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  1. other dog

    Bi Monthly Blog

    By other dog,

    just thoughts-
    I cooked some really good chicken on the grill yesterday, and had leftovers today. I had a ten pound bag of leg quarters in the freezer that had been in there a long time, so I cooked them all. As usual with the leg quarters I skinned them and trimmed off the excess fat and "yucky" stuff first, then marinated them for about 6 hours. After they were done I put them in an aluminum pan, smothered them with Open Pit BBQ sauce, and sealed the pan tight with aluminum foil and left it on the grill for about another hour. You couldn't pick one up by the bone without it just falling apart!
    The Charlotte race is on TV-nothing like being there though, when you can smell the rubber and racing gas, and see all the babes walking around. The guy that sang the National Anthem did a great job, unlike the girl that sang it before the all star race last weekend. There's only one way to sing it-like it's supposed to be sung! You can't "make it your own" like you're on American Idol. Just my opinion.
    I used to go to a lot of races at Charlotte, Richmond, Rockingham, and Martinsville but I don't anymore.
    Back to work tomorrow-it's a holiday for some people but not truck drivers. I'm going to Byesville, Oh. with a load of lumber.
    But otherwise i'd have had to leave today...and some of our soldiers never get a day off.
  2. other dog

    I Wuz Robbed!

    By other dog,

    Yeah, it's true- did I tell this story before?..hmmmmm...anyhow, it's very true. I stopped at the TA Truckstop in Huber Heights, Ohio-near Dayton- to take a shower. Must have been around 1979-80, or '81 because I was driving the orange and white 1977 F-model Mack. The truckstop is no longer there.
    The showers had doors you could lock, but they didn't go all the way to the ceiling or the floor, so you could actually crawl under, or reach over the top. I put my wallet,keys, pocket change,and the leather thing...oh yeah my belt, through the loops on my clean jeans and hung them on the hook on the inside of the door.
    When I got out of the shower the first thing I noticed was that my pants were gone-nothing, just a bare hook. I put my dirty clothes back on and ran out, but there was no one to be seen. I got the truckstop manager, called the police, but found nothing.
    Worse part was that I only had about 20-25 dollars cash on me, but the thief took that, my house keys, truck keys, car keys, fuel card, credit card, and a few silver dollars that I got in Reno,Nv. Leaves you with a miserable feeling to know that some lowlife no good bastard just stole what you've worked so hard for so long to aquire.
    The local police department gave me a form to use for a drivers license until I got a duplicate one issued, and I went out to the truck and took the switch out. I found the main hot wire and stuck a paper clip from it to what ever wire made the dash lights come on, then another paper clip from that terminal to whichever one started the truck. Drove it back to Appomattox with the switch dangling under the dash and paper clips in it.
    I even spent the night at the truckstop so I could walk the perimeter in the morning, hoping the thief had just taken the money and threw everything else away, but I found nothing.
    I remember thinking then, and still do to this day, that I wish I had seen that arm coming over the top of that door-I would have twisted it off and shown them what the other end of it looked like. I just hate thieves and liars, especially thieves.
  3. other dog
    Still running like a scalded dog-guess that's good,but I was highly pissed off when I had to go back out Thursday-4th. of July weekend-after running 2 Ohio loads already.
    I picked up a big long round thing-no,no,no,it was a roll shell-at the paper mill in Riverville last Friday and left Sunday going to Sandusky,Ohio. Got unloaded early Monday morning and went to Oak Harbor to the nucular (George Bush) pear plant to pick up 3 air compressors and 2 drying towers to take back to Ingersoll Rand in Richmond,Va. Had to go through the whole "search the truck" process twice going in because the compressors were just inside the secure area-like about 50' inside the secure area. After going through the metal detective,taking my steel toed boots off and emptying my pockets first,I went in with an escort.The escort just sat his fat ass in the passenger seat and read his book while I got loaded and strapped the load down.For all 50' of the trip.Prolly makes 3 times what I do anually.
    Anyhow,I turned the truck off while I was getting loaded-I wasn't about to leave it running with the AC on for him.
    After I finished strapping the load down I started the truck to leave and go back through the "truck trap", but Mr. Escort's door wouldn't shut properly. The passenger door won't shut sometimes,probably because it's only been opened a few times in the last 5 years.I got out and went around to the passenger side and was fooling with his door when I heard something rattling. Went back to the drivers side and pushed the clutch pedal in,thinking maybe it was the throwout bearing...no change...checked the tool box and battery box covers,because that's what it sounded like,a loose cover vibrating on something...all secure...then I saw a little wisp of smoke come from under the hood and thought "awww f#@K-it's the @#$%&*ing starter!!"
    By the time I got the engine shut off smoke was rolling out from under the hood. Mr. Escort even got out of the truck-he was on his 2 way communicator "uh...truck on fire...smoking bad-think the summich is gonna burn up-no rush,it's just a Peterbilt...over".
    So a crowd of big shots came over and were standing around looking while I opened the hood. I let it cool off a few minutes and tried to start it and couldn't even get a click out of it. I said "y'all got anything that will pull it?" So all the engineers thought about the situation and came up with a plan. "We'll take this big ass fork lift,pull you backwards so we can get this big truck out,and give you a pull with this big ass truck".
    So I says "uh...why don't you just pull me with the fork lift-shouldn't take but a few feets to start it". So all the engineers and geniouses huddled up again and said "uh...OK!"
    So I got a chain and they pulled me a couple of feet and I got it started and didn't cut it off anymore until I got to the shop in Concord,Va. Tuesday,after I unloaded in Richmond.
    After I got a new starter -in fact,the "old" starter hadn't been on but a few months-I got a load of pipes going to Harmony,Pa,near Zelienople. Then I went to Alliance,Oh. and picked up a load of firebrick coming back to Madison Heights,Va.
    Unloaded in Madison Heights early Thursday morning happy as hell,thinking I was done for the week-already had 2 good rounds in. So I called headquarters to see what I might load to deliver Tuesday and Jeff said "go to Griffin Pipe and pick up a load of duck-tile iron pipes going to Conyers,Georgia". So I says "is that to deliver Tuesday?" He says "hell no,have your ass there in the morning".
    And that's what I did.
    Unloaded early Friday morning in Conyers,Ga.
    Called headquarters.
    They said "go to Barnesville,Ga. and pick up a load of lumber for Moneta,Va."
    So I go to Barnesville,Ga. to Jordan Lumber and they said "we're closed,you idiot-come back Monday".
    So I called headquarters...they said "are you serious?"...yeah,they're closed-it's 4th. of July weekend...so they said "arrrrright then...mmmm-hmmmm....well,go to Marietta,Ga. and load these coils going to Orange,Va."
    And that's what I did-fighting all that traffic through Atlanta to get there.
    Made it home a little before midnight last night-still cooked some chicken breastesess,hot wings,corn dawgs,and bubber burgers on the grill today.My oldest son and my grandchildren came over and we had a great time.
    All is well.
  4. other dog

    More Boston

    By other dog,

    Another driver, Sam, used to tell this true story -
    He had to take a long load into Boston to a jobsite. He got to where he needed to make a right turn but didn't have enough room because a car was parked on the corner-illegally parked, imagine that! While he was stopped in the street wondering what to do, with traffic bottling up behind him, a cop strolled up and asked him what was going on. He told the cop he couldn't make the turn because of the car. The cop looked at the car and said "hit it, he ain't supposed to be parked there anyway"! Sam said "I can't do that", and the cop said "run over it, or i'll give YOU a ticket for obstructing traffic"! So he made the turn and ran over the car and went on to the jobsite. Said he never heard another word about it.
    Sometimes we'd run 84 and 81, sometimes we had to go 95 through the city coming back if we had to go to Baltimore or the D.C. area. Once a driver went down the 684 to 287 to 87 route. 87 put you on 95 right at the north end of the George Washington Bridge. He got to the bridge right in the middle of rush hour, and as he was on the ramp to get from 87 onto 95 some complete moron, female type, actually tried to pass on the right and squeeze between the trailer and the wall on the right. She got up beside the trailer tandems- then there was nowhere else she could possibly go. Trailer tandem to her left...concrete wall on her right. Traffic was bumper to bumper, stop and go. It was impossible for her to back up, because if you pull up half an inch the car behind does too. And if the truck pulled up at all the trailer tires would hit her car. And that's what he did. When the opening came he was gone, and the trailer tires caught the car just in front of the driver side door and mashed the left front fender in and pushed the car over against the wall. Nothing else he could do really. He never heard another word about it either, and the stupid bitch got what she deserved in my opinion.
  5. other dog

    My Latest Adventure

    By other dog,

    Sure enough, the snow's up to the bumper, and I haven't been anywhere near Florida lately. Left last Sunday with a load of beams going to Cullman, Al. then motored over to Iuka, Ms. to pick up a load of used piling going to Morehead City, N.C. Left there when I got unloaded and went to Dillwyn to load Kyanite going to Fremont, Ohio.
    The engine fan came on on the truck Monday or Tuesday and would not cut off- even if the engine was off all night the fan was running when I cranked up the next morning. Then Wednesday night on the way to Fremont the engine light came on again before I got to Lewisburg, W.V. So I had to go all the way to Fremont with over 46,000 lbs. on, then I reloaded 48,000 lbs.-7 scrap coils-in Burns Harbor, In. and came back with the fan running constantly, which cuts your power a good bit, and with the engine light on, which cuts your power back a helluva lot.
    Turns out it didn't make much difference, as I stayed at a truckstop in Grayson, Ky. from Friday night until Sunday morning. The West Virginia Turnpike was closed as was I-64 east from Beckley because of the heavy snowfall. No way I would try rt. 60 in those conditions, so there was nothing to do but wait it out. When they finally got the turnpike cleared I left Grayson just before daylight Sunday morning. The turnpike was fine, just wet, but as I whined and cried about last year, and the year before, when you got off the pike at Beckley and headed east on 64 you were pretty much on your own. There was one lane cleared in each direction, and sometimes it was just 2 tracks- the rest was snow covered. Cars and trucks were in the ditches and in the median all across there. 2 big trucks were turned over on their side. The plow drivers said they just couldn't do anything with that much snow-but they always manage to get the turnpike cleared. I-64 from Staunton to Afton mountain was no better. I finally hit clear road again around Charlottesville- normally it's about 6 hours from Grayson to the shop in Concord, but it took me all day to get to Ivor, Va. where I called it a day. I unloaded in Suffolk yesterday morning and went to the shop. Jeffrey brought me home, and the truck's going back to the Cat shop for the umpteenth time.
    All these pictures were taken on I-64 in W.V. This parade was only doing about 20 mph.
    The pictures might not work, they take a long time to download here and I made them pretty small. They might be like the Rosie's cat picture- I made that real small but it ended up big on the post and when you clicked on it it got smaller, down to the size it was supposed to be in the first place. Stupid computers (Freighttrain)
  6. other dog
    Back in the mid '80s we hauled structural steel from Montague-Betts in Lynchburg,Va. to Boston and the surrounding areas like mad. Sometimes we would load lumber in Palmer,Ma. to bring back but if we were real busy we'd unload and come straight back to Lynchburg as quick as we could to get another load of steel to go straight back to Boston. As you could imagine, the jobsites were a real pain in the ass to get into,the traffic was horrible,and all the ironworkers were assholes when you got there.
    We had a dropsite for a couple of jobs,and that wasn't quite as bad. It was in Everette or Chelsea I believe-I know you had to go by the big produce market to get there. I was driving a 1984 Kenworth K100 with a 400 Cummins in it-big horse at the time. I left one Sunday right after church going up and got to the drop yard a little after midnight. I stopped in the street and went to open the gate but it was locked.Sunday night...hmmmm...I sure didn't want to wait until morning when all the traffic was out trying to run over me,still felt good-I was young then-so I got my tools out and took the gate off the hinges.
    The truck was in the street with the flashers on and I was taking the gate off the hinges after midnight at a trucking company's yard. But apparently I didn't look suspicious. Got the gate off and out of the way,pulled in the yard and dropped the trailer,took my chains off,hooked to an empty and pulled it out into the street,put the gate back on,and hauled ass out of there.
    I stopped at the 7-11 store in Gainesville,Va. Monday morning to call headquarters,and was back at the shop in Appomattox,Va. by lunchtime. Didn't even have to go back out until Tuesday.
    We also used a different drop yard just down the street before we started dropping trailers at the trucking co.-or maybe it was a construction company where I took the gate off,I don't remember.
    Anyway,I got to this yard late one evening,around 4:30 or something to 5 o'clock. I dropped the trailer as fast as I could, found an empty, then pulled around to the load i'd just dropped to take my chains off and throw them on the empty trailer. About then some hateful bitch- I mean, a woman- came out of the office and pretty much told me to pack sand. I told her all I needed to do was snatch the chains off real quick,and I was done...out of there...gone.Oh, hell no you're not-"you're leaving this yard right effin' now,if not sooner" she said. "But all I gotta do is get these chains off-" "You're not doing anything but leaving,it's 5 o'clock and my guys get off at 5,and i'm not paying them overtime to wait on you,now beat it!".
    So I had to lay over and wait until the next morning just to pull 5 or 6 chains off the load i'd busted my ass to get there before 5 the day before.
    So I went over to King Arthur's Bar and motel and got a room,reserved enough money to pay the tolls to get home,and invested the rest in beer.
    And then there was the time I picked up a load of steel in Lynchburg,and when I chained it down I got up on top of the load to make sure my chains were in the right place-sometimes there might be a short piece you couldn't see from the ground that a chain wasn't over,so you always climbed up on top to check everything before you tightened the chains.
    All my chains were fine, but I did notice a dead possum laying in one of the beams. Obviously been dead for several days, because it had already swollen up and had a swarm of flies around it.
    I tightened the chains and went up 29 to the Tye River Truckstop,backed up to the edge of the lot,and looked around until I found a long stick in the edge of the woods. Figured i'd climb up there and push that dead possum off the end of the beam and into the woods-but it was gone. I looked at the beam it was on and there was a big rectangular hole cut into the web of the beam,and the possum had fell down onto the next beam down.
    Hmmmm....nothing I can do for it now without having to touch it.
    So I let it ride on to Boston and dropped the load,dead possum and all,at the drop yard.
    To this day I wonder what those a-hole ironworkers reaction was when they were unloading that load and got down to the possum-already well "ripe" when it left Lynchburg!
  7. other dog

    Saturday Update

    By other dog,

    Wow,Bernie Mac passed away-he was 2 years younger than me! Don't get to watch much TV,but I saw the Bernie Mac show a few times,and it was great! He always thought the kids were trying to get over on him,and he'd outsmart 'em,and the kids always thought he was tryin' to get over on them...sad to hear anyway.
    Took some pictures yesterday-I went down to the apple tree to pick some apples. They're not ripe yet,but Jo wanted to try cooking some.I managed to pick 4 or 5 before I had to run for my life-hornets everywhere! Eating all the apples! And this pear tree was loaded-it had so many pears on it they broke the top of the tree off,along with several limbs. Now you can hardly find a pear. But those hot peppers and tomatoes are doing well,eh? (that's Canadian)
  8. other dog

    From Rats To Wine

    By other dog,

    Thought this was worth sharing-
    I've never really been much of a wine conner-sewer, but I came across a recipe for homemade wine that's really easy. My Momma made the best wine i've ever tasted, better than anything that came from the store. She made it in the big stone crocks from grapes, cherries, dandelions...I don't know what else, if anything, I always liked the grape best.
    But anyway, she sent me a recipe this week for homemade wine and all you need is an empty plastic milk jug. I used my one gallon water jug that I take with me in the truck-it's just like Dozer's-instead of a milk jug. I've got grapes growing in the back yard and around the edge of the woods here. I thought they were wild grapes, but after doing some research, and making Jo eat some first to make sure they weren't poisonous, I found they were called Muscadine grapes. They are the sweetest and "grapiest" tasting grapes I ever tasted, but they were kind of "chewy" and had lots of seeds in them. They were delicious, but not too good to eat. So that's where the wine comes in-
    you just put the grapes in a milk jug, or a water jug-mine's about 2/3 full.
    mash the grapes with a wooden spoon or something-my "wild" ones were hard to mash, so I mashed them in a bowl with a soup ladle first, then put them in the jug.
    Add just enough water to cover them.
    Place a cover (loosely!) over the jug and allow to ferment for around 4 days. Then strain the juice in small amounts, discarding the pulp.
    Add 3 pounds of sugar for each gallon of juice-(time to start tasting, this sounds like a lot of sugar to me!)
    Cover (loosely!) and let ferment for 10 days, or until fermentation stops.
    Bottle with a loose top and put in a cool place.
    This was my great-grandfather's recipe. He said "churn" instead of milk jug, but it still works. Ma added this-
    "After the first straining I put the juice in another milk jug, add the sugar and put a balloon on the jug. It'll work for about a week. Then strain again, but leave all the thick mess in the jug-don't strain it. Taste to see if it's sweet enough-if not, add sugar. Let sit in balloon covered jug about another week.
    Strain through about 4 layers of cheesecloth, then bottle. Top with balloon again until it's not working anymore, then cork."
    I've got mine in the water jug now! I never knew making wine was so simple-probably a good thing, or I might be face down in a back alley in the bad part of Gladys now!
  9. other dog
    I'm done for the week, actually got in Thursday night. I went to Baltimore with 60' beams Wednesday night and loaded at Sparrows Point Thursday. Left at 2 o'clock and got to Lynchburg at 8:00. Usually takes a little over 4 hours, but the traffic was terrible. I even washed the truck when I got home. I sent Kelsey some pictures of it in case she wants to put them on the new FLM website, www.flmoore.com .
    Got a few pictures, some from last week.
    B-model Mack wrecker on rt. 422 in Pa.
    ...I think I saw nocluejoe on the capital beltway Thursday
    that's some traffic there,eh?
    rabbits in the front yard-at least they weren't in the garden!
    nice looking mixer
    coal pile in Newport News
    a big blue ape in Tn.
    dinosaur in Tn.
    boat on I-40 just east of Knoxville-looks like it'll get you to the fishin' hole in a hurry!
  10. other dog

    Oil Leak

    By other dog,

    I'm still running good, busy as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest. I took treated lumber to Shinnston,W.V. and loaded 2 coils in Yorkville,Oh. going to Clinton,N.C. Then to Dillwyn and onward to Fremont,Ohio. Loaded some Mack truck frame coils in Erie,Mi. going to Roanoke, then I had to leave Friday going to the nucular (George Bush) power plant in Oak Harbor,Ohio to deliver yesterday morning.They serviced the truck and finally put a new fan hub on it before I left. The oil plug stripped the threads out of the oil pan when they took it out, so they put it back in and welded it. It was still dripping oil though, so they put some silicone on it. It was still dripping oil though, so I took an extra gallon with me (already had 2 gallons) and stopped and bought a gallon of Lucas Oil Stabilizer at $32. Didn't need any of it though, it looked worse than it actually was because by the time I got back to Lynchburg it still wasn't halfway down to the "add" line. I left it at the Cat place with a cut out grape juice bottle under it for a drip pan so they can take the pan off tomorrow and put an insert in it and fix it right.
  11. other dog

    What I've Been Doing

    By other dog,

    Haven't been blogging much lately...probably people don't read it much anyway, it's harder to find. I have trouble finding it myself, and I cain't put pictures on it.
    Last week I went to Orchard Park and unloaded in the wind and rain. I left there at 10:30 am and had to be in Warren, Oh. by 2 o'clock to load. Pulled in at exactly 2, with an average speed of 59.4 mph. When I got loaded in Warren I had to go outside and tarp the load of plates-in the pouring rain. I brought that load to Lynchburg, then took a 2 stop load of pipes to Nashville, went back to Knoxville and loaded re-bar to Greenville,S.C. then loaded lumber to Moneta in Newberry.
    This week I took a load of piling to McKeesport, Pa. and went to East Canton, Oh. to load firebrick to Petersburg. Then from Petersburg to Ambridge, Pa. I reloaded in Pulaski, Pa. to Chantilly, Va. Had a load of guardrail and posts, plus several pallets of buckets, blocks, crates, and other miscilaneous items. The woman at C.H.Robinson said the load required 4 chains and 4 straps-I ended up with 7 chains and 7 straps on it. Then I loaded a 55' load at the mill Friday after I left Chantilly. That delivers Wednesday in Broomfield, Co. I should have left today, but i'll leave in the morning.
    Last weekend I added the sugar to my wine. Today I strained it and bottled it-tastes pretty good!
  12. other dog

    One Of Them Days

    By other dog,

    I unloaded the coils in Suffolk Tuesday,then went to Dillwyn and loaded kyanite going to Fremont,Ohio.First time I had a Fremont load for a long time and it used to be pretty much my regular run. I've delivered there 3 times in a week many times.Then I went from Fremont to Erie,Michigan to pick up a load going to Metalsa in Roanoke.First Metalsa load i've had in a long time too,and we used to deliver there all the time.
    Today I just had to go to the yard and get a load of lumber transferred onto my trailer to deliver in Punxsutawney Pa. for Monday.Jo asked me how long i'd be gone this morning and I said "not too long-depends on whether it's a simple load or a complicated load to transfer". She was thinking about riding along,but decided not to. When I saw the load I figured it would be very simple-4 lifts and we're done.But noooo,things never seem to go as easy as you think-especially on Friday. For one thing whoever picked the load up didn't put it on big wood.Just had the little sticks under it,about an inch and a half thick.And the forks on the lift are about 4'' thick.So we started by lifting one end of a bundle and sliding a 4x4 under it to get the forks under it.The forks will reach all the way across the trailer but we could only lift one side at a time with this method. It was kind of slow,but we were making good progress until we tried to pick up 2 packs off the far side of the trailer-then the bottom stack "rolled" and the top stack hit the ground.So Jeffrie and myself have been stacking lumber all afternoon.2 packs of 8' 1x6's. Then we finally found a bander we could borrow and went to get it in the pickup and when we were headed back to the shop the tray that holds the clamps,ratchet,crimper,and cutters blew off and landed in the middle of 460.So we made a flip and went back and retrieved all the parts we could find.Didn't lose any of the tools,but a lot of the clamps had already been run over,and fortunately the tray itself was undamaged even though it was laying in the road,in the left lane.Helluva way to treat borrowed equipment there,eh?(that's Canadian)
    So what should have been a simple deal turned into an all day job,but we finally got the load transferred and scrapped down,now it's at the truckstop and Sunday i'll be off to Punxsutawney.
  13. other dog

    Weekend Wrap-up

    By other dog,

    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.
  14. other dog

    Old Business

    By other dog,

    Or as Paul would say "I thought i'd try this blog thing too".
    Kind of a short week. I thought things were picking up- were for a while anyway. Last Friday I motored down to Petersburg and picked up a load of beams going to Neville Island, Pa. I delivered there Monday and went to Sugar Creek, Ohio and got a load of bricks going to Williamsburg, Va. Then I went back to Petersburg and got a load of piling going to Wilmington, N.C, but I couldn't go into the port because I don't have a card that says I can go into the port. I am certified to haul steel coils in Alabama though. The last time I went to the state port at Wilmington you didn't need a card. Now you've got to have the card, which costs 130-some dollars, or pay an escort to take you in. I talked to one of the escorts that was hanging around outside the gate and asked what he charged-he said $20 at the gate, plus $20 an hour for however long you're in there. That could get expensive too. We had 5 or 6 trucks there, and one of the other drivers that had the proper card took my truck in and unloaded it after he got unloaded. He only charged me $10. That was OK-I sat in his truck with the AC on while he was unloading mine (it was miserably hot!) and stole 2 CD's, a pair of gloves, a flashlight, roll of tape, some tools, ate all his snacks, and drank 2 of his Pepsi colas. (kidding)
    I was the last truck to leave of course, being the only one without proper credentials, but I got a return load of lumber in Dudley, N.C. going to Moneta, Va. A whole load of 8' 4x4's. Left Dudley 120 lbs. over gross. I was afraid they'd make me take a pack off, but they didn't.
    Dispatcher Neal called me yesterday morning while I was sitting at the truckstop south of Lynchburg-had to park there Wednesday night because the store lot 2 miles from here was full of chip trailers. He wanted to know if I was en-route to Moneta. I said "almost", which sorta meant the same thing as "no". He said there was a load in Moneta going to Fredericksburg that I could deliver that evening, then head to Petersburg and pick up something at the mill. By the time I got to Moneta and unstrapped the 32 packs of lumber and got unloaded and reloaded it was almost 11:30, and I had to be in Fredericksburg by 3:30 to get unloaded, or i'd sit there all night. I didn't stop anywhere and pulled in at 3 o'clock. Got unloaded OK, but there was nothing at the mill to load and dispatcher Randy said we'd try it again Monday so I came on to Concord.
    I wasn't real enthused about going to Wilmington, but it was all they had, and I wasn't enthused about going to Fredericksburg yesterday. I was afraid I wouldn't get there in time to get unloaded and have to wait until this morning. I wanted to get to the mill in Petersburg yesterday and get another trip in this week, a little longer, like a Birmingham or another Pittsburgh. But, since there was nothing i'm glad I made those short runs or I wouldn't have made enough money to keep the lights burning another month. Insurance on the mixer is due August 31st. too. That's about $400 dollars, and they don't give you the option to pay on the installment plan. Always something.
  15. other dog

    Garden

    By other dog,

    might as well talk about the garden...ain't been doing any truckin'. It's really growing and looking good. Even the upside down tomater in the bucket looks pretty good...bucket's kinda ugly though. Got some herbs in the round things. Waitin' on Paul to tell me what to do with 'em. And squirrels are already eating the peaches, and they're not even close to being ripe. Why don't these squirrels eat all these acorns and hickory nuts around here, like real squirrels?
  16. other dog

    Catchin' Up

    By other dog,

    Gee...where to begin? Haven't posted a blog since Dec. 22nd. Lot's been going on since then, good and bad and in between, but i've forgotten most of it.
    The bad news is that my nephew Bo Scruggs was one of the victims of the sorry bastard who shot and killed 8 people in Appomattox recently.
    8 good people, for no apparent reason, or reasons known only to him. Then Bo's dad Ronnie had a heart attack and is now recovering at home from 5-way heart bypass surgery, so he'll be out of work for a while. Fortunately the community has rallied behind them and the other victims families with benefits for them like stews, dances, and the skating rink in Appomattox- where Bo was a regular- donated money also. The Pamplin volunteer fire department made 40 gallons of chicken stew and 40 gallons of beef stew- it was all sold in 15 minutes, along with all the cakes,pies,and desserts people donated to sell.
    Been running pretty good lately. Went to Mobile, Al. one week. Reloaded in Shreveport for Lynchburg and it was snowing. In Shreveport. Louisiana. Then the following week I went to Mobile and back twice. Then last week I went to Eagle Pass Texas. That's about a desolate ass place, right on the Mexican border. Nothing but brush and cactus for about 50 miles or so before you get there, for as far as you can see. Had to come all the way back to Jackson, Tn. to get a load though...going to New #@*+ing Jersey.
    Had to go to Wilmington, De. Monday to unload a load I picked up in Blytheville, Ar. last week. I left here Sunday and while I was driving up rt. 29 I noticed the alternator wasn't charging. Figured it was probably the belt, and I had a spare, so I pulled into the truckstop at Opal to put it on...but it wasn't the belt. So I called Jeff and he told me to call road service, so I did, and left there 6 hours later with a new alternator.
    I left Wilmington when I got unloaded Monday morning, headed to Petersburg to load the Eagle Pass load. Went by Peterbilt in Richmond to get the engine brake fixed-it only worked 2/3's- and I had an air bag leaking on the cab. Left there with 2 new air bags and a fully operational engine brake...6 hours later.
    12 hours downtime...don't tell Rob.
  17. other dog

    Catching Up Too

    By other dog,

    Took the truck to Cat Monday, then they fixed the broken hood hinge at the shop. I left Tuesday and went to Baltimore again, loaded at Sparrows Point back to Lynchburg, then took a load of kyanite to Orchard Park in a Conestoga. That was bad-I knew a Conestoga meant i'd be loading at AK Steel in Butler.
    Made a trip and a half before the engine light came back on, showing an intake valve actuator fault code...again. Back to the Cat place tomorrow.
    got some pictures-
    a clean truck with a Conestoga
    a big man standing along I-90 in New York waving at folks
    downtown Butler, Pa. That hill way up ahead is as steep, or maybe steeper, than it looks-low side for sure. Would've took one a little closer, but three scantily clad babes were walking down the street just over the hill from the stoplight there, so I was momentarily distracted.
    I must be off...
  18. other dog

    Long Trip Ahead

    By other dog,

    I made only one trip again this week,and i'm about one paycheck from the poorhouse. Took a load of 55' piling,almost 49,000 lbs,to Sharon,Pa. Had to back in half a mile to the jobsite, but it was pretty easy except for a couple of dog-legs, tree limbs and bushes obstructing my view past the back of the trailer, and the mud.
    Took some pictures of course, and got some of a big Mack dump truck at the jobsite. I'm going to post smaller pictures from now on, better if you're on dial-up anyway, and delete old pictures after a few weeks.
    Had to lay over after I unloaded, and loaded some scrap coils in Ambridge,Pa. and Weirton,W.V. the next day going to Suffolk,Va. Unloaded early Thursday in Suffolk and went to Petersburg and sat all evening waiting for a load that we never got, so I came home.
    Today I went to Petersburg and picked up piling going to Williston, North Dakota,that delivers Tuesday so i'll be leaving tomorrow so I can stop at the "Road Kill Cafe" in Farmington,Il. Never been there, but i've heard a lot about it-excellent cuisine i've heard.
    North Dakota and Oregon are the only 2 states in the lower 48 i've never been to. I'll put new batteries in the camera.
  19. other dog
    Made a couple of trips this week, to Chillicothe Oh. with lumber, reloaded coils in Franklin coming back to Suffolk, Va. then took a load of beams to Neville Island, Pa. in a Conestoga and reloaded coils at the dreaded AK Steel in Butler, Pa. to unload in Chesapeake Monday. Took a few pictures along the way of course. I went over to the produce stand this morning and bought some squash and green beans so I can tell Paul it came out of my garden. I planted green, purple, and yellow green beans.
    Saw a strange sight this morning-we were standing in the front yard minding our own bidness and an ostrich came trotting down the highway. No, really-it was about 7am and I hadn't drank anything but coffee. Otherdog took off chasing it and it made a right and turned into the driveway next door and fell down. I figured it had killed itself, but it was up and running again in a second. Headed to our back yard. I immediately thought since it didn't kill itself when it fell i'd do it myself when it crashed into my anti-rabbit defense fence and destroyed my garden...was already thinking about how to cook it...but it missed everything and went crashing into the woods. We saw it come out a couple houses down, it ran through their back yard and back to the road, took a left and trotted right back by here towards wherever it came from. Strange! I didn't know anyone around here had ostriches, never seen any near here. Still wondering what the dog would have done with it if he'd caught it.
    photos are a big Mack mixer
    a big Mack truck
    car hauler in Crewe, Va.
    ...looks like a nocluejoemobile...
    old Mack on rt. 422 in Pa.
    a rhinocerous on rt. 422
    self explanatory
    Otherdog taking a break-he's got to rest in case he has to fend off an ostrich attack
    vegetables I picked...bought, I mean...this morning
  20. other dog

    Long Time No Blog

    By other dog,

    I hadn't caught things up in a while because I was waiting for Paul, so I could copy his title.
    Took my vacation a couple of weeks ago and just hung out. NoClueJoe came to visit and we had a good time...I think- haven't heard much from him since. We took the mixer for a little drive and went back to P.L. Duncan Trucking to see his old trucks. I can't say enough what a nice guy Mr. Duncan is, he talked and showed us trucks and told us their story. He knows where every one of them came from, what running gear they have, and everything else about them. He took us in the pickup to see the ones across the road in the power line.
    Friday we stayed home and cooked ribs on the grill and Saturday we went to Lincolnton, N.C. to the ATHS truck show.
    I was going back to work Monday but didn't get out until Tuesday or Wednesday because the truck was still in the Cat shop. They ended up replacing the wires or maybe put a new wiring harness on it. The engine light hasn't been on since anyway, and it's been running fine.
    I went to Baltimore and loaded at Sparrows point back to Lynchburg, then from Lynchburg to Birmingham and loaded in Birmingham for Virginia Beach.
    Came back through Petersburg and loaded another Baltimore, did the Sparrows Point deal back to Lynchburg, and back to Petersburg to load 60' piling going to Cleveland- on a 48' trailer. Snuck in after dark so nobody would see the overhang. I unloaded at a job site by the train tracks Wednesday morning then I had to pick up a three stop load that I couldn't load until after 1 o'clock, so I hung around and watched trains go by until about 12:30.
    Got to Majestic Steel at 1:00 and left at 6:00. Had stops in Greensboro, Durham, and South Boston, Va. Got them all off Thursday then headed up rt. 501 to Gladys. Yesterday I went to Petersburg and loaded a load for Neville Island, Pa. It would have been slightly over gross so I had to take my tarps off the truck and go back across the scales for another empty weight- lightened me up 240 lbs. Left there grossing over 79,000 without the tarps on the truck and less than half full of fuel. Last time I was a little over the guy at the scales let me go load anyway, then let me lift up on the door while the truck was sitting on the scales. The woman in there yesterday is strictly by the book- a company man all the way.
  21. other dog

    New Physical

    By other dog,

    I've got to leave Sunday for Midland City, Al. It's near Dothan. My DOT physical also expires Sunday, so I went to renew it today. Somehow I managed to pass it again, so i'm good for 2 more years. The young girl who took my blood pressure said "now we have to wait 'til we get a room". Meaning an examination room for the doctor of course. So I said ''get a room?!! but we just met, shouldn't we at least go to dinner first?''...yeah, I know-that's the same thing she thought. That's about as funny as a screen door in a submarine. I must be off.
  22. other dog

    North Dakota

    By other dog,

    Now I can mark North Dakota off the list. Oregon is the only state I haven't been to, in the lower 48 that is. Can't go to Hawawii because I might run out of fuel on the bottom of the ocean before I got there. Wasn't much scenery along the way to North Dakota-or at least not the spectacular scenery like there was going to Washington. Never seen so many sunflowers before though.Huge fields of them.
    I left Saturday and drove to Pittsboro, In, home of NASCAR great Jeff Gordon. That's what the sign said. Sunday morning I left the Loves truckstop and drove on to the Pipeline truckstop at the 100 mile marker in Minnesota. We were scheduled to unload Tuesday morning but we got unloaded Monday evening. I got to Williston about 4 or 4:30 mtn. time. I made such good time I figured i'd be the first truck there but the other 2 were already at the jobsite.
    The load paid good going out, but we ended up having to deadhead all the way to Chicago and Indiana to load back. I had to pick up 4 coils in Kingsbury, In. and 1 more in Greenfield, just east of Indianapolis. Couldn't find anything in North Dakota. There was lumber coming out of South Dakota, from Rapid City and Spearfish but the broker said it was 48,000 lbs (which really means 52,000) ,which I can't scale, and you needed lumber tarps, which I didn't have, plus it didn't pay anything. So we deadheaded about 1200 miles.
    I got home Thursday night about 9:30. Could have unloaded in Suffolk yesterday, but I only had an hour and a half left to work so i'll unload Tuesday. Ran 3,840 miles in 6 days.
    I can't upload pictures on my blog for some reason, so i'm posting no pictures.
  23. other dog

    Changed Plans

    By other dog,

    I got home from the Colorado trip Tuesday night. I unloaded coiled wire that I loaded in Pueblo, Co. last Thursday in Rome, Ga. Monday morning, then had to layover and pick up a load of 60' beams in Greenville, S.C. Tuesday morning. Got them off in Petersburg that evening and finally got home. Had to take the truck to Carter Cat because the engine light had been on for a week. I was supposed to leave today going to Homestead, Florida. I was gonna run double with Billy Bob in his truck, but he had to leave yesterday for Nebraska, so Otis was gonna go with me in my truck, which is fixed now...for a while anyway. Had to have 2 drivers because the load was supposed to go at 4pm today, and needed to be in Homestead at 8am tomorrow. But, those plans changed too-maybe because the trailer we're pulling hasn't even made it back to Lynchburg from California yet. So now we're supposed to leave at 1 o'clock Sunday and deliver Monday morning. I think we'll just drop the trailer and bobtail back but i'm not sure about that yet.
  24. other dog
    I delivered that load in Roxana Monday, and boy did I get a surprise! Neal told me when I called in empty to go to Blytheville, Arkansas to pick up a load going to- he said "I can't pronouce it, but it's p-u-y-a-l-l-u-p". I said "well what state is that in?" He hesitated a few seconds and said "Washington". So I said "yeah, right-where am I going?" He said "you wanna talk to your boss-man?" I said "yeah...it's probably in Kentucky somewhere". Then Jeff got on the phone and I asked him if I was going to Washington and he said "that's what Todd said". I still thought it was a joke and everybody at the office was in on it until I got loaded and it was on the shipping order, right there where it says "ship to", it said Puyallup Washington.
    I went to Blytheville, got loaded, went back north to St. Louis, turned left and headed west. Had to stop and buy tire chains, because there's a substantional fine for not having them, but I had no intention of using them, if I had to wait 'til spring to cross the passes. I know Rob would have sent me a sammich by Fed-Ex. Only bad weather I hit was in Wyoming, from south of Casper all the way to Billings, Mt. Some of the slickest roads i'd ever encountered. Except for that, and fog in Washington (I saw Mt. Rainier from the top of the 10 mile 4% grade you climb after you cross the Columbia River in Washington,and never got to see it again because of the fog) , and high winds in Montana and Wyoming on the way back, the weather was great. It was warmer out there than it was here last week. It was 70 degrees in Denver when I came through on the way back. I unloaded in Puyallup Friday morning, then reloaded in Seattle for Houston, Tx. Had to stop in Spokane Friday night and take a 34 hours off because I was out of hours. Did all my laundry and left there Sunday morning. Unloaded in Houston Wednesday morning, went up to Midlothian and loaded steel going to Milton, Pa. Got to the shop at 6:30 this morning.
    I took I-70 to Kansas City, then 29 north into Iowa, rt. 2 into Nebraska, then I-80 west to rt. 26 into Wyoming, then I-25 north to I-90 west all the way to Washington. Came back the same way except I stayed on I-25 all the way into New Mexico, then took rt. 87 and 287 to Dallas and I-45 to Houston. Then it was 45 and 287 to Midlothian, then 20 to 30 to 40 to Knoxville, and 81 back to Va.
    I took 350 pictures on the trip, which i'm trying to put on discs now. I'll probably put some on webshots too.
    I'm gonna put some pictures on here now, but since there's so many i'll just put them in a new gallery, so check them out...
  25. other dog

    Ice Road Trucker?

    By other dog,

    Things must be slow around here, this is the third week in a row that I only made one turn. I went to Fremont, Oh. Monday and had to layover a night before I got a load back. Ended up loading 9 skidded coils in Hubbard, Oh. going to Orange, Va. After I unloaded in Orange yesterday I went to Petersburg and loaded for Roxana, Il. to deliver Monday. Loaded with H piling, going to a refinery. The rules they sent said drivers must be clean shaven, I guess in case you have to put a gas max on. I took it anyway.
    Got in some ice road trucking Tuesday night on the way from Monroeville to Hubbard. Freezing rain the whole way. Saw many cars in the ditch and in the median from just west of Lodi over to Akron. I just eased along and had no problem, but it was pretty amazing to watch cars spin out and go off the road. You could see it happening, but nobody seemed to slow down-one would go off the road, next car would come along like nothing happened, hit the brakes and do the same thing. On one hill about a mile or so west of Lodi on rt. 42 there was about 6 or 8 cars off the road in a stretch of maybe a quarter of a mile. I had to get over by the guardrail on the right to squeeze by one car that was crossways in the left lane, and had about half of the right lane blocked too. I was empty, even though being loaded doesn't help you a lot on ice, and I never spun once. Evidently they didn't realize it was slick and were just going too fast when they figured it out. My first clue came when the rain was freezing on the windshield from the time I left Monroeville about 5 o'clock that evening. By the time I got to Lodi the mirrors, hood, antennas, sun visor-everything I could see-had a thick coating of ice on it, so I suspected the road might be slick too. Nary a salt truck did I see until I got on I-76 at Lodi.
    Took a few pictures this week too, nothing very exciting though-
    the dog dancing with his donkey,
    tarping loads-like the song says,it's a dirty job-but someone's got to do it! Then your kyanite will be dry and your steel will still shine when you arrive at your destination.
    a sign on a trailer on rt. 422 near New Castle-I just like it!
    old digger machine on 422 near Kittaning, Pa.
    ice south of Altoona
    I'm also a master carpenter-I even have a hammer

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