tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50686727056589811892024-03-13T03:39:27.507-07:00Babalwa BrookMoving to America, the road to American Citizenship, Green Card, Dating, travel and marriage to an American amongst others; are what this blog is about. Living abroad - Georgia, Eastern Europe, near Russia, teaching English Second Language and other adventure filled experiences. Please, take a moment and indulge, if not live vicariously!Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.comBlogger549125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-75045939870265240712023-09-07T20:40:00.004-07:002023-09-07T20:46:08.560-07:00The Great Manifestation story!I just came back from an impromptu vacation to Vegas. While there, I promised everyone on my social @BabalwaBrook, a great manifestation story. It’s a bit long, so I thought it beat to post it here on the blog instead and just share the link. Here goes it! People were fighting over items in a thrift store I was in. I went afterwards to see what, if anything, I could find. The cashiers half Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-19612443215902375512022-06-13T18:28:00.005-07:002022-06-14T04:44:58.225-07:00Survival of the fittest Truck Driver The Semi-Handsome guy we shall name, Trevor. Cool people. I think he and I worked the same shift or something. Oh, wait! Not really! He told me he never got a day off. The older gentleman who took me for a ride along on day 1 also told me the same thing. Everyone was overworked. Hopefully, they weren't underpaid. Right? On behalf of United States Postal Service workers; you're welcome, Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-76495858667438472612022-06-06T19:41:00.001-07:002022-06-06T19:41:29.768-07:00Working me to the Bone! How's summer / winter treating everybody? It's 102 in the California Desert right now (40Celcius) and I don't have air conditioner on. Story for another day. Where were we? The Pacific Northwest, i.e. Washington State, delivering Easter mail. I was driving between Washington State and Idaho. Idaho is known for potatoes and Washington for Apples (I'm not 100% sure, but I refuse to Google Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-66315524748488203772022-05-30T20:25:00.002-07:002022-05-30T20:25:29.466-07:00Mail Delivery | Team No Sleep So, my new boss is hot! i.e. handsome and tall. California guy lookswise. Not necessarily my type, just saying! It was around 11pm that I first met him. He had asked me to go to work even though I had just had an entire day of traveling across a couple of states. I tried to reason with him but he told me that they really needed me. Someone had just quit. I don't know if it's quitting or Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-44650693095996426512022-05-29T14:21:00.003-07:002022-05-29T14:28:08.615-07:00Trucks, Plains and Automobiles. California to Washington, Via ArizonaHere’s a story I haven’t told on the blog. Press play then send hugsI talked to my landlady about my new venture ahead. I was sad to be leaving so soon. I had already taken a liking to my new housemates, i.e. landlord and his wife. She told me I was welcome back anytime, I may have shed a tear. She gave me gift, lots of gifts and a suitcase to put them in.See this video for what exactly I got! Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-36659296012736556522022-05-12T17:15:00.001-07:002022-05-12T17:15:09.048-07:00My Path to Financial FreedomPress Play!The Above video is follow up to previous blog.Why do I think I told you this, but I find no trace of it on these pages? A couple of years ago, a really great gal I know from doing background work, offered the services of her husband to me. I took her number and let her know that I would reach out when I was ready. You know, because beggars / choosers? Just kidding, she had just offeredBrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-28693874864440871162022-05-06T17:10:00.001-07:002022-05-06T17:10:48.156-07:00Honey, we're going to Washington! The guy from downstairs I mentioned on the previous blog? He should have not looked me in the eye after what he did or didn't do upstairs! I found the toilet seat closed. Never trust a closed toilet seat! I have brothers and I have lived with men. Just because someone closes the toilet seat, doesn't mean they're such a gentleman, they must've picked it up before they used the toilet. Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-90702253278368455422022-04-22T14:57:00.003-07:002022-05-06T16:19:54.380-07:00Welcome to The Shit Show!Alright, let's go straight to the shit show first job with the temp agency! I had to drive one hour to the hotel where they park bobtails. Bobtails are just the tractor / head part of the tractor/trailer. I was to leave my car there, take a tractor where I was to pick up a trailer in another location. I logged on into their in truck computer device. I punched in destination where I was Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-63973867743858229282022-04-18T11:14:00.005-07:002022-04-22T14:38:48.194-07:00Real Estate buying and selling Waking up in my second new home felt good.My New RoomMy landlord's room was right next to mine. There's another room on the other side of mine; vacant. There are a few other closed doors on the upstairs floor. We also have a laundry room near my bathroom, so that was convenient. There are plenty of closed doors downstairs as well. the house is humongous! When I first arrived the previous Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-34880288775034859042022-04-03T16:15:00.004-07:002022-04-03T16:23:53.383-07:00Thank Goodness for AirBnB! I made it to my Air BnB, thank Gosh! The guy was nice and welcoming. He had a nice black matt finish Porsche in the garage, which we passed on the way to the house entrance. He rents out several rooms in his house. I booked one whose entrance was outside by the pool. When we walked into the main house, I got a little confused and asked. That's when he told me a lot of people always ask for Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-67499017432657190622022-03-09T18:16:00.002-08:002022-03-09T18:16:28.738-08:00Driver, Give me your Truck Keys Where were we? Bed Bugs in the truck. After having survived a rat in a truck. Only to get fired abruptly. The countdown was on. They wanted me out within two hours of being terminated. I was crying to my sister, who was, unfortunately in a different time zone, and thus, in the middle of the night. Sorry, Pru and thank you; and I was packing. When you've put everything neatly in its place, Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-35421216277297344832022-01-20T17:28:00.006-08:002022-01-21T05:20:31.481-08:00Bed Bugs in My Truck OK. We've all now established that our dearest #TruckerBrook has been fired from my the one and only trucking job I've ever had. Two years in and they were done with me. They gave me two hours to vacate the premises. Must've been an hour for ever year I worked for the company. How Generous! This, after having endured Bed Bugs in their trucks for the first time in my entire life. First, I'd Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-61311114104834407552022-01-01T15:52:00.004-08:002022-03-09T17:22:05.892-08:00Drug Test | Being Fired? (continued from previous blog) That was close! Imagine if I had actually gotten fired? I thought to myself! It wasn't out of the realm of possibility. I had a feeling the ladies in the office hated me. They all did. That is out of the realm of possibility. Generally, people like me. I get along with people and never really show how I feel about someone in certain environments because, Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-47332814499767606022022-01-01T14:54:00.003-08:002022-01-01T15:55:40.376-08:00Have I been Fired? Happy New year, my loves! I hope you entered 2022 with so much to look forward to. Sometimes hope is more than we can ever ask for. Just hope! A feeling that somewhere down the line, the sun will shine on us again. Here's to you and yours this year! Thanks for showing up again. Funny thing about this little blog of mine is that, I get more clicks when I don't update. That's not why I Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-54825606871271490592021-11-01T14:23:00.002-07:002022-01-01T13:51:13.912-08:00Counting My Blessings To those of you who took the time to do research and get back to me about my health issue that I mentioned on my previous blog, Thank you! I do intend to make another appointment with the doctor before year's end, one that I will, hopefully be able to honor. As some of you may know, I'm so into new beginnings. I love the start of a new month as I have minimum of 30 days to tackle a goal. Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-66858816713875454342021-10-26T08:07:00.002-07:002021-10-27T06:02:24.106-07:00Getting Under My Skin| Medical MysteryBetween being at the shop a lot and not loving my dispatchers, I was having a great time at work. When you live full time in your truck, you live in the office. There’s no escaping your management. They run your ass! One time, they have me another older truck while mine was in the shop. This was a Freightliner. I didn’t hate it. It drive quite well! Also! It had curtains! It was also cleaner in Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-65264408379608784122021-10-21T06:35:00.007-07:002021-10-25T05:05:26.125-07:00American Green Card UpdateIf you’ve been a reader of my more than ten year old blog for a while, you’ve seen me go through ups and downs in this beautiful country of America. The promised land. I’ve had visas, they’ve expired, I’ve had the renewed; I’ve been honored to receive different visas with different privileges and I’ve had the revoked. I’ve even been deported! Kinda! They’ve sent me the paperwork to vacate The US&Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-69474394588603818542021-10-12T10:30:00.005-07:002021-10-12T10:30:39.977-07:00Hair Loss Minoxidil Side EffectsAt the age of 10, I was shipped off to Boarding school. The students, myself included, compared this catholic school to jail. By the way, how come no one ever uses Gaol spelling for jail? We had to shave off our hair every school term. That’s 4 times a year! I was in for 5 years. That’s going bald 20 times in 5 years. Meditate on that! (Don’t!). Sidebar, the school was on a mountain top. It was Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-29395388275833541482021-10-10T20:21:00.004-07:002021-10-12T06:19:17.319-07:00Being Falsely Accused Back in the day, I worked as a receptionist for a massage company. They had several branches around Johannesburg, South Africa. I was one of, if not the only receptionist with a car, so they had me report to different branches whenever need be. I had initially applied there as a therapist. It was a Chinese massage place but does it hurt to try? I was lucky to end up hired, regardless. I Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-77278756037358259912021-09-30T18:52:00.005-07:002022-05-19T22:44:20.690-07:00Sexual Harassment in Trucking Here’s a different #SexualHarrassment experience I had. Press playAt the risk of stating the obvious, there aren't a lot of women in the trucking field. I was one of a handful at ht terminal I was based off of once they moved me to a new account. Of course, I was reporting to three women, so we had females in the office but they never went to the yard. I guess this put myself and the other Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-2289210613658122752021-09-30T17:31:00.005-07:002021-09-30T18:53:32.755-07:00PMS Cravings Sidebar: it’s September 30th and I just tried on some non stretchy jeans to see where I stand with regards to everything weight and size. They’re my smallest jeans. I fit into them comfortably. But I’m heavier on the scale than I was when I first fit into them. Is the scale a scam? Anywho, I hope you had a great month of Sept. I did! Healthy meal prepped for me by Colombian friendMy Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-2917687727233101962021-09-29T14:03:00.002-07:002021-09-29T14:07:25.584-07:00SMOG test FAIL Now that I’m ‘home’ more often, I’m using my own car often. I love my car. If you’ve been with me for years, you’ll remember that I visualized my car to manifestation. That’s one of the reasons I’m so attached to it. I could’ve sold it when I got rid of my apartment to live in a truck. When I was over the road, I hardly came home, so I would do my errands wherever I would be when they came Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-91989519794128238152021-09-28T09:33:00.001-07:002021-09-28T09:33:03.192-07:00Runaway Truck! Not long after getting the truck back, by the way, they hadn't take care of any of the extra things they had asked me to make a list of; I was helping out on another account. This route took me to Vegas. Was I looking forward to doing something different? I always prided myself on being adventurous must be age, cos I would rather keep things familiar, if I can help it, nowadays. Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-49383659247624723582021-09-27T19:30:00.003-07:002021-09-28T09:51:26.166-07:00Broken Down in Middle of Freeway Back to having no friends again! Nobody to talk to. Poor me! Someone give #TruckerBrook a hug! Oh, wait, don't, we're in a pandemic! One of the things my ex-husband, Calvin brought up when I vented to him about them giving me a filthy truck to move into. He was like, you know that's borderline illegal, right? They shouldn't have just gotten your truck cleaned, they should've had it Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5068672705658981189.post-86291932001714068352021-09-26T08:58:00.002-07:002021-09-30T11:55:26.295-07:00No Love Lost Another “weekend” came by. “” because, the two days off can fall on any day. I had worked more than two years over there road. The pay scale and other things are all different from how they run things on the dedicated account I had just signed with. I was still going to get paid mike but they were going to pay me for additional stops as well. I did two and three stops per delivery, that means, Brookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03115371938441229768noreply@blogger.com0