Maybe all my posts will be random from now on...

I edited my life today.  Okay, it was just my bio on a website, but it felt so odd to have an entirely different story now.  Thinking of it as a clean slate, new beginning.  Chin up.  Face toward the sun.  All that. 

This week was the most busy (and happy) week for me.  The company in which I work "like a little mine mule" as my sweetheart of a boss says, bought a program which released all driver safety scores from Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010. We were slammed with drivers wanting to know their rankings.  If you don't know it, the trucking industry is about to change radically in November and further into next year when CSA 2010 goes into full swing.  That is, if it is not postponed again.   Drivers will be ranked next to their peers, and violations will actually appear on their commercial driver's license for the first time ever.  Top violators will be at risk of losing their livelihood right away.  I know because I have watched the Keller CSA 2010 video and given the quiz to drivers. Ten. Thousand. Times.

In case you didn't know this about me, I love, love, love the truck drivers with whom I work.  Their personalities differ like winter snowflakes and every day, they'll surprise me in some new way. On any given morning, I'll get nastily chewed out and brilliantly complimented. Even though I work in the Safety and Compliance Dept., and my main job is crack the whip on violations, my co-worker and I have drivers who have been in the hot seat before and now stop by just to visit.  It's impressive.  Believe me. 

Yesterday, a driver called me to give me the what-for concerning his opinion of an new requirement.  "I'm just going to quit!  I'll bring my keys to you personally and walk away!"  Not sure what I would do with those keys as I couldn't even engage something as dauntingly huge as a cargo haulin' Volvo.  I think this young man actually wanted me to beg him to stay, but owner/operators come and go like trains at Grand Central Station. That's just how it is. 

Today he called and said in the sweetest voice ever, "Hey, Ms. True." 

"Hey, Mr. H.  Did you call to make nice after how mean you were to me yesterday?"  I laughed as I spoke. He did too, "Just called to tell you I sent the paper you asked me to."

"I knew you would, man.  You take care and drive safely. K?"

"You know I will."

Another thing I love about my job is that it changes everyday.  I teach Safety classes, look over logs, call drivers, meet with drivers, pull spread sheets, make new databases, and put together power points.  I blushed one day when I was searching google for "rear end collisions" video clips to illustrate a power point and was banned from a site for "adult content".  My, my, my. 

I also even get to write on occasion. Yup, I love report writing days.  I get to evaluate strategies for effectiveness.  My job in particular keeps me working closely with all departments, because safety touches all issues in some way.  It's such a joy to get to know these folks. 


I work with excellent people who make me laugh all day.  The dispatchers have now begun to give me a hard time for being a Yankee 'cause I'm from Kentucky. They're a bunch of good ole' Tennessee boys.

I just can't believe that I landed plumb in the middle of an unexpected field of lillies with my work and get to play there everyday. How exactly does a former special ed teacher, inner city youth minister, catehcist and stay-at-home mom find the trucking world to be so compelling?  It's a true blue mystery.

Evenings and mornings are spent with my children and their plethora of activities in scouts, church, and sports.  It's tough to squeeze in supper. 

Bliss.