Sorry

There was a time I was daddy,
Now I'm just dad.

There was a time you smiled,
Now you're just there.

I call your phone,
No answer.

I text you,
No reply

I post to your wall,
No acknowledgement.

I reply to your post,
You know how the story goes.

I'm sorry baby girl.  I didn't try to become just your father.  I failed you.

Just know, I love you with everything I have and I'll always be ready to be daddy again.

[INSERT BLOG TITLE HERE]

I've been getting caught up on blogs that I read and thinking that maybe I should post. But what to say? I don't even know what to use for a title.

You know, I've renamed my blog site to do with the fact I'm a truck driver, but haven't really talked about it yet. Maybe I could start there. Let's see.....

I've been driving now for over 4 years, all for the same company. My company was strictly an auto shift fleet. That kind of bummed me out. I've wanted to drive truck since I was a little kid and always imagined shifting through all the gears. And then BAM!!! Auto shift.

Now, people that have never driven an auto shift truck probably imagine something along the lines of a car style auto. It's not. It's actually a manual shift transmission, but it is computer shifted. The downfall is that you don't get the true experience of driving a truck and your stuck going through every gear up and every gear down. On most auto shift trucks anyway. My first one was a Volvo with a 12 speed auto shift and it would actually skip gears according to how fast the RPM's went up.

But our Freightliners are 10 speed Ultra-Shift and go through every gear.

Then one day I hear this rumor about my company buying 185 manual shift trucks and only giving them to trainers. Hmmm, I'm a trainer.... Sure enough, I got the call to pick one up. YAY ME!!!

Now, I've been nearly 4 years driving an auto shift, but I know how to drive a manual from a previous job and I drove one in trucker school. But the job was a decade ago and school was only a couple of weeks. One week in the truck.

It was embarrassing LOL.

I figured I had better take a week off from training so that I could get used to the truck before I tried to show a student how to drive one.. I'm pretty good at it now. But I do have to say, when I'm in traffic, I kind of miss the auto shift LOL..

I'm sure those that have seen our trucks have also noticed that we were a 100% dry van company. Well now we are starting to dabble in reefer units. I quickly got under one. Longer miles and I get more places than we do with a dry van. Plus the trailers are assigned to us. No drop and hooks, but I always have the same trailer. I'll actually spend the extra cash to wash my trailer now.

The other plus is that my company just started putting new logos on the new equipment. So both my truck and trailer are 2010 models with matching logos. After being with the old logos for so long, I think the new ones look GREAT!!

With only 51 trailers and 186 trucks (one older truck and trailer was relabeled) out of 2,000 trucks and over 5,000 trailers, I feel kind of special...

I sure am rambling on for someone with no clue what to talk about today LOL.

But, on that note...

- Chip

Above The Mat

So, it's been awhile since I've been around here...

Good news!!! Brooklyn is one step closer to having her ring and getting Above The Mat Wrestling off the ground. I know she likes to says it's all of us, but it's not. This is her baby. Don't get me wrong, I will enjoy the ride.

I've never been a fan of main stream wrestling (WWE), but I love the indies. The guys that come out and put on a show for nothing more than gas money and comradeship. I've made a lot of friends in the Michigan Indies (because I am the most famous NON-wrestler in the Michigan indies!) and enjoy watching them in that square circle.

So, my baby, Above The Mat, is getting a new twist. The reins are being turned over to Brooklyn to breathe new life into ATM. Make it famous yet again.

I'm sure we will still do radio shows, but they will be far and few between with the crew being spread out so far now. But wrestling will always bring them all together. And from time to time, you will see a table set up in the corner with me doing my technical thang, running around like a chicken gettin' it's feathers plucked by a 2 year old. Then, the next thing you know, your hearing those words yet again....

"WELCOME!!!! To Above The Mat!!"

- Marshall

Work blows

It's 6am out here in the North West mountains. I'm waiting for the sun to come and warm up the day. My wife called and woke me up, but I haven't called back yet. Not sure why. It probably has to do with the nightmares I have. I worry that she might get too lonely at home without me there.

That's the part that sucks about my job. Not being home. I took my job for a couple of reasons. First, because in Michigan, there just aren't any jobs. But mostly because I've always wanted to drive truck across the country. I love seeing all the sights and when I have time, I take back roads to break up the everyday boring highways. I love to see the scenery.

Then there is child support. My job has kept me out of trouble with the Michigan child support office and I'm finally getting caught up.

But, the longer I stay, the better the pay, the harder it is to find a job that will get me home more often while at the same time making the money I make. I'm to a point now that I can pay all the bills on my own without my wife working. The nature of the beast might put me behind a little, but it's never more than a week or two at most.

In just a couple of months I'll be at a point that I could take an entire month off and get paid for it. This summer, I'll be able to take a week off, drive to my daughter's graduation, then a little over a month later, take two more weeks off for our annual July 4th family get together at my house. And still have yet another week of paid vacation to use whenever.

I've never had this before in a job. I've had jobs long enough to do it, but they were jobs that didn't offer these kind of benefits. So to find a suitable replacement will be tough.

I was going to stay out after I finish with this student to take on another one. But I think I'm going to just take a couple days off. I need it. If my company would get me by the house once in a while, I would probably be much happier. But they don't. It's almost as if they purposely avoid South Carolina.

I think I'm going to push the issue after this trip to the east to get me by the house. I miss my family and could really use a hug from my wife. The kind of hug that reassures me that she misses me just as much.

On a happier note, I met my aunt Sue and my cousin Kim in Tacoma, WA yesterday. Sue and I had a great time and did a LOT of talking about family and life in general. She took me to lunch and I think we spent more time talking than eating.

She is Bill's sister. Bill, if you don't know, is the guy listed on my birth certificate. Growing up, the family I met were a bunch of hoodlums. I mean, there is another aunt that was great to visit when I was a kid, but I haven't seen her in years. (Mental note, visit aunt Madeline next time I'm in Port Huron.) It was refreshing to meet a couple more members of my family that I'm glad to call family.

I was really nervous at first, but Sue was quick to make me feel at ease. I can't wait to come back and take a day off work and meet the rest of the family.

Well, time to get off here and go pick up my load so I can start heading to Pennsylvania. From there, hopefully south so I can take a day at home.

- Chip