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Still in Reno, NV. Took a cab to the Best Buy to check out the prices on the new LCD TVs. They are getting cheaper and cheaper, now that LED is in. Decided to take another shot at gambling Figured this time I can afford to lose 100 bucks - roughly 30% of what I won yesterday. Started playing the same $1 machine single dollar plays... lost 20 bucks .. then won 70... Switched to $2 plays, went down to the original $100 and from there playing $1 went down down down ... to 10. There were some minor wins (like 2 - 10 bucks at a time) but this definitely was not my lucky night. I changed machines when I had 10 bucks left and that didn't help. The 10 bucks were gone in smoke in 5 minutes. I did have fun though and wasted exactly the amount I was prepared to lose. Easy come easy go, as they say. But I don't think I'll be playing again tomorrow

The cab driver told me an interesting story about the 'Marina' behind the TA truck stop. I asked him where all the boats were and he looked at me in surprise and said, "It's not that kind of a marina." He then explained the area used to be an abandoned quarry and then some 10-12 years ago the town had a sever shower storm that lasted a week. When the storm went away, the town had a new lake in place of the quarry, so they started developing the land around and this part of town now has both residential and commercial properties, including the Best Buy store where I went. Next to the Best Buy is a sporting goods store called "Sheels' (I think) and the 3 things that are worth looking at there are: 1) huge fish tanks with live fish; 2) extremely realistic mannequins of past American presidents, and talking no less; 3) the hunting section with real guns on display... They had cool looking automatic pistols and military style 7.62 mm rifles and all kinds of binoculars and rifle scopes...

On the way back I decided to save 10 bucks and WALK to the TA. The Marina has a walkway where people jog and just walk even at night and the cab driver had said "it's a safe area.. we don't have gangs here or anything like that." The walkway runs right next to the I-80 and is shielded from it with a tall wall. I was back at the truck stop in 15 minutes.

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Still in Reno, NV. Took a cab to the Best Buy to check out the prices on the new LCD TVs. They are getting cheaper and cheaper, now that LED is in. Decided to take another shot at gambling Figured this time I can afford to lose 100 bucks - roughly 30% of what I won yesterday. Started playing the same $1 machine single dollar plays... lost 20 bucks .. then won 70... Switched to $2 plays, went down to the original $100 and from there playing $1 went down down down ... to 10. There were some minor wins (like 2 - 10 bucks at a time) but this definitely was not my lucky night. I changed machines when I had 10 bucks left and that didn't help. The 10 bucks were gone in smoke in 5 minutes. I did have fun though and wasted exactly the amount I was prepared to lose. Easy come easy go, as they say. But I don't think I'll be playing again tomorrow

The cab driver told me an interesting story about the 'Marina' behind the TA truck stop. I asked him where all the boats were and he looked at me in surprise and said, "It's not that kind of a marina." He then explained the area used to be an abandoned quarry and then some 10-12 years ago the town had a sever shower storm that lasted a week. When the storm went away, the town had a new lake in place of the quarry, so they started developing the land around and this part of town now has both residential and commercial properties, including the Best Buy store where I went. Next to the Best Buy is a sporting goods store called "Sheels' (I think) and the 3 things that are worth looking at there are: 1) huge fish tanks with live fish; 2) extremely realistic mannequins of past American presidents, and talking no less; 3) the hunting section with real guns on display... They had cool looking automatic pistols and military style 7.62 mm rifles and all kinds of binoculars and rifle scopes...

On the way back I decided to save 10 bucks and WALK to the TA. The Marina has a walkway where people jog and just walk even at night and the cab driver had said "it's a safe area.. we don't have gangs here or anything like that." The walkway runs right next to the I-80 and is shielded from it with a tall wall. I was back at the truck stop in 15 minutes.

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

I do like Reno... and if you get bored, the place behind the TA with all the pink neons is a pretty awesome bar/casino

As for the winnings, I kinda did the same thing. I headed over to the Peterbilt dealership and had a rear-seal replaced that was leaking and wound up spending all my winnings on having the power-divider rebuilt too LOL... it happens.

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Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy

I do like Reno... and if you get bored, the place behind the TA with all the pink neons is a pretty awesome bar/casino

As for the winnings, I kinda did the same thing. I headed over to the Peterbilt dealership and had a rear-seal replaced that was leaking and wound up spending all my winnings on having the power-divider rebuilt too LOL... it happens.

Those leaking seals are a pain in the b**t. When I had my axle ratio changed, the guy who did the work put in the old seals and they started leaking. I replaced them but then a month or so ago the Peterbilt in Waterloo ON found one seal (invisible from outside) had been still leaking and it destroyed the brakes on that wheel

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

So any luck getting out of town yet???

I was leased to Schneider when I went there. They run all the parts for a GM plant there, so I caught a break and got a load from Reno to Vegas then on down to Dallas for a drop. It paid $2.75 per mile pulling their van and the load out there from Detroit paid $3.25 per mile.... I then grabbed a load from Dallas for $1.25 (empty trailer move) to Chicago.

BTW, those were all rates paid to the truck. SNI doesn't decieve you like LS does.

[tracer]

I really hate this. I knew this would happen, that I'd have to wait for a load to get back. I just didn't know I'd be stuck here for a week. There ARE loads out of here but 99% of them go to Alberta. Last week the board showed some good loads in CA and Idaho so I thought I might get one of those. There was a load in Salt Lake City, UT loading on Jan-14 going right to my home in ON but I was sure I'd find something before that. Now that load is gone, as are a couple of others (LTLs)... So I'm going to wait till Landstar deposits money onto my Comdata tomorrow (Wednesday is my pay day) and then start heading east. I might find a short load in NE, IA, SD or IL and IN. F**k!

[Steel Horse Cowboy]

Originally Posted by tracer

I really hate this. I knew this would happen, that I'd have to wait for a load to get back. I just didn't know I'd be stuck here for a week. There ARE loads out of here but 99% of them go to Alberta. Last week the board showed some good loads in CA and Idaho so I thought I might get one of those. There was a load in Salt Lake City, UT loading on Jan-14 going right to my home in ON but I was sure I'd find something before that. Now that load is gone, as are a couple of others (LTLs)... So I'm going to wait till Landstar deposits money onto my Comdata tomorrow (Wednesday is my pay day) and then start heading east. I might find a short load in NE, IA, SD or IL and IN. F**k!

I just want to say that this sucks for you, but the only reason I suggested you doing it in the first place is because i know how Landstar system works. i wouldn't give you advice if I hadn't already done the same thing you are doing now and failed. I was trying to help you make money, and it's very tough to do with LS hence why I left them

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Originally Posted by Steel Horse Cowboy

... the only reason I suggested you doing it in the first place is because i know how Landstar system works...

I thought I'd make more money staying closer to CA. You were right, I should have just gone east and took a short load back home somewhere in IL or IA or NE. This here is just a waste of time. When I get back home, I'll just stay in Mid-West and - maybe - South-East. There's plenty of loads from KY, NC, SC, VA going back to ON. I should save money and get my own authority, that's what I should do...

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I left a $1 tip in the shower at the Sparks (NV) TA truck stop tonight. It was spotless. Not only that but:

- it had 4 towels (2 big ones, one medium size, and the tiny one)
- scented bottle of hand wash
- a box of soap plus a full container of liquid soap in the shower stall
- nice looking plastic flowers in a basket
- CLEAN ceramic tiles all around, and
- a glass door between the shower stall and the rest of the room.

The water pressure was 745 psi (I have an app on my phone that can actually measure the water pressure in a shower). And the entire place looked like it was remodeled a few months ago. Way to go, TA!

There's only 2 things I didn't like about this truck stop:

1. Smoking is prohibited in the restaurant but ALLOWED in the casino... since the casino occupies 75% of this TA there's always at least SOME smoke in the air; I don't smoke so I'd prefer the air to be smoke-free.

2. The TV room has 6 chairs and the only other place to sit down is 2 short sofas, one in the casino, the other (made of metal!) is near the restaurant. So, either you sit in the restaurant, or - if you're playing - you can spend the time in the casino. And there's signs all over the place that chairs are reserved for players only.

Other than that it's a fairly decent truck stop, with plenty of truck parking, and within walking distance from restaurants, a coffee shop, and a grocery store.

[Maniac]

I should save money and get my own authority, that's what I should do...

With the fuel prices going up every hour(so it seems) I would stay put for now, just need to use and understand the Landstar system a little better.

My fuel bill for 2 rounds from Boston to Youngstown OH is in the $2000 range, (3 fill ups), you will need $10,000 in liquid funds for your own authority, at least for now Landstar has got your back, if something unforseen comes along.

Right now I got 31" of snow to deal with................LOL..............well not really funny, but what else can ya do but laugh........