Well, I headed home last night for a day's rest, some grocery shopping and a quick consultation with the mechanic regarding the Toyota. I'm going to have some work done next week, nothing too major, but something to keep the car on the road. The gas mileage is incredible, and it should pay for the work in two months' time.
Fortunately, payment has come in on a couple of jobs, so I've got a little more than a wing and a prayer to work with out there. I also picked up a second job in Amarillo for Friday (or Thursday if I finish up early enough in Lubbock to shoot up 27). It doesn't pay much, but will help fill in a little extra cash on a route I am already travelling.
I had my hoped high for next week when I saw several jobs in the Texas Panhandle, but those went out to someone else. I still have another bid out, then may be travelling down to Odessa. If I get out there, I may amble back up home a little slower than normal, taking in some sites along the way.
The weather has cooperated enough that I'm tempted to sleep out of the car, but I have to remind myself that although it is very moderate, it could turn at any time. And my being equipped to handle staying out in such weather is still a stretch down the road.
All in all, things look promising at this point for my first time out in awhile. And we're holding our own at home; winter's about 1/3 of the way over, and we still have a lot of the woodpile left.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto
After I checked in at the hotel in Garden City, I decided to pick up some woodcarving tools. They had to be hand tools; for a project I am planning for the near future. I picked up the tools and went to look for some found wood for the project. Specifically, I was looking for a broken pallet, but found some plywood pieces in a vacant part of the lot. Score! A little big for what I was planning, but a pretty good test piece.
When I unpacked my guitar to settle into the room, one of the other guests asked if I was going to play. If I weren't horribly out of practice, I might have suggested a little jam in the lobby, but I've been in a funk recently, and really wasn't ready to play in front of anyone. I spent the evening carving wood, watching the Peter Jackson version of King Kong, and playing guitar. I fortunately grabbed the AmericInn hotel, right next to my job site.
It was shortly after I settled in that I got the news of Glenn Frey's passing. Seems like a lot of good ones recently. The Eagles have been part of my life since, well, I had a life, and were important enough to make the road trip stop in Winslow. First Lemmy, then Bowie, then Glenn. This is starting to suck on a greater magnitude.
So I got to the job site at 11 today, to find that nobody knew anything. I called to check in, sat on hold for 15 minutes, called the company that actually did the dispatch, they said the queue was much longer than 15 minutes.
So I sat on hold. For over an hour. Then a vague part of the documentation had me having to call in again. Another hour on hold. Onsite for 6 hours; spent about half of that on hold. I can't say I'm disappointed that today's was an hourly job. Since this is a project, though, always have to do the first one to really figure out the actual onsite time. I'm heading to Lubbock and Amarillo later this week on the same project.
I'm trying to secure a couple of piggyback jobs at the end of this week. So far, though, so good. We're still not dancing in the streets, but the money's looking better than it has for awhile. I'm back home now, trying to relax for a bit.
When I unpacked my guitar to settle into the room, one of the other guests asked if I was going to play. If I weren't horribly out of practice, I might have suggested a little jam in the lobby, but I've been in a funk recently, and really wasn't ready to play in front of anyone. I spent the evening carving wood, watching the Peter Jackson version of King Kong, and playing guitar. I fortunately grabbed the AmericInn hotel, right next to my job site.
It was shortly after I settled in that I got the news of Glenn Frey's passing. Seems like a lot of good ones recently. The Eagles have been part of my life since, well, I had a life, and were important enough to make the road trip stop in Winslow. First Lemmy, then Bowie, then Glenn. This is starting to suck on a greater magnitude.
So I got to the job site at 11 today, to find that nobody knew anything. I called to check in, sat on hold for 15 minutes, called the company that actually did the dispatch, they said the queue was much longer than 15 minutes.
So I sat on hold. For over an hour. Then a vague part of the documentation had me having to call in again. Another hour on hold. Onsite for 6 hours; spent about half of that on hold. I can't say I'm disappointed that today's was an hourly job. Since this is a project, though, always have to do the first one to really figure out the actual onsite time. I'm heading to Lubbock and Amarillo later this week on the same project.
I'm trying to secure a couple of piggyback jobs at the end of this week. So far, though, so good. We're still not dancing in the streets, but the money's looking better than it has for awhile. I'm back home now, trying to relax for a bit.
Monday, January 18, 2016
THAT didn't go quite as planned
I went out on my first road trip in awhile today. I learned a couple of things from the last go around, so I had my trunk packed and was ready to roll on this one. I hit the road nice and early, and as I drove on out towards Dalhart, the sun gave way to a dense fog that followed me most of the day. As I passed Sunray, I drove along on roads familiar, but not quite familiar, having trouble trusting my memory at each junction, as I wasn't travelling the main roads, and these backroads, once familiar, haven't been under my wheels in several years.
Today's job was pretty easy, so I was on and offsite in about an hour and headed on to Kansas. The game plan was that I would stop along the way and print out my documents for tomorrow. What I didn't count on was that it was Martin Luther King Day. I thought about it fleetingly at the job site when the customer was commenting about the current economic realities with the tag, "maybe WE ought to be the ones marching". I have to admit, I wanted to ask her what "we" she was talking about, but all I had to do was get the job done and the paperwork signed, not start a holy war.
So as I drove by the library in Liberal, I saw an empty parking lot. Nothing major, but it did mean I should probably put up in Garden City rather than an hour away, and preferably find a hotel with a business center. That rules out the cheapies (although in Garden City these days, there ARE no cheapies).
The roads of southwest Kansas are mile upon mile of monotony. I know there are people that wouldn't trade it for the world, and God bless 'em, because someone's gotta live here. But to me, it's part of the route, and I could drive it at night and not end up feeling like I'd missed anything.
Pickings for a hotel room in Garden City are pretty slim on Mondays, as I discovered. There's a ton of growth here, and the business folk head in on Mondays through Wednesdays, and head home for the weekend. I missed out on a couple of hotels, and settled on one right next to the job site. I had someone take a look at my guitar and ask if I was going to play, making me wonder if down the road I might be able to make a buck or two sitting in the lobby.
The guest computer was broken, thwarting my plans for using the business center, but fortunately there's a library here that opens an hour before I have to be onsite.
Tomorrow, it's just a matter of knocking out the job and rolling homeward. Then out to Amarillo and Lubbock near the end of the week. I overspent on the hotel room, but that will even out in the summer when I'll be able to put in at a roadside stop instead.
Today's job was pretty easy, so I was on and offsite in about an hour and headed on to Kansas. The game plan was that I would stop along the way and print out my documents for tomorrow. What I didn't count on was that it was Martin Luther King Day. I thought about it fleetingly at the job site when the customer was commenting about the current economic realities with the tag, "maybe WE ought to be the ones marching". I have to admit, I wanted to ask her what "we" she was talking about, but all I had to do was get the job done and the paperwork signed, not start a holy war.
So as I drove by the library in Liberal, I saw an empty parking lot. Nothing major, but it did mean I should probably put up in Garden City rather than an hour away, and preferably find a hotel with a business center. That rules out the cheapies (although in Garden City these days, there ARE no cheapies).
The roads of southwest Kansas are mile upon mile of monotony. I know there are people that wouldn't trade it for the world, and God bless 'em, because someone's gotta live here. But to me, it's part of the route, and I could drive it at night and not end up feeling like I'd missed anything.
Pickings for a hotel room in Garden City are pretty slim on Mondays, as I discovered. There's a ton of growth here, and the business folk head in on Mondays through Wednesdays, and head home for the weekend. I missed out on a couple of hotels, and settled on one right next to the job site. I had someone take a look at my guitar and ask if I was going to play, making me wonder if down the road I might be able to make a buck or two sitting in the lobby.
The guest computer was broken, thwarting my plans for using the business center, but fortunately there's a library here that opens an hour before I have to be onsite.
Tomorrow, it's just a matter of knocking out the job and rolling homeward. Then out to Amarillo and Lubbock near the end of the week. I overspent on the hotel room, but that will even out in the summer when I'll be able to put in at a roadside stop instead.
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Applying Lessons Learned to the Road Ahead
So, I've been evaluating things as I prepare for the return to the road. I did a few things right the first go around, but missed a lot of opportunity. And the one good thing about the year and a half off of it is that it has given me a chance to evaluate what to keep, what to throwaway.
The first thing I am ditching, until I am established, is refusing hotels. Yes, I will camp before I lodge, but when whether doesn't permit (as Santa Fe taught me), or when it means spending days away from the shower and washing my hair under the bleachers, I might be better off finding a motel of the fleabag variety. Eventually I am hoping to remake Townes as a mini RV; if I do so, I will rig up a small shower enclosure in the back. I will probably also use that space for a kitchen area.
My hope is to find an adequate way to heat Townes by next winter; I am debating pulling one of the windows and replacing it with materials suitable for me to run stovepipe through, and getting a tiny woodstove for that purpose. I am hoping for one that could be used for cooking.
Speaking of which, that's my second ditch item. Too many meals on the road. Yes, I occasionally need to sneak over to McDonald's or IHOP for the wifi, but I need to try to explore truly free wifi at libraries or other facilities first. I'm going to try to get creative with it, and share what I know. My eventual goal is to use this experience to help others coming through behind me.
The other mistake I made is not focusing on other sources of revenue. I'm not ever going to be called a great musician, but if I give myself the chance, I can make a little bit of money there. I am learning that the phrase "every dollar counts" is especially true when living out on the road. Piling up those dollars doesn't hurt. I may even hit the highway to scrap for cans.
I also spent too much money driving in town. Not only will walking more aid my overall health, but my financial health as well. With the rates folks are paying, I need every dime.
Also, I didn't write/blog nearly enough. There's a lot of gold in what I'm doing, and hoping to hone it and work on being a better writer. I have always beat myself up over my poor attention to details; while a truly great writer would see a weathered house with wood siding cracking from years of deterioration, offset by a lilac bush that's barely holding on against the dry and hot that's covered this area for years, I see a house with shrubbery. I need to fix that. I mean, I see these things, I really do; I'm just not weaving them correctly to give them depth, to give them meaning and paint a truly memorable word picture.
I kind of get frustrated against the literary decay I've allowed myself. More frustrated at that, honestly, than the physical.
I also intend to surround myself with reading material. Cheap motel forays have taught me there are only so many episodes of "Storage Wars" and "Pawn Stars" that you can watch before your brain begins to disintegrate. That probably has more to do with the writing decline than I would like to admit, unless I am being utterly and completely honest.
Not only CAN I do this, but I must! The honest truth is, unless I want to manage a Taco Bell or dumb down my resume, my options are limited. But if I do this right, they are limitless!
Onward and upward!
The first thing I am ditching, until I am established, is refusing hotels. Yes, I will camp before I lodge, but when whether doesn't permit (as Santa Fe taught me), or when it means spending days away from the shower and washing my hair under the bleachers, I might be better off finding a motel of the fleabag variety. Eventually I am hoping to remake Townes as a mini RV; if I do so, I will rig up a small shower enclosure in the back. I will probably also use that space for a kitchen area.
My hope is to find an adequate way to heat Townes by next winter; I am debating pulling one of the windows and replacing it with materials suitable for me to run stovepipe through, and getting a tiny woodstove for that purpose. I am hoping for one that could be used for cooking.
Speaking of which, that's my second ditch item. Too many meals on the road. Yes, I occasionally need to sneak over to McDonald's or IHOP for the wifi, but I need to try to explore truly free wifi at libraries or other facilities first. I'm going to try to get creative with it, and share what I know. My eventual goal is to use this experience to help others coming through behind me.
The other mistake I made is not focusing on other sources of revenue. I'm not ever going to be called a great musician, but if I give myself the chance, I can make a little bit of money there. I am learning that the phrase "every dollar counts" is especially true when living out on the road. Piling up those dollars doesn't hurt. I may even hit the highway to scrap for cans.
I also spent too much money driving in town. Not only will walking more aid my overall health, but my financial health as well. With the rates folks are paying, I need every dime.
Also, I didn't write/blog nearly enough. There's a lot of gold in what I'm doing, and hoping to hone it and work on being a better writer. I have always beat myself up over my poor attention to details; while a truly great writer would see a weathered house with wood siding cracking from years of deterioration, offset by a lilac bush that's barely holding on against the dry and hot that's covered this area for years, I see a house with shrubbery. I need to fix that. I mean, I see these things, I really do; I'm just not weaving them correctly to give them depth, to give them meaning and paint a truly memorable word picture.
I kind of get frustrated against the literary decay I've allowed myself. More frustrated at that, honestly, than the physical.
I also intend to surround myself with reading material. Cheap motel forays have taught me there are only so many episodes of "Storage Wars" and "Pawn Stars" that you can watch before your brain begins to disintegrate. That probably has more to do with the writing decline than I would like to admit, unless I am being utterly and completely honest.
Not only CAN I do this, but I must! The honest truth is, unless I want to manage a Taco Bell or dumb down my resume, my options are limited. But if I do this right, they are limitless!
Onward and upward!
On the Road Again
So, tomorrow, it starts, again. In my little red 1993 Toyota Corolla, I will be rolling out to Spearman, Texas, then to Garden City on Tuesday. Back home on Wednesday, then back out to Amarillo and Lubbock Thursday and Friday. Because we're mired in the middle of winter, I'll not try to sleep in the car or anything stupid like that, but I'm still looking for cheap digs, as I bid low on travel and lodging expenses.
This is becoming increasingly competitive as I struggle to win bids against people with less skill and lower expectations for compensation. "Cheap" is the new "quality" these days, or so it seems.
I ultimately need to figure out a way to make some dollars in between on these jobs. I'll make enough on these trips, but need to figure out a way to bring in more revenue. There aren't a lot of cheap motels on the Texas to Kansas stretch (and, truthfully, not a lot of cheap campsites, although the Garden City WalMart is a serviceable place to overnight). I may hit the highway for some cans if that looks promising enough.
Unfortunately, our cash reserves are low, so it will be peanut butter and bread most of the way. Still, one could do worse, I suppose.
Still, this week will net me a decent wage. That will be useful for the move.
This is becoming increasingly competitive as I struggle to win bids against people with less skill and lower expectations for compensation. "Cheap" is the new "quality" these days, or so it seems.
I ultimately need to figure out a way to make some dollars in between on these jobs. I'll make enough on these trips, but need to figure out a way to bring in more revenue. There aren't a lot of cheap motels on the Texas to Kansas stretch (and, truthfully, not a lot of cheap campsites, although the Garden City WalMart is a serviceable place to overnight). I may hit the highway for some cans if that looks promising enough.
Unfortunately, our cash reserves are low, so it will be peanut butter and bread most of the way. Still, one could do worse, I suppose.
Still, this week will net me a decent wage. That will be useful for the move.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Getting Back Out There
Well, it's been a long time between posts. There's good reason for that, as my "day job" kept me from pursuing a lot of options, and then began to have the constraints of a full time job, without the hours, or the pay. I loved it, but had to give it up because the people who collect their share of your income do not care one whit about job satisfaction or doing what you love. What they care about is pictures of dead leaders, and lots of them.
So, I'm starting back, which is slower than I would like because in the interim, I couldn't defend my turf. It's a very competitive field right now, and techs are driving further and further for less and less compensation. So I need to rebuild my client list by getting some of these jobs done. That has proved to be easier said than done as I've been passed over for many of the jobs I bid in the meantime.
I'm in the final week at the radio station and needing to pull down some jobs, so I was delighted when a job came up on Tuesday afternoon. There was an earlier job as well, but unfortunately, I still have to work out the station job, so I had to pass on that.
I have a second vehicle for road trips, one that won't take nearly as much gasoline, but doesn't give the luxury of space. The plan at this point is to outfit Townes for the more extensive road trip, and save this one (to be named later) for the 1-2 night jaunts and shorter hauls, with the eventual eye on replacing both.
So, it's onward and upwards to a better 2016! See you on the road, maybe?
So, I'm starting back, which is slower than I would like because in the interim, I couldn't defend my turf. It's a very competitive field right now, and techs are driving further and further for less and less compensation. So I need to rebuild my client list by getting some of these jobs done. That has proved to be easier said than done as I've been passed over for many of the jobs I bid in the meantime.
I'm in the final week at the radio station and needing to pull down some jobs, so I was delighted when a job came up on Tuesday afternoon. There was an earlier job as well, but unfortunately, I still have to work out the station job, so I had to pass on that.
I have a second vehicle for road trips, one that won't take nearly as much gasoline, but doesn't give the luxury of space. The plan at this point is to outfit Townes for the more extensive road trip, and save this one (to be named later) for the 1-2 night jaunts and shorter hauls, with the eventual eye on replacing both.
So, it's onward and upwards to a better 2016! See you on the road, maybe?
Monday, December 21, 2015
Returning to the Road
I've had a break from the road, and it was welcome. But it's time to head back, which is something I meet with mixed emotions.
There is no money here; none that I can make anyway. And it's not like I haven't tried. And so we're picking up roots, moving our permanent residence to Oklahoma, where I'll have more work around me. If this is going to be my life, may as well be where I have more work.
There's scene in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness", where he sells a scanner and says it provided "six more weeks of oxygen". That's how it feels right now. My wife went into the hospital last week, and I've been spending a lot of time on the phone trying to get our Medicaid restored (it was pulled last month) so that this bill doesn't follow us too far into retirement. An ER visit, surgery, a two night stay, and a helicopter flight (nearest surgeon is two hours away) is bound to all add up.
She's still off work, so when a job came up that offered enough to cover both her income and my income for the day, I let the high school coworker who calls the high school sports come in and do the morning show. Have to pick up the money when I can.
This meant waking up at 5:30, counting the time across the time zone, and heading out before the caffeine had a real chance to take effect. I arrived onsite to find everything in order, but that the repair unfortunately did not come with a manual. I called the helpdesk and they emailed it out, but as I saw the download bar advancing at a snail's pace, I decided to look at the replacement part and the machine as well, and was able to figure it out without the manual. I finished up, made sure I had everything I needed for my paperwork and headed out.
I have put in for a batch of jobs next month; I'm phasing out at the radio station in mid January and hoping that I can make enough between now and when we move to keep our heads above water. I'll keep purchasing oxygen, one day, one week, at a time and hope that tickets come in at a fast enough rate.
This is no way to make a living, but for now, it's the only way.
There is no money here; none that I can make anyway. And it's not like I haven't tried. And so we're picking up roots, moving our permanent residence to Oklahoma, where I'll have more work around me. If this is going to be my life, may as well be where I have more work.
There's scene in the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness", where he sells a scanner and says it provided "six more weeks of oxygen". That's how it feels right now. My wife went into the hospital last week, and I've been spending a lot of time on the phone trying to get our Medicaid restored (it was pulled last month) so that this bill doesn't follow us too far into retirement. An ER visit, surgery, a two night stay, and a helicopter flight (nearest surgeon is two hours away) is bound to all add up.
She's still off work, so when a job came up that offered enough to cover both her income and my income for the day, I let the high school coworker who calls the high school sports come in and do the morning show. Have to pick up the money when I can.
This meant waking up at 5:30, counting the time across the time zone, and heading out before the caffeine had a real chance to take effect. I arrived onsite to find everything in order, but that the repair unfortunately did not come with a manual. I called the helpdesk and they emailed it out, but as I saw the download bar advancing at a snail's pace, I decided to look at the replacement part and the machine as well, and was able to figure it out without the manual. I finished up, made sure I had everything I needed for my paperwork and headed out.
I have put in for a batch of jobs next month; I'm phasing out at the radio station in mid January and hoping that I can make enough between now and when we move to keep our heads above water. I'll keep purchasing oxygen, one day, one week, at a time and hope that tickets come in at a fast enough rate.
This is no way to make a living, but for now, it's the only way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)