Hit The Road Jack...........

10thumbs

Great blog mate , fascinating stuff , sounds like you had a hell of a day , Ive just been reading up on hours you are allowed to work , slightly confusing at times .

I`m still waiting for my provisional to arrive , so I`m hitting the books until then .

Talk to you soon.

Alnico

@10thumbs
Drivers hours is confusing BUT when you get it and it really clicks its like a superpower and at that point you will realise that YOU control your Tacho, the Tacho does NOT control YOU !

Part of the DCPC is tacho and drivers hours so make sure your initial batch of 35 hours training does include the tacho module.
I can explain anything you're unsure of mate, above all else don't worry about it............
Take it one mile at a time man.
Its a VERY long journey !

TTony

How many miles do you drive in a monh / year, Andy?

Alnico

350 - 400 miles a day, Every day.
I can count on one hand the days where I've driven less than 350 since I've been on this job.

A typical day will see me swap the containers at the port the night before so I'm ready to rock in the morning and I will be up and going at, lets say 1am leaving Southampton to be in Salford, Manchester for 8am.
After that the empty box will go back to Southampton and that night I will get back as far as maybe Oxford ish if the traffic lets me do it.

Other missions could be leaving Felixstowe at 1am to be in Cardiff for 8am, leaving Southampton at 7am to be in Teesport for 4pm........

Its rarely a local trundle.

Alnico

Parked up at 14:40 yesterday afternoon.
11 hours off so all day breakfast at the truck stop in Bury St. Edmunds and sleep at 18:30 to start again at 01:30.
I have to load in Scarborough at 07:30 and get that back to Alconbury to park up for the weekend around 13:00........

You're all asleep and the roads are mine.

"leaves are fallin' all around,
Time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged,
Such a pleasant stay.
But now its time for me to go,
The Autumn moon lights my way.
Now I smell the Rain and with it pain,
And its heading my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired but I know I've got one thing I got to do....

Ramble on."

Drew_TNBD

I'd make a joke about killing prostitutes, but the mods would only delete it and then pretend they never did; sticking their fingers in their ears going lalalalalalalalalalalaalaaaaaaa.

chillidoggy

Alnico said:

Parked up at 14:40 yesterday afternoon.
11 hours off so all day breakfast at the truck stop in Bury St. Edmunds and sleep at 18:30 to start again at 01:30.
I have to load in Scarborough at 07:30 and get that back to Alconbury to park up for the weekend around 13:00........

You're all asleep and the roads are mine.

"leaves are fallin' all around,
Time I was on my way.
Thanks to you, I'm much obliged,
Such a pleasant stay.
But now its time for me to go,
The Autumn moon lights my way.
Now I smell the Rain and with it pain,
And its heading my way.
Sometimes I grow so tired but I know I've got one thing I got to do....

Ramble on to Watford Gap services."

Fixed.

thumpingrug

As a consequence of this thread I have  been nice to several lorry drivers today by letting them out of tricky junctions.

Alnico

That's great of you.

Thanks man.

FelineGuitars

Was thinking of you today as I got the Derrig LIon out for a tune up and quick strum. Sounding better than ever, and settling in very nicely.

Alnico

That's funny, I was just thinking about the guitar when I was in the truck at 02:36 the other day !!!
How strange.

I will drop you a PM this weekend.
Hope you're well Jonathan.

Alnico

I apologise for the delay in updating this blog, its been a rather difficult time.
The week before last was just a heavy week but not strictly a bad one, so as I perambulated through it I thought I would wait until the weekend and sit down with the laptop to write properly.
Last Thursday I started being consistently quite ill and where this usually dissipates fairly quickly, this time it didn't. The 'Illness' stayed all the way through until I finally finished work late Friday afternoon.
The Illness is something which you can choose to laugh at if you want, its a free country but know this,......
If it ever happens to you, you will be screaming like a baby and begging to be shot dead and put out of your misery !
I have had piles for years, I've had the odd few attempts at removal, all of which failed because the incompetent twats at the hospital insisted on messing around with elastic bands instead of laser guns, so its something I live with and cope with. Normally its only a problem if I attempt stupidly heavy lifting or when I need the toilet. Hurts a lot but does settle down within a couple of hours and the rest of the time its mostly ok.
Last Thursday and right across the weekend it suddenly got 'Not Ok', in fact it seemed to go straight to utterly ridiculous in the space of minutes. I suffered a complete prolapse and when I say complete, try imagining something around 3"diameter !
This also bled out and I lost roughly a pint of blood on monday morning.
"Ouch" doesn't even come close.
So, I spent last weekend in bed, dreading Monday morning and wondering how the hell I would be able to do what I do, like this.

So why did I go and get in the truck at 02:00 Monday?

Because despite how I felt there were booking slots waiting for me at Felixstowe docks, both of which turn into hefty fines if you don't show up and there was no one else to drive my truck. My boss is a good book and ny controller even better so I couldn't let them down either.
I had no choice.
With one hand mostly trying to hold everything together I set off on possibly the most futile run of my career. I got as far as the docks and (thankfully) out again before the bloodbath started. After several minutes of considering a blue light I decided the best thing to do would be to get back to base and dump the rig safely so I took a chance and drove back to Alconbury, approx 1h 45m. I was terrified. I couldn't stop anywhere, for obvious reasons and I just wanted to die. Somehow I got back and Debbie met me where she also proceeded to strip my truck out of all my things, fully valet it and somehow get me to hospital.
After the entire day crawling through the system from A&E to Theatre I finally hit the ward around mid evening after whatever emergency surgery they could manage.
I was sent home on Tuesday where I've been since, going through pain like its impossible to describe.
It was my birthday yesterday and the best I could manage was a couple of hours of very painfully sitting on the sofa, trying to enjoy the lovely food deb had cooked for me.
I have two weeks now until I get seen again by the GP and 6 weeks until a consultant sees me to discuss what to do next.
I have every notion of looking him dead in the eye and saying......
"you get that laser out and use it or I will, Pal"

I am stuck at home unable to do anything, cant even play by guitar.

Try this at home...............
Whatever it is you want to do, try doing it without using your midriff muscles, just arms and legs only. This has become especially evident when sitting on the sofa,.........just try reaching for something........its those muscles you're using.
Yeah well I cant use them at all, I don't dare ! I also don't dare sneeze or cough and if I do, it hurts like I've been shot.

So there you have it.
I'm broken down indefinitely and losing money like there is no tomorrow (oh, if only !).

See, ........even when they're not moving, trucks are dangerous.

Thank you for the very kind messages from those who know already and I do apologise for taking so long to post this but I'm typing it in my phone from bed and this is the first time all week I have been able to think clearly enough to write.

speshul91

Worry about getting better man, who else can I phone whilst cooking dinner to discuss wonky guitar necks haha. Seriously though take it easy man and get better soon.

TTony

Life certainly throws you some challenges.

I suffered with the 'roids for a good few years - though nowhere near as seriously as yours.  Had the good fortune of Company provided medical insurance, so got in for the 'ectomy op.  If it's still an option for you (given the seriousness), then the op is highly recommended.  Cuts it all out and means you can get back to normal life.  Your GP will probably want to do an exam (gloves on), and should then be able to refer you to the surgeon PDQ.

Hope it gets sorted.

Sarge

Damn, I get piles often and the smallest "cluster" can be absolute agony, so I feel for you man.
I take 2 asprin every morning just on the off chance I pop a nugget while at work, never can be too careful.
Go easy bro, no curry's or eggs

Adam_MD

Shit dude I hope things get better soon and I can do anything just ask.

mike_l

Shite Andy. Sorry to hear of your illness.

Anyway, get well soon, and we'll meet up at a jam one of these weeks.

Nitefly

Oh man,that sounds terrible!  Here's hoping for a speedy resolution.

littlegreenman

Fookin' hell Andy, that sounds proper nasty man. Keep us up to date as best you can and call if you need anything doing.

Alnico

Thank you for your comments.
It's been about as nasty as I can imagine anything being and it sits very badly with me (pardon the pun) as I work very hard and love working hard.

I am very grateful for the offers of help and that comes from Debbie too.