Steamed!

I, Plugger....

Friday I was loaded with three 210bbl 16'x6' fiberglass tanks headed for Evans, CO. As in sixteen feet wide. I had an escort, and we were on I70 west of Colby, KS. Single escorts run behind wide loads on four or more lanes. He hollered at me that I was really smoking. I looked in the mirrors, and sure enough, there was a rapidly growing cloud of white smoke issuing from the right side of the truck. As I slowed down, the smoke was pouring from under the hood, so everybody around knew it was serious. I threw on the flashers and pulled over as far as I could so the tanks didn't hang out in traffic - that meant I had to park over halfway into the ditch.

Before I even popped the hood, it was really obvious that the culprit was antifreeze - it was coating the whole right side of the truck from the firewall back. After raising the hood, it was very easy to find the culprit - a hose had split and coated the hot turbos with engine coolant.


What really irks me is that this hose is less than a year old. The old one was bellied out, so I replaced it and another hose on the upper end. This is a high dollar hose - not just your average black rubber one. They are known as "silicone" hoses, supposedly long life and able to stand extreme temperatures ever so much better than the black ones. They are also expensive - the two hoses cost close to two hundred bucks when I replaced 'em.

I was only a few miles from Colby, so I broke out the Droid and started searching for parts. Nobody in Colby had this exact hose. I'd boughtcharged (to the company) them at an International dealer - CAT didn't have them because they can't carry stuff like that for every brand of truck. Kenworth has a different setup for their hookups to their radiators, as well as Petes, Freightliners and so on. So, for an actual factory replacement hose - it would have to be IHC. Who have stores in Garden City and Dodge City, but were out. Overnight? Their system uses UPS Air - only delivering to their stores. Which close at noon Saturday. No FedEx to us direct or anything like that. I went ahead and ordered one ground freight - it will be in Tuesday.

One of our drivers happened by on his way home from Utah - he went to Colby and dropped his trailer, and bobtailed back out to my escort and I. We'd set up the required emergency triangles and I was continually on the phone. When my compadre (who is senior to me and more experienced) got there, he decided the first thing to do would be to get me off the interstate. We would cobble up a temporary repair with duct tape, refill the radiator (I had two gallons of premix antifreeze), dolly down my trailer, and get to the next exit about a mile away. He'd get under my trailer and take it to a point down the road to meet another of our haulers, who would take the load on to Evans - they were really wanting those three tanks. If the repair held, I'd go to a truck stop at Colby and wait on my compadre to get back.


We had to take the hose off to get a good wrap, which apparently we did. Plus, his roll of tape was some pretty sticky stuff. The radiator cap isn't one of the twist'n'lock on types - it screws in. In order to relieve pressure, we left it loose and taped it down so it wouldn't decide to unscrew itself in search of a new home. Hopefully, if for whatever reason the water temperature came up, any pressure would find it's way out the cap rather than the taped hose.

Meanwhile, I did have a generic hose or two available at Binder Central back in Garden. I never did try to find one in Colby. I gotta admit, I had very serious doubts that I'd make it to Colby. But, I did, and when my compadre got back, we finished filling the radiator with water, and pointed both rigs back to Garden City. Obviously, we made it. I switched the engine fan on manual as well - to help keep thing cool.


I had to trim the new hose on one end - it was about four or five inches too long. You can see that this hose hooks into a metal tube that also has a short hose by the radiator. Other truck manufacturers have different setups, and different parts.


I also got new hose clamps. The originals and these aren't just regular ol' screw into slots hose clamps - they are the "center pull" heavy duty style.



The regular style just don't stay tight enough for trucks - especially during big temperature swings. I get enough "cold water" leaks - where the continual heating and cooling breaks the seal of the hose to the metal, and the clamp has stretched a bit allowing a tiny bit of slack. Fall is a time of tightening hose clamps, even using the heavy duty style.

I also had to find some straight antifreeze, too. Most of the readily available stuff is pre-mixed 50/50 water/antifreeze. Since I'd added a couple of gallons of water, the freeze point had been raised. I put in three gallons of straight - which isn't all that easy to find. I'm also carrying an extra generic hose now, too. I've got the old upper 45 degree hose as a spare, too. I also carry extra belts and fuel filters - just in case.

I'm pretty sure this hose will last at least a week - in theory, it should last for several years. But, the high tech high dollar hose didn't last much more than six months, so there you go. I'm a little more equipped for that possibility now, though, so I'm not gonna worry about it.

Not too much - heh.

Irony Alert! Cleanup On Aisle Two!

The APWU has had to extend it's mail in election because too many members have requested duplicate ballots because.....- wait for it -
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The ballots were lost in the mail.

I see William Burris, the heir apparent to Moe Biller (President of the APWU for life -cuz he's dead now), is still the head cheese.

Like the election would change anything anyway.

I'd Adopt Him

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Just try to get a cat to do even one of the things this hound promises.

H/T Eddie

Is The Pope Catholic?

Or does a bear shit in the woods - or perhaps it defecates prime numbers.......











From Dave Barry's blog

Enough Already

Mmmkay - Democrats have had control of Congress since 2006, and the Presidency since 2008. Yet it's all W's fault - with his evil minion Dick Cheney - the real power behind the incompetent and childish former President. Granted, that was one of Oliphant's recurring themes - that Bush couldn't survive without the killer adult leadership (owned by Big Oil) from Cheney.

I hasten to remind everyone that in 2003 W tried to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which didn't set well with Barney Frank. You know, the guy who'd been sleeping with Herb Moses, an executive with Fannie Mae.

Yep, most ethical Congress evah! Not that the Republicans are any better - just that the "holier than thou" 'tude is getting under my skin.

But, according to Oliphant, it's all Bush's fault. Go figure.


While I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment expressed here - I fear what the Phelps family does will turn out to be "protected." Of course, just because they can doesn't mean they should. The God who guides me tells me to tone down hatred rather than incite it. Last I checked, He appreciated a more positive image from me rather than provoking revulsion in His name.

But, maybe that's just me.


Aaand, just because I find Family Circus stultifying and sickeningly saccharine sweet (I'm gonna be a hypocrite by not being tolerant of this treacle) - Yes. We all know Dolly is a simple chucklehead. Let's not broadcast it across the universe, mmmkay???? Plus, we know how thoughtful and selfless she is - her whole being has been summoned just to draw a hopelessly poor picture of - not one of her siblings, friends, parents or grandparents - just her. It's all about her. It's always about her.

When It's OK to Sleep With a Friend

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Huh. Got sleeping on my mind. Could be the twelve plus hour days. This was too dern cute, though, so I had to share!

H/T Eddie

Alarmingly Large Cow

This would be Salem Sue, the World's Largest Cow, found at the 127 exit on I94 west of Bismarck, ND. Actually she's a Holstein and she commemorates the local dairy industry.


This would be the view of Salem Sue at seventy five miles an hour westbound. That's her on the right edge of that hill. She really stands out for miles.


This would be the eastbound seventy five mph view, with the late afternoon light reflecting on the inside of my windshield.


Just as an aside - oh man the water is blue in northern Nebraska, South and North Dakota. I'm used to muddy brown at home and muddy red in Oklahoma. But up here? Heck, even the nasty slimy puddles are blue. Considering the white deposits seen when one of the swails dry out - I suspect the water is very hard and that is lime left behind. Sure is purty, though.

Le Chocolat Bits

I've been driving by two major centers of chocolaty goodness lately:




This is a Nestle plant at Anderson, IN - north of Indianapolis on I69. I understand they mostly produce drink products there.




This is a Russell Stover factory outlet, kitchen and manufacturing plant at Abilene, KS on I70. I used to buy my Mother one of their gift packages for her birthday - which was on Valentine's Day - one of the heart shaped ones.




Driving through the ground fog north of Lansing, MI on M127. It just seemed picturesque to me at the time.



Still trying to master just holding the new phone and taking a pic - a Michigan train in, well, gee - Michigan. These things just get my attention - they have to be exempt from the federal bridge laws because no further than the axles are from each other, they couldn't carry enough weight to make it pay, considering how heavy all those axles, tires, wheels, brakes and suspensions are.



A heavy hauler in Tribune, KS. He's empty and still requires an escort just to move off private property, mostly because the rig is way longer than seventy five feet, and also probably because if he isn't grossing over 80k lbs, I'd be surprised. I think that trailer spreads apart to hold a short and very heavy object - like a huge generator or something industrial. Behind him you can see a windmill generator tower section on it's truck and trailer. Those things are pretty decently sized and fairly long, but they don't hold a candle to this guy - and he's empty.

Welp, time to read my emails and catch up on everyone's blogs while halfway paying attention to the Monday Night Football game. Y'all take care out there!

Jinglebob: I happen to be in Selby SD tonight headed for Killdeer ND - but we aren't getting close to your stomping grounds because I90 west of Murdo is restricted to ten wides, and we're twelve. So, we have to run up to Bismarck and go across thataway. I've gotta get my stuff off and meet one of our guys coming up - he has one of our fuel trailers on that I'm gonna have to offload from him and take it to the customer in Aberdeen - so I'm just being stuck up and totally avoiding your area. ;-)

Ack!

Today is the last day for the long running strip Cathy by Cathy Guisewite.


Yep, the noseless few fingered chick is pregnant with a girl.



The only toon to notice (that I can tell) is Liō. Bloom County's Opus and The Boondocks' Huey Freeman are riding off into an unfinished panel with Cathy - a nod to Calvin and Hobbes as they walked away into an unfinished panel - only with characters from other retired strips. Perhaps Calvin is driving? You can't see the driver of the convertible.

Cathy's pregnancy would certainly have been a gold mine for new material, but apparently Guisewite was suffering from burnout. Personally, I think Cathy jumped the shark a long time ago and was rarely relevant or funny for quite a while. At least Guisewite was still writing and drawing her strip rather than farming it out to others, or going to reruns. Even so, it's still kinda sad to see a cultural touchstone end.

He'd Have Preferred A Lasso, I Think

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El Capitan has been a fixture of downtown Dodge City since Jasper D'Ambrosi finished sculpting this monument (around 1980) to the trail drives of the 1870s and 1880s. El Capitan is shown as gaunt because that's pretty much how the cattle arriving at Dodge looked - the drives really wore 'em down.

He was placed in a rather prominent position in downtown Dodge - a part of Second Avenue was closed and he resided in the real estate gained. The idea was that traffic would be insulated from the old downtown area, making it more pedestrian friendly. Traffic northbound from Second plus easterly and westerly US50 traffic would be greeted by his visage. Southbounders on Second were treated to a view of his butt and a detour.

But last night an eighteen year old - who ran after launching his car over the pedestal and knocking the old steer to the ground, was found and charged with several counts, none of which included a DUI. His left horn is broken, there are some scuffs on his snout, and a broken tail and ankle. Since D'Ambrosi died in 1986, repairing him won't be easy. This incident has restarted the original debate over closing that section of Second. There seems to be some support for moving a repaired El Capitan to Wright Park or some other "safe" location and reopening the closed section to traffic - with the idea that it will help revitalize downtown Dodge.

At the moment, Dodge City only has one north-south street capable of carrying high amounts of traffic - which is Fourteenth Street - twelve blocks away from the South Second/Wyatt Earp Boulevard (US50). South Second carries US283 traffic into downtown Dodge - but it turns to the east and runs with US 50 to an intersection east of town, where it continues north. The de facto north route is Central Avenue - which is one way, and First Avenue, which is also one way. First only runs up to Commanche Street. So, someone going southbound on Central in north Dodge has to get on Commanche, go west one block, then down First to get to downtown Dodge. If they want to get to south Dodge, they have to go another block west and head down south Second. Central above Commanche is four lane - and below that both Central and First are two lane one way streets - but they are brick (keeping it historic) and narrow. When cars are parked on both sides of the street, navigating two cars side by side is pretty tricky stuff.

Clearly something needs to be done - and it's been needing fixed for decades. I kinda doubt opening a two hundred yard stretch of Second is gonna fix all that - the traffic would ball up at Commanche anyway. No, if Dodge wants to fix this, it's gonna mean ripping up the brick streets and a whole slew of houses and businesses (like the Post Office, where yours truly worked, and is a historic landmark) to put in a dedicated four lane street.

I wouldn't count on that happening any time soon. Put El Capitan back on his pedestal and put a drill stem fence or some jersey style barriers around him so this can't happen again.

Sad Obama

Working at his Presidential job between visiting vacation hotspots is getting our Dear Leader down. "I'd appreciate a little break."

That right there is a guy who's in touch with his constituents and has a finger on the pulse of the economy. He is certainly a true leader with a vision. I know I'm inspired to acts of self sacrifice for the common good of our country.

Happy Fiftieth!

Well, this shouldn't be news - Google remembered and has a tribute pic up on their homepage. If you missed out, on September 30, 1960, The Flintstones debuted on ABC. Clearly the Jackie Gleason show The Honeymooners was a major influence and inspiration. Fred and Wilma had the distinction of being the first cartoon characters of the opposite sex portrayed as sleeping in the same bed.

It was definitely a different era - the main sponsor Winston was touted with "integrated" commercials in black and white:

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Cartoon purists argue that the show wasn't all that because of the usage of limited animation. Instead of the lavish artwork that Disney made famous, Hanna Barbera used this type of animation as a cost cutting measure. I'm sure we all remember the continuous loops of scenery in the background when Fred was running - and Fred running with the exact same speed and step the whole way with just perhaps his mouth moving to show dialog. Frankly, most of the HB stable of cartoons were animated in this style and even as a kid, I was aware that these shows didn't approach the majority of Looney Tune's quality.

Of course I've seen every show available in reruns - mostly in the afternoons after school and during summers. It was one show Sis and I could agree to watch. It's definitely woven into the fabric of our being - as it were. I even used to be able to do a decent imitation of Barney - where he laughs "Huh huh huh, gee Fred." I think most of us of a certain age have this tune firmly engraved in our brains:

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A Little of This, A Little of That

Sunday, I was eligible for Verizon's New Every Two plan to keep us all in thrall and contracts new phones, so like an addict I had to retire the Crackberry in favor of a Droid. A Droid 2 to be specific. I'm learning - heck, I'm a geek and I couldn't figure out how to answer a call at first. There is gonna be some adjustment fer sure. I like the slide out keyboard - it's arranged better and larger than the Curve's - but the tactile sense of the keys engaging is far better on the ol' 'Berry. While the touch screen is ultra kewl, not having direct buttons to start and end calls seems frustrating to me - you have to turn on the screen with a button at the top and swipe the lock symbol just so to get into the main screen. Answering - the screen lights up, but you still have to swipe just so. All this pretty well takes two hands and some attention, so driving and calling might just be a risky proposition with this phone.

The Droid camera is supposed to be a ten megapixel, compared to around one for the Curve. Here are two pictures of about the same spot but on two different days, so unfortunately comparing them directly isn't really fair to either one.


If you've ever headed east of Kingdom City on I70, you've seen these billboards supporting the University of Missouri Tigers - or MIZZOU. This pic was taken by the Blackberry.


The Droid's effort - plus you can see the exact mile marker this all starts at. Missouri has mile markers out every two tenths of a mile.

Aaaand today may be the last day we can get across St. Louis before dark. You've probably hear me say it before, but oversize loads are limited to daylight hours (usually one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset) and large cities have curfews to keep us out during rush hours (generally 6 to 9 am in the morning and 3:30 to 6pm in the evening. The curfew at St. Louis lasts until 6:30. It takes us an hour to get across town. Sunset is at 7, so we ended up parking right at the legal limit on time tonight in Pontoon Beach IL.

We've been sneaking across starting at 6pm for about a month and getting away with it. The port of entry on the west side by Foristell MO has been closed. Today, they were not and they held us until curfew was clear. If we keep trying to sneak across early - they're gonna remember and we'll all be lighter in the avoirdupois, if you know what I mean and I think that you do.

We might be able to pull it off one more time, but getting caught after dark ain't the smoothest move one can make, either.

Ahhh, well, such is life.

I Just Drive In Circles

That's right - I just drive in big circles. Only my circles are longer than 1.5 miles, and I drive far slower than the vehicles inside. This should be easy - lately I've been through the town where this structure resides frequently. This is also why picking out landmarks might get kinda slim - we're pretty fixed in our routes.

Just Because

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Just because. They were a lot of things to a lot of people, but they could play a tune, too.

Infested

Everyone is getting their bowels in an uproar over bedbugs in motels. There are various theories as to why the pests are making such a comeback - but that isn't my mission here. Sometimes, there are dark forces at work that make bedbugs seem mild.


After I checked in and hauled all my crap inside the room tonite, I stepped into the bathroom. This is what greeted me.


Then, I saw these guys guarding the phone.



I started to lose it when I saw the remote was guarded. Sorry, but you just don't mess with a man's remote. I was starting to get peeved.



Then, I noticed these characters on duty covering the alarm clock. The previous lookouts/guards were green, but I, with a keen eye for detail, noticed the brown color of the antagonists. This was across the room from the green guys. A pattern was beginning to emerge.



A lone brown sentry guarding the coffee machine. Granted, I rarely drink that stale crap, but the idea that it may not be accessible should I desire some only added to my aggravation.



Looking at the bed I could see several sentries arrayed against each other on the high ground of the pillows - for strategic advantage, no doubt. Well, I'm here to tell ya, I'd about had enough.



Ripping the covers back revealed what I feared - the room was infested with Army Men. Army Men At War. The brown guys are clearly some sort of Commie soldiers with that non descript flag and their brown uniforms. It's also clear that they don't have much discipline in the ranks - why, some of them were lying down on the job. Nope, not dead or wounded - just slacking off.


But, the green guys were a different story. Americans, they were. Look at how well they are arrayed, plus they set out a rear guard to deal with any of those a$$holes from the alarm clock or coffee maker who might get froggy. Green Army Guys are Good - like growing things. Brown Army Guys are like bull$hit - fertilizer for the Good Green Stuff, whatever it may be. Just sayin', is all.

I felt a little better about the invasion of my personal space because supporting Our Green Guys is just something a patriot like me does. But, I knew I'd be getting very little sleep if I left them at it, so I swept 'em up in separate piles and bagged 'em. They didn't like it and I felt the sting of several minuscule bazooka shots and the pin prick of tiny rifle fire.

So, they're idle for now. I'm sure they'll get out and cause some sort of mischief in the future. It's their function in this ol' world. Righteous cause or not, I'm gonna get some sleep tonite.

Stuckey's

Lisa has fond memories of Stuckey's - the roadside tourist trap combination convenience store, fast food joint, gas station and travel souvenir and junk emporium. The chain had a much larger presence back when we were kids - I mostly remember my Sis and I bugging Mother to stop - there were plenty of enticing signage designed to attract kids - and hearing her contempt at such places. She felt they were overpriced and sold a bunch of junk. We finally wore her down and she warned us that she would not be spending any of her money on junk there - but we were free to spend our allowances if we wished.

Well, our allowances were hardly enough to make a dent in what we wanted to buy, and it was clear even to us kids that the items were overpriced. Common things like candy bars were far cheaper at our local convenience store. We also knew we were going to be stopping at other places where our allowances might find better use. Sis and I were profoundly disappointed and we learned a lesson, which is why Mother stopped in the first place. We didn't bother her again about Stuckey's on any road trips!


This is the only Stuckey's in business on the roads I'm on most of the time. It's off exit 84 on I70 in Missouri. Dairy Queen partnered with Stuckey's in a lot of locations. It's a poor picture (pics taken at seventy mph are always a risky proposition) - but the roof is the traditional red for Dairy Queen on their end and blue for Stuckey's on the other. I've stopped there before - there is a scrap of graveled truck parking on the north side. It's no truck stop fer sure. Some of the guys I work with get a jones for ice cream, so that is a quick off and on for their fix. It somehow seems far smaller than the place we visited in my callow youth.


This one is also on I70 but in Kansas. I've forgotten the exit or exactly where it is, but since it's out of business, y'all won't wanna waste your time stopping. It's west of Topeka for sure, but beyond that I just can't pin it down. A lot of these old abandoned Stuckey's and Nickerson Farms have reopened as pr0n emporiums. And, no, I don't stop at those establishments. I can get all the midget pr0n I can stand for free on Algore's intertubes, thank you very much.

I dunno, I guess Stuckey's is bad juju for moi. Back in my grain hauling days, I used to go by the one in Grainfield KS that was a stopping point for a murdering crime spree - and the place closed up and gave me the heebie jeebies. I think it's been torn down - no businesses seemed to survive there. That in itself isn't unusual - there are all kinds of closed Stuckey's scattered in rural areas. Hindsight tells me that expecting only tourist dollars to survive and having stores about one hour apart wasn't the greatest idea in the world. The city of Grainfield certainly doesn't have the population necessary to keep a place like that alive.

But, they're hardly the only ones who've made tactical business errors. Too bad they weren't too big to fail, eh?

Where Am I Now?

This should be pretty easy. Two stadiums - looking in towards the field on the right, the other one in the background to the left. I'm on I70 - that should be enough hints.

Who Is Robbing Whom?

In Jeff Danziger's world, the gubbmint owns income and decides how much you keep to spend how you want. Those who want to keep .gov's greedy paws off of some of what they worked for are obviously stage coach robbers. Boehner is obviously a confused robber because he is willing to compromise rather than be totally partisan like Obama. Oh, wait, that can't be right - Teh Won promised to reach across the aisle and to end bipartisanship. Guess ol' Danziger forgot about that. It's different when the Evil Rethuglicans stand their ground - it's bad. It's the correct thing to do if you're a Progressive Do Gooder Thinking Man like Teh Won.

He is right about Boehner - I wish he had more spine and stood his ground.

It's a Trifecta!

I'm convinced the MSM has no clue about the Tea Party - they seem to think it's all about Republicans - and financed by rich Republicans with sinister ulterior motives.

Well, they're all learning, and there are gonna be a bunch of spendy Republicans mixed in with the Dems who all want to buy everything in sight without any money.

Maybe there is hope for us yet - perhaps we can turn a corner and find ourselves grounded in reality rather than dreamy hoping.

Edited to add:




The Tea Party is on editorial cartoonists minds, at any rate.

Winning the Lottery

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house.

She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!'

The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?'

'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'


H/T Eddie

Michigan Trains

This one would be a "covered wagon" - flatbed doubles with side and cover kits. Some have even more axles.



A set of hopper bottoms. Just about every specialty cargo hauler can be found here in MI classified as a Michigan Train - they just need a boatload of axles and tires. They'd be a waste in Kansas where the gross weight can't be more than 85,500lbs. A six axle rig or a five axle with a rear spread can handle that, so all this extra stuff would just add weight with no payoff. Not all are doubles - there are a lot of van trailers and tankers that are axles and tires all the way back.

Just something I don't see just every day - thought y'all might enjoy seeing these monstrosities.

Yesterday's Post Brought to You By

The New Chain of Rocks Bridge -on I270 in the St. Louis metro area crossing over the Mississippi River - it's actually in IL and MO. The bottom pic in yesterday's post shows the old Chain of Rocks Bridge.

Lisa wins the internets - she glommed on to my clue about the Arch, which is almost due south of where I took the pictures.

I've gotta start paying more attention to the roadside attractions....

Big River

I'm tellin' ya, to the Tubby Dust Bowl Boy here, this seems like a friggin' ocean.



View on a bridge looking north.




View to the south, he archly said. Where in the world was I?

After All, I Do Drive a Truck!

I am frequently chided by friends and relatives: "Why don't you stop in on your way through _____ (fill in the blank with your location) and drop in and see us/me? Most of the time I don't do it, and people's feelings are hurt because I didn't just drop in and visit.

There are several reasons for this. Mostly - I'm at work. I'm getting paid by the hour. Can you tell your boss: Oh, hey, it's ten in the morning and my best bud Joe Citizen is in town. I'm gonna dash out for a couple hours and be right back.

Uh, yeah. Let me know how that goes. I can't stop outbound when I'm loaded. Our customer is generally waiting for me to show up at a scheduled time - often they have a crane booked to unload me and to set the tank/tanks I'm carrying. Even if I have a few hours of leeway - believe me when I tell you it's better to get there early than to play with the extra time and then have something unforeseen happen - a blowout, mechanical trouble, routing problems or whatever can delay me and eat up that "extra" time. Burning it on something not job related isn't a very good idea.

Also, when I'm outbound - I'm permitted for a certain route. Depending on the state, I can go a certain distance "off route" to get to a truck stop or similar. This doesn't include residential areas very often, as you can imagine.

Then, even if I'm on the way home and time isn't as tight - there is the whole truck parking and truck route issue. Look at some of the signs on your way home. Are you on a truck route? Or does your street or feeder street have a sign up that says something about trucks over a certain amount of pounds or axles are prohibited? Guess what? I'm not driving a pickup. I'm not even driving a monster 4x4. I'm driving a monster 6x4 pulling a 53' trailer - approaching 75' long overall. I'm exactly who those signs are aimed towards. Your hometown decided they didn't want me and my rig cruising your street. Then there is the whole truck parking issue. Where are you planning on me parking? In front of your house? How are the nabes gonna like that when the area is clearly posted banning me from being there?

Which means if you wanna see me - you are going to have to meet me at a truck stop or somewhere I am allowed to park. Can you get shaken free at 3:17pm to come visit me at a moment's notice? How does your boss like that idea?

Well, then I could stay at a motel and you could come over after work. Except that I am expected to put in a full day of driving to get home. My boss isn't particularly wild about me driving five or six hours a day each day to get home and spend his money at motels. According to the Feds, I'm allowed to drive eleven hours in a day. My boss has a pretty good idea how many nights out it takes to get there and get back. I'm gonna be paying for motels above and beyond that ideal figure unless there is a compelling reason - perhaps I was delayed by mechanical troubles and the truck was in the shop. In that particular case, I would have no choice.

Plus, my boss and dispatcher want me and the trailer I'm pulling back. If I'm on an overnight trip - they have me scheduled to go back out after I return. And, the trailer I'm pulling needs to get back so it can be reloaded to go back out. So, if I'm on a trip that takes four to five days for a round, they want me back in time Saturday for the loadout crew to use that trailer for a scheduled delivery leaving Monday morning. Or in the middle of the week to go right back out again.

Okay, then how about the time I was in town and staying at a motel and didn't call and let you know I was there? Okay, this time someone might have a point - but generally I've put in a ten to fourteen hour day to get there - my day usually ends after six or seven pm or later. So, I have a couple of hours to get supper and try to relax - because my alarm is usually set for four to five am. I'm fond of seven to eight hours of sleep. This means bed time is eight or nine pm for this weary ol' tubby trucker. Call me antisocial, but I'm not much into seeing sunrises without the benefit of sleep. Thirty years ago - no problem! Now, not so much.

So, I'm sorry if I've pissed ya off because I didn't call or stop in. Maybe I'm a stuck up SOB, but I've got my reasons, and I fear they are pretty compelling to me.

Guess The Skyline

The tower with the twin masts should be the big clue. I've been passing through this city quite a bit lately - but when I'm loaded the state routes me around downtown on the southern part of an interstate loop. If ya don't have a clue, check the properties of the picture.

Cross At The Crossroads

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Lording over Interstate highways 57 and 70, the "Cross at the Crossroads" was built for broadly noble religious reasons -- and to out-size every other big cross out there, especially the giant cross in Groom, Texas, which was both its inspiration and its toughest competition.

198 feet tall and 113 feet wide, forged out of over 180 tons of steel anchored in untold fathoms of cement, the cross can withstand winds hurled by evilest of forces at up to 145 mph. Its stark, slab-sided design conveys the corporate utility of a logo -- no distracting crucifixion blandishments, just the plainest symbol of Christianity. The structure also conjures aspects of the World Trade Center towers, which came crashing down in 2001 less than three months after the cross went up.

I drove by this puppy today, as I have many times in the past. It's pretty impressive, really - it seems so out of scale until you get close - then you realize how big it actually is. More info is available at The Cross Foundation.

Radio Schmack

Yannow, over the years I've tried to support this chain of stores. Any time I needed some odd gewgaw that would cost about one half to one third as much - including shipping, from NewEgg or some such - I'd try to buy it at the local Shack. I figured I should support 'em, because there were times when I really needed something and they'd always have it. I wanted them to be around for just that reason. The Shack is always higher priced - but they generally had what ya needed when ya needed it.

There were so many different things I used to buy - odd connectors, CB radio goodies (antenna ends and what not), computer stuff, soldering supplies - well, if you've ever needed and perused an old time Shack, you know of what I speak. I knew they didn't have stuff like coax and ends anymore, but I figured they'd have the odd and out of the ordinary USB type goodies.

It ain't the same no more no how.

My Blackberry is gradually dying just in time for Verizon's New Every Two plan to kick in - at the end of the month, I'll be eligible for an upgrade with discounts. The data port is headed south on this phone - I can't get my laptop to communicate anymore through the USB hookup. Luckily, it will still charge - and I can pull the memory chip out and read it in the memory slot on the ol' laptop - but syncing up is no longer possible. Unless I go Bluetooth. If I get a Bluetooth USB PC dongle - then the Blackberry will have another avenue of communications available. Insurance is part of my package - I could get another Crackberry to replace this one, but I'm thinking DroidX this time around.

I actually have three Motorola dongles that I got in a Wootoff - but I can't get a driver for Vista. XP and older - no problem. So, I figured that would be right up the Shack's alley, as it were. I looked online at El Marto Del Wal's selection - and while the store in Dodge City has some in stock, the store in Garden does not. So, what the hey - the ones El Marto Del Wal can get are mostly under ten bucks - so I was ready to drop twenty or so at the Shack for the convenience and availability factor.

If they'd had any. The kid working there didn't even know what I was talking about. I looked around and they had bupkis for connectors and adapters and so on. Little things like a USB extension - no savvy, none in stock. If I wanted a Bluetooth headset - well, they had plenty of those. Just like any truck stop. Phone chargers? You betcha, just like any truck stop or convenience store. Frakking WalMart has a better selection of this kind of stuff than the Shack!

Freaking sad.

Classic Rock, Baybee!

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It was groundbreaking and outrageous. The music video laid the foundations for those who followed. I remember when it came out - and I thought it sucked. My opinion has changed over the years, and I can appreciate the grand scope this tune covers. I actually enjoy hearing this hoary old classic.

What's even worse - I can sing along like Garth and Wayne. I sure did today, and didn't miss a lick.

Side By Side

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I've got no idea who this is or what show this was from - but it's pretty cute. Got it from my Nuckle Kim, who has sent me some of the best stuff over the years!

Oil Country

When one thinks of oil country in Texas, visions of pump jacks lined up for miles on flat, open prairie come to mind. While that scene is repeated all over the Panhandle, there are many other places with different geography that oil is extracted as well. Considering Texas, this is no wonder - one can go from such flat territory into large valleys and bluffs in short order. Such is the case here (as always, click for larger):


This was taken on US83 south of Canadian, TX, overlooking the Washita River valley. Yeah, if you remember your Seventh Cavalry vs the Indians history, this name will ring a bell. That site is east of this spot over the state line into Oklahoma. The valley is dotted with white painted oil storage batteries, which my cell phone camera captured as just tiny dots on the other side of the valley. Amazingly enough, the tanks and walkways that make up these batteries are one of the products I haul and help set up, so I tend to notice these things.



But, most of the batteries are painted in a tan earth tone of some kind - such as the example on the left. So, when one peers across the valley, only the white storage units stand out. When ya realize there are a whole lot more that you are missing, well, at least for me, seems impressive.



Another view off to the east.

The vistas further south in mesquite and scrub oak country seem to be less photogenic to my eyes - all you can see for miles are a bunch of low, scruffy trees that hide everything. You simply can't see the pump jacks and batteries scattered through there, nor do you see the abundant wildlife until they decide to cross a road. However, some of those areas have even greater oil production - a drive through Andrews, TX or Hobbs, NM and your nose will convince you of that idea.

Heh. Smells like money. There - it's oil. Around the Poor Farm - it's manure from feedlots and the distinctive odor of beef processing plants. I'll forgo the obvious BS comments.....

Toaster Science

Chaz at Dustbury asks about the "single slice" markings on his toaster, and what it all means. Further studies are warranted and scheduled.

This Is a Test. This Is Only a Test.

I got nuttin,' so I'm raiding the email inbox. From MoK.