Thursday, June 11, 2009

Sickness

I've decided to make a concerted effort to post more often on here, so stay tuned...

Yeah, I've been sick the last couple days. It's weird, not like other jobs, where you can take just one day off (mental health day?). No, I have to take 2, because 80% of what we do are 2-day runs, so you use up your sick days pretty quick. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have the extra time to recuperate, but I only get 8 hours for each day off, as opposed to the 10-12 I put in while working. Sure, sometimes there's other local stuff to do, but it's usually "bottom-of-the-barrel" B.S., so I really don't want to deal with it. I'm pretty much a creature of habit, and when the habit gets broken, I get angry.
I won't mention the gory details, suffice to say it was a "gastro-intestinal" issue, for lack of a better euphemism. I woke up to a sharp pain in the gut, and the rest is history. As I write this, I'm still not 100%, but good enough to go tonight. It feels strange, being around the house, watching daytime TV, hanging with the family unit. The same is true on vacation, which I just wrote about. You make a list of things you want to accomplish, then after the week is up, look at the list and say "Well, that didn't go so well..."
At least the "sickness" didn't come during the run; I've had that happen. In fact, I think I've already blogged about it, so I won't touch too much on it here. The same symptoms, though, and it has happened not only in the sleeper, when you can actually do something about it, but on the road as well. I've made good use of my milk carton (pee jug) and my knife, if you know what I mean. Hey, it's better than doing it all over the inside of the cab. How do you explain that to your boss? If you own the truck it's one thing, but having to spend a couple hours cleaning up after yourself, so the next driver doesn't choke on the stench is quite another.
A rule of thumb: bring an extra roll of toilet paper. It should be in every trucker's cab, because
you never know when you'll eat that bad piece of ______, then you're literally "up shit's creek."
Having some Gatorade or water handy is probably a good idea as well. I bring that stuff to hydrate myself during the sweaty summer months. That's my main problem - my diet. I eat a lot of crap (I know a lot of truckers do), and don't take proper care of myself. Not enough fruits & veggies (don't preach, I've heard it all before), too much fried, processed, junk. That, along with the smoking, are probably going to do me in.
See, my eating/sleeping schedule is all out of whack, and has been since I started this friggin' job. When you're eating lunch at 10:30 in the morning, and your next meal doesn't come till the following morning, it screws your body all up. The wife wanted me to go to the doctor's office; she even looked the number up in the phone book. However, when I called, they didn't have a chart on me (it's been more than 4 years), nor could they even see me this week anyway - so much for that idea. I mean, since the other night, my body has clenched up, and I have the opposite problem - yep, I can't go! So, better pick up some laxative at the drugstore today...

More soon,

Steve

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