other dog

When I was coming from Macedonia Thursday night headed to Roanoke,running with " BB Brain",somebody started yelling on the radio when we were coming down Sandstone mountain on I-64,east of Beckley. Turns out it was a Swift driver,but it could have been any number of the company drivers you see nowadays. He said "get off your brakes,you're going to burn your brakes up,have to go in the runaway ramp,and never be able to get another job with another company".Then something like "get off your brakes,I smell brakes-you're gonna die in a fiery crash.I see your brake lights,just use your jake brake,or you'll die in a fiery crash,and never be able to get a job with another company-you should kick your trainers a**!- my trainer didn't teach me like that!". And this went on for a while and I was just listening-the Swift and the other truck,I don't remember the name,it was a something-or-other express, were both in front of me,and the other truck driver never answered the Swift driver,so I finally did. As I said,I was behind them,and I never smelled hot brakes.Smelling brakes doesn't really mean anything except your brakes are working-i've had to get on the brakes hard at a red light and could smell brakes when I got stopped.Now,if you can't see the truck for the smoke,and it looks like a burning brush pile coming down the mountain,that's a different story. Maybe the other truck didn't have a jake.Maybe he did and it wasn't working.Maybe he liked his job and didn't want to drive for a different company anyway,but I can see why a Swift driver might assume everybody else does,because he drives for Swift. Jake brakes sure are nice,but I remember when nobody had a jake-you might see one once in a while,but they certainly were not a common item like they are today. Many times I've loaded over 50,000 lbs. of coils at Armco Steel (now AK Steel) in Middletown,Ohio and ran rt. 60 from Charleston,W.V.over to Sam Black Church in an F-model Mack with no engine brake,no power steering,and an AM radio that didn't work-I-64 wasn't even finished,it ended at Sam Black Church.Rt. 60 was the only way you could go,unless you ran the W.V.Turnpike to Princeton,then 460 over to Christiansburg,and picked up I-81. The steel usually went to Harrisonburg or Buena Vista,and that was too far out of the way to go through Princeton,so going across "Hawk's Nest" was no big deal-I still go across there occasionally,just for the adventure.It's very steep,and crooked as a dog's hind leg.So,back to the Swift truck,I finally told him "I guess if you didn't have your jake brake and power steering,and GPS,satellite communication with dispatch,cell phone,and color TV,you'd just park it at the top of the mountain quit,and walk home,since you don't have any brakes except your jake brake".He said "oh no,I could drive this truck without a jake brake-or power steering". I kind of doubt that he could,if he had to run the old road,but it's all he's ever known,having all the modern equipment.That last curve at the bottom of the mountain going into Rainelle would probably be the end of him,like it's been for many others.

Yep,that's it!

Cheswick,Pa.-that's where I went. I remember now,since I've already been there and back. I called Tina,one of our drivers who had been to this jobsite before, and after I talked to her I was beginning to regret taking this load instead of the pipe going to Anderson,S.C. She said it was very cramped,they sat all day waiting to get unloaded because they were pouring concrete,and concrete trucks were in and out all day until 5 o'clock that evening.She also said you had to go down a steep hill and drive onto a barge to get to the island where they were unloading,then they had to be pushed back up the hill,and they had to pick the back of their trailers up with a crane and move them over to make the turn through the gate at the railroad tracks to get out. Geez,what have I gotten myself into here? Usually if you're expecting the worst,it's never that bad. I made it in,you had to cross the tracks and make a hard left after you crossed the tracks but you couldn't pull very far forward through the gate because a crane was set up there,then hug the chain link fence on the left,because then you had to make a hard right to go down the steep cut they had made in the bank,but again you couldn't pull very far forward to make the turn because of a pile of stuff they had on the ground,and there was a little green thing on the right-looked like a gas meter or something-that you had to clear before you turned. I had dumped the trailer air on the back axle and locked the power divider in at first,and made all the turns with inches to spare.When I got down the hill I had to get over as close to the air compressor parked on the right at the bottom to make the hard left onto the "bridge" which was actually barges side by side across the river.When I talked to Tina I thought they put the truck on a barge and floated over to the island,and I wasn't too sure about all that! But I felt pretty good about the bridge when I saw them drive a bulldozer across it before I went across. So I made it onto the bridge and went across and got unloaded,turned around,and went back up the hill OK,and made it back through the gate without having to pick the trailer up and move it over. I should mention that I had a 48' trailer,and the others had 53s, and like I said I had only inches to spare on all the turns,including getting onto the bridge. I reloaded at Macedonia,Oh. for Roanoke and unloaded there Thursday night. Yesterday morning back at the shop Todd gave me a choice of another load of piling to Cheswick or kyanite going to Orrville,Oh. I went with the Orrville.

I get that too,I'll be looking forward to reading it.

Just got my "Double Clutch" today.Good story,though sad,about the Procter Company.Just a great restoration of the B-813SX though.What a tough truck!

Welcome indeed-some (OK,one then)of my best friends are from Ontario. (Elliot Lake)

Handsome chaps you got there Joe-but the one in the little hat looks like he's dreaming about driving a tri-plex-what's up with that? What are their names? One looks like a Bill and the other looks like a Tom.My name's William Thomas by the way.How about Joseph William Paul Van Thomas Scott.. ? No? well,it was just a thought.

You are exactly right,on every point you made.There is a difference between "immigrant" and "illegal immigrant" that a lot of people don't seem to get. And we had a pile of broken chain binders at the shop in the floor-not bent,broken-that said "made in China" on every one of them. The ones that say "made in USA" might bend,but they do not break.These Red Wing boots i'm wearing right now are a couple of years old and I just had them resoled,so they should be good for a couple of more years. Everybody on welfare in this country,unless they're disabled,ought to HAVE to (I don't know how to underline,but anyway...) do something,whether it's picking up trash along the highway or cleaning at the school or courthouse,instead of popping out babies and collecting even more money. A lot of people say "why SHOULD I work,when the government pays me to sit on my fat a** and do nothing?",so that's exactly what they do. Maybe if they had to work anyway,they'd get a real job and be a productive member of society instead of a parasite to everyone else.I know some people need and deserve help,but too many people just take advantage of anything and everything they can-it's not about the common good,it's what's good for ME! Me,right now!..oh yeah,I could go on and on...

Hi Paul,just got a preview of the '08 F.L.Moore and Sons calendar-has an H-model on it.

Thank you Paul...thank you very much.

Made the Fremont turn,and brought coils back to Roanoke again to the frame rail plant.After I got unloaded I loaded some rails and took them to Rustburg,to the school bus place.Now I've got to go load some 51' beams in Petersburg at 10 am tomorrow going to...gee,I forgot.But it's in the Pittsburgh area,on rt.28 just north of the turnpike.Had some leftover turkey and sweet potato pie for supper,still delicious.Had turkey sandwiches for lunch this week that I took with me. Now i'm just waiting for a tape i'm copying from a DVD for Big Jim to finish,and i'm gonna turn in.I gave Big Jim a BMT calendar,and he said he was going to keep the mixer picture and frame it when the calendar's out dated.I told him i'd be glad to print one for him so he could keep the calendar intact,so I did. I'm very proud to have the picture of it on the calendar.

Way to go Joe!...and you said they're eating like little WHAT'S?!!...Wait 'til they're teenagers-you might want to buy Food Lion stock now,so you can get a discount on your groceries.Are they boys or girls? Or perhaps one of each?P.S.-Way to go Joe's wife too!

nice choice,that red with black fenders.

I'm tellin' 'ya-that turkey,taters,onions,and celery-it's really good!

I only got three days,but i'm sure i'm a little fatter! Gotta leave for Fremont,Oh. as soon as I take a shower.

it's good.She always made it out of the leftover turkey. It might be better'n poke salad,but i'm not sure.

I could almost guarantee that somebody here could do that conversion.

sounds like you work at a wood yard

Since I had pictures of the whole turkey smoking process,I might as well show how it ended-with all the meat that was left pulled from it,placed in a pot with potatoes,onions,celery seed,and some thickening (flour and water),little salt and pepper...it's what Mama used to call turkey hash,and it's better than the turkey was! There's one of them sweet potato pies there too.

Thanks Joe-hadn't heard from you for so long I thought maybe you'd transferred to an unknown location somewhere near the arctic circle-either that or you were at the hospital.

Hey!

Hi!

Well it's almost time for the holiday to end and get back to the real world.Gotta leave for Fremont in the morning. I got a letter from DMV this week,and I've got to get the mixer retitled,and pay another $50.My wife's name was on the title as co-owner and since their records indicated that one of the owners was deceased,I have to get a new title and tags. I don't see what difference it makes,but it makes them 50 more dollars. Nobody would have ever caught it ,but a few months ago DMV sent a form to everybody that owned a vehicle with antique tags on it.You had to fill it out and have it notarized before you sent it back,or they'd pull your tags.It just had questions about how you used the vehicle,and if you had another vehicle. Va. law restricts antique vehicle use to club activities,exhibits,tours,parades,test drives and so on,but you can't use it as a daily driver,or to and from work.A lot of people did abuse it,you see beat-up '71 pickups with antique plates on them all the time hauling firewood and beat-up '68 Biscaynes at the grocery store,vehicles people never had any intentions of restoring,or even fixing-vehicles with antique plates don't have to be inspected in Va. either. So,even though I'm good on the usage part,that's how they ran across the name on the title and hit me up for the " one time "$50 fee. again.

this is a nice looking B-67 that was on the F.L.Moore and Sons calendar this year-best looking truck on the calendar.Didn't say who owned it or where it was from.

private Big Jim,you've been volunteered for a very dangerous mission if the General says it's a go...good luck