I had a pretty decent time at the hotel lounge last night, returned to my room to relax, and got a good night's sleep in a king size bed. I awoke very early, looked at the clock, rolled over, and went back to sleep for a while longer. I finally dragged myself out of bed and got myself ready to hit the road again. Socrates was patiently sitting on the driver's seat waiting for me to come back to the truck. He knows the routine and knew it was getting about time for me to show up. I spent a ...

This morning I went down to Camp Shelby, MS to pick up an Army truck going to Indianapolis. Indy is only 11 hours away. The truck delivers Monday. After two days of pressed running I now have a bunch of extra time on my hands. I decided to put the time to good use. I rented a hotel room for tonight. I've had a nice hot shower, a shave, and am about to go check out the hotel lounge and have a beer or three. Tomorrow I'll make my way up within easy reach of Indy and stop to get my laundry...

Whew! I am beat. Worn out. Pooped. Plain old dog tired. I made it to the Navy Air Station in Meridian around 4:30 this afternoon. I had called them this morning to let them know that I would be arriving between 4 and 5. He said they usually knock off at 3:30 but would wait for me. That was nice of him. Unfortunately he forgot to relay the plan to the base police. They closed and locked the truck gate right at 3:30 as usual. Oh great. When I got there and found the gate locked and unman...

Today went fairly well as days go. I was up before the sun, had my coffee, caught up my log book, made sure my oversized load signs and red warning flags were still intact (amazingly enough they do get stolen over night sometimes), switched on my amber beacons and all my lights, and headed South. The last weigh station in IL stopped me and checked my permit, which is a bit unusual for IL (they're a lazy bunch), but other than that I wasn't hassled at all today. Some scale masters, in some ...

According to a news story I heard today Iran is making noises that it wants to encourage tourism, especially American tourism, in it's nation. They are extending open arms to happily welcome Western tourists to come and visit Iran. Are they kidding? Under the current political tensions in that part of the world, any Westerner would either have to be a spy or just plain crazy to want to go there for a visit. I wonder if the tour guide gives one a choice of kidnapping, torture, or a quick b...

Today, after a great deal of rejection and arm twisting from members of his own party, Jackass John Kerry finally issued a formal apology for his stupid remark that offended so many American citizens and service members. WASHINGTON — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, under intense fire from both parties for remarks made Monday in which he suggested U.S. troops are "stuck in Iraq" because of their education, issued an apology Wednesday afternoon for what he called "my poorly stated joke." ...

I am a morning shaver. It's a wonderful way to start off the day. As I am currently pulling an oversized load and can only run daylight hours, and I also hate having to get out of bed any earlier than absolutely necessary, I decided to get my shave in this evening and save that precious pre-dawn time for that other most wonderful of morning rituals: coffee. I have to say that it was quite an enjoyable way to end the day. No crowded restroom full of drivers trying to get their turn at the s...

One of our owner operators was supposed to be at the yard at 7:30 this morning so we could move the snow plow blade and snow blower off of my trailer and onto his as he was taking that load to the North East. I was then going to go to Oshkosh and pick up a fire rescue truck to haul down to GA. I got up nice and early this morning, had my coffee, and arrived at the yard and was hooked up to my trailer ready to make the transfer at a quarter past 7. At 7:30 nothing was happening so I wandere...

It was pretty mild here in WI yesterday. The temps were in the 60s and it was pleasant. As the day progressed the winds began to pick up and by dusk it was quite windy. It was obvious a front was moving in. Before going to bed I checked the weather forecast. It was supposed to be reasonably warm this morning and the temps drop as the day progressed; cold front. Ok, no problem, just be prepared to put on warmer clothing later in the day. As it was pretty comfortable I went to sleep with jus...

When I walked inside to see if the piece I am picking up is ready yet the guy told me it would be about 15 more minutes. I noticed a bowl of Hershey's Kisses on his desk and mentioned that I love those things. He gave me a handful to tide me over until the piece is ready. OK, it's an article about nothing, but the title was too good to pass up.

There can be no doubt about the fact that this is Monday. It has Monday written all over it. I got up at 5:00 this morning, which is much easier since the time change, had my coffee and set out to deliver the steel I had picked up in Houston. Thanks to the wonderful road construction in downtown Milwaukee I had to take a rather convoluted route to get where I needed to be. I had checked my handy dandy street map program and determined where I needed to go and what streets would get me ther...

I made my first stop in Fond du Lac today and proceeded to the yard with a brief stop to get a shave. It was late afternoon by the time I reached the yard so I did what any normal person would do and I headed down to the local pub. There is a small group of elderly folks who are regulars at this pub. When I went in and settled onto a stool one lady, Annie, who is in her 70s said that she lost her bet. Naturally I inquired about the bet. It seems that they had a running bet about what sort ...

Rain, fog, snow. These are weather conditions which seriously reduce visibility when driving. The smart thing to do (and legally required in most states) is to turn on your lights so that other drivers can see you. It just makes sense and can greatly reduce accidents. So why are there so many drivers out there who refuse to do it? Anyone who has ever driven on wet roads is familiar with that large cloud of spray coming from the tires of a big truck. What many don't seem to realize is that ...

From bash.org A stats professor plans to travel to a conference by plane. When he passes the security check, they discover a bomb in his carry-on-baggage. Of course, he is hauled off immediately for interrogation. "I don't understand it!" the interrogating officer exclaims. "You're an accomplished professional, a caring family man, a pillar of your parish - and now you want to destroy that all by blowing up an airplane!" "Sorry", the professor interrupts him. "I had never intended to...