A (Not) New Truck

The Old Lady

I asked the boss to stop sending me on overnight runs, and astonishingly, he did. There was a caveat that there may be occasions when it would be unavoidable, and I agreed that in such circumstances I would be ok with that.

A couple of months went by, and one of the trucks still doing regular nights out developed an issue, it is, by 5 years, the oldest of the trucks. I was asked if I would trade vehicles, as mine was newer, and less likely to have problems. I agreed to the swap, on the proviso that I get mine back, at renewal time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn't get broken in the meanwhile.

18 months have passed since the handover, and I'm still driving "The Old Lady," she has the occasional minor issue, but with very nearly 500,000 kilometres on the clock, and the work we make them do, is no surprise.

There is still no date for renewal, but that's fine. The truck, and I just keep going, we both take a little more nurturing these days, it's a function of age. We're just two old girls trucking into our respective sunsets.

 ********

As a postscript:

I've stopped using the xxxxx km format in the titles, because of the truck swap, and the (hopefully) imminent arrival of a new vehicle.

110547 Kilometres: Workshop Manual?

 

The Holy Bible

Christians, of whichever variety, want me to believe that this is The Word of God. In the first part, literally "What God Said" to his prophets.  The second part, they tell me, is what actual witnesses saw, and wrote in testimony. 

There are people who will say things like "It's a manual for how to live," or "You can't take it literally, it is more of a moral compass." 

Well, I'm not buying.

There is nothing in there that could convince me to live differently than I do, or to dedicate my life to God. 

I know I'm not perfect, but I behave in a moral, and ethical manner. I sometimes stray slightly, there are times when I drive a little too fast, occasionally I tell someone I'm busy because I don't want to visit with them, but who doesn't sometimes wander away from a paragon of virtue.

I'm not writing this entry to convince anyone of anything, I'm writing it because I heard a discussion on the radio this morning.

The discussion happened because this week saw the Anglican Church hold its Lambeth Conference,  at which Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury (Head of the Anglican Church) declared that: there was no doubt that gay sex is a Sin, which as far as he (and the people who believe him,) are concerned, closes the matter.

Does it though?

Not for me. To be fair, as far as I'm concerned it does not matter how The Church, Christianity in general, or even Religion as a whole feels about this, or any other  subject, because as an atheist (and a Humanist) I don't subscribe to heavenly prohibitions, but what does worry me about pronouncements like this, is that Governments often legislate with a bias toward how religion guides morality.

You will often hear me say "Religion has no place in politics" and since legislation is a governmental responsibility, Religion has no place there either.

Essentially, what I want is a Secular State, where Religion has no bearing at all on Law, because while it does, the law cannot be Just, Fair, and Equitable, which is everything it must be.

Here in the UK, Religion (Specifically, Anglican Christianity) holds far too much of an influence in politics, an example being Bishops appointed to the House of Lords, and this can only mean that at some level we'll be legislated by what can at best be called Tradition, and at worst, Superstition.

So, Mr Welby, you are entitled to your opinion on any subject, but you must not expect me to agree with you, nor can you set down the manner in which I must live. If you expect me to allow you the freedom to follow your God,  you must equally allow me the freedom not to. Likewise, any other religion, value set, or tradition.

Soundtrack: Hymn - Barclay James Harvest

 

30,183: Sometime Later (With A little Help from my Friends)

(An entry that took 2 weeks to write, and still doesn't really convey everything I wanted it to.)

When circumstances overcame us, and I had to split from my man, I moved in with my best friend. This has lead to a year long project to reinstate her flat to a livable space after over a decade of neglect.

This blog has mostly been neglected during this project. As happens when pretty much every waking moment is taken up with work of one kind or another, everything else takes a back seat.

Now, as Project Lightbox enters its final stages, I have time to sit for a few minutes, and indulge in the therapy that is blogging.

Project Lightbox, has not been fun. In my head it was a simple task, de-clutter, clean everything, lick of paint. Job Done. Netflix 'n' Chill.

In reality, prise every last bit of rubbish from her vice like grip on unreality, make 18 trips to the recycling centre (and still have too much stuff, stuff that will need to be moved every weekend, so the work can continue,) scrub every last surface clean of a decade's worth of nicotine, replace appliences, paint ceilings, walls, woodwork, at least twice, and anything upto 4 times, hang shelves, pictures, TVs, then re-hang them at least once. 

Now almost 10 months have gone by, our freindship has been stretched beyond its breaking point, and I'm 3 grand lighter.

All this and my own problems too, it has been the poorest of years.

I lost my home, and the life I thought I had. If it had not been for a very understanding boss, I'd probably have lost my job too. As it is, the job may have been the one one thing that has kept me sane.

I know everyone has a had a tough time during Covid, I also know people have had other stuff to deal with, but I am my immediate concern.

There have been bright spots; 

I learned that I have more friends than I knew, 

I learned how powerfully I love, and how powerful love is. 

I have found the Truth that is Now. 

I believe that I can find a place to just Be.

I'm not happy, yet, these last months have taken a toll, and I'm certain there are going to be tough times ahead, but I'm soon going to be leaving Project Lightbox behind, and moving into my new home, and there is aa holiday in the offing, (Some hard earned R&R.) 

My man and I are trying to rebuild our life together, it's not easy, and it will take a long time for things to even resemble normal, but that story is being told elsewhere.

Soundtrack: With a Little Help From My Friends - The Beatles

18,183 Kilometres: It Could Be Anywhere...

A Sunrise Somewhere in England 

It has been a while since I posted, but we live in the Covid Era, so I've not been upto much.

Through the week I work, and weekends are spent racing around after other people.

A time will come when I can relax, and reflect, but I'm not sure when that will be.

Anyway, here's an observation that's been troubling me for some little while: I  cover a lot of miles to go nowhere. 

I am a truck driver, on Monday I will leave the yard early, during the week I'll be in and out, and on Friday I'll park the truck up for the weekend. 

I will have driven as many miles as some people would take a month or more to do, and I will have been pretty much nowhere.

It is, of course, purely a problem of philosophy. 

To say I've been nowhere is obviously fallacious, in the physical sense, but in another,  very real sense I haven't. 

I have not arrived somewhere, and made any lasting difference, nor has that place made any promise to me, for better or worse.

No plaque saying "Lynda delivered here" adorns any wall, to the people I'm just another driver bringing stuff they'll have to move about.

I have seen many beautiful places, I've seen raging storms, I've seen 14 foot snowdrifts, and incredible sunrises. I've seen the first Snowdrops of Spring, and the last golden leaves drop from the trees as Winter chills the air.

But, on the Friday after the Monday, I will put my truck back in exactly the place I got it from 5 days earlier, having covered many miles, and been nowhere.

Soundtrack: Rotterdam (or Anywhere) -The Beautiful South 

10972 Kilometres: Happy New Year

That's pretty much it.

The last few hours of the year are ticking past, and many people are either celebrating already, or are preparing to party.

I am sitting here blogging, I would normally write a review of the year, but we all have had a rough time of it in 2020, and most of us will be glad to see the back of it.

There have been too many losses this year, and so few gains.

For my own particular reasons, I will be glad to leave the old year behind, but I am a realist, and don't expect much to change in the coming year. Yet there are things I hope for, I hope to have a new home, I hope that home is with my man, and I hope we can be happy there. If I achieve this much, I will declare it a good year.

So, 2020, prepare to die. You will not be missed.

2021 awaits us.

It is my sincere wish that everyone has a better time of it. Stay safe, and keep on truckin'

Soundtrack: Happy New Year - ABBA

9657 kilometres: One More Robot

 

A T-800 Hunter/Killer from The Terminator
("It absolutely will not stop")

"Alexa, create a blog entry."

I took the plunge, and ordered some Smart devices.

It wasn't really on my agenda, but when Amazon Music gave me access to Alexa, and she found music for me that I had forgotten about, and even some I'd not known about, but discovered I liked, I began to think about other ways she could help me.

Now, like any sensible person, I do have security concerns. I'm aware of how much I use the Internet, and the amount of stuff that already lives on various devices, and in The Cloud. I know that Smart stuff can provide an Access Point to a local network, but it's already the 21st Century, and I take precautions. 

I'm enjoying the novelty value of turning on the lights before I get home, as a test I went across the road, and asked for the lights to be turned on, and then giggled when it happened, figuring that range wasn't an issue, I went to put fuel in the car, and put the lights on from there, suspicion confirmed. I'm a simple girl, with simple needs, so this, to me, is that technology which is so advanced that it is indistinguishable from magic.

I have watched and read a lot of Sci-fi, and there are as many different ways the future could look, as there are plots in these books, and films, and while it often looks like it might turn out like "THX 1138" or "Minority Report," I prefer to think our future will turn out more like "Star Trek," than "Star Wars," In any event, being closer to death than birth, I'm unlikely to end up on a list in the office of the Thought Police, or running from some robot intent on putting me to work on the Meat Farm, or worse.

Instead, the Great Omniputor, will likely let me live out my days in relative peace until, at last it decides I've been around long enough, withdraws my life support, and sings quietly to me as I pass peacefully away, and begin the process of entropy. 

Soundtrack: One More Robot - The Flaming Lips

4923 Kilometres: A Year In The (Beautiful) South

Stonehenge

Background: My colleagues and I mostly haul local, around the North West. However, we do go further afield, usually we share the burden, but since one of my fellows was blown over in January, and has not had a sleeper since then, I have spent a great deal of the year on "The South Run."

This last week was possibly the last time I will have the run until next year, as a new truck will arrive on December 1st.

The Long Man Of Wilmington 

I don't like these trips, and I don't try to hide it, I tend to say things like "It would be different if I had a proper sleeper" or "We do have other drivers, y'know!" The extra money is good, but there's more to life than money, quite a lot more.

I've had a pretty rotten year, and spending so much time away has really not helped get things back on track, and I'm quite certain not being at home has been in some part responsible, since had I been around I may have been more aware that things were going off track, and been able to respond.

Aboard The Woolwich Ferry 

Of course, I'm a truck driver of 35 years standing, and was always aware of what that meant, and as the pictures in this article show, the job does have it's highlights, but it has also to be said, I'm getting old, and it is around now I should be starting to make plans for a retirement with lots to look forward to, but I don't even know if I'm going to make it to the end of next week.

At A Drop Near Southampton 

So, here we are at the fat end of the year. A year that has me physically, mentally, and emotionally wrung out. 

I've lost my home.

My relationship with my hubby is hanging by a thread.

I see my cats once a week, if I'm lucky,

And I'm lodging in a room that if even one of my cats was with me, I couldn't swing it.

Elliott Bear, My Companion In The Cab

There have been moments when it was not all horror, I have learned that I have a very great friend, who gave me shelter from the storm, I discovered that a boss can also be a wise counsellor, and that (for some reason I can't fathom) my colleagues have a lot of respect for me.

Oscar

Astar

So, here's to the demise of 2020, a year I could have done without, a year that almost broke me. Perhaps 2021 will be kinder to us all, I have to hope that it will at least be no worse than its predecessor. 

It Is Always Darkest Before The Dawn
(At least it is in Andover)

Soundtrack: Everybody's Talkin' At Me - The Beautiful South