WINONA, MN to CANTON, MI: 640 miles (570 loaded + 70 deadhead)
Wednesday October 7th, I arrived at the shipper at 8:00pm after making the previous delivery and driving an hour-and-a-half between the two facilities. This was a drop-and-hook so relatively easy but it’s always more cumbersome to park the trailers in the dark. The assignment should be delivered to Madison Heights on Friday at 8:00am but because I needed to drive ten-hours and take a ten-hour DOT Regulation break I would not make it on time. I was instructed to bring the load to our terminal in Canton and a local driver would finish the assignment as it was only thirty-miles from there. I left the shipper at 9:30pm and drove and hour-and-a-half to a rest area where I shut it down for the night at 11:00pm. This was a heavy load weighing a total of 76,020lbs out of the 80,000 DOT Regulations maximum.
Thursday October 8th, I started my day at 10:30am with the pre-trip inspection of the truck. I drove nine-and-a-half hours with a break for breakfast and another for fuel. I was bummed because there is a diner in Wisconsin that serves banana bread French toast and I was savoring it. When I got there the place had changed ownership and it was no longer on the menu. I had a Western omelet which was very good but not what I craved. I arrived at our terminal at 10:30pm and shut it down for the night.
BOOK REVIEW: The Lost Husband by Katherine Center (2013), FAMILY LIFE / ROMANCE – RATING (****)
This was a different narrative for a typical Katherine Center book. There were elements of romance but it focused more on the life of a widower with kids and financial struggles.
Libby Moran’s husband dies unexpectedly and leaves her and their two kids financially strapped due to poor investment decisions and no life insurance. She’s forced to move in with her mother who is and has always been self-centered. Two years later she receives a letter from her estranged aunt offering her a job and a place to live in her small farm in the remote countryside.
Libby decides to take her aunt’s offer on a whim despite the protests from her mom. Life of the farm is not what she thought it would be though she had no preconceived notions beforehand. It’s just night and day different from her old life. She starts to get the hang of things and regains the confidence she had lost. Her kids adapt well and they meet a cast of characters that change their life for the better. She even starts to have feeling for the hired-hand but his life is very complicated. There are some interesting twists about Libby’s past and why there’s a rift between her mom and aunt.
Very entertaining with a Hollywood happy ending that is the norm for a Katherine Center novel.
