January 9, 2012; In class at Stevens Driving Academy

Day 1 of my experience with Stevens Transport happened today. After a very early start - a 5:30 a.m. departure from my hotel in Mesquite, Texas - 51 other "newbies" and I arrived at the main headquarters. We spent the day filling out paperwork for school and the hotel. We are not yet employees, so we did not have to complete any tax information, but no matter. There were plenty of other forms.

We learned about Stevens policies on all sorts of things. For example, it is against company policy to consume or possess alcoholic beverages of any kind ANYWHERE except your home of record when you are off. So, asks one student, does this mean I cannot drink a beer while I am on a vacation at Billy Bob's Saloon in Ft. Worth with my family if I live in Wyoming? Answer: Right. And if you have a problem with it, consider this: If Stevens learns about your drinking while you are on vacation, you will be terminated. And consuming alcoholic beverages of any kind at any time while a student at Stevens Driving Academy is absolutely forbidden.

Wow. Powerful stuff. As you can imagine, there was a lot of grumbling about it. But they've had some alcohol-related problems in the recent past, so if adults won't be responsible and, well, adult about their consumption, the company will.

Which made what happened just a few minutes before I sat down in the evening, in my hotel room, and started writing this VERY disturbing. One of my classmates knocked on my door by mistake, looking for another room.

He was carrying two cans of Bud Light beer. Guess he missed that part of class. My guess is he will be gone soon. And not missed.

We have an interesting cross-section of people from a variety of states: Texas, North and South Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and even one fellow from Alaska (no, not me!) just to name several.

And there are some who follow directions and some who don't. There are those among us who appear not to know they are the driver applicant when asked to sign a medical form and given two choices: "Driver Applicant Signature" or "Medical Provider Signature."

I am looking forward to the next three weeks, assuming I make it through Wednesday and the very kind day tomorrow. We start at 6:00 a.m. doing our DOT physicals and will get the results not later than Wednesday.

Oh, the day tomorrow ends at 9:00 p.m. with a mandatory study session for Texas CDL written test preparation. So, Dear Reader, because I have to get up very early tomorrow, I will close this chapter with one final thought:

I am amazed at how quickly I have put "FAA" out of my mind. I would have thought something I did for more than 25 years would have lingered a whole longer. But no. It's gone. Gone. Gone.