Firstly, Socrates says hi to JU. He feels that he has been seriously under-reported of late and insists upon top billing today. He is alive, well fed, and generally doing his best to be a pain in the ass when I am trying to do some serious sleeping. He is also very proud of the fact that he has ruined two of my favorite sport coats by applying his claws to their sleeves.
I finally delivered the non-running dozer to upper nowhere WI. After unloading the guy said he had a grader he needed hauled to Dallas and wanted to know if I would haul it down. I said I'd get a quote from my office, which I did. I could haul it down there for $4800. He hem hawed around, called someone or other, and basically held me up for a half an hour making up his mind. He finally said that it was too much. I told him that he could probably find some company that hires rookie drivers that would probably haul it for less, but it may or may not arrive in one piece. I reattached my trailer and promptly left. I don't work cheap.
It amazes me how people expect me to work for little of nothing. I am a professional. I am well trained and very responsible. I expect to be well paid for what I do. In the 10+ years I have been doing this sort of work I have never had a damage claim which is something very few drivers can claim. I take pride in my work and do a good job. Is it unreasonable to expect to receive a decent wage for my efforts?
Yes, there are those who will haul your machine for less money. But you get what you pay for. If you are shipping a $100,000 machine, do you really want to take a chance on the lowest bidder? I wouldn't. Ah well, no loss.
Once I got back to the yard I set up a service on my truck for tomorrow morning and set off down the hill for the pub. One driver and one office person were already there when I got there. The driver, W, has been with the company for a good many years and he and I have always gotten along pretty well. The office person, her name is Rose but I call her Rosie, is fairly new. I am the only one who she allows to call her Rosie. She takes exception to anyone else calling her that. Somehow, I get away with it (I told her one night while dancing that I call her that because she has a rosie disposition). She gave me a big hug when I came in.
It was a pretty good evening. Everyone that was at the yard or works in the office wandered in at some point, including the boss. He was actually the only one besides Rosie who made a point of saying good evening to me when he left, but that's neither here nor there. He and I have always got along quite well.
Once again I got that "outsider" feeling that I am all so familiar with when I am in a group of people. It's my own fault really. I am a private person and while I do get along well with others in a social setting I keep my private self private. I have always been that way and it's not unexpected that I am simply not that close to other people. I just don't like exposing my personal life to other people. I never have. So it's not too unexpected that people don't know me well enough to feel all that close to me.
Even Rosie said that she doesn't see me around the office enough. I made some passing comment about staying out of the office keeps me out of trouble or some such nonsense, but the fact is that I just avoid getting too involved in the intimate workings at work. I just don't feel comfortable getting too comfortable, if that makes any sense.
I am well liked and well respected at work and I like that. No need to get too intimate as that only leads to problems.
But it does feel a tad lonely at times.