Monday, July 09, 2007

Ontario West

Hey William, I think you've been reading the blog. If so, I barely missed your call this morning. I was sleeping across the driver's seat and passenger seat of Travis's Kenworth, and my phone was in a compartment above the dashboard, so I couldn't get to it in time. I intend to call you back whenever I get a good opportunity (like when I'm alone or there is no truck noise making it difficult), but I'll answer if you call again.

Madtown Badger said something to me earlier in a PM that made me think about something. I realized that these blog entries are kind of boring when I am either stationary or riding with someone. No good stories usually. The good stories happen when I'm out walking and being around people. That should resume tomorrow probably. Thanks for making me think about that, Stonerman.

Actually I'll probably have some good stories tonight, now that we're at one of two HUGE truck stops right next to each other in Ontario. We're parked on "Party Row" at the TA West. I'm looking forward to watching and taping the lot lizards as they come out tonight to "service" some of the truckers. Also, Travis said there is all kinds of interesting chatter on the CB at places like this. Sounds like we're at a big-time pharmacy or something.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

New plans

OK, so it looks like I'll be doing something different. Instead of splitting, I'm going to hang with Travis until tomorrow. We're going to stay at the Ontario TA tonight and then pick up a load in City of Industry tomorrow. He said there are a bunch of "lot lizards" at the TA; might be good footage of trucker life. (No, I'm not going to buy any pussy.)

He only paid me $30 today, rather than $40. No big deal; I mean, I made $70 for about an hour of work.

Driving down La Cienega (near Beverly Hills and Century City), I spotted a Circuit City, so Travis stopped in the right lane of the road and waited for me to buy some tapes...

"Yeah, you fucking made me pull over. You grabbed the wheel and jumped the curb," according to Travis.

... I bought five tapes for $27, including tax. Not the deal I'd hoped for, but it's not as bad as the bullshit prices in Naples. Speaking of Florida, I'm not the only traveler who doesn't like Florida. Everyone I've talked to who has traveled this way in Florida hated the place just as much as I did. So it's not me; it's Florida. And if anyone from Florida doesn't like what I've said about Florida, maybe it's time to do something nice for someone.

--
Aimless
The Quasi-Aimless Trailer
If you'd like to contact me, call me at 614-738-3867.

US Growers

I'm about to make another $40 from the 15 or 20 minutes of work I did this morning. That'll put me at $104, but I'll have to give up $25 or $30 as soon as I find a Best Buy because I only have 25 minutes of tape left. (I doubt that I'll be able to find South Carolina prices in LA.) Oh my god, the boxes of bacon from his reefer were so cold--they were like -10 degrees; I couldn't feel my hands halfway through the job. Travis has to pick up a load here in Vernon and another 3 loads in downtown LA before heading back north and east, so I'm just gonna hang with him for a while. I suspect I might split from him when he's ready to leave downtown for good. From LA I think I'll walk to Hollywood and Beverly Hills. (How many cop encounters do you think I'll have in BH?) From Hollywood I'll probably start walking toward Santa Monica and then try to take the Pacific Coast Highway north. But who
knows if that's actually how it will all go down. You should see all the lumpers hustling for work.