I stopped a couple of hours short tonight. I planned to go on into MO before shutting down but the pain in my back and hip drove me into a truckstop just short of that goal. I've had enough for today.
Across the street from the small truckstop is a Ruby Tuesday which is where I am now typing this as I have just finished my dinner and am enjoying a Samuel Adams or three.
It's pretty quite at the moment. The dinner crowd has yet to arrive and I have a period of peace while listening to the tunes they pipe through the place. I haven't heard a song yet that I don't like. The very young bartender is nice although it sometimes takes her a few seconds to "get" my jokes. Well, ok, they are a bit out there at times.
She just now pointed to my empty beer glass and asked if I would like another one. My reply? "I really can't afford another one, can I have that one again?" She got this deer in the headlights look for a second or two before she finally figured out the joke. Ah well, at least she gave the old fart the courtesy of a laugh before pulling another brew.
I'm going to kill a mechanic or two when I get back to the yard. While servicing my truck yesterday one of them managed to get grease inside my truck...in the sleeper of all places. One of my favorite shirts wound up with a big black grease spot on the front, and a couple of others are also stained. That's roughly $100 worth of clothing ruined by this bone head. I didn't spot the damage until I stopped here and went to change out of my dirty work shirt and into something more appropriate for being out in public. I always keep a few nice shirts in the truck to wear out, and I don't buy them cheap.
If I complained to the boss about it I'm sure he would reimburse me for the shirts but he would probably also fire whichever mechanic did the service. I don't want to cost the guy his job, but I will get in his face about it when I get back. They have strict orders to keep the grease outside of the trucks and I damn sure don't appreciate the jerk ruining some of my best shirts.
I'm just about 10 1/2 hours from my first stop in TX. If I do some steady running tomorrow I'll deliver that stop first thing Thursday morning and then make my way down to Houston. If I'm lucky I can have that one off Thursday afternoon. If not, Friday morning. Either way I hope to be reloaded and rolling back North some time on Friday. My wallet needs the quick turn around.
Ah well, battery getting low, time to shut this thing down and enjoy my beer while listening to the Who tune now playing.