other dog

Mine was pretty good- I went to Cumberland, my brother had a stew today for his birthday. I saw ma and them, brothers, sister, nieces, and the stew wasn't too bad- I had three bowls of it, plus sweet potato pie my mother made. On the way home we saw a big black bear and three small bears cross the road in front of us. I was yelling "bear- get the camera!" and pointing at them, but my cameraman/assistant was so tardy getting her camera out they had disappeared into the woods by the time she finally did.

Actually this was at the scenic overlook in Winfall, I was on the way home in the pickup. I wanted to get home in time to watch Gold Rush.

I stopped at the scenic overlook by the lake to kick my tires and heard this girl yelling. She said she lost her shoes and wanted me to help her get back up the hill. I told her I didn't help her get down there and I didn't have time to help her get back up, I had to go.

...with absolutely gripping descriptions and thrilling stories! I took a van load of kryptonite kyanite down to Chester, S.C. Monday. Unloaded at Marathon Abrasives, just across the tracks from the cotton field. Then I went to Moneta, Va. and picked up a load of lumber. I dropped the van first, and loaded it on a flatbed. I saw this old store, a metal spider, a metal scorpion, and a GMC truck for sale in Moneta. Had a two stop load, Coconut Lake and New Castle, Pa. Saw this just north of Pittsburgh on I-79. This was on 79 too- front drives were raised, very short wheelbase tractor. There was a roll-over accident on 79 so they detoured all the northbound traffic off at Zelienople and over to rt. 19. Saw some old units on 19. A big Mack truck on rt. 422. Going downhill... Old trailer in the weeds at the shop. They used to haul the bulldozer on it, but it doesn't have parking brakes. Hasn't been used to my knowledge in the 10 years i've been working there. It was hard to get a good picture of it last night, it's got crap piled up on it, behind it, both sides of it, and in front of it.

Holy mackerel!..uh...nuthin' much.

So, a hunnert car bananner train in Mississippi where it's all flat would mean the engineer spotted Marcel from about a mile away...sounds legit to me.

That's the Midas touch!

Congratulations! I once took a friend who bought a truck over to the wood yard that I hauled chips from on a weekend when the yard was closed, and he had plenty of room to drive around and practice. He would back onto the scales to practice backing up, no one was around to bother him, he could take all the time he needed. After a while you just do it without even thinking about it, maybe you could find a place like that to practice with a trailer.

Well, there it is- my entire pepper crop. Got the freezer stuffed with them. I ordered 2 dozen new bottles today, and i've got some glass bottles saved that i'm going to re-use when I grind them up and make hot sauce. I've got hot bananner peppers, 2 different kinds of cayennes, jalapenos, and tabascos. I'm just gonna mix them all together. I'll probably add a bottle of "store bought" Louisiana hot sauce to make it red, since most of these are green. I like my hot sauce to be red.

I'm right there with you, Jim- #+^k spiders and snakes!

Strange...but anyway, here's some Sheilas- ...and a Joey-

Nice looking units! There's an old trailer kinda like that up at the shop, been parked in the weeds since i've been there. Tandem axles, pretty short trailer, but it's probably for sale. I'll take a picture of it sometime.

Hey Speed, long time no hear from- been working on any projects lately?

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I don't know anything about trains either, but I used to know a guy that worked for the railroad and remember him saying they started putting on the brakes 2 miles from their stop. I don't know how fast they were going in the first place though, or how long the train was. Unrelated, but a B model Mack- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMEOOWsNROo

I've bought Rocky boots the last few years and like them pretty good. They used to be made in Ohio but they're made in the Dominican Republic now, I wear them every day during the week and got about 3 years out of the last pair, they're comfortable, fit well, and they can be re-soled. Way better than the "made in China" crap they call boots at the Wal Mart store. The original plastic heater valve on my pickup lasted well over 100,000 miles, then one of the pieces that the heater hose goes on broke completely off. I found a little piece of pipe- actually cut a piece off of a bumper guide that was in the junk pile at the shop- and bypassed the valve, but I needed some heat when it got cold so I went to NAPA and got a new one. It said "made in China" on the box. I put it on and it leaked from day one, dripping where the little metal rod comes out. So I went to O'Reilly Auto Parts and got another one, made in China, and put it on. Leaked from day one, dripping where the little metal rod comes out. So I ordered one from some on-line parts place somewhere in the midwest that was guaranteed for a year, but I haven't put it on yet. It was made in China. If it leaks i'm going to Lowes and get some pvc pipe and a quarter-turn shutoff valve and make my own heater valve.

I'd bet Thor's hammer was cheaper than that one.

That'll be fine, come on down! And bring Star, xsm, sm, med, lg, xl, xxl, and all the rest. I didn't make any hot sauce last year but i'm planning to make some more this year.

I saw a big-ass spider in the sink last weekend. This is not actual size, but it was big...really big...it was huge. I do not like spiders or snakes. I saw an odd looking log truck in Dillwyn, Va. The driver looked like he was very proud of it though. I saw a big ass machine on I-81 in Harrisonburg. And some more oversize loads on rt.220 in Pa. This was parked in front of the store where I stopped to get a sammich. ...and this was parked across the road. I saw a big Mack truck getting some tire work done. Big pile of 4 wheelers at the steel mill waiting to be shredded. They're calling for frost tomorrow night so I went out and picked all the rest of the peppers this morning...the round things are not peppers though, they're tomaters.

We used to get candy for halloween, but like 4 kids came in the last 7 years so we don't even bother with it any more. I live out in the country on the backroads too.

Apparently it drives them too for that price! "All right hammer, get over there and drive nails until I tell you to stop, i'm gonna go get some lunch."

I hauled 2 of these 5 coil loads from Sharon, Pa. back to Lynchburg this week. I used my old "non-real steel hauler" snap binders, as always. I put 2 chains in the front coil and one in each of the other 4, with the chains pulled towards the center, then I threw a strap through them too, just because they're there. Then I put plastic over them and tarped them. These coils only weigh between 9 and 10,000 lbs. each, chaining down a big single is a whole different animal.

Looks like this log hauler with a nice load of white oak logs was probably having a bad day. Those surprise weight watchers meetings usually mean a bad day, and it looked like he was loaded pretty good there.

That's a great idea, I do happen to have a big 3 lb. coffee can almost full of cash- too bad it's all coins though. I put all my pocket change in it all year and take it to the bank when it's about full, usually has close to $300 in it...I hope that'll be enough!