Out With The Old, In With The New

I have been back to work for about six days, and it has been a whirlwind of events. I will bring you up to speed briefly.
Right before my week off, I had gotten a message saying my truck needed to go off lease and there was a new truck waiting at the yard for me to move into. I asked what type of truck it was, and was told it was a Freightliner. I hate Freightliners. They are called ‘Freightshakers’ for a reason. I fired off a message to Randy, my amazing and supportive Driver Manager.
LIZZY: Randy, please say it isn’t true!! I don’t want a freightliner! I hate them!
RANDY: Afraid so, dear. It’s already here waiting for you.
LIZZY: NOOO!!!! I will throw a temper tantrum! I will picket in front of the office! PLEEEEAAASE!!! I really, really, really am not happy about this! I want a Volvo!
RANDY: Sorry dear, we have none right now.
LIZZY: I am so not happy right now.
RANDY: Tell you what. I’ll let you keep your truck for another week and see if I can find you a more suitable replacement. (Read: Volvo. Fingers crossed)
LIZZY: Thank you!
At the end of the week when I went back to work, Randy handed me the keys to my shiny new Volvo, complete with full fairings and shore power. (Full electrical supply plug- ins) I was ecstatic. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Randy!! I don’t know what I would do without you! You’re the best!” And the boys always ask if I get preferred treatment because I’m female…..psh, of course not!!!
I was also told to see Dan in Safety that morning. I went in nervous, as being called in is generally not a good thing.
DAN: Have a seat. Do you know why you are here?
LIZZY: No.
DAN: Did you think you were in trouble?
LIZZY: Um, yeah. Kind of.
DAN: Relax. You’re not. I have had very high recommendations and reports of you from several sources, and have looked into your records myself, and found them to be surprisingly clear of any concerns or problems. Which is why I would like to ask you if you would consider becoming an on-road driver trainer for Challenger. We will put you through some testing and courses, and then you will be taking students with you on the road to train and evaluate them. Is this something you’d be interested in?
LIZZY: Maybe. What’s in it for me?
DAN: A big fat raise.
LIZZY: Sign me up!
Ok, those last couple lines were ad-lib….they were actually more diplomatic than that, but that was the gist of it in layman’s terms. I headed happily off to California, with the new position awaiting my return. I’m not sure how I will like it, so I only agreed to do it for a few months on a trial basis, but I’m excited to try something new and the extra pay doesn’t look so bad either, as when I have a student I will earn 25-30 % more than I currently do. No complaints there.