other dog

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

What?!!! oh, you thought- naw, naw, naw, I spend a good bit of time trying to get out of work, not trying to do more . I don't take any artificial stimulants except coffee and an occasional Amp or Red Bull energy drink. When I get tired I go to bed. I was just thinking perhaps Mike went to visit and got rubbed out ...just a thought.

That's great, congratulations Nikki! by the way...haven't heard from Mike in a while- he didn't happen to come over to see Nikki lately, did he?..just wondering what might have happened to him

I got one tire that's low, but not flat. I can't put air in it because the valve stem is mashed almost flat on the end. Didn't want to buy a tube for it because I really need tires, but I don't drive it very far or very often either. I've been parking in pretty much the same spot there every year. Last year I dripped power steering fluid on the ground, this year it was fuel. The little clip with the wing nut that holds the plunger down on the pump came loose and it was dripping a little fuel. I saw a red B-model at Winchester with just the top of the hood and fenders painted black, like Old Bill's, and just liked the looks of them. I think the whole hood and fenders would be too much black.

Yeah...I know. I'm still planning to get the top of the hood painted black some day, when I can afford it again. Right now I really need to get some wheels so I can put some of Todd Moore's good used tubeless tires on it-it seems to drive worse every time I drive it now, like the left front and right rear drive tires are egg shaped instead of round. They're all caps and some have cuts in the sidewall on the inside- just junk really. It wants to bounce and shake and drift all over the road- unless you want to buy it. In that case it drives like a Cadillac!

The Fairlane is a nice unit. That and the blue Mustangs are all owned by members of the Hackett family I think, and they like those Fords. They used to bring a a '58 F-600 pulp wood truck that looks like new with a chain saw on the back about the same age and win the big truck trophy every year, but I didn't see it this year. Charles Hackett started the benefit for his brother-in-law. He's a logger and has a Ford L-800 or 8000 with a 6-71 Detroit in it. He used to have a straight pipe on it and you could hear him coming from about 7 miles away. I didn't live too far from them when I lived in Appomattox. I lived about a mile from the Buckingham county line on rt. 24 and Toga is about 2 miles into Buckingham county. I liked the dark blue Chevelle too- the '70 with the 454. I had a '70 SS396. The one with the hood up is a '68 or '69, but I can't tell which. The black Camaro was a nice hotrod too. The '71 Cutlass Supreme was a beautiful car too- I had one of them too, a '70 model 2 door, not a convertible. One of the best cars I ever had. Shame they ruined the looks of this one with those idiotic looking tires and wheels...just my opinion. The maxed man was I.

I just got back from the 7th. annual Toga community benefit, a benefit for 2 deserving people in the area, picked by committee. It's usually for people who are facing overwhelming medical conditions and expenses. I always contribute something, and have every year. I donated $15 to enter the mixer in the car show, and always find something to donate for the silent auction. This year it was a Dale Earnhardt collector set that had a coffee mug, a handled mug, and a ceramic magnet in it- still in the box it came in. Don't remember where I got it, but i'm pretty sure someone gave it to me for Christmas one year. It's just people helping people, and that's a good thing. I think that's what I like best about BMT, it's all about people helping people. I took some pictures of the car show, there were some nice rides there.

True, pinto beans and cornbread wouldn't be a money maker but they'd be a big hit at the company picnic.

I hadn't even thought about that, good point- you could have the pinto beans and ham on one and the cornbread on the other one.

Some places out west they'll pull 2 trailers. I can see the advantage, if you had a fairly long ways to haul and a good place "on site" to drop the trailer, but on a short haul, or if you had to drop the trailer a long ways away then drive through traffic to get to a jobsite, then that's a horse of a different hue.

that's it in a nutshell- it's all in how you drive it and what it's going to be used for.

yeah- there's nothing like the sound of a V8 Mack!

The rest of the pictures are here- http://community.webshots.com/album/573745805JUdVLj?start=0 Also put a few more in my "Old Macks in Cumberland" gallery, after a return visit to P.L.Duncan's place. Bad part was, he had what looked to be an EHU or EFU Mack in excellent shape and I didn't get a picture of it! I always liked the look of these old Internationals but had never seen one up close, not even at antique truck shows- and Mr. Duncan had one. Kinda looks like a locomotive cab.

I went to the ATHS show in Lincolnton, N.C. with NoClueJoe today. I've been resizing and editing pictures since I got home. I'll post more tomorrow here or on webshots or somewhere, i'm too beat to finish them tonight.

well, if you are planning to whip him, now would be the time to do it, while he's incapacitated.

owhh!