other dog

Thanks for reporting in, we were on pins and needles with worry-that's a load off our minds!

whew! I was afraid you were gonna say you wanted to try a new chili recipe...

Happy birthday indeed Speed!

yeah, I think the signs said 230,000 volts... I'm barely scrong enough to throw a 2" strap across the trailer anyway.

I took a load of kyanite to a place on rt. 12 many years ago. Don't remember the name of the place, but it was just south of the Wisconsin line. Close enough to throw a rock into Wisconsin I think. And close enough to throw a rock to the weigh station that I didn't know was there. They nabbed me before I delivered. The weight limit was still 73,280 in Illinois then.

I smallerized them, I can send them full screen size if you want.

And then there was this one I saw today of a bacon stand in Japan- it said "hat tip to Rob" at the bottom...just wondering if Rob had visited Japan lately and was lured here by the smell of bacon frying. No, found out Rob wasn't in Japan, he was just in Wisconsin. Different Rob, not the real one.

me too, thanks! ...they're left drive, the picture has just been flipped, that's all. The slogan on the bumpers actually reads "daor eht fo gnik", which means "hey y'all!"

Yeah, sure looked like an outstanding job. All the glass was new, and the bulldog on the hood was. All the emblems on the hood looked new, but i'm not sure-wonder if they got any parts from Watt's Mack?

A while back I posted a picture of a faded red B-model sitting inside a fence in Fairplain, W.V. It had been parked in the same spot for several years, then shortly after I posted the picture it disappeared. I thought maybe it had been sold, but yesterday I was coming down I-77 and looked over where it was parked and saw this shiny red and black B-model parked in front of the place. So I whipped off the ramp and walked over to see it. Last time I took pictures from the Go-Mart parking lot, but I wanted to take a closer look, and it was outside of the fence. I talked to a guy that worked there and he said it was indeed the same truck. He said the owner had spent $20,000 on it restoring it because it was their 50th. anniversary. Everything on it looked new, inside and out. Said the company made the bumpers, cat walk, and installed the rollers and winches and so forth on the oilfield exploration trucks. Always wondered what the place was. Anyway, the B-61 looked as good as any i've ever seen at any truck show. Enough of that, here's some pictures, including the "before" picture.

...and then when I was going through Richmond the @#%&ing engine light came on again. Thought we had that problem fixed the last 3 times, but apparently not. Had to go to Ambridge with it on, getting passed like I was tied to a stump by Swifts, Knights, Werners, and everybody else that came along. I finally made it to Ambridge, a little late, then had to go to Sugar Creek, Oh. and picked up a 48,000lb. load of bricks going to Lynchburg. I dropped them at the shop this morning and took the truck (a Peterbilt truck) straight to Carter Cat. copied from "other dog's blog"

This week didn't start out too good either. I had to take a load of steel to Arlington, Va.-not a good part of the world to be in. I went to Petersburg to load Monday evening, but I couldn't load until after midnight. I got there around 7. So I went over to the fuel stop and got a bite to eat and tried to take a nap. Time I got to sleep good it was time to go. I already knew the jobsite was tight, with nowhere to park, so I went up to the rest area at the scales on 95 and tried to take a nap. Got there about 3:30 and woke up at 6:30- I said "no way i'm getting out there on 95 this time of day". I waited until about 8:30 to leave, thinking maybe some of the other trucks would be unloaded and gone by the time I got to the job...but they weren't. I pulled in and had to pull up and backup periodically to let trucks in and out. Finally got empty and headed back to Petersburg to get a load going to Ambridge, Pa. It was just 40' beams, about 45,000 lbs, and when I was going through Richmond the @#%&ing engine light came on again. Thought we had that problem fixed the last 3 times, but apparently not. Had to go to Ambridge with it on, getting passed like I was tied to a stump by Swifts, Knights, Werners, and everybody else that came along. I finally made it to Ambridge, a little late, then had to go to Sugar Creek, Oh. and picked up a 48,000lb. load of bricks going to Lynchburg. I dropped them at the shop this morning and took the truck straight to Carter Cat. I took a picture of the jobsite in Arlington-tried to take a picture of the stop sign in one, but some girl on a bicycle rode by and ruined it.

Gee, makes my sorry ass week sound not-too-bad! I hope you stole enough onions to last yourself, your friends, and all your extended family a month or so.

Absolutely not-it seems to work like browning or searing the meat on the outside, sealing the juices in. The first time I made one of those smokers I cooked a whole hind quarter of venison in it, kind of just testing it out. I was expecting it to be really tough and was very surprised when I went to slice it when it was done and the juices just started running out of it. It was very tender and i've been a smoker oven fan ever since. A chicken on a can comes out the same way. I always smoke a whole turkey at Thanksgiving and they don't even get dry.

I would think it would have a lot more flavor. I usually cook boston butts in the smoker oven (low and slow) with just the rub on them, but I don't see why your plan wouldn't be good. That's kind of how they make the barbecue at the Toga benefit-they cook the whole boston butts on a big grill, but they don't cook them until they're completly done. Then they take them off the grill and pull the meat off and put it in these big stainless steel pans with the sauce and let it simmer in the sauce until it's done. Everybody seems to like it.

I remember the R models with the 318's well. They ran rt. 35 in Ohio a lot, and when they keyed the mike to talk on the CB all you could hear was the engine.

Short week, long weekend. Had the kids over-all grown, but still the kids. Jo's son Billy got here Friday and left Saturday afternoon-he's 38. My son T.J, 32, and his wife and 2 children came yesterday, and my youngest son Morgan and his girlfriend got here soon after. Then Karla and Daniel came, and Jeffrey Moore rode over too. I fixed them up with grilled ribs, chicken, hot wings, and a squash-gotta have your vegetables! Actually, the grilled squash went over pretty good. I sliced it and marinated it in teriaki sauce before I grilled it. I took 2 packs of ribs out of the freezer, but I threw one away. The best looking ones, baby back ribs. The other was spare ribs. Both good of course, the baby back ribs are just cut different, with less bone. Easier to cook, slice, tear apart, and to eat. They looked fine, but when I cut the plastic open they smelled a little...funny. So I called Jo- "give these a sniff, see what you think." She said "I don't know ya know, they smell kinda...funny-not ha-ha funny, funny stinkin". So out the door they went, to cook in the trash barrel. Now i'm waiting to see if I get a load today.They serviced the truck Friday, and ordered a spring for the cluth linkage. I've been having to pull the pedal back up to the top with my foot for the engine brake to work. Figured a spring was loose or broken. Jimmy said he could put a rubber strap on it until the spring comes in, but it's got to be a genuine Peterbilt rubber strap.

Amen Brother! (Bulldogman)- couldn't be said any better.

I've only got the one, and it's a tremendous financial scrain.

Like Mackdaddy said, i've always had to take a DOT physical every 2 years. I thought it was nationwide. I know at a DOT inspection you'd better have that physical card.

OK, I'll take a look at 'em.

Just got a bill today to renew the insurance on that cement mixer truck. It actually went down, only $301 for a year. Not too bad!

Here's the Jifflox manual, comic book style http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/jifflox.htm

This is true Mike. I know the feeling. I have to be nice to customers even when they treat me like an a-hole because I drive a truck, and it can be tough to do. Regardless of how they treat me, if i'm not nice to them they might call and complain, we might lose a haul, I might be looking for a new job.

Well said!