Update From The CDL A School Period

Living at the edge of what is possible

Two of the Training Trucks I am using

This update shall serve to fill you in about the fact, that I have been very absent over the last weeks. Due to a variety of reasons and challenges, but foremost because of the fact that I started my CDL-A school two weeks ago. It was a difficult decision. Not knowing if I would qualify for a stipend to cover the tuition, but also knowing that I would not be able to work full hours at the ranch during school days, that start at 7 o’clock in the morning and end at 4 pm. Add to that the time to and from the training site and you will arrive at twelve hours off the ranch. When I return to the ranch between 5:15 pm and 5:30 pm, I usually have supper and clock in afterwards to do around two hours. Also, I put in hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Not near anywhere enough to pay the $ 1600 rent for the trailer, groceries, car insurance, phone and groceries. For that reason, my phone was disabled a few days ago. Leading to another nonsensical situation that added insult to injury. As injury, I consider the stress that arises when things are getting more difficult - in spite of being already maxed out when it comes to endure hardship. Even with seven Gigabyte left of data volume, my phone told me that I cannot use the hot spot feature - because my phone has been disabled. With this feature not working, I have no GPS to guide me through Fort Myers. On the first day, I overshot my exit and ended up having to drive all the way back to my off ramp. I managed to arrive one minute before class starts. The instructors know a bit about my situation and are not giving me a hard time when it comes to those glitches. Usually, I arrive at 6:45 am.

This morning - after another episode of severe brain overheating - I realized that I should write down the most important factors in my life that cause me to be worried, or stressed out about. There are a number of those, as it turns out. Now, having said that, I will not engage in hard core whinery. Because for the reason that even with my personal hardship affecting me and my life to a greatly uncomfortable degree - it is nothing compared to the hardship of the people in Gaza. Or Ukraine. Or any of the other hotspots of suffering on the planet - like the Texas, North Carolina, California, Hawai’ian ones and countless others that create unbearable hardship, loss and trauma. Being honest about this fact however, does not lessen the impact hardship has on my own life. The main point does seem to be - to take it in stride. To understand that we all go through periods of exhaustion, loss and despair. Some to a lesser, many to a much larger degree. In my case, the factors in question range from ridiculous to most painful. Or distressful. Or traumatic. It is not really possible to grade these challenges of my mind and being. For anybody has their own measuring slide of discomfort. At the top of my list is the loss of my beloved Kitties Felix and Oscar. For the entire time since my escape from Uruguay, I have maintained a high degree of hope that I will reunite with them. Based on the unwillingness to communicate with me and respond to my requests of the people involved in their care, my hope is deteriorating like an abandoned car in the rain forest in Hawai’i. Rapidly and in my case painfully. It is one thing, if you lose someone you love to an accident, or disease - and a totally different scenario when you know they are still there, but will not return into your arms again.

Number two on the list would be the fact that I still have my German household - or what remains of it - in eight wooden boxes and a few loose items like sculptures and speakers in a room, in a farm house in upper Bavaria - where they have been sitting for over 25 years, free of charge. The farmers were friends of my parents after my parents had lived in a rental that was owned by the farmers. It was a very nice place. For the last 25 years plus, I was reassured not to worry about it, but understandably so, when I was in Bavaria last year to visit my demented Mom, the farmers told me that I have this year to remove them - or they will discard of the contents. Which would be a severe loss, since there are many items in those boxes that have historic value - like my family tree, thousands of pictures of my personal and my journalistic past, family photo albums dating back before I was born, record collection, exhibition catalogue collection, library and my entire literary work up to the time everything was boxed. The reason I never had the opportunity to get them shipped to me - was based on the fact, that even with our home in Leilani Estates, all these items would have been doomed to rapid decay. In other words, I never had a real home since I left Germany almost 30 years ago. This is one of the reasons why I am actually in the process of getting my Commercial Driver License now - after I have had one for 41 years in Germany. CDL A drivers - especially the safe, honest and dependable kind - are in high demand now and salaries, even on a local level are no less than $ 5000 per month. Just two month of driving would give me the required resources to ship my treasures that I could in the interim move into a climatized storage unit.

Number three is my CDL A school. It is a painful experience to come to terms with the fact that, although I am a safe and expert driver, the process of getting this license is arduous. With 65 years on the odometer, nothing comes as easy as it did when youth was providing an endless supply of energy, stamina and endurance. Although I was told this morning by a charming lady at my bank that I would not only not look like 65, but being apparently is excellent shape. I did not argue that sentiment, but basked in it. And you would certainly not add to that statement responses like “…yes, but my teeth, my allergies and…”. Nope. I smiled and took it in like a fresh flower bouquet - invigorating, color- and youthful. Especially considering that I was not fishing for compliments in the first place. Teetering around financial abyss, it was soothing to be treated like a human being in my bank. With the loaned amount - an advance of sorts - I would be able to continue to drive to Fort Myers for the remaining two weeks. The training lot is also a bit closer, not requiring the same amount of gasoline. And speaking about gasoline: I am amazed that the Jaguar - a V8 after all - is such a miser when it comes to fuel consumption. My standard of comparison is my most favorite little car, the Toyota Echo, who would clock in 45 miles to the gallon. Now, the Jaguar is twice as big and considerably heavier and has over three times the horse power. Yet, it makes around 26 miles to the gallon - by rough first calculations. I have noted the miles and gasoline I filled in and intend to do a precise consumption inquiry.

Of course I should add that I strictly adhere to all posted speed limits. Which means a max of 70 mph on the highway and an average of 45 mph in urban areas. But getting back to school. It has been two weeks since I started to write this update and I can report that I mastered my final exam yesterday morning. Saturday, August 9th, 2025 will enter my life as one of my greatest achievements ever. Even with my previous experiences - stemming from driving 18-wheelers in Germany at the age of 24-29 years old - I am now 65 years young and that means, that my accomplishment of having attained a CDL-A is definitely a feat. Training with young people that are full of energy, are healthy and in great shape, and still being able to keep up with them, has given me a real boost in confidence. Part of the instructors “games” are bets about whether you are able to perform any of the required maneuvers without any faults - like crossing a boundary line, driving over a cone, or correcting your position more than two times. It’s called a “zero/zero”. So the instructor posts a wager - if you can deliver a zero/zero, he will do ten pushups. If you fail to do so - you will do ten push ups. As you can imagine, I told the wager master and head instructor that he can forget about that with me. Not going to do any wagers. It would mean that I am constantly doing pushups - something I was no inclined to do under a “heat advisory”. The mercury was around 110ºF over the pavement of the training course - a parking lot under the full sun. That so called “high pressure heat dome” that was created and still hovers over the Southern states - especially Florida - made every small movement a sweat gushing labor. I had a towel around my neck to protect me from the sun and it was wet before lunch time. So, no pushups for me, for sure.

But - as you have probably figured out - I had to do one set, just to shut the instructor up. As I sincerely sucked in maneuvering, he insisted on a wager. To which I responded: “You just want to me to do ten pushups. That’s why you are bugging me. Because you know that I will have to do ten pushups - based upon my sucky performance. So, here, have your ten pushups and leave me alone.” It was early in the morning and I did my ten pushups - leaving the youngsters around me staring in disbelief with open mouths. This 65 year old - old fart - did ten pushups like a twen. Of course it has to do with the fact that I am slightly underweight and trained through eighteen month of ranch work. Throwing hay bales around and such. So, that shut them all up. Satisfaction. Regarding being the last wheel on the trailer - it hurts. And it is not really any measure of encouragement. It is actually quite discouraging to see your co-students performing zero/zero’s while you mess it up each and every time. Similarly, but without limitations due to lacking practice, was the so called “Pre-Trip Inspection” training. The goal of the Pre-Trip Inspection training is simply for any driver to know and understand how to perform such an inspection before going on the road with a vehicle that is over 70 feet long and 80,000 pounds of inertia. You just have to make sure everything is in order. Starting with your “In-Cab” - verifying all your indicator lights are working. You know that from your own car, or you at least should know. The “Oil” light, the “ABS” light, the “Brake” light and so forth. Now, an 18-wheeler and many other commercial vehicles have some additional features you won’t find in a car. The majority of commercial vehicles have “Air Brakes”. Air brakes mean that you have a compressor that is supplying air into air tanks in order to have a reservoir of pressurized air to operate your air brakes. No pressure - no brakes. Although it is a bit more complicated than that. Vehicles with air brakes have spring operated emergency brakes. When the air pressure drops below a minimum, these springs will activate your brake shoes/pads on both your tractor and trailer to bring your vehicle to a safe stop. Hopefully that will never happen. To make sure that the chances for that are low - you do a thorough Pre-Trip Inspection. Testing each individual brakes - the Parking Brakes, the Trailer Brakes and the Service Brakes. Everything needs to be in order. Steering, suspension, frames, couplings connectors - you need to check everything to be safe on the road. For your own sake and that of everybody around you.

Having said that, I must add that I have seen a lot of reckless driving during the last four weeks commuting between Arcadia and Fort Myers. Oftentimes outright criminal behavior. When “reckless” doesn’t cut it anymore. If it would be up to me, these people would lose their license and never be allowed on any road again. 18-wheelers tailgating cars with less than a car length of space. Drivers of cars (mostly the big trucks and sports cars) cutting through the lanes at speeds easily 30 mph above the posted speed limit. Cutting 18-wheelers for taking over a slower moving vehicle. As if the highway is a war zone. A dash cam will provide the evidence that it indeed is a war zone - where obvious narcissism is creating a sense of entitlement to subdue traffic rules abiding drivers to psychopathic maneuvers. Hell, Friday morning I was passing an 18-wheeler that was heavily loaded with 70 mph. Looking to the rear, I saw that there was another car in the center lane about 200 feet behind me and the left lane was empty. Set the turn signal, pulling out into the center lane, the following car is not changing into the left lane but tailgates me. I just look into the mirror and think something expletive, when the car moves to the left lane and passes me. It’s a cop car. With cops driving like that - what should one expect of the rotten apples? Back to the Pre-Trip Inspection. That needs to be done every time before you take your vehicle out on the road. Another big part are the tires. They are much more inflated than car tires. The tires on your car will be somewhere around 35 psi. Commercial vehicle tires are around 100 - 120 psi. When they blow out, they have a much bigger impact. Therefor you make sure their tread is sufficient and they have no cuts, bumps, bulges or abrasions on the treaded surface, or the side walls. For two weeks I have been practicing the fashion to inspect your tires. Looking at them every day. Looking for cuts, bumps, bulges, or abrasions.

When I return from school on Friday, I notice that there is some vibration coming from somewhere on the Jaguar. For some time I thought I need to get the front wheel balanced to take care of that. Usually, that’s what happens when you hit a curb - even ever so slightly. Or the concrete bars in parking spaces. It doesn’t take a lot to get your wheels out of balance. But Friday evening was really bad. And it quickly got worse. I knew I was in trouble - but almost back on the ranch. Then, the ranch owner called me and needed me to pick her up - because her van had a break down. So, I went there to pick her up. The co-worker that was with her noted that there was something going on with the tire, too. When we returned, I checked my tires and found the rear left one to be broken. It was a total mess.

No Cuts, Bumps, Bulges, or Abrasions

“I Have To Make Sure My Tires Are In Good Shape”…

When I looked at that tire, I thought about doing 70 on the highway. In heavy traffic. To be honest, I have no idea why this tire looks like that. The others are in great shape. The spare tire is oaky, but not good for more than a few hundred miles. Thanks to God, I don’t have to commute to Fort Myers anymore. But I do need two new tires - to be put on the rear axle and the one from the rear axle to be used as a spare tire. Needless to mention that I have zero money to do that. A miracle is in order. The kind that has prevented this tire from blowing out at 70 mph during heavy morning traffic. There is another severe issue. Part of the Pre-Trip Inspection is to check all your lights. All of your lights need to be working properly. When I arrived one morning during week two at the training range, an instructor told me that my right headlight is not working. After class, I stop at an auto parts store to buy a bulb for the head light. I put the new head light bulb in and the low beam works again. Seconds later, the left low beam goes out. The next morning, the new bulb goes out, too. The only lights that work now are the high beams and I have been driving with those ever since. Fortunately, they are totally misaligned - they are facing up. Therefor, they are not blinding anybody - except when I am taken over by someone for a brief moment in their mirrors, or when I take over someone for a brief moment. But there is nothing I can do about that at the moment - without any money left.

The Morning Of Saturday, August 9th, 2025 - CDL-A Exam Day With A Rainbow

You can imagine that I am still moved by the last four weeks. By everything I have experienced. By the stupid things that happened. By the luck I had driving around with high beams and a tire that looks like it came out of a shredder. In the end, everything fell into place. All of my worries about the exam evaporated. The sun came out and shone on me and the truck. And while my co-student had to take the road test with the sleeper berm truck because of a compliance office accompanying the examiner, I was very lucky that I was able to take the far right one out. It was easier to handle than the sleeper truck, that has a tandem tire axle on the tractor and makes wider turns. The one I used makes narrower turns and is easier to get around round-abouts and turns.

Exhausted and elated at the same time, I am now recovering from the the last four weeks. Finding solid ground again. Taking care of my Kitties and continuing to work on the ranch until I find a driving job that is a match to my age and abilities. Let me know what you think about all this and take care.