Tango tango papa 2140, 07/06/2024. Have we seen the actual reality of a monster to crime, or merely an illusion, the product of a tortured brain. Good. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening Tom Miles here with you coming to you this evening from Shy. Wyoming. So it's been... I just looked to spend oh, well, more than a month, probably like more like a month and a half since the last podcast. So kind of running up or right up at the edge of retiring at this point.
I'm about... At midnight, I have to wait till midnight Mountain time to, or after to deliver the low that I'm currently sitting on. I've been here in Cheyenne since, I guess I got here not too long after after 12 noon. And so I came to this truck stop and I've kind of been hanging out here, the rest of the day. Right now, it is what time is it? It's almost 09:00 Mountain time. So I I still have to wait a little over 3 hours before I can drop and hook this load, and then the next load picks up
it actually... It's got a loading date on the eighth, which that is, Monday to day, Saturday. So it's got a loading date on the eighth in Lexington, Nebraska, and then that load delivers same day on the, you know, like, in the morning, like 11:30 in the morning central time. Yes Saint. Joseph, Missouri. And then after that, I have the option of, since it know, I've got the option probably of dropping the truck off, they have a terminal in Kansas city that actually has a shop.
And so I could drop the truck off there, then get a rental car, you know, load all my stuff up, you, clean the truck out, load all my stuff up and then drive home. Unload all the stuff and then take the rental car to the airport because that's where the all the Those sorts of rental agencies are at. These days, mostly in airports, especially 1 way rentals. If you're gonna rent... You can rat a car locally, and there are some rental, agencies that are located it in town, but
those aren't... You have to return the car or the vehicle, you have to return the vehicle where you, you know, same place you picked it up, and you can rent it. People will rent vehicles like that for a few days or whatever. But in the case, if you want to rent, you know, for 1 place and then turn it into another place, then those are typically nowadays at airports. So But in any case,
drop... You know, take the thing to the airport and then probably get an Uber ride home, but I know of course, I'd have to go home first with rental vehicle and unloaded and then, probably take it back the next day. So let's say, I get home late in the evening on the eighth I'd have to unload and then you know, either late in the evening or early in the morning. Unload all of my stuff out of the vehicle and then take the vehicle the airport,
you know, because it's gonna be a... In that case, it'd would be a 24 hour rental. Now another option that we had talked about would be me taking the truck home, depending on where I unloaded at. Let's say I he delivered to like Clark, La arkansas, some like that. Take the truck home, unload the, you know, unload all of my stuff out of it and then take it over to the terminal in Tulsa, and then I could either rent a car backed, you know, for tulsa to the airport and then overhaul.
Or I got to looking and I found... I figured out that I can get just in a long Uber ride. It's about a hundred and 20 miles or whatever, roughly from Tulsa to home, and so it would be just a longer Uber ride and that would cost about the same as branding a v coal. You know, with much less hassle. So that's... That would be an option. But since I'm gonna be unloading at Saint. Joseph, and I was supposed to be out, you know, this was also to be done by the eighth, July the eighth, since...
Yeah, S saint. Joseph was very close to Kansas city and they have a terminal In Kansas city, and it's not that much farther from Kansas city home. It's about 200 and let's say 02:40 miles, something like that. So that that will work. So that's probably what I'm mean is probably probably what's gonna end up happening probably what I'll end up doing. So In any case, it's kind of looming,
you know, thing... You know, it's like I've told people everything has a beginning, and the middle, and it has an end, and you know, do you want the in? You know, basically, you know, how do you want something to end? Do you want to just deliberately ended it do you want it to kind of end accidentally? And, Do you want your You want your life to be a comedy, There's 2 choices. You either have a comedy or a tragedy. And, you know, an sure... Yeah. I I don't
know. I guess, to some extent it's your choice or you, you know, you have a you have some element of control over that, whether it's you, life ends and a comedy or a tragedy. And I think a a acc a comedy is preferable than to a tragedy. I would say. So... But in any case, you know, I'll end it, and it'll kinda be on my terms, it won't be that I, you know, that I'm in at some point, I'd... Obviously, if I continue to do this, I'd become incapable doing the job adequately.
And, although I'm probably nowhere near that at this point because know, we have drivers that are older than I am that continue to do it. But at the same time, You know, I, you know, Why should I push my lock? As I probably mentioned this before, I figured out that I'm spending 1 quarter of my take home pay.
On restaurants eating in restaurants twice a day is taking roughly a quarter of my take home So for every every, let's say, every fourth paycheck is just going for restaurant meals, which is kind of ridiculous. Especially with the the hours that, you know, I'm flipping my hours around a lot of times depending on the load in order to make something work. And and I am exposing myself to more danger sometimes than I would like.
Now, that doesn't happen all the time, but I can give you an example, a few... I don't know it's been over a week ago. I was out in Southern Oregon. There's this highway that goes across Southern Oregon Us 20. It's just a 2 Lane road, and... But it's got a fair amount of traffic on it, and a lot of these people are in a big hurry. And, on that. So part of it is, you know, it's kind of wide open and more flat, and so people can... You know, the people can
go ahead and pass. And they do have some passing lanes here and there. So people can go ahead and pass, but then there are other places where it's hill and C, and you know, yeah, you know truck that's loaded, you're gonna go be 1, You know, you can slow down. So I was in 1 of these areas and this all of a sudden, there was this other truck that I guess he got frustrated because I was going to slow as a big truck. Going too slower than he wanted. So all of a sudden here he is pat passing me.
But it's in an area where all of a sudden, there's the pops up over the hill, there's this oncoming, it's a pickup pulling a trailer, and they're debt... I mean, they're close to head on question. You know? So this guy I, you know, when I saw what was happening, this guy was passing me. I immediately put on brakes pretty hard because I... You know, I didn't... Because it... You know, didn't know if there was gonna be an honor, you know, head on collision or what was gonna happen.
So been in any in in any case, this guy in the in this truck. He see... You know, he realizes there's... He's about to be involved in, an eminent head on collision. And so he jerks back into the right lane right in front of me and just barely misses the front of my chuck, had I not had the impressions to severely break my own speed, he would have hit the front of my truck and there would have been a major accident with multiple vehicles involved.
You know, why... You know, So there's really no point in me kind of continuing to expose myself to this sort of danger. You know, I and that doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. You know where people... When it's not early just peep, you know, because people love to blame people in cars or whatever, but there's a lot of trucks that just really stupid things. Like that. You know, and So if, you know, and if people drive that way, they may get away with it for a while.
You know, you may think you're getting away with things for a while. But sooner or later, that sort of be... You know, if you don't learn lessons, that sort of behavior is gonna get you into trouble. You know, You may end up, you, might end up taking out other people in the process. So, you know, an incident like that just serves to reinforce idea that, hey, probably be a good idea just you know, back back away from this. So I will probably end up with some sort of a
job. As, you know, it's probably... Let's say it's some sort of a part time job. I just don't know yet. There are I do have some a couple of options that I directly know about, and so we'll see See what happens. But I... You know, I I needs to do be doing something. You know, the idea that I'm just gonna sit at home and kinda t my thumbs and watch Netflix or or or Youtube or whatever. That's a very bad idea. A little bit of its fine, full as a full time endeavor, not so much.
So... But, you know, I am gonna miss, you know, kinda miss this job. Despite the fact, you know, I enjoyed I've enjoyed it most of the time, but it... You don't, in the recently, it's got to where the enjoyment factor become less and less. But at the same time, I'm probably gonna end up over time. I'm gonna end up. As we all tend to do, we sort of ideal the past, we sort of forget the negative things that happened. We are are negative elements, let's say.
And remember, you know, kind of ideal versions of positive feelings. And we all we all tend to do this. In and it's and so that I very much expect that to happen where, you know, I'm gonna look back nostalgic, and I'm gonna, oh, I miss these people. I missed this. I missed that. But at the same time, you know, like I say, I think it is time to bring it close. In honor and and basically kind of open. I can look at it to some extent
opening a new chapter. I'm not sure what that chapter is just yet. But, opening some sort of new chapter and doing something else. And it... You know, if it's could be driving a truck it, but it if it is, it's only gonna be part time, and I'm not... Yeah. They about the maximum I'm gonna be willing to spend overnight. It's gonna be 1 night a week, and that's it. And no more than probably no more than a couple of days a week. And that's it.
And if it can't fit into that, then it's gonna be some something else. Even if it's just, you know, another possibility would just be playing around with the, you know, giving uber rides. I think that would be that would be something too worthwhile to kind of experiment with. So So... But anyway,
I've got a message front... The V message Joel sent me not long after I published the, previous short podcast where I kind of, you know, announced that I was gonna be retiring by July the eighth, And so I'm gonna go ahead and play that. So here is Joel. Hey, Tom. It's Joel black here. Just listen to last show. Following he had 1 and I just... Appreciative, and I congratulations on your retirement. I just had someone who tired at work Friday here was, her last day.
Oh, and the I 53, so I'm at least 12 years from retirement. So I've got some that I... Some money it took from my job and I'm getting some from a my current job, 2 04:01 k. But Ultimately, I don't... I really don't have enough to retire give at 65, I think, maybe we'll see. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you we'll get a year with great stock aren't bit. But he. I don't know if you've been paying attention.
No. On social networks there like Facebook, in the last couple years, I say it taken the lease that long. I've lost a close to 93 pounds. Now, I haven't been done the fully gotten rid of the carbs, but I'm managing when it how many of everything I. So for example, I wanna have chips. I only measure out when I'm gonna eat That's it. It's all I do.
And sat last sunday, I I did a 9 mile hike which is half of almost half of what I need to do for the event that I'm training for an office which I'm doing a, a 20 mile hike around the Berg, State Park here in Ohio at Southeast Ohio that is Gloucester, to be exact. And. I got 4 other guys who are gonna be doing or 3 other guys are doing doing it with me. So I'm really excited about that. That's coming up in August. So But I hear you. I hear you.
Yeah. I I don't wanna, you know, and when I retire, I got plenty of things to do. So I'll have things to do. Take care. Thank you, Joe. So, yeah, it's kind of amazing. You know, knew, you know, someday this day would come. But, you know, And and even though sometimes it seems like things are far off. And now, if you're really, you're really in the grand scheme of things they're are not. They're not that far off. You know? Because, you know, and you look back and you...
You know, you may... Remember when you're a teenager and you remember, you know, remember when you're in her twenties. Then then your thirties, and then in your forties and all of a and, you know, you think well, I'm not in my twenties anymore, You know? And in, fifties and and I Now sixties and almost, you know, pushing 70, which is kind of hard to believe. 69 right now. So the next one's gonna be 70. So, you know, it time does it kinda has a way of kinda of creeping forward. So I don't know.
Like I say, I I could continue doing this. There's really no reason that I couldn't, but at the same time, certainly elements that I'm just done with and and particularly, you know, driving in the... I don't like driving in the northeast part of the country. You know, like, you know, pencil places like Pennsylvania,
upstate New York. That really doesn't is that much of a bother, but then you get into places like Connecticut, you know, Connecticut and up in that air it is more of a problem because there aren't as many truck stops, and you... It's just not as
don't particularly like that well. But the worst part is the, you know, the northwest and then particularly the northwest in the weather, the northwest and the summer's is not bad or the western part of the countries and the summer's not bad, but then you get into the end of the winter and then the potential, you know, for snow and then you got tired truck tire chains you know, and that's that's the worst. See absolute worst. You know? So I I don't know. I'm just not...
Don't after face said anymore, not going to. And so halfway through the year is is good jump off point. So like I say, we'll see what happens. I, you know, like I say, I'm gonna end up with some sort of part time job or, you know, I'm sure that it's not probing not gonna be full time. If it is, it's gonna be something, you know, not very, you know, it's not gonna be driving a for sure. But if it is driving a try then
it's gonna... Like I say, it's something gonna be 1 night a week and maybe, you know, like rip out so more in a trip back, and that's it for the week. Maybe taking 2 days and then the rest of the week off. You know. So and I like I say, there's... I've got options. There are other options, and so we'll just see how it goes. If there's, you know, there really is no point in me continuing to kind of expose myself to the level of danger that I've been exposing myself. So
You know, and it's a good idea. You know, it's to have some sort of a challenge and sort of, you know, kind of way george Peterson talks, you know, if you've ever listened to any of The Jordan Peterson. You know, He says, you know, it's kinda take up your car awesome, start appeal with it, and, meaning, you know, you find something useful to do. It's... That's... And, you know, and if it's not... If it's something useful, that you're doing, meaning kinda useful for other people.
Then, you know, it's a struggle. You know, and I think struggles are good. But at this point, this particular struggle kinda it just isn't worth it anymore. For me, this, you know, the the equation, high it doesn't is kinda stop making sense to suck to whatever degree. So... But in any case, we'll see what happens. It's like I say, it's coming right down to the wire this point.
And, Monday, you know today was Saturday, and then we have Sundays tomorrow, and then we have Monday and Monday is probably the last day. And that will that. So anyhow, I think I'm gonna go ahead and cut this off hopefully, I... Once I, you know, am back home and kind of retire and what have you. I will I won't wake wait a month and a half before the next podcast. Probably will be able to kinda hope, you know, possibly.
I'm not gonna make any promises, but possibly do somewhat more frequently than I have been. So we'll see what happens, but I'll I'll kinda let you know. I'll I'll try to put up a some of a podcast, even if it's a short podcast, sort of letting, you know what happened how it went, etcetera, etcetera. So sooner rather than later. So in any case, hope everyone is having a great weekend so far, and I will catch you later. Remember, Trucker Tom is like Visa. He's
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