9/11/01

First day of school. I'm so excited that I couldn't sleep at all last night, so I'm feeling a little strung out. I've been put up in a motel for my stay in Lexington while at school, and will be here for two weeks. Found out last night that I am the only girl here so far. Eek! Well, I got up at 5:30 am, rolled out of bed into some clothes, grabbed my notebook, and went to the lobby of the motel for some bad coffee and to wait for the bus. Standing around outside were about four other students who missed the "early" bus - we all grunted at each other and finished our breakfast of cigarettes and coffee. I arrived at the classroom at 6:30, and had to wait outside until our instructor showed up at 7:00. We filed inside and spent several hours filling out paperwork - applications, loan papers, physical forms, etc. Then our teacher, Ray, went over what we would be doing in the next two weeks.

There would be four days in the classroom learning how to pass the permits, about safety on the road, how to fill out log books, and about airbrakes and Hazmat. On Saturday, we would be going out onto the yard to start learning straight-line backing. We lost a few people right of the bat by them not passing the drug-test. Seriously now! If you know that you've been doing something, why not wait a few weeks until you are sure that you will pass the test? Doesn't seem very intelligent to me. Two of the students who failed swore up and down that it was from "second-hand" smoke that caused them to fail, so they were allowed to retake it the next day. (More on that tomorrow).

For lunch we were bused to this little place called the Avon Deli. Now, the food there was okay for the first couple of days, but after that I started to get sick every time I even walked into the place. Can we say cockroach-infested-grease-spoon? Ugh. I don't think I can look at another french-fry for months. After lunch we settled down to watch some videos. It was hard to stay awake, especially since the narrator "Lou" talked slower than a turtle. The weirdest part of the day, which will always remain vivid in my memory, happened during our first break in the morning. We were all crowded into the kitchen getting coffee, and the TV happened to be on. Yup, it was nine o'clock. So, we all watched as the World Trade Center buildings got bombed. It was especially terrifying for two classmates, since they came from New York City just the other day. Fortunately, none of their families were hurt. See you all tomorrow!

9/12/01

Hello again. Today was fairly uneventful. We spent most of the day watching videos (good ol' Lou), and taking quizzes to prepare for our permit tests. The craziest thing that happened was that we found out that one of the boys that failed his drug test yesterday did something incredibly STUPID last night. He knew that he wouldn't be able to pass it again today without something extra, so what did he do? HE DRANK BLEACH!!!!! His roommate walked in on him doing it, and the kid spent all night puking up blood. So, instead of getting a chance to retake the test, he was sent home. I swear, I don't think I'd want to be sharing the road with someone that stupid and dangerous. The thing that I don't get was that he could have volunteered to go home, and come back in a few weeks to try again, when he was clean. 'sigh'

9/13/01

Got my permits today! Wasn't too nervous about it since I've always been good at book knowledge. It's getting into the truck that worries me. I passed with a 99% average. Got my airbrakes, Hazmat, and doubles/triples endorsement. I was in such a rush that I forgot to take to my tank endorsement, too. It was kinda funny because we weren't prepared to take the doubles/triples, I just decided to go ahead and do it. No one else in my class thought of it, so I was the only one who got it. Ray, our teacher, made fun of me, saying that I did it to show the guys who was boss. (grin!)

9/14/01

Learned about log books today. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, but there are parts that are kind of confusing to me. I don't really have to be concerned with that, though, until I get a job - then I will fine-tune it. By this point, our class has shrunk from 27 to about 19. I wonder how many will be left by graduation. Tomorrow we will be going out onto the yard. Yay! It's funny, but I've never even SEEN the inside of a truck, much less driven one. I told Ray that I didn't want to be the first one, I want to watch others make mistakes before I did! Tonight I had the most fun than I did in a long time. I've made great friends with two classmates, Bill and Larry, and we stayed up all night talking and went out to eat at the Waffle House at 3:00am. I know that wasn't very intelligent, considering we would have to start driving at 7:00am, but heck - you're only young once!

9/15/01

Ack! Remember what I told Ray yesterday? Well, guess what he did?! After roll call, he brought us over to a truck older than dirt and explained how to straight-line back. A couple guys started fighting over who got to be first, but Ray just looked at me and told me to get my butt into the truck. Aaahh! I tried to refuse, but he pretended to get mad, and started yelling at me to get up there NOW! So, up I went. I was shaking so hard I could barely push in the clutch to put it into reverse. So, with Ray walking next to the truck (and me convinced I would run over him), he guided me into the "dock." I thought I was done, but he yelled for me to put into first gear, and drive forward. I ended up backing and going up three times in a row. Finally, just as I was about to collapse, he told me to put on the brakes and give someone else a try. I slid out of the truck, and all the guys congratulated me on not hitting any barrels. I was really happy, but my poor left leg could barely support me. Going to have to do some leg lifts to strengthen it! That's how we spent the whole first day - backing, backing, and some more backing. Everyone did really well - except for poor "Tom." "Tom" couldn't seem to grasp the gear-shifting concept, and was jerking the truck all over the place like a bucking bronco. At one point, while the instructor (not Ray) was screaming at him, "Tom" ran over his foot! Personally, if I was an instructor, I wouldn't have my toes anywhere near those huge wheels, but I guess he got carried away. Poor Tom. He felt so bad about it that he wanted to quit then and there. We finally convinced him not to, but we couldn't help making fun of him about it for the rest of the day. :)

Today I had so much fun I think it should be sinful. I get to the yard feeling bleary and tired, with a big blanket from my motel room wrapped around me. I had forgotten to bring a coat with me when I left for school (dummy me) since it was so hot when I left, but the temperature had plummeted over the last few days. Anyway, after roll call, I started dragging myself over to the part of the yard where we were doing the straight-line backing, when my name gets called again. I look up to find out that I'm being picked to go out onto the road today! yikes! I asked my road instructor Russell if there was some mistake, and he just laughed at me. Six students went out that morning, two to each truck. Russell asked which of us two wanted to go first, and I said, what the heck? I'll do it! He was surprised - apparently, girls never want to go first onto the road. Personally, I just wanted to get it over with. We got a Mack 10-speed, one of the newest trucks in the school. I loved it! After I got a handle on double-clutching, it was smooth sailing. I drove for about two hours on the free-way, basically alone on the road, and it was so wonderful. I did two emergency stops on the side of the highway, and went up and down a 5% grade. Finally, at about 9:30 am, I pulled us into a truckstop for a break. I was so happy I could have floated into the store. On the way back to the yard, I almost fell asleep in the back of the truck from the release of stress.

After lunch, I got certified on the straight-line, and moved onto the 45 degree backing. Bill and Larry were jealous that they didn't get to go out on the road at all that day, and pretended not to talk to me (that lasted about 20 minutes). I can't believe I haven't even been here a week yet! It felt like a month - I had learned so much.