ROUTE: Elkhart, IN to Ypsilanti, MI: 296 miles (163 loaded + 133 deadhead)
This was a relatively short assignment but such is the luck of the draw. The delivery was scheduled for the next day at 6:00am but the consignee is a 24/5 facility so I could deliver it that same evening. I’ve been to this shipper several times in the past and there’s a neighborhood steakhouse that is quite good.
Monday March 9th, I started my day at 9:15am and drove a little over half an hour to the consignee of the previous assignment. From there it was a little over two hours to this shipper where I arrived at 2:00pm. This is a drop-and-hook facility, so a relative quick in-and-out but I was hungry. I had a small breakfast of cereal in the truck so was savoring what to have for lunch. Would I go for the ribeye which is the house specialty or the sirloin steak sandwich? I normally go for the sandwich because I tend to have to drive afterwards and don’t want to get sleepy but today I was going to plunge into the ribeye. The restaurant is about a half mile walk from the shipper and I need the exercise. I arrived and the door was locked. WHAT?! I then realized that it was Monday and the restaurant is closed on Sunday-Monday. What a bitter disappointment. Worse part is that I was still hungry and didn’t want to waste more time stopping at a truck stop with only a fast food franchise, so I had some prosciutto and cheese from my mini-fridge. I arrived at the consignee at 8:00pm.
BOOK REVIEW: Welcome to Murder Week by Karen Dukess (2025), FICTION – RATING (***)
There are two stories running parallel to each other in this book. Neither is very entertaining nor suspenseful. It gets better around the 80% mark but by then it’s too little too late.
Cath is the main character. Her estranged mom passed away suddenly at a young age and Cath is organizing her affairs. She comes across two fully paid nonrefundable tickets to attend a murder mystery game in a small English on the outskirts of London. She is more surprised by the revelation that her mom intended to take Cath along with her. Her mom had left Cath with her grandmother in Buffalo when she was nine years old and had minimal contact with her afterwards.
Cath decides to attend this murder mystery game and upon her arrival is paired up with another two Americans that were also attending solo the event. A married man whose husband had gifted him the ticket and wonders why. A recent divorcee romance novelist that is bitter about how her life turned out but is determined for a fresh start. The narrative jumps around having them trying to solve the pretend murder and why Cath’s mom had wished for them to make this strange journey together. A slew of characters play an important role in the outcome of the game and discovering things about Cath’s past that were hidden from her.
Mildly entertaining in the last quarter of the story but the rest is slow paced and uneventful.
