files.

>> When the Garmin is plugged into the cigarette lighter charger there are no limitations on any the functions, it works like normal <<

Good stuff (Pros)

• Voice Command. It has an external, separate voice activation device. You can speak the address. It works well.
• Bluetooth. You can talk on the phone if your cell phone has bluetooth. Guess it would be like talking on speaker phone. I haven't tried it.
• Alarm clock. Has that
• Trip Information. Shows Average MPH, Miles per Hour (great for double checking your speed if you have a truck that seems to be going faster or slower than the speedometer reading in your truck), Stopped Time, Total Miles. (Total miles can be reset after each trip, otherwise it just keeps rolling, like an odometer.
• Solitaire. Has that
• Touch Screen. Check
• Truck Routes. Nope. No truck routes.
• Shortest route v.s. Highway. It has that function and you can change a route by touching the screen. Its easy to add a way point to avoid a road or street.
• Detour. It has a detour function that, when clicked on will take you to the closest exit and show you how to keep moving on. If you wander off the route the Garmin will recalculate automatically and show you a new route without touching anything.
• Search local retailers. The Garmin can search for big name businesses. Its easy to find a Wallmart, McDonalds or any big name store. It only searches within a 100 mile radius i think. I was trying to find a Costco 150 miles away and i had to keep trying till i got well out of the city i was in.

<-Start Screen

<-Route Preferences

<- Solitaire

<- Driving Stats

<- Route Preferences 1

<- Route preferences 2

<-MP3 Player

<-MP3 Player Menu

<-MP3 Audio options Menu

<-FM Transmitter Menu

<-Driving Map

<-System Options

<-Settings Options

No more fuel hauling

Today i got fired.

No more hauling fuel for me. They didn't seem to mind that i put medium grade in the high octane tank. They didn't say anything when i had 2 dome outs at the rack. They didn't even say anything when i called in "sick" for nine days cause i hate this job!

They just fired me!

I find out next friday why i got the Boot.

ughhhh

test

i think i know why there is always an opening for fuel haulers.

it is not easy.

I got hired on and started training last Monday. It's going ok. At least i made some money last week.

Wanderlust

Click this picture and look at it for a second.

Nice R.V huh?

A lady sent me an email saying she liked my blog.
She travels with her husband around the country in that R.V.
They have a blog too, you can check it out here.
http://wanderlusttimes2.blogspot.com/
Read carefully! (its and R.V. with 18 wheels)



Gogol Bordello - Wanderlust King.



Gypsy Punk

T.W.I.C. Card + hazmat + tanker + fuel

Transportation Worker Identification Credential. (T.W.I.C.)

This card is the same as having a badge to enter a building. There is no test. All you do is apply and pay and wait for a phone call.
Do you need to get this? The first fuel hauling company i talked to told me i needed it, others did not require it. There is a deadline on the T.S.A. website that states "Workers who require unescorted access to secure areas of maritime facilities and vessels and all U.S. credentialed mariners must enroll for a TWIC no later than April 15, 2009." see: compliance

I have no tanker experience and no fuel hauling experience. Having that card could increase my chances of landing a job, no? If getting a fishing license, a Pilot License and a Food Handlers License would increase my chances of getting hired i would get them too. I will be hauling fuel!! Like it or not. I need a job! You might not need a twic card, I really don't know.

If you already passed your hazmat test bring them any/every document you have to prove that! It looks like you can save money that way. Wish i would of read the fine print before i did this..

• What if I have already completed a comparable threat assessment? (HAZMAT ENDORSEMENT)

• A reduced fee of $105.25 will be made available for applicants who will not require the security threat assessment. The reduced fee is available for the following:
• applicants who hold a valid Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME) issued after May 31, 2005,
• applicants who hold a valid Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card,
• applicants who hold a Merchant Mariner Document (MMD) issued after February 3, 2003, or
• applicants who hold a Merchant Marine License (MML) issued after January 13, 2006.

Note: For those applicants seeking to pay the reduced fee, they must present their HME, FAST card, MMD, or MML (meeting the requirements outlined above) at the time of enrollment.


see:costs

Next, Go here and find a enrollment center in your area. Do not bother pre-enrolling online. Find a location and just go there! You might be in a room full of 15 people, it might be empty. Tell them you do not have an appointment and have a seat. The first time i went it was packed. I came back the next day around 11am. Had to wait for one guy who had an appointment and then they took me. You can sign up online and wait if you want. I would still be waiting. The first slot they had available on their online appointment form was 1 1/2 months away.
It will cost $132.50. They take credit cards. The process takes 15 minutes. The card lasts 5 years. Bring your license and your social security card, that is all you need.

Here is the list of approved identification:
List A – one document
• Unexpired U. S. passport book or passport card
• Unexpired Merchant Mariner Document (MMD)
• Unexpired Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Card
• Unexpired NEXUS Card
• Unexpired Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) Card

List B – two documents (with one of the two being a government-issued photo ID)
• Driver’s license issued by a State or outlying possession of the United States (this includes an Enhanced Driver’s License)
• ID card issued by a State or outlying possession of the United States. Must include a State or State agency seal or logo (such as state port authority ID or State University ID).
• Original or certified copy of birth certificate issued by a State, county, municipal authority, or outlying possession of the United States bearing an official seal
• Voter’s registration card
• U. S. military ID card or U. S. retired military ID
• U. S. military dependent’s card
• Expired U. S. passport (within 12 months of expiration)
• Native American tribal document
• U. S. Social Security card
• U. S. Military discharge papers DD-214
• Department of Transportation (DOT) medical card
• U.S. Civil marriage certificate
• Merchant Mariner License (MML) bearing an official raised seal, or a certified copy

____________________________

Tanker:
The multiple choice test for getting a tanker endorsement is very short. Pay attention to questions involving breaking and remember 15 to 50 - the distance you need to stop before rail road tracks, when you are required to stop.
Schneider has a sample tanker test on their site too.

Start Wearing Purple

I want to tell everyone a true story..

Sample Hazmat Test

If you need a T.W.I.C. card too read this.

In order to get a hazardous materials endorsement on your license you have to be fingerprinted and pass a multiple choice test. Here is a link to find approved fingerprint locations in the U.S. This will cost you $89.25. I didn't make an appointment and i was the only one there when i showed up. They accepted credit cards. It took less than 10 minutes to slide fingers over things and that was that.

Your prints will be sent to the T.S.A. and they will clear you.

You do not have to wait to go take the hazmat test. The Department of Motor Vehicles will receive a notification from the Transportation Security Administration (T.S.A.) before they put the endorsement on your license. Actually it's all done in "the system". When i went in to take the hazardous materials test days after i got finger printed, i told them i was waiting for the prints to get cleared. The lady pointed at her computer screen at the DMV and said, "you're cleared". It only took 11 days! I was told this process could take months. It took longer for them to send me a letter saying i'm cleared but i was in the system real quick like.


You need more than just your drivers license to get the endorsement. Bring a birth certificate or passport when you go to take the test. (even if its expired) They do not consider a social security card approved identification.

Be prepared to provide Proof of Citizenship and Residency - An individual applying for issuance or renewal of a Hazmat endorsement must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident of the U.S. Federal regulations require proof of status be submitted to DMV at the time of your application for the Hazmat endorsement. Acceptable proof is:

• U.S. Passport.
• Certificate of birth that bears an official seal and was issued by a state, county, municipal authority or outlying possession of the United States.
• Certification of Birth Abroad issued by the U.S. Department of State
  (Form FS-545 or DS 1350).
• Certificate of Naturalization (Form N-550 or N-570).
• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (Form N-560 or N-561).
• Permanent Resident Card, Alien Registration Receipt Card (Form I-551).
• Temporary I-551 stamp on foreign passport.
• Temporary I-551 stamp on Form I-94, Arrival/Departure Record with photograph of the bearer.
• Reentry Permit (Form I-327).

---

The test:

Schneider has an Online Practice test for hazmat and tanker.
And, here are some real old, free, CDL hazmat practice tests.

..

jobless

I think almost half of us got laid off. It didn't happen all at once but day by day and week by week i kept noticing missing bodies and thinking "Hey, what happened to that guy who used to...."
Eventually it got to the point in the yard where you could hear too clearly. No cranes running, nothing being crushed, no hammering or clanging or drilling. Just a few people talking about how they had never seen it this bad before.

I don't think i lasted 6 months hauling scrap and i saw the best and worst of times in scrap history. When i started in May last year i kept hearing people talk about the record breaking scrap prices. I think it got close to $300 a ton.
When i turned in my keys it was $20 a ton. This audio clip explains how people over here effected people over there. And what happened over there put me out of work one day in November, last year.
Is it effected or affected?
Welcome to the Machine.

NPR story on scrap metal - text

____________________________

November is not a month to be looking for a job in the trucking industry. Neither is December or January or February. So i decided to turn my bathroom into a scrap yard while job hunting.

before

afterThe sink now sits inside the wall - the wall with the missing drywall on the top picture. I should of set the camera up in the same spot to make it less confusing.
____________________________

After i finished the bathroom it was suddenly the day before Christmas and it snowed. Then it rained. Then a branch from the tree out front fell because of the ice and knocked out my power for 6 days. It tore the post out of the roof and pulled/ripped the wires out. Not sure how the line held on like that. I didn't go up on the roof till the power guys came. They came and wrapped it up and hung it from a tree branch, told me to fix it and left. Took them 5 days to fix the major stuff before they could get back to me.

____________________________

So December ended and i kept staring at craigslist like i was looking at a menu and just couldn't decide what to eat. Everyday, looking at the jobs, worksource, Jobdango / help wanted, craigslist. The transportation part, the general labor part, the manufacturing part. Finally i just started clicking on the top link which lists every job without discrimination. Not like there is a big pool of options to choose from seeing as how the machine is broken.

It's like a road map, a riddle. Maybe the right choice isn't even on the menu? Yes you need money, but what if the next place you work lays you off. What do people need? What things will people continue to buy or consume before they start looting and raping and pillaging like wild animals. Which direction to go?



Top 3 answers on the board, survey says...

• Beer

• Gas

• Toilet paper

That's what i came up with.
Beer and booze. Cheap and people need it to be friendly to each other.
Gas is the stuff that keeps this real-life video game going
Toilet paper. I read that toilet paper is supposed to be worth like 4 beers and a pack of smokes in a war zone.

I used to haul toilet paper to Costco. I would rather eat my own crap than enter another Costco, and most of the long haul carriers haul t.p. I don't want to drive long haul right now. There is a mill close to the house but they don't make t.p. and i don't want to work in a factory anyway.
Beer. Already did that (Long haul (out 5 days at a time)). Those guys/girls that haul beer locally work their tails off. Next time you see a guy pushing a dolly full of beer into the 7-11 watch him. The energy level of a UPS driver and a beer driver are pretty comparable. Too much. Much to much. Neither the UPS driver nor the guy delivering the beer is going to have a job anyway, without fuel.

So.. im off to test for hazmat again (i used to have that endorsement but i let it expire) Ya gotta take a test and learn a couple things before you can haul hazardous materials and after 9/11 the company i was working for, like allot of others, stopped hauling hazmat. You now have to be fingerprinted and it costs $89 to have the government screen and approve you. Its a hassle.
Hazmat isn't just fuel, lots of liquids are considered hazardous material. You need an hazmat endorsement on your licence if you haul over a reportable quantity.

The voices in my head are saying this is not a good idea. Hauling fuel. If i stop talking about this in the future and start talking about hauling beer or toilet paper, the voices won.

Yes i think it is going to get worse. Much worse. Collapse of the dollar worse. I'm sick of everyone ragging on Obama but he can't fix this. (i didn't vote) I'm always thinking the sky is falling anyway but I bet if you could listen to what is being said behind closed doors in high places. I bet the guys behind the curtain have been double checking the life boats.
Two years from now the only people working will be those in the toilet paper industry, the fuel industry and the beer makers!!!!
And the guys behind the curtain will have wheel barrels full of that stuff in their lifeboats. i betcha.

~Cheers

Oh.. if you have a job KEEP IT!!! If it's something you can't stand and you think you can find another job you're nuts. Tell your boss you're nuts and ask if he/she can lay you off. At least then you will get unemployment, which might have been coming your way anyway!

Location: Portland, OR

ike

For John.

Taken at a scrap yard in Portland Oregon
(in memory of Hurricane Ike and John - he lives down thar )

.

My hard drive crashed

The reason i didnt post anything last month was because my hard drive crashed. There were no causalities.
After buying a new one and getting things going again i thought i would go back and repair the old on. Yes it can be done!!!! Its very easy, you just take off the back cover and fix it.
I made a video to show the process.. This is for you Vince!

quicktime version

Music by
Music by Polkahontas
"Aufstand im Ghetto"
myspace.com/polkahontastisch

put keywords here

For drivers appreciation week i was given a new truck. Here see, it has 48 miles on it.

I remember posting a picture about a new truck back when i started with this company. That truck went to another driver and i have been pretty much planted in a tractor pulling an end dump since back then. Till that truck threw a valve and we got this one, with 48 miles on it.
What else. What else has happened during driver appreciation week? Scrap prices have dropped like a brick. A brick inside a bale of tin inside an enigma inside a riddle. But actually that happened a couple weeks ago - the scrap prices falling.

I found a golf ball at work.

Did you know you can leave a comment on this blog without any effort. You just put in a name and type away. No signing-up required. I think Youtube has spoiled me. People are full of comments and things to say. They watch, they type. ALLOT. So why dont you , you 3000 people a day who come here and stay for an average of 3 minutes. Say something. And say it like you mean it!

Now all i get are comments from people trying to sell *#$& . So, the comments you are not seeing (because i do not publish them) say something like. Great video and then the user name says some thing like Truck Accessories. And the name is linked to a site with spam spam spam spam spam.

So, how bout i make another video where i answer emails. Yeah, ill do that. Ill make the non-personal spam look like toast and cheese. And then ill post it here, with so much enthusiasm you monitor will glow after you turn it off. In the mean time ill be on YouTube. www.youtube.com/Road82 <-- there is a nice size group of folks (truck drivers) over there putting out videos by the truck load. Thankfully its still a community and hasn't become a dumping ground for links and crap crap crap crap crap.

Like this blog post is crap. Blogging sucks.

Camera mount

Im sorry if this page takes a while to load. It appears google analytics is gathering data. I don't have google analytics installed on this blog however. In fact im trying to move away from google stuff. They have my blog, my youtube page, i use it to search, and email.

Isn't that allot of info for one company to have for a person????

This is the camera mount i used for the motorhead video.

(its below this blog post)

1. Umbrella Flash Mounting Bracket
1. BOGEN MANFROTTO CLASSIC SUPER CLAMP

Super_Clamp

Umbrella_Bracket

Sorry, no link to link to for the studs. It would be best to find a camera store and fiddle with everything till you find what you like. You could actually do this differently if you wanted. You could have two elbows, you could add arms... And if you were at a store you could make sure the brass studs are the ones you need.

Search SUPER+CLAMP (B&H Photo)

Bogen / Manfrotto Super Clamp with 3025 Head

Quicktime version

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free advertising incoming

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random information that might be use full if one was sitting in front of the T.V on a Monday at 9pm, 8pm Central

Americas_Toughest_Jobs

I think there might be stuff similar to ice road truckers on the show. Not sure, i haven't watched.

random information brought to you by random people who send random stuff to my email box.