Work, work, work, it never ends

Yes, I always have something to do. The day before yesterday, I had to fix our air conditioner, as it had froze up. I opened it up, and cleaned it out good, and that seemed to help it. Gotta have our air conditioner here in hot Texas. But I think I got a little too much sun, as I had one hell-of-a-headache later that day. I had to fix under our bed, as it was full of books, and the pieces of wood holding up the plywood came apart. Then I installed a couple of wall outlets for the Directv coaxle cables. This way we don't have to run it up through our window. Then just today, part of our toilet broke, the part that puts water in the toilet. So, something else to fix. I also put a door knob on the kids door. One with a lock on it, of course. So it always seems there is something for me to do here. I guess a "To do list" just never ends.


I think I'll include a picture here of what I feel like when I have so much to do.

I guess it's because I don't have much of the following.



When my wife comes home, I think I'll take a lot of pictures of our 5th wheel and pick-up truck, so you can see how we live.

Right now we are keeping our friends little dog. His name is Dallas & he is a Jack Russell/Chiwawa.( Sorry, don't know how it's spelt.) He is a tiny little dog, scared of his own shadow. He is so jittery, the slightest little sound spooks him.

I suppose that's all I have to talk about right now. I don't know what the future holds for us here, but I know who holds the future. I just take one day at a time. It's going to be interesting how the next few months turn out for us.

I'm still here and alive and well

Hi everyone. I'm still here and doing well. It's hard to write everyday on my blog, as most days I guess I just don't have much to say. But I enjoy writing, and I know some of you enjoy reading some of the things I write.

Basically, I haven't been doing too much, that is, not much hard physical labor. But if you know me at all, you know I find it hard to sit still and do nothing.

Yesterday, my older brother and two of his friends came over to visit me. I haven't seen him in 34 years. Tony, (that's my older brother), is sick and might have cancer of the pancreas. If you can, please say a prayer or two for him. I know if it's the Lords' will, He can heal him.

After they left, I went and changed the pads and rotors on the little subaru car we have. So I do some physical work. But I have to watch myself. Whenever I get gunho about something, I start having these pains in my chest, so I have to stop and slow it down. I really pray that this piece of metal they put in my blood vessel won't give me any trouble.

I've been taking a lot of vitamins daily, and actually feel real good. I get out everyday and go for a 30 minute walk, and do a few weight lifting exercises.

Life here on earth is a challenge every day, and we just need to take it easy, not get too stressed out slaving for the god almighty dollar, and just rest a bit. For me, it is a whole new lifestyle I need to adapt. I know I have lot's of debts, and very little money coming in, but I'm not going to worry about it.

I wish I had something profound to say, but I don't. I'm just another human being trying to make it in this crazy world. But I know our attitudes towards things will help us a lot. In other words, we need to have a positive outlook. I still think I can win the lottery, or win some money from one of these scratch off games. And even if no one else does, I can still keep dreaming, and one day it will come true. So, if I keep a positive attitude, I know things will work out.

Starting over again

Life is a little different for me now. I always feel I'm a heartbeat away from my eternal home. I've gotten some encouraging words from the Lord, so I think I'll be here for a while longer. At least I'd like to be here for a while longer. As most of you know, I'm usually a go getter, working hard, doing it all myself, etc. But now I have to go slower and get a routine down of things I do each day. One of the most important things I do is to make sure I take the vitamins my body needs so I can get healed, and to fight the drugs that I have to take for now. I don't want to stay on these perscription drugs, they do have side effects that aren't good. I also get out everyday and take a 30 minute walk. At first it was hard, and I would have pain in my chest which would go up the sides of my throat. But if I walked a little slower and took it a little easier, the pain would go away. The last few times I've walked, it's been ok.
I've been doing a lot of reading about the heart and how it works, and what causes heart attacks, etc. It's all very interesting. One thing I do know is that the pharmaceutical companies, the legal drug dealers, do not want you to get well. They don't want to find cures to diseases, they want you to stay sick. They are a trillion dollar industry, making tons of money on sick people. If there were cures to heart disease, stroke, and all the rest, they would be out of business and out of money. The doctor I went to see here in Houston told me I would have to take lipitor(for high cholesterol) for the rest of my life. (Cholesterol is not the cause of heart attacks, more on that later). A one weeks supply, which is 7 pills cost $23.99. This is $3.42 a pill. Multiply this by 52 weeks in a year, and it comes to $1,247.48. If I live another 20 years it comes to $24, 949.60. And this is just one of the pills they want me to take. They want me to take 2 other pills too. So you can see how without them doing anything but making a little pill, which doesn't cost them that much too make, they have money coming in for a long time. And I am just one of millions who have heart disease. But, it can be reversed and healed. I won't take the time here to tell you all about it, but there are some good books on the subject written by medical doctors who do not like the drug companies. These are honest doctors who want a cure for diseases, who truly want to help their fellow man, and not just make a fortune off of the sicknesses of others. I'm reading a book now called "Why animals don't get Heart Attacks....but people do!" This is written by Matthias Rath, M.D. (I finally took the time to insert a link the right way.)

I could go on and on, but I will stop here. Maybe tomorrow I'll write more about it. Just know this, that if you have been diagnosed with heart disease, you can be healed from it.

Be good everyone and enjoy life. Until tomorrow.

Peace and love to everyone

Sorry for not blogging. I know it's a good thing to do, and I know some of you read what I say. I suppose I've been preoccupied with staying alive. Literally. I know I have to take it easy and not get too stressed out. It's bad for my heart and I don't want another heart attack. One reason I've not been blogging much is I've been reading a lot of web sites concerning the heart. I just don't relish having another heart attack. Even though mine was mild, it was still rather tramatic. But I don't want to bore anyone with that.

I just want to say to my family and extended family that I love all of you, unconditionally. It doesn't matter what you did before or what you are doing now, you are loved. You sort of see things differently when you go through what I went through. I know I could have died, but the Lord had other reasons for keeping me here longer. I almost feel I'm living on borrowed time.

Just to mention a couple of things, Loxy, your bathroom looks fantasic, you do have a talent for being a "handywomen". You did a great job. I'd love to see it in person.

Spike, your second comment was the right one. Ha. I had to laugh over that one. Good job.

Charlock, I read your post that had the 22 comments on it. Wow! I wish I could get 22 comments on one of my post. It looks like you opened a can of worms, though. It was a thought provoking post. Perhaps one day I could tell you some of the "things" that happened to me. I read once on one of the exfamily sites, something that happened to this girl, and I had to agree with her, because some of the things she suffered, happened to me too. You should have tried to get a picture of that clown, though, the one who tried to run you over. Ha!

Roses are Blue, I read all of your comments on that 22 comment post. I'm not going to say you are right and they are wrong. I suppose it is a matter of perspective. But everyone has feeling for or against. You have conviction and you stand up for it, and that is good. Just follow your heart and do what you know in your heart to be right.

I hope I haven't offended anyone by anything I've said here. If I did, I didn't mean to.

Say a prayer for us, as I don't know how we are going to make it financially. No more big money. I will be reading a lot on real estate, so I can help Sandy. I know we can make good money investing in real estate. So far, no one has tried to reposes anything of ours. Oh, I'm sure everyone is curious on how much my hospital bill was. It came to $56,000.00. Hopefully I can get medicaid to cover it. If not, well, I could send them $20.00 a month for the rest of my life.

Be good everyone, and love one another.

I'm Home From the Hospital

My release and escape from the hospital was accomplished yesterday in the late evening, around 10 pm. After they had taken so much blood out of me and they still didn't get any answers, they felt I wasn't worth keeping around. To my delight I was let go. Ha! Still gotta have a sense of humor about the whole thing. Actually, the people in the hospital were all very sweet. Sandy and Benjamin came to get me, and we drove back, arriving at our trailer around 3:30am. We went straight to bed. My dear sweet wife would not let me have sex with her. She was afraid I would have another heart attack. Bummers!! I gotta wait a while before engaging in my favorite pastime.

This morning we went to the store to get the drugs the doctor said I needed, and since there were 4 perscriptions, they would have cost me $420 for a one month supply. I told the lady, "Gee, you almost are giving me another heart attack". How can anyone afford these drugs. But you all know that is a whole big long story and a big racket for the drug companies. We ended up buying one week's supply, which still cost us $105.96. While we were waiting, we bought a couple of those scratch off games, and just won a couple of dollars, to help pay for the drugs. So as you can see, we are now into gambling and drugs.

On Monday, we will go and find a naturalpath doctor and take natural rememdies. We need to see if I can get any kind of disability pay, as I won't be driving for Landstar anymore. I can't drive for 6 months anyway after having a heart attack, so, the Lord must have something else for me to do. I guess now I will get into the Real Estate work with Sandy.

I do need to take it easy for at least the first 6 to 8 weeks, then slowly get back into a rhythm of doing work or whatever.

Thanks again for all your prayers and kind words. I suppose now I will need to find a new blog name for myself, since I won't be driving around the country any more. Any suggestions?

Prodded, Poked, Pricked, Sticking it in here and there

Well, it's good to have a sense of humor at a time like this. Now for all of you guys with sex on your minds all the time, you'd probably think this is the title for an x-rated adult movie. Sorry to burst your balloons, but it is what happenes to me on a daily basis. The ever dreaded needles. I've told you how they keep giving me shots in the stomach area. When they gave me one last night, I told the nurse that I'd lost count of how many I'd had, to which he proceeded to count all the bruises on my stomach, and he came up with about the same number that I had. I think it's about 8 times. Now my stomach is only so big, and they are running out of fresh places to "PRICK" me. I pray none of you have to experiance a hospital stay.

So, we've learned that nurses, be they male or female, love to give shots. The next thing they love to do is take your blood. Hey, wait a minute, I need my blood in my body, quit taking it. They've used both my arms at the elbows for this, and now both of the backs of my hands. I've also noted that some nurses can do it better than others. (Drawing blood out of your body, that is, not the sexual thing you were thinking). The nurse that took blood the other day out of my hand I barely felt the pain, but this girl last night, Lord, did that ever hurt. I thought she was going to stick that needle right though my hand.

Once you've had a heart attack where one of your blood vessels have gotten clogged, you are put on blood thinners, and one drawback to this is that you bleed a lot more than normal. In other words, if I shave and cut my face, it will bleed for a day or so.

So, I'm not sure when I will be getting out of here, hopefully today, which is Friday, or maybe tomorrow. We will see. Again, thanks for everyone's prayers and thoughts. I appreciate them all.

I'm feeling fine, except everybody want's to poke me with needles

Just to let everyone know, I'm feeling fine right now. I hope none of you have to have a long hospital stay, as it isn't fun sometimes. Yesterday, they transfered me out of the intensive care unit and took me a couple of floors up, to a private room with a shower. What a blessing it was to take a shower. They had to cover up all the needles in my arms with plastic bags so they wouldn't get wet, but other than that, it was a nice shower. But I didn't get much sleep, as someone would come in the room about every two hours to take my vital signs. And of course, the ever dreaded shot in my stomach. I had another one this morning. I think that is the 7th or 8th one. It's a blood thinning medicine. So now, whenever I cut myself, I bleed and it doesn't stop for a while. I shaved last night, and nicked myself, and if you can believe it, it is still bleeding this afternoon.

Around 4am this nurse, a black guy,( as a lot of the nurses here are males,) he came in and wanted to take some blood out of me. He proceeds to put a needle in my right arm, and I said, hey wait a minute, I already have a place in my left arm that they have been taking blood out of, what is wrong with that. He said he couldn't use that spot, so went ahead and stuck another needle in me. I'm just sore from all the needle poking that has been going on. So that morning I asked another nurse if she could take the needle out of my left arm, which was the original one the paramedics put in. She said sure, and as soon as she took it out, wow, all this blood came gushing out. It took about 5 minutes or so to stop the bleeding. I've been given a lot of blood thinning medicine, so I won't have a blood clot. The other drawback to this is I get super cold. I had two blankets on my bed, and I was shivering and my teeth were chattering, and I finally called a nurse in, and they put another 3 blankets on me to warm me up. I bet it was only about 73 degrees in my room, but it felt like it was 32 degrees below zero. Ha! Well, maybe now I'll be able to tolerate the hot Texas weather.

It looks like I might get released today, and if not, hopefully tomorrow. My advice to everyone is to exercise everyday without fail, at least 30 minutes of good hard cardio exercise. And watch what you eat. All of that stuff gets clogged up in your viens, and when it is in a major artery that goes to your heart, that is when you can suffer a heart attack, like I did. Thankfully for me, I only had one blood vessel that was blocked, and it did do some damage to my heart. But if I stay on the blood thinning medicine, and exercise and watch what I eat, I should last a little longer.

Again, thanks for everyones prayers. I appreciate them.

Sorry for not posting, I had a heart attack

You never think it could happen to you, and when it does, it is surpising. But I did have pain in my chest about 2 or 3 months ago, espescially after I would do anything strenuous. I wasn't sure just what it was, I thought it was my heart, but I didn't want to admit it. I had high cholestoral, but ignored that. My advice to you, if you have pain in your chest, get in to see a doctor right away.

On monday morning, the 18th, I went to Kelly air force base in San Antonio, to unload the jet engine I had hauled from Travis AFB. After I took off the tarp and folded it up, I started noticing pain in my chest. Then when I was taking off the chains, it hurt even more. I thought I would just stop and rest and it would go away. Well, it didn't. I went and asked the crane operator if they had a hospital on the air base, as I was having chest pains, and that is when they called 911. In the meantime, I went inside where a nurse started to treat me before the paramedics arrived. When they got there, they tested me out, and gave me one nitroglycerine pill. It helped, and the pain went away. They said my heart was ok, but that I might have angina, a lack of oxygen going to the heart. They asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I feel ok, perhaps I will drive home and go see a doctor when I got home. Well, it wasn't two minutes later that the pain came back, and hurt even worse. I told them I better go with you guys. They took me to the hospital, gave me another nitro pill, which didn't help. When I got to the hospital, they gave me 2 more nitro pills, morphine, and other stuff. Nothing helped the pain and it got worse. Imust have waited about 3 or 4 hours before they took me to intensive care and said they were going to have to do an angioplast. What they do is right down at your groin, they shave you, then they stick a catheter into the large vien in your leg. They put dye in it so it will show up on the x-ray. They gave me some pills to kill the pain, and I didn't feel a thing when they did the procedure. I was able to watch the whole thing on the tv monitor as they were doing it. One of the major blood vessels going to the heart was clogged up, so no blood or oxygen was getting to the heart. Because of this, there was damage done to my heart. It is good they caught it when they did, else, I suppose I would have to be telling you this from the other side. I stayed in intensive care for that night, all day tuesday, and it is now wednesday morning, and they are saying they will keep me in here another day, just to watch me. I have three needles in my arms, have been hooked up to a lot of machines, and I think the thing that hurts the worse is when they give me a shot in the stomach. I've had 4 or 5 shots there, and it hurts. Last night, around 4 am, where they went in with the thing to clear open my blood vessel, down at the groin area, well it started to bleed a lot. I called the nurse in, where she immediatly started to apply pressure to stop the bleeding. I thought, Oh Lord, don't let me bleed to death, because they can't get this blood vessel to close up. There is always so much risk in this king thing.

I want to thank all you for praying for me, and to all the ones who came to see me in the hospital. Like I said, I more than likely won't be driving a truck again, at least not for a while. Landstar's policy is that if you've had a heart attack, you can't drive for at least 6 months. We will be praying about what we are going to have to do. This is going to be a big change in our livestye. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I'm sure the Lord has a plan for us. I will keep you all informed of my progress. I have to start on an exercise program right away, and eat super good foods. No more fast food joints.

Ok, I will talk with you all soon.

Another PS to the previous link

When you go to the post with the picture in it and click on the title, scroll to the bottom of the page and it has a lot of pictures of the plane. In the bottom right hand corner there is a picture of a man getting ready to work on an engine. Here you will get an idea of how big the engine is that I'm hauling.

The previous post worked, somewhat

Well, I got the picture I wanted, and if you click on the title, it will take you to a link all about the C-5A Transport plane. I'm not obsessed with this plane or anything like that, I just wanted you to see what it looks like. Enjoy the link.

PS. I did get some of my pictures put on cd's at wal-mart, so I hope to put some on here soon.

The Galaxy C-5A Transport plane.

I'm testing some links and pictures for you. I hope this works. If not, please disregard my stupidity with computers.

Another military load

Sorry I haven't been posting lately, I haven't been able to get on line. For my latest adventure, I went to Travis AFB which is just outside of Sacramento, Ca. I'm learning that almost every Air Force Base specializes in something. Travis is no exception. They have the big C5A Galaxy Transport Planes. They are hugh. I'm sure you've all seen a 747 Jumbo jet. This Air Force plane makes the jumbo jet look like a shrimp. There was a 747 parked there, and the C5A taxied right by it. It sure made the 747 look small. If you've never seen one of these big jets take off, you should. It is just amazing to me how they ever get airborne. They transport tanks inside of these planes. The guys at the base were saying what a headache it is for the engineers to load the planes, because all the weight has to be placed just right in the plane, or it won't be able to lift off correctly, and then of course it will crash, and nobody want's that. At Travis, they practice landings and takeoffs, which is what they were doing when I got there.

Anyway, I picked up one of the engines that go on this jet. It has four engines. This was an oversize load, that is how big the engine is. One thing I noticed was when people drove by me in their cars, I saw a lot of heads turn to look at just what it was that I was hauling. Being a jet engine, it had to have a tarp over it to help protect it from the elements, so folks weren't too sure what it was. The back of the engine, which was facing forward on my trailer comes to a point, so maybe folks thought I was hauling some sort of rocket or something. They would look at the engine, then look at me. Don't know why they wanted to look at me? I didn't do anything wrong. Ha!

I'm heading to Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, which is where I am right now writting this. I'm dropping it off in the morning, then I'll head to Houston with or without a load. That way I can spend the night with Sandy and the kids. Then Tuesday off again with another load.

Amazing, but true

Yesterday, my wife Sandy did a brave thing. She told me she was going to go and see my mom. As you remember my mom changed her mind at the last minute and said she didn't want me to come to the memorial service for my dad. So I gave Sandy the street address of where my mom lived, as she won't let me have her phone number. Off she went with high hopes of explaning to my mom just what kind of person I am now. She rang the doorbell, and my mom opened the door. Sandy said a few things, then my mom asked her who she was, and she said I'm Joe's wife. My mom said, "I don't want anything to do with him!" and proceeded to shut and lock the door.
What do I think about what happened? Well, I thought that's what she would do, but I also thought people change. Can someone really hold a grudge that long? Think of all she is missing out on. She (my mom) has lot's of grandkids she has never even meant. I just don't know what to say or think about this anymore. It seems to me that she is just a bitter women who just doesn't have it in her to forgive. Just to let everyone know, over the years I sent my mom numerous letters explaning my situation and asked her to forgive me for anything I might have done to hurt her, ect. She never once wrote me back. Cathy, my sister-in-law told me that my mom has all the letters I sent her. I don't know if she ever read them though.
I could go on about what I think about this situation, but I'll stop here. Just say a prayer for my mom that she will have a change of heart.

On my way to California

I guess I have a sort of love/hate relationship with California. Loads pay good to go there, the weather is unually sunny, but I hate the speed limit for 18 wheelers, (55mph), which no one ever does. I've gotten away with 62 and had a CHP (California Highway Patrol) drive right by me and not stop me. Plus there is always tons of traffic at all hours of the day or night. But I guess it's still worth it to come out here.
Before I left Houston I picked up a load right next to the Intercontinental Airport. It was 2 sissor lifts and a small fork lift. The first one goes to Los Angeles International Airport, the fork lift goes to Fresno Airport, and the last lift goes to San Francisco International Airport. I've hauled lots of this type of load. Easy load, not much work involved. But was it ever hot in Arizonia and going across I-10 in California. About 110%. You see, in Los Angeles the weather is usually a little cooler.
You know, once I told you that I would write down the things I think about when I'm driving. I do a lot of thinking. I'm driving for about 10 hours a day, so you can see I have a lot of time to think and to day-dream as well. Not to the point that I would get so spaced out that I would have an accident. Anyway, on the way out here, I couldn't help but think about my life, what I have done, and also about my childhood. I thought about my mom and why she just doesn't want to see me or have anything to do with me. I thought of writing her another letter, but this time sending the letter to all my family, kids and all. I mean, she hasn't even seen any of her grandkids from me. They just couldn't believe she wouldn't let me,( or I guess I should say she didn't want me) to come to the memorial service.
You know, I'm happy with what I have done with my life, although some things could have been done better. I've had lot's of good times and quite a few bad times. But its been fun. I'm happy I have the kids I have. I'm happy we have such an extended family too. By this I mean the kids from my first wife, Gloria; the kids from Sandy's first husband, and my kids from Sandy. Plus all the new husbands and wifes too. We should have a big family reunion soon. I'm thankful for all of you guys. Life is just too short to fill it up with bitterness and mistakes of the past. I feel sorry for my mom, and I often wonder if there was more I could have done. Maybe so. But why didn't I do anything to help resolve the situation. I did write lots of letters, but maybe there was more I could have done. I think I was just too scared to do anything. I have always been afaid of rejection, you know, being rejected by people. If I get into a sticky situation, I don't like to have to face people if I even think they might want to reject me.
Anyway, you might say it's all in my head, I just think the worse, or I'm too negative, or whatever. Perhaps I am a little bit, but I guess I just can't dwell on what "could have been".

Now this might sound crazy to you, but I think alot about dying. (I'm not getting any younger you know, Ha!)Not the actuall act of dying, but what it is going to be like when we pass over to the other side. If you have never read the book "Embraced by the Light" by Betty J. Eadie, I highly suggest you do. Her web site is www.embraced by the light.com. ( Sorry, too lazy to try to put in the link, maybe next time.) This is such a beautiful site. Read the section on "Heavenly Encounters". I have known a lot of people in my time who have passed over to the other side, and I often wonder what they are doing. They have gotten a head start on us. I guess I could go on, but this is getting too long. Ok, until tomorrow, or until I get a good signal for a connection with the web.

Last minute sad? bad? news???

I've been home for over a week now, enjoying not being out driving. On saturday we all went to see my brother. That is the younger one. My wife had never met him or his wife. We took all of our kids, including Ricky and Rosie. They were impressed with Rosie, and I thought see might end up saying something she shouldn't, but she was a good girl. Oh yea, we went to Rosie's graduation. Fun. We enjoyed fireworks here at the trailer park.

Now, all this time home was for the express purpose of going to see my brother's family & my dad's memorial service, which is suppose to be tomorrow at 11am, on the 7th. Today, the 6th we all went out with the kids and went bowling and then we went to dinner. I was suppose to call my sister-in-law, Cathy, to find out if she still needed a ride to the memorial service, as one of their cars had broke down. Since I didn't have her number on me, I was going to wait until I got home to call her. When we got home, literally when we pulled up to our trailer, Cathy called me. "Hi Cathy, do you still need a ride to the memorial service?" She said "No, we got the car fixed." I said, "Great, so I guess we will see you there tomorrow?" "Well Joey, (that's what she calls me, as that was my name as a kid), your mom told me today she doesn't want you to come." Cathy said "I'm so sorry." "That's ok Cathy, it's not your fault." We talked for a while and I'll go and see her and David tomorrow after the memorial. She will tell me how it went and will have some pictures too.

You have to understand, my mom is 80 years old. She had told Cathy just one week ago that it would be ok if I wanted to go with my family. Now she changes her mind. She told Cathy something like 'Why would he come back now, after almost 40 years'. Well, it's only been 34 years since I last saw her. It's a very long, sad, horrible story, & if you guys ever want to hear it, I could tell you someday when we are all together sipping a few drinks. I suppose I could go anyway, as it is my father who passed away, but I guess when your not wanted, what can I say. I can't get too bumed out about it. This is the way it's been for the last 34 years. At least Cathy told me she has all the letters I ever sent her. I don't know if she ever read them, but I do know she never ever wrote back.

I suppose I could say that the reason why I've had so many problems and troubles all my life stems from my upbringing, well, it wouldn't be an understatement. I won't blame it all on that, as I'm to blame for a lot of my actions.

The two biggest words that always comes to my mind about me is "rejected", and "failure."
But I know someone who has never rejected me and has always said I was a success.

Ok, enough bad news about me. Loxy, I enjoyed your blog about your trip to Boston. Great photo's too. And yes Spike, you sure are a handsome guy. Jamie, I think I'll bring your birthday gift when we come to your wedding. You guessed boots. Sorry, not boots. But you did get the first letter right. Ha!

We need to move to the other trailer park tomorrow, and then I need to get back out on the road to make more money to..................you know the routine. Hey guys, please don't feel bad for me because of this thing with my mom, I'm sure there is a reason for the whole thing.

Nevada, the desolate state

Sorry for not posting for a few days. I wasn't able to get online. I had just typed up a post when all of a sudden my computer said it wanted to shut off. This thing has a mind of its own. So I lost the post I'd written, and now I'm starting over.

Anyway, I'm in Oklahoma City with a load of two compressors which I will drop off here in the morning. After this I'm heading to Houston with or without a load. I need to get home. It's been almost 2 months that I've been out here on the road.

I drove though the back roads of Nevada, and it is very desolate. There is a road here, highway 50, and it is called "the loneliest road". I've been on it and they were not kidding. One thing Nevada has lots of, and that is military bases. I passed an army ammo depot. Hugh place. And another air base, which is just right outside of Las Vegas. When I got to Las Vegas the other day, there was a lot of smoke from a big forest fire that is burning in California and Nevada. When you have to drive though this, it is hard to get the smoke out of your truck. Also there are wildfires burning in Arizona, and southern Utah. All started by lightning.

Not much has been happening with me. I'm trying to get home. I learned back on the 18th that my dad had gone to a hospic and wasn't expected to live much longer. He had congestive heart failure. On the 21st I found out he had passed away that night. I guess it was early in the morning of the 21st. I never had much of a relationship with my dad, and I don't think me two brothers did either. I hadn't seen him since I left home when I was 16. There will be a service for him, a memorial service on the 7th of July, and I found out that it was ok that I come. Ever since I've been here in Texas, my parents knew I was here, but they never made any indication that they ever wanted to see me or my wife and kids. This will be hard for me to go to this service, as my mom will be there, and I have not seen her since I left home at 16 years old. It will be strange. God bless my sister-in-law, she has been my go between with my mother. She let's her know what I'm doing, ect. So, pray for me, I'll need it.

Until tomorrow.

I'm still In California

I noticed no one commented on my last two blogs. Guess no one has an extra dog house. But that is ok, I won't be needing one. I have made amends with my wife, and she has agreed to let me sleep in our bed together again. :)! We do get along quite well together.

Well, back to my travels. I took a load of rail road ties to a city just south of San Francisco. It's called San Bruno. I went across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Hugh bridge. Wish I could have taken pictures. This is the same bridge that had a portion of it fall down in an earthquake a few years ago. Yikes. I prayed all the way across it. But as you cross it, downtown San Francisco is to your right, and you can see Alcatraz Island, and the Golden Gate Bridge. One day I will cross that bridge too. It cost me $10.25 to cross the one I went on, I don't know how much it would be to cross the Golden Gate. Remember, they always charge big trucks more money on tolls.

Where I had to deliver the load was in a real tight area. Cars were parked on both sides of the steet, and it took a lot of manuvering just to miss them.

Oh yes, when I was crossing the bridge, it was about 9 pm local time, and the moon was just coming up over the mountains. It was a full moon. It looked gigantic! Anyway, I couldn't find the place I needed to go to, which was a lumber yard, as it was just being used as a storage facility. I drove up to another one of the freeways, and spent the night on the side of the road. I didn't sleep much, as the traffic went by all night long. I don't usually do this, sleeping on the side of the road. Anyway, I got the load off the next morning.

Today, I got a load out of the National Guard Airbase here in Sunnyvale, Ca. And it is just going to Stockton, Ca. a little over 75 miles away. It pays $1,000 gross pay. That comes out to $13.33 a mile. My actual cut on the load is $792.00 .That is the amount I get. That is good pay for about 4 hours of work. All I'm getting is a trailer. Easy load. Wish they could all be like this. So, I do get some breaks once in a while. Now don't anybody think that I'm rolling in the doe, because I'm not. Most of my loads only average out to be about $1.80 to $2.00 a mile.

After I drop this load off today, I'm trying to get something that will take me back home. Ok, that is all for now. Later folks.

Does anyone have an extra dog house I could use.

Opps, I blew it big time. I'm going to be in the dog house for a while. If you read my wifes comment under my last blog, you'd know what I'm talking about. I'm sorry, honey, I shouldn't of said that. You know me well enough to know I won't go picking up a girl. I said it jokingly, sorry. Gotta watch what I say. I do love you too. :)!

Also, for anyone who read my blog, "Just north of Seattle", I asked a trivia question. The answer to the question is--the reason they check our tires for rocks before we go driving on the flight line, is becasue they could get sucked up into the jet engines and cause them to crash.
They do the same thing on aircraft carriers. Any little tiny piece of metal or something that could get sucked up into the jet engine could destroy the engine. Once a military plane with lots of soldiers on it crashed after take off because they ran into a flock of geese and some of the geese were sucked into the engines and destroyed the fan blades. It does happen. I've even seen a guy get sucked into the engine on a jet on an aircraft carrier once. Thankfully, he lived to tell about it, but some have not been so lucky. If you remember recently when the concord took off from Paris, right after another jet had taken off, it is shown taking off with it's engines on fire. There is a long streak of flames shooting out of the engines. Shortly after that it crashed and killed everyone on board. The resulting investigation said it was from a piece of metal that was sucked into the engines that came from the other jet that had just taken off. So, that is why they look for rocks in our tires when we go on an airbase.

I picked up a load of railroad ties in Seattle and it is going down to San Francisco. I should be home this week, I hope.

Well, gotta go to bed. I've got a real bad headache and there is a full moon in a couple of days. I think the full moon has something to do with my headaches, because they become real sever whenever there is a full moon. If the moon can affect the tides, I guess it could constrict the blood vessels in a persons head too.

Alone Again In Seattle

Just think, it was one year ago that my wife came with me on the road and we enjoyed a weekend here in Seattle. I love Seattle because it reminds me so much of Europe. A sort of mix between France and Switzerland. It's like anything goes here. Almost all the young people have tatoos and tons of body jewely, wild hair doos, clothes, ect. ect. But unfortunately I had to spend it alone. You know, it really isn't any fun to spend your life alone. You really do need to have someone to spend it with. Someone you love. I suppose I could have tried to pick up a girl, but I don't think it would have worked out. It was a beautiful day here, sunny, and in the low '70's.

Thanks to all who wished me a happy fathers Dad. Thank you so much. I love all of you!

I'm going to try to get home sometime this week. I've got some business that needs to be taken care of. Sometimes I wish life was one big vacation for everyone to enjoy. There is just so much to do to enjoy life. As the saying goes, "Things to do, people to see, places to go."

Until tomorrow. Enjoy life, be good, love one another.

Just north of Seattle, Wa.

Forgive me, everyone, but it's hard to start this blog because I have such a busting splitting headache. This is indeed my curse in life. I have nothing but sympathy(and lot's of BC powders) for anyone who gets headaches. I just hate with everything in me when people tell me, "Oh, it really doesn't hurt that much." How in the hell would they know, it's not their head that's hurting, but mine.

Ok, enough about my head. Now, where were we? Oh yes, loading in Las Vegas on wednesday. I went to the air force base, and what a scene that was. I waited about 2 & 1/2 hours before they took me to get loaded. They took me right to the flight line. I was no more than 300 feet from all these million dollar fighter jets, including the latest one, the F-21 Raptor. I know it's the raptor, but I'm not too sure of the F-21, I could be wrong. This is the latest stealth fighter jet. It is just wild to be there and watch all of these jets taking off and landing. And loud, well, that's not even the word for it. More like ear busting. The Lord know's I'd love to fly one of 'em. I asked one of the soldiers what is the average age of the pilots, and he said anywhere from 25 to 40. Most are around 28 years old. I also asked him what would happen if I tried to get close to one of the jets. He said, "Well, there is an invisible red line around them, and if you cross it, within minutes you would be surrounded, with the muzzle of a rifle on your neck." He said it's not a good feeling.

Now this load I was getting was for the Navy. They were there on training with the air force. These navy guys told us how weird the air force is. Way too strict they said. They go by the letter of the law. Anyway, if you know anything about the air force or the navy and their jets; they are always trying to outdo the other, or out compete them. The navy has the "Blue Angels", which perform at air shows all over the world. I think, in my opinion, they are the best. But the air force has the "Thunderbirds", and Nellis Air Force Base is their home. And there they were sitting there nice and pretty all lined up in a row, waiting to perform. I guess you can tell I'm a little fascinated with jets. Ever since I was a little kid. My dad was an airplane mechanic, and he took us to the airport a lot, and even to the air force base there in Houston, Ellington AFB. Oh, and a little more info on the "Thunderbirds"; I read today on CNN news that they will be getting the first female fighter pilot to fly on their team. Not even the "Blue Angels" have that. It's always been all men. So there you are ladies, go for it. You can do anything a man can do. And why not, if she is qualified, let her do it.

After we finally got loaded and were on our way out, the stupid air force locked us in on base. So the navy guy that was with us, called them, and it took them 2 hours to come and unlock the frigging gate to let us out. There was 2 other trucks with me. And even this navy guy, and he had a high rank and all, even he didn't have any sway with the air force while he was on "THEIR" base. It's always one thing or the other when I go on these military bases. And was it hot. 105 degrees, like being in a blast furnace. Dry heat.

Ok, the next day we left and since they loaded us so late, they said we would unload you on saturday at the Navel Air Station on Whedbey Island, Wa. It's right outside of Oak Harbor, Wa. If you have a map, look and see where it is. It is beautiful here. I've always loved the Seattle area, and Washington state. I lived here back in the early '80's; in Seattle and in Vancouver, Canada. And guess what Rosie Posie? I found a place for you here. It is called "Posey Island State Park" right on your very own island called "Posey Island"! Ha! How do you like that?

So today, Saturday, we all got unloaded together at the NAS(Navel Air Station). There were 4 of us all together. The same guys who loaded us, unloaded us. They flew here, of course. And the temperature here, a balmy 56 degrees with clouds. What a change in temperature!! Right when we were getting unloaded, all of these navy jets take off. About 5or 6 of them. You couldn't even hear yourself think, as again, we were right on the flight line.

Now, a little trivia question for you. When they took us out to the flight line, which is very close to the runway, they stopped all of us, and checked our tires for rocks. Do you know why? Let's see who knows something about airplanes. Another hint. On an aircraft carrier, about once a week or so, they will take a couple hundred guys and they will walk the entire length of the aircraft carrier and pick up any tiny little objects they find(Like rocks). Why do they do that?

I could tell you more stories these navy guys told us, but I'll save them for later. I took lot's more pictures and will put them on a disk at Wal-Mart so I can put them online for all to see.
Ok, bye for now. More later.

Ps. I'm going to Seattle tomorrow for my day off. Wish you all were here.

Las Vegas, NV. Sin City, USA

Well,I'm here in Las Vegas. Is it hot here? Well, I sweated so much, they put out a flash flood warning. Ha! But before I got here, I had to go first to Ft. Mohave, Az. That was on monday, and when I got to the job site, they couldn't unload me, so I had to go to Vegas, unload, then drive back to Ft. Mohave to get unloaded tuesday morning. It's about 100 miles out side of Vegas. I took lot's of pictures, so when I get the film developed, I'll put it on a disk, so I can put it on the computer for all to see. ( I still need to get that digital camera).
Now if you have never been to Las Vegas, you need to go, at least once. But another place you can go to which a lot of people don't know about is where I went to. Just north of Ft. Mohave, Az is a town called Bullhead City. It is right on the colorado river, and just across the river is Laughlin, Nv. Now if Las Vegas has a sister, this is it. They have these huge biker rallies there. One year, about 4 or 5 "Hells Angles" were killed in a shootout with another rival bike gang, or something like that. Needless to say, when the bikers come to town, security is tight. This place is down in the valley, at 0 elevation, and you go down about 3 or 4 thousand feet down these steep mountains. It takes me a lot of time climbing back out of there, as I do about 25 miles an hour climbing the steep grades.
So, there is your geography leason for today. If you want a vacation spot, go to Laughlin, Nv. I'm sure you can check it out on the web.
Ok, I got back here in Las Vegas today, tuesday, and tomorrow I'm loading out of Nellis Air Force Base, with a load going up to Oak Harbor, Wa. That is about 50 miles north of Seattle, WA. Nellis AFB is home to a lot of fighter jets. I forget just what air wing it is, ( I could look it up) but here at the truck stop we are only about 5 miles from the base, and in the evening you see all these fighter jets coming home after a day of bombing the crap out of the bombing and gunnery range. Look on your map of Nevada and you will see it about 80 miles or so northwest of Las Vegas. It's also the area where they tested the first nuclear bomb. If I was younger, I'd love to be able to fly one of those fighter jets. But that is where your tax dollars go to, to pay for the jet fuel so these guys can fly around all day. Crazy huh?
I took a lot of pictures of Las Vegas. I hope they turn out. One thing you notice out here, besides the heat, and the barran mountains, is the lack of trees. I mean all these mountains here do not have one single tree on them. Totally barran, nothing but rocks. Blue sky in the daytime, hardly any clouds. I forget how many days the sun shines here during the year. Almost every day.
I didn't do any gambling, but there will be another time.
Oh yea, they are having a big truck show here for three days. I saw some of the show trucks here at the truck stop. Nice, real nice. Lot's of money in them.
Ok, that's it, 'till tomorrow.

Why, Oh why do I do it?

This load that is going to Las Vegas, (for all of those who were not smart like Ben, and guessed where I was going), it is a tarped load. I almost NEVER TAKE TARPED LOADS! I haven't hauled one since 50 loads ago. WHY? They are one huge pain in the butt. So, why did I take it. It wasn't just because it was going to Las Vegas. Everytime I go there I'm usually broke, so I can't play the slot machines. But maybe this time I will.
Anyway, I took the load because it paid good. In other words, I'm a slave to money. I'm beginning to hate having to make all my decisions based on how much money it pays. But let me elaborate on this load. I get there at 2pm and get out of there at 9pm cst. That is 7 hours at the shippers. I had to wait in line about4 hours, as there were 3 trucks ahead of me. This is what you would call a shit load. Excuse my colorfull language, but that is just what it is. My load has 4 drops and a final. So there is a lot of stuff to go on the load. And these mexicans who are loading the trucks, God bless their souls, well, they are SLOWWWWWWW!!! When they finally got to me, and began to load my truck, I went back to talk to the guy on my trailer, and I see all this blood on my trailer. He had cut his finger on the material they were loading. I'm hauling sheets of roofing material. Plus, I got two machines on the upper deck of my trailer.
Now if you know nothing about a step-deck trailer, which is what I have, none of this makes sense to you. Anyway, I'll post a picture or two of some of the loads I've hauled, so you can see.
Remember, all this stuff has sharp edges, so I have to pad it with carpet and such things. That way I don't put a hole in my tarps. The tarps I have weigh more than Ben, they are about 80 or 90 lbs each. They use the fork lift to put them on the load for me. Then I have to open them up and get them situated, Lord, this takes so much time, you get real dirty, it's 90 degress out in the hot Texas sun, and I stop to wonder, "WHY, LORD, DID I EVER AGREE TO TAKE THIS LOAD?" I must of been crazy. It took me about 3 hours to strap and tarp it all down.
This place was only 25 miles from the TA truck stop I was at, so after all was done, I drove back to the TA, took a shower, ate, and came to my AIR CONDITIONED TRUCK to write you this little story. Yes, tarping loads is for the company drivers, not us owner operators. We can do better. I won't be taking any tarped loads any time soon.

I gotta go to bed, I am beat. Dead tired.

Why I'm always broke

Here I sit broken hearted,
Had some money that is now departed.
Off I go on the road again,
A slave I am to the god of the Almighty dollar.
Doesn't it just make you want to hollar,
That this little green piece of paper,
Could have it's claws so tight about our collar.

Well, I never said I was a poet, but I suppose if I sat here long enough, I could come up with a good rhyme. I'm sitting here in San Antonio, and in just a couple of hours I will be going to pick up a load going to "SIN CITY, USA." I won't tell you where that is, I will let you post a comment, to see if you know where it is. Let's see how many of you know your American trivia. And geography on top of that. And just like hell, it's very hot there. Ok, enough hints. Where am I going??

Now,back to why I'm broke. I've been sitting here at the T.A. truck stop in San Antonio, Texas getting my air conditioner fixed again for the upmtennth time. Thank God some of the parts were still covered under the warrenty with T.A. But it still ended up costing me $455.32. Yes, truck drivers make a lot of money, but we also have big expenses. I still need to change all my brakes on my drive tires, another $500.00, & I also have to buy 6 tires for my trailer, and that will cost me around $1,200.00. And that is with the discount I get with Landstar.

So, you can see why I'm always broke, and why it seems to take us forever to get out of debt. Perhaps in "SIN CITY" I can strike it rich. (Another hint ) :)!

But when the day comes that we do strike it rich, we will have such a party that you have never seen. All our friends and family will be invited and we will party for days.

I guess that's all for now, let me know where I'm taking this load to. Sorry, but I don't have any money to give to the winner.

In the shop again

It seems like my truck lives in the shop. I had it in the shop about a month ago for AC work, and you will never guess what it's back in the shop for. If you guessed AC work, well, you sure are smart. Ever since I bought this truck, I've had nothing but trouble out of my air conditioner. I'm hoping this is going to be covered under the waranty, but if not, there goes a bunch more money invested in this money hog. But I've got to have AC if I'm going to be living here in the hot state of Texas. Right now I'm in San Antonio, as I drove here empty yesterday from El Paso. No loads out there. More loads here and in Houston.
It seems like we never get ahead. One step forward, 4 backward. I guess I need to stop complaining about it and learn to live with it. It seems my lot in life to have nothing but problems all the time. If I could just learn what I need to learn, then maybe I can move on to the next level of this game called life.
More later.

The Land of Enchantment

The Land of Enchantment. That is what they call New Mexico. I don't see much enchantment here, other than the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. It's hot and dry and very arid here. Only up in the mountains it is somewhat beautiful.

Driving south on I-25 today, heading down to Las Cruces, where I'm spending the night, (before I drop off this load in the morning to the military base) , I noticed something on the side of the highway about every mile or so. I know you've seen them too, as they are all over the US on the highways. It's the cross and flowers and things people leave at the site of an accident. I've seen them many times myself, but what amazed me today, was that I saw them about every mile or so. I think this is the most I've ever seen on a highway before. It seems to me that this could be called the Highway of Death. The speed limit here in New Mexico is 75, and of course people go about 85 to 90, so no wonder they end up dead. I can't wait to live in a world where we don't need trucks or "trains, planes, & automobles" to get us around from place to place. It's so sad to think about all the people who have died in needless car wreaks.

"Well, I guess that's all I've got to say about that." One of Forest Gumps famous sayings. I enjoyed that movie.

You know, when you are driving a truck all around this country, you get a lot of time to think about things. Maybe soon I'll put down on paper, (or in this blog), all the things I think about. It might be interesting, I don't know. Some might enjoy it. Anyway, until tomorrow, or until the next place I can get an internet signal, whichever comes first.

Why it is so Dangerous Driving a Big Truck

Yes, people, I have a very dangerous job. No, it's not what your thinking. Do you remember on the movie, "The Wizard of Oz", when Dorothy and Toto, and the scarecrow were just about ready to go into the deep dark woods, they began to sing the song about "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my, lions and tigers and bears!" Remember that? Well, I've never seen any lions or tigers out here, but believe me, there are plenty of bears! I've learned all this from listening to my CB radio.

Most all big trucks have a CB in them(Which stands for Citizens Band) so they can talk to each other and let you know where the bears are. Appearently, there are no baby bears out here, as I've only heard them mention "FULL GROWN BEARS". The bears are extremely smart, they know how to do things like stand in the median of the interstate and "TAKE YOUR PICTURE". You will hear them say on the CB, "There's a full grown bear in the median, and he's taking your picture." So smart. Maybe that's why there are no baby bears, because they don't know how to take pictures yet. I'm not too sure where they got their camera or where they go to get the film developed.

Are you missing a front door or back door to your house? I know where they went. The bears stole them. Sure as shootin'. Just the other day I heard on the CB; "There's a full grown bear going north bound on the interstate, rolling your front door." Sure does seem like it would be hard to roll a door, seeing they are square and not round. But like I said, these bears are extremely smart.

What else do they do? I've seen one in the median doing a flip. Just the other day, someone said, "There's a bear in the median, and he just did a flip. He was taking your picture, southbound, now he's rolling your front door." Truck drivers are so smart. They sure know a lot about bears.

This next one has got to be the worst. Someone said, "Watch out, east bound, there's a bear on the get on ramp, and he's shootting you in the ass." Ouch, that has got to hurt.

So, let's see what we've learned so far. Bears take your picture, do flips, roll front doors, (and back doors too), shoot you in the ass. And don't forget the dirty looks they give you. You will hear drivers say, "There's a bear in the median, northbound looking at you." Maybe they are sizing you up, to see if you are worth getting your picture took.

Now you can get the "BEAR REPORT" any time of the day or night. Truck drivers spend most of their time on the CB talking about all the bears they've seen. They give you the exact mile marker as to where they are, so you are sure to see them. For some strange reason, whenever there is a mention of a bear up ahead, everyone slows down. Maybe they want to take the bears picture this time.

So there you have it folks', this is why truck driving is so dangerous. It's all about the bears! Thankfully, I've never had one chase me. They do that ,you know. If I've forgotten anything that these smart bears do, I'll be sure to let you know. These truck drivers are soooooo smart when it comes to bears, I'll just have to ask them.

Now that I think about it, the only other mention of an animal that is similar to a tiger or lion, is the lowly "CITY KITTY". You mostly see these shy creatures when you drive through a big city. But if a full grown bear comes along, well you know who will be the winner and get you. See, when it comes to big trucks, the little "CITY KITTY" isn't too well versed about it.

Here's something to think about too. There are" bears," and then there are "full grown bears." The latter, being the dominate one, is the one you have to watch out for.

So don't think for a minute that these bears only come after us! Ha! They will get you too if you aren't careful. See, we truck drivers just know where they hide, and smart drivers like yourselves who have CB's in your cars, if you turn it on and get a "BEAR REPORT", you too will know where the elusive bears hide, so you won't get " shot in the ass. "

On a sadder note, my dear wife has had quite a few encounters with the full grown bear. Once, she was chased by one in this one state on this particular interstate; he had taken her picture, and I guess he chased her just to give her the picture. But you know something, it was an extremely expensive picture. Then just one year later, in the exact same spot where she was chased by the first bear, another one chased her . Gosh, you'd think she would learn that bears like that spot on the interstate. It was under a bridge. I guess they didn't want to get wet when it rains. So she got her picture taken twice. Then one night, on a dark and deserted highway, out of nowhere came this bear , chased her for a little while, stopped her, and said to her, "Ha, I took your picture, here it is, now pay me for it!" My kids were in the car when this happened. They don't seem to be too interested in eating you, just in taking your picture and then charging you an enormous amount of money to pay for it.

So everyone, so ends my rambling on about bears and the such. Hope you enjoyed this. If you still don't know what a "FULL GROWN BEAR" is, well, I'm not going to tell you. You might have to find out for yourself.

In the land of Buffalo Bill

That land folk's would be the great state of Nebraska. I must say, the people here sure are friendly. Mostly farmers. Real nice people.

Sorry I didn't write for a couple of days, but I was in a spot where I could get no reception to get on the internet. But here is what happened. I took a load out of New Orleans, & it went to Williamsport, Pa. From there I went to a small town called Belleville, Pa. to the Case, New Holland plant which manufactures farm tractors and implements. I took an oversize load out of there going to Nebraska. I had two drops and a final stop. It payed good, that is why I took it. It wasn't too hard getting the permits, and the agent paid for the permits.

Anyway, if you want to go to a beautiful state, Pa. is the one. The route I took led me through lots of small towns. I'm talking towns so small, that it was extremly tight just for me to make it around corners. I was going though this one small town, & I saw this little girl, oh she must have been 3 years old, if that much, and she jerks her arm up and down in the motion for me to blow my horn. It is just amazing to me where they learn to do it. I guess maybe her dad drives a big truck and that is how she knew it.

On my way through Ohio, I was on a secondary road, not the interstate, and it was about 1:30 in the afternoon, and out of nowhere this deer starts to run across the road right in front of me. While this was happening, a truck was passing me, & I knew he was going to smash that deer. So I looked in my mirror expecting to see the deer laying dead on the side of the road, & lo & behold , I see her running off into the woods on the other side of this 4 lane highway. I got on the CB & asked the truck behind me if he had seen it, and he said the truck that was passing me clipped the deer, and it fell down in the median, then got up and ran off. I guess some deer have 9 lives like cats. But by all the dead ones I see on the side of the road, you'd think differently. Thank God I've never hit a deer. Even if a big truck hits a deer, it does plenty of damage. If you hit a moose, your truck will be torn up even more. Another thing in Pa. where I went to get this load, I had to watch out for the Amish with their horse and buggy's. I passed about 3or 4 of them.

Anyway, I made it out here to Nebraska, and spent the night last night in Grand Island, Ne. That night around 2am, there was one hell-0f-a thunder storm. I mean it was like a mini hurricane. The wind must of been blowing about 50 or 60 miles and hour, and there was hail. Nebraska is noted for strong storms.

This morning, after I got unloaded, I picked up another load, this one a military truck from the Nation Guard, going to Chaparral, NM. That is near Fort Bliss, Texas, which is in El Paso. If you guys read my blogs enough, you will soon learn where everything is here in America, Ha. And did you know that if it says "Fort", that means it's the Army, & if it says "Camp", well then that is the Marines. Of course, AFB stands for Air Force Base. So there is a bit of trivia you might not of known.

Blondie, if you are reading this, I just want you to know that I'm working my ass off to pay everyone that we owe money to. In a couple more years, if we are not out of debt, I will go and be a bum on the street and live in a homeless shelter. Well, maybe not. But I'm not going to live the rest of my life paying off debts. I'm praying my other half will get going on real estate and make us all rich!!! Ha! Now don't you laugh, 'cause if you want something bad enough, it will happen.

Enough said, on my next blog I will tell everyone why it is so dangerous driving a big truck. You should get a good laugh out of it.

In The State of Virginia

I suppose it's better to be in the state of Virginia than in the state of confusion. Not much happened today, just taking my time to Pennsylvania. I did get my oil changed in my truck and had it greased along with my trailer. Final bill? $154.02! So let's quit bellyacheing when you guys only have to pay $20 or $30 to have your oil changed. Everything for a big truck is 10 times more expensive than for cars. Oh the joy of running your own business. But I'd rather be an owner-operater than a company driver any day. I love it, being your own boss.
If you guys don't have anything to do with your time and want to find out what is going on under your feet, check out this web site. www.thehollowearthinsider.com. I've been doing a lot of reading on these sites. These people actually believe there is a whole civilization living inside the earth.
I even read on one site where some people believe that the New Jerusalem, mentioned in the book of Revelations in the Bible, is right now in the sun. Good place to hide it! And someone I knew once said it was inside the moon. So take your pick, the moon or the sun. What do you suppose these people are drinking?
Ok, until tomorrow. Be good.

Hello again

Sorry for the long silence. I've been busy. Doing what?? Trying like crazy to secure the little green backs that are suppose to make the world go round. These little buggers are elusive though. Because once you catch some, they just slip right thru your fingers. Or is it my lovly wives fingers the little buggers slip thru. Ha! She has a hard time holding on to them. Just kiddin' folks. She's good with money. And as a true women, she loves to spend it. But it's ok, though, I know what she spends it on. Things like trips to New England, where she supposedly went to a real estate seminar. I think she really did. She say's we will be millionaires one day, & I believe her. I just can't wait. Then I can quite driving all over the US looking for the Almighty Dollar.
Yes, I'm back on the road again. But it's tuff sometimes. The other day I drove over 1,000 miles in one day. It's been a loooooong time since I've done that. Besides, for a truck driver, it's not legal, so say's the DOT. (That's the Department of Trransportation).
I took a load from Sealy, Texas, to Dover Air Force Base, in Dover , De. Now here's something funny. After I got there and took all the securement off the load, and was waiting to be unloaded, this military woman comes up to me and says, "Sir, this load is not suppose to come here, but to Charleston, S.C." I said " What? What are you talking about? The paperwork says Dover AFB, De. I think I know the differance between the two cities." Anyway, to make a long story short, the people in Texas goofed up, so it was their fault. I told them I would take it there, but it would cost them more money. As it turns out, they decided not to sent it there.

I wanted to go to Sammies wedding, but it didn't work out. But I've just found out that in Oct. His Royal Highness, Jamie, King of Austin will be getting married. I have to attend that one, out of fear of being killed. So says the royal decree that has gone out over the bloglines.

I'm heading up to Pa. now, and will pick up an oversize load going out to Nebraska. That's close to where Dorothy and her dog Toto made their escape to the land of Oz.
I guess I better stop rambleing on. Will write more later & perhaps post more photo's.

This is for all you folks that are bored with your job. You can always head up to Seattle and do a little busking on the streets. It's great exercise too. Just look at him swing that holla hoop. Ha! 

Now you guys think that I don't have fun when I'm on the road. Ha! Just look at these two cuties. They were from eastern Europe, either Cech or Hungary. I've forgotten which. Anyway, they invited me to come and live with them. Really?? What do you think? Again,Sandy took the picture, so I don't think she would let me go off with these two girls. They were our waitresses at the cafe in Seattle where we drank our Alaskan Ale. They were here in the States working and going to school.  

Here it is folks. A real dream truck. This is a Peterbilt, the cadilacs of the trucks. This has one of those hugh sleepers which has a shower in it too. I'd love to have one, but the cost is too much. These run anywhere from $100.000 to $300.000 and possibly more. Sandy took this picture when we were in Seattle, Wa. This guy actually got this into a parking spot in this truck stop. It was a real tight fit.  

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Hey, everyone who reads my blog. I'm back, this time deep in the heart of Texas. I'm in Sweetwater, Tx. which is on I-20 about 30 miles west of Abilene, Tx. Texas sure is a big ol' state. Anyway, to bring you up to date, I left Long Beach, Ca. last monday with a container headed for Dallas, Tx. I was there on wed. and took the rest of the day off. Since my wife is leaving on the 11th I need to stay in the general area. No, she isn't leaving me, she is going to Connecticut for a seminar on real estate. (Ha, and you all thought there might be some juciy gossip). I take a load from Tyler Tx. with a stop in Witchta Falls, Tx, and Lubbock, Tx. and a final in Clovis, NM. After I unloaded I went back to Lubbock to spend the night, then this morning I drove over here to Sweetwater. There, now you are all caught up. I need to be in Houston by the 10th. If I don't get anything early on monday, I'll just drive home. I'd like to spend time with my wife before she leaves.

I really enjoy reading all the other blogs that I go to, they are very enlighting. I always think that mine isn't all that great, unless you want a geogrophy class of the US. I would have to say that my two favorite ones are "LoxyFady" & "Caffine & Me". I take off my hat to you ladies. Just don't ever quit or give up. Take a vacation, but don't ever stop fighting for the goals you are working towards. There will always be a brighter tomorrow. We all have battles to fight, but always look on the bright side. Just keep writing, I thoughly enjoy reading what you have to say.
I think you are both great moms! More power to you!!

You know, driving a truck can be fun, but at the same time it can be a lonely job. That's why I'm hoping that my wife will learn a lot at this real estate seminar, so she can start making lot's of money so I don't have to keep driving forever. I'd much rather be home with her and my kids. I enjoy driving and seeing the country, but it's no fun by yourself.

I suppose I'll watch a movie. I've got the emachine laptop that was my wife's and it plays DVD's. It's pretty cool, I just lay down in bed with the laptop on my chest and enjoy the show. What a wonderful piece of technology. And if I'm not watching a movie, I got to a few good web sites and do a lot of reading.

Guess that's all for now. Sorry I don't know how to put the links into what I'm writing, but if you would like to see a picture of my older brother, go to http://learning.cc.hcc.edu/Members/abruni
He is a math teacher at the Community Collage in Houston, Tx. Then tell me if there is a resemblance. He is 3 years older than me. Later, when I get a digital camera, I can put pictures of my other brother and his wife for all to see.

On a bummer in California

Hi everyone, sorry I haven't written in a while. Been working and worrying too much lately. I've been out here in southern California for about a week now. I tried to leave yesterday, but it didn't work out. I got up at 4am pacific time to drive down to Long Beach to the container port. Now that's 7am eastern time. And would you believe instead of 3o million people on the freeways, there was only 10 million. I think I really believe that only at 2am for about 5 minutes are the freeways clear of cars. And from the Landstar facility here to Long Beach is only 65 miles. It usually takes about 3 hours, that's moving at the lightning speed of 25 miles an hour. Damn all this traffic out here.

So anyway, I get to the port and let them know what container I'm picking up, and they tell me there is a problem with it and to come inside. I find out it's being held up in customs. So I wait there all day long with the promise that it will be released soon. Lies!! All Lies!!! My agent tells me it won't be until Monday, but she said "I got you $150.00 for going there, anyway." Oh well, better than nothing.

So I wont be back in Houston until at least Wed. And yes, we need tons of money. I will be so happy when we finally get out of debt and free of the system. It sure is a cruel task master.

Anyway, next time I write, it will be about happier things.

Until next time.

Home time.

Well, I've been home for the last few days and as usual, been busy fixing things that need to be fixed. I'm tired and I'm going to bed in a bit, because I need to go out to Ca. tomorrow. But let me tell you how we wasted our evening. My dear wife says you can find anything on "Google". She wanted to see what would happen if we typed in the words; "How do I wipe my butt?" As you can guess, it found 137,000 sites telling us how to do this very thing. One of the funny ones was www.brynosaurus.com. Just check out the"" poopie list if you want a good laugh. He's got good insight on the subject.
Talk to you all later on.

More on the I-40 accident

If you want the whole story on the accident, go to www.gallupnews.com and click on the article"Crash kills trucker,black ice triggers accident." It was black ice that caused the accident, and for this time "the idiot 4 wheeler" didn't cause it. But the statistics do show that cars are around 80% of the time to blame for big truck accidents. All of the dead were truck drivers. Sad. It's a dangerous job I do. This is one of the reasons I don't take loads that go in the ice and snow. Once you hit ice, your in God's hands. Only He can keep you safe.
And just a couple of months ago just east of Gallup, in Feb. another truck driver was killed because of ice. Thank God I slept in Sunday morning, or I could have been involed in the accident. When I woke up and saw snow on the ground, I wasn't in any big hurry to get anywhere. By the time I left, it was melted.
Loxy, I will be getting a ditgital camera soon, just as soon as the boss says it's ok. You know who the boss is, right? The "Goddess" of the financial situation that we are in. Ha!! Actually, she is a sweet sex goddess, and does give me money to play with. I love her. As for the satalite radio, I've looked into it, it would be nice, but not now. Maybe later. I need a TV/DVD player right now, because all the movies we watch at home are being recorded on DVD's, so I need to bring my ranching up to date.
More later, be good all.
PS. Love all your articles Loxy, keep them coming. Yours is always the first blog I check out. They have so much insight in them. Cunning, sweet, funny, just sooo goood! Give us more!! Loved the comic page one. Ha!

Back in California Again

Why do I always go to California? I really don't know. I guess the loads pay good. I was just up in Casper, Wy., where I took a load of pipe from Houston. From there,I got an oversize load going to Oklahoma City, Ok. and from there a load out here to L.A.

Exciting things that happened in all this driving I do? Yes, in Wyoming about 100 miles out of Casper, I got stopped by a state trooper. Was I speeding?? No, not at all. He called me to the back of my trailer to see that the oversize sign was torn and one of my red flags was missing. That's a big no no if you are hauling oversize loads. The reason the sign came off was because the wind was blowing about 40 mph and gusting up to 50. It's always windy in Wyoming. Anyway, he was real nice to me, probably because I was nice to him, and he just wrote me a fix-it ticket. He told me I had to go back to this truck stop that was about 3 miles back down the road, and he followed me there. I had to buy another oversize sign costing $32.00. The bad part is that when I got to Ok. City, the sign was almost ripped in half. What a bummer. But it can be fixed. I hate to spend money on things only to have them destroyed.

After this I took a load of pipe that the gas company uses. Without going into all the whys and wherefores, I will never haul this stuff again.

When I got to the western part of New Mexico, in Grants, NM; would you believe it snowed that night. I woke up to snow on the ground. It was nice and melted shortly after I had my breakfast. But all this snow and ice did cause lot's of trouble. About 40 miles up the road, there was a bad accident involving serveral big rigs. When I say bad, I mean fatalities. I listened to the CB all the way, and they were saying where to get off the interstate to avoid the back-up. Anyway, as we got closer to the accident sight, and drove by it, I saw how bad it really was. The big rigs involved were smashed to bits, the cabs were literaly torn off of their chassis, upside down, and the axles were somewhere else. I was told 6 or 7 people died in the accident. What caused the accident? Like what almost always causes accidents with big rigs, some idiot in a car. One of the deaths was one of the truck drivers. I've seen lot's of accidents out here, and I must say this one was one of the worst that I've seen. So drive carefully.

I should be heading back to Houston, to see my wife and kids. Sure wish I had my digital camera, you'd be seeing some amazing photos.

From Long Beach, Ca. back to La Porte, Tx.

As you can see, I got another container from Long Beach which is going to La Porte, Tx, a suburb of Houston, Tx. This way I can go home for a few days. Driving back to Long Beach wasn't much fun, as the traffic was just packed, and this was at 10 am in the morning. I did see something that blew my mind. On the 91 freeway, which has 5 lanes on either side, and 2 more in the middle which is an express toll lane; I say this white car all of a sudden go shooting off through the traffic and made it to the shoulder of the freeway. I saw people slaming on their brakes and smoke from screeching tires rising in the air. I thought, Lord, what is that guy doing? Is he crazy or something? And it was a miricle of God nobody hit him. And the freeway was packed. As I got close to where he was, I looked at his car, and saw that his right front tire had blown. I tell you, his guardian angles were working overtime on him!

The next day as I was going through Arizona, I saw this travel trailer laid over on it's side in the fast lane, with the car jackknifed and sitting in the other lane. I saw a lot of people standing in the medium, so I don't think anyone got hurt, just scared real bad. You know, I've never seen a 5th wheel trailer laid over on it's side, but have seen lot's of travel trailers jackknifed and laid over or flipped over. What happens is they start to fishtail(go side to side) and if you don't slow down, well, it doesn't take much, and it's gone. My advice? Buy a 5th wheel, never a travel trailer. If you don't know what they are, just look up trailers on google and you can find out.

Anyway, monday I should be home and I have lot's of work to do. But while I'm home, I hope to have my brother and his family over for a bar-b-que. Texas style.

Pacific Northwest and L.A.; one qreat big freeway

For those of you who have been following my loads and where I go, I loaded in La Porte, Tx and took a load of farm tractors to Moses Lake, Wa.; which is right in the middle of the state on I-90. It seems I got out of La Porte, Tx. just in time, as just the other day the B.P. refinery in Texas City, Tx. just blew up. It's right next to La Porte and Baytown. They said 15 people died and over 100 were injured. I remember as a kid when the refineries blew up one night in Pasadena, Tx., right next to where I grew up.

Anyway, I got a load in Seattle, Wa. right at the port. It was a beautiful day with the snow capped Olympic Mountains gleaming in the background. And let's not forget Mt. Rainer, just over 14,000 feet high, the highest point in the state of Washington. Plus, since you are right at sea level, it just looks so big. If you want a beautiful vacation, go to the pacific northwest around this time. It has just about finished all the snowing it's going to do, and the mountains all still have snow on them. The whole area reminds me of when I lived in Switzerland, in Europe.

So, what about L.A. It is indeed just one big freeway. Let's see, which one do you want to go on? There's I-10., I-5 & I-15, the three majors ones. Then the rest they call freeways, but they are just as crowded as the interstates. There's the 405, 710,110, 215, 91 & I'm sure I'm forgetting a few. My map book is in the truck. Now I've been told that there is a time around maybe 2:30 am. for about 10 or 15 minutes when there is hardly any traffic. The rest of the time it's bumper to bumper with the average speed of ....oh let's say 2o miles an hour. It seems everytime I leave the container port in Long Beach, and head out, it's always rush hour. I go 50 or so miles to Ontario, Ca. which is a suburb of L.A. and it takes me about 2 to 3 hours. And that's to go 50 miles. So, they can have L.A. along with the rest of the big cities.

You know what was in the container. 500 DVD recorders. They called it a "High risk electronic load". Don't kid yourself, people steal these things. Not just the stuff in the container or trailer, but the entire truck and trailer. A few Landstar drivers have had their entire rigs stolen; one driver just went inside for a bite to eat and when he came out, his truck and trailer where gone. If the thieves watch you load, they will follow you and wait for the ideal time. Most of the stuff I haul needs a big forklift or a crane to get off of my trailer, so I don't have too much to worry about. But I still lock everything up and take the key.

I do wish I had that digital camera, as the sences of the mountains and lakes where just spectacular.

I will post more photo's later when I have some more time. Enough said, goodnight to all.

What's the deal with all the photo's.

These were pictures my wife took when she came with me on the road last summer. We picked them up(the windmills, that is) in Union Gap, Wa.; which is in about the middle of the state, and we took them to Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario, Canada. And as the name suggest, it was only about 30 miles from Niagara Falls. If you've never been there, I suggest you go sometimes. It is beautiful.

Anyway, I still need to figure out if I can group a lot of pictures together under one heading. I'm figuring this out, but I'm a little slow sometimes trying to get it right. Now if I just had a good digital camera, I could take pictures of my recent loads and all the neat places I go to. Like when I was at Camp Pendleton, Ca. at the marine base, and every few minutes these apache helicoptors where taking off and landing. Actually, there were lot's of different helicopters coming and going. Usually, though, when I go on a military base, they ask you if you have any cameras, and then they take them away from you. Don't want others seeing what's going on here on these bases.

So, I hope you liked these pictures. More to come. Oh yea, I better ask my wife if she want's me posting any more of her pictures without asking her. I don't see why not, as she is beautiful, don't you think?

Ok, it's late, bye for now. Until tomorrow, folks.

Man, why did they have to nail these boards down with so many nails.  

Easy does it. These are the motors that run the one blade that is on the windmills. That's the owner of the vineyard there. Let's hope that motor doesn't swing back the other way and squish him, yuk. 

Here I am putting my chains away. That's one of the motors behind me. And yes, that is indeed a beer belly you see. Those dark alaskan ale's were good. But to be politically correct, it's not a beer belly, but a liguid grain storage facility. 

Here I'm helping this other worker set the windmills down so they can be assembled later. 

Heave ho, here we go. Let's get these windmills off the trailer.But first I guess we better let the owner get off of them first.  

Here I am rolling up the straps that held the windmills onto the trailer. The things that are still on the trailer are the motors for the windmills. You can see the vineyards in the background. 

This is another truck that was there at the same time we were. He has a special flatbed that has a sliding tarp system on his trailer. These come in real handy in Canada in the winter time, but they cost a bundle of money. 

Here's the owner getting ready to hook up the crane and yank one of the windmills off  

This is when the crane was just getting ready to unload the windmills. The owner of the vineyard is standing and giving instructions to the crane operator. I think he's saying something like, "Ok, listen dude, don't you dare drop these, they cost me lot's of money." Ha! 

Here is my sweet wife and she too is enjoying a cool refeshing glass of Alaskan dark ale. A good hardy beer. I like the sign next to her glass of beer. Ha! 

Beer, wonderful beer. This is in Seattle, Wa. at the waterfront. A beautiful place with beautiful people. And good beer too. I think this one was almost $5.00 a glass, but well worth it. This was a dark Alaskan Ale. 

This is me at a fancy resturant at Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side, when me and my wife went to my son's wedding. This took me about an hour to figure this out and how to work it. Why can't these things be simple. Ok, now that I think I have it figured out, I'll send more pictures

The Rest of the Story

Well, here it is, the rest of the story. This is a continuation of the sights I told you about that I've seen out here on the road. These first one's had to do with girls, and that's good 'cause I like girls. These next one's have to do with guys. Now I know you gal's will like this.

I was on I-10 in Texas just before you get to San Antonio. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, not too much traffic. I'd say it was about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. I looked out the side mirror and saw this volkswagan bug coming. I'm always curious as to who is in the car, so of course I was ready to look and see who was in there. I'm always hoping it will be a sexy lady, with a nice short dress on. Well, what do you think I saw? There was this guy naked as a jay bird, with not a lick of cloths on, sitting there merrily jacking off. I know it was hot outside, but what happens if a state trooper pulls him over? "Can I see your drivers license, please?" "Yea, sure, it's in the back seat in my pants pocket."

The next time I was going north on I-95 in South Carolina, and it was at night. It had been raining and there was ton's of traffic on the highway. Still, even at night I always look to see what I can see. You never know. This next one was shocking. I see this pick-up truck coming, and it pulls up next to me, and the guy turns on the light in the cab. He had his tool(his Peter, or Pecker, or Willy, or Johnson, or Dick, or whatever you want to call it) in his hand and I sware it had to of been at least 18 to 24 inches long. A real big ding dong. He just was holding it and it was as hard as a rock. I saw it for just a few seconds. Now who knows, it could have been a hell-of-a big dildo for all I know. Really bizzare! Some of these guys get off on showing truck drivers what they have between their legs. Ha! Sickos!

Once in Lubbock, Texas; and this was at night too, I saw this guy and girl in a little car, and she seemed to have lost something. Aparently, whatever she lost was down between his legs, and she must of kept dropping it, because she kept moving her head up and down trying to get it.
Or maybe...........no.... you don't think she was giving him a .............well, you know what I mean.

What a sexy world, people will do it just about anywhere. Now it's almost spring time and love is in the air, so the sights should be getting better now. It's so amazing the sights you can see from the window of a big truck.

Oh, I almost forgot one. In Penn. on I-80, I was going west, and I had my CB turned off. Normally there is so much BS on the CB, I just keep it off. Anyway, I saw this big truck coming up to pass me, and as I looked into the cab to see the person driving, I saw this lady with these big tits, giving me a big smile. So even the big trucks let you see the sights you want to see.

I'm sure there must be more that I'm forgetting, so when they come to my mind I will post them. Boy, I sure wish I had a digital camera for those days when the sight seeing is good.

Anyway, I'm up in Washington State and this is a beautiful state. What makes it ugly is the price of diesel fuel. It's $2.76 a gallon. That's worse than Cal. where it's $2.45. No wonder I can't make any money out here.

Ok folks, until next time, drive safely. I suppose I see an accident almost everyday, so please do be careful.

The other sights in America

Hi everyone, I'm back again. Let's see, where was I? I was in California, and had dropped a load off in Long Beach. From there I took an oversize load out of Pendleton Marine Camp Base, to Charleston, S.C. It was a good load, paid good, but I ended up waiting a whole day just to get my California permit. The joys of hauling oversized loads. From Charleston I took a load to Waco, Tx. and from there to Houston, Tx. This will be another story later.

Anyway, I was asked by a fellow blogger if I had seen "other" sights in my travels around America, and yes, I certainly have seen some beautiful sights. One time in Ohio on I-70 this trans-am had two girls in it and they took turns standing up in the sky light and showing everyone their boobs. Nice! And of course when they got to a big truck they would slow down and give us a good show. Then another time in Ohio I was on I-75 going north and I heard on the CB that this girl was giving a good show and she was going north on 75 and to look out for her. She was just passing such and such mile marker and was just getting ready to pass me. As I looked out my window there was this young beautiful girl rubbing away on her nipple and rubbing away between her legs and giving everyone a big smile. Nice.

Ok, gotta go for now, but there is more.

California Dreaming

Well, as you can see, I'm back in California. I must admit, it is beautiful in the spring time. If you ever get the chance, you should go to San Francisco, Oakland, or northern California. Right now in the last part of winter, just before spring, the hills here are a beautiful emerald green color. They are really nice, especially with the backdrop of the bay with the Golden Gate bridge in the background. In the summertime, they turn to a brownish tan color, not so nice.
After I unloaded in Rancho Cordova, which is just outside of Sacramento, I went to Oakland, Ca. to pick up a load going to Long Beach, Ca. I had gotten the directions to where I needed to go, but they weren't good directions. As I got off the freeway I found myself heading into downtown Oakland. Yikes! Not good, especially for a big truck. I went down a couple of side streets and to my horror the road just ended. Yes, came to a dead end. Oh, what to do, what to do. Well, there was nothing I could do except back up. And that is just what I did, I backed up through the intersection. Of course I waited 'till the light turned green. And thank God there were not a lot of cars. What fun. I got the guy on the phone and we finally figured out where I needed to be.
It was in Alameda, which is right on the water. It's an island, actually.
I got loaded and began the long drive out of Oakland with the rest of the millions of cars and trucks that jam the highways. It took about 2 & 1/2 hours to go a mere 40 miles. Stop and go.
Now I just got unloaded in Long Beach and am sitting here looking for a load to try and get me back home so I can see my wife and kids, who I haven't seen in about 2 months.
Ok , that is all until next time.

Sorry for the silence, but I was sick.

Well, here I'm back again. I'm sitting at a" Flying J" in Ripon, Ca. Hey, wait a minute. Weren't you just out in Ca. and waited there a week for a load? And now you went back? Are you crazy? Maybe I am, but that just seems where all the loads are going now.
Let me backtrack here and catch you up on what happened since I was in Van Horn , Tx. From there I went to Big Springs, which is on I-20 heading toward Dallas. On Sunday night, I started getting a cold. I thought, oh no, I don't need this. I need to be well so I can make some money. So Monday morning came around and I didn't feel too well. But I got up around 11 am. and looked for a load. I just needed something so I would at least get paid for the week. I saw a load that was only 27 miles away, called about it and took it. It was only going to Laredo, and it was 2 big boulders. Big rocks.
If you have never driven on the back roads of west Texas, well, you better make sure you have plenty of fuel in your vehicle, because there is nothing out here. I drove for miles and I was the only vehicle on the road. At least, I thought, I wouldn't starve, as there was plenty of road kill to choose from. Skunk, rabbit, jack-rabbit, deer, birds, wolf's, you name it, it was there on the side of the road. Ha! Basically, it is extremly desolate out there.
Anyway, I made it to Laredo by about midnight, and spent the night at our Landstar facility there. The next morning I unloaded the big rocks and drove back to Landstar's place. I was feeling terrible by now. This was Tuesday, so I spent all day in bed and all day Wednesday. It's been a long time since I've had a cold this bad.
Anyway, on Thursday, I looked on the Load board, and almost all the loads were going out to California. This load paid well, & I talked to the agent whom I got the load from, and told him all the trouble I had getting out of California. He understood and said he would do his best to get me out.
Now if there is nothing going east on Monday out of California, then I guess I'll go to Seattle, or San Diego, or somewhere. There is always a load going somewhere, but usually not where you want to go.
I hope this all doesn't sound too boring. I guess to some it will be, but hey, that is life in this boring world.
I did want to mention something else that happened to me on my way back to Texas the first time. I stopped in Deming, New Mexico at a Wal-mart that I stop in all the time, 'cause it's easy to get a big truck in the parking lot. Anyway, I was turning in, and of course I have to watch when I turn not to hit the car next to me. I had seen some boys playing down in the ditch to my right, and I was looking in my drivers side mirror so as not to take the cars hood off as I was turning; so I wasn't watching my other mirror.
I got in fine and went & parked. As I did, this older couple in a pick-up truck drove up next to me, and said to me, "Did you see that little boy trying to jump up on your trailer? He missed and fell down, and your tires barely missed hitting him!" Oh my God! No, I hadn't seen it, as they were well off the road, playing down in the ditch. I guess the kid ran up out of the ditch to see if he could jump on my trailer. That would of been horrible if I had hit him. I went down to talk to them, and of course they had jumped on their bikes and were speeding off when they saw me coming. I suppose the other two boys were getting on his case for being so stupid. I tell you, it's a miricle of God that more things don't happen to me, but I pray a lot when I'm driving.
I was thinking, if you read my blog a lot, you will get a good geography class of the U.S.
I do hope and pray I can get back home soon, so I can spend time with my wife and kids.

In Van Horn, Texas

Here I am sitting at the Pilot truck stop in Van Horn , Texas. Where is Van Horn, Texas? It's 140 miles east of El Paso, Tx. I need to decide which way to go, either to Dallas or to Houston. I guess it depends on how much fuel I'll have. I certainly don't want to run out of fuel. It's a big deal trying to start a big truck after you have completely ran dry of fuel.
Yesterday, when I was going through New Mexico, it was raining, and the sun was shining. There was a beautiful rainbow across the sky. Then all of a sudden it started to hail. And in about a minute or so the whole road was covered with snow. And it was only in the sixties. It certainly wasn't cold enuf to snow. (I know that isn't the way to spell enuf, but that is how I spell it.). I'm glad it wasn't big hail. It would have broke my windshield. But it was quite a sight.
I'm going to have to work on my blog so I can put photos on it and things like that.
Guess that's all for now. Hey Joylady, I went to your blog. Loved the photo's. Yep folks, that's me with the Joylady. My dear sweet wife and mother of our children.

Trying to figure this out

This is my first post, and I tell you, I've been sitting here for about 2 or 3 hours trying to figure out how this crazy thing works. Call us old farts, but it finally comes to you. Just takes us longer then you younger ones.
As my title suggest, I'm being driven crazy out here driving & trying; and I emphisis "trying" to make money doing this.
Just to give you a little example, I've been sitting in California since last Saturday trying to get a load going back east. I called every one of our agents in California and none of them had anything. So yesterday, Friday, I left and drove over to Texas. Now you can't make any money waiting for a week for a load, and then not getting one, and then dead heading, (that is driving your rig and not getting paid for the miles you drive), to a new location. But of course I had to pay for the fuel which so farhas cost me $400.00.
Guess I just have to look to the future, and hope and pray things get better. They always do.
I think I'll have fun doing this blog thing. Can't wait to get a better computer and then a good digital camera, so I can post pictures. I see a lot of amazing things out here.
Heres another little example. I was driving east on I-40 going out of California. It was raining and there was a slow truck up ahead of me. I looked in my side mirror and saw a car coming, but he was back far enough that I could go around the truck ahead of me. So I get over, and apparently this guy couldn't wait, so he floors it and passes between us going from the slow lane and cutting in front of me. I won't tell you what I called him, I'll leave it up to your imagination.
He was driving what looked to be an '05 Ford Mustang, a very nice sports car. So after getting mad for a few minutes, I forgot all about it. After about 40 or 50 miles down the road we came to a small hill and a curve, and as I slowed down I saw a state trooper on the side of the road with his lights on. Down the hill a little bit on the west bound side of the road I saw 4 more state troopers and a wreaker. Laying on it's top in the middle of the medium was a wreaked car, with the doors both open, and two bodies laying in different spots on the ground covered with rain coats as it was still raining. The cops were just standing around. I guess the people were dead. And the car? Well, it sure looked just like that mustang that flew past me. It's so sad that people have to be in such a big hurry that they never get to where they are going.
Well I better stop for today. There will always be tomorrow to post more.