Shippensburg, PA

Sort of good, but not, we're stuck in Shippensburg, PA because I only have 15 minutes left on my work week clock, so I have to wait 34 hours before my clock resets and I can drive again. The good news is that we get a day and a half off, we have some money and we're at a truckstop with a restaurant diner. The bad news is that whatever load I drive and deliver by Monday midnight goes on my check that I get on Thursday so unless I get a 500 mile or less run that delivers by Monday night, I won't get anymore in for my next check.

No problem, though. I just wish that I was stuck near somewhere with more stuff to do, but it's okay since I can't afford to spend lots of money and I just ordered some Rollins stuff and books and need to save for the "Henry Rollins Show" and "Live From NYC - Uncut." He's doing a live from Tel Aviv two night spoken word thing as well. Fuck! This guy needs to stop doing stuff so it stops costing me so much time and money just to...I can't keep up!!!! I hope IFC releases those ones as well.

It's an overcast day here in PA. Got some stuff to read, write, and watch. Just ate and may go up the street in a bit to see what's around this here area. I wish we could do the reset somewhere like Chicago or Omaha or Princeton, IL. Those be good places. I hope to stay out of the Northeast for a while, but probably not.

On top of the myriad things I hate about drivers and stupid, poorly signed places, and finding a space at a truck stop in the evenig, all that pales in comparison to the good ol' northeast. For instance, twice in one day at toll booths on the New Jersey Turnpike I had to stop before entering because only at that point do you realize it's only cash only and I have an EZ Pass and no cash. So the first one, I noticed with enough time, but mother fuckers don't let you in.

Now I don't mind much when cars don't want to be behind a truck and they don't let you in. But there's something that makes me want to smash them into the guardrails when you've only a certain amount of time or space left before you can't exit or need to get out of lane because of poorly signed things that don't say, "exit only." But if you don't want to be behind a truck, fucking speed up, fall back, or switch fucking lanes. Don't just fucking keep your current speed when the truck's got his goddamn blinkers on.

I've only had this toll booth thing happen to me twice. Both the same day on the New Jersey turnpike. It never happened before because I pay attention to all signs and, well in advance, I get into the appropriate lane for all the right reasons. NJTP just doesn't sign it well and/or put stupid, unnecessary things that just confuses people.

Another thing is the poorly signed stuff and wrongly signed things. Poorly signed I can go on and on but the one thing I've noticed most is they'll have a lot of signs like, "I-95 South Next Left," put a quarter mile before a left with no signs or anything else around that left. So you're left with a decision to assume that, since that obviously is the next left, to take that, or chance it that the sign meant the next left after the next one coming up. That could easily be remedied with a sign that says, "second left," or moving that current "next left" sign at that upcoming left or just after, leaving no doubt to a driver's mind that the next left definitely is the left you're looking for.

Wrongly signed are things like on an interstate sign, the exit number on top of the sign is either on the right or left which tells you what side, right or left, so you know in advance what lane to be in. So there are stuff like that with the exit number on the left so you go through rush hour east coast traffic and then it's on the right. Not too mention, they have their service areas in the middle of the interstate so you have exit left. It makes no sense. You force all these trucks to cut across four lanes of traffic, why not minimize the dangers?

Then there's the truckstop deal. They all fill up by about four in the afternoon. It's all around craziness. I need to stop thinking about this.

Peace