other dog

G'day mate (that's Australian) and Like to see some pictures of the White,sounds like a nice restoration.

Hey Joe & Amber,and Parker,and Paxton (I didn't know who came first,so I just put'em in alphabetical order )-I'm glad you finally checked in,saved me a trip to Tennesee to see what had happened to you. Hope something turns up for you soon. I've never run a bulldozer,but if it's like riding a bicycle they say you never forget!...bulldozer-bicycle.....well,they both start with a "b" anyway. Only thing is,if the bulldozer breaks down you probably won't be able to push it home.

me too. zzzzzzzzz....

thanks James,not much weekend left,i'm fixing to go to work now

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.

nice tatoo by the way

A.K.A. sidewinders

it's way past my bedtime,but i'm waiting on another youtube video to download.It's really crappy,but I have to go through a long process to do it.Maybe i'll get a camcorder with my tax refund to help stimulate the economy.If I don't go to jail forever that is-I did my own taxes online,for the first time ever.Used Turbotax,and it wasn't too bad.If I don't end up in jail...I shouldn't,I followed the instructions step-by-step so I should be ok. Anyway,I had to put a tape in the vcr and play it,pick out the parts I wanted and tape them on another little camcorder that uses a small tape,a little bigger than a cassette,then play that back through the vcr and record it with my digital camera,then transfer that to the pc and download it to youtube. The original tapes are old,from the mid '90s when I had the mudbogger.I could get them all put on dvd's,just never have. So by the time I do all that they end up looking pretty bad by the time they get to youtube. If I get a new camcorder i'm gonna try more bigger better mixer shots,maybe a drive by even-if I can find a good used tommy gun. ( I am joking )

Barry was taking the picture

so...uh...what's your mother in law look like?

hey Joe,'sup? I know you've been here,why are you maintaining the low profile? I won't tell anybody

what did I do?! I didn't know I had such a big fat head!..guess I won't be needing my comb for a while-oh well,I had to much stuff to carry around anyway

somewhere around 300,000 I think No,really I don't know-probably about 120.Some run way more than I do,some a lot less.

yes,it was a good one...where'd that Ryan Newman come from anyway? I was glad to see Kyle Busch not win-I know he was on a mission to show Rick Hendrick how wrong he was,and he might have all the talent in the world,and I realize he's just 22,but that attitude...but he's just 22. I'm wondering what's gonna happen the first time he wrecks his teammate Tony Stewart,and as my mama used to say, Tony "stomps a mud puddle in him,then stomps it dry"...should be interesting.

sounds like you've got things coming your way Paul. And it's always good to see old iron still working. Jeff Moore is always telling me I should take that mixer off and put a flatbed on my truck,but I wouldn't have enough work for it to make it worthwhile to put the insurance on it and pay the taxes on it. Besides,I always tell him the mixer gives the truck "character"-you see lots of b-model flatbeds at shows,but i've never seen another mixer.

Thanks Bollweevil,I should send this on to Jeff and Todd-to hear them tell it i'm a lazy bum who never does anything ( I know they're just kidding!)

I haven't really thought of it either,but if the rooster could do all that... wonder if you can still get it?

ugliest truck ever? this gets my vote...

some people seem to live looking to sue somebody for something to "get rich quick",whether it's for the coffee being too hot or the bulldog's ears being too long. Nobody is responsible for their own actions. hmmm...my hood don't tilt,but I could claim I was drunk and high on crack and tripped and when I tried to break my fall I grabbed for the hood of the mixer and caught my ring on the dog's ears and pulled my finger off,and sue the ring maker, the liquor distiller, the crack dealer,and bulldogs with ears that are too long.

Yep,the '77 I drove was all Mack and had a gold bulldog,the '79 had a Cummins and Fuller trans. with a chrome bulldog.

wow,neat-I didn't know you could do that!

hey Joe- where are you, if anywhere?..talk about otherdog going m.i.a.

yeah,right Paul,-oh..."Dale"'s coming on now on CMT,gotta go.

yeah,not too bad.I get up in the morning and take a shot of geritol,then i'm good to go 'til nap time!

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.