The Exhausting Disappoint

Ok, I know I already posted once today, but this bears mentioning while I have the chance.

Noon rolled around and I still hadn't heard from my new trainer, I was getting anxious and trying to decide if I should call my Student Driver Manager again to find out if she knew anything, or if I should just sit tight.

Suddenly my phone rang. It was Mike. My first thought was how odd it was that Mike would be calling since I had been reassigned. So I answered and he explained that I was re-reassigned. This time, back to him. He let me know that he'd call me and let me know just as soon as he had a load lined up.

I proceeded to pack my stuff (which is to say, I didn't do anything, since I have never fully unpacked, and tend to repack once each day), and put the laptop in its bag. Moments later, Mike called and said, "I've got a load close by. Can you catch the next shuttle to the terminal? I think it leaves at 2" I looked at the clock. It read 1:25.

"Yep, I can do that!"

So I dragged my bags down to the front desk, turned in my key and left my bags for them to watch while I hurried down the street to get some lunch. I went into the corner gas station and bought a pita sandwich and a Coke. While I was waiting my turn in line, my phone rang. It was Mike again.

"Hi Steve, I misread the date of this load. It won't be ready to be picked up till tomorrow. I'm sorry. Have you already checked out?" I indicated that I had. "See if you can get checked back in. If you have any trouble, call me back."

I didn't have any trouble checking back in, fortunately, but I did need to lug my junk all back upstairs (I used the elevator, of course, but still...).

And so here I am, one more day in the motel, but this time with an almost-sure-thing getting out of here first thing tomorrow morning. He advised me to get the earliest shuttle out at/after 8:00 a.m.

Thank heavens!

Brefdas

Wednesday, February 3, 2010; La Quinta Inn, San Bernardino, California; 7:43 AM

Yesterday afternoon, I got my third roommate (and hopefully my last). Mark appears to be in his mid 40s, and he’s actually an out-of-work pilot. Talker, too. Which isn’t bad, because he’s very friendly, which was a welcome relief from Vince’s surly cynicism.

Through the course of the evening I was able to pick up on a couple of intriguing idiosyncrasies. Mark uses the phrase “you know” a lot. Not just often, but repetitively. I think I counted 5 times in a row in one sentence.

He also pronounces the word breakfast as “brefdas.” Which I found very interesting.

I was sitting here watching the season premier of Lost on Hulu.com when I decided to take a break from it to write this blog. Just as I was typing the word “sentence” above, my phone rang. It was Mike Berger, my driver trainer. He was calling to tell me that his truck is now number 1 in line at the shop, but not that it matters, since he just received notification that I’ve been reassigned away from him, so I should be expecting a call from a different trainer soon.

Hopefully that is true, and hopefully my new trainer will be a nice guy, too. Unfortunately, I was really looking forward to driving with Mike in his brand new Peterbuilt… What I hope even more, is that I don’t get put on a bus to Dallas like several of the other guys from my orientation class.

This is becoming a joke… though I’m having a hard time seeing the humor in it.