I've been a trucker for the last ten years but now I am back home at "Camp Chaos" and I will be working at the Fontana terminal as a safety specialist. I hope now that I'm home I'll have a lot more time for blogging!


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I finally get a chance to do some blogging in the daytime! Usually I have to blog just before going to bed and I don't do very well then.
I promised to do another episode of Murphy's Law on the road. This one is about Mountain Dew...
I really love Mountain Dew. I love the flavor. I don't drink Mountain Dew for the caffeine though, it only gets my kidneys going overtime and I have to stop at every truck stop!... so
I have been looking for de-caffeinated Mountain Dew for quite a few years now. Whenever I buy a Mountain Dew I always look to make sure there isn't a de-caffeinated version available. All I ever find is the Diet version.. Which I really can hardly drink. .... so
A month ago or so I was in Kansas somewhere at a little truck stop on I-70. I had made a roast beef sandwich and I needed something to go with it. I went into the convenience store and bought a Mountain
Dew. I looked again for a de-caffeinated version but I am really getting tired of looking because there has never been one. This particular day I was really frustrated because I didn't want to do the caffeine thing but I sure wasn't going to buy the Diet version... so
As I was getting back in the truck with my Mountain Dew I noticed a Pepsi Truck at the back door of the Convenience store so I thought..."I am going to go over to that Pepsi man and ask him why Pepsi has never thought of making a caffeine free Mountain Dew"... so
I walk over to the man. He is loading a number of flats of product onto his two wheel cart so I walk up and say... "Sir, I would like to ask you, 'Why doesn't Pepsi make a caffeine free Mountain Dew?... I would sure drink it if it were available'"... I couldn't believe what he did next. He reached down to one of the flats of product on his cart and pulls out a bottle of caffeine Free Mountain Dew. It has a gold label. I stare at the caffeine free Mountain Dew as if it just landed from Mars. I tell the man "I have never seen this before and I have looked for caffeine free Mountain Dew for years!" He looks at me with a tired look and says... "We have had this for a while now but nobody buys it. I always end taking it back to the plant 'out of date'" I really feel stupid but I tell him I will buy it from now on since I know now that it is available.
Since that time I have looked for caffeine free Mountain Dew at every store I come to and have asked every store manager if they carry caffeine Free Mountain Dew and every one tells me... "I have never seen caffeine free Mountain Dew... I don't think Pepsi makes it"
Just my luck... the one Pepsi guy in the world that I ask about caffeine free Mountain Dew and he has it on his cart, and I have never seen it again and nobody knows anything about it!
So much for my Mountain Dew story.
I'm in Hemet for a day. It is Christmas day. I will be leaving to take a load to Oakland for tomorrow morning. Then I hope to be back here in So Calif for Sunday so I can attend our Bible Conference in Burbank. Sue and everybody else is going to Burbank today.
That's all for now... next time I'll tell you about the speeding ticket I received a few years ago. I was apprehended by an officer on foot! True story.. stay tuned. Tom
posted by Tom at 9:46 AM

 
Great news tonight! Thanks to Brenda's computer savvy, you can leave me comments. Just click on 'Comments' at the bottom of the page. Thanks in advance! I'm looking looking forward to hearing from you. Also I now have a E-mail address. "Tominthetruck@Yahoo.com"
My truck is back together, I hope to be back on the road by next Tuesday. Stay tuned for another episode of Murphy's law on the road
posted by Tom at 10:21 PM

 
I'm sitting here in front of Sue's computer listening to the prairie Home Companion that broadcast last Saturday night from NY City and contemplating what I am going to write on my blog tonight. (Brenda wants me to tell the story about the man with the flat tire so I'll try to do that.)

It's Monday evening.. They took my old differentials out of my truck today. We didn't see the damage we were afraid was there after I heard the clanking sound coming from rear end of my truck as I was climbing a hill in Montana in the snow a few weeks ago. We were afraid we would see broken teeth on the gears and we didn't know what else might be broken inside the differentials... After all, they only have a million miles on them. I was very surprised to see the main ring gear looking about like it looked when it was new!! I couldn't find any sign of wear but my mechanic showed me where the gears have meshed with the other gears and they shouldn't look all shiny on one side; that indicates a bearing is going or already gone which allows the gears to wobble and rub against the other gears where they shouldn't so I guess I did the right thing having them replaced. It seems weird, to spend $6000.00 to replace something that looks perfectly good to my untrained eye. Oh well sometimes you have to do what you have to do..

Now for that flat tire story... You see I am always in a quandary.. If I say something to help someone I always end up being a fool... But when I don't say anything the other person ends up with a big problem and I feel terrible I didn't say something to prevent the disaster...

A few weeks ago, a flatbed truck came by my and I could tell he was about to lose one of his tarpaulins. I looked again and told myself, no it is just the wind going by his trailer that was making it look like he was loosing his tarp. So I went on down the road and about 5 minutes later I had to do a sudden evasive maneuver to miss this huge tarp strung across all of my lane and part of the other lane. "Why didn't I say something when I should have"... I'm so angry with myself.... Oh well...

So a few days later a truck goes by me and he has a flat tire on his trailer. This time I'm going to try to help. His trailer says "Lessors Trucking" so I grab my CB mike and holler "South bound Lessors... Got your radio on?"...And I wait a while.... "South bound Lessors! ... Got your radio on?"

I do this about six times... I guess he doesn't have his radio on, I see he has antennas on his mirrors but I guess he doesn't listen. So I go to plan B... I grab an envelope that is on my dash and carefully setting it on my steering wheel I write with my pen "FLAT TIRE - TRAILER. I pull around him and then slow down so he will pass me and I'm just ready to hold the sign up so he can see it... Just then I hear on the radio... (from the truck behind Lessors) "Hey Lessors, you have a flat tire..."... And immediately the radio crackles back... "Thanks, big truck which tire is flat?" I feel really stupid holding up a sign telling him something he now already knows. So I just go on down the road, careful to not make eye contact with Lessors as he passes me...

Next thing he's on the radio again asking if anyone knows where the nearest truck stop is that fixes flats... Nobody answers him so once again I stick my mike in my mouth.. I call him and tell him I will look in my truck stop guide and try to find him a truck stop. My book says there is a truck stop about five miles ahead but doesn't say whether they fix tires. So I tell him and he thanks me. To my surprise, the very next exit has a huge truck stop with garages and mechanics and we just fly right by it... it wasn't even in my book! So we go the five miles to the exit I had told him and it turns out to be a defunct truck stop without a single truck parked in its small unpaved lot and once again I go down the road trying not to make eye contact with anybody who might have heard me.

A few minutes later further down the road I hear in the background.. a truck that is now a few miles ahead of me .... "Can anyone please tell me where I can get a flat tire fixed!!!... This time I don't say a word...

Bye for now... Tom


posted by Tom at 9:51 PM

 
It's really too bad my Dad doesn't have more opportunites to post on his blog, because he has some hilarious stories from the road. His latest involve his forever typical bad luck. My Dad has a very bad case of Murphy's law. If you should happen to hang out with him be sure to ask about the trucker with the flat tire and how he tried to radio the guy unsuccessfully and then when he finally did get through he sent the guy to the only truckstop that was closed.

Presently my Dad is in Hemet while his truck is in the shop AGAIN. Poor Dad.

posted by SAJ at 11:44 AM

 
Home for Thanksgiving! Had a wonderful dinner at Brenda's and Toby's. Toby's mom, Pat was there too and we really had a great time. Brenda showed off her new Mac laptop....cool computer! Sue has a new Cannon PowerShot digital camera. Teeny tiny but does everything the big cameras do, so we had a good time playing with all our new toys
Monday I have to take the truck in for some major repair. I am having the differentials replacd. My truck has over a million miles and they are the original diff's, they are starting to give me trouble. I probably wont be back on the road till next wednesday.

posted by Tom at 6:14 PM

 
Dad is in Phoenix on his way home!!! He delivered in Buckeye, which is 30 miles west of Phoenix and now he is waiting for a load so he can come home!

I'm sorry I've been so bad at posting.
posted by SAJ at 12:21 PM

 
Dad is in a little town north of Bakersfield.
posted by SAJ at 6:33 AM

 
Last I heard Dad was in Chicago with Shawn. Sorry for the lack of posts.

Amber and Suki and Heather are in Southern California having fun in the sun!


posted by SAJ at 5:36 PM

 
I think Mom and Dad are on their way home to Hemet after Joy's wedding... Not sure if Dad is heading home... he might be taking a load elsewhere. But I spoke to them Sunday. The wedding was beautiful, even though Mom spent most of it in the kitchen doing the catering!
posted by SAJ at 3:09 PM

 
I have the best Dad ever! Yesterday he called me and he was just south of Sacramento.


posted by SAJ at 9:59 AM

 
It has been a long time since this has been updated. It sure is a bummer that I don't have ready access to the internet while I'm on the road. Im still hoping I'll be able to get my laptop squared away with the new internet options available to me at the truck stops. I will keep trying to get set up... one of these days you will find me able to regularly update this. Then poor Brenda won't have to take her time to try to keep up with me.
Well, I'm actually home here in Hemet but everybody else is gone. Sue left today to go up to Red Bluff... had some car trouble on the way... she had to be towed to Lost Hills CA . The pickup just died on the road. Turns out the distributer cap disintegrated so no spark was getting to the engine. We got it fixed and I trust she will arrive in Red Bluff sometime
tomorrow.
Last time I updated the blog I left you hanging... I'll try to finish the story.
On the way home with Sue last month we stopped in Flagstaff AZ. I had driven all I could drive that day so we were done.
Across the street fron Little America truck stop in Flagstaff is a very unique restaurant. It is called Black Barts Steakhouse. When the owners started Black Barts around 1975 they wanted to do something different. They new there was a campus of Arizona State University there in Flagstaff and they wondered if the students in the music department wouldn't like to have a job and further their music studies at the same time. So they started hiring these music majors to be their waiters and waitresses.
Sue and I arrived there at 5:00 pm just as the restaurant was opening for the evening. We were seated and we orderd some Ice tea. We noticed that there were about 20 waiters and waitress scurring about, all in their late teens and early twentys. One girl was sitting at the piano and when she got up the piano kept playing; it was a player piano. We enjoyed the honky tonk tunes while we ordered our meal. The food was excellent. The fun was just starting. Pretty soon all 20 on the waiters and waitresses got up on stage and the girl started playing the piano and they put on quite a musical show. After the song was over the waiters and waitresses went back to being waiters and waitress. A few minutes later one of the waiters walked up on stage to a big cabinet filled with black notebooks. Each waiter and waitress has their own selections of songs they like to do. They select one from their book, place it on the piano for the piano lady to play and then they pick up the mic and start performing. Every one of the waiters and waitress had an excellent voice and the entertainment was fabulous. Sue and I really enjoyed our evening. The Food wasn't cheap but it was excellent. We recommend Black Barts to anyone going thru Flagstaff. Get off I-40 at Butler st. You will see Little America truck stop right there and Black Barts is right across the street. We are sure you will also enjoy your evening.
So now that that story is over I'll bring you up to date on what I'm doing.
I swung thru Hemet so I could pick up Sierra the cat. Sue couldn't take her with her so I will take her with me. I have to take her to the vet tomorrow morning for a shot them we will head north. I have a load to deliver in Sacramento on Wednesday morning. After that I hope to get a load thru Red Bluff so I can drop some things off at Uncle Dans that Sue needs and I had on the truck. Then in a week I'll be back thru Red Bluff for Joy's wedding. Sue will be bringing Amber, Suki and Heather down here after the wedding.
Well bye for now I'll try not to let so much time go by between updates. Tom


posted by Tom at 10:00 PM

 
Hello everyone, Sue and I arrived home today after a mad dash across the country. Last Friday we were in Elkton Maryland wondering if we were going to get a load to CA in time to be at Johnny Brockmeier's and Juliana Lee's graduation which is tomorrow. After delivering our load in Maryland, we were sent to Bristol PA to pick up a load that was to deliver in Tulare CA Tuesday by 2:00PM. It seemd like it would be impossible to be in CA Tuesday. 2500 miles in four days or maybe less.... The load wasn't even ready when we arrived in Bristol, a suberb of Philadelphia. I needed as much of friday as I could get if I had any hopes of being in CA by tuesday. We finally left about 5:00pm so I had to drive till past midnight.
One way we know that there may not be enough time to deliver the load is a message that comes over our satilite communication system...Qualcomm... It seems the computer knows how much time I have to drive,,,it takes the time I leave and figures 50 mph all the way to the delivery point, and if there isn't enough time then it sends a message to us... "Keep the load moving, utilizing your legal hours, do not run over hours. We will either re-power the load or we will change the delivery appointment"...whenever I get that message, I know it is going to be tight. I'm thinking to myself...lets see, if I go the most direct route west, across PA on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, that isnt going to be any good. Sue and I just came that way from Chicago and there was 100 miles of construction zones... lane closures, bottlenecks, backups, the best I could do would be 45 - 50 mph all the way across PA then 55 mh across Ohio, 60 mph across Indiana and then 55 mph across Illinois. I would be in St. Louis before I could finally start to make some time. That route just wasn't going to get us to CA when we needed to be there. So I decided to take the southern route. We went south the length of Virginia on I-81, at least I could do 65 mph, then 70 mph on I-40 across Tennessee. This route was more miles than the other route but I could go faster. I was figuring I needed to make it to Knoxville TN before I could quit driving friday. Saturday I would need to make it to Oklahoma City if I could. Sunday I would need to make it west of Albuquerque NM. Monday I would need to make Kingman AZ and then I had a chance of being in Tulare(North of Fresno) by noonish on tuesday.
Well that was the plan... I drove till midnight and I had to stop about 29 miles still inside of Virginia. I was about 120 miles short of Knoxville... not doing well. If I can't make up more miles on Saturday my dispatcher will swap my load with another truck, probably a team and then who knows when we would be in CA. Saturday I drove pretty steady all day, Sue is already sick of this truck! and this trip is just not worth pushing ourselves to the limit. It is a good thing I love to drive! but I have limits too. We do want to make it to the graduations and we need to be home; so I keep pushing.
Federal DOT regulation state we are allowd to only drive 10 hours and we have to take an 8 hour break. Thats one rule, we actually have to satisfy three rules; the 10 hour rule, another rule that says I can only work 15 hours a day before taking an 8 hour break("work" can be anything from driving, to fueling, to unloading freight. We don't usually have trouble with the 15 hour rule) Then we have to satisfy the 70 hour rule. That rule says I can only "work" 70 hours in any 8 day period.
Saturday I made it to Little Rock AR. a pretty good day. Sunday I made it to Amarillo TX. Monday I made it to Flagstaff AZ, I think we are going to be OK..(See next Blog...I want to tell you about a neat restaurant in Flagstaff AZ, that Sue and I tried out but that is another story and I'm getting long winded already.
In order to make it to Tulare by noon or so on Tuesday, I have to start driving an 2:00am but we made it there by 11:30! My logbook says I have worked 69 hours in only 5 days so that means Wednesday I will only be able to work 1 hour; frustrating... we want to be home but we are stuck in Bakersfield.. that is all I could do. So we sit all day Wednesday in a truck stop in Bakersfield. Sue and I watched the new 007 movie "Die Another Day"... that helped while away a few hours. Today I got up at 3:00 am and drove to Ontario for the final delivery of the lighting fixtures we had on board. Actually the first part of the delivery in Tulare was at a high school, they are remodeling the gym and I had the 476 new flourescent light they will install during the summer. I am going to stop for now, it's late Sue is already asleep and Im just about to fall asleep here in the chair in front of the computer. Tomorrow I will finish this... as I said earlier, I want to tell you about a really neat restaurant in Flagstaff AZ... Stay tuned... goodnight
posted by Tom at 11:05 PM

 
Dad is on his way to Chicago to pick up Mom and then they are headed home to California!
posted by SAJ at 11:48 AM

 
Greetings from St Charles IL.... Sue, Amber and I arrived here Monday night after a relatively straight path here. I got a load out of Long Beach Thursday evening to Kansas City MO, from there we got a load to a little suberb of St Louis and from there we got a load to Chicago area. Ambers birthday party is on Wednesday but I won't be able to be here, have to keep the wheels turning instead :( I deliver my load this afternoon and then I will be on my way.
Shawn and Heather are all moved in and I think they will be happy in their new home. Heather says some pictures will be forthcoming.
We got our whole yard onto bubblers and drippers and timers... I hope everything is working!... I set the timers and we left... there was no time for troubleshooting.
Well I guess that is all for now, Sue, Amber, Suki, Heather and I are taking the truck(bobtail) in to Addison. Bye
posted by Tom at 9:02 AM

 
Sorry for the lack of posts. It's difficult to get word now that Dad's email rejects my email because I work for a marketing company and his email program thinks my messages are spam.

Dad has been in Addison helping Shawn buy his house. He is now on his way from Chicago to a small town in Iowa and then he hopes to get a trip home. He is due home Friday
posted by SAJ at 2:22 PM

 
From California Dad went to Buckeye, Arizona and picked up a load of dogfood. He took the dogfood down to Laredo, Texas. The dogfood was heading to Mexico. And speaking of Mexico when Dad was in Laredo he picked up a touch of Montezuma's revenge. But he is better now. He was in Dallas around 4 pm today.
posted by SAJ at 7:58 PM

 


Dad is in California! He picked up the munchkin (Amber) and headed home to Hemet for some well deserved home time. Mom, Dad and Amber are in Pine Summit until Saturday.
posted by SAJ at 10:07 AM

 
Dad is on his way to Alabama.

He had quite a time trying to find his delivery place this morning. The company he was looking for was at an address for a shopping center He didn't think a dress shop would need a 53 foot trailer full of paint. There was another truck there, but when he woke up, the truck was gone. Dad's delivery time was 10:00 am, so he walked over to a little cafe in the pouring rain and asked some people at the cafe if they knew where this business he was supposed to deliver to might be. They had never heard of the name of the company but they said that was some construction going on on the 3rd floor of the center. Dad walked in the soaking rain over to where they directed him and that turned out to be the right place!

They told him to park at the Penny's parking lot. They also wanted to know where are the other two trucks were. Being the helpful trucker that he is, Dad sent a message to Werner. Werner didn't know anything, so he got on his CB and asked if there were any Werner trucks in the area lost. Yep, there were. Both trucks answered his call and Dad directed them how to get to where they were suppose to be. Their appointments were before dad's but Dad got unloaded first because he was there and they were not. So it does pay to be friendly and talk to everyone like Dad does!

Dad also got to see all the cherry blossoms but it was raining so it was not as pretty as he had hoped. But he's glad he's not in Chicago where they have 6 inches of snow.
posted by SAJ at 4:34 PM

 
Dad is going to Washington DC to see the cherry blossoms! (and deliver a load)
posted by SAJ at 8:50 AM

 
Dad is on his way to El Paso, Texas with a load that goes to Mexico.

He left Hemet Monday evening at 9:15 with a load of paper bags for Stater Bros in Colton. He then went to the terminal in Fontant to sleep. In the morning he drove into LA with a load (of what I'm not sure) and picked up a load of swiming pools to take to Phoenix. Now he's on his way to El Paso, Texas with another mystery load.

posted by SAJ at 6:19 PM

 
Dad is going to be home this weekend! He got a load that delivers Monda night in Colton, California, at the Stater Bros distribution center. The load is a whole truck load of paper bags all the way from Joplin, Missouri aka "Misery" because the roads there are awful.
posted by SAJ at 3:55 PM

 
We had breakfast with Dad yesterday morning. That was great fun. When his beeper went off in Ruby's diner we thought he had a load going to Wyoming but apparently that load was cancelled. Now we hear that he was sent to Las Vegas to pick up an empty and bring it back to Fontana. Dad will be heading back tonight and probably only get to Barstow or maybe Fontana.

posted by SAJ at 7:38 AM

 
Good Tuesday morning... I am in Hemet but am planning to head out today. I need to get my oil changed at our terminal in Fontana and then I should get a load out of here. We got our citrus trees planted yesturday. Thanks to Mom Albertson we now have a lime, a lemon and tangelo tree. I have to load the truck so I can head out...more news later...Tom
posted by Tom at 8:32 AM

 
Dad is in Flagstaff, Arizona and could be home very soon!
posted by SAJ at 4:08 PM

 
Dad is heading to Massachusets and says the snow is not too bad.
posted by SAJ at 1:08 PM

 
I'm so sorry. I can't send dad email anymore so I haven't been able to update as often. I'm going to try and rig it so my mom can post but until then we're going to be relaying dad's locations thru her since Dad calls her everyday on the phone.

Latest trip:

Dad left Montana for Wisconsin, traveling in the snow. From Wisconsin he drove to Oklahoma city, then to Alabama. On this strech he had to sleep on the freeway, not on the side of the road but right in the lane because the roads were very icy. They closed the roads due to these conditions. Some trucks did pull to the side, but when it was time to move they were so stuck. Even when it warmed and they could get moving, it was slow going and the traffic made everyone late.

From Alabama, Dad got a load to Chicago. He was hoping to make it there so he could fill out papers for Shawn's new condo that Shawn is trying to buy and see the girls. On Sunday evening, Dad headed South somewhere and now he is heading North again to Michigan and then South again after that. He hopes to be home by the 15th of March, but Shawn hopes he will be around their area so he can help them move.
posted by SAJ at 1:05 PM

 
Dad and the Nuclear Missile convoy.

Last week on his trip from Las Vegas to Great Falls, Montana, Dad was privileged to have a full Military escort for about 100 miles.

At first it was a little unsettling as he noticed a helicopter flying about 30 feet above the truck doing figure eights. Apparently the helicopter was using Dad's truck as a reference point.

When Dad got to Great Falls he found out that the helicopter was actually escorting a military convoy moving nuclear missiles right behind him!!!

Just another day in the life of a trucker!

From Montana Dad headed to Spokane Washington picked up a load and then took it to Menomonie Wisconsin. From there he is heading to Oklahoma City for a Wednesday morning delivery. He is due in Addison on Friday to check out Shawn's new prospective house. Yay for Shawn!
posted by SAJ at 9:12 AM

 

posted by SAJ at 10:26 AM

 
I'm a little late posting... Dad is in Montana. More later.
posted by SAJ at 2:48 PM

 
Hi everyone, it's actually me Tom this time... thanks to Brenda for all the updating she does for me, I really appreciate her! I am in Hemet friday and part of saturday. I'm supposed to get a load and leave saturday afternoon. I'm glad at least I will be able to be at Jim and Rachel's wedding.
When I walked into our house friday, my wife informs me that our black cat Inkspot has just brought in a 6 inch lizard minus his tail.... well, I looked behind the curtain where I could see a comotion going on, and I was surprised to find not a lizard but a very much alive and very upset gopher! Not hurt at all! Well I looked around for something to capture him with but all I could find was a two foot stick sitting on the fireplace hearth, so I grabbed the stick and chased the gopher around the living room for a few minutes. I finally cornerd him behind the couch and the wall and 'Wham'... one dead gopher! Whew!... "Inkspot! STOP bringing critters into our house!!"...I'm glad Sue didn't have to deal with the gopher.
Well tomorrow I'll be back on the road so watch for further updates... bye for now... Tom
posted by Tom at 9:34 PM

 
Yay! Dad is in Salt Lake City and heading home. He will be in Hemet this weekend for Jim and Rachel's wedding but will leave very soon after that.
posted by SAJ at 4:07 PM

 
Sorry for the lack of postings. For some reason I can't email Dad because the company I work for is classified as a spam mailer and therefore the trucking company has been kicking back anything I email to dad. He's working on having them change that. So here's an update from a phone conversation:

Dad is currently in Lincoln, Nebraska waiting patiently for a load to Salt Lake City. He's stuck in a truck stop with little to do because they don't offer an online hook up. But the good news is that it is not snowing, it's "relatively clear" and it's only 30 degrees F!
posted by SAJ at 11:45 AM

 
Here's the scoop: From San Jose Dad went to Haywayd (shout out to CSUH!) and then on to Los Angeles. From there he picked up a load to Houston and spent last night in Las Vegas. This morning he was just east of Tuscon, Arizona.
posted by SAJ at 7:59 AM

 
Dad left Hemet this morning to get his tires taken care of and to get an oil change. Now he is headed to San Jose, California.

posted by SAJ at 2:57 PM

 
Dad is still heading to Texas. He's just on the border of Oklahoma and Texas now. He got a little side tracked when he had to switch loads in Memphis. So now he's got a different load but is still on his way to Texas. He should be home in California by Saturday, Lord willing.
posted by SAJ at 8:32 AM

 
Dad dropped off his load for Philadelphia in the truck yard Saturday morning and then Saturday afternoon he picked up a new load on the west side of Philadelphia that delivers to Plainview, Texas probably on Wednesday. Right now he's going through Nashville, Tennesee on the I-40 and should be home by Friday! Yay!
posted by SAJ at 7:59 AM

 
Not too much happening on the trucker front.

There was "quite a snow storm" last night that kept trucks from getting out of the truck stop this morning. Dad finally got out this morning and is in Greenville, South Carolina now. He is taking a load to Pottstown, Pensylvania.

It's about 26 degree F and it's supposed to get into the teens tonight.
It's near zero in Chicago, Dad reports. Brrrrrr!
posted by SAJ at 5:18 PM

 
Freight is moving really slow. Dad says this is normal in January.

Dad is not going to Kentucky after all. He's only going to Fountain Inn, South Carolina (just south of Greensville). He's only getting 20 miles today. Not good for the pocket book.
posted by SAJ at 11:57 AM

 
Dad spent most of today in Garden City waiting for a load. The good thing was he was only 10 miles from the ocean. But locals told him the water is "pretty lousy" until you get about five miles off shore. It's "brackish". So he guesses people don't swim much there.

Freight is slow going lately. Dad is only going 44 miles to Beafort, South Carolina to pick up a load to deliver tomorrow morning in Elizabeth Town, Kentucky.
posted by SAJ at 1:37 PM

 

Happy Monday!

Dad is still in Nashville waiting to get unloaded. He is in College Park which is a suberb of Savannah, Georgia.

Here's what he says about Garden Park:

"If Savannah is the East Coast's Los Angeles then Garden Park is the Corona del Mar of East. Yeah, I'm right on the Atlantic."

Sounds like it's really pretty.


posted by SAJ at 8:03 AM

 
Hi everyone I'm in Henderson, Tn (a suberb of Nashville) at the home of Brian Howald, a family in the meeting here. We had the Breaking of Bread in their home this morning, a wonderful time, just a few of us remembering our Lord Jesus in death for us. After the meeting I was asked to stay for a sumptuous meal and then we visited together all afternoon. Tomorrow I deliver part of my load right here in Nashville and then I head down to Georgia to deliver another part of the load...some town called College Park, I haven't found it on the map yet, then I head to Garden City Ga to deliver the final part of the load Tuesday morning. From there I should start heading back towards Calif because I'm due home on the 29th of January. I haven't heard if Shawn made it home yet. I'm anxious to hear. Well I'd better get off the internet, I'm tying up these people's phone line. Brenda will resume keeping this updated on Monday when she gets to work. I read the tag message from Dad, I'll be in touch...Tom
posted by Tom at 2:16 PM

 
Dad arrived in the "hillbilly town" of Ripley, Mississippi last night but couldn't find where his delivery went. At a truck stop, he met a guy who used to be a trucker but is now a real live "moonshiner" who actually makes and sells his own whiskey without a licence!!! Apparently he comes from a long line of bootleggers who claim to have sold whiskey to the Kennedy's back in the 1920's! Hmmm....

This "moonshiner" took my Dad for a little ride in his pick-up truck up into the hills where they found the delivery destination. What a great story. I wish I had more details. I can only imagine how that ride went.

Dad is now heading to back to Memphis, Tennesee to pick up a load to Georgia. He hopes to be in Nashville on Sunday. There are reports of 8 inches of snow in Nashville but hopefully by Sunday that will clear.

On the home front: Shawn and Heather ended up staying in Hemet due to illness. Suki and Amber are getting better but Shawn had to go to Urgent Care for really bad sinus and ear infections. Since he was all drugged up on vicodent and wasn't able to drive heavy equipment they couldn't leave until today. I'll keep you posted on that.


posted by SAJ at 9:34 AM

 
Today, Dad is just west of St. Louis, Missouri. It's snowing but thankfully the roads are clear. Phew!

Here's a special shout-out to Sam and Diana in Eureka, California! Finally someone is actually interested in this blog other than me (Brenda).

posted by SAJ at 9:35 AM

 
Dad dropped off Ike in Sacramento on Friday and then headed to Helena, Montana. Next stop: Mississipi for a Friday morning delivery. It looks like Dad caught the same cold we all have. I sure hope it doesn't make driving more difficult.

On the home front, the BTP van is fixed and Shawn and Heather will be leaving Hemet today to go home to Addison.


posted by SAJ at 9:51 AM

 
You never know where you're going to end up when you're a trucker. Dad and Ike were heading to Chicago but did a 3 way swap last night with two other drivers in Rock Springs, Wyoming. So another driver has their load to Chicago and Dad and Ike have a load to Woodland, California which is just north of Sacramento (close to Red Bluff). It turns out Ike caught a cold when he was in Hemet (just like the rest of us) and would like to go home and get better.
posted by SAJ at 9:33 AM

 
Today at 1:45 Dad and Ike checked in from Provo Utah. They are now heading to Chicago for a Friday delivery. Ike is having a great time.
posted by SAJ at 5:40 PM

 
Dad is heading to Reno, Nevada. Last night they met Ike's Dad (Uncle Dan) in Corning, California and picked up some clothes and school books for Ike.

posted by SAJ at 11:11 AM

 
Dad and Ike drove all night and got into Sacramento at 6 am this morning. The truck is now empty and they are taking an eight hour break before they hit the road again. Ike will probably drive with Dad for two weeks. They pick up a load tonight in Willows, California and deliver it Wednesday morning to Provo, Utah. Happy Trails!
posted by SAJ at 10:45 AM

 
Dad is still in Hemet. He's fixing Uncle Dan's fax machine. He plans to leave for the terminal tomorrow am and get the paperwork in order so Ike can go with him on the road.
posted by SAJ at 5:41 PM

 
Bad news and good news!

The bad news is that Tom just can't seem to fit blogging into his trucker's schedule. He pretty much sleeps and drives and that's about it. Not much time for waxing poetic at truck stop internet cafes. (Are there such things?)

The good news is that I'm officially taking over. I will transcribe Dad's cryptic emails made up of vowel-less words and numbers and translate them into to news for you. Fun for me! I don't think there are many readers right now but maybe with my "mad skills" I'll have you checking back every day. You know you want to.

The update for today is:

Dad is home in Hemet today. This evening festivities are planned. Everyone will gather at "the McConnaughy Ranch" for Grandma Albertson's traditional New Year's Day dinner of Sour Kraut and Spare Ribs! Twenty-two places will be set (if you count baby Suki). That's Uncle Bill, Aunt Becky and family; Uncle Bruce, Aunt Kathy and family; Shawn, Heather and family; Grandma and Keren; Tom and Sue (of course) and last but not least Isaac (aka Ike).

Happy New Year!

If anyone wants to add anything to this post (or you are dying to correct my spelling/grammer) please email me!
posted by Tom at 4:23 PM