Day 1 of Schneider Orientation...

Today, I started day one with Schneider National. This was basically a day of doing prewire paperwork (i-9, tax forms, etc.) as well as a Pre-work job screen. This consisted of carrying some weights a distance, crouching under a platform to simulate going under a trailer, and several other exercises to simulate different things that are done while out on the road. These were all pretty easy and I passed with flying colors.


We also were sized for our boots that we get. These are brand new Rocky boots that retail for about $125.00 that Schneider gives its drivers each year. This is an awesome perk for the driers and something that I think is really cool from a company!


The instructor for our class is Chuck. He is a really cool guy and I think this will be a fun class to sit through with him for the next 5 days. 


All in all, so far this is looking good! Everyone at Schneider that I have coe into contact with, have been super cool to deal with. It is really giving me a good feeling that I chose the right company to continue my driving career.


That is pretty much it, for today. Not a lot going on the first day there and I was actually sitting on my couch before 12:30 this afternoon.

What Are YOU reading?

I am still in the thralls of my new story, but I have reached a point that I want to take a break from it and immerse myself in a good book.


The one series that I have always wanted to read, yet never have is J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". I went to a really cool used book store, The Book Exchange, earlier today and was just looking around and lo and behold, there were ALL of the series except for one.


The first book in the series was very absent from among literally stacks of all the other books in the series. I didn't think I wanted to start an epic like LOTR by getting and reading the second book first. I was standing there looking and another customer was there and offered a piece of advice to me.


"Get The Hobbit first", she said. "you will gain so much from reading the prequel that you will enjoy the series that much more". So, with that advice, I grabbed a good paperback copy of the book. Would you believe I paid less than three dollars for a mint copy of this book? THREE dollars!


I am going to dive into this book and read. I need to read.


On another note, I finally got a new job! I'm going BACK on the road with Scheneider National as an over the road truck driver. I had to find another job because not eating and not staying warm were not options at this point in my life. I start orientation at my new company tomorrow morning. I can't wait to get started! It has been a LONG seven months!


More later, guys! I'm going to read.

Im back! Story from NOWHERE!

I was walking my dog tonight with my 6 y.o. little girl (who is visiting me for Thanksgiving, thank you very much!) tonight and we got to the dead end on our road. There are woods at the end and she turned to me and said "we can just stop right here...Im not going in those woods!" I asked her why and she just looked at me like I had 4 heads. I laughed and turned around and we came home, but i couldn't get that scene out of my head. I sat down and plotted a story (doesn't involve my little girl) and honestly Im scared just plotting it. I could NOT get that scene out of my head and the plot just flowed as i started writing it down. spent about 2 hours just plotting. I have never had a story just pop out of nowhere like that. Ive always had to really struggle to come up with ideas for stories and they always seemed like I was pushing with them. This one didn't feel that way. This ever happen to you? Do you get ideas from out of the blue? Im going to start on this thing tonight!

It's all the RAGE!

It truly is all the rage! It is amazing and an awesome way to network with other writers and people of like minds and interests. What is "it", you ask? It is Google+. "It" is going to revolutionize the way we communicate with each other.


"Is it like Twitter?" You ask. No. Twitter only allows you 140 characters to say what you want to say. 


Is it like Facebook? No. It is MUCH more than Facebook. It is everything that Facebook is NOT! Facebook is more of a family and close circle of friends thing, with drama, and girls with duck faces, and silly games. I suppose that Facebook is fine if you want that sort of thing


Google+ is much more. Google+ has none of what Facebook has. Google+ is a REAL social NETWORKING thing. Are you a writer? Do you want to communicate with other writers? Easy, go on Google+ and create a circle for writers, search for writers, add those writers to your new circle. You will start getting posts from those writers as they post to their circles. The cool thing is, those writers don't have to add you to THEIR circles, or, they can. Most do. Before you know it, you have a whole new circle of friends.


Are you into photography, or the occult, or fluffy bunnies? There are circles for that, if you create them. The possibilities are limitless. It is a real NETWORK!


Don't take my word for it, though. Why not get in on the fun? It takes an invite to get in at the moment, because it is still in Beta, but you are in luck. I have invites! Want one? It is as simple as asking for one in the comments of this post. Leave an email address for me to send it to, and you are IN!


C'mon guys...get in on the new generation. Just DO IT!


More later.

YAY! WiP has begun and other random thoughts...

"Killing gets in your blood. Once you have done it a few times, it becomes second nature to you."

I have started my first draft of the story that I want to tell. I wrote almost 500 words today and am psyched that I have started it. I thought about it, let it rattle around in my brain for weeks, and mulled it over for days and now it is time to put up or shut up with it. I got tired of just thinking about it and talking about it and posting on forums about it and decided to just go head and start WRITING it! 

DAMN! It feels kind of liberating! It is like I now have something to look forward to every day. It give me a purpose. LOL. My only hope is that one day, I will actually see it in PRINT!

Speaking of seeing it in Print, I was reading JA Konrath's Blog last night, and he seems to think that the printed book is about to go the way of the Dodo. He thinks that books are going to be strictly on the Kindle and other e-readers before we know it. This will probably just piss me off, simply because I like to hold a book, flip the pages, smell the ink. I will never be able to do that with the Kindle. 

Now, don't get me wrong...I think the Kindle is an awesome invention, and I think it has its role in reading, but I just don't want it to take over. I LOVE going to a bookstore and looking through the books to pick out what I may like to read. I LOVE that. I simply can not do that with the Kindle.

More later, guys!

One week in...not a word written.

It has been about a week since I said I was going to write more. I haven't written one word towards a story that has been banging around in my head. Kinda sad, but I have a great excuse...I have been sick.

My diabetes has acted up a bit and really scared me the other day when I took a BG reading of 458. A normal blood sugar reading should be between 80 and 120. Yeah. 458 was NOT good. I have been concentrating all of my efforts on getting that reading down to a more respectable number. I have been really slack in trying to keep this disease under control. Ignored it. Now, I can't ignore it any longer.

I am going to start my story tonight and will try to do at least 1000 words per day on it. If I do 500 words, I will be OK with that, but the goal is 1000.

More later.

Oh my...so much has happened!

Hey guys. My last post apparently was a lie. A lot of things have happened since I wrote it...namely, I came off of the road to be at home. Started a new job selling cars. Worked it for a few months and didn't do bad, but there were just not enough customers coming to that lot. So, last one hired...you know the rest.

Now, here I sit. Im starting my photography business that i have always wanted to do, and Im writing again. I feel like such a loser. I neglected everything I was doing since I came off of the road. Im not in a real "mood" to write, or blog, or do much of anything, really. But I have to do it.

To keep my sanity, Im going to write more often now, I think. I have plenty of time now. LOL. Maybe this blog with actually liven up a bit. Yeah...think Ill give it a new paint job and dust it off.

More later.

Well damn...Im back!

I have taken a sabbatical from this blog for a while...mainly because I have been doing more trucking than writing. That is about to change real soon. I will be picking up another student this week and that will give me time to do more writing. This student will also allow me more time to schedule myself into a better way to get some writing done as we end up teaming for 60,000 miles. In other words, Ill have more time every day to devote to my writing and my blogging. That is a great thing!


So, as of today I am going to set a goal of 1000 words per day on my new story that I want to get down on paper. I am also going to set a goal of doing one to three blog posts per week as well. I want to actually write more than I blog, but I do not want to neglect this blog any longer either.


So, welcome back to me!