I want to begin by saying Merry Christmas! I truly cannot believe what a crazy year it’s been. So much has happened. But, we’ll get to that another time. Right now, I need to tell you about my best Christmas present.
I received a Christmas present from The Divine. This was truly a surprise to me. I never really thought that the universe couldjust hand you a gift and allow you to accomplish a goal.
It might be best if I lay out the key points first. If you find them interesting, then read on…
I’ll be discussing the following:
Okay, now let me give you a little bit of a back story for those that are new to Interstellar Frequency. Those of you that know me already know I drive semi-trucks to earn a living. I have been at this for over 14 years now. This last go around I had made the choice to hang up the keys and to never to return to the Semi-truck. I dislike the idea that when I leave my family it will most likely be 14 hours before I can see them again.
My last Semi job was one of the best years I had ever experienced. I met many people, and had small, but great,relationships with the crews and workers to whom I provided a service. Within this service, the crews I worked with would shout, "Shit OSHA is here! Let's get our shit together!" Every time I showed up to wherever I was to go that day, they knew it was time to go to work and get shit done.
Now that being said it's not because I am Mr. Bad Ass. No. I have a clock of 14 hours that I live by behind the wheel of a truck. 11 hours of drive time within the 14-hour work window, as well a 70-hour work week. Time to me is money. When the semi-wheels are not rolling down the road, money is being lost. Time is being wasted.
No, I had left my old job because I was putting my family in jeopardy with some of the work that was happening. No hard feelings. Let Bygones be Bygones. I wish no ill will for the company. I send them my best wishes.
I decided to put the boots away, hang the keys up. Just quit the Driving Semis for a living and change professions. I started by saying that the only way I would crawl back into a Semi is if I am the owner (or at least part owner) of a company because working for a company I can no longer take. I am at the time of this writing 36 years old. I now need to be the boss of my own entity. I have years of experience. I have been a jack of all trades and a Master of none. I have never been able to stay in one stagnant spot with no growth. It just does not work for me. I have to keep advancing. If there are no accomplishments in my life happening in the work of my profession, I will not be able to just stand by and just wait to see what happens and hope for someone else to acknowledge my accomplishments and reward me for my diligence. Waiting to be recognized for years of service does not work for me.
I have started side jobs to make it by to keep my family going. I had friends tell me I need to go back into the truck to keep my family's life going. With the help of other connections that were starting to fall into place, the red sea began to part, and the pathway became very clear very quickly.
Obviously podcasting is not a source that can sustain my family's lifestyle. I have a hard time asking people to donate formy show. It feels wrong in so many ways.
I met up with an old elementary school classmate that has keys to a truck.
First off, just being an owner of a semi is good. On the other hand, an owner that is a full-on diesel mechanic is an important factor when owning a trucking company. Semis are very expensive to operate as well as maintain. In this day and age of the workforce, companies cannot survive in California unless they have a diesel mechanic on hand that works for them. I have had opportunities that others have asked me to join them and build a company from the ground up within Truck Driving. One key factor that stopped me from joining them was that there was no mechanic. They are the engine of the Semi company. Without them, it is extremely hard to stay afloat. The cost to send the semi out to get fixed is high. Here in California, labor on a semi is usually $150-200 an hour, depending on the work being done.
This old classmate of mine and I meet up, and I check out the semi-truck that he has. We start bouncing ideas back and forthabout where he wants to go with his company, what he wants to do, and what kind of time he wants to put into it. We both came to an agreement, and now we’re off to the races.
Now in December of 2022, I had an experience that I found so funny when I was in downtown LA underneath a freeway bridge. This area is big with traffic lights on both sides. I was almost in a tunnel. I had come to a stop inside the tunnel. As I heard all the other cars pulling up and inside the tunnel waiting for the traffic lights to change, my driver side window was all the way down. I was waiting just like everyone else. As I heard one person honk their car horn, I was immediately reminded what Los Angeles traffic is like, with people always in a hurry. They start honking. A thought had crossed my mind from the one honk, I was starting to smile and laugh at the thought if someone else honks then the third. I would have to jump in on the 4th. Seconds passed as I was thinking about this: the action that was unfolding in-front of me. The first horn, the second,3rd, me being fourth, I just started cracking up laughing that simultaneously we all had the same thoughts. We all were getting a feeling that we were not alone with our thoughts (a little scary when you think about it) knowing that we were all somehow connected by feeling. I now know the universe is listening to our thoughts.
After completing the delivery, I was driving the truck back home that night, contemplating all the day’s events as well what took place. As I got close to the scale house the sign had switched from closed, to All Trucks Must Enter Scale!
My gut twisted into knots as the thought I was having asking God, The Almighty, Magnificent, The Universe, “Please let me pass this one!! I am not able to get the part because it is on national backorder and at least 3 to 6 months out.” There was a bobtail semi-truck in front of me heading home as well. At the same time the one bay inspection door opens up and another bobtail semi truck is coming out of the bay being released. My heart just sinks, and the pit of my stomach now just twists in a tighter knot. I am starting to think we are going to be inspected.
The house lights up the truck in front of me. We stop dead in our tracks; they tell him to go into the bay for inspection. I wait for the light to turn green. I am almost sure that the officers saw me like a deer in headlights. I’m freaked. I’m unable to pass go, and I’m about go directly to jail. When it’s my turn, they get me in the middle and light me up red and tell me to follow the driver in front of me. I feel that I am playing the real Monopoly game now. We both are being escorted into the inspection bay. I am praying to the universe, “Please allow one for me to be passed,and not to be towed out from the scale house.” I’m so nervous as the inspector does his work, asks me for my paperwork as well as my license. Right here, only days before Christmas, I am freaking thinking the worst.
I am all alone in the truck, no one to tell me, “Just relax,everything is going to be all right.” I am thinking of how much the income loss is going to be and that it can shut down the company before it even gets running at its full capacity.
The inspector starts his test. He tells me what he will be testing and doing on the truck. I say, “Yes Sir, No Sir.” Remember I am playing the real Monopoly game and going to jail for inspection. I have lost air out of my air tanks and told the inspector that I have lost the air. He asked how much I have. I tell him 75 psi at the moment. He said, “Let me finish the test first,” and then he will have me rebuild the air back up to 95 psi. I am so burned and praying at the same time mentally talking to whomever or whatever shall listen to my inner voice.
The inspector tells me to hang on for a bit. I am so scared straight, that I swear that if I pass gas it will sound like a flute playing a harp. The other inspector gets out a step ladder. I am thinking, “What does he see on my truck that I might have missed?” He comes up to the windshield on the passenger side,takes a razor blade, and starts scraping the windshield. In my thoughts I am thinking, “I don't remember having paint on that corner of the window?” The other inspector that has my paperwork is walking back to my truck. He says to me, “I need you to sign this.”
I look at the paperwork, the inspector tells me, "You have passed your inspection, and we will not be bothering you for a couple of months now. Happy Holidays."
I smile back and repay the same gesture. Looking back to the passenger side of the windshield I see my Level I sticker. I am jumping for joy. I was just handed a card from the universe saying, "Congratulations your efforts have not gone unnoticed, you are allowed to move to GO> and collect $200 Dollars!" I was just given a Christmas present from the universe, and I thank you so much for it. ^_^
I am now so convinced that even though we all in our lifetime are physically alone, mentally we are never left without or alone. If only we all try just a little harder to listen to that inner voice, and speak to that voice as well, this world will be a much better place to live in for all of us.
Merry Christmas to you all, and best wishes. I could not ask fora better present than the one I have received.
