other dog

Larry, I'm sure you've seen Baker Highway Express trucks in your area. They're out of Dover, and shut down in December. Todd just got a couple of their Conestogas, we already had a couple, but I haven't pulled one yet. A lot of the the big time steel haulers use them now-I'd go to IDS in Macedonia to load and there'd be a Conestoga in the next bay and he'd be loaded, chained down, slid the sides back, and out the door while I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to get started. That's the best feature, I think anyway, it might take me 30 minutes to tarp a load and it might take 3 minutes to slide the sides back on a Conestoga and fasten them. They are a bit wider though because of the rails at the bottom.

somebody hollered on the radio "step deck, your sidebox is open". I wasn't even pulling a stepdeck, but you know how you always look anyway. Both sidebox doors were closed, but those doors on the trailer box were swinging wide open.

the good thing about it was I was in the right lane-on the capital beltwat Friday evening-if i'd have been over in the second or third lane there might have been a 40 car pile-up,and i'd probably be in the slammer sure enough! The box is on the right side and everything landed on the shoulder.

must be a big pond in Fishers if it takes 3 weeks to sail across it and back.

I left here Monday and had to go to Petersburg to load a Roxana, Il. load. That makes a long day. It's about 100 miles east to Petersburg. I didn't get to Roxana until about 3 o'clock Tuesday evening, and didn't get unloaded until Wednesday morning. At least I got a return load out of Granite City, only a few miles from Roxana. Bad part was it was going to Baltimore, scheduled for Friday morning delivery. Then I had a load to pick up in Sparrows Point, about 2 miles from where I unloaded. Good load too, 2 coils going to Lynchburg. Then I could deliver that tomorrow, but...they screwed around so long unloading me in Baltimore it was too late to load it and I had to come home empty and pick up a 2 stop load of lumber at the yard going to Ohio. The stops are nowhere near each other either, one's near Marion and the other's near Akron. So i'm leaving today. And, on top of that the tool box door on my trailer decided to come open on the way home Friday and I lost most of my beveled wood, coil racks, a roll of plastic, some corner protectors, and i'm not sure what else was in there. Usually it took a jackhammer and a crowbar to get it open, but this time it just came open on it's own. Couldn't say for sure that somebody didn't check it out to see if there was anything in there worth stealing and then didn't fasten the doors good when they saw there wasn't, but who knows. Got a few pictures this week too- the capital building in Charleston,W.V. driving piling in Roxana locomotive in Roxana some old tractors in Illinois by I-70 the cut in Sideling mountain on I-68 in Maryland closer view of the cut Baltimore,from the Key Bridge

good luck Mike, I hope you get in. Maybe someday i'll see you on TV on "Hell's Kitchen". I'd like to see somebody tap chef Ramsey right in the snout , because of the way he talks to people.

Now that's just funny right there!..almost sorta-kinda maybe just about the funniest thing I ever heard

I spotted this creature in my yard, but it got away before I could capture it. I think it was trying to sneak up on the grasshopper. If it comes back i'm gonna catch it and donate it to Rob's Roadkill Cafe. It'll be in the mail soon as I catch it.

wow!.. who was throwing those cables, Superman?

Got a 2 stop load of lumber going to Carter Lumber in Kent and Green Camp. Never heard of Green Camp.

well,only about 37% of it's true.

I can't say any better what's already been said-Amen brothers! Sorry for your loss. I'm headed for Kent Sunday.

here is a picture of a new line of truck seats. It was on a crudely written brochure I got in the mail called "seats by Rob", from somewhere in Illinois.

They loaded this load right out of the field, and they probably couldn't throw those big bales any higher. They should have "stepped" it up from the rear, and they could have gotten twice as much on.

Here's a nice load of hay I saw in New Mexico.

Thank you, but it's back on now. I went out and turned it around before the snow got too deep so I could make a run at the road. Battery's dead in my snow shovel.

Hi ya Paul, i'm wondering about the same things. How's all that gonna work? SOMEBODY is gonna have to pay for all these big plans. I don't get it, but then i'm not the smartest man in the world...or even in Gladys...and come in third here, behind Jo and the dog.

That reminds me of a story-completely true by the way. I picked up a load of structural steel at Montague-Betts in Lynchburg one time going to Boston. I threw my chains across the load and climbed up on top to make sure they were placed right, and saw a dead possum laying on a beam, already swelled up. I stopped up at the Tye River Truckstop and backed up to the edge of the parking lot and found a long stick. Then I climbed back on the trailer to get the possum off. However he fell down through a hole in the beam and landed on the beam below. So I proceeded to deliver him to Boston with the steel. That job was just a dropyard, we'd drop a load there and just get an empty trailer and go, but I wish I could have seen the iron workers reaction when they found that possum. A true possum story.

I need some of them creatures to produce auxiliary power. Used to have chipmunks living in the woodpile at the old house. Our power went out from about 5:30 yesterday until 8 or 9 I think, I went to bed at dark.I think we got that 4 to 6" they were calling for-here's yesterday evening's picture, and this morning's.

Actually that is the Labrador Highway. The Diesel Gypsy has more photos of it on his website. I found this one a different site because I didn't want to use his pictures without permission or authorization

they are! how'd you know that?..you must have ESPN. Right now i'm more worried about being snowbound...hope I don't have to turn cannibal. If it comes to that, I think I can take Jo in a fair fight. State's working on the highway now though...just took this picture off the front porch.

I appreciate your concern for my well being Rob, but don't worry-I already have some of these.

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.