hi 5 for USA

one of the little things brad and i enjoy while we're running up and down the highway are the vanity plates so many people have on their cars now.....sometimes they're cutsie.....sometimes the just let you know what line of work the driver does......sometimes they're so abstract it becomes a game between us to see who can decipher them first...........this one that we saw yesterday as we were running west on the ventura highway in california was pretty obvious....and i have to say, "right back at ya!"

Hi, there. I'm a napkin.

monday brad and i had the good fortune of picking up a load in emporia, kansas, which meant that we got to see our daughter-in-law, gwen, and the grandkids...... jj was out of the country on a business trip to london and tel aviv, so the best we could figure was that missing our visit was his loss....lol...... we had lunch with gwen and jacey at pizza ranch, a really cute pizza buffet place that has excellant food and a western atmosphere.......i always enjoy places that add a little nuance into the finer details......the little things.....and although i really loved the decor of this little place, it was the back of the napkins that did it for me.........

when ya think about it, anywhere ya eat.....anytime ya get takeout......you always need napkins.....and they do kinda have a somewhat thankless job....people use them, thoughtlessly, to wipe their mouth, clean up kid's faces and hands, wipe up dropped food off their own clothes and even blow their noses in them.........kinda seems to me like one of the toughest jobs too......

here lately, brad and i have picked up alot of trailers that other drivers have dropped with numerous problems that they should have taken care of...but didn't........we're also frequently asked to meet a truck and repower their load, that a) was a team load and a solo driver picked it up, b) is a hazmat load that a non-hazmat driver tried to pick up, or c) the driver doesn't have the hours to run the load........not to mention all the repowers we do in order to help another team get home or because their truck has broken down......

there are alot of names that people in our line of work get called.....some seriously, some humorously.....truckdriver, driver, freight relocation specialist, hand, professional tourist, asphalt cowboys,.......but after lunch at the pizza ranch i know we also have another name......napkin.....coz we're always cleaning up other people's messes.

jihad turkey!

brad and i've been having kind of a lazy weekend......we had been running so hard since we came out from hometime that we were both getting dangerously low on hours....so when we got this load going from nampa, idaho to jackson, tn and it didn't have to deliver until monday morning, we discussed our hours with our fm and figured out how instead of running it thru and dropping it early, we could use the weekend to do what is known as a rolling restart on our 70 hours ....that just basically means that when brad finished driving last wednesday, he started his 34 hour restart and i did all the driving thursday....then we shut down for thursday night, then he did all the driving friday and i had enough hours to do my 34 hour restart ....it cuts down your miles a little, but it gives you a slower pace and sometimes you just need that to regroup your spirits as well as you log book hours........anyway, we'd been enjoying it and having time to have good meals and long night's rests.....we'd stopped last nite in percival, iowa where a popular shortcut thru nebraska meets up with i-29 coming down thru western iowa and on into kansas city, mo......i usually get up and hit the road around 4 or 5 am but this morning i'd slept in a little and didn't start out till 7.......i'd been on the road about 2 hours and had just gotten off i-29 onto i-435, the beltway around kansas city.....it was an overcast morning with just a light drizzle every now and then......out of nowhere into my field of vision came this humungous bird....at first i really couldn't tell if it was a turkey or a hawk.....it was headed right for my windshield and before i had anytime to react, it slammed into driver's side of the windshield, shattering it into a million tiny little tiles of safetyglass......the glass actually buckled inward under the impact of the bird and a gazillion little shards of glass sprayed both me and the cab of the truck......i had a purple top on and when i looked down , it looked like my shirt was covered with glitter! instantly, i could no longer see thru the broken glass but i managed to get the truck onto the shoulder of the road and stopped . brad had been awake but hadn't gotten up yet and at first he thought we'd had a blowout.....but when i yelled at him to get up, i don't think he could hardly believe what he saw......the first thing he did was get our sweeper out and clean the glass off of me before he would let me move.....it's amazing that i didn't get any cuts and haven't had any glass splinters, so far anyway..........after he got dressed, and after all the calls we had to make about the incident, we managed to get the truck on down the road about a mile and a half where we could get safely off the road.......we spent along time cleaning up the truck and they sent another truck out to repower the load on to tennessee.......so here we are till tomorrow morning when they can put a new windshield in.......i'm figuring that we'll be cleaning up glass shards again after that.....i can't imagine that they could get this one out with out it coming all apart......

the whole thing did give us time for a nice visit this afternoon with virgil and cattleya and the kids......when they heard what happened, the drove up from kansas city and crowded into the cab with us for a couple of hours.....then they went and got lunch for everybody and again we nestled into the truck like sardines in a can......we had a great visit tho..........brad and i had just been talking the other day about how we will go for years without being hit by a small bird.....and then it seems like once one hits you, within a few days one or two more will do the same.....it's weird, i know....it always makes me think alfred hitchcock.....lol......i'm really hoping that only goes for small birds and not game fowl!!

kent to lost creek and back to kent again!

well, i'd kinda made a pact with myself to try and do better about keeping up the blog, so while we're sitting here in fife, washington, waiting on our load to be ready i thought i'd let you know what had been goin on since our last trip out this way and the previously blogged-about trailer incident.....lol......we finally made it out of kent on thursday and were headed east towards home.....we dropped that load at our company yard in indianapolis and picked up one from another team there that delivered in weirton, wv on sunday.....after dropping that trailer at the customer's, we headed off bob-tailing for lost creek.....we had a great time at home!!....no major excitement but alot of visiting with family and friends, some really good suppers, a little shopping and a pedicure!.....the rest of the time we just vegged out or worked on getting laundry done and the truck repacked......we headed back out on friday afternoon, going up near pittsburgh to pick up a load that had a stop in canton and then delivered in swanton, ohio late that night....from there we ran down thru the woods to columbus and got the one that we brought out here to kent.....we weren't sure just what we'd find on the way out here....we'd been hearing tales of snow just a few days before, but we were lucky for the most part....a little rain and a lotta wind, but no snow......yeah!!....lol.....all of our stops have worked out well, with trailers that have been in good shape......the only calamity was that we locked ourselves out of the truck at our fuel stop in billings, mt yesterday and had to have the locksmith come out.....ugh!!!....i'd had that happen once to me when i was a solo driver but this was the first time for me and brad together......we felt like a couple of rookies, hanging around the truck, which was still running and on the fuel island!)...waiting for the guy to show up......brad put the hood up on the truck while we were there so that other drivers would think we had a mechanical problem and we could save a little face!!!....lol....of course when he pulled in and parked in front of us with LOCKSMITH on the side of his van, it kinda gave the whole thing away.....lol......oh well, crap happens!....our other excitement came when the air hose going to the driver's seat came apart......lol....the sound of air whooshing in your cab is a little mind-boggeling when you're not expecting it.........we're not sure just what happened there.....at first we thought the pup got ahold of it, but then it looked more like maybe the seat came down on the metal trashcan and the rim of the can got it......anyway, we tried bending it double and taping it till we could get somewhere to get a coupling, but the tape didn't hold very well, so basically about 60 miles of the trip was spent with me lyin on the floor between the seats holding the hose.....lol.....what ya gotta do sometimes!!!!....lol.........when we stopped at the fuel stop, brad bought an airhose and installed that, so now when i don't feel like runnin the sweeper, i'll just open both doors up and blow everything to the ground!!...lol....i might like that.....maybe i'll end up having to have one installed at the house too!!.....anyway, we made our delivery in kent just 45 minutes late which i consider pretty darn good, since we were 9 hours late picking it up because they had us do that swanton, ohio run first, then we had about 2 hours of down time between the air hose issue and the lockin ourselves outta the truck issue.....and not to mention the gettin into seattle area at morning rush hour....it took me over an hour to get off i-90, down the 405, and down the 167 to the customer's...which was only about the last 25 miles ......geesh.....but i had a good cup of hazelnut coffee, so i just relaxed and did alot of people watchin as they scurried about tryin to get to work on time!

so it isn't just us, after all!!

baby girl listens as brad talks to dispatch on speakerphone!

drop unto others as you would have them drop for you!!!

no, no, no....get your mind out of the gutter.....i'm not talking about any kind of kinky sexual antics here......unless you wanna include the screwin you take when the driver pullin a trailer fubar's it up and then silently drops it and you are the lucky holder of the ticket to pick it up......we seem to be drawing those numbers a lot here lately.......
this load was a prime example.......

we arrived in kent, washington yesterday afternoon to pick up a load that brings us to indiana and then towards home for the weekend......we dropped our trailer in a door, unhooked and pulled over to the side of the lot to await it being ready to go.........after a couple of hours they came out to tell us the load was ready and on a different trailer than the one we'd brought......as we left out of the building with the paper work, they were locking up and heading home for the day........we hooked up to the trailer, pulled it out from the door and sealed it up and did the usual walk-around, making sure all the lights worked, etc.......as we came up along the driver's side, we noticed a big dent from top to bottom about half way up the side of the trailer.....the metal runner at the top of the trailer was so buckled that you could see part of the roof panel hanging over it........and the bottom metal runner was covered in yellow paint, and dented in pretty badly......and the turn signal assembly below it had been cable-tied back on!!!......we immediately called claims to report the damage so that, a. we could not be held responsible for the damage to the trailer, and b. that if, in fact the hole at the roof line went clear thru, then repairs would need to be done immediately since we had a trailer full of electronics, in kent, wa......which is basically seattle.....and you know what they say about how much it rains in seattle.........and that's true!.......anyway, as most things do when you let corporate in on anything, it turned into a big fiasco, with people from claims, people from the breakdown department and still others from dispatch all jockeying for position as head honcho in what to do about this load..........after a lot of deliberation and phone calls, it was decided that we would have to stay there at the shipper's until this morning and then have them take the freight off the damaged trailer and load it onto the one we had brought in......and, that they would be sending someone out with a tarp to throw over the roof to minimize any rain damage that might be happening......so about 3 hours later, and of course, right in the middle of "glee".....which we hardly ever get to see in real time......here comes a couple of dudes to tarp the trailer.............after more deliberation ...on their part, not ours, we were busy trying to salvage the last few minutes of glee......they decided that it didn't require a tarp after all and in their words, they duct taped the hell out of it and that would be fine till morning.......uh huh..... .well, as anyone who's ever spent an hour or so out in the cold, sleety, winter weather, tryin to get haz mat placards to stick to a cold and wet trailer will tell ya.....duct tape won't stick to it till ya dry it off!!!.....honestly, don't these people even watch red green????........so this morning, at first light , when i poked my head thru the curtain to see what everything looked like, imagine my non-surprise to find the duct tape flyin over the roof of the trailer like a flag of a redneck encampment..........then the shipper finally shows up for the day and is totally surprised to see us still sittin on his dock......he's one of those guys who is never gonna be voted most likely to win mister congeniality anyway......so after a lot of huffing and puffing on his part...... cell phone glued to one ear while he makes wild gestures with the other arm and a lot of foot stamping......he finally takes the load off the damaged trailer and loads it onto the one we had brought in with us yesterday.....now, if we can just get all the talking heads at our company to turn to the same page in the hymnal , maybe we can get out of here and headed to the other side of the world where home is.......so.....another 3 hours or so later we are finally given the ok to hook to the good trailer and head out..........in the mean time while all this deliberation is taking place, an honest to goodness repair truck shows up, complete with a generator that runs all kinds of wonderful tools to straighten metal and rivet metal, and honest to goodness caulking.....and he has the trailer fixed by the time we're ready to leave........anyway......to bring my little diatribe back to the subject......seems that the yellow paint i was telling you was on the side railing of the trailer??????...well, the same yellow paint was on the buckled up cross member on the bottom of the trailer......and what? you might ask is also that same color yellow and could have left this paint there????.....oh, only about a gazillion concrete posts and rocks painted yellow and placed in places to protect objects that you shouldn't back over in parking lots and dock areas.....little inconsequential things like fire hydrants, electrical boxes, drains.......my point is that not even the densest of drivers could have gotten up on this pole, and then gotten off this pole and not have known what they did......and yet, they brought the trailer into that shipper and dropped it, hooked to another and went on their merry way, leaving the problem for the next driver to have to deal with................i'd really like to catch some of these inconsiderate, cowards in the process of dropping trailers like this.......i'm an old hand at duct tape and i know where to stick it to the dry parts.......they'd only be dry till i ripped it back off!

ask a truckdriver......

my friend, salena, over at the daily rant finds some of the best memes for her blog.....i always love reading them because they give you such insight into the thoughts and lives of the folks who answer them.....it's always nice to learn more about friends, family....and in this case, also fellow drivers........

1. what is your favorite interstate to travel??
it's hard not to say i79 simply because that's the one that runs past our house.....but i really enjoy running i 5 thru northern california, oregon and washington.....beautiful scenery, lush green mountains, amazing lakes and rivers, not to mention those cute little expresso huts!

2. pilot, t/a, flyin j or loves??
pilot!....like salena said, they have clean showers and restrooms, and hazelnut coffee!!...

3. If you had to travel cross-country (East-West or West-East) would you prefer to take the Northern Route (I-80 or I-90) or the Southern Route (I-10 or I-40)?
i don't really have a preference here.....there are so many interesting things to see along both routes.....not to mention family and friends sprinkled along the way......i'm kinda like salena, in that i prefer to be cooler than too warm, but as long as my ac is workin, i'm good to go on either route!

4. When driving, do you prefer to see the sunrise or the sunset?
the sunrise!....i love that feeling of greeting the new day......the way that, even when you're driving west, you see the sky begin to come alive behind you.....i love being up while most of the world is still sleeping......

5. Favorite state to drive through?
oregon..............oregon never disappoints!!....the columbia river is breathtaking by day and with the moon glimmering off it at nite......i love portland with all the lights glistening off the water..... any state that has family in it, kansas, missouri, north carolina, massachusetts always makes me smile when i cross the state line too......

6. Least favorite state to drive through?
again, i agree with salena.....definitely texas!!...takes FOREVER to get across it....and with the exception of a few city lights and a couple of good bbq joints, it's mostly hot, dusty and bumpy...

7. What do you think is the most truck friendly state?
oklahoma......lots of truck stops and parking areas.....

8. What do you think is the least truck friendly state?
california......between the 55 mph speed limit, the lack of parking and the no idling enforcement, it takes the cake!.....florida is just about as bad for parking, as are a few others.....makes you feel like they're basically saying, "give us our stuff and then get the hell out!"

9. What is your favorite town to layover in?
vegas, baby!......lol.... .....with the exception of lost creek, wv, of course!!

10. Las Vegas, Reno or Atlantic City?
las vegas, hands down!!

11. Atlantic Coast or Pacific Coast?
pacific coast......you get everything from the desert to the mountains, city lights to olive groves, awesome views of the ocean......and those little expresso huts!

12. Favorite type of freight to haul?
well, for what we do now, i'd have to say electronics or airfreight......neither one are usually really heavy loads......my all time favorite tho, is when we were flat-beddin and doing over-sized stuff ......

13. Favorite company/industry to haul for?
the military......like salena said, it's always interesting!

14. Most annoying traffic related gripe regarding truck drivers?
trucks running up on and then tailgating four wheelers.....it's bad enough when they do it to other trucks.....it's downright stupid when they do it to cars......

15. Most annoying traffic related gripe regarding four wheelers?
being on the dang cell phone......passing and then cutting right in front of me to get off at the exit.....being on the dang cell phone......coming off the on ramp at full speed and running alongside me on the shoulder when i can't get over, which most of them would be able to tell if they weren't on their dang cell phone.......

16. Do you drive solo or as part of a team?
i ran solo for a number of years, but for the past almost 8 years i've teamed with brad.....teaming is better!

17. What kind of truck do you have and what color is it?
an 09 international.....and it's red......it's a company truck...that's the only reason we have it....

18. How many gears does it have?
it has 10 "pretend" gears

19. Does your truck have a name?
it has many at times....but most of them can't be repeated here......

20. Do any pets travel with you? If so, what kind and what are their names?
we have a new little miniture pinscher puppy.....just six weeks old.....her name is babygirl

21. What is your favorite drive in the entire country?
our driveway......what???...you didn't see that coming????.....

22. What state do you currently live in and were you born and raised in that state?
west virginia.......and yes, i was born here, raised here and if God is good, will die here.....i'm a hillbilly girl, thru and thru......

23. What kind of trailer do you pull?
a 53' dry van

24. What is your favorite truck stop?
jubitz in portland, oregon

25. What jobs did you do before you became a truck driver?
stay at home mom, waitress, pharmacy technician, deli worker, photographer, basket teacher, mayor, city recorder, truck driving school instructor.....

26. Have you ever been to Canada and if so, which is your favorite Province/Territory? Why?
several times....i think i've been in 7 of the provinces.....my favorite is ontario.....it's beautiful up there....and so clean......you can't be up there without noticing how clean everything is.....

27. What type of weather do you dislike driving in?
black ice.....this might not have been a good choice coz actually i don't drive in it.....i shut down asap!!

28. What do you listen to while driving? Type of music, talk shows, etc.
i listen to alot of audio books on cd.....john grisham, sue grafton, diane mott davidson and janet evanovich to name a few........our sirius satelite radio.....everything from howard stern to martha stewart......blue collar comedy to rosie odonnell, cnn to npr......

29. Who is your favorite talk show host?
ok, ladies....don't get offended but i gotta say.....howard stern

30. What is your CB handle?
dreamweaver.......but i hardly ever have the radio on.