Jo Ann and I split up in June of 2004. We had been together for about 7 years. We didn't split up due to any major fault or argument. Basically she wanted to get married and I didn't. That was pretty much it. I was married once and didn't like it. I've always subscribed to the philosophy that if a dog bites you once you don't go back and pet it again. I have never been the type to go for the one night stand thing. On that account I've always agreed with Groucho Marx when he said that I wou...

I had written earlier that I thought my back problem was starting to improve. So much for that. I got up few minutes to ago to go to the bathroom. No biggie right? I hoisted myself up, using the chair back and the desk to support myself to stand up, and started for the bathroom. I took a single step and my left leg decided that it would be a good time to take a break. The leg buckled and I went down. Hard. My head had an interesting meeting with the dresser. It took a bit of crawling an...

Well, the desk clerk thinks so anyway. I was about 75% through a large download (Linux distro ISO) when the WiFi connection lost connectivity with the internet. Grrrrrr the front desk after ensuring it wasn't some problem on my end (of course not, my system is perfect LOL). I told her that their system had lost connection to the internet and couldn't even issue an IP address. naturally she had no idea what an IP address was but said she'd check it out. After a few minutes without any impr...

Ok, I'll admit this right up front. I'm a lousy patient. I've never been good at following "doctor's orders". After all, it's my body and I know how it feels, right? I have frustrated and even outright pissed off more than one doctor in my life. But it's always worked for me. This time however I have been following the doctor's instructions regarding my current situation with my back. I really haven't had a lot of choice anyway as it's been bad enough to prevent me from doing as I please. ...

I decided that I just had to get out of this hotel room if just for a short time. I got the phone number for the local cab company from the front desk and called to find out how much it would cost me for a cab ride to Wal Mart. Yeah, I know, Wal Mart isn't exactly a night on the town but I needed some stuff. The lady at the cab company said it would be $3.95. Huh? I had to ask again, sure I hadn't heard right. $3.95 flat rate anywhere within city limits. Wow, what a deal. While at Wall...

I walked up to the hotel lobby earlier to get a cup of coffee. The doctor told me to walk some but not too much. I figure that's about the right distance. The woman working the front desk this morning is not the one who was working yesterday but she also knows me as I have stayed here many times. She noticed the way I was walking and surmised that I had injured my back. We chatted for a few minutes and I asked about any food places around here that would deliver (besides Dominoes). She sai...

I popped my pills, waited a little while for them to kick in, grabbed my dragon's head cane, and shuffled over to Appleby's for dinner. It was a very long walk even though it's right next door. But I made it. The bartender, Joe, was all concerned about my physical condition. I had to go through the whole story about what had happened. It's kind of odd being a "regular" in a place 1,000 miles away from home but such is the life of a trucker. He poured me a draft and handed me a menu. I w...

Argh!!!!!! It seems that percocet, valium, and sock knitting don't mix well at all. I had the ribbed top of the sock completed and had started the heel flap. I totally messed it up. Totally. It was a disaster. I tried to frog it back to the beginning of the heel flap but just couldn't manage to get the stitches picked up right again. In frustration I frogged the whole thing back to a pile of yarn. Arghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!! I've cast on the 48 stitches again but haven't started knitting ...

I was considering walking over to Appleby's for dinner and a couple of brews. A short walk down the hallway in the hotel quickly changed my mind. There is no way my back will allow a walk that long. I thought it was feeling a little better until I took that short walk and found my legs wanting to buckle and my back screaming in pain. Screw that. I like their food, but not that much. There is another trucker staying here at the hotel who works for a different company. I met him in the hal...

I was driven out of bed around 4:30 this morning. The pain in my back refused to let me sleep any longer. I got up, walked around a bit, and sat in the little hard backed chair for a while before getting a hot shower. The shower helped a bit. After showering I dressed, slowly, and went out to the truck to go get some much needed coffee. The door locks on the truck were frozen Grrrrrr. As it was a bit breezy outside I walked back into my room and used my lighter to heat up the key. I then w...

I made the delivery at Ft. McCoy this afternoon with the help of a couple of the guys there. I then started the 3 hour drive to the yard. I stopped along the way to get my filthy, salt covered truck washed and to stretch my back a bit. The truck wash was the usual forty bucks and took about 20 minutes. I climbed back into the now shiny clean truck and continued on toward the yard. Fifteen minutes later I ran into a snowstorm. An hour later it turned to rain. So much for my nice clean truck...

The boss never did return my phone call yesterday. I assumed he was either pissed at me or was up to his ass in alligators. When I called dispatch to check in this morning I finally got a hold of him on the phone and asked him point blank if he was pissed at me or what. He said not at all so I asked why he never returned my call. It seems that one of our drivers suffered a stroke yesterday and was in the hospital so he was busy dealing with everything associated with that situation. Damn, ...

This morning I told the boss that I was going to get back on the road tomorrow morning, I am now thinking that was a mistake. My back is still hurting like hell but I am walking a bit better than I was a few days ago. I'm not sure that I am going to be able to sit in the driver's seat long enough to drive any real mileage. I guess I'll just make a series of short hops. I might be able to manage that. I hope. As much as I want to get out of here I am seriously not looking forward to tryi...

I've been planning on leaving back out on the road from this truck stop this morning. Now I'm not so sure I'll be able to do it. My back is better than it was but is still hurting quite a bit and I'm not sure I could stand to sit in the driver's seat for any length of time. The truck also needs fuel and I am wondering if I would even be able to walk around the truck well enough to fill the tanks. This sucks. I have enough vicoden and flexeril to last today and that's it. I may just stay h...

JU appears to be acting up again. I can access the forums but can't access my blog. What's up?