End of the road.

[Cringer]

This board just isn't for me anymo.......whoops, that wasn't what I was going to say.

It's the end of the road for me is what this is about. At least, that is the plan, which could go horribly wrong and I end up back in a truck in a few months. I am getting off the truck for good a week from today, next Friday. I wanted to be able to post about this for a long time as I waited for the day to come, but for some odd reason have put it off since I gave my notice on Monday. Today it kind of hit me real good though. It is a pretty emotional thing as odd as that may sound. Good and bad.

I love the road, and driving a truck. Cheesy but true cliche time: It's not just a job, it's a life style, it's most of your world. The longest I have been home in the last 10 years is a month, and I was getting restless as hell by the end of it. It is time to end it though, hopefully for good. Over the last year I have made less money then in any previous year doing this. A large part of that is being with a different company, but that's a whole different story.

Anyways, the money at this point (even the previous $$) is not enough to keep me out here. As much as I love it I love my family more. I have been doing this all of my daughters life and it's time I go home and try to stay there. She has known about this since September since we have started trying to work towards it, and every time I go home and leave again she asks if it is the last time or something similar to that. It sucks to put it plain and simple. There are reasons I want to do this for my wife and for myself as well, but I don't feel like typing all that out. Health reasons are part of it. I also want to end the explaining because I have already teared up once during this and I don't like it because I can't figure out if it is more out of happiness or regrets or sadness for leaving the road or all of it.

Since I know it will be asked, I will basically be unemployed. :D I am going to help my wife, doing most of the grunt work she has managed to pile on herself in her real estate career and related work. Hopefully make things a little easier for her, while also increasing the money she (or now we) bring in through it. She has done a great job but just doesn't have the time or energy for ALL of it by herself anymore. If all works well then in a few months or so I won't be getting back on a truck, but will probably start working on getting my real estate license so I can dive into it more. One of the things that will make being home easier will be the fact I will be trying to do all the work I can for her and keeping busy trying to make this work for good.

Now I must go back to playing WWSM. I am sitting most of the weekend (4 hours from the house). One of the things pissing me off with this job, one last reminder I guess. :D

I will miss the road pretty bad though, but like I said, hopefully this is the end of it for me. Keep your fingers crossed I guess.

[stevew]

sounds like a wonderful plan if you can make it work. Good luck.

[jackyl]

Good luck. I hear the Vipers games are a blast if you're looking for something to do.

[Mustang]

So.. did you ever really have a mighty convoy rockin through the night?

[Chief Rum]

Cue "18 Wheels And A Dozen Roses". :)

Good luck, Cringer!

[Schmidty]

I know how hard change can be man. Good luck, and I'll pray for you. (whether you fucking like it or not!!!!)

Now, if you get your license and have to show houses and stuff, are you gonna get waxed?

[Antmeister]

Hope you truly find your other niche and enjoy that time with the family. I think in the long run you will see the benefit of it once you have been doing so for a while. Good luck with it. You just never know which direction your life is going to head.

[Dutch]

If you become a proffessional wild boar hunter, you let me know immediately.

Good luck and keep your head on straight...it'll all work out for you. I believe thatj--because anytime somebody is calling the shots for their future, which you are doing here, it always works out.

[Icy]

Good decission, time with your familly is more valuable than any money if you can afford it. I wish the best for you.

[Marc Vaughan]

Best of luck ...

[Draft Dodger]

geez, for big, scary-looking dude, you've got quite a soft side!

I think what you are doing is awesome. I hope it works out.

[flere-imsaho]

Best of luck, Cringer! :D

[DanGarion]

[on the cb]
Ah, breaker one-nine, this heres the rubber duck. you gotta copy on me, pig pen, cmon? ah, yeah, 10-4, pig pen, fer shure, fer shure. by golly, its clean clear to flag town, cmon. yeah, that
Big 10-4 there, pig pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy...

Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of june
In a kenworth pullin logs
Cab-over pete with a reefer on
And a jimmy haulin hogs
We is headin for bear on i-one-oh
bout a mile outta shaky town
I says, pig pen, this heres the rubber duck.
And Im about to put the hammer down.

[chorus]
cause we got a little convoy
Rockin through the night.
Yeah, we got a little convoy,
Aint she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Aint nothin gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin convoy
cross the u-s-a.
Convoy!

[on the cb]
Ah, breaker, pig pen, this heres the duck. and, you wanna back off them hogs? yeah, 10-4, bout five mile or so. ten, roger. them hogs is gettin in-tense up here.

By the time we got into tulsa town,
We had eighty-five trucks in all.
But theys a roadblock up on the cloverleaf,
And them bears was wall-to-wall.
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper;
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, callin all trucks, this heres the duck.
We about to go a-huntin bear.

[chorus]
cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Aint she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Aint nothin gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin convoy
cross the u-s-a.
Convoy!

[on the cb]
Ah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, pig pen? negatory, pig pen; youre still too close. yeah, them hogs is startin to close up my sinuses. mercy sakes, you better back off another ten.

Well, we rolled up interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.
We tore up all of our swindle sheets,
And left em settin on the scales.
By the time we hit that chi-town,
Them bears was a-gettin smart:
Theyd brought up some reinforcements
From the illinoise national guard.
Theres armored cars, and tanks, and jeeps,
And rigs of evry size.
Yeah, them chicken coops was fulla bears
And choppers filled the skies.
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin trucks
An eleven long-haired friends a jesus
In a chartreuse micra-bus.

[on the cb]
Ah, rubber duck to sodbuster, come over. yeah, 10-4, sodbuster? lissen, you wanna put that micra-bus right behind that suicide jockey? yeah, hes haulin dynamite, and he needs all the help he c
T.

Well, we laid a strip for the jersey shore
And prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didnt have a dog-goned dime.
I says, pig pen, this heres the rubber duck.
We just aint a-gonna pay no toll.
So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight
I says let them truckers roll, 10-4.

[chorus]
cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin through the night.
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy,
Aint she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Aint nothin gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin convoy
cross the u-s-a.

Convoy! ah, 10-4, pig pen, whats your twenty?
Convoy! omaha? well, they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer shure. well, mercy
Convoy! sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outta here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your...
Convoy! tail. well catch you on the flip-flop. this heres the rubber duck on the side.
Convoy! we gone. bye,bye.

[Eaglesfan27]

I hope it works out well for you, Cringer.

[ice4277]

Best of luck to you!

[Lathum]

good luck!!

[Raiders Army]

Good luck man. It's a scary leaving work (I'll be there in April-June) but I know everything will be all right.

[BYU 14]

Good luck Cringer.............learning to use the washer, the vacuum, cook, tivo Oprah, fold clothes, pick up groceries ;)

Seriously, hope all works out well for you.

[JeeberD]

Best of luck, bud!

[Cringer]

Thanks guys. And yes I come off as kind of a girly-man with the sensative crap, but I can live with that.

I guess I didn't show it but I am pretty excited about this. To be able to basically work for myself (if you don't count getting my assignments from my wife :D ) is something I have always wanted. Driving a truck is pretty close, owning a truck is closer, but you still have to be away no matter what. I almost bought a truck back in September, when I decided against that is when I decided 100% to do this. Being with my kid will be great, I am really looking forward to seeing her every day.

And Schmidty, who says I don't wax already? :D

[sterlingice]

Good luck!

SI

[sterlingice]

I know how hard change can be man. Good luck, and I'll pray for you. (whether you fucking like it or not!!!!)

That's awesome :D

SI

[Flasch186]

Cringe:

what area of the country do you all live in? how's the Real Estate market there? Have a spare bedroom for me and the wife?

[Cringer]

Cringe:

what area of the country do you all live in? how's the Real Estate market there? Have a spare bedroom for me and the wife?

Deep south Texas, on the Mexico border. I couldn't give you statistics about the real estate market, but it is not horrible from what I understand yet not real good either. It is a fast growing area, which helps and hurts at the same time from my understanding (a lot of new houses going up).

The thing my wife has worked for from even before she got her license a couple years ago was to get into REPOs. She does a ton of BPO's, and that along with a couple of contacts she made early on has her starting to get a bunch of listings that are REPO's. She can get all the BPO's she wants right now, so that helps make money when there is no closings. She also seems to have found a way to get out of state buyers, big retirement area along with the big growth means people are moving into the area. She even got some buyers from Canada a couple of days ago. The REPO's is where I will be doing some of my grunt work I would say. It involves a bit of 'property management' for the banks/mortgage companies.

[Jas_lov]

I wish you luck in all of your future endeavors, Cringer. This way you'll be able to watch a lot more Packers games at home, and that's really all that matters in life.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

I guess now I'll have to stop looking for Cringer when I stop at those rest stops along I-10 on the way to California. :)

Best of luck to you Cringer, and to the lovely wife.

[Cringer]

edit: wrong thread, oops.

Thanks Farrah. Spend a lot of time in rest areas eh? Learn more about you all the time.

[JeeberD]

You know, rest stops are homosexual hangouts...

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

edit: wrong thread, oops.

Thanks Farrah. Spend a lot of time in rest areas eh? Learn more about you all the time.

I visit my parents in CA with The Boy at least once a month. It's impossible to drive 6-7 hours with The Boy and not stop. It's not like I'm trolling truck stops.

:p

[oliegirl]

I'm now picturing the rest area scene from "There's Something About Mary" in my head, but instead of Ben and the weird murderer guy, it's Cringer and Farrah...

[Cringer]

Oh no. I saw this coming just not from oliegirl.

Now I am going to have Pumpy mad at me.

[terpkristin]

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I think it's a wonderful idea, and I wish you the best of luck! :)

/tk

[Voo]

Correct me if Im wrong, but from my understanding where we were going we didn't need roads.

Good luck to you.

[Ragone]

So this isn't a thread about the boyz ii men reunion tour?

[Cringer]

So this isn't a thread about the boyz ii men reunion tour?

I didn't want to say anything, but yes it is. I will be joining Boyz II Men in a few weeks to get ready for an upcoming tour. :D

[MacroGuru]

Congratz my man!

That is amazing and awesome! I wish you the best of luck, and pm me with all the pertinent contact info so I can make sure I refer the people I know in your neck of the woods to you guys if they are looking to buy or sell.

I applaud you with this...you know how I feel....willing to move my family across the coutry to cold ass Buffalo to be able to stay at home with them...

[Kodos]

Good luck! I hope this works out for you!

[Warhammer]

Good luck Cringer, hope it works out.

[hhiipp]

Are you going to start playing trukz now?

[Cringer]

Are you going to start playing trukz now?


lol. That's funny. I would have to say no right now though.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Good luck! Sounds like you're definitely making the right choice.

[Lorena]

That's awesome Cringe! Time spent with family is priceless, wish you the best.

Oh and watch out for those spelling errors :p

[Cringer]

Update time I guess. I have actually been off the truck for a week now. Last Wednesday I had the choice of getting off the truck or possibly getting delayed (because of lack of loads) until I could get back to the Dallas area. I went ahead and went home that day. It was weird, because I just wasn't expecting it to happen at all that day. Cleaned out the truck, packed, hoped on a bus and went home, getting there about 4am Thursday.

Since then it has been strange, though good. I keep reminding myself I don't have to rush anything, I don't have to worry about doing something and it taking away from anything else, that I don't have to leave in a couple of days. SO it has been pretty relaxing, even though I have been trying to do as much work as possible. I was even enjoying fixing a busted faucet on the back porch a couple of days ago because I know it made everyone's life a little better just because I was there to take care of it and it didn't create a minor emergency and a small flood.

I am enjoying the work. Breaking into houses is the best (repo's that have been locked up and I need to change the locks). Going around taking pictures of houses mainly for BPOs is cool, easy stuff. Getting into more real estate learning over the last few days, helping do paperwork and crap. We shall see how it goes, way too early to tell. Enjoying it while I am home though.

[Cringer]

Dola- Forgot and wanted to add because I am all giddy like my daughter at the Hannah Montana show right now.

Bought the domain myRGVrealtor.com this morning, and some hosting services. I am working on a web site for the wife right now, gathering info on what I want up there and how I want it to look.

So far the only thing disappointing is the fact that integrating an MLS search into the site will have to wait. From what I see you have two options, pay a company a good chunk of money every month to set it up for you and run your site along with it, or you can pay a flat $650 or so for the coding to do it yourself. Bastards, I wish I knew how to code websites and work with databases more then I do so I could do it myself.

[Cringer]

I have been home for about 3 months now, and it seems over the last two weeks I have developed fairly bad insomnia (for me anyways). I can't sleep well at all. I have been going to sleep usually about 5-6 AM when I would like to be asleep by no later then 1 AM, wake up around 11 AM or so and feel like total crap most of the day. It is pretty weird because I would always sleep like a rock at home before. Hell, I have been up for 21 hours right now for no f'n reason at all.

Other then that things are ok I guess. I think we actually are doing pretty good on money, although I am super paranoid about it because I don't bring in a regular check now. I feel totally broke, while having more money in our accounts then before.

Hopefully my sleep gets better because it doesn't look like I will be getting on a truck anytime too soon.

[DaddyTorgo]

I have been home for about 3 months now, and it seems over the last two weeks I have developed fairly bad insomnia (for me anyways). I can't sleep well at all. I have been going to sleep usually about 5-6 AM when I would like to be asleep by no later then 1 AM, wake up around 11 AM or so and feel like total crap most of the day. It is pretty weird because I would always sleep like a rock at home before. Hell, I have been up for 21 hours right now for no f'n reason at all.

Other then that things are ok I guess. I think we actually are doing pretty good on money, although I am super paranoid about it because I don't bring in a regular check now. I feel totally broke, while having more money in our accounts then before.

Hopefully my sleep gets better because it doesn't look like I will be getting on a truck anytime too soon.

That's great to hear though! And great that you've managed to do it successfully during a time when the real estate market isn't particularly strong as well!

[Eaglesfan27]

Congrats Cringer!

Strictly as a friend and not as a doctor, I'll recommend the relaxing powers of melatonin which can be bought over the counter and is safe if taken as directed on the bottle, i.e. one pill a night. Melatonin is a natural chemical produced by the brain that at high levels induces sleep and its level is lowered by the brain in the morning to wake the body up. It is non-addictive and is the only sleep aide I recommend to my patients, of course, I'm just recommending this as a friend. :)

[Cringer]

Thanks, and I will see about melatonin. :)

[Eaglesfan27]

It's only about 10 dollars for a large bottle of it from CVS, Walgreens, or those types of places. :)

[terpkristin]

Congrats Cringer!

Strictly as a friend and not as a doctor, I'll recommend the relaxing powers of melatonin which can be bought over the counter and is safe if taken as directed on the bottle, i.e. one pill a night. Melatonin is a natural chemical produced by the brain that at high levels induces sleep and its level is lowered by the brain in the morning to wake the body up. It is non-addictive and is the only sleep aide I recommend to my patients, of course, I'm just recommending this as a friend. :)

Glad things are going well, Cringer!!! :)

Isn't melatonin what people recommend for when you have to fly and want to cope better with the time change/jet lag?

/tk

[Eaglesfan27]

Glad things are going well, Cringer!!! :)

Isn't melatonin what people recommend for when you have to fly and want to cope better with the time change/jet lag?

/tk

Yes, it is good for that as well as insomnia. It's the closest thing the body has to a natural alarm clock.

[sterlingice]

How does it work to combat jet lag?

SI

[Eaglesfan27]

How does it work to combat jet lag?

SI

It's fairly good for that as well. In fact, the two main things that it has been studied for are insomnia and jet lag. All of the other claims about better health, better healing, etc, I find dubious at best.

[sterlingice]

But how does it work? Do you take it when you get on the plane or something?

SI

[Eaglesfan27]

But how does it work? Do you take it when you get on the plane or something?

SI

No. The main way it helps is to make you sleepy within an hour of taking it when you might not be otherwise. So, if you go to a time zone that is a few hours ahead, it can help you to get to sleep at the local time when you might not be normally ready to go to sleep at that time.

[sterlingice]

Ah, so that would have helped with my little plan a couple of months ago. We flew out of Newark at 5pm and were going to land at ~8am local time in Rome. So I figured I'd fall asleep around 9ish "local time" and then sleep a few hours and get up refreshed in Rome. Only problems: 767 seats aren't all that comfy and I just wasn't that tired so I only got about an hour and a half of sleep and the jetlag that first day was brutal.

So, of course, the important question: where were you with this info 3 months ago? ;)

SI

[Cringer]

Ok, so it has been about 7 months now and today I will start working towards getting a real estate license. Texas is supposed to be one of the hardest states to get a license in, so it may take me a month or two while still trying to make money. I have to do 210 hrs of course work. Quizzes and tests are online (not exactly pre-law at Georgetown eh?), and once I finish that then I will have to go locally to take the State test to get my license.

Weird time to do this, with things potentially getting harder in this industry, but we have been making it so far when I was worried about it and I figured now was the time to give it a shot. I said 6 months before, so 7 is actually longer then I planned. Here goes nothing....

[Dr. Sak]

Good luck Cringer!

[Flasch186]

Good Luck!

[RomaGoth]

Ok, so it has been about 7 months now and today I will start working towards getting a real estate license. Texas is supposed to be one of the hardest states to get a license in, so it may take me a month or two while still trying to make money. I have to do 210 hrs of course work. Quizzes and tests are online (not exactly pre-law at Georgetown eh?), and once I finish that then I will have to go locally to take the State test to get my license.

Weird time to do this, with things potentially getting harder in this industry, but we have been making it so far when I was worried about it and I figured now was the time to give it a shot. I said 6 months before, so 7 is actually longer then I planned. Here goes nothing....

Just saw this thread, good luck with the testing and licensing thing. It is a very difficult thing completely changing careers as you have done. Your family will thank you for it though (if they haven't already).

[sterlingice]

Good luck :)
SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Weird time to do this, with things potentially getting harder in this industry, but we have been making it so far when I was worried about it and I figured now was the time to give it a shot. I said 6 months before, so 7 is actually longer then I planned. Here goes nothing....

I don't think it's a weird time at all. The economy will likely turn for the better within a year or two. At that point, they'll likely be a pretty good rush of both buyers and sellers heading to the market and you'll be licensed and ready to go.

I have a real estate agent that I've worked with on a couple of sales. He said that he's not carrying much selling inventory right now and that he's still making pretty good money as a buyer's agent as there are still people looking for bargains in this market.

[Cringer]

I don't think it's a weird time at all. The economy will likely turn for the better within a year or two. At that point, they'll likely be a pretty good rush of both buyers and sellers heading to the market and you'll be licensed and ready to go.

I have a real estate agent that I've worked with on a couple of sales. He said that he's not carrying much selling inventory right now and that he's still making pretty good money as a buyer's agent as there are still people looking for bargains in this market.

Yeah there are buyers, and we (well the wife) have listings. Repo's of course since that is what she targets to sell. The problem right now is it should get even a little harder for people to get loans then it is right now. I don't plan on doing a lot of big time selling right away anyways. This will actually help me with doing Broker Price Opinions for one thing, with two of my 'electives' being Appraisal and Home Inspection along with the required core material.

What makes this hard is that more realtors have jumped on the REO/BPO bandwagon and the competition down here has gone up. We have one company who we used to get a bunch of orders from and now by the time we get the email saying they have an order in the area it is already too late to get it because by the time you get to the website it was already accepted by someone else. What does help us though is the wife was around before this year unlike the others, so we have inroads with more companies and she is a preferred vendor for a few of them. You have to do some searching to get in with some of these companies as they don't exactly advertise.

There are always extra things to do to bring in money as well. She signed up to help with a property auction. Get the power and water turned on, do a couple reports and she gets $1000. I will go sit around tomorrow and next weekend at an open house for the property at $100 a day and by the austion companies instructions I am not even supposed to talk to people about the house, kind of easy money. If you don't just sit in an office waiting for buyers/sellers to come in, there are ways to make money and get by even when things slow down.

I am looking forward to it though. It has taken some adapting to being home, but overall I have loved it. I want to keep it this way.

[Eaglesfan27]

Best of luck, Cringer!

[MacroGuru]

Best of luck, I know you can do it...and I am happy for you!

[Cringer]

It's been a full year of being off the road. Time has flown. So much so that it is kind of odd looking back and realizing I haven't even bothered to get my real estate license yet. I finished the education crap a couple months ago and will be taking the state/federal tests in a month or so I guess.

Surprisingly there has not been a point in which I have even had to consider getting back on the truck. We have done fine money wise for the most part, with me helping the wife turn out more property inspections her number of listings and sales had been fairly consistent. That is part of the reason why there hasn't been a rush for me to get my license, though it will be nice to have the handcuff's off when i talk to buyers. With the baby coming and my wife's health, it is getting to the point where I want to start the slow move of me and my name being the main one behind the business.

The weird part about this year has been coaching youth soccer. About to start the spring season and somehow soccer has given me a little side business of doing web pages it seems. I did a free one for the local club my daughter was in. The president of the club hooked me up with the president of the regional group and I got some money for doing their page. I got a call today about two of the sponsors of the league want me to do web pages for them.

The biggest pain about all of this has only really been health insurance. We have had to worry over it constantly.

I still miss the road as well. Being alone in the 'home office' here helps a little with that, but it's not the same as the cab of a truck. Still a huge positive being home though.

Just wanted to go down memory lane and give an update. ;)

[stevew]

Congrats. I've been doing delivery work for about the past 8 months and I can't even imagine how much it must suck to drive an 18 wheeler. Glad to see you get a fresh start. I remember how good I felt at the one year mark of not having to work in a kitchen anymore after 10 or so years at the grill. Liberating.

[The Afoci]

Cringer is from wisconsin if memory serves me right. And why would it.

[Cringer]

Not from Wisconsin, just a Packer fan since being a kid. Live in Texas, from Washington state.

And driving a truck didn't suck at all, except that last year which was in part because of the company I worked for then. Otherwise it was something I enjoyed a lot.

[Cringer]

Heh, I said in Jan. that I would take my license exams in a month or so. More like three months or so.

After 15 months of being off the road I finally got around to it today. Passed both the state and national tests, so in 10 days I am a real estate agent. I am hoping to conquer the world a couple of weeks after that. ;)

[Lathum]

congrats!

[Draft Dodger]

is your slogan going to be "Buy This House Or I'll Fuck Up Your Shit?"

[Dr. Sak]

is your slogan going to be "Buy This House Or I'll Fuck Up Your Shit?"

Buy this house or I'll hide you in my beard.

[Cringer]

I will try a combo of both of those. Fuck your shit up and then hide it in my beard?