Playing by the river

Today I had to go from Montrose, CO to Evanston, WY...via Sinclair, WY. I delivered last night down in Montrose, and then had to run up and load jet fuel for delivery tomorrow in Roy, UT.  I found a parking area off the I-70 so I could wash the windshield. I ended right beside the Colorado River. It was so quiet and peaceful.

 

Be Aware

Seriously? Area 51 is so engrained into Nevada culture that there are even alien sex workers at this brothel in Amargosa Valley, along US-95!

Thanks to the new laptop, I am slowly working through the 20+ TB backlog of saved GoPro video files that I have. I'm deleting a lot of the files (boring stuff), but I already have several trips ready to edit and create.

It's going to be a long winter!

Bath Time

Time for a bath. She's missed the wash crew for 3 weeks now.

Wow, time sure flies by. Since my Halls Crossing post, back at the first of December, I’ve been to Texas once (3 stop trip) as well as multiple trips to UT, NV, & CA. I have terabytes of video footage, but my computer is so old that it doesn’t really like to compile the footage into postable videos unless I give it several hours (days) to think about each one.

I’ve transitioned from a day cab to a sleeper truck, and primarily haul AvGas 100 Octane Low Lead fuel, with the occasional jet fuel load. I will attempt to link to some pictures and will post video links as I get them finished and uploaded.

Walk-around video of my truck

Halls Crossing (Days 1 & 2)

Halls Crossing, UT, is located a couple of hours west of Blanding, on State Hwy 95. On September 16, 2021, I was tasked with delivering jet fuel to their regional airport. Unfortunately, Hwy 95 was washed out just west of Blanding, so I had to make a detour and come at the location from the west end of the highway, via Hanksville, UT.

The detour took the run from a 1.5 day trip to a 3 day trip through the badlands of southeastern Utah.

Here is some of the dashcam video from that trip:

Halls Crossing - Day 1

Halls Crossing - Day 2 (Part 1)

Halls Crossing - Day 2 (Part 2)

Major Upgrade

I finally purchased a GoPro Hero 8 Black camera and will be creating driving videos to post on YouTube. I’ve been working with my cell phone camera, but it wasn’t really doing a good job.

The videos will appear on this YouTube channel:

Tanker Dave's YouTube Channel!

Time Flies

Wow, I can’t believe how much time has gone by since my last post. It’s been crazy busy. Once you get into a routine, it’s just day after day. When I get home, I’m not really interested in working on the computer. I should post while I’m delivering, or stopped on break.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been to Flagstaff, Winslow, Page, Kingman, Yuma, Tucson, Sierra Vista, Bullhead City, Marana, and Safford, as well as numerous local hangers and airports. I’ve even been back to Boulder City, NV a couple of times.

So far, it's been fun. And you get to see some cool stuff!

First Day at WTL

I survived my first day of training! We delivered a load of jet fuel from Phoenix to the Boulder City Municipal Airport.

And now I’m off for my “weekend.”

Phoenix to Boulder City

Counting Down

Well, my last day at my current cubical farm job is May 14. I start training at the new company on the 15th. Should be interesting.

Yesterday I went to the Kinder Morgan class in Phoenix so that I could get “carded” at the KM fuel terminal (tank farm) in Phoenix. Now I just need to load three times with a trainer so that I remember what I’m doing and then they will issue me a loading card.

It’s getting closer!

Tested times four

Yesterday morning started with a visit to the MVD office in Casa Grande so that both of my boys could get their learners permits. After that, I had to take four tests myself.

1. Drug Test – Waiting for the results, but sure I passed.

2. CDL Skills Test – Pre-Trip and Backing Skills – Passed

3. CDL Road Test – Passed

4. HazMat Endorsement – I could not take this until the background check was completed and I had received my CDL license. You can’t get the HazMat endorsement on a permit. – Passed

So, four down. Once the company gets the drug test results back, hopefully they offer me a position and I can start driving again. I am getting excited now!

The start of something new…hopefully.

Well, this afternoon I have an appointment set for my CDL Road Skills test out at the Goodyear MVD office. I’ve spent a few hours driving in circles and practicing my backing and shifting, so hopefully I remember enough to make it through this successfully.

My biggest concern is forgetting to point out something on the Pre-Trip.

And then when I pass that, I get to take my HazMat endorsement test. My fingerprint clearance has already come back from DHS.

Back behind the wheel?

Well, it had to happen. I had given up my Commercial Drivers License (CDL) back in 2015 because I did not think I would drive commercially again. I was a dispatcher for the company, and did not want to go through the hassle of renewal, etc. if I was not going to use it.

Fast Forward to 2021. I am tired of working in a call center and looking at going back to what I was good at. I am going to go back to driving. So, the first thing was to get a DOT Medical Exam completed and then apply for my CDL Permit (Taking multiple written tests). With those two hurdles behind me, now I need to start practicing for my Driving/Skills Tests. Once I pass those tests (in the presence of a MVD Inspector) I will get my CDL back and I can start driving again.

My plan is to stay local in the AZ area, hauling tankers. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What Just Happened Here?

Apparently WordPress doesn't like me.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to move my blog back to Blogger from WordPress overnight.

It will be going back as soon as I can make it happen, but for now we'll be on Blogger.

Unfortunately, during the reconfiguration overnight, I started getting a nice little error from Google.  Apparently something didn't update and my domain name is stuck in an infinite loop of death.

So, I've manually forwarded the domain to the blogger sight, and hopefully the problem will go away today...after the DNS servers update and it trickles down.

If not, it's going to be a long night dealing.

Please be patient with me.

Thank you,

David

Hello, Is Anybody In There?

A phone call with my son tonight reminded me of how technologically different our generations are.

I am a child of the landline era. When the phone rings, I pick it up, and expect to hear voices on the other end. If I don't hear voices when I pick it up I assume one of two things has happened. Either the line is dead, or its a prank call. Either way after a couple of seconds of silence I hang up.

83% Say Social Media Not Essential to their Business!

The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) released their 2013 Technology & Web Usage Report on Tuesday.

The report is 43 pages of information ranging from booking trends to websites utilized by their travel agent members.

My interest is in the Social Media results of the survey.  According to the survey, about 80% of respondents maintain a social media presence of some sort.  However, 39% of users view social media as "not useful or proven."

However, there is a growing percentage (not stated) that see social media as a useful tool.

“Agencies are finding that new technology can be used to their advantage with many using social media to connect with their clients, demonstrate personal expertise, and reach new consumers,” said ASTA CEO Zane Kerby. “Technology changes have always allowed agencies to adapt and grow and better serve the traveling public.”

The ASTA study found that a large percentage of agencies (75%) have passed the "learning" phase and feel that they have a good handle on the technical aspects of social media.

What is lagging behind, and telling, is how many respondents find social media to be useful. Only seventeen percent of those surveyed viewed social media as "essential" to their business, while twenty-two percent felt it was "nice to be there."

Why are these percentages so much different from other business models?

The social media section concludes with the statement that "Primary goals with social media are shifting from general awareness to expanding customer base and communicating with current clients."

If only 17% see a business benefit from social media, somebody has dropped the ball.

The survey was conducted with a research panel of ASTA agencies, the ASTA Research Family. The panel is comprised of a representative sample of ASTA member travel agency owners and managers. The report indicates a 95-percent confidence with an error rate +/- 5 percent.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

The article 83% Say Social Media Not Essential to their Business! first appeared on Confusingly Simple.

Write WHAT?

My blog focus?

Enough!

If I read one more post about "how to write the perfect blog" I'm going to scream!

I understand the dynamics of it. I understand how SEO works, and all that crap.

What I have the hardest time about is the "write what you know and love" blather. My blog doesn't have a defined target, theme or direction. Not that I can determine, at least.

When you know, and enjoy, a little bit of everything, how can you define yourself as someone "in the know" about one particular thing?

I don't feel qualified to bloviate on much of anything, most of the time.

The trick, I guess, is to write when I feel that I know something about something...and don't wait until the "opportune time" to post.  That's what scheduling is for.

Time to keep pressing onward.

Photo courtesy of Flickr

Facebook will Eat You ALIVE!

Everywhere you turn online, you'll find a blog posting about the "best times to post on Social Media."

Every expert out there has a formula for when to post to have "maximum impact," like social media is some sort of war game. For the social media marketing person, getting your message in front of your followers, when they are receptive to it, is a major concern. And rightly so, since screwing it up is $$$ out of their pockets.

But what about the average blogger, who just has a story to tell? Oh, and doesn't have 5,000,000 followers all over the world.

• Well, who are your followers?
• Where do they live?
• What do they do?
• When are they active online?

Pretty easy, right.  Yeah, sure.

There are lots of options out there for figuring out when to post on Twitter. Most experts recommend posting several times a 24hr day, taking into effect that your message is not limited to one geographic area. There are websites out there that will evaluate your Twitter accounts and tell you when your followers are active, who is active, and when the best times are to reach them. FollowerWonk is one of these sites.

Facebook

There isn't anything similar for Facebook, though. On Facebook, you have to dig out the pencil and paper, and figure out the best times to post on your own. Post often enough to keep people engaged, but don't post TOO often, or you'll drive people away.

LOLcats live on Facebook. Grumpy Cat reigns supreme. Recipes, family photos, and memes will scroll your news feed faster than you ever thought possible.

Take a look at your FB news feed, spinning like a slot machine wheel, and see when your target audience is active online. Mid-day for stay-at-home types, and early/late evenings for people who work all day? And this is only during the week.

Belle Beth Cooper (@bellebcooper), over at the Buffer Blog, found that the most interaction was seen in the later part of the week, and weekend.  Sorta makes sense, when you think about it. The weekend is in sight!

Weekend postings on Facebook can be a bit elusive to pin down. The data shows that there is a spike in Facebook "Sharing" on Saturdays. But that may not hold true for you.  A lot depends on weekend schedules. Sports, family events, and yard work play a roll in messing up any sort of matrix for weekend postings.  Your target audience might not be there one weekend, but will be for the next two weekends. Or not at all. And your "Shares" may come later in the night than during the week.

So...?

I use Buffer to schedule most of my postings on Social Media. But I space them apart enough so that I can post topically current stuff in between the scheduled posts, and not overwhelm the average follower.

The folks over at the Buffer Blog have put a LOT of thought into posting schedules. For more insight into Facebook postings, check out this article from July, 2013. While it is targeted toward the Facebook Page user (normally businesses), the data holds true for the average user, also.

"While the best time to post is definitely important, there are some other things to keep in mind. I had a look at what kind of updates work best for Facebook pages to increase interaction and found 7 interesting statistics that you’ll probably find useful if you’re trying to make your page more engaging."

They base their recommendations on statistics, science, and psychology. And with over a three million posts processed per week (on average), they have the statistical data to back it up.

Scheduling posts for Facebook was/is a challenge. But I spent a couple of weeks studying the posting habits of others, and set my schedule based on their usage.  I work nights, so I would set up my laptop beside me at work, and leave FB up to scroll.  After a couple of days, I had an idea of when my friends are active.  This might not work for a business page, though.

If I want something to be seen, I post it early in the evening, or right around lunchtime.  Or post the same thing at both times, but a day apart. (Wednesday noon and Thursday evening, for example.)

Make It Work, or adjust it until it does

OK, you set up scheduled post times for Facebook, but they don't seem to be hitting the mark. Um, play with them? This is not "Set in Stone" scheduling.

Feel free to play with your posting times, and let me know if your personal experience differs from what the "recommended times" are.


Photos courtesy of ePublicist(CC) & Buffer(Used with permission).

Cyber Kids, Cyber Pranks & CyberBullying

Three blog posts crossed my desk this week, almost back to back. All three were from McAfee.com, and were related to family safety.

In the first blog posting, titled "So Are You ‘Hot or Not?’ App Rates Appearance," author Toni Birdsong talks about the plethora of Apps that are of questionable virtue. It seems there is a app out there called "Hot or Not." This app allows girls (or guys) to upload their photos and have thousands of other users rate their physical appearance. Now that's a wonderful idea.

Blue Lights Flashing

There are really only three times you gather a lot of First Responders in one location.  The first is when there is a major incident (terrorist attack).

A "Line of Duty Death" is the second event that brings the First Responder family together.

We in Phoenix are dealing with the loss of another officer, killed in the line of duty.

It started with a simple Tweet from the Phoenix Police account at 4:11pm on March 3rd: "43rd Ave and Bethany shut down by #PhxPD. It will be shut down for several hours for police incident. Please choose alternate route."