other dog

Yep, 5 speed, 3.87 rear.

Here's the latest on the Brigadier. Anybody looking for a nice single axle pulpwood truck? And here's what my exhausting research on foxes and coyotes turned up. They look nothing alike really. This is a fox- ...and this is a coyote.

The 300 I drove would turn 2400, and the pump had never been tampered with that I know of. I know it still had the seal on it. They put a pump on it one time, or had that pump rebuilt- by Mack- and when I got it back I was expecting it to turn 2100 but it still turned 24.

At the Keystone Antique Truck and Tractor Museum. They have several Detroit powered Olivers at the museum too.

My first toll booth experience when I got a T800 after driving only a cab over for 10 years was memorable too. I was getting on the Pa. Pike at Breezewood, and I had been advised by other drivers that were in the same situation to be careful. I didn't want to knock the mirror off, so I got over too far to the right and couldn't reach the ticket , so I had to open the door and step out to get it.

This was the first brand new truck I got. Before this truck all the trucks I ever drove had been driven by somebody else. I had driven a couple of Transtars, then a couple of F models, and none of them had power steering. That's probably why my arms were as big as a stovepipe then. 🤣 I still remember the very first load I pulled in this truck, a load of structural steel going to Boston. H.H. was telling the guys in the shop to hurry up, because I had to go, had to be in Boston in the morning. They were working on it after 5 o'clock, finishing things up, putting the headache rack on, etc. When they finished I hooked to my trailer and left, and I had to pull over at a wide spot on rt. 24 to see how to turn the headlights on. After only driving the Internationals and Macks that Kenworth seemed like it was 10 feet wide. I went down rt. 24 from Appomattox to rt. 60 to rt. 15, and 15 to Culpeper where I got on rt.29. Two lane all the way, until I got to 29.

It's pouring rain...again!

Yeah, he makes me feel like a slacker...well, I kinda am- anyhow, I'm at the tire getting place having 4 tires put on my car now because I saw dry rot cracks in them. The tread isn't half worn out, but we all remember what happened with the red Ford pickup, they had good tread too. Then I'm going home and have a few cold ones before I cook Zina a smash burger.

Here's unit 234 right after I got it. I had just loaded a load of kyanite down at the mullite plant in Dillwyn. I've got to go now, the new apprentice is waiting down at the garden. She wants to learn how to pick pole beans.

More wildlife in the yard. This looks like a rabbit. It's not unusual for there to be 4 or 5 squirrels out there any time eating bird seed but we don't see many rabbits.

Here's my 1 cent opinion- I've driven most transmissions that have been mentioned here, and my favorite is the 18 speed. However, you seldom if ever even need to split the gears in the low side, so I think your first choice of a 13 speed and 3.55 rears would be the cat's ass. I'm pretty sure you'd love it, and there's probably more of them around than there are 18's so they're probably a bit cheaper too. Now, as far as tip turbines, charge air coolers, dynatards, fire rings, etc. I have no clue. None.

This is pretty neat, if you can read it. It's hard to see on the phone, I'm going to check out the website on the computer later, but they just made the local Appomattox newspaper available to see on the computer, goes back for years. They- what do you call it?..digitalized it. This article was written in April of 1983. I got that truck in the picture brand new, it was an '83 K100 with a 350 Cummins.

That is (l. to r.) Roman, Mark, Wayne Ellis, me, and Jeff Moore.

here's Mark when he was slightly younger and a lot smaller at mine and Zina's wedding at the Keystone Antique Truck and Tractor Museum.

I was sitting here watching TV minding my own binness when Roman ran to the window barking. Then the other two joined in, so I went to investigate and 2 deer were just standing in the driveway. Then 2 thirds of them took off and went flying out of the doggy door we just put in the back door a few months ago. I took a couple of quick pictures because I knew when the dogs went out and barked at them through the fence they'd leave. Would have been better if I'd turned the lights off because of the reflection. Sure enough, they went into the woods across the road. Here's an earlier picture of the 3 watch dogs watching things. That doggy door is one of the best ideas we've had, they can come and go when they want, in out, out in, in out...🤣

Oh, yeah, I see it now. Looks like that one capsized.

He's pretty active on Facebook too. Still got the same sense of humor.

Vision386 posted another picture today, or his wife did actually - this is Mark enjoying a sammich on a sunny beach. Meanwhile, raining here. Again.

Happy birthday!

I stopped by Raleigh Signs' headquarters to pick up the other 2 decals that he forgot. I put these on myself. This side looks ok, but the "not for hire" on the other side got crookedified somehow. I raked up all the grass clippings this morning, dumped them in the garden, then cut the grass again. I had to stop and rake again halfway through. Then I raked it again. There's a couple more piles on the other side of the garden that you can't see. And it's the same old- same old, rain every day. And Mark, vision386 on BMT, shared a picture on Facebook this morning. Apparently he's a boating enthusiast too, because he posted this picture of what he said was a 1947 Chris Craft out yonder near the horizon somewhere. They're on vacation, they went to Maine, road the cog railway up Mt. Washington, now they're in Wildwood, N.J, where he spotted the '47 Chris craft.

The best looking weather girl around here was on channel 7 in Roanoke, but she relocated to Portland, Oregon.

I went out and cut the back yard, even though it was still wet. It had to be done. 🤣 That's a big glob of grass behind that bush that I cleaned out from under the mower. I turned it off first. And now it's pouring rain- again! And the guy from Truck Body Co. called me again, wanted me to come look at the Brigadier. This is what he showed me- So we "pulled the plug" on the GMC. I'm just not going to keep spending money on it. Went through that with a Dodge pickup I used to have. You spend so much on something, and you reach the point where you say "well, I've already got a million dollars tied up in this thing. I can spend 2 more million on it and hope it's fixed", or you can say "I've had enough, I'm going to cut my losses now" and not take it any further. So that's the course of action I decided on. They're going to take the sleeper compartment off and make me a sheet metal "patch" to go over the big giant hole in the back of the cab. Then I'll either keep it, or sell it.

Yeah, I've seen both before but neither is something you see on a regular basis, at least not around here. I was startled to say the least, and it was a good ways away out in the tall grass in the field. When I saw it had something in it's mouth the first thing I did was call for my dog, because they had been out in the yard just a few minutes before. They don't go outside the fence though. Sometimes I'll have Roman out with me but Mack doesn't go outside the fence unless he escapes, because he'll take off exploring. Then I have to rattle a potato chip bag to lure him back. 🤣

...or maybe it was a coyote. There's plenty of them around here, probably a lot more than foxes. My first thought was fox, but now I'm not sure.