Wow, I have been really busy. And really wet. It seems like everywhere I have been lately it has been raining. At least everywhere I have had to get out and secure a load. I am damn sick of getting rained upon. I picked up a load, a couple of really big crates, in the rain, in Omaha on Friday that were going to Milwaukee. I dropped them, at the yard in Wisconsin, in the rain, on Sunday. I then secured a new model of snow removal truck, in the rain, and hauled it down to Indiana. I unloaded...

As I sit here in my comfortable motel room, syncing my iPad and iPod, I can't help but think about the people in Joplin. Monday morning I delivered a couple of excavators in Joplin, MO. They will be used to help in the clean up of the aftermath of the tornado that recently hit there. My route to the delivery point took me through the middle of the area that was destroyed by the tornado. I have seen areas hit by tornadoes before, and had seen television images of the recent destruction ...

I am currently hanging out in Denver, CO. Yesterday (Monday) morning I delivered a new model of snow removal truck to the airport here for a demonstration. I will be picking up again this afternoon to haul it back to the factory. It has been nice and warm here, the locals complaining about it being too hot with temps in the upper 80s. Feels just about right to me. Lately I have been getting tired of eating in truck stops, and eating in my truck has been limited to what I could do with just...

Last weekend I hauled a military truck out to a movie studio vehicle special effects lot in California. It was an over weight load and of course I had to have permits to haul it out there. That is usually not a big deal, but due to the weight it had to be loaded on a 50 foot trailer as it would have been impossible to get the axle weights right on a 48 foot trailer. That is also usually not a big deal, but in CA they have a shorter bridge law measurement than other states. Bridge law refers t...

Well, yesterday was one of those days. I am hauling a fire truck out to Fort Sill, OK. I was making pretty good time and was on schedule to get through St Louis well before the afternoon rush hour curfew on over sized loads. Well, that was until I suddenly heard a very loud, high pitched whine coming from my engine. I had an idea of what it was and knew it couldn't be a good thing so I backed off my speed and limped down to the next truck stop which was, luckily, only a few miles away. ...

It has been a tough couple of weeks. Work has been busy and I have been running my ass off. That's a good thing for my wallet, but very tiring. I wrote in an earlier article about someone hitting my truck in a truck stop. Well, less than two weeks later it happened again. This time the scumbag took off, leaving my front bumper sticking out two feet on the passenger side. Geez! Well, yesterday I spent all day moving out of that truck and into a newer one. I really hate changing trucks, it i...

Tonight finds me in Lebanon, IN. After a trying day of last minute covering for someone who called in hungover/sick/dead/whatever and scrambling down to Indiana to pick up a load going to Florida I was finally able to stop here, get a much needed bite to eat, and relax for a bit. I stopped here to visit Johnny's next to the Flying J truck stop. I have been visiting this place for years. It has changed hands and names a couple of times, and has even been remodeled, but it is still a tr...

I am in Racine, WI, parked for the night. After checking in at the hotel across from the truck stop I went into the restaurant/bar for a grouper sandwich and a cold beer. The sandwich was excellent, and the beer was as well. I stepped outside on the patio for an after meal smoke. I was about half way through my smoke when a truck driver called out to me and said that someone had hit my truck. Ack! I rushed across the street, totally forgetting the iPad sitting on the bar. Su...

Arthritis sucks. Plain and simple. I suppose it is just a part of getting older. At this point I have it in my shoulder joints, elbows, hands, knees, hips, and ankles. Such is aging I guess. What are you going to do? It is what it is.  Take Advil and deal with it I guess. Ah well, I guess it could be worse (and probably will be).

I walked back to my motel room from the local bar. No problem. Once I got back to my room I grabbed the ice bucket and went to fill it up to ice down a few beers I had left over in my room. I should say here that I was not more than mildly intoxicated. After filling the bucket I started back to my room and took a misstep off the side of the sidewalk. My foot was caught in a decorative bush there and I tripped. I fell very undignifiedly on the pavement. I struck my elbow on the edge o...

Living in a truck, I don't get to go barefoot all that often. On most days I pull of my boots when I take a shower and when I go to bed. That is about it. I am spending a few days in a motel and nursing a seriously injured left big toe so I am trying to not wear my boots any more than necessary as the boot hurts the toe. I am loving going barefoot. Not only is it helping my toe heal more quickly but it just feels damn good. This motel is rare in that the room has hardwood floors instead of...

In a motel. I decided to order dinner from Domino's. I wasn't in the mood for pizza so I ordered their BBQ chicken wings. Just say no! These things suck moose tit through a straw. They are soggy. That is the best word I can use to describe them. The worst chicken wings I have ever tried to eat. Simply terrible. I have eaten a lot of chicken wings in many places over the years and I can honestly say this is the first time I have ever had soggy chicken wings. Perhaps Domino's shoul...

I am currently in Columbus, GA. I arrived here yesterday afternoon. I will be delivering a military vehicle to Ft Benning for a show on Tuesday, until then I am just taking it easy. There is a bar about a block down, and I visited it for a little while last night. I thought about going back tonight but I think I would rather just kick back in my room, enjoy a few bowls of pipe tobacco, and let my injured toe heal. This morning I visited a local pipe shop and picked up a new Peterson pipe. ...

Yesterday morning I and another driver delivered a couple of military trucks on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, right in front of the Capitol Building. Needless to say, getting in and out of that area in a couple of big rigs is no simple matter. The problems were somewhat compounded by less than perfect directions. I have been in DC many times and so knew a bit about where we were going, but when we reached the point where we were told to turn left onto 3rd Street SW off of Independence, we sa...

I had been feeling pretty tired and run down of late. Work has been fairly busy and I just haven't had much in the way of down time. I have been holed up in a motel for the past two days just catching up on my rest. I have to say that I feel much better. I had wondered if I wasn't coming down with some bug or other, but a bit of rest seems to have been just what the doctor ordered. I really should have left out at some point today as I need to be in Milford, PA 8:00 am Monday morning, but ...