Comments By Thomas C. (aka Ghost)

Just wanted to express my gratitude to the founder, moderators, and members of this site. It has been and will continue to be an invaluable resource for this future trucker.

A little background on myself. I'm 42yrs young and have always wanted to drive these rigs. I have uncles that drove when I was a young lad and I have generally been attracted to all things requiring fuel to make it go! The reason I am getting started so late in life is due to some choices I had to make at a younger age.

First I was fortunate enough to find the perfect woman for me quite young and married at 20yrs old. So we decide to start our family right away. I decided to leave this as a pipe dream in order to be home for my family. Mind you I have never been one to want to stay put in one place. But it's something a family needs. I was moved around a lot as a kid and because of that I have very few true friends. Friends you consider family that would be there at a drop of the hat if needed. I didn't want my kids to experience that. So I did what needed to be done. I worked a loading dock and eventually worked my way into management. Eventually I went into IT be testing into a company as a helpdesk support technician and again worked my way up.

Eventually things went south for the company I was with and I was laid off. I did have the option to relocate but decided against doing that to my young family. So I took what ever I could find. I was a locator and marked utilities for a large company here in Minnesota. I have been an armed private security supervisor, as well as a Parking and Communications Coordinator for a private college. Kind of weird how none of these things seem related. That is the thing. These are all jobs. None of them pulled any passion from me.

So now I find my kids are grown and about to enter the world on their own two feet. Actually one already has lol. My wife has gone back to school and is looking at going back to get her bachelors degree and has established a professional career for herself and is rediscovering who she is now that she is not required to be Mom 24/7.

So one night my better half and I are sitting up and discussing things. She knows I loathe my current place of employment and it has been effecting my home life for the past couple of years. She looks at me and says. So what do you want to do with your life? What will make you happy? There I sat. Quiet. I had not thought about what I wanted in a very long, long time. I answered her honestly. I told her I had no idea. I knew I didn't want to be trapped in a cubicle again. But other than that I really didn't know. So I thought about it for a few days. One night on my way back into work I passed a couple of trucks that were making their runs. I thought to myself I wish I could get behind the wheel of one of them again(I had done so briefly on a Sod Farm back in '89) Then it hit me. Why can't I? I have the best wife in the world. She would support this! Well I broke it to her. She wasn't expecting this at all. But the more she thought about it the more she realized that it was better suited to my personality than the average 8 to 5 work routine. So we had some serious discussions about how to make this work. As I will always choose "Us" over anything else. I needed her to understand that and that I needed the same assurances and support from her in this. I can't start this journey and be worried about what happens the next time I come home.

Needless to say we are both committed to this change in our lives and I will be testing for my permit today to get started. Thanks to all the posts and materials that have been made available to us on this site I am able to go in feeling confident in what I have learned. Thanks again! You all have no idea how you have helped ease the feelings of anxiousness and self doubt that have creeped up on me during this time. Normally I am pretty quiet so you may not see much from me in the posts but be sure that I am on hear reading them and taking lessons from the stories you are all willing to share!

Thanks again!