Hello my lovelies. Yes I know it’s been a while. I’ll get to that in a bit.

What a weird year 2020 was. It was almost as if the entire world synced their cycles and there was no more chocolate in the world. There wasn’t enough sage in the world to smudge the planet but man, I tried.

The start of 2020 in Chicago was both a thing of beauty and of frustration. January 1st was the start of legalized marijuana in Illinois and I spent the day driving around looking at the long lines and hundreds of people eagerly awaiting the ease of access.

2020 also brought calamity early on in the year.

Less than 6 months old and I was rear ended. It was early morning rush hour traffic. I had just completed an overnight 14 hour shift and all I wanted to do was go to bed. I was torn between blaming phone use or the aforementioned cloud over Illinois, but regardless, the initial exchange went something like this.

Driver: Are you OK?
Me: Yeah, just pissed because this car is brand new and less than 6 months old you fucker.
Driver: I don’t even know what happened.
Me: I stopped and you didn’t asshole.
Driver: Yeah…


Luckily he had great insurance so Carlene is all fixed up but it was not the icing on the cake I wanted that day

With the start of the pandemic, I knew over the road truckers would be needed more than ever so I made the decision to head back over the road. It was hard and I waffled back and forth on should I/shouldn’t I, but in the end I knew it would be the best thing for my financially. I called my old fleet manager and he was excited to have me back and to get me going. I headed out over the road the first of April and it was like riding a bike. Yeah, it’s not like I wasn’t driving a truck the last year, but there are a lot of difference when you’re parking the same place every night and going home and when you’re having to do actual trip planning and figure out where you’re stopping on your route each time. Different hats have their own needs.

2020 also brought me some unexpected expected joy. Yeah I know that doesn’t make sense, but keep reading.

In 2014 my daughter and I moved to Chicago from Madison after my divorce from, well we’ll just call him what my bestie calls him; Dipshit McAssface. She moved away in the winter of 2015 after meeting a boy. A boy who I got off to a rough start with. Hey! I wasn’t in a good place mentally or emotionally and I can admit my part in being a total asshole to him. Actually, I have in many ways. Anyway…we’ve mended our fence and it’s now strong and we’re family.

My daughter had told me the thanksgiving before that she was pregnant and she was due in June. Fast forward to the pandemic and her impending delivery and they were starting to get nervous. She knew I was back over the road and we had many talks about what their plans for the future were. After a few conversations she decided to move home to Chicago. Technically it was never her home but it’s always mine so that counts, right? It took me a week, but I found them a great apartment that was in their budget and got everything set up. My daughter likes to call me “The Mafia” because with a few phone calls I can make just about anything happen. They arrived June 1st, just in time for my birthday and I couldn’t be happier.

And just a few weeks later the newest member of the family made her debut appearance.

Molly has captured my heart in more ways than one. She’s feisty and I can’t wait to get into a whole slew of trouble with her.

So pandemic and trucking…Turns out that my job is in the essential category during the pandemic so while many of my friends were trying out new recipes and learning new hobbies, I took to the open road again to run long haul.

Because I do a lot of cooking on the truck I wasn’t too heavily impacted by the pandemic and restaurants shutting down. I bought a freezer cooler and stocked it with home made soups, meats, and a ton of Pierogis. They are easy to make and keep well frozen.

It was nice being on the open road again. While I liked being home every day in intermodal, the money (or lack of it) was an issue and driving the same 3 highways got old really fast. It was a killer in terms of this blog and of my creativity in general.

It was also nice being able to go back to Canada and with the Pandemic it was a breeze. No lines, no fuss, and no muss. Easy in and easy out every time.

So, here we are at 2021. I’m currently at home taking a much needed break. I worked through the holidays for an extra bonus and now that the holidays are over I’m reacquainting myself with the man, not having to drive every day, not having to get fully dressed to walk a block to the bathroom, and being able to shower without waiting in line or wearing shower shoes.

I have another month on the road and then I will be turning in Large Marge and saying goodbye to her for good. I’ll be taking a well earned and much needed month off and then I’ll pick out another truck and look for names for that one as well.

I don’t generally do resolutions but I realize I miss writing this blog. I enjoyed sharing my trucking world with you lovely people but once you get out of the habit it can be challenging sometimes to get started again. That’s something I hope to change.

Until next time…