I'm sitting at a generator factory in Oshkosh waiting for my turn to load. I am picking up two generators heading for Florida. With any luck I should be at home some time on Christmas Eve. I know that I-294 around the Chicago area is going to be jammed with traffic later today so I am planning on going the long way around by cutting West over to I-39 and running South from there. I can then run across I-74 into Indiana. While it's a good deal farther it should actually save me some time si...

It's probably a good thing that I wasn't feeling the least bit cheerful today as the cold rain here in WI would have definitely ruined that mood. It's in the mid 30s, not quite cold enough for the rain to turn to ice or snow, but cold enough for it to feel completely miserable. By the time I finished unstrapping the load and rolling up my straps my jacket was soaked through as well as my work gloves. The gloves had lost all insulating ability and my fingers were numb from the cold. I was p...

I've been seeing this almost constantly when trying to navigate the forums: Server Error in '/' Application. Runtime Error Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine. Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on ...

I need a good hobby to keep myself occupied. I've been thinking about it for a little while. It has to be something that I can do while on the road, so it has to be as portable as possible, not require any special tables or other set up, and be safe to do in an enclosed space like a truck. I used to really enjoy doing wood burning, but that's not practical in the truck. Painting is out of the question for the same reasons as well as a complete lack of talent. I was talking to a f...

I got rolling around 7:00 central time this morning. I was hoping to make it to the IL/WI line before stopping tonight but my hip was really starting to bother me so I have stopped in Northern IN which is still ok even if not as far as I would have liked. I'm about 5 hours from my delivery point in WI, not counting any Chicago area traffic delays. I'm going to get an early start in the morning so I can make Oshkosh before noon if at all possible. I am really hoping that once I am unloaded...

When I got to the shopping center where I was picking up my load this morning I saw that they had those stupid islands all over the parking lot. They're a real pain in the ass and make it impossible for a truck to move around without running over them. I chose a route that would minimize the problem but still managed to run my trailer wheels over the end of one of them. I had chosen this one because it had obviously been run over before and the little tree planted on that end was laying on it...

This morning I have to pick up a walk-in cooler from a closed down grocery store that is being either remodeled to be something else or torn down, I'm not sure which. It's in pieces of course, and I'll be hauling it back to a place in WI where they make them. As I am pulling a "low boy" trailer which is designed for chains and not straps I'll have to use my portable straps on the cooler panels as the trailer doesn't have winches for the wide straps normally used on a step deck trailer. I just...

My heart is broken. Today Socrates dumped my coffee cup over in the floor. I set aside my laptop and started cleaning up the mess when he jumped on the laptop and broke off one of the keys from the keyboard. I was angry and yelled at him for it. I guess he was upset or scared from my yelling at him because when I opened the door to get out of the truck he jumped out. I tried to catch him but wasn't able to do so. The poor little guy ran under the wheels of another truck before I could stop...

Thanks to heavy morning fog I was behind schedule all day today. I had planned to make it to Montgomery, AL before having to stop. Since tomorrow is Sunday I can't move my oversized load again until Monday morning. As it is I only made it as far as Birmingham, a full 100 miles short of today's goal. That's put me a couple of hours behind schedule Monday. I was listening to the XM radio all day today, following the progress of the search for the three missing climbers on Mt. Hood hoping th...

There's an old joke that goes "how can you tell when a truck driver is telling a lie? His lips are moving." I was drinking a couple of beers in a bar next to the truckstop in Effingham, IL tonight and this driver was talking about all of the different place he was at when he was in the service. I'll admit his stories were quite interesting and it sounded like he had visited a lot of places for no longer than he had said he had served. Funny though how he didn't understand some simple ph...

One of the notable things about the LOTR movies is the abundance of pipe smoking. And not just any old pipes but the long wood churchwarden pipes. Churchwardens happen to be my favorite style of pipe, a meerschaum churchwarden being outstanding. So I'm watching LOTR tonight and I just had to break out my long wooden churchwarden. It's an exact replica of the one smoked by Gandalf the Gray. It's quite impressive looking and fun to smoke even though it's far from the best smoking pipe I own ...

I got up this morning and headed down to the truckstop for coffee and to get my paperwork finished up. While working on the paperwork I got a call from the office wanting to know where I was. I told him where I was and what I was doing and that I'd be back there once I had the paperwork finished. They obviously had something they wanted me to do. Once I got back "R" asked if I would mind running up to Oshkosh to pick up a piece he needed at the yard for a load. Sure, why not? Should be a q...

I made my delivery at Camp Douglas this morning. It went almost without a hitch. When I got there the guy made a phone call and asked me if I minded taking it about 40 miles further up the road. As a matter of fact I did mind and delivered it right where the paperwork said, and where I was being paid to deliver it. But I was nice and polite about it. Sort of. Once I got unloaded I picked up a couple of pieces that dispatch needed hauled to the yard and then made my way to the yard. O...

I made pretty good time out of West Memphis, AR today. No major delays, no load problems, not even a weigh station hassle. I started getting nervous. I always get nervous when things are going a little too well. I had planned on stopping in Rochelle, IL for dinner and a quick break before heading on into WI. The last 30 miles to Rochelle were very tedious. Just about where I crossed I-80 I ran into a thick pea soup fog. Visibility was down to less than 100 yards. Naturally I reduced my spe...

The woman was in the hospital bed surrounded by monitors, tubes and wires streaming from under the blankets. He eyed her for a moment before approaching. She was awake. The bruise around her throat from the rope used to nearly strangle her to death was an angry purple. "Miss Wilson?" he asked. She looked over at him with a wince that indicated that her neck was protesting the movement. Her eyes welled with tears. "Yes" she croaked. "Miss Wilson I am Detective Adams. I'd like to ask y...