I Drove in Circles, Then Smashed My Face.

Well, more like rectangles with rounded corners. I got to drive our Semi last night, and it was AWESOME! I have had my permit for a few months now, but since we didn't have our own Semi, I hadn't driven one. Well, now that we have our own, (the reason why we went to Fargo) I can work on getting my CDL.

Here it is. It isn't the best picture, since it was taken with Randy's phone, but it is so cool:


I want to name it. Randy doesn't. I don't know if Semis get a girl name or a boy name. I guess I will have to research that. Maybe a neutral name, or a noun. Maybe just an adjective, or a pronoun. I will need to think about a neat, cool name for a neat, cool truck.

We went to a parking lot, and I unlearned all the stuff I know about driving regular manual transmission vehicles and relearned how to never use the throttle when I use the clutch, how to cause my left leg to cramp by fully depressing the clutch while releasing the parking brake, and how to turn left. Kinda like a sick, twisted, slow, lonely NASCAR race.

Amazingly, our truck has a turning radius of a Semi! I joke because I thought it would actually be worse, but even though it turned wide, it seems pretty manageable. Then again, it was dark, and I was in a parking lot!

I did manage to shift from 1st to 2nd, and down shift once or twice. I didn't get into 3rd gear, because I couldn't go fast enough in the lot. The brakes are very different, in fact, there is no feedback. When he gets back from his next run, I might get to take it out on a back road somewhere if we have time. But I am confident that I will be truckin' in no time. Pun...intended.

So where is the face smashing?

This morning Randy and I met with one of the owners of the company that Randy leases on to. She is super nice and helpful. She gave us great news that I choose not to disclose at the moment. Let's just say that it is an answer to prayer, and I am very, very thankful and happy about it. Praise the Lord!

Anyhow, after our meeting, Randy noticed one of my tires on the van was low, so we went to go put air in it. He got out, and was trying to get the air compressor to work. A trucker pulled into the pump next to us and was cleaning his windshield, fueling up, etc. I rolled down my window and yelled (to Randy) "Hey, nice butt!" (married people can say things like that!), and he jokingly said... "Hon, he is on the other side, he can't hear you". Just at that moment, the trucker walked around to the side closest to us. I got all embarrassed, and rolled the window up.

Randy was still outside, waiting for the air tank to fill, since for some reason the circuit got tripped. I have one of those driver's side windows where if you push the button down for a second, the window will roll all the way down. I wanted to talk with Randy again, since the trucker was no where to be seen. My intention was to peek my head out the window quick and say something else that married people say. I thought that I had pushed the button long enough for it to roll down, however it wasn't, so I plowed my face straight into it. I laughed and winced at the same time. Randy had heard a thunk, but had no clue what happened, since my big head didn't get out of the window. I had to tell him while laughing and with tears in my eyes from the pain. He and I sure had a good chuckle.

I think my face print is still on the window come to think of it.