It's been a busy couple of weeks during which I've had very little down time, let alone internet time until today. I've been zig zagging back and forth around the country, which of course is a good thing as I don't get paid to sit still, but the poor economy still has freight rates depressed and despite the constant work the money is very poor. I'm just trying to hang in there until things improve. I am currently sitting in South Carolina after delivering two stops in WV and two in SC. The...

I recently purchased a leather pipe holster but the thing turned out to be worse than useless. The strap that is supposed to hold the pipe in the holster comes unsnapped too easily and the pipe falls out. My new Savinelli pipe has a nasty scratch now as a result. This evening I decided to try and knit myself something that would work better. It's nothing fancy, and doesn't look all that great, but it works.

This morning I picked up a backhoe and a skid steer in Chambersburg, PA heading for WI. It was a little chilly there, but not too bad at all. As I headed across the PA Turnpike it wasn't too long before I ran into a snowstorm. It was especially bad going across the mountain at Somerset. The roads themselves were ok enough despite the morons who insisted on hitting their brakes every time they thought the road might be a little bit slick (utter stupidity) but visibility was pretty crappy at so...

Yesterday I delivered an over sized load, an airfield fire truck, to the port in Baltimore. It was on it’s way to Libya. I hate that port and, true to it’s nature, the delivery took me all damn day. Such is delivering to that damn port. I was hoping to make it to my oldest nephew’s house for Thanksgiving. He lives in Ohio. Things just didn’t work out and instead I am spending the time in PA instead. Such is trucking. I called my brother, next youngest to me (I’m the oldest) and let him...

Charlie Dugan, who went by the handle “Old Dog” on the CB radio, had been driving big rigs for more years than he cared to recall and had more than five million accident free miles to his credit. He was, as many of the younger and newer drivers called them, an “old hand” when it came to life behind the wheel of an eighty thousand pound, seventy two feet long big rig. He was a tall, well built man with neatly cut silver hair beneath his ball cap with the Kenworth l...

Firstly, I wish to say hello and welcome to any new readers who may have wandered here from the pipe forums. I know a few have expressed interest in my silly drivel about life on the road, and perhaps have even taken a bit of their precious time to visit my little blog to see what sort of nonsense I have managed to pound out on my keyboard. Don’t expect glorious works of prose here, dear reader, because the truth is most of it is rather boring minutia and rather badly written minutia at...

I arrived at the delivery point in Alabama, a new steel plant under construction, only to find they couldn’t offload me until today (Monday) as the crane was to be tied up all weekend. They were kind enough to allow me to drop the trailer there on the site, which made it a lot easier for to get around and find a motel. This morning I went back to the jobsite to get unloaded only yo find that “they” had sent the wrong size lift booms for a something this heavy (35,000 lbs). He said the right...

This afternoon I walked to the sports bar down the street from my motel to watch the Louisiana/Alabama football game. I went in, sat down, ordered a beer, and packed a pipe expecting to enjoy the game. There was a woman there who was, well, LOUD. She screamed at the top of her lungs the entire game. I wanted to strangle her. While I can understand some fan enthusiasm, she was way, way over board and was a distraction. All I can think is that she was ignored as a child and had a need to be the...

Yesterday I left the yard with an over sized load. A pretty long one. Most of our trailers are either 48 or 50 feet long, but we have a couple like the one I am now pulling that can stretch out much longer. Mine is currently stretched out to 63 feet, which is 10 feet longer than the legal maximum. The load is a very large control house for a very large crane. I am hauling it to a steel plant in Alabama. While it’s only 9 1/2 feet wide, it’s length is the real issue ...

After delivering my load to the Air National Guard base in Bangor, ME I went to the truck stop for a hot meal. I wound up staying there until the following day as no load was to be found. The following day, around 1:00PM, dispatch calls me and says I am to dead-head (run empty) down to Fleetwood, PA to pick up some industrial presses going to MI. As soon as I heard presses I knew what was next. Yep, they want them tarped. Ugh. She also said she wanted me there “first thing” in the morn...

I reached Wisconsin this afternoon after picking up a pair of Marine Corps Hum Vs in Michigan. I'd been wanting to visit a 100 year old tobacconist shop in Kenosha called Andrea's that another pipe smoker had told me about. I checked into a motel, dropped my trailer, and bobtailed down to Kenosha to visit the place. It wasn't what I expected at all. It's mostly a gift shop with one corner of the place dedicated to pipes, cigars, and tobaccos. I mainly went there just to pick up a Zippo...

I finally got my truck out of the shop late Friday afternoon. I then loaded and secured an over sized load, an airfield snow scraper, heading for an Air National Guard base in Bangor, Maine. I moved the load down to the southern end of WI, just before the IL line, and called it a day. Illegal to haul over sized through IL after dark. Besides, it was my birthday and I wanted to enjoy a few adult beverages to mark the date. I went across the street from the truck stop to a bar/seafood pl...

I've been sitting in a hotel in WI since the day before yesterday. I had been having a few engine related problems with my truck so I put it in the shop to be checked out. I wasn't surprised when they told me it had to go down to the engine shop in Milwaukee for some major work. At last check it might be ready sometime tomorrow. I had grabbed my pipe bag, computer bag, overnight bag with some clothing, and my dop kit containing my grooming supplies. It wasn't until after I had checked in a...

Today was something else. I had to pick up an armored military wrecker from the Navy Weapons Station in North Charleston, SC. That place is always something of a circus as they ship and receive and lot of vehicles and equipment every day. I knew I was in for a long day. The fact that it was raining only added to it being a pretty crappy day. Once I checked in I drove around to where you get in line. There was at least twenty trucks ahead of me in line. Wonderful. Luckily, I had a good...

The rain let up so I made my way over to Emerson's Fine Tobaccos to have a look around. I was a tad disappointed in their selection of pipe tobaccos, especially the lack of any tins of good English tobaccos. I was hoping to find a tin of Squadron Leader, but no such luck. They did have numerous jars of bulk tobacco and, having carried one of my pipes in with me, I helped myself to samples of a few of them. I especially liked one called "Viking". I then checked out their very nice selection...