ROUTE: Sterling, MA to Edwardsville, IL: 1,214 miles (1,137 loaded + 77 deadhead)
A 1,200 mile assignment is great. A lot of driving avoiding the hassles of dealing with shippers/consignees’ duties. The problem was that the pickup appointment was scheduled for 13:00 and I arrived at 15:30 because delays on the previous assignment. Therefore I had two-and-half less hours to arrive on time for my delivery scheduled for 12/10 at noon. The trip requires 20 drive hours and two-ten hour breaks at the end of the day, so forty hours plus time to fuel, pre-trips and meals. I basically did the trip attaining to the minimum rest periods and driving as much as possible each day. It was exhausting but I made the delivery on time.
BOOK REVIEW (1): Girl, Taken by Blake Pierce (2021), FICTION – RATING (****)
Very good and entertaining but just not as good as the first book of the series. The chemistry between the two main characters is as good as the first one as are Ella’s cunning detective instincts. The twists and turns are not as sharp, typical of book #2 in a series. The ending and prologue are corny.
BOOK REVIEW (2): We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes (2025), FICTION – RATING (****)
Amusing story. Basically a summer romance book with additional elements to make it more entertaining. The plot is fairly predictable and obviously has a Hollywood happy ending.
A divorced mom of a sixteen and eight year old girls is a best seller author that is struggling financially. Her widowed step-father is living with them for the moment and sad for the loss of his wife. Her estranged biological father appears after thirty years absent. Her ex-husband married his mistress that is now expecting his child. Her agent wants her to write a follow-up book to her best-seller on how to keep a marriage happy with explicit sexual content of the life of a divorcee. The hitch is that she hasn’t been in a relationship since the split or dated in twenty years.
It’s a discombobulated family setting that goes into greater chaos as the author starts dating again. The two fathers hate each other and are constantly bickering which gets worse with an unexpected revelation. The saga goes on.
Overall entertaining.
