ROUTE: Linden, NJ to Romulus, MI: 690 miles (602 loaded + 88 deadhead)
After a five-day break for Thanksgiving I’m ready to hit the road again. I was parked at the Pilot in Milford, CT and unfortunately I was not able to find a free-parking spot so had to pay five nights of parking, $125! OUCH! I was low on fuel and that Pilot has been rebuilding their diesel pumps since early October. I had enough fuel to make the pickup but would need to get it soon afterwards.
The pickup was in Linden, NJ which was 88 miles away which should take 90 minutes but with traffic it was two-and-half hours. The Pilot in Ledgewood, NJ was 45 miles away but again traffic made the 45 minute ride into one-and-half hours. I decided to spend the night at the Petro in Girard, OH which is 360 miles drive which requires a six hours drive. I started my day on Monday 12/01 at 09:30 and shut it down for the night at 23:00, a 13.5 hour work day and just under the DOT Maximum of 14 hours.
Monday night there was a snow storm affecting Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. I was hauling a load weighing 40,000lbs which sucks on the uphills but it gives greater traction in the snow. Fortunately, I was shutting it down for the night before I got hit it but the AD dispatchers called me to make sure I was OK. One of the advantages of working for a smaller company, they are watchful for their driver’s safety.
Tuesday 12/02 I started my day at 10:30, I couldn’t start before 09:00 due to the DOT Regulation mandating a minimum ten hour rest period, but I was tired and needed the extra sleep. I made the delivery at 14:00, after a three hour drive.
BOOK REVIEW (1): Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (2025), FICTION – RATING (**)
DNF.
I got through 30% and stopped. It’s convoluted with back and forth in time between the present and when the protagonist was a teenager. The narrative goes at a snail pace and there are two major teasers which I found annoying. The protagonist’s husband is on trial for murder and her nine-year-old son is dead. Neither are explained by a 1/3 of the book.
BOOK REVIEW (2): The Poppy Fields by Nikki Erlick (2025), FICTION – RATING (*****)
ORIGINAL!
Initially I was skeptical of the idea of a sort of coma-induced sleep therapy for four-to-eight week clips to overcome grief. It sounded fairly stupid. Figure I hear it out to see where it was going.
The narrative smartly started drifting to a road trip adventure of three strangers meeting by chance with a common destination unbeknownst to them. However, the topic of the sleep-therapy remains the main theme so it’s not a bait-and-switch plot. The chemistry between these strangers gets stronger as the trip progresses. Then a fourth stranger joins the group. I found myself curiously engaged and wanting to see how it would develop.
The ending ties up all the loose ends without a perfect Hollywood happy one but accomplishing the same objective. The themes of grief and loss of loved ones is dealt with class without imposing the author’s point of view.
Overall very entertaining.
