Celadon Week Five Laredo Texas March 2015

Glad to see things are looking up for you Pepper. My fiance and I just got accepted to the school in Laredo and will be attending starting April 13th. I do have question though, for you or anyone:

Do you go OTR for CDL training, or is it all on site? Just curious to know how much cash to bring on hand to the school. I know we have the 10km company training wit a trainer and then we will be able to team together.

If you are a new student, you will be in classroom for the first week while you get your permits test completed. Then, you will go on the range for the first few days. After that, you will split your days between range and road. Current time from start to stop (if you pass all of the permit tests on the first go) is about a month.

After that, you go through orientation, which is about a week or so. After that, you will be matched with a trainer. I absolutely would bring money. Although meals are provided at school and at the hotel, you will quickly grow weary of Mexican food. Additionally, you will need money for laundry ($2.00 to wash, $1.00 to dry for each 30 minutes)

You will need money for detergent, toiletries, snacks, cigarettes if you smoke, etc.

If you are driving down, bring a coffee maker. The hotel does not have them. Bring coffee for said coffee maker. Coffee cups as well.

Here are some things I have purchased down here that I wish I would have brought from home:

Bandannas. The sun down here is pretty intense, but more importantly, the dust on the range will have you coughing and wheezing.

Sunblock. Don't think you will need it? Enjoy the sunburn. You will be standing outside on the range between your turn driving for 4 hours of the day.

Gloves. You will be messing around on stuff on the truck, and you will need them.

Boots. I brought one pair, but I wish that I had brought another as well for the ability to rotate between them every other day.

Long shorts. You can wear shorts, so long as they are not Daisy Dukes. Anything that ends around knee length is acceptable.

There is a Wal-Mart and a dollar store within a 5 minute walk from here. An H-E-B grocery store is a short shuttle ride away. You have a mini refrigerator in your room.

A lot of people have been purchasing vitamins and aspirin at the store. If you take those or any other medications, bring enough to get you through about 2 months of taking them.

There is a beautiful swimming pool, 2 hot tubs and 2 cold tubs. Bring your swimming stuff because it is really awesome!

Most everyone here is really nice and friendly. There are exceptions, of course, but we are a very nice and good group of people, the instructors are really nice as well, and I am really lucky to be here. I know that you and your fiance will do well as long as you study your CDL manual now, take the tests on this website now and learn the pre-trip and the 4 step now. That will make everything a lot easier!

Sounds like you are having a good time, keep it up!

Sounds like you are having a good time, keep it up!

Thanks, Richard. I have my good days and bad days. My CDL test was on Tuesday. I failed, but I am rescheduled. Keeping my chin up and doing the best I can.

I have been going through a lot, and I have wanted to go here and update my Celadon training, but I did not know where to start at. It was all so complicated.

One week before my test, one of the trainers took me aside and told me that if I did not pass the driving test in a week, I would be sent home, even though at that point, I had two re-takes left. Those words were like an acid to my heart and soul. They sat there, fermenting and ruminating in my thoughts at all times. I became so discouraged that I was not a model driver, student, friend, or Christian. I was angry at myself, but I could not shake it.

I had been debating leaving to go home and have a break, but I did not want to just quit. I talked with the head of the program and I asked her "If I went home to take the test, paying for it out of my own pocket, would I still be welcomed back at Celadon?" She told me that if I passed the test, I would still be welcomed/allowed back. The weekend before my test, something inside me "snapped". I was genuinely broken. I had not seen friends or family from home in over two months, I was completely weary of the Mexican food for every meal except breakfast and I just could find no happiness or joy in my heart right then. I walked into my room and told my new roommate that I was going to pack and go home. Many good people that were my fellow students begged me to stay, but I was resolute and happy about the mere thought of going home. I was getting ready to call Greyhound and get a ticket home when there was a knock on the door. It was one of my classmates, coming to tell me goodbye. He asked how I was getting home and I told him that I was going to be taking the greyhound. His wife was there, and she offered to give me a ride home with her in the car. I was completely grateful about that, and I accepted. Less than 2 hours later, I was in her car, headed home! 8 hours later, I was in my room, grateful and blessed to be sitting there, counting the blessings of the day. I was asleep in less than 15 minutes, where I slept for 19 hours, not even waking one single time.

On Sunday night, I dutifully called and let the trainers and the school know via voice mail where I was and what happened. I promised that as soon as I passed, I would call them and schedule a date to come back. They all called me back. They seemed really disappointed, but I promised and promised that I would be back. I could hear the skepticism in their tone, but they were kind.

I called and scheduled a truck and a driver. The soonest that they had was May 1st. I took it. I went the night before and we practiced the route. On May 1st, I was one of the last people to take the test with the truck company that I rented from, which was good so that I could get a much needed nap. I was very prayer-filled the whole week before my test, the night before when we were driving and the day of the test. During my nap, I slept really well, woke up feeling refreshed, and I walked over to where my fellow testers were waiting. Finally, it was my turn. I got in the truck, did the drive and PASSED with a 93! I was over the moon happy. I then called some of the people at Celadon to tell them. I was told to call my recruiter and tell her the good news and get scheduled to come back down to Laredo or up to Indianapolis. I really don't want to go to Indianapolis, but instead want to go to Laredo as I have heard some scary stories about the Indianapolis location. When I called, I was told that my recruiter was already gone for the day, and that I would have to call back on Monday. I made it! I passed!

Thank all of you for your kind words and support. I have not updated on here because I did not know what to say and to be honest, I was very embarrassed about the self imposed mental block that I placed on myself.

Of course, all of the praise and thanks goes to God, he and all of the angels and the saints are what brought me through this! My family is very happy, my friends in real life and all of you online are also owed a huge debt of thanks!

Many Hugs,

Pepper

You kept your eyes on the prize, not on the obstacles in the race!

Your determination is incredible! This is why I love your posts, you are truly an inspiration to others that give up when the chips are down. Pepper you will succeed I know this like I know to eat. Keep fighting the good fight and never let others tell you no! But then you are already doing it. Peace out Brian

Thank you for your warm and thoughtful replies! I am now in the process of getting everything packed to take down with me. I will be leaving Saturday afternoon and arriving Sunday in the wee hours of the morning, per my request so that I do not fall and stumble about on Monday. I will be having a nice and quiet Mother's Day. (That is what I am telling myself, not that I will be alone and sad, but instead, that it is a nice and quiet Mother's Day by which I can have some time to prepare better to be the best student that there is for the refresher course that I am going to be taking. )

I have been enrolled in the 5 day refresher course, and after that, I will have a lovely weekend, and finally, a 2 day orientation course. It is my understanding that it is a lot of paperwork and watching videos that you are quizzed on. I have been advised by students ahead of me to take notes during this video watching, especially during the Haz-Mat section.

Sometime during the orientation process, I will be tested via a road test by an evaluator from Celadon to make sure that I am road ready. I pray that I will do well with them. Once I pass that, I will complete my orientation and then be released to wait for a trainer. They ask you all sorts of questions about what you would like in a trainer in order to attempt and get you the best match since you will be on the road for a month. I do not care the gender of the trainer. I only care that they don't smoke cigarettes. If they smoke e-cigs, I am fine with that, since I use them as well, but with asthma, I cannot be around a regular smoker, it tears me up and I suffer greatly. If a trainer cannot be brought down to me in a reasonable amount of time, then I will be sent to either Waxahachie, which is south of Dallas, or I will be sent to Indianapolis. I pray very earnestly that I will be able to meet with my trainer in Texas. Another bus ride would really be unpleasant, especially one from Laredo, Texas to Indianapolis.

When I am with my trainer, I will get my 10,000 miles in, then we will team until they can get us to where I will pick up my truck. That is very exciting for me. Celadon has recently changed their mind about pets, so I will be able to have my dear little dog on the truck with me.

Thank you all, so many of you for being lamps of encouragement to me. I appreciate it more than you can know. You have been the balm that soothed my soul at times and I am completely grateful.

Peace, Hugs and Thanks,

Pepper

Congratulations Pepper for hanging in there! If you set your mind to do something that you want to achieve, then you can achieve it. Let me know if you need any help in Laredo. I have a lot of fire fighter friends in Laredo that would reach out to assist you if you need it. All I have to do is make a phone call.

Good luck. I'll be getting my training in soon and looking toward Schneider.

Congratulations Pepper for hanging in there! If you set your mind to do something that you want to achieve, then you can achieve it. Let me know if you need any help in Laredo. I have a lot of fire fighter friends in Laredo that would reach out to assist you if you need it. All I have to do is make a phone call.

Good luck. I'll be getting my training in soon and looking toward Schneider.

Dearest Joe,

Thanks for the kind offer of support, I may take you up on it!

Many Hugs,

Pepper

In Laredo right now. The bus ride was a lot of fun because a former classmate was on the bus with me! So passing the time together sharing food and stories was a lot of fun. Today I got to go to Mass, I got to get my grocery shopping done and I got to be rested. In the plaza downtown, I met this wonderful lady named Esmeralda. For all of you that are the praying sort, pray for her. She is at rock bottom financially, but she was a source of kindness and strength to me. We talked, her in broken English and I in broken Spanish about today being Mother's day in Mexico and the United States. She told me sweet anecdotes about her daughter. We talked a little about this and that. A friend came and gave her some change, then they came with a sandwich and a drink for her. How wonderful is what happened next-she offered to share her sandwich with me. The kindness of strangers. I hope that I get to see her again and that she is doing well.

I got to listen to beautiful music today, enjoy beautiful weather and see everything outside and it was a perfect day. I am looking forward to being in school tomorrow.

My son surprised me with a call for Mother's Day. It was a balm to my soul. I got a St. Jude's Medallion today. Pretty awesome. The church gave all of the mothers a little pin today for Mother's Day. That was awesome, too! There were beautiful mangoes in the store, I got some, and some beautiful brown eggs to make my breakfast with. Life is a blessing and I am happy to have some of the wonder that is my life! I made a fruit salad a little while ago, and now I am off to have a bath. What a wonder this day was!

Keep me in your prayers because I am not done with school just yet.

So many hugs and blessings to you all. I would write more but I am very tired.

Hugs,

Pepper