The Driving Life Across the Pond - A Life of Wot
#201
02-14-2007, 08:48 AM
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Bella Vista, Arkansas, United States
Posts: 1,408
#202
02-14-2007, 12:04 PM
hey wot!????
happy valentine's day!!! 
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#205
03-19-2007, 03:54 AM
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Dancing with the bright Pixies at University of Edinburgh
Posts: 2,575
With the truck all cleaned up and Mick having made good my situation with Dave, I went in to work smiling; and thats how it should be. If driving or whatever it is that you do for a living gets you down and takes over your every thought, then its time to get out, move on. I must admit, I can,t remember a great deal about that day at work or much of the following weeks really; you see, I was making such a determined effort to succeed and acquire the skills needed to drive heavy haul trailers into ridiculously confined spaces and then perfectly line up to a railway track with both your front and rear most axles absolutely in line with the track.
Stop just for a moment and think about this, driving a vehicle up to 90 ft in length into a restricted area which was probably constructed in the heyday of rail-19th Century- and was originally only used for loading/unloading by horse and cart...Then, in that confined space, you have to perfectly line up with a rail track getting all your axles in line with it or else you will have a derailment! Some places are easier than others and some are damn near impossible! Rookies are gradually blooded starting with the easy yards and eventually progressing to a stage where your own driving is something to be incredibly proud of. Now don,t take me the wrong way, I,m not saying that I am some super driver or anything; just that I have experience, willingness to learn and I take my time in confined spaces or when having to reverse. Thats all it takes to drive those things, a little patience. In time, I got better and better and could line up to the tracks at most places without having to ask my second man to watch anything other than the ass end of the trailer. I was beginning to really enjoy myself and took great pride in my work. All of Allely,s drivers are well known to the "Anorak Brigade"-that is, guys who show up to take photo,s when big loads are moving and they follow you around the country; I expect there is an "Anorak Brigade" in America too- and I was now a "Face" with them too.They would phone me up and ask which route I was taking and where I was now etc. etc. etc. ...I was quite chuffed at first to feel as if I had some type of celebrity status, but after a while, it starts to piss you off when people ring up at all times of day and ask which road you,re gonna be on in six hours time or something, I mean, you get enough of that kinda shite from your boss eh? So in the end, I started telling them I was taking a completely different route or that the load was cancelled or something(Eric, the No.1 driver used to tell them he was loading for India and he would be away for six months.....I doubt they believed that, but it was funny nevertheless). And I,m so pleased that I took the same course of action as all the other drivers in not talking to them as something terrible was about to happen; something which they had no right to know anything of. T.B.C[/b][/i]
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#206
03-19-2007, 04:28 AM
Senior Board Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Bella Vista, Arkansas, United States
Posts: 1,408
#207
03-19-2007, 09:30 AM
Is this you in the boat Wot? It was taken in the UK :lol: http://www.watchersweb.com/sub_previ...zwwy1173237476
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