I'm back in WI and taking the weekend off. Monday I have to pick up a military vehicle from the factory's testing and development department and run it out to CA. Not sure what it is yet, or exactly where it goes as most T&D loads are classified, but I do know it's going to be an oversized load.

I normally wouldn't want to take a CA load, but T&D loads pay especially well and I need the money.

Thursday I got a call from my friend in FL who keeps an eye on my place while I am on the road. It seems we had a bad storm pass through and it tore off a small section of my roof. Not major damage but if let go it would only grow worse. I asked her to call someone and get me an estimate for the repairs.

She had already done so and the estimate was only $100. I figure that's not bad at all as if I let the problem go it could turn into a lot more, not to mention damage to the inside of the place if it gets bad enough. I told her to go ahead and hire them for the repair. She did and she called me back that afternoon to let me know it was done. That was fast.

She said they had found a couple of other potential problems and fixed those while they were at it, just to prevent any future issues. After all, it is storm season down there. The total bill came to $105. Not bad at all and I happily paid it.

As I am in the hotel I naturally went over to Applebee's for dinner and a couple of beers. Another of our drivers and his wife stopped by while I was there. He hasn't been with the company for very long, only a few months, and we chatted while we ate and then enjoyed some general chit chat over drinks. Both are nice people and live here in the area.

His wife gave me a good laugh because she seemed a bit bewildered by the fact that although I live in FL I seemed to know not only everyone who works in the place but also many of the customers as well. She commented on the fact that "only a trucker could get women to give him hugs and kisses over 1,000 miles from home". That cracked me up.

As I have mentioned before, I have taken to dressing better both to improve my appearance but also just to make myself feel better. I like looking nice. Two of the ladies who work there at Applebee's commented a couple of times on how nice I looked and that they really like the new look a lot. That's nice to hear.

It really isn't a huge change as far as that goes. I've always worn clean, decent looking clothes, I just added a necktie, a sport coat, a semi-dress hat, and nice looking leather shoes. I'm not really all that much a tee shirt kinda guy anyway so I don't really see it as all that different from usual. And I do enjoy looking nice.

I've always had a problem with how many of my fellow truckers tend to dress. Every day I see them in baggy sweat pants or shorts, crappy looking tee shirts, and often wearing sandals on their feet. I would be ashamed to show up at a customer looking like I just crawled out from under some dumpster in an alley somewhere, but I suppose these guys just have no pride.

I do often get dirty while chaining/strapping a load, especially if it requires a tarp. There is no way to tarp a load without getting filthy in the process. But I always arrive at the customer clean and neat, whatever happens after that can't be helped but at least I make a good first impression on them. I would never show up at a customer already filthy and smelling like I hadn't seen the inside of a shower in months (and some of those guys do stink to high Heaven).

When it isn't too hot I will wear coveralls over my clothes, especially when tarping, just to stay a little cleaner, but when it's blazingly hot out that just doesn't work. I just do what I have to do and then go get cleaned up at the nearest truck stop. It really doesn't take that much extra effort or time to maintain a decent appearance but some of these guys just can't seem to manage it at all. Maybe it's just the way I was raised but I would be ashamed to be seen in public looking like those guys do.

That reminds me, I need to stop by the Fleet Farm store today and pick up some new coveralls as mine are looking pretty ragged from use. Sounds like a suitable mission for this afternoon as I have nothing else of importance to do today and sitting around the hotel room is sure to get boring in short order.

I've been keeping an eye open for a new hat too. I've always liked derby hats but they are extremely hard to find these days. I keep hoping to run across one somewhere. So far I did find one in a little shop but sadly it was too big for me and she had no others. I could easily order one on the web, but a hat is something I like to try on before I buy it. I know my hat size, but sizing does vary a little from one maker/style to another.

I'll just keep my eye open and eventually I'll run across one somewhere.

I think it's about time to wander out and find myself something to eat.