Jump to content

other dog

BMT Benefactor
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,547

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    445

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by other dog

  1. other dog
    Went to the annual benefit at the Toga Volunteer Fire Department today. I took some pictures there at the car show,but I left and went to see my Mother and Father in Cumberland,Va. before everything was there...it had just got started good when we left,and was about over by the time we got back. Stopped by to see my oldest son on the way back,and gave him his birthday present...his birthday was August 19th,so I was A little tardy.
    I took pictures of what was there before we left,then a fleet of big Mack trucks in Cumberland,then on the way to my son's house saw the "truck of the day"-A beautiful Diamond T (that's not how you spell beautiful is it? it just don't look right...never mind,i'll ask Rob later) sitting in Gary Barr's yard.So we stopped and I chatted for about an hour-if you check out Old Bill's website and read my entry in "How You Got Started in Trucking",he's the guy that was too young to drive out of state.We ran several trips to the west coast together before they found out,and was practically born in a truck. He can wheel! Hadn't seen him for years,and it was a great time! His daddy had a Diamond T,and I remember Gary driving it to school...really! I thought it was the same truck,but he found this one in New York and brought it home. It's smaller than the one his Dad had,gas engine w/a 5 speed and 2 speed rear.
    So,i'll just put the pictures in a gallery because there's so many,and i'll be looking forward to seeing Paul's pictures from Watt's Mack's open house-would have liked to have been there,but it just didn't work out. I also took a few more of my mixer,because I waxed it yesterday,for the first time ever.
    So check out my albums for the pictures,i'm starting to post them...NOW!
  2. other dog
    Went to Petersburg and picked up a load of beams Monday after I unloaded in Vinton,Va. Delivered them in Bethlehem,Pa. Tuesday morning and then went to Sparrows Point,Md. and loaded one single coil for Salem,Va. that weighed about 47,000 lbs.Then I loaded kyanite for Avon,Oh. and went from Avon to Pittsburgh and loaded 2 coils at Galv-Tech going to Lynchburg.Unloaded there Friday morning and went to Dillwyn and loaded kyanite for Donora,Pa. to deliver Monday morning-only 6 pallets,about 22,000 lbs .I was supposed to go to Zelienople,but they changed it when I got to Dillwyn....
    (yawn)...geez,...so what? This is so boring (but I like it when nothing out of the ordinary happens) i'll add some pictures of my recent travels for entertainment purposes-A Super Liner dump truck,an old Ford I saw on rt. 460 near Disputanta,Va, a Mack going down the highway backwards as fast as I was going forward (...gee,hope it wasn't behind a wrecker...),traffic back-up on I-81 just north of Roanoke because of an accident, a big Mack truck in Montvale,Va, and what else? oh,I remember,a sharp looking Peterbilt at the truckstop in Newcomerstown,Oh. And a b-61 at the KW lot in Youngstown,Ohio out of the Truck Paper.Don't see them on a dealers lot much anymore.
  3. other dog
    just some random photos taken recently. I try to get pictures of the old trucks I see...plus added bonus pictures of me-in days gone by.
    The little girl on the back of the bike is my stepdaughter-now married and has three children. I was a true trucker back then-note chain drive wallet!
    and Jobyna (on left) and sister Sharon in days gone by.
  4. other dog

    More Youtube

    By other dog,

    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 )
  5. other dog

    Mountain Country

    By other dog,

    I unloaded a load of pipe right on top of a mountain ( well actually on the side of a mountain-everything in Cumberland,Md. is either on top of,the side of,or at the bottom of a mountain ) Monday morning,then went to Boardman,Oh. and picked up a magnet,then went to Macedonia and got a load of coils going to Roanoke.After I got the coils off I went to Petersburg and delivered the magnet and picked up another one going back to Boardman to be refurbished-they make new electro magnets there and also refurbish old ones.It's not very big,about 4' long and maybe 2' wide,and it was already pretty late when I got it loaded,so I brought it back to the shop in Concord,Va. in hopes of getting a load of Kyanite or something to go with it. They had a load going to Buffalo at the yard that was just 2 beams,about 8,000 lbs. so maybe that will work out-that would make a good paying load too,and light.The magnet is small,but it weighs about 8,000 lbs,so i'd be a little over with a load of kyanite.It's just a shame to take that little magnet by itself with all that trailer floor left over.
  6. other dog
    I delivered that load in Roxana Monday, and boy did I get a surprise! Neal told me when I called in empty to go to Blytheville, Arkansas to pick up a load going to- he said "I can't pronouce it, but it's p-u-y-a-l-l-u-p". I said "well what state is that in?" He hesitated a few seconds and said "Washington". So I said "yeah, right-where am I going?" He said "you wanna talk to your boss-man?" I said "yeah...it's probably in Kentucky somewhere". Then Jeff got on the phone and I asked him if I was going to Washington and he said "that's what Todd said". I still thought it was a joke and everybody at the office was in on it until I got loaded and it was on the shipping order, right there where it says "ship to", it said Puyallup Washington.
    I went to Blytheville, got loaded, went back north to St. Louis, turned left and headed west. Had to stop and buy tire chains, because there's a substantional fine for not having them, but I had no intention of using them, if I had to wait 'til spring to cross the passes. I know Rob would have sent me a sammich by Fed-Ex. Only bad weather I hit was in Wyoming, from south of Casper all the way to Billings, Mt. Some of the slickest roads i'd ever encountered. Except for that, and fog in Washington (I saw Mt. Rainier from the top of the 10 mile 4% grade you climb after you cross the Columbia River in Washington,and never got to see it again because of the fog) , and high winds in Montana and Wyoming on the way back, the weather was great. It was warmer out there than it was here last week. It was 70 degrees in Denver when I came through on the way back. I unloaded in Puyallup Friday morning, then reloaded in Seattle for Houston, Tx. Had to stop in Spokane Friday night and take a 34 hours off because I was out of hours. Did all my laundry and left there Sunday morning. Unloaded in Houston Wednesday morning, went up to Midlothian and loaded steel going to Milton, Pa. Got to the shop at 6:30 this morning.
    I took I-70 to Kansas City, then 29 north into Iowa, rt. 2 into Nebraska, then I-80 west to rt. 26 into Wyoming, then I-25 north to I-90 west all the way to Washington. Came back the same way except I stayed on I-25 all the way into New Mexico, then took rt. 87 and 287 to Dallas and I-45 to Houston. Then it was 45 and 287 to Midlothian, then 20 to 30 to 40 to Knoxville, and 81 back to Va.
    I took 350 pictures on the trip, which i'm trying to put on discs now. I'll probably put some on webshots too.
    I'm gonna put some pictures on here now, but since there's so many i'll just put them in a new gallery, so check them out...
  7. other dog

    My Latest Adventure

    By other dog,

    Sure enough, the snow's up to the bumper, and I haven't been anywhere near Florida lately. Left last Sunday with a load of beams going to Cullman, Al. then motored over to Iuka, Ms. to pick up a load of used piling going to Morehead City, N.C. Left there when I got unloaded and went to Dillwyn to load Kyanite going to Fremont, Ohio.
    The engine fan came on on the truck Monday or Tuesday and would not cut off- even if the engine was off all night the fan was running when I cranked up the next morning. Then Wednesday night on the way to Fremont the engine light came on again before I got to Lewisburg, W.V. So I had to go all the way to Fremont with over 46,000 lbs. on, then I reloaded 48,000 lbs.-7 scrap coils-in Burns Harbor, In. and came back with the fan running constantly, which cuts your power a good bit, and with the engine light on, which cuts your power back a helluva lot.
    Turns out it didn't make much difference, as I stayed at a truckstop in Grayson, Ky. from Friday night until Sunday morning. The West Virginia Turnpike was closed as was I-64 east from Beckley because of the heavy snowfall. No way I would try rt. 60 in those conditions, so there was nothing to do but wait it out. When they finally got the turnpike cleared I left Grayson just before daylight Sunday morning. The turnpike was fine, just wet, but as I whined and cried about last year, and the year before, when you got off the pike at Beckley and headed east on 64 you were pretty much on your own. There was one lane cleared in each direction, and sometimes it was just 2 tracks- the rest was snow covered. Cars and trucks were in the ditches and in the median all across there. 2 big trucks were turned over on their side. The plow drivers said they just couldn't do anything with that much snow-but they always manage to get the turnpike cleared. I-64 from Staunton to Afton mountain was no better. I finally hit clear road again around Charlottesville- normally it's about 6 hours from Grayson to the shop in Concord, but it took me all day to get to Ivor, Va. where I called it a day. I unloaded in Suffolk yesterday morning and went to the shop. Jeffrey brought me home, and the truck's going back to the Cat shop for the umpteenth time.
    All these pictures were taken on I-64 in W.V. This parade was only doing about 20 mph.
    The pictures might not work, they take a long time to download here and I made them pretty small. They might be like the Rosie's cat picture- I made that real small but it ended up big on the post and when you clicked on it it got smaller, down to the size it was supposed to be in the first place. Stupid computers (Freighttrain)
  8. other dog

    New Boots For Jo

    By other dog,

    I've been out seeing how much money I could spend today,or so it seems anyway.I went to the drug store and got a prescription filled, stopped by the cell phone battery store to get a new battery,then had to go to Altavista to the shoe shop to get my boots I was having resoled.Made the mistake of criticising ( that just doesn't look right-maybe I can't spell criticizing either ) Jobyna's driving along the way,and how she pays attention to everything except what she's supposed to be doing,which is driving. Pretty quiet trip to Altavista.When we got to the shoe shop I saw her looking at a pair of Justin boots when I was about to pay for my repair job,and ended up buying them for her. They were $135 and the pair right beside them was $100,but she didn't like them,even though they looked pretty much the same to me.I get most of my shoes from Sportsman's Guide or Wal-Mart way cheaper,but sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do.Anyway,all is well again.Lesson learned. ...and it finally rained,for the first time since the last time.Good rain too,just what we needed-over 4 inches total, but spread over 3 days.
  9. other dog
    I've got a full report of my weekly adventures, but don't have pictures to prove any of it, so i'll save that for later. Even took photographic evidence of myself being broke down again, but it was just a flat tire...right front steer tire as a matter of fact.
    Went to the Appomattox Railroad Festival Parade today, drove the mixer in it.( new video on youtube,by the way ) . What a great day for a parade! Beautiful weather,great turnout, more beautiul women than you could-well...you know. Didn't get any pictures of any of them because Jo-well...you know. Did get a few pictures though.
    And how about college football? I always thought the greatest college football game ever played was Oklahoma/Nebraska in 1971 or '72, won by Nebraska 35-31. I've been a Sooner fan ever since. But the Oklahoma/Texas game today was also a great one, as was North Carolina/Notre Dame. Now,even though there's not a lot of good news around anywhere at the moment, if Kyle Busch finishes out of the top twenty again...that'll be good.
    And, some pictures from today...
    a nice looking restored Duster 340 ( oops-forgot to resize)
    the Woolridge Brothers chevyII drag race car
    ummm...62-3-or 4 Chevrolet
    A model Mack-haven't I seen this somewhere before?
    '57 Chevy
    A big dog with "Spot" the book bus...is that dog going to pee on that tire?!!
    Otherdog (the beagle,not me) would never do that!
    ...and a beautiful woman scratching her head, like she's got cooties or something...
  10. other dog

    New Hat...and Gloves!

    By other dog,

    OK, maybe it doesn't take a lot to excite me anymore. I got soaked in Fremont while untarping a while back, then soaked again in Erie Monday rolling my straps up. Already had a cold, and was wishing I had something to keep my head warm. The old baseball cap just wasn't doing it for me. Found just the thing at the local Wal-Mart store today. Covers my ears and if I have trouble hearing I can open the fold-out ears to hear a pin drop miles away (see second photo). It's camouflage colored except for the fur part, but you can't see it because it's camouflaged. And no,I won't be afraid to wear it-I wore it around in Wal-Mart until Jo insisted I take it off. I'll take comfort over style, especially when it's freezing in Ohio. And I picked up some new gloves too-the ''dollar a pair'' cardboard ones I usually get at truckstops only last a day or so before they're worn out. So i'm happy as a dog with two-well,you get the idea.
    I went to Duluth,Ga. when I got back from Erie and picked up this load of racks ( the orange things on the trailer, not the things you rate online-uh...never mind that) and brought them back to King William,Va. I'm backed inside the warehouse at Nestle-Purina on Tidy Cat rd.(yeah,really-but everybody's gotta be somewhere) getting unloaded. I also took a picture of Jeff's new truck that I passed on.. It was at the shop when I got back Friday, but it was dark by then as I had to go to Petersburg and load for Montgomery, Alabama for Monday. Might be good to be headed south again because they said it's supposed to be very cold in Ohio tomorrow...very,very cold. Coulda' tried out my new hat though.
  12. other dog

    New Physical

    By other dog,

    I've got to leave Sunday for Midland City, Al. It's near Dothan. My DOT physical also expires Sunday, so I went to renew it today. Somehow I managed to pass it again, so i'm good for 2 more years. The young girl who took my blood pressure said "now we have to wait 'til we get a room". Meaning an examination room for the doctor of course. So I said ''get a room?!! but we just met, shouldn't we at least go to dinner first?''...yeah, I know-that's the same thing she thought. That's about as funny as a screen door in a submarine. I must be off.
  13. other dog

    New Red Truck

    By other dog,

    Looks like i'm behind a little, haven't said anything since before Thanksgiving. I left Sunday and went to Orchard Park,N.Y. I must say that New York does an excellent job on the roads when there's snow, at least in that area (rt.219 from Pa. to Buffalo). Another driver went to Orchard Park last week to deliver Friday, but he broke down somewhere near Bradford, Pa. and had to have the truck towed to Bradford. He said the wrecker was an old Mack, but I don't now if he meant AC old, b-model old, or r-model old. Big Jim's truck broke down in Ohio the week before last and needed a camshaft, so he left it at the Freightliner dealer in Monroeville and rented a car to drive home to Reynoldsville,Pa. He went to Monroeville and picked his truck up when it was repaired then went to Lantz Corners, Pa. and picked up the Orchard Park load and delivered it.
    Meanwhile, I delivered in Ochard Park Monday and went to Brookfield, Ohio and loaded coils for Roanoke. Dropped in Roanoke Tuesday and went to the shop and had my truck serviced. Todd told me I could go on home and he had an Orlando load out of N.B.Handy for tomorrow. Sunny Florida is nice this time of year, except when I went in Wednesday Orlando had been moved to Ohio, to a place formerly known as Negley, and the load changed to a load of kyanite. So I unloaded in Orlando-I mean Negley-Thursday morning and went up to Masury and loaded more coils for Roanoke. They said they couldn't unload them until after 1pm, so I lollygagged around and got there at 11:30 and untarped, and they said it would be many hours before they could unload me so I ended up taking them to a warehouse in Roanoke and unloading them.
    They've got another Negley load for Monday, but they're gonna put a couple of new windshields in the truck Monday morning, so i'll load and go Monday.
    Jeff's new truck came in last week. A pretty red 386 Peterbilt. He said I could take it or keep what I got, it didn't matter to him. I think i'll just keep what I got.
    Now the title fits anyway.
  14. other dog
    I went to Raleigh with a load of steel on a side kit trailer this morning,got lost, ( kind of par for the course for me ) then came back to the shop and tied down a load of pipe going to Cumberland,Md. for Monday delivery. The guys in the shop had discovered that an empty Pepsi bottle explodes much louder than the windshield washer jugs.I guess they just ran out of the jugs and had to find something else.The Pepsi bottles take much more pressure to explode-then they'll blow off of the fitting and go flying across the shop,or the yard.They fired 2 of them at me out of a piece of exhaust stack when I was strapping my load down-Kevin had it on his shoulder like a grenade launcher while Tom applied the air, but I was out of range and the wind was throwing their aim off anyway. But,as they say,all good things come to an end. Todd (boss man) sent word down from the office that if he heard any more noise he was going to "fire the whole bunch".Tom put his impact wrench down and said "well I can't change this tire then,the impact wrench makes too much noise". I just left and came home.
  15. other dog

    North Dakota

    By other dog,

    Now I can mark North Dakota off the list. Oregon is the only state I haven't been to, in the lower 48 that is. Can't go to Hawawii because I might run out of fuel on the bottom of the ocean before I got there. Wasn't much scenery along the way to North Dakota-or at least not the spectacular scenery like there was going to Washington. Never seen so many sunflowers before though.Huge fields of them.
    I left Saturday and drove to Pittsboro, In, home of NASCAR great Jeff Gordon. That's what the sign said. Sunday morning I left the Loves truckstop and drove on to the Pipeline truckstop at the 100 mile marker in Minnesota. We were scheduled to unload Tuesday morning but we got unloaded Monday evening. I got to Williston about 4 or 4:30 mtn. time. I made such good time I figured i'd be the first truck there but the other 2 were already at the jobsite.
    The load paid good going out, but we ended up having to deadhead all the way to Chicago and Indiana to load back. I had to pick up 4 coils in Kingsbury, In. and 1 more in Greenfield, just east of Indianapolis. Couldn't find anything in North Dakota. There was lumber coming out of South Dakota, from Rapid City and Spearfish but the broker said it was 48,000 lbs (which really means 52,000) ,which I can't scale, and you needed lumber tarps, which I didn't have, plus it didn't pay anything. So we deadheaded about 1200 miles.
    I got home Thursday night about 9:30. Could have unloaded in Suffolk yesterday, but I only had an hour and a half left to work so i'll unload Tuesday. Ran 3,840 miles in 6 days.
    I can't upload pictures on my blog for some reason, so i'm posting no pictures.
  16. other dog

    Not So Hot...

    By other dog,

    That's in answer to the question "how's it going?"
    I'm sitting here waiting for the air conditioner guy-after calling about 4 different places,I finally found one in Altavista that said they'd be here sometime today,but I have no idea when.
    Called Jeff too. He said the parts for the truck should be in today,so I won't be going anywhere today.Not only was the head gasket blown,they're putting a camshaft in it too because that had a lobe wiped off. He sounded very disgruntled,as there's no warranty on it.
    Been trying to find a cheap car,the engine in the '94 Taurus that my son was driving gave out,but I don't think there's any such thing as a cheap car anymore.
    At least i'm not in jail and nobody's shooting at me to my knowledge-always a bright side.
  17. other dog

    Nothin' In Particular

    By other dog,

    I saw the results from the Cumberland County Christmas Parade .Ma sent me a newspaper clipping and I managed to get another first in the 1951-1975 antique car or truck category. The decorations I put on it looked really bad. It ended up looking like a cement mixer with a bunch of stuff hanging off it,but it always seems to be a popular entry down there. I saw lots of people looking at it,pointing at it,and taking lots of pictures of it. At least nobody seemed to be laughing and pointing at the driver.
    I went to Fremont,Ohio and back first of the week and was ready to call it a week. I thought Jeff was gone to Florida,but he's not going until next week,so I went back up the road to Avon,Ohio. Besides,he gave me $200 for Christmas before I left so I figured i'd put forth the extra effort-it was just Wednesday anyway. You know what they say, " when the cat's away..." Now i'm glad I did go of course and i'll be off until Wednesday anyway.
    I got my safety bonus for the year too and went to Wal-Mart yesterday and knocked out all my Christmas shopping-gift cards for everyone! I try to get a little something for the nieces,nephews,and granchildren anyway- Everyone else is on their own,but I did give some BMT calendars too.
  18. other dog

    Nothing New

    By other dog,

    Well,nothing new about trucking anyway except i'm already sad that I have to work tomorrow-Memorial Day
    I've finally finished a smoker/grill that Kevin started at the shop and never finished.I offered to buy it from him and he said I could have it,and it's been in the backyard for weeks. It's made out of a 55 gallon drum,on a stand. Didn't have any grill grates for it,but I cut off some old oven racks and put them in it. They should work fine for chicken or smoking a boston butt,but smaller things will fall through pretty easy. Good thing I have 3 more grills for smaller stuff,and I still got the smoker oven too.
    Been like Elmer Fudd trying to keep a rabbit out of the garden. The beans came up,even the ones I replanted and they were looking pretty good. When I got home Thursday I looked at the garden and they looked like stems coming out of the ground-all the leaves had been eaten by a creature. Looked out the window and saw a rabbit and a squirrel in it. Last year rabbits ate the cantalopes,but didn't bother anything else. This year I didn't plant any cantolopes for them,so they ate my beans-i've been spraying the whole garden with a little hot sauce and a little dawn mixed up in a spray bottle. People tell me it works,but I don't know. I don't want to try that new grill for the first time with a roasted rabbit,but I didn't plant enough beans for me and the rabbit too. ( just kidding,PETA people )
    I've got to leave in the morning and go to Petersburg and load for Neville Island,Pa. That's just north of Pittsburgh. Last week I went to Fremont,Oh. and then over to Butler,In. and loaded steel back to Roanoke-6 coils. Then I went to Orchard Park,N.Y. and loaded at Brookfield,Oh. for Roanoke. Pennsylvania DOT nabbed me at Bald Eagle,Pa. on the way to Orchard Park. Gave me a warning ticket for my log book not being current I should have had it caught up-I had just gotten up on an exit ramp near Roaring Spring and was gonna go to the Snappy store at Bald Eagle and get a cup of coffee and get my book right. Unfortunately,the DOT was camped in the median just before you get to Snappy's.
    Rabbit is pretty tasty if you parboil it before you cook it-otherwise they're kinda tough
    might as well illustrate this entry too-the truck in the driveway, new (to me!) grill,what's left of some of the the green beans after the creature gnawed them off.
    And on a more serious note,it is Memorial Day weekend-let's not forget what Memorial Day is and remember the veterans,and those who sacrificed all so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. May God bless this nation,and keep us all safe. This I pray in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
  19. other dog

    Off Again

    By other dog,

    Got home last night, but now i've got to leave again. After I left Roxana Monday I picked up in Calvert City, Ky. going to Neville Island, Pa. then I went to Brookfield, Oh. and loaded for Roanoke. Unloaded yesterday and reloaded treated lumber at the shop.It's a two stop load going to Vermillion and someplace else in Ohio. Both are near Cleveland. I was running short on hours yesterday, so i'll be leaving today...shortly.
    This is the entrance to the old tunnel on the West Virginia turnpike.
  20. other dog

    Oil Leak

    By other dog,

    I'm still running good, busy as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest. I took treated lumber to Shinnston,W.V. and loaded 2 coils in Yorkville,Oh. going to Clinton,N.C. Then to Dillwyn and onward to Fremont,Ohio. Loaded some Mack truck frame coils in Erie,Mi. going to Roanoke, then I had to leave Friday going to the nucular (George Bush) power plant in Oak Harbor,Ohio to deliver yesterday morning.They serviced the truck and finally put a new fan hub on it before I left. The oil plug stripped the threads out of the oil pan when they took it out, so they put it back in and welded it. It was still dripping oil though, so they put some silicone on it. It was still dripping oil though, so I took an extra gallon with me (already had 2 gallons) and stopped and bought a gallon of Lucas Oil Stabilizer at $32. Didn't need any of it though, it looked worse than it actually was because by the time I got back to Lynchburg it still wasn't halfway down to the "add" line. I left it at the Cat place with a cut out grape juice bottle under it for a drip pan so they can take the pan off tomorrow and put an insert in it and fix it right.
  21. other dog

    Old Bill

    By other dog,

    Been talking to Bill,the diesel gypsy,this morning on Skype.He should get the truck show pictures Wednesday,and have them up shortly there after.If you've never checked out his site,you should.As Teresa said,"it's the greatest trucking web site ever".His stories are excellent.I told him he should write a book,and he said he had indeed looked into doing just that,but reading the stories-all true,no fiction-will let anyone know what it's really like to drive a truck.That's the way it used to be,and the way it is now,just different-if that makes any sense! After I discovered his site several years ago I came to the conclusion that he's the greatest truck driver ever too.Plus he taught me more about this computer than I ever thought I could learn.The first time I sent him an E-mail,and he actually answered it I was awestruck-now we correspond regularly,and I must say,i'm very proud to know him.That's www.thedieselgypsy.com
  22. other dog

    Old Business

    By other dog,

    Or as Paul would say "I thought i'd try this blog thing too".
    Kind of a short week. I thought things were picking up- were for a while anyway. Last Friday I motored down to Petersburg and picked up a load of beams going to Neville Island, Pa. I delivered there Monday and went to Sugar Creek, Ohio and got a load of bricks going to Williamsburg, Va. Then I went back to Petersburg and got a load of piling going to Wilmington, N.C, but I couldn't go into the port because I don't have a card that says I can go into the port. I am certified to haul steel coils in Alabama though. The last time I went to the state port at Wilmington you didn't need a card. Now you've got to have the card, which costs 130-some dollars, or pay an escort to take you in. I talked to one of the escorts that was hanging around outside the gate and asked what he charged-he said $20 at the gate, plus $20 an hour for however long you're in there. That could get expensive too. We had 5 or 6 trucks there, and one of the other drivers that had the proper card took my truck in and unloaded it after he got unloaded. He only charged me $10. That was OK-I sat in his truck with the AC on while he was unloading mine (it was miserably hot!) and stole 2 CD's, a pair of gloves, a flashlight, roll of tape, some tools, ate all his snacks, and drank 2 of his Pepsi colas. (kidding)
    I was the last truck to leave of course, being the only one without proper credentials, but I got a return load of lumber in Dudley, N.C. going to Moneta, Va. A whole load of 8' 4x4's. Left Dudley 120 lbs. over gross. I was afraid they'd make me take a pack off, but they didn't.
    Dispatcher Neal called me yesterday morning while I was sitting at the truckstop south of Lynchburg-had to park there Wednesday night because the store lot 2 miles from here was full of chip trailers. He wanted to know if I was en-route to Moneta. I said "almost", which sorta meant the same thing as "no". He said there was a load in Moneta going to Fredericksburg that I could deliver that evening, then head to Petersburg and pick up something at the mill. By the time I got to Moneta and unstrapped the 32 packs of lumber and got unloaded and reloaded it was almost 11:30, and I had to be in Fredericksburg by 3:30 to get unloaded, or i'd sit there all night. I didn't stop anywhere and pulled in at 3 o'clock. Got unloaded OK, but there was nothing at the mill to load and dispatcher Randy said we'd try it again Monday so I came on to Concord.
    I wasn't real enthused about going to Wilmington, but it was all they had, and I wasn't enthused about going to Fredericksburg yesterday. I was afraid I wouldn't get there in time to get unloaded and have to wait until this morning. I wanted to get to the mill in Petersburg yesterday and get another trip in this week, a little longer, like a Birmingham or another Pittsburgh. But, since there was nothing i'm glad I made those short runs or I wouldn't have made enough money to keep the lights burning another month. Insurance on the mixer is due August 31st. too. That's about $400 dollars, and they don't give you the option to pay on the installment plan. Always something.
  23. other dog
    ...well,it's different from "Saturday" anyway. It's someone else's turn to use that anyhow.
    I took a load of piling to Point Marion, Pa. Monday. It's on rt.88 just across the Pa. line a little ways from W.V.,near Morgantown. Yeah,one of THOSE jobsites-you had to pull down there,back down a hill to the crane right on the riverbank,then since there was ankle-deep mud everywhere they had to pull you out with another truck after you got unloaded,then you had to back up another hill and onto the bridge while they stopped traffic for you to get out. I had to go from there to Macedonia to load,so I went up rt.88 north to rt.21,then west on 21 into West Virginia. 21 is a pretty good road across there. It runs into 250 and I took 250 to Moundsville,then rt.2 north to the interstate. First time i'd been on that part of rt.250 in years-about 27 or 28 in fact. I saw the "Thelma and Louise" turn I mentioned before was a 15 mph curve and the grade was 11%. The curve has been widened since then,i'm pretty sure. And I don't think the guardrail was there. And I know the trees weren't up over the guardrail then because it just looked like open spaces ahead when you were coming up to the curve,and the road just looked like it ended,right there. And I think it was at least a 20% grade then...and I don't think it was paved ( now i'm kidding ) I took a picture of the curve with my 35mm I keep in the truck,but haven't got it developed yet.Hope to do that today and get the picture on here.I don't have my scanner hooked up,but I can take a picture of the picture with the webcam.
    After that journey I went to Triadelphia,W.V. with a load of beams. Delivered to the West Virginia department of highways shop. After I got unloaded I asked the guy that signed the bills if they ever went down rt.250,like from Moundsville to Fairmont. "Oh yeah,all the time" he said."They didn't send you that way did they? If they did,boy you got *%#@ed! That's not a good way to go in a car,much less a tractor and trailer...'course we go on lot's of worse roads than that,-"(he liked to talk,wish I'd had longer to chat with him) . I said "oh no,I didn't come that way-I went across there in 1980 or '81 and said I wouldn't go back across there bobtailing- I was just wondering if it was still bad and those tight turns were still in Cameron and Littleton,turns I could barely make with a short wheelbase cabover Mack with a 42' trailer". He said one town,Cameron I think,had changed things and he wasn't sure about the other.I only remembered the one town,and don't even remember the name of it,but like Bollweevil said it took all the room that was there to make that turn. I came into town going south,and to stay on rt.250 I had to make a left turn right in town and the road (street) was narrow,pole on every corner it seemed,cars parked on all sides it seems. He said " well ,you must remember the hard right turn onto the bridge at the bottom of the mountain,that was a hard turn to make,a 90 dgree right onto a narrow bridge at the bottom of about a 2 or 2 and a half mile downgrade-lot of trucks wrecked right there.Lot of truck drivers got killed on that road-looks like a short cut on the map,or their dispatchers would send them that way". No,I didn't remember that turn onto the bridge at all.The two things that stuck with me was the curve coming out of Moundsville and that left turn in that town. I mean '80 or '81-that's 27 or 28 years ago any way you look at it,and it's hard for me to remember what I did last week sometimes.The road atlas shows 250 as a designated truck route today, but unless something's changed I just don't think I could get across there if I wanted to now,driving a 42' long Peterbilt pulling a 48' spread axle trailer.
    These pictures (pretty bad-I really need to hook my scanner back up,but I usually use the digital camera ) show the curve going north on rt.250 heading towards Moundsville,the 11% 1 mile sign,Moundsville down below after the sharp curve,and a load of the coils I load at I.D.S. in Macedonia,Oh. all the time for Roanoke,Va.
    As with the steepness of a hill,the pictures don't really show how steeply the road drops away to the left in the pictures-I was going to take a picture of the septic tank truck in front of me after he went around the curve to show it,but he pulled over right in the curve and stopped,so I went around him.
    I did look at this spot on Google Earth and it shows everthing very well,especially if you rotate it around until you're looking at it from the north,then tilt it towards you-awesome!
  24. other dog

    On Sale

    By other dog,

    I take A lot of truck pictures on the road,and truck show pictures when I can get to A show.For years I used an old Kodak 35mm,and it took good pictures.Then I bought A Nikon 35mm from A guy near Monroeville,Oh. for $40 and it took good pictures too,but everybody said "you need to go digital,you're way behind the times". So I did,and I'm glad because it's so easy to put the pictures right on the computer,crop them,e-mail them,or whatever you want to do. I bought A Kodak digital camera from Wal-Mart for $199.99,the best I could afford.Then the price went down to $179,then $159,and the last time I was in Wal-Mart it was $149. When I had to replace my old PC I bought one for $698,the best I could afford because I figured it would be the last one I'll get.Today I saw the same PC on sale at Staples for $349.
  25. other dog

    On Sale...again

    By other dog,

    Went over to Wal-Mart a while ago to get some film developed. I'm gonna stop looking at the cameras that are right next to the counter where you drop your film off-now the camera I paid $199.99 for is down to $129.99

BigMackTrucks.com

BigMackTrucks.com is a support forum for antique, classic and modern Mack Trucks! The forum is owned and maintained by Watt's Truck Center, Inc. an independent, full service Mack dealer. The forums are not affiliated with Mack Trucks, Inc.

Our Vendors and Advertisers

Thank you for your support!

Mack Related Links

Popular links

BMT Forum Logo

HTML tutorial
×
×
  • Create New...