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  1. other dog

    Back To Work

    By other dog,

    Well it's almost time for the holiday to end and get back to the real world.Gotta leave for Fremont in the morning. I got a letter from DMV this week,and I've got to get the mixer retitled,and pay another $50.My wife's name was on the title as co-owner and since their records indicated that one of the owners was deceased,I have to get a new title and tags. I don't see what difference it makes,but it makes them 50 more dollars. Nobody would have ever caught it ,but a few months ago DMV sent a form to everybody that owned a vehicle with antique tags on it.You had to fill it out and have it notarized before you sent it back,or they'd pull your tags.It just had questions about how you used the vehicle,and if you had another vehicle. Va. law restricts antique vehicle use to club activities,exhibits,tours,parades,test drives and so on,but you can't use it as a daily driver,or to and from work.A lot of people did abuse it,you see beat-up '71 pickups with antique plates on them all the time hauling firewood and beat-up '68 Biscaynes at the grocery store,vehicles people never had any intentions of restoring,or even fixing-vehicles with antique plates don't have to be inspected in Va. either. So,even though I'm good on the usage part,that's how they ran across the name on the title and hit me up for the " one time "$50 fee. again.
  2. other dog
    Dang it! Got up this morning and looked at the peach tree in the back yard,which was full of nice big peaches as recently as yesterday evening,and it was stripped bare! They weren't quite ripe,just starting to turn red,but apparently they were ripe enough for whatever ate them. A few were still on the tree half-eaten. I don't know if it was squirrels,racoons,a possum,or crows-crows ate all the cherries off the tree,and the rabbit about got the beans before I started spraying them with the hot sauce and soap. Should've sprayed the peaches too I guess.
    Got a little shower of rain yesterday,barely enough to settle the dust,but every little bit helps.
    I must be off now,to start that long trip to Orchard Park. I'm already dreading that long hard ride up rt. 219,but i've gotta go.
    might have the answer here-a fake owl!
    and the runaway ramp,Ridgway,Pa. rt. 219
    ...so much for the fake owl idea-owl looks so real even I think it's real-there's three crows on the ground and a squirrel in the peach tree right now. Apparently they're way smarter than I am,I spent almost $20 for that owl. $20 will buy a lot of Texas Pete!
    back to the old pepper spray!
    ok,final update before I go to work-Jobyna insists that the owl has to actually be in the tree for it to work.It was only about 20' from the tree at first. I say if the squirrels were intimidated by the owl at all,it's close enough-but I moved it over into the tree anyway.Now we'll see who's smarter around here-me,her,or the squirrels.
  3. 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.
  4. other dog

    Bidness As Usual

    By other dog,

    I went to the eye Dr. Monday,and she said everything was looking good.I have to use eye drops every day for glaucoma. They put drops in my eyes and dilated my pupils,and shined that really bright light in them.Then I went to the shop and picked up a load of beams at the yard going to Export,Pa.It was almost dark when I left the Dr.'s office and I could see pretty good.By the time I chained my load down and left it was full dark,and everything was a little blurry,and every time I met a car their headlights looked like aircraft landing lights.So I made it up to Charmco,WV about 10 pm,decided to take a nap for a couple of hours,and woke up at 6 am. Still got to Export around lunch time.Then went to Macedonia,Oh. and loaded to Roanoke,then took a load of Kyanite to Chester,WV and back to Macedonia and Roanoke.I'm off until Monday morning when I have to go to Tightsqueeze,Va. and load a load of pipeline pipe going to Anderson,S.C. Stopped by Food Lion on the way home yesterday to pick up a few things,and the bill came to $92.22.Even got a turkey to smoke in the old smoker oven-haven't used that in a while.
  5. other dog
    Made my 2 stop deliveries in Oberlin and Vermilion, Oh. then went to Brookfield again and back to Roanoke. Delivered there late Friday night and got to the south Lynchburg truckstop about 2:30 am. Saturday.
    It's snowing pretty hard here now. Calling for 4 to 6" . Nice to be home on Sunday for a change, especially with the snow coming down-cooking some wings, got beer in the fridge, the race is coming on TV...nice...UNTIL THE POWER WENT OUT!

    I didn't take any pictures this week but Big Jim sent me some. He went to Miami and went across rt. 41 through the everglades. He stopped somewhere and took all these alligator pictures. They weren't in a cage somewhere, they were in the wild. Looks like he was getting a little too close for me, but I guess he just zoomed in on them. I know he has a good camera. In fact, unlike myself, he's actually a real photographer. I sent one back to him showing what the 'gators were thinking when he was taking pictures of them. He also took these pictures at Calvert City, Ky. when he loaded there just after the ice storm.
  6. other dog

    Big Jim-myth Buster?

    By other dog,

    We were talking about rt.250 a while back,the section between Fairmont and Moundsville,WV in particular,so Big Jim gave it a try and survived with no problems. He researched the trip well in advance too. I had told him about my trip across there in '80,and that I said at the time I wouldn't go back across it bob-tailing.And I told him what Bollweevil said,and what the man at Triadelphia had said. None of that scared Big Jim. He called the police departments in Littleton and Cameron,and they said the tight turns that used to be there had been done away with. Good thing-I just don't think you could make those turns as long as we are today.He was driving a Freightliner Columbia long wheelbase tractor with a 53' spread axle flatbed loaded with 47,000 lbs-overall length 77 1/2 feet. According to the Va. DOT I'm 70' overall with the Peterbilt and a 48' trailer. He said the worst part was the curve coming up out of Moundsville,and there was a hard turn onto a bridge somewhere farther down the line that took the whole road to make. Well,almost the whole road-he got over to the left as far as he could and he said he had about 2 feet to spare when he got onto the bridge.
    Actually we were both thinking about going that way to Triadelphia Tuesday.I was several hours ahead of him,and when I went through Moorefield,WV Tuesday night-actually Wednesday morning it was about 10 degrees and clear. I was climbing the big mountain on rt.42 before you get to Mt. Storm when a pickup came up behind me and I could see snow blowing in the road in his headlights.It was so fine I hadn't even noticed it before,but as I neared the top it was no problem to see it.It was coming down hard and the wind was blowing it across in front of me,covering the road in places. Rt. 50 was pretty much covered,as was rt.560 up to Oakland,Md. Rt. 219 north was well salted so instead of taking 42 on to Friendsville I stayed on 219 up to Keysers Ridge and went to bed. No way I was going to try 250 in those conditions,so I went on across 68 to 79 north to 70 west to Triadelphia. Then I went on up 250 in Ohio to I-77 to pick up a load of brick in Sugarcreek going to Norfolk,Va. Still snowing all the way,but I had no problems until I got back to the usual trouble spot,which is I-64 from Beckley to the Va. line. For the second time this winter the road was closed after I got across Sandstone mountain because of accidents,so I pulled off on the ramp at the Dawson exit and took a nap. That's me-when the going gets tough I go to bed. I got up and went on to Norfolk and unloaded Thursday just after noon,then back to Petersburg and loaded another load of piling for Triadelphia to unload Monday.
    Back to Big Jim- I called him and told him i'd run into a lot of snow,and when he got to the mountain before Mt. Storm-I don't know the name of it,it might be Mt.Storm mountain.It's a big one,4 miles with a 10 percent grade,has a bunch of those huge wind turbines on top- he couldn't even get up the mountain.He met 2 salt trucks at the bottom and they told him to wait until they came back then follow them up. He did,but in the meantime another truck came off of rt.93 and turned and started up the mountain,not knowing about the salt trucks. So when they came back,Jim fell in behind them and they started up and they soon caught the other truck,struggling to make it up. By the time he finally got up the mountain and got to Triadelphia it was too late to get unloaded. He unloaded the next morning and reloaded steel for Roanoke.He had an appointment time to unload at 12:30 the next day,so since he had plenty of time he came back down 250,thus proving that it can be done. Why anyone would want to though is a different story. But I can't say I won't do it again-Big Jim did. Besides,if it gets too tough I can probably find a wide spot somewhere to take a nap.
  7. other dog

    Binness As Usual

    By other dog,

    Geez, I can't remember anything...oh, it's coming back slowly now. Made three rounds last week for the first time in a while. Took some treated lumber to Akron Thursday and thought I was coming home empty, but got a load out of Malta, Oh. late Friday evening going to Bedford, Va. When I unloaded in Bedford Monday I went to the shop and got a Conestoga and loaded Kyanite for Chester, W.V. Sat all day in Chester after I unloaded Tuesday-didn't have a return load. I did get a load Wednesday going to Roanoke, but it was next week's load, so I just brought it to the shop and dropped it. Then Thursday I loaded treated lumber going to Middlefield, Oh. and reloaded in Canton at Ohio Steel Slitters. I don't know if everyone who works there is an a-hole, or just the guy that loaded me. Probably just him, odds are against everyone there being one, but he was certainly an arrogant, hateful jerk-pure a-hole, like he holds it against you for coming there to pick up a load in the first place. Unfortunately, that's most often the case where ever you go to load steel or make a delivery.Big Jim loaded there too. I was already backed in when he got there and he walked over and asked me where the shipping office was. As I was telling him, mr. hole walked over and told us we need to quit talking so I can pull out, he's on a tight time schedule, blah-blah-blah. I had 2 big coils, 20 and 21,000 lbs. so I put 1 chain through the eye of each one and pulled out. Put 2 more chains on each outside, then tarped the load and left. I was heading south on 77 down below Dover when I was talking to Jim on the phone-they still hadn't started to load him.Makes it hard to be sympathetic when they close the doors because people decide to get their steel from China or Brazil. Gotta deliver in Suffolk tomorrow.
    And I got started on the garden yesterday-planted some cabbage. Gotta pick up some onion sets this week, and i'll be good for a while. I'm going to start some tomato and pepper plants in a plant bed.
    took a few pictures last week, nothing spectacular-
    loaded with lumber at the truckstop
    couple of Macks in Fairplain,W.V.
    closer view of the b-model, Fairplain,W.V.
    sitting in Chester,W.V.-you have to blind side through that gate to back up to the dock.good picture-if anyone wants to learn to drive that truck that just passed by,just call that number.
    Mack dump on a dirt pile
    strange looking VW crew cab bus van pickup thing in Moneta.
    Old White on rt. 20 in W.V.
  8. 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!
  9. other dog

    Break Down

    By other dog,

    Well,I just got home again,and I should've been here early this morning.Picked up a load of steel in Twinsburg,Oh. yesterday going to Buena Vista,Va,and was coming down the W.V.Turnpike last night minding my own business when my air dryer failed.Called road service,but he couldn't bypass it,all the parts stores were closed,so the guy told me he'd get one in the morning and be back to put it on .I was just south of the first tollbooth at the Sharon-Cabin Creek exit and had to be in Buena Vista by 3pm to get unloaded.By the time the service man got there and took the old dryer off,changed out the fittings,and got the new one on it was about 11:30am,but I made it in time.I'm off Sunday-going to the dentist Monday.
  10. other dog

    Busy,busy,busy

    By other dog,

    Last week when I left Thursday going to Masury,Ohio (everybody hates Masury ) Todd told me to "run this load, and you'll be done 'til after Thanksgiving". That didn't really happen, as I left Monday and took a load of fingers (well,that's what they called them) to Milan, Ohio. When I left he said "run this load, and you'll have a four day weekend coming up anyway". That didn't happen either. I delivered in Milan Tuesday, which is near Norwalk, and ran in snow all the way from Strasburg to Milan to Macedonia, which is near Cleveland, and back down I-77 almost to Charleston, W.V. before I ran out of it. I unloaded in Roanoke this morning and went to Dillwyn and loaded up an Orchard Park load for Monday. This is good, I was hoping he was joking when he said i'd be done 'til after Thanksgiving. I like to eat and have electricity too.
    After I got home today I processed the turkey-you know,got all the accessories out that they put inside of 'em-and put it in salt water to soak overnight. It's in a cooler on ice on the back porch, along with the four extra turkey legs I bought-the ones that cost more than the whole turkey . Then I made turkey stock from the accessory pack i'd previously removed, and cooked all the sweet potatoes I had and made six pies. I feel like I had a pretty good day. I'll slap that turkey in the smoker oven first thing in the morning, everybody come on over!
  11. other dog

    But Not For Long

    By other dog,

    Nothing today ... gotta be at the shop in the morning to take some kind of machine to Richmond on the lowboy. Don't know what it is.Then maybe i'll get a good load going out somewhere else.Not that this is not a good load,but I need another load to make a good week. Might end up putting my good camera in the truck and try to get back through Winchester on the way in,or I might not be able make the trip. I'll figure out something,i'd hate to let my truck show picture fans down-both of them would be very disappointed.
  12. other dog
    I'm only here for a little while-hopefully.I've been to Neville Island and went to Ambridge and picked up a load of 60' beams going to Chesapeake,Va. but the truck's been running a little hot so I left it at Carter Cat so they can check it out. Then i'll deliver in Chesapeake,unless they get somebody else to deliver the load,which would be fine with me.
    Jobyna was moving some stuff around while I was gone and ran across the secret home made barbecue sauce recipe. I've been making it out of my head and left out some ingredients,namely worcestorshire sauce and black pepper.
    the recipe is this:
    1 gallon of vinegar-remove one pint
    1 bottle of Texas Pete (or whatever hot sauce you prefer )
    1/4 cup black pepper
    1/2 cup worcestorshire sauce (just pour the whole bottle in )
    1/4 cup garlic powder
    1/2 cup crushed red pepper
    2 tablespoons liquid smoke (I just pour the whole bottle in )
    mix it up and let it set for a few days
    smoke a boston butt 'til it's done,pull the bone out,pull it apart, or shred it,or chop it,mix with about 1/2 cup of the sauce (i'd just pour a whole cup in),then call me
    now if I lose the secret recipe again,it'll be here. And if I lose it and the computer crashes somebody can e-mail it to me.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. other dog

    Catching Up

    By other dog,

    Now I can catch up on a few details...put some new kind of fertilizer on the garden when I planted the onions and cabbage,and the dogs have been digging them up faster than I can replant it. I read the bag and it's made with feather meal (?),bone meal,fish meal and blood meal-sounds tasty,no wonder they're digging it up.Anyway,might have to add some black pepper to it as dog repellent.
    Hit some kind of unidentified creature in the road on rt. 219 when I was going to Orchard Park last week.I thought it might have been a beaver,but it was about 12 or 1am when I hit it,so I wasn't sure. Noted wildlife expert Big Jim went that way to Buffalo Monday night and he said there was still enough of it left for him to identify it as a porcupine. He lives in Reynoldsville Pa. and said they were common around that area,but it was a new one on me. I've heard of porcupines of course,but i've only seen one-he was waddling across 219 one night when I was going to Orchard Park,N.Y. Then I heard a thump,and felt a slight bump. That was also the last porcupine i've seen.
    I went to Waddy,Ky. Sunday with a load of pipe,or pipes as they say at the shop. Easy jobsite,just had to back out into a field,but there were 5 trucks there and I was no.4 so it took half a day to get unloaded,then I went over to Winchester,Ky. to get a load of air conditioners going to Chantilly,Va. and they said "it'll be awhile,probably about 4 hours". Great-half a day to get unloaded,the other half reloading,and they probably want the load in Chantilly yesterday. Best I could do was lunch time Tuesday,and when I got to Chantilly they said "gonna be a while,we'll get you when we can". So I got unloaded after a couple of hours and went to the shop and Kevin had stayed late to load another load of pipes on me going to Latrobe,Pa. Actually the directions said to take rt. 22 to New Alexandria,Pa. (home of the world famous Watt's Mack) then go south on rt.981 about 5 miles. When I got there I was headed west on 22 and I was so tired I could barely hold my head up,but these jobsites want you there early usually. I thought i'd make a flip and park in front of the Mack place,because I figured they'd wake me up and run me off pretty early,but when I went past to the u-turn exit there was a truck pulled over so I pulled in behind him and went to bed. When I got up at 6:45 I saw a cop behind me over on the left side of the ramp.Thought he might have been waiting for a speeder coming up rt.22,but then another car pulled in behind him,then a white van,and I knew it was D.O.T. I figured they were just waiting for me to push that brake button in,then they'd stop me and want to see my log book,so I caught my book up before I pushed any buttons and they never bothered me. Went down and unloaded and it wasn't a jobsite,they reworked the pipe,added fittings,cut threads,etc. When I called in empty at 9am Jeff answered the phone and said "I didn't figure you'd be there 'til lunch time". I didn't tell him,but if i'd known it wasn't a jobsite I wouldn't have been.
    Only reason I made it all the way to New Alexandria was because I got to run with Big Jim,and we went "through the woods" the whole way. We went up 259 out of Broadway,then up the "hog trough" to Augusta,W.V, 50 over to Romney,28 to Cumberland,Md, then rt. 160 to 219. Some very steep hills to climb going that way. Big Jim got on the turnpike at Somerset,I stayed on 219 to Johnstown,then took 403 up to 22 and headed west. He was going to Conway,Pa,where I went that time the first truck couldn't get up the hill because of the snow.
    I went from Latrobe to Sharon and picked up 5 coils coming to Lynchburg and dropped them there last night and bobtailed home,which is where I left off this morning. Unless Jeff happens to read this,in that case I actually walked all the way home again. His son Jeffrey,who works at the shop, has finally joined and started a blog so there's always a possibility he could read it. Let's hope not...Ive been telling Jeffry for a while he should join here,he was practically born and raised in and around trucks,first at H.H.Moore's (his great Grandfather),now at F.L.Moore and Sons. He's funny too-but I don't know that he's funny as I'm is.
    After I unloaded at Handy in Lynchburg this morning I went to the shop and Jeffrey fixed one of my LED lights on the front fender that's been out for a while,then I loaded another load of pipes going to Durham,N.C. I don't need to leave going down there 'til 4 or 5 in the morning,so that's why i'm here now.The down side is,once again i'll be leaving Sunday. After I unload in Durham i'll probably come back up to Dillwyn and load kyanite,or possibly get another load of pipes. The pipe has really been moving this week.
    ...and some new Peterbilts that just came in,including a green one
  16. other dog

    Catching Up More...

    By other dog,

    Slacking off a little on the old blog here. Except for sitting for 10 hours Monday waiting to get unloaded in Roxana, Il. I had a pretty good week. I was supposed to pick up a load in Jackson, Tn. and deliver it in Pounding Mill, Va. at 12:30 Tuesday, but it took so long to get unloaded there was no way I could make it. Earliest appointment I could get Wednesday was for 1:30, so then I had time to kill. I could have gotten there about 5:30 or 6:00 Monday, but I stopped at the Davy Crocket truckstop in Tennessee. When I unloaded in Pounding Mill I reloaded at the same place going to Chattanooga, then loaded in Chattanooga for Lynchburg. Then to the yard and loaded up for Roxana again to deliver Monday.
    got a couple of pictures here-thought I saw nocluejoe driving the buggy truck in Knoxville, but it wasn't him. It was a cabover Pete buggy truck....
    speaking of cabover Petes, saw this unit for sale in Montvale, Va. Don't see this setup in the east much. I thought about winning the lottery, buying this truck, and moving out west and be a hay hauler. Or move next door to Rob just to annoy him.
    pretty neat picture of the PC screen-nice background picture,eh? (that's Canadian)
  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

    Cats

    By other dog,

    At least besides the aching tooth and a heat wave that leaves me drenched in sweat every time I chain down A load or tarp A load,and the fact that it's so dry here -my garden just withered away,and I've only cut the grass A couple of times,last time a couple of months ago-I have A little good news.I left the truck at the Cat shop in Lynchburg last night so they can turn the horsepower up from 475 to 550.You would think it'd make A world of difference,but it's hard to say.The last Cat I drove was A 435 and when it was turned up to A 475 you couldn't tell A lot of difference.I know that's not near as big A jump,but I've taken A truck in to be worked on before,they'll put it on the dyno and check it, get you 20 more horsepower and it was like driving A different truck. I hope that's the case this time-it's A big ol' pretty truck,but it lays down like A big ol' dog when it sees A hill.
  20. 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.
  22. other dog

    Cheap Smoker Oven

    By other dog,

    I have another favorite cooking tool in the back yard too-the outdoor electric smoker range. My best friend "Traveling Kid" ( he died of a heart attack a few years ago,while driving a truck. He was just past the scales on rt. 58 in Suffolk,Va.) told me how to make it,and it works great-if you don't mind an old electric range in your yard.I had mine in the shed in Appomattox,now i've got one out back behind a small metal shed,kind've out of sight. All you need is an old stove with a drawer in the bottom to store pots and pans.You remove all the wires,pull the insulation out of the bottom of the oven-leave the rest,on the sides and top-then drill some holes through the bottom.You'll have 2 bottoms with empty space in between when you pull the insulation out,and I drilled some holes from inside the oven,then turned it over and drilled some from the bottom-that way the holes aren't straight through,but the heat and smoke still get through to the oven but not flames.Then you just use the drawer for a fire box,using wood and/or charcoal and you've got a cheap smoker that works great.I've cooked turkeys in it,boston butts,chicken on a can,venison,and lots of other stuff.You can use a gas stove too,and they're already ready-you don't have to fool with getting the insulation out or drilling holes,because they've got a burner in the bottom,and you just put a fire in there and you're ready to smoke.
  23. other dog

    Checking In

    By other dog,

    just checking in for a moment,i'll catch everything up this weekend hopefully.It's back to work now,they're trying to run me to death.I've been to Waddy,Ky,Chantilly,Va,Latrobe,Pa,and back to Lynchburg already.Now I 've got to go unload in Lynchburg and probably be off again.Got in late last night,took a shower and got to bed around midnight and didn't get up until 8am. And i'm still tired.
  24. other dog

    Cheswick

    By other dog,

    Cheswick,Pa.-that's where I went. I remember now,since I've already been there and back. I called Tina,one of our drivers who had been to this jobsite before, and after I talked to her I was beginning to regret taking this load instead of the pipe going to Anderson,S.C. She said it was very cramped,they sat all day waiting to get unloaded because they were pouring concrete,and concrete trucks were in and out all day until 5 o'clock that evening.She also said you had to go down a steep hill and drive onto a barge to get to the island where they were unloading,then they had to be pushed back up the hill,and they had to pick the back of their trailers up with a crane and move them over to make the turn through the gate at the railroad tracks to get out. Geez,what have I gotten myself into here? Usually if you're expecting the worst,it's never that bad. I made it in,you had to cross the tracks and make a hard left after you crossed the tracks but you couldn't pull very far forward through the gate because a crane was set up there,then hug the chain link fence on the left,because then you had to make a hard right to go down the steep cut they had made in the bank,but again you couldn't pull very far forward to make the turn because of a pile of stuff they had on the ground,and there was a little green thing on the right-looked like a gas meter or something-that you had to clear before you turned. I had dumped the trailer air on the back axle and locked the power divider in at first,and made all the turns with inches to spare.When I got down the hill I had to get over as close to the air compressor parked on the right at the bottom to make the hard left onto the "bridge" which was actually barges side by side across the river.When I talked to Tina I thought they put the truck on a barge and floated over to the island,and I wasn't too sure about all that! But I felt pretty good about the bridge when I saw them drive a bulldozer across it before I went across. So I made it onto the bridge and went across and got unloaded,turned around,and went back up the hill OK,and made it back through the gate without having to pick the trailer up and move it over. I should mention that I had a 48' trailer,and the others had 53s, and like I said I had only inches to spare on all the turns,including getting onto the bridge. I reloaded at Macedonia,Oh. for Roanoke and unloaded there Thursday night. Yesterday morning back at the shop Todd gave me a choice of another load of piling to Cheswick or kyanite going to Orrville,Oh. I went with the Orrville.
  25. other dog
    It's been an exciting weekend around here -i've raked leaves, flattened some cans and bagged them-not all Anheuser-Busch products by the way, I think I saw a Pepsi can in there-and cut some grass, piled leaves in the garden and ran the tiller through it, and made a squirrel feeder. The apples, pears, and peaches are gone and I wouldn't want them to go hungry. Besides, if work doesn't pick up I might eat the squirrels.
    I went to Fremont last Sunday and after I got unloaded Monday morning I went to Brookfield and picked up a Roanoke load and unloaded in Roanoke Monday night. Then I was off Tuesday, no loads . Went to Richmond Wednesday morning and loaded some structural steel going to Columbia, S.C. Unloaded there Thursday morning, then went over to Nucor steel in Darlington and picked up some flatbar and channel going to Madison Heights, Va. After I got that off Friday morning, I went to the shop...then I went home-no loads.
    My computer still only works half a$$ too -hey, kinda like me! Everything that worked off a usb port seemed to be malfunctioning, first the webcam, then the scanner/printer. I was afraid to try my digital camera because I figured it would fail to operate properly too, but it did work, and I took a few new pictures to illustrate the exciting events described in this blog entry
    I had the truck here last week, and told otherdog to keep an eye on it...the second picture is 9 hours later and he hadn't moved-still keeping an eye on it! He's a good dog. There's an armadillo by the bush, but he paid no attention to it because I just told him to watch the truck.
    I cooked a "chicken on a can" Friday. I usually use the old wood/charcoal powered gas stove behind the shed, but I decided to try the anti-freeze grill this time. The oven is much better, and faster, probably because of the insulation around the oven. It makes a delicious chicken though, just coat a whole chicken with "the rub", drink part of a can of of beer, put more rub in the beer left in the can, stick the chicken on the can and put it on the grill, or the smoker oven 'til it's done.
    Too bad the leaves don't just blow next door! They have none, I have many.
    This is my squirrel feeder, loaded with corn. Stolen from the cornfield by the road at that bridge job in N.C. I posted pictures of a while back by the way. The spot where there's no leaves is where the pickup was parked.
    Otherdog-the beagle that is.

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