The past 3 days have consisted of hauling heavy loads (40,000 pounds) up and down the hills of Virginia/West Virginia. I've worked 3 14 hour days in a row, but the good thing is that I'm already at 2300 miles for the week with 3-4 days left in the pay period, so I should bank another $1000 check. I'm still blown away that I'm making $900-1000/week. Once I get my school loan paid off (by Thanksgiving) I'm gonna start putting $1000/month into mutual funds through State Farm and then playing with $500 or so in the stock market. I can't wait. I'm tired of debt, but it's taught me a lot. Mostly to buy everything with cash.

Two of those heavy loads were for Kellogg's. One was a trailer full of sugar cinnamon pop tarts and I could smell them through the trailer.

West Virginia is a pretty weird state. Maybe the weirdest. People always make inbred jokes about West Virginia, and I think I realize why now. It's weird how a state in the middle of a bunch of other...more normal states...has remained populated by such a strange breed of people. It's also hard to find a straight flat road in West Virginia. I got down to Atlanta yesterday and just barely beat rush hour traffic in and out, thankfully. It seems a lot of people in Atlanta life their lives as if they were a walking rap video with all the teeth jewelry and whatnot. "Grills" as they call them. Pretty funny. Not a big fan of Atlanta. I'd like to get to Athens, GA at some point.

Right now it's absolutely beautiful outside. I'm in Circleville, OH, just south of Columbus. Parked for the night and scheduled to deliver my load to Sutherland, Virginia tomorrow. It's about 450 miles away, so it should swallow my whole day, which will make it a relaxing day finally. I'm exhausted and have been falling asleep within 2 hours of finishing my driving the past few days.

I'm at a Pilot truck stop here and out back of the row of trailers I'm parked in is a cornfield. I just sat on the edge of my trailer and read a book for a good hour and a half staring out into the cornfield as the sun set. It was pretty damn great. It seems my camera is broken. It keeps saying "zoom error" when I turn it on and the lens won't fully extend itself. Don't know what the deal is, but it kind of sucks because I really wanted to take a picture of the cornfield and the sunset and all that good shit. I guess I might have to buy a new camera when I get home in 6 days. I've driven 10,000 miles in the past 26 days. Not bad. Nearly 400 miles per day.

Now I'm going to watch Live Free Or Die Hard on my laptop.

I’ve changed my mind so much I cant even trust it
My mind changed me so much I cant even trust myself


The one negative thing about being a trucker is that I have way too much free time to think.

A month ago I was thinking about buying a classic car and just last week I was thinking about buying a house. The past few days and especially today I've been pondering just trucking for 4 years and saving money. If I did this I would be 29 years old and have $100k in my pocket. It would require a lot of strength, patience, and will power. I like to think I'm a very strong person and I've proved to myself in the past that I have great will power. I even thought about getting 4 bars tattooed on me today and having one crossed off at the end of each of the four years I drive. Kind of silly, but it would be meaningful.

The bad thoughts I have about this are simply that I'll be wasting the "good years" of my life and essentially giving up 4 years of my life. I don't think that way though and I completely enjoy doing this trucking thing, but like I said...too much time to think about shit. When I go home I realize nothing much has ever changed and I'm really not missing a damn thing. It'll all be there when I get off the road or decide to do what I'm going to decide to do.

It seems the best way to get ahead in this business is to simply put your head down and "keep on trucking". The longer you can stay at it, the more it will benefit you in the end. Buying a car or a house right now would kind of negate me being out here on the road. I'm basically out of debt at this point and am beginning to put all my money in the bank. Why would I kick myself and start paying interest to someone? The problem with all the free time to think is that you only remember the positive things about not being on the road, about having a girlfriend, about sitting in front of the television at night. When I really think about those things I don't miss them in the least and I start to remember that the main reason I did this was because I was fed up with them.

I don't really know what my point is other than I wish my mind would shut the fuck up for a bit here and just let me be at peace every now and then, but it's constantly churning. I guess there's really no way of stopping it other than having a goal set in stone. So I think I'm going to set my goal in stone. 4 years. We'll see how I feel about this come next week.



I'm in West Virginia right now. I came down from upstate New York. I'm delivering to the Lowe's in Buckhannon, WV where I'm parked for the night and then I make a second delivery to another Lowe's in Logan, WV before I'm empty. I'm gonna watch John From Cincinatti and Big Love now and try to not think about the future for a few hours.

What a beautiful day.

I woke up in Massillon, OH and quick picked up a load down the road a few miles at 6:30. It was about 59 degrees when I woke up and I was coming off a night of 8 hours of beautiful baby-like sleep in the cool cool country air. I'm taking the load to a Target DC in Amsterdam, NY, which meant my day would consist of a straight drive across the easiest highway in the country, I-90 through upstate New York. It's also pretty beautiful up here when you start to run alongside the river. I drove 495 miles and it felt like nothing. Cruise control and light traffic is a wonderful concept. Listened to some Stern, some Bob, some trucker talk. Even better was the thought that I've already raked in $800 this week, with 2 more days after today left to drive. JB Hunt is a hell of a company if you're not a lazy driver.

About 2 hours into my drive I pulled into a Pilot and got myself a grilled cheeseburger. For those of you not familiar with these fantastic inventions, they are quite simply a cheeseburger shaped into a hot dog. Totally brilliant. I also got the 7 bills of lading scanned that I've been slacking on because the transflow machine at the New Jersey JB Hunt terminal was broken last time I was there and I haven't been at a decent truck stop in a few days. In those 7 loads were 6 scale tickets that I'll be reimbursed for, so chalk up another 50 dollars for me. I tend to carry loads over 40,000 pounds 90% of the time.

I'm now parked 6 miles from where I have to deliver in the morning at a truck stop. I just went inside and got a shower. My shower had TWO shower heads in it though, both facing each other. It was absolutely fucking amazing. Like being in the middle of two fire hoses. I turned them both on hot and aimed them at each other and stood in the middle for a good 15 minutes before remembering to wash myself. I thought to myself "why is everything so perfect today?"

On the way out I saw the truck stop restaurant had a big fat warm roast beef on display ready to be sliced. I asked the waitress if she'd fill me a box full of the stuff. She looked at me weird, like they always do when I ask this question. "You just want roast beef...in a box? That's it?" "Yep, feel free to charge me whatever you think is fair." So she sliced 3 pieces off and I continued to hold my box in her direction. "More?" "Yup." 5 more slices and I was content. Warm, fatty, thick, soft roast beef. Glorious. And she charged me 5 dollars for all of it. It's gotta be near a pound. They never know what to charge me when I confuse them like this. A fat trucker walked by as I was loading up on the beef and asked "goddamn! watcha feedin'? A pitbull." I did my best not to growl at him.

It's now 75 and breezy. The truck is shut off and I'm sitting in the back of the cab naked, with my feet up, smoking a cigarette and watching a movie on my laptop. In about 5 minutes I'll open my cooler and retrieve an ice cold bottle of water and begin feasting on beef. Life.

Lately I've been really conflicted with making the biggest decision of my life. I want to buy a house. I've put the classic car thing on the back-burner for now because buying a house first is certainly the wisest choice I can make in my life right now. But that decision has had me up all night questioning myself. I grew up in Philadelphia and I love my mom and dad more than anything in this world, but frankly...I don't have any friends or anything in Philadelphia anymore and while I love the city I feel almost like I've conquered it. I'll always love Philadelphia, but I've never been happier than when I've been hanging out with my friends in Dayton, Ohio. I don't want my parents to think I'm abandoning them even though I know that's not what they'll think. And I realize I'm a big boy now and it's my life and all, but I still want to be able to see them frequently.

That said, I've come to the conclusion that I simply must live in Dayton. The property is cheaper for starters. I can get 3x the house in Dayton that I can get in Philadelphia. I've also been considering going with a more dedicated account with JB Hunt somewhere down the line. They have a terminal in Columbus and their dedicated account drivers are making $40k+ per year driving. Columbus is only an hour from Dayton. That way I'd get home every weekend and sometimes weeknights and still make as much if not more as I make now. But I'm still planning on driving over the road for at least a year to gain experience. Philadelphia is only 8 hours away from Dayton and with my tendency to drive my life away, that's a piece of cake for me. I could still visit my parents frequently, but there's no substitute for good friends and that's clear to me now.

Anyway, I'm completely in love with this first house. I called the lady from Coldwell Banker and asked her about it and she asked me if I wanted to take a look at it. Of course I do. Now I just have to figure out how I can swing that. I'm going home to Philadelphia on August 4-8, and I think I may get a rental car and take a trip out to Dayton from the 4-5 to take a look at these houses below. I'll get a chance to hang out with the boys in Dayton for a day or so too.

I'm about to enter a world on confusion in terms of not knowing much about mortgages of home insurance, but I'm sure my mom and dad can help me out with that and they have/will. I kind of wish I could wait about a year and save up money for a down payment, but I really really really really really want to live in Dayton right now and especially in a house like one of these.

Also, I'm in Illinois right now on my way to Kansas City tomorrow. I picked up a load in New Jersey two days ago and drove it across I-70 to this point. I dropped off a load before that in Philadelphia and got a chance to sleep at my dad's house. We ate wings and watched hockey highlights. It was good.

I'm confused, excited, and hopeful. Here goes:


Dream house: $129,000 - 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, central air, garage, driveway, porch, deck, fence, big yard with trees, private, etc...

http://www.coldwellbankerdayton.com/homesearch/ResProfile.asp?niay=MLS372111&LO=IRNG05
























House #2: #125,000 - 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, garage, driveway, huge backyard, central air, trees, etc....











House #3: $124,000 - 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, ivy, garage, driveway, central air, big backyard with trees, etc...

So obviously I've become a bit bored with livejournal. It's not that I've become bored with it, just more that when I get done working at the end of the night I immediately watch a movie or a show or read a book or do something other than writing an entry into livejournal. Anyway, a couple attendees of Heedfest mentioned to me how much they enjoyed my journal, so I'm going to attempt to kick myself in the ass here and start writing more than I have been. I've been meaning to...

Last Friday I took my "hometime", but instead of going home to my home in Philadelphia, I instead went to my home in Dayton for Heedfest, the event of my lifetime. I was scheduled to deliver a load just outside of Dayton in a little place called Xenia. I was scheduled to be unloaded at 7am. I got to the receiver at about 5 on Thursday and found out that a few other Heedfest attendees were gathering at the world famous Wings sports bar to hang out pre-pre-Heedfest. So I parked in Xenia and got a cab to take me to Wings to hang out. I did. When I got back to my truck that night (or was it morning?) I immediately passed out. Oddly enough, I must have forgotten to lock my driver's door. I guess I didn't think much of it, considering I was at a receiver...in a locked down yard. Well, I learned my lesson.

Around 5am, I woke up to the sight of a black guy yelling at me, "WHAT THE FUCK YOU DOIN' IN MY TRUCK MAN!?" I was stunned, unaware of where I was, and my head was spinning. I immediately thought I was at some shady truck stop and this guy was some sort of crackhead about to kill me. I grabbed the nearest weapon, the lid of an empty CDR spindle that I filled with coins, and went to throw it at him. "WHAT!" I yelled back, still confused. "Oh shit, man, this aint my truck, my bad." Then he scurried away and I realized where I was finally. Jesus Christ. I couldn't fall back asleep.

It took the receiver 8 hours to unload me. It was ridiculous. I made 45 extra dollars for detention pay, but the whole time I still had a headache and was aching to get back to Dayton where the festivities of pre-Heedfest were already beginning. The Heedonists (a GbV cover band that formed via the message board and only played together a grand total of maybe twice) was having a band practice. I wanted to be there. I waited and waited and huffed and puffed and just got angrier. I never fail to say "thank you" to anyone who hands me my bills after they load or unload me, but this time I did. I stormed out of the plant at 4pm and drove my truck to the Walmart in Dayton where I've been parking when I go there. I called the same cab to come pick me up, but it took him too long and the Heedonists had just finished practicing, so the Heed himself swung by the Walmart and picked me up and we were off to Wings for the second night in a row. This time for the real pre-Heedfest.

There were about 75 people there from the message board, most of them I'd seen at GbV shows around the country. They'd flow in from everywhere around the country...as far as California. It was truly great. The normal Dayton crew was there of course and Bob Pollard graced us with his presense, his hugs, and his two new unreleased records as well. Apparently, Wings had never sold as much liquor as they did that night. We set records and whatnot. It's always surreal to hang out with Bob in Dayton because while he's recognized everywhere outside of Dayton...people from Dayton either don't know him or don't give a shit about him. This time though, it was interesting to look around the bar where he always hangs out and see the look on the faces of the locals as they wondered "why the hell did these 75 weirdos fly here for this guy?" If they only knew.

I could write about Heedfest for days and weeks, but those who weren't there probably wouldn't get it anyway. But basically it was like hanging out with 75 of your best friends for 3 days. Drinking, eating, and singing arm in arm. Heedfest was Saturday at the local Polish Club. There was a tour bus that took people around the famous Guided By Voices sites as seen in the documentaries about the band. The same people who were at Wings on Friday were there, as well as about 50 more I'd say. The Heedonists were set to go on stage and suddenly a few guys got up on stage and began tuning their instruments. Guided by Voices were about to play a reunion gig. And how they did. They blasted into their most infamous opening track and then let the Heedonists take over, but later came back to play 4 more songs. I'd never seen Bob in better spirits and he was simply overjoyed that people had flown in from all over the country to come hang out in his hometown. I think you'll struggle to find an artist who has fans as truly hardcore as the ones he does and in this modern world of ours I think it speaks bigger volumes about an artist when he can say he has hundreds of the most genuine and true fans on the plant as opposed to millions of Coldplay and American Idol supporters. He played a drum solo with a whiffle ball bat, even. It was all about fun and the weather was perfect. Like I said, I could write about this for days and weeks...

Here are a few pictures and some videos. There's nothing greater than seeing the person who wrote these songs (that old guy in the crowd with the gray hair) raising his beer and fist pumping to a band playing songs he made famous.

Bob choked me:



Karaoke got a bit sloppy:









The two funniest guys I know:






Guided by Voices reunion:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Cq96uFdq9k4

The Heedonists doing "Tractor Rape Chain":

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ld77BId2bNQ

Jason Narducy singing Game Of Pricks with The Heedonists:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yZ1vrDQNGrU

The Heed himself doing "Big Boring Wedding":

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5IFuWJv1tVQ

Rich T (Bob's manager) doing "Dayton, Ohio 19 Something 5":

http://youtube.com/watch?v=fvRkZi1N-iU