As an avid reader my truck is crowded with books of all sorts. As you can imagine storage space is at a premium in a truck. To solve the problem of carrying so many books in the truck I picked up a Sony Pocket Edition Reader digital book. I have to say that this thing is great. I had looked at a Kindle recently and really didn't care much for the display. I just couldn't see spending a lot of time reading that display without eye strain. The Sony device is far better in that regard. Sony's...

I am still hanging around in WI. Thursday I ran some local loads using one of our spare trucks while mine was in the shop for repairs. While it was brutally cold outside I would have rather done that as to just sit around the shop doing nothing. Yesterday I ran a crash truck chassis and engine from Oshkosh to Appleton where the body and pumps will be installed. It was a whole 21 miles LOL. It took far longer for the loading and unloading than it did the actual driving. During the unloading...

I am now back in Wisconsin after a trip down to Oklahoma and Texas. Although it was raining down there the temperatures were quite pleasant for the most part. Now I am back in the freezer once again. The forecast for last night promised it would be a very cold night and since my generator was out of service, again, I checked into the hotel so as to have a nice warm place to sleep. I spent a couple of hours at the Applebee's next door having dinner a couple of drinks. I chatted for a while ...

Tonight I find myself in Hudson, WI. After delivering my load in Indiana on Monday I spent the night at a truck stop in Seymour. Yesterday I went up to North Central Indiana and picked up a construction site forklift going to Minnesota which I delivered today. Despite my giving them three hours advance notice that I was coming to pick it up by the time I got there they hadn't taken the first step towards getting it ready to load. I sat around for two hours while they worked to get the thing...

A few videos that demonstrate how one doesn't drive on ice.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWT1pY1mVlY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbmYD4ee8U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9iL6cxGQ8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ffUj4pZI8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWefWbvTrE

A few videos that demonstrate how one doesn't drive on ice.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWT1pY1mVlY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbmYD4ee8U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT9iL6cxGQ8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5ffUj4pZI8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWefWbvTrE

The prosecutor, wearing an impeccable grey three piece suit, spoke with the righteousness of a fifteenth century Salem minister. “Your Honor, the defendant was caught red-handed and in possession of exhibits A and B.” “The defendant”, he continued, “has made a full confession and has exhibited absolutely no remorse for his heinous crime against society. The defendant has repeatedly made demands that he be allowed to commit his crime with impunity and has expresse...

I belong to a pipe smokers forum and have gotten to "know" a number of fellow pipe smokers through it. Today I was able to actually meet one of them in person. He runs a liquor store in Kentucky and also sells some pipes and tobaccos. He has been holding a particular Dr. Grabow pipe for me for a few weeks now and I made a point of taking a little detour in order to pick it up from him. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with him, he's a true gentleman. After I had purchased the pipe he was hold...

Am in Owensboro, KY tonight. I plan to stay here over the weekend and have checked into a motel. I plan to visit a fellow pipe smoker who also sells pipes tomorrow or Saturday as his schedule allows. I'll give him a call tomorrow. He has a certain pipe that I want to buy and has been holding for me, and some others I want to look at. I had planned on spending the midnight hour on this New Year's Eve in a local bar here but after spending a couple of hours there I found that they were very loc...

I had lunch today at the Chinese buffet and am now just laying low in the hotel. It's a cold, windy, rainy day out and hardly fit weather for doing much outside. I had thought about going to see Sherlock Holmes at the theater but it doesn't show until 4:30 here. If there had been an early afternoon showing I probably would have gone after lunch. As it is, I just don't feel like going back out in the weather. I'll just remain here in my warm, dry room, drink a few beers, and smoke my pipes....

Am in WI for Christmas Eve. I’ll be hauling an over-sized load down to Jacksonville, FL but due to regulations can’t do so until Saturday morning. They don’t allow us to move over-sized load over holidays. There was a nasty snowstorm here last night. It became something of an adventure for me as about 10 miles from the yard my driver’s side wiper blade decided to go flying off the truck. That made for an interesting 10 mile drive. This morning I drove down to v...

Am on my way back to WI from the snow buried East Coast. I hauled a snow blower truck out there so they can get themselves out from under all that snow. Am doing ok, all things considered. I will be working over the holidays. As I haven't been home in a year now I see no reason to go there at this point. In fact I have decided to put the place up for sale as the burden of paying for a place I never visit seems a bit too much. Life is what it is and I am just going with the flow for the mos...

I am in Carlisle, Pa tonight.Nothing of import to write about really. I visited Uhle's Pipe Shop in Milwaukee this weekend and picked up a couple of new pipes as well as a lamb skin pipe case. Here are the pipes I have purchased recently: Peterson bulldog Graco   Viking Classic     Nording bulldog     Petersoin XL90   All very good smokes.

Today I picked up a machine in Charlotte, NC heading for Milwaukee, WI. They had said the machine would be ready to pick up after noon today so I rolled in there at 1:00PM. It wasn't ready to load until 4:00PM. Well, 4:00PM is after noon. The thing needed to be tarped and is so big that it took four tarps to cover the damn thing. I'm now quite exhausted and my bum hip is killing me. I won't be able to walk right again for a few days now. Time to break out the handy dandy walking stick for the...

I finally got a call from dispatch late this afternoon that informed me that I have a load to pick up in Charlotte, NC around noon tomorrow. As I have already been sitting in SC since yesterday I decided that I'll just sit here until tomorrow morning so as to gain a 34 hour restart. The hours of service regulations governing truckers states that remaining in one place, off duty, for 34 hours results in a restart on the maximum of 70 hours one is allowed to work in a week. As I am off duty ...