The Dark Side

One side to this life that I haven't mentioned much is that some of what we see is not so pretty. Yesterday we were near Pittsburgh, PA, in an area that apparently is or was coal and steel producing. It was very depressing to me to see the squalor and poverty. Entire towns where the homes have all seen (much) better days and most if not all of the businesses are OUT of business. I was so depressed I couldn't even take pictures, plus they wouldn't have been very entertaining pictures.

Late in the day we got to Akron, Ohio, where Mr. Trucker's company has a drop yard. Here's the neighborhood where the drop yard is located:

Seriously? "InfoCision" Stadium?
Who makes up these stupid names?

Yup, that says "Jail"

Note the "rolls" of barbed wire atop the fence. This is a DIFFERENT
building

Electronic (bracelet) monitoring facility

Yup, that says "Correctional Facility For Women"

This picture was taken FROM our drop yard. That's the back
of the women's correctional facility.

And there was even one more that I didn't get a picture of. So let me see...that's FOUR separate jails and an electronic monitoring facility within three blocks of our drop yard. And here's a house just up the street.

Oh look! It's For Rent!

We were there to drop a loaded trailer and then we were supposed to pick up an empty trailer to replace it. Only there weren't any empties. According to the company, you should sit there and wait for another driver to bring one in. Yeah right! It was getting dark and Mr. Trucker was almost out of hours, which would have meant that we would have to spend the night in the yard. Not gonna happen! There is a gate with a lock, but most drivers are too lazy to get back out of their trucks and lock it after they leave (although the company says you must) and in fact it was hanging wide open when we got there. So we high tailed it out of there with just enough time left to get to the closest truck stop for the night.  We DID see one happy sight there...

What's the GoodYear Blimp doing in Akron, OH?
Maybe it's there to fly over InfoCision Stadium?

We are supposed to be in Lakeland, Florida tomorrow for the start of our home time with Mr. Trucker's sister and Christmas. I don't know how Mr. Trucker can stand the frustrations and delays of this job. When he asks for home time, they almost never get him home when he asks. How can you possibly schedule appointments and family get-togethers? We have to wait for them to get us a load to somewhere near where we're going and they always say there aren't any. We are supposed to swap loads with another driver in Kentucky tonight and drive it to Arcadia, FL, but we won't be getting there till sometime on the 23rd, even if it works out. And it may not work out because we are still sitting at a loading dock in Ohio, three and a half hours after our arrival, and they haven't even begun loading us yet. And all the while, the clock is ticking and we're losing precious driving time. The only thing that keeps me from absolutely screaming in frustration (besides medication) is the fact that it's MR. TRUCKER'S FAMILY we are going to visit. It's not quite as personal as being kept from seeing my own family, if you understand what I mean. Besides, I'm actually starting to get used to expecting to be delayed.

I hope and pray that you all have a blessed Christmas weekend with your loved ones. We'll get to our destination eventually and in the meantime, at least we're together!