I experienced a deja vu feeling.

Jan 12, 2007

9:57 AM

I didn't want to sit in my truck for an eight hour "live unload" in a loading dock So I got permission and dropped my trailer at the Meijer's distribution center in Lansing. I headed out to the Flying J to grab a shower and decided that I absolutely had to check my email. Lexuslova is constantly emailing me that I have a nice MS page, and that I should IM her at her MSN account. She must be really hot for me. She's sent about 50 or 60 emails.

I called directory assistance to get the phone number and address for the Lansing Panera. There's one on Saginaw Hwy. I had seen that exit. I was home free... I thought. So I bobtailed up the road and had an "Awshit!" moment when I saw that the Panera was in the Lansing Mall.

That meant I probably wouldn't be able to park my truck close enough to the building to get a good wifi signal. I couldn't. It was only 8%. So that meant I would have to go in and get a cup of coffee.

After I deleted 8 new messages from Lexuslova, and read a couple messages from my non-bot friends, I needed a nicotine fix.

I went out in front of the store to the Smoker's Purgatory, and noticed some U2 music was playing on the Mall Muzak system. It must be a new song, or one that didn't get much airplay. I didn't recognize it, but I know Bono's voice.

As I stood there playing chimney, I remembered exactly how it felt when I was working in Lake Zurich for Osram Sylvania as an IT "guru."

Funny how that religious term slipped in there, but that's how it was. We IT people were treated with reverence and respect because we could make the mysterious box awake from the dead and, once again, perform productive tasks for the lost and confused--like run Weatherbug.

Those were the times; working with all those professionals, escaping periodically for an extended lunch at some mildly expensive restaurant, discussing entry level condo purchases, talking about family issues, helpling people decide between a Jetta--or damning all and getting the Passat.

They would talk about student loans and company rumors while cubicle hanging. I would only talk about religion, politics and sex. What I really wanted was fulfillment. I wasn't getting any. I was just earning money and paying bills and making excuses.

I couldn't understand why I felt so lost and out of place.

Now I'm a truck driver. At least I know what highway I'm on.