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other dog

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  1. 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...
  2. other dog
    Been having all sorts of PC problems ever since I burned the last truck show pictures to a disc. Still think the HP photo program that was installed on the computer clashes with the Kodak program I installed when I got my camera. I couldn't even get online without going to a shortcut to youtube on the desktop and the screen resolution just went haywire and I couldn't get it to adjust back. The desktop icons were half as big as the screen. Ive been everywhere in the control panel trying to fix it but nothing seemed to work. Probably would have helped if I knew what I was looking at. I was just about to take it to a computer shop in Appomattox yesterday when my son Morgan suggested trying the system restore, so I did, going back to the day before the truck show. Seems to be OK so far.
    Thought things were picking up a little but it's still pretty slow. The week before last I was home until Wednesday evening before I got a load out, and had to be in Florida the next morning with it. Last week I didn't get out until Tuesday. Unloaded in Neville Island Tuesday night but then sat all day Wednesday and most of Thursday before finally getting a load in Sharon, Pa. going to Sanford, Florida.
    Been running Florida a lot lately. When it gets cold and the snow is up to the bumper Florida loads will probably be hard to come by,eh? (that's Canadian)
  3. other dog

    Weekly Report

    By other dog,

    I don't know if there's any dead rats in the mixer cab, but they had definately been into the d-con I left for them. I didn't have time to check yesterday because I got back from Florida around 5:30 and had to get to the bank before they closed at 6:00. Wonder if a rubber snake would keep them out?
    I went to Neville Island with a load of beams Monday, then reloaded in Sharon, Pa. back to Lynchburg. Turns out the coils were the wrong size , so I dropped them at the shop and took a load of beams to Fernandina Beach, Fl. on another trailer. I had a load to pick up at Nucor in Huger, S.C. and the earliest loading time I could get was 11:30 Thursday night. Got there around 7:00, but didn't even get across the scales until 1:00 AM. Finally backed in to load at 4:00, and left a little after 5AM. I called Todd and told him i'd been at the #@$!ing place all night trying to get loaded. He wanted to know if i'd seen anybody else. The other 2 trucks had gotten 7:30 appointments, and at least one of them was already back in Lynchburg. So I just took 26 over to 95 and went north to the first rest area and pulled in and took a nap.
    Now I have 2 loads of coils sitting at the shop-they still haven't figured out what to do with the first one. They were too big for Handy to cut, so I don't know if they'll send them back to Sharon Coatings, or get them recut somewhere else.
    I see the truck show pictures from Lincolnton, N.C. that I sent to the ATHS are posted on their site now.
    http://forums.aths.org/InstantForum414/Topic64199-34-1.aspx
    Pretty boring report there,eh?..zzzzz
  4. other dog
    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.
  5. other dog

    Rat Patrol

    By other dog,

    I didn't have another load to pick up after I unloaded that empty 40' container at Sonny Merryman's today, so I could have came back home, but I went to the shop to hang around in case something came in. And I needed a headlight anyway, and some cab marker lights were out on the mixer that I needed to fix. When I got in it to start it I saw a big brown rat-about the size of a wallaby-scurry across the passenger side floorboard. I remember Rob said you could smoke 'em out, or smoked wallaby was good-something like that anyway. So I got a metal can out of the shop, soaked an old grease rag in diesel fuel, then lit the rag and dropped it in the can. Then I dropped a hand full of green pine needles in. It smothered the fire, and smoked like a chimney. Then I put it in the truck and shut the doors. It sat in there and smoked and smoldered for about an hour. Then I felt so guilty about doing the mouse like that I left a box of D-Con in there for it to eat, and some anti-freeze to drink.
  6. other dog

    Pest Control

    By other dog,

    Well, I mowed the grass early this morning, had to wait 'til daylight to finish though, because the batteries went dead in the flashlight. Then I went to Concord and finished putting that hood on the mixer. Don't remember when it was last started, but it fired right up. I dumped about 800 gallons of water out of the drum and let it run about 15 minutes.
    Then I stopped at Carson's Store and got 2 rolls of chicken wire and made a fence around the garden. The chicken wire was way more expensive than I thought it would be-$28 for a 50' long, 3' high roll and I needed 2 rolls. I could probably go to the vegetable stand in Gladys and buy $56 worth of produce and get more than the total output of my garden, but I can't let the creatures get the best of me, right? They're already eating my cabbage plants! I feel like Bill Murray after the gopher in "Caddyshack".
    Fence looks pretty good too. I left some extra at the bottom, folded it out on the grass, then laid 4x4's on it. The owl certainly doesn't do his job, the pepper spray didn't work, Other Dog the beagle won't work, so maybe this will do the job.
    I hope so, because there's only one option left that I can see- fried rabbit...squirrell stew...rabbit pot pie...squirrell and dumplings...rabbit on a stick...sauteed squirrell with peppers and onions...marinated grilled rabbit...barbecued squirrell-what am I saying?!!I couldn't do that!..could I?..maybe
    Saw 3 doves at the bird bath...no squirrells reported in the area.
  7. other dog

    In Memory Of Gary Barr

    By other dog,

    When I left Sunday headed to Erie,Pa. I called Ma to tell her I wouldn't be in the Christmas parade this year. She said ''you knew Gary Barr died didn't you?". No, I didn't.Gary was an old friend,been knowing him since high school.Been driving a truck all his life practically-he changed the date on his license to run double to California with me in 1979 because he was too young to run out of state, and he had been driving for several years then,even owned his own truck and leased it on with H.H.Moore Jr. Trucking Co. in Appomattox,Va. hauling wood chips to Covington,Va. Was an old 7400 White daycab, with a 220 Cummins and 10 speed. We ran together until I quit, and soon after they caught up with the license deal so the let him go,but told him to come on back when he did turn 21 because he must know what the hell he was doing.Years later Barry Warner and myself were on the way to Boston one night loaded with structural steel and ran across him on 95 between Washington and Baltimore. Gary was driving for P.L.Duncan then,Barry and I drove for H.H.Moore. We stopped in Baltimore and "hung out" for a couple of hours( you could do more,or 'get away with' way more then than now!), then Barry and I rode the rest of the night to be in Boston by 7 am...but we made it.
    When I stopped at his house and took the pictures of the Diamond T it was the first time i'd seen him in years. He was driving for Abilene, had been with them a pretty good while.We talked in his shop,and he showed me the truck and told me how he'd found it in N.Y. and brought it back in an Abilene van. I printed the same 2 pictures I posted here full page size on my best photo paper and mailed them to him.When I saw the parade entries listed in the Farmville Herald, I noticed one said "In Memory of Gary Barr" but it just didn't register-I thought he had the Diamond T in the parade in memory of his Dad or something,but no,it was him. His Mother called him to come eat dinner last Monday night and when he didn't answer she went out to his shop and found him dead of an apparent heart attack. He was only 49,and a truck driving son of a gun!
  8. other dog

    Good,bad,ugly Week

    By other dog,

    I unloaded at Carter Lumber in Fairview, Pa. Monday morning and when I left there headed for Brookfield, Oh. it was snowing pretty hard. First snow i've seen this year. I ran out of it before I got too far though, and loaded coils and went on to Roanoke. Ran into more snow in West Virginia. Unloaded Monday night and came home, where I stayed Tuesday. Got a 55' load of piling Wednesday going to Columbus that had to be there at 6am Thursday morning. So I got there Wednesday night, and they jumped right on it and started unloading me at 11am the next morning . Only problem was I had to be in Sharon, Pa. by 2:30 to pick up an N.B.Handy load coming to Lynchburg. Headquarters called them and told them I was running a little late and they said if I got there by 3:00 they would load me. It's hard to make any time in Ohio, especially when there was a cop or DOT man in every crossover on I-71. I usually don't run but about 57 or 58 in Ohio, but I dropped the hammer and set my cruise control about 62mph. Signed in at Sharon Coating at 2:57.
    Unloaded at Handy yesterday morning, stopped by the shop to fuel and turn paperwork in, then went to Dillwyn and picked up a Fremont load for Monday. The extra day off threw my schedule off, or i'd be on the way to Greensboro to the ATHS show now.
    I wish now i'd waited 'til Friday to put 2 front tires on the pickup. The inspection expired Friday night, so Jo took it over here to this little garage on 699 to get it inspected. They said it needed a left front tire, so she called me, and I told her to just take it up to the tire place- the one on Ward's Road, by the Sheetz, where we get all the truck tires- and get two tires put on it. So she did, and they inspected it again. She called me back and said the bill came to $293. I said we only needed 2 tires (one,actually) not all 4. She said that is for 2 tires, and the inspection. They put a bulb in the license plate light and charged $7.00 to put a 10 cent bulb in, inspection was $16, the tires were $110 each,plus mounting and balancing.I called the tire shop and asked them if they put gold or silver tires on it, that was about twice what I was expecting to pay. They said "well, that's a good tire, it's a 60,000 mile tire" . It oughta be a good tire for that kind of money, but they should've called me and asked before just slapping the 2 highest priced tires they had in the store on it. Last time I go there. I could have beat that price, and gone where mounting and balancing is free when you buy new tires
    Now I gotta go to CVS and get a roll of film developed, make some more hot sauce, and smoke a pork loin
    Was gonna scan a few pictures...now the #$@ *&!! scanner won't work either! Stupid #*^@ing computers!
    Well, anyhow...my pork loin's almost done, and i'm running off another batch of hot sauce-that makes it a little better
  9. other dog
    Got another week in the bag-went back to Neville Island, Pa. with a load of beams in the Conestoga, just 30 footers, after I got the truck out of the shop. Then I loaded at Butler of course and went to Chesapeake. Stayed at home Wednesday night, then went to Orlando Thursday. They had loads going to Pittsburgh and Butler loads back to Chesapeake, but I opted for the Orlando on my flatbed, even though it's a long ways on Thursday, rather than a Conestoga and another load out of Butler. Everybody hates AK Steel at Butler. Everybody hates AK Steel everywhere really. Middletown Ohio is the worst, Ashland Ky. is the best, and Butler falls somewhere in between. Everything about AK Steel sucks, to the very highest level of suctivity. You go there and wait all evening and half the night to get loaded, then drive all night to Chesapeake to wait there all the next day to get unloaded.
    I unloaded in Orlando about 9:30 Friday morning and had to be in Statesboro, Ga. by 3:00 to get reloaded with lumber- 318 miles. I pulled in at a quarter to 3. Then the engine light came on -yes, again- a little South of Rock Hill, S.C. Back to Cat...that's OK-i'm on vacation this week anyway.
    random thoughts-
    been watching "Ice Road Truckers"-is that Lisa smokin' hot, or what?..geez!
    Hugh's still "the man"
    That haul road is just scary looking-I wouldn't want to drive it in the summer! 25 years ago maybe, but as I might have mentioned before i'm not nearly as brave as I used to be!
    Watched 2 good movies on TV this weekend- I missed the first hour of both of them, but "Blackhawk Down" is one of the best movies i've ever seen. Very intense, and very moving. Today I watched the last of "Into the Wild". Kind of hard to follow if you didn't see the beginning, but I knew the story from Jon Krakauer's book. He also climbed Mt. Everest, and wrote "Into Thin Air", an excellent book.
    Got a few pictures here from my latest adventures.
    "junk corner" at the yard-looks like a cement mixer in the background,behind the bushes
    a whirlwind at Triad Metals in Neville Island, Pa.
    Ultraliner at Neville Island
    closer view of the big hill in Butler, Pa. No babes around this time.
    A fine looking fleet of Macks
    saw Joe again, still dragging that Moffett around-he was on rt. 422 in Pa.
    a big boat in Newport News- maybe a ship even.
    R-model with twice pipes in Chesapeake.
    saw Joe again, still dragging that Moffett around-he was on rt. 460 in Lynchburg this time.
    a fine looking Freightliner in Statesboro, Ga. I thought it was their yard dog until the driver strapped that lumber down and hit the road with it.
    A Mack in Statesboro, Ga.
    R-model at an old garage on rt. 301
    B-model wrecker at the same garage.
    tomatoes from the garden-couldn't stop at 13, in case you're superstitious.
  10. other dog

    Florida

    By other dog,

    I made the trip to Florida and back,but i'd rather have gone to Romulous,Michigan or somewhere. It's too hot down there,and my AC wasn't working. I've always heard you should run the AC periodically in the winter,but I never did. Guess I should have,it worked fine when I turned it off last fall. It was a sweltering 80 degrees in Boca Raton Tuesday evening. Didn't get there 'til about 2 o'clock,because I didn't get away from Lynchburg until 3:00 Monday. I had 8 skids of sheets, 4 pallets of racks, and 1 machine. Made it down to exit 7 in Ga. Monday night and stopped at the little fuel stop and went to bed. Next morning I fueled up,because I figured fuel would be higher in Fl, got my book right,and went on to Boca Raton. I had to load lumber in Brooklet,Ga. Wednesday so I made it back up to exit 7 in Ga. and went to bed-almost 700 miles round trip,all but 14 miles in Florida.
    Like last time I saw:
    0 armadillos
    0 alligators
    1 girl in a bikini,but she was on a billboard
    ...but I did see lots of palm trees,and have pictures to prove it!
    Worst part though was right after I left the shop Monday-my trailer was in Lynchburg,and I had to go to the bank so I just bobtailed. When I pulled into 460 I thought I saw something in the mirror at the end of the driveway that looked like diesel fuel,and pulled over to make sure my fuel tank tops were tight. They were, but when I walked back around the front of the truck a tanker went by and blew my hat off. I looked in front of the truck...nothing.Looked underneath it,in the woods,in the median-no sign of it. I'm not concerned about the hat,it was just a black "Cat" cap,but it had my little bulldog pin on it with the bulldog wearing an "Aussie" hat. I bought that pin at the Winchester antique truck show year before last. I might stop there tomorrow at that little pull off and look again-I would like to find the bulldog. He's wearing a red hat if you happen to spot him.I bought a new cap at the fuel stop,and i've probably got dozens of them here-you should always carry a spare! I'm off today,unloaded the lumber in Moneta this morning, and i've got an appointment at the eye doctor tomorrow,but we didn't have anything today anyway,so... how do you like my new hat?
  11. other dog
    just some random photos taken recently. I try to get pictures of the old trucks I see...plus added bonus pictures of me-in days gone by.
    The little girl on the back of the bike is my stepdaughter-now married and has three children. I was a true trucker back then-note chain drive wallet!
    and Jobyna (on left) and sister Sharon in days gone by.
  12. other dog

    I'm Back...

    By other dog,

    Got the truck back from Cat Tuesday and took a load of black iron pipe- already loaded for me and sitting at the shop- to Conway,Pa, a little north of Ambridge on rt. 65. The load was a little lighter than usual,only 41,000+ lbs,but I could tell the truck was pulling better than it ever had. I made it past the first rest area in Pa. on I-79, the one just across the state line where they set up scales and DOT checks sometimes,but as soon as the " scales and DOT " motivation to keep going was over,I started to get sleepy so when I made it 3/4 of a mile past the rest area I pulled onto the ramp at exit 7 and went to bed.I still had about 70 miles to go probably. Next morning the phone woke me up at 6:30-it was Neal at headquarters. "Moonshiner,you at the jobsite yet?" "Uh...not quite,why?" "The other driver called and said he couldn't get up the hill because of the ice and he's waiting on a salt truck,so just hang tight 'til I call 'ya back". "Okie-doke-see ya". So I decided it was time to get up and go to work.The thermometer on the truck,which is pretty accurate,said it was 39 degrees so I wasn't too worried about ice,though it was raining pretty good. By the time I got up to Washington,Pa. it was down to 35 degrees,still good,but there was some snow mixed with the rain. When I got up to rt.279 it was 31 degrees and no sign of rain in the snow that was coming down. When I exited off 79 onto rt. 65 north,the road was completely covered. I made it up to Ambridge and went over to Oneal steel,where we deliver to regularly,and parked in their lot. Did all my paperwork and was contemplating calling headquarters when Neal called and said everything was clear,and I could go on in. When I left Oneal all I had to do was get back on 65 north and go a mile or 2,then make a right on 11th. st. The right was a hard turn,Billy Bob had already told me that because when he went there the week before he didn't see it in time to swing out,so he had to go past it and turn around and come back and make a left.What he didn't mention was the hill.I swung out,dumped my air,made the turn all right,then went a little ways and started climbing. The street had a 7 1/2 or 10 ton weight limit on it,so trucks weren't supposed to be on it anyway,but you gotta get to the jobsite and that's how the directions said to go. The hill was probably 12 or 14 percent,it wasn't marked because as I said trucks weren't supposed to be on it in the first place. Then there was a sharp curve to the left which took the whole road to make,but I didn't meet anyone in it. The next curve was a 15 mph to the right,and I met a pickup and a car in it. The car happened to be a policeman.The pickup didn't even slow down so I had to run the trailer wheels over the curb and out through the grass,or whatever was under the snow-the hill was so steep I didn't want to have to stop. At least the policeman stopped until I made it around the bend. I could see why the first truck couldn't get up it. That sucker was so steep a light shower of rain would make it hard to get up. When I was unloading it was down to 24 degrees.
    Left there and went to IDS in Macedonia,home of the lovely Rachel and-I don't know the other girl's name,the one with the shoulder length blonde hair and cutest face you've ever seen. I don't pay any attention to them anyway,i'm strictly binness . And they're happily married,I got a jealous girlfriend,i'm old enough-how did I get on this subject anyway? I loaded at IDS and went to Roanoke.Several trucks were already there waiting to unload,one of which had been there since 8 o'clock the night before. So I called headquarters and told them the situation,and ended up taking the load to a warehouse in Roanoke to unload it. By the time I got unloaded over there all the other trucks ( different carrier ) that had been at Metalsa were there too. Hope they weren't mad at me,but I had nothing to do with it,I just do what they tell me.
    Went to Concord and fueled and had a choice of a two stop load of lumber,New Castle and Grove City Pa, or kyanite going to Conneaut,Oh. Both pretty good loads,but I went to Conneaut. Big Jim took the lumber the next day,which put him by the house for the weekend too,since he lives in Reynoldsville. Then I went down to Macedonia again and loaded another Roanoke which I delivered this morning,then back to the shop in Concord and home,which put me right here right now.
    I missed the Super Bowl,but I should get to see the Daytona 500 anyway.
  13. other dog

    Me

    By other dog,

    just in case anybody was wondering,this is me,right now-what?..nobody was wondering?.. so,nobody cares where I go or what I do,or what I look like?..well,never mind then,i'll just be here-it relaxes me
  14. other dog

    More Long Loads

    By other dog,

    I've made the misery turn,brought 2 coils from Brookfield back to Roanoke,then went to Moneta and loaded treated lumber to Butler,Pa. then to Brookfield and back to Roanoke again.Got that off last night and came home,haven't called headquarters yet to see what's in store for today.
    Found a couple more pictures of oversize loads I pulled,one's on a pole trailer,the other is on a jeep,or joe dog as we called it,with a steerable dolly under the rear.We had to use the joe dog because the girder was so heavy. You always had to be careful of the front overhang with the joe dog-when you turned the front of the beam would be way over,and you could knock down a sign or pole if you weren't.These loads went from Lynchburg to Ashland,Va,just north of Richmond on I-95 .
    I didn't take a lot of pictures then,now I take pictures all the time,mainly because my "adventures" are so boring I try to add pictures for entertainment. I used to subscribe to a certain magazine and never read the articles,just looked at the pictures
  15. other dog

    Youtube

    By other dog,

    Well,I posted my first youtube video.Not much to it really,and kind of shaky-you know how a cement mixer rides! This was taken after I left the stoplight at Concord,Va. headed west on rt. 460,and passing by Litchford's garage. I'm only about a mile from the shop here.

  16. 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
  17. other dog
    I've been to Brook Park,Oh. and back. Unloaded in Roanoke last night and came home because the phone has been out since Monday night. Had a thunderstorm Monday night and lightning struck a big chestnut oak tree about 20' from the end of the house-too close for comfort! there's still bark and leaves all over the ground. The lightning struck the very top and peeled a strip of bark all the way to the ground,going around the tree like a corkscrew. I'll get a picture this weekend.
    The truck ran fine-I turned the fan on manual when I started up Sandstone mtn. and it never got over 200 degrees,and Jimmy fixed the air conditioner so I have to wear my parka while i'm driving. Jimmy said it stayed at Cat most of last week,and they found the radiator was stopped up-wonder why they didn't check the radiator the first 3 times I took it over there because it was running hot,and they said 3 times nothing was wrong with it?!!
    ...not the weekend yet,but I took some pictures anyway-I'm still here waiting for a load of steel going to Saginaw,Alabama to get to the shop
  18. other dog
    OK, enough of the nonsense,it's time to be serious. I've got a 'chicken on a can' cooking in the smoker oven too,always tender,juicy,and most delicious! Very easy to make too.
    I had to start this all over just now-it's very windy here and the power went off just for a couple of seconds,long enough to shut the computer off so I lost everything and had to restart it and start all over again. A big deal when you type with one finger.
    I left Sunday going to Fremont,Oh. When I unloaded there Monday morning the parking lot was covered with a thick layer of ice so slick you could barely stand up.It was extra slick because it was warming up rapidly and was wet on top. 38% slicker than if it wasn't wet. ( I just make this stuff up,no scientific facts here...well,once in a while there might be,'ya never know! ) It was a major operation to get in the proper unloading position. Troy the unloader man said "well maybe the weather will be better when you come back".
    Then I went all the way to Sharon,Pa. to reload coils for Handy in Lynchburg.Unloaded there Tuesday morning,then by the shop for fuel,and on to Dillwyn to load for Fremont,Oh. When I unloaded there Wednesday morning it was pouring rain. Rt. 250 was completely covered before I got to Ashland,Oh. but i drove through OK. I told Troy after I was unloaded "maybe the weather will be better next time i'm here". Then I went all the way to Sharon,Pa. to load coils for Handy in Lynchburg.Wonder what happened to I.D.S. in Macedonia,where we loaded the coils for Metalsa in Roanoke. A great place to load,never took long,all the guys were friendly there-something you don't see much anymore,and the lovely Rachel in the office with the big b-b...big eyes.
    So after I unloaded in Lynchburg Thursday I went to the shop and fueled,and sure enough there was A Brook Park (Cleveland) Oh. load waiting for me. Don't get to go by the house,don't even get to sit down,before you gotta go again.I've already ran two Fremonts-I told Todd "I'll take this Brook Park and deliver it Monday". He said " if you don't want that I've got a Parkersburg at Ed's". Great-Parkersburg sounds much better on Thursday than Cleveland. So I went to Moneta,load the lumber,go to Parkersburg,and when I get unloaded Friday morning I have to go all the way to Brookfield,Oh. to load back-coils for Metalsa. I might as well have took the Brook Park in the first place! That's the way it's been since Christmas,every weekend I either don't get home 'til Saturday or have to leave on Sunday. But as Joe says the bills never stop,so I can't either-not for long anyway. Unloaded in Roanoke Saturday morning,so at least i'm off until Monday now...though it's already Sunday afternoon.
    By the way,pretty catchy title too,don't 'ya think?
  19. other dog

    Workin' Like A Dawg

    By other dog,

    Well,I thought I had an easy run for Friday,but like the song says "there ain't no easy run". I left here at 4:45 this morning and got home at 7:30. All I had to do was take a load of pipes to Durham,then load something for Monday delivery. Only thing is there were 7 trucks at the same job,I was number 4 in line,and the loader operator looked like today was the first time he'd ever been on the machine. The loader was big enough to unload the whole stack at one time,but the forks weren't long enough. He could only carry 4 or 5 pipes at a time and had to go about 50 yards with them,so it was a slow process.
    Then I went to Petersburg to load beams for Masury,Ohio. Got there at 1:45 and the hateful b..,uh,woman I mean,in the scalehouse said "beat it,come back at 2:30". So I parked and waited 'til 2:30. Loaded at 3 different spots in the mill-all the beams are outside,on the ground,stacked in rows like pulpwood,exposed to the weather-and after I was loaded the loader man said "oops-forgot one,follow me back to the first spot we were at".
    I knew loads going to Masury had to be tarped in winter,but I thought maybe I wouldn't have to now...as usual I thought wrong. Had to tarp it. It was 91 degrees too. My air conditioner doesn't work either. As they say,it's a tough job-but somebody's got to do it.
    One more thing-we sometimes haul metal buildings for ABC-American Building. If they ever had a building going to Fishers,N.Y. I hope I get that load. I could give a whole new meaning to being "late with the freight".
    Here's a few more random pictures i've recently scanned from some of my photo albums- the longest load I ever pulled, a 149' 11" girder with a steerable dolly ( I just say it was 150',but I don't want to spread any false doctrine here),think it weighed about 74,000 lbs,took it from Abingdon,Va. to the route 840 bypass around Nashville,an old Chevrolet truck in the woods at my Daddy's in Cumberland,Va,and a chicken on a can cooking in my electric gas wood charcoal smoker oven.
    Speaking of dolly loads,that reminds me of the time Woodstock and myself had a couple of dolly loads going somewhere in Pa. Jeffrey Moore was riding with me,he was the dolly driver. Of course as soon as he got us out of the plant in Lynchburg and onto rt. 29 he jumped in the bunk and after about 2 minutes it sounded like a sawmill back there,as he was fast asleep. We stopped at the rest area on 81 between Staunton and Harrisonburg and I went into the bathroom,came out and got back in the truck and we left. A few minutes later one of the escorts called me on the CB and asked where Jeffrey was. I said he was asleep. She said "no he ain't,he's back at the rest area". I looked in the sleeper and sure enough-no Jeffrey. So I said "well,let's just leave him,he'll catch a ride home sometime or other". But she went back and got him anyway. He had gotten out and went to the vending machines and I didn't know he had ever woke up. When we pulled out and left he called headquarters and told them he'd gotten left,then they called the escort.
  20. other dog

    Procrastinating

    By other dog,

    I should've picked the tomatoes yesterday,but said "naw,i'll do it tomorrow". Now it's raining,and been raining all night. Not only is the 'mater patch muddy,the rain will cause them to split open ...but,my laziness aside,we do need the rain .
    The weather has been causing the satellite signal to come and go,so the pc works periodically. Watched Bullwinkle this morning.I thought he was Canadian,like Dudley Doright,but he's from Minnesota. A fine actor too,I didn't appreciate his humor as much when I used to watch him and Rocky years ago,but he's a great comedian-I like the way he talks...mmm-hmmm.
    and Joe,saw this in the Tractor House paper-got "NoClueJoe66"written all over it...
  21. other dog

    Fencing

    By other dog,

    Got the grass cut this morning,then had to put a fence around the garden to keep these two out of it. They've been trampling,digging,and laying all over it. Otherwise,it's looking pretty good so far. The big dog is not mine-he's lived here as long as I have,and we feed him about 3,000 lbs. of dog food a week,but he's not mine.
  22. other dog
    I went to LaCrosse and unloaded Monday morning and when I called in empty Todd said to go home and pick up a van load Tuesday evening in Lynchburg at 4:00pm going to Port St. Lucie, FL. So I did, except they called Tuesday evening and said it would be ready at 6:00 instead of 4:00. Had to be in Florida with it Thursday morning, so I had plenty of time to get there. I dropped the trailer at a power plant Thursday morning, and bobtailed all the way back. Good paying load too.
    Now i've got a load of treated lumber at the shop going to Fairview or Fairfield, Pa. Jeff said it was near Erie, and it was Fair-something or other...went in one ear and out the other.
    This computer has about driven me crazy since nocluejoe broke my webcam . I tried to uninstall and reinstall it, but it still wouldn't work...tried a different usb port-nothing. So I figured it must be the camera itself and bought another one, but it still wouldn't work. Re-uninstalled it and tried downloading the latest updated driver direct from Logitech-nothing. What gets me is the little icon at the bottom of the monitor says "your device is ready to use" but QuickCam says ""your camera is not plugged in, or is not working properly" . Well, duh! It's connected to a usb port, and obviously the %$&* thing ain't working properly ! I fooled with it half a day, control panel, device manager, programs and features, windows trouble shooting- i've been to 'em all...but it still wouldn't work
    ...wonder if Barry knows anything about computers?
  23. other dog

    Ready To Go

    By other dog,

    I got that old stew pot all clean and ready for it's next mission.I really should have done it yesterday,but...you know how that goes! I sprayed it out with the hose and it came pretty clean,then I scrubbed it and rinsed it,then boiled it out again,dumped it and reseasoned it with Crisco while it was still hot and dry.All I gotta do now is let it cool and put it away.It probably doesn't need to be reseasoned every time,but it can't hurt,as it's used infrequently.That's probably why it cleans easy and i've never had any problem with anything sticking. Now I can finally sit around and relax,which is one of the things I do best,just don't get to do it very much so I need the practice. I need some ear plugs too,'til Jobyna gets done woofing about me using her good dish towel on the stew pot and getting it dirty.Geez,what's she expect me to wipe it down with? I thought that's what they were for! I know-next time i'll use a pillow case,just to show her who's boss around here. If y'all never hear from 'ol otherdog again,you'll know what happened.
  24. other dog

    Nothing New

    By other dog,

    Well,nothing new about trucking anyway except i'm already sad that I have to work tomorrow-Memorial Day
    I've finally finished a smoker/grill that Kevin started at the shop and never finished.I offered to buy it from him and he said I could have it,and it's been in the backyard for weeks. It's made out of a 55 gallon drum,on a stand. Didn't have any grill grates for it,but I cut off some old oven racks and put them in it. They should work fine for chicken or smoking a boston butt,but smaller things will fall through pretty easy. Good thing I have 3 more grills for smaller stuff,and I still got the smoker oven too.
    Been like Elmer Fudd trying to keep a rabbit out of the garden. The beans came up,even the ones I replanted and they were looking pretty good. When I got home Thursday I looked at the garden and they looked like stems coming out of the ground-all the leaves had been eaten by a creature. Looked out the window and saw a rabbit and a squirrel in it. Last year rabbits ate the cantalopes,but didn't bother anything else. This year I didn't plant any cantolopes for them,so they ate my beans-i've been spraying the whole garden with a little hot sauce and a little dawn mixed up in a spray bottle. People tell me it works,but I don't know. I don't want to try that new grill for the first time with a roasted rabbit,but I didn't plant enough beans for me and the rabbit too. ( just kidding,PETA people )
    I've got to leave in the morning and go to Petersburg and load for Neville Island,Pa. That's just north of Pittsburgh. Last week I went to Fremont,Oh. and then over to Butler,In. and loaded steel back to Roanoke-6 coils. Then I went to Orchard Park,N.Y. and loaded at Brookfield,Oh. for Roanoke. Pennsylvania DOT nabbed me at Bald Eagle,Pa. on the way to Orchard Park. Gave me a warning ticket for my log book not being current I should have had it caught up-I had just gotten up on an exit ramp near Roaring Spring and was gonna go to the Snappy store at Bald Eagle and get a cup of coffee and get my book right. Unfortunately,the DOT was camped in the median just before you get to Snappy's.
    Rabbit is pretty tasty if you parboil it before you cook it-otherwise they're kinda tough
    might as well illustrate this entry too-the truck in the driveway, new (to me!) grill,what's left of some of the the green beans after the creature gnawed them off.
    And on a more serious note,it is Memorial Day weekend-let's not forget what Memorial Day is and remember the veterans,and those who sacrificed all so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. May God bless this nation,and keep us all safe. This I pray in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
  25. other dog
    if everything works here,these are a couple of hills that a truck driver can appreciate as being very,very,steep and the pictures show it. The Kenworth is the original one used in the "Moving On" tv series. So,what's that got to do with 36 degree banking? Bristol has 36 degree banking in the turns,and that's steep too...Besides,Paul was getting annoyed that I was taking all the good blog entry titles, a.k.a. whatever day of the week it was. It gets harder and harder to come up with a new and catchy title all the time you know.
    And another thing-I've been known to criticise drivers who graduate from "truck driving school" and hit the road already having forgotten more than myself or most everybody else has ever known about driving on this blog,and today when I was anylizing my new "Wheels of Time" I came across the article about Joe Becker. This entire issue is about drivers and companies who recieved golden achievement awards,with 50 or more years in the trucking industry. Joe Becker is 79 and still trucking. In the mid 70's he started a truck driving school in Minnesota.He offered a 6 month, 1,200 hour course for interstate drivers and a 4 month 900 hour course for intrastate drivers. You had to log 5,000 miles with an instructor to graduate,but I guarantee you those drivers knew what they were doing when they hit the road. He eventually closed down his training school when others offered shorter courses. I know they say there's a driver shortage,but the "new breed" attitude of these guys coming out now is something else.Not all,but a lot of drivers are so hateful and arrogant-nothing like the commaradorie-oh forget it,i'll never be able to spell comaraderie-that there used to be. Where drivers used to be quick to help each other,now they're quick to cuss each other out for the least little thing. Unreal...what happened?

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