Day 18 -- Waiting for my trainer....

For most of us, today was spent cooling our heels waiting for our trainer drivers.  A couple people were sent home today, at least one because they ultimately could not pass their driving tests.  The instructors here are pretty lenient, and have given those who are struggling a lot of chances to take and retake the tests.  But at some point, they and the student need to face the reality that the person just isn't going to get it and it's time to cut everyone's losses.

So all told, we lost about 15 people out of a class of about 56.  Some here on the last day, and others earlier that were mostly due to inaccuracies on their applications (such as leaving off a traffic accident), failed drug tests, or quitting due to bad attitudes.

Most of us spent today playing cards (above).  The game was "Rummy 500", a turbo charged game of Gin Rummy.  It was pretty fun and a good way to kill 3-5 hours.

Also killed a little time by volunteering to be interviewed on video as a potential commercial for the CR England truck driving school.  In exchange we got a free t-shirt and a complimentary lunch at the company grill.

About 11:30 am i was notified that i was assigned a trainer driver.  I called him only to discover that he clearly does not speak much english.  His name is Fabrice, and i have no idea where he's from -- he sounds middle eastern.  He's on his way to Utah now, and will be here tomorrow evening.  From there, we hit the road.  Hopefully we'll hit it off.  He's been a trainer driver for about seven years, so he's experienced.

For the rest of tonight, we're just chillin' and hanging out.  A lot of us will be leaving tomorrow, hoping that we meet again somewhere on down the highway.  Some good friendships have been made, and it's been fun  to learn where everyone has come from -- our class has folks from Washington, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia, New York, California, Idaho, Utah, Maine, and Minnesota.  There's a few odd balls in the group, but for the most part everyone gets along really well and has become good friends.  It will be sad when we all go separate ways.  The cool thing about this industry, though, is that you're continuously moving around the country and it's easy to stay in touch via CB radio.  So it's pretty common to cross paths.

So as the holding pattern continues, here's hoping everyone back home is doing well.

Stay safe....

KWA