B MACK

I'm  going to fix up my '82' superliner, that is when my work schedule allows me to work on it.   Have some rust in the cab and doors to take care of. then minor fiberglass issues.    I'm not sure if I want to paint   'er the same or go totally different.  But I just can't think past the blue & silver that it is now.   I do want to stay with blue cuz the interior is blue and in great shape..   Can you all help with some two tone paint designs on Superliners to give me ideas.     Paint is down the road a ways yet,  I might go for a different look, but ?????  maybe keep 'er the same.     

That "new" breed driver is every where any more. All they know is go fast.  They really crack me up when I see, I mean when I hear them starting out empty,,, They mash on it and shift as fast as they can , hitting every single gear.    I've done this since the early 80's,  I don't like to shift anymore. I skip gears when I can..       And we turn these "drivers" loose with 80,000 to 140,000 lbs.    That's what scares me.  The other guy..

I enjoy watching the heavy rescue show on The Weather Channel.   I have never been to that part of B.C. , Canada.   I can't really believe that it is that important to not close that highway,  especially for the safety of the tow truck/recovery crews.    I have never driven past a big truck accident  when they are doing the uprighting   of the truck or trailer.  The road is most always closed down during that.   And yes I know they do get nasty heavy wet snow there.  The Sierra's , Cascades and Rockies get heavy snow also. And highways in those areas sometimes get closed for weather reasons. Seems to me ,if the BC hwy dept. would close that road sometimes it could save a lot of problems.  Just the other day here in northwest Montana, both U,S, hwy's 2 & 89 were closed.  Once  I  had to hold up  at Boomtown in Verdi, Nv. because I-80 was closed over Donner pass, or I-84 along the Columbia river or I-90 over Snoquailmi  in Wa. .  I have driven in snow, I've hauled logs out of the mountains needing two sets of spike three railers and drag chains on the trailer, but that is in the woods where if shit goes bad I'm the only one involved, or to blame.   Seems to me that sometimes "closure is a good option" .   Does anybody know, is that the way it is in western B.C.  or is it made up a bit for TV? 

 Between a Kenworth or Peterbilt,  I would go with a KW, T800.   I am use to a small cab, running my Superliner for years and then other R model cabs.  I like the older Petes, (359 and 379's)   but just don't care for the newer ones.   I am currently driving a 2016  KW T880 , with a ISX Cummins. Good power ( I drag around 2 belly dumps most of the time, grossing about 128,000).  Only issues I have had are a lot of times after I wash it,  one of the connections at the exhaust regen shit gets moisture in it and shows a fault, mechanic resets it and we go again.  Really nice truck, rides good.  Has lots a room, head room is unreal.    Would be a great OTR truck with a sleeper.  My opinion a T800 is better for construction or logging .

It really disturbs me,  at least here in my area , on the 22nd of November I did not hear one single mention of that being the anniversary of the day President Kennedy was shot..  NOT  on the TV nor the radio..   Really sad . If they don't report it they figure we will forget. And the young people will NEVER know of it.

What gets me, is all the crying of unarmed black men being shot by police, ( some would not be shot if they would not resist or try to fight ).    I drove over the road in the late 80's, flat bedding and have been in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philly, Dallas and others. And I know things in the inner city haven't gotten any better.    But what I don't understand is ,NO ONE other than Sean Hannity, ever says anything of BLACK on BLACK killings in Chicago.  It is a crazy number.

I was just going to let it drop, but over the past week different things hit a nerve again.   From the NFL players union filing charges against Jerry Johnson and now Colin Kaepernicks charges against the teams and or owners..      The way things go in a real world,  if a company does not want to hire you.... they don't have to. Just like "we have the right to refuse service to anyone".      And next, before anyone jumps on me, I know there are a few labor unions for the "real" working man/woman, but for the most part the only unions we have anymore are for civil servants who's wages are paid by the tax payers, ( county operators or teamsters, state hwy dept, other government workers, teachers ) , and then there are professional players unions.     A few years back where I live there was a county road department employee that tested positive.   And the union backed him. It was simple, he signed the form when he first went to work  saying that any positive tests would not be tolerated.   He signed agreeing to that.      I give up..

Yeah, that is all fine. Girls want a little more outdoor program, but why change the "boy scouts". Why not introduce the outdoor activities that girls want into the "girl scouts"..   Things happen when "boys & girls" naturally get together. No need to promote it in the "scouts".  Look what happens now that there are women aboard ships and subs in the Navy.     What do their refer to some of the ships as ---- "the love boat".         Not quite the same as the "boy scouts" or is it???????

On ‎9‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 12:13 PM, j hancock said:

It ain't a stand up bunk...

It does look like there is a boot there.   But anyway  it is a very nice looking R. That orange and black are very nice.

23 minutes ago, Maddog13407 said:

fire em all, fuck em. way overpaid to begin with. don't wanna stand for our anthem, instant fired, end of story. No football on tv? hmmmph, oh well, find something more constructive to do.

Yes I agree totally.   I haven't watched  since the Steelers had Bradshaw and the steel curtain.  And back then Chuck Noll would not have put up with the crap that is happening today.    And there are always reruns of Andy and Barney on some channel.   I believe MackTechnician is being sarcastic saying they don't have a safe place on that field.    Well look at the  Rodeo cowboy or the clowns/ bull fighters,   they deal with bulls and buckin horses that weigh 1500 to 2000 pounds,  by themselves. And only get a check if they do well.   AND THEY STAND FOR THE ANTHEM.

I am glad to see that Steelers offensive lineman Alejandro Villanueva  stood up..  Former Army Ranger

Yeah. If those people from ?? , lets say New York, believe that everything should be saved or protected and needs to go on the "endangered list" and reintroduce them to an area.  And that is a joke,  Take the wolf.   The wolf is NOT endangered.. There are lots of wolves in Alaska and Canada. When they got     reintroduced to Yellowstone Nat. Park and Montana, Idaho and Wyoming   Canada had to be laughing their asses off  because they saw the wolf as a problem, for the same reason the western states GOT RID of them years ago, (the wolf is a predator, and preys on elk and deer as well as cattle ). So,,,  we bought wolves from Canada.   Spend millions of dollars on the wolves, relocating them, monitoring them and even do away with some that are problems.    I guess what I am eluding to is, Since all the people from back east think that we need to save the wolf or what ever else.  Why not let them have some also, introduce them in Central Park in New York..

On ‎9‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 3:49 PM, HeavyGunner said:

I think the reason they are letting the herd grow greater than the carrying capacity of the land is because they are selling he excess buffalo to different tribes and trying to fill that proposed buffalo sanctuary in eastern mt. There has been a huge fight among the farmers and ranchers and the government over this lately. 

I don't know exactly how long it has been thought of. But I remember hearing  of it during the Clinton administration  with Al Gore and Bruce Babbit,   I     believe they called it "the great wide open".   They want to , Basicly remove ALL the people from most of eastern Montana to western part of North Dakota and ALL the way south to Texas and down into Mexico.   Plant buffalo and reintroduce grizzly bear, and "make it the way it used to be....   These enviro's  and animal rights people sure have some different ideas.....

On ‎9‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 3:09 PM, Brocky said:

Vlad The Buffalo or proper name Bison are native to the northern Plains. The basic staple of food for the native Plains Indians. Both wild and domesticated.. That herd looks farm raised.. Their meat is similar to Beef but leaner and lower in cholesterol. Some farms even cross breed them.. I am sure B Mack can give us a better explanation

The buffalo are the "Blackfeet (Indian) Nation Bison Herd".    It is a pretty good size herd.  They are on the Blackfeet Indian Res.  west of Browning, Mt.   I do not remember the herd of always being there?    I'm thinking for traditional reasons the Blackfeet acquired the buffalo so again the plains will have bison roaming on them.  Like HeavyGunner said , there are no free roaming bison on the Montana plains. This herd is confined by fences.    How ever, Yellowstone National Park does have a herd of , I believe , native bison.  And in the winter and spring they roam out of the park around Gardner, Mt. on ranch land.  Which I'm sure everyone has heard of the disease they carry called Brucilosas, which causes cattle to abort their calves.   Any way, the reason they roam out of Yellowstone is for grazing (in search of food).   Well I read something quite a few years ago, that the range area in Yellowstone Park could support 1500 to 1800 bison.  For years the park managed their buffalo herd and kept it at that number.   Why they stopped controlling the herd size??? who knows?    The    bison wonder out of the park because the herd is too big for the area .     I believe  the herd size now is at least twice the size the area will support. 

The wild fires in Montana are still burning, but a change in weather has helped air quality some.....      But we still have smoke,  but we have some of this white stuff also.

Yes Troy's death is a bummer.  And we lost "Mr. Slow Motion" Don Williams also.

 

See this one from Florence bmack? Notice the "face" blowing on the fire?

Wow that face is cool. Amazing how that showed up...     Hey, NO problem sharing the smoke thread,   seems like most of the time we here in Montana are left unmentioned.    Even though we have the #1 wild fire in the nation, we are not L.A.  so it doesn't get the coverage.   Kinda like the snow and blizzards in the winter.

 Here are some views of northwest Montana over the past month or so.  Not much relief in site, we are going to need a real early snow..   Our whole state has fires.  Monday I heard in the state we had over 800,000 acers on fire or already burned, and over 500,000 of those acers are in northwest part of the state.   And since Monday all of the fires had blown up, some almost doubling.     The pict of the big smoke plume, that plume is close to 100 miles away..