but it could have been worse
I got a call from dispatch this morning right around 8:00 while I was in the hotel lobby getting a cup of coffee. He wanted me to grab a trailer and run 3 hours up the road to Northern WI to pick up a fire truck and haul it back down to Oshkosh. As it sounded a little too easy I should have been suspicious, but I said ok and that I would be there after I finished my coffee and had a shower.
On the way up I called the customer for directions and had to talk to three different people before I got directions in to the place. How the hell do these people find their way to work every day?
When I got there I discovered that the person who gave me directions left out one small detail. The place was laid out over a large area and had at least 20 buildings. I had no clue as to what building I needed so I just cruised around looking for a fire truck. As they're kinda big they're usually pretty easy to spot. No such luck.
I finally parked the truck in about what looked like the center of the place and started walking from building to building. I had tried the phone but being as it was lunch time all I was getting was damn voice mails. After walking around for about 20 minutes I finally found someone who actually seemed to have some clue about who I actually needed to see and where I might find them. Naturally they were in a building at the opposite end of the damn place.
I walked down to the building I was told to find and asked for the person by name. "He isn't here today." Wonderful. I explained why I was there and the guy went and found someone who actually knew where the damn truck was located. He came out, told me where to find it (parked behind a building I had walked right past at the other end of the place). He said that they were going to pull it out into the road earlier but it wouldn't start. Oh great.
I went down to where the truck was and as he had said it wouldn't start I opened the power panel on the rear of the fire truck and checked the power disable switch. Sure enough it was in the "disable" position. Since fire trucks don't actually have a key this little switch helps prevent theft as well as keeping the batteries from running down while the thing is parked. I chuckled a little as I flipped it to the "enable" position, walked to the front, climbed in, and fired it up. Easy as pie if you know where to look.
After loading and securing it, I double checked with dispatch about any possible low bridges between there and Oshkosh as the thing was well over legal height. There was one, but I could exit, cross, and get back on the other side. Cool.
Normally when I'm doing local stuff I don't bother with my log book because the odds of having it checked are remote, but for some reason something told me that before I pulled out with this over wide, over high, and over weight load I might ought to catch up the coloring book. I usually go with those "feelings" so I did. Damn good thing too.
The weigh station that had been closed when I passed it earlier was now wide open and working hard. I pulled in and was immediately pulled around for a level 2 inspection. Damn! I really didn't have time for this crap. He checked my paperwork, permits, and of course my log book and everything was in proper order (gotta love those "feelings"). However, when he walked around the truck he found a bad tire on the trailer. How did I miss that?
I got out and looked. Hell I almost had to stand on my head to see the bad spot as it was on an inside tire. How the hell did he see that? Lucky for me it wasn't bad enough for him to put me out of service. All he could do was waste my time noting it on the inspection report, make me a copy of it, and go over my log book again with a microscope looking for anything to ticket me for. Sorry bud, ya ain't gonna find it as I use the same damn software you do.
I finally got out of the weigh station, but my mood was now not a good one. I was already in a bit of bad mood because of the whole doctor thing. The more I thought about the doctor visit on Monday the worst my mood had grown. The doctor had all but accused me of trying to milk the worker's comp thing.
At the time, on Monday, I was just too damn tired to really notice or even care. I just wanted some rest. But after a good night's sleep I got to thinking about him and his attitude and the more I thought about it the more insulted I felt. I see the prick again tomorrow morning and I've already decided that I am going to A. tell him off and B. demand that he release me back to work without any more damn follow ups. I'll deal with the back issue as best I can. It'll either get better or I'll learn to live with it. I am not going to have some prick call my integrity into question, even indirectly.
Now I remember why I never have liked doctors. They think they know how your body feels better than you do and/or think you're faking something trying to get over on someone, and/or think you're fucking stupid. Screw them.
Back in 1999 I had to have back surgery for a couple of blown out discs. I could have easily saved myself several thousand dollars in deductibles and co-payments by claiming it was work related. I didn't for one simple reason: it would be dishonest. I guess my boss at the time knew I could have pulled that stunt too because he actually thanked me for not doing that.
I believe that in the end, the only thing a person can truly call their own is their integrity. It's the only thing that you can actually own. I'll be damned if I'll allow some educated idiot who doesn't even know me question my integrity. He'll be damn lucky if I leave his office tomorrow without knocking out a few of his teeth. I really am that pissed about it.
There are few things a person can say to me that will really get me fired up. Calling me a thief or a liar are at the top of that short list.
Ah well, I need to calm down. Just sitting here in Appleby's writing about this has my blood pressure up. Sorry folks, but this has been eating at me all day and I won't feel better about it until I confront the asshole in his office tomorrow. It may be a worker's comp case but that doesn't mean I have to put up with any bullshit from some witch doctor who doesn't know a damn thing about me as a person.
And my integrity really does matter to me. I guess I'm old fashioned in that regard.
I apologize to the readers, I am just venting here. It really has been a shitty day.