Being a single lady driver and living alone has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you don’t have to do anything you don’t really want to do except the necessary things, don’t have to share the remote, can eat when and what you want and there is always hot water when you want it. On the other hand, you don’t have anyone to help you around the house, yard or to run errands for you while you rest.

This was really brought home to me on the way home for my 3 ½ days I am taking off for this month. I was driving along thinking of all that I had to accomplish in those allotted days. I got tired just thinking of all of it. Everything from going to town to do errands to trimming the dog to cleaning house…that all in addition to a month’s worth of laundry, cooking, writing, working on my group, getting estimates for repairs around the place and getting ready to leave out again in too short a time.

Those of you who are married and run team can relate to this too. I remember when I was married and running team that not much was different. He would zone out in front of the tv ’relaxing’ because he had worked so hard on the road, while I got to ’relax’ doing what needed to be done to get ready to leave again. It wasn’t so bad though, he would take out the trash, carry stuff to and from the car and do a little yard work, if I asked enough times and promised him his favorite dinner.

Someone suggested that I hire a cleaning lady. Great idea! Except I chose to buy my house in Podunkville MO where there are NO cleaning ladies around and besides, I would have to clean up the house and put stuff away so I wouldn’t be embarrassed to have her see the place! You know that regular people don’t understand us trucker’s need to bring home old magazines, old tools and stuff we find on the road that we just cannot live without but bring home and never take out of the bag. A cleaning lady would be nice, but just more work for me!

Do you find that no one calls you much when you are at home unless you have just sat down to eat or lain down to take a nap? It is a real phenomenon, someone should do a study. And have you noticed that when you want to just forget about trucks for awhile, a friend calls with either a problem that they need to talk about or is upset with a shipper/receiver/dispatcher and needs to vent? No matter what you have to listen. Of course I NEVER do that to my friends when they are home…well, ok, I do it too…it is human nature I think.

Finding my way in downtown NYC is easier than getting motivated to get going and getting stuff done when I get home. The only thing I really want to do on the day I get home is sit at the puter catching up with my non driving friends and with the posts on the various groups and associations I belong to. The only thing I will do besides that is shower, cook a home cooked meal and sleep.

The first full day home starts with a trip to town to take care of business and by the time I get back home, I am tired and don’t want to work, but there is that ol’ month’s worth of laundry sitting back in the utility room silently waiting.…but wait, why bore you with all of this…you ladies reading this all know how the routine goes!

Sometimes I think it would be easier to just put everything in storage and live in the truck, but have been there, done that and it gets old quick. Besides, I would be limited to using public restrooms ALL the time instead of my nice clean single user one at home!

I do love my house and the time I get to spend in it, I do wish there could be more time or that I could wiggle my nose and have all the work done magically so I could just sit in my chair and rest! But as we know, it just ain’t that way for us lady drivers, as much as we love home time, we have to go back to work just to rest up for the next time home.
Be safe out there!