Sandman's Journal

Yesterday Shawn Goodall told me, "No pressure, but you're passing your test. I don't have any drivers lined up for Vancouver tomorrow night, so you're gonna pass."

"I'll rise to the occasion," I assured him. I didn't feel so confident, however.

Today he called me minutes after I'd passed the test and asked, with a hint of trepidation, "Did you get 'er done?"

"Yep," I said. "Got 'er done."

I could almost hear his mental air tanks release about 120 pounds of pressure per square inch. His voice cracked slightly when he finally said, "Good deal. Congratulations."

And let me say--the test was even harder than I expected. The last two students failed, so I'm feeling very thankful to a lot of people and to God for helping me survive this. Getting a Class A CDL has been the mother of all challenges. Now, at last, I'm a certified tractor-trailer operator.

I'm genuinely relieved.

Shawn will pick me up at 3 a.m. (six hours from now) in Dickinson, and we'll haul 12,000 pounds of live tilapia to Vancouver, British Columbia. I'd better sleep a bit.