We got the truck back. Well, the police found it in Gastonia. My dispatcher called a little after noon and told us. We went over and talked to the police. We expected to be able to recover the truck, but the wiring harness in the steering column had been cut and the truck had been hot-wired. It was found this morning with the engine running, but by the time we got there the police officer at the scene had disconnected the wires and turned the truck off. I couldn't get it started again.

Right now the truck is on its way back to Volvo of Hickory, (as far as I know) being towed. USX is pushing really hard to get me into another truck. My dispatcher went as far as offering me a truck that's in Raleigh. They want me to go from a 2004 Volvo 780 to a 2002 Freightliner. No, thanks. Well, I'm running out of options here. Mama and Mara both are sort of trying to push me out the door. They seem to think I'm being stubborn here, but the thing is that I'm going to have to live in whatever truck I drive. I'm not willing to take a big step down without a fight. And I'm not in any hurry to go seat a 3 year old truck that's in God-only-knows what condition. I'm also not willing to seat a Freightliner. That Volvo is about the only positive thing that I can still point to in regard to U.S. Xpress.

As for the truck itself, it's in surpisingly good shape. The wiring harness in the steering column was cut and the truck was hot-wired, but they did very little damage otherwise. The sleeper window on the passenger side was how they got in (they pried open the window and broke the brackets). They also broke the hinge on one of the cabinets trying to get the door open (it had a trick latch). Except for the fact that they knocked the satcom receiver off the back of the truck (we recovered it), the truck fared pretty well.

As for personal losses, they got our XM radio and my toolbox. So we fared pretty well, too. It could have been a lot worse. In this instance, it's perhaps lucky that most of Mara's things have been removed from the truck, because I didn't leave a very big footprint. My computer, phone and iPod were here with us in the house.

I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now. I'm feeling sick. Depressed. Angry. But it's all simmering far beneath the surface. Mostly I feel like I have gas. I haven't felt that distant, gnawing desperation in my gut for a long time. It's a feeling I hoped I'd never feel again. It's like we've triggered some trap and the universe is heaping turmoil on top of us. I keep wondering; why can't I just get in the truck and go? What does all this have to happen? Sometimes I feel like we're being punished.