From the rubble of a tornado.......

I am sitting in Moore, OK and have just gotten done unloading at the elementary school there that a tornado took out several months ago. The one that hit the national news and where several of the children were killed.  It is a really strange sensation to look out the window and see a "normal" street next to a shopping center.......

And then you come to a curve and make a turn and you run into what I can only imagine was total

desolation and destruction just a few months ago.......

It makes you sit back and think about what you have and just how lucky you are to be where you are today and look forward to where you will be tomorrow.  And make the most of today......there might now be a tomorrow like the today we are in now!!! 

Now back to driving.....I love doing flatbed hauling....never know what you are going to run into. Being a construction area in a residential area that is being rebuilt make for very interesting entry points.....as in they are very tight and very limited! 

And once you get in and get unloaded.......

the route out of the area can be even more challenging than getting into the area!!!

So that is my excitement for the day!  I am hiding behind a Home Depot, mooching wifi (as usual) and waiting for a load.  I might be rolling today and I might not be rolling today.....so time to take the pooch out for a little fetch and do some more cleaning on my room!

More to come later!!!  :)

A restful weekend......now to roll again!

Well, I've been at Tiffany and Cary's for the weekend and it has been pleasant. I will be rolling out of here later this afternoon. Next stop is Moore, OK....I will be delivering at the school that was in the news several months ago that got leveled by a tornado that came thru there. When I punched up the address for the school, all you see is the outline of the school building and cleared ground for several blocks in each direction and the path looks about 3/4-1 mile long. Kind of like a very large vacuum cleaner came thru there!

If you pull up 852 SW 11th St, Moore, OK with BING maps, you see this address from back to before the tornado came thru there. It is quite a built up residential area in the suburbs of Oklahoma City.  Then pull up the same address on Google maps.....the Google Maps has been updated since the tornado.....and you will see just how much devastation was wrought upon the area by just one tornado....and that area has been thru several of them....it is really just amazing at the amount of manmade "stuff" that Mother Nature can remove in a matter of seconds!!!!

Which in turn makes me look/think about the fact that we are here for an allotted amount of time....and what we do with that time is what matters. The legacy that we leave behind is what really matters. Just what have we accomplished over this span of years that we call "our life"?  Is there something that we will leave behind that will be remembered when we are gone?

It is like I have always said about a job.....no one is indispensable, but when you are gone, you want them to say "we really miss him on this job"!! And that might be the same with life....you want to be missed and for people to realize that you made an impact on them in a way that will still travel a long way even after you are gone!!

For me, I have had my years here, and still hopefully have a few more to go....and when I am not here anymore, have I influenced my kids and people around me enough that it has mattered that I was here at all?  Hopefully so!  But time will be the judge of that.  :-)

As of right now, I am at peace with judgements and decisions that I have made...time will tell if they were right or not! Now to get back on the road and see what I can see for the next several years, visit where I can visit, record what I see and hear and feel for these years and enjoy the world and work around me that I have set my path towards. 

After this short break and visit with the kids here, travel time again and then after a couple of weeks, break time in Alabama with the rest of my herd and see how life is treating them there.

And I might even embark on a run up to the cold country of Michigan when the white is gone to see how "norhterners" live!!!  HEHEHEHEH!  :P

But for now, time to pack and get ready to roll to OK tonight!  More to come soon!!  Cya!!

Ahhhh.....Snow......Aw-Caca!!!!

Just spent several days in CO and know what?!?!  They have that damn white lumpy stuff all over the place up there!  But I have made it back to the desert of West Texas and it is heavenly!!  But of course I will be loading up in just a little while with a load of stone headed for a school in Moore, Ok....back up the the "cooler" areas....but at least it isn't white lumpy stuff...right now anyway!

Right now I'm sitting in the Volvo shop in Tye, Tx while they are trying to get my "manual shift" turned back on so that I can manually downshift when I get to heavy grades on the road.  I have found out that if I can keep the rpm's at around 1300-1400 on the truck she will pull like a really big truck!  LOL

About time to roll so I'll close this installment and get a little more on here this weekend....I'll be at Tiffany & Cary's tonight thru Sunday afternoon.  And if all goes well, I will be hitting the Alabama herd in about 3-4 weeks.  :)

A New Year Is Here....Hello 2014

Another Year has come and Gone!   2013 has passed by and 2014 is upon us. And as I sit here in Amarillo in my truck, I look back at last year, and the year before and keep on looking back and I wonder...."Where have I been, what have I done and just where am I headed??"  I guess that is a question that we all ask of ourselves over time....but just how deep do we go for our answer to us!?!?  I am not too sure that I have ever really looked very deeply at what/where/when/who has been involved in each year that I have lived through.  So I sit here and wonder just why I am penning this....too much time to just sit and think?  LOL  Possibly!!  

For those of us that came out of the "Flower Child Generation" we have all (for the most part) succumbed to becoming a part of society in order to survive each day...funny how "things" like food, a roof, toys, getting around..... These things will and do change the way we look at all that "stuff" around us that we think we have to have to be comfortable.  

This installment might get a bit wordy...but it just seems to be flowing out right now so I had better continue writing this down while I wait for the football games to start, the temperature to rise some (hopefully) outside, and I spend time cleaning out my room a little bit more!  

For those that don't know, my "room" is sitting on 10 wheels inside the cab of a 2013 Volvo 780dn Semi. I had said that I was just working until 2016, age 62, and I was done...so what do I do...I am in the middle of purchasing this truck and trailer and I guess I will be an "indentured servant" for a few more years!!  LOL  :D  

As I traveled through this past Christmas season and the New Year I actually spent quite a bit of time thinking about what I had left in my path over the years. And that made me wonder just why I was thinking about it when for so many years I had not even had these thoughts pass by my thought process. And it dawned on me that a lot of the folks that I went to High School with were no longer with us and that made me wonder....."Why am I still muddling along each day and why am I, overall, so satisfied with where I am right now?"   

I have had the honor of traveling through all 50 states and 39 countries. And that has given me a rather different look at what I have and have had and will have. And my horizons are a little wider that the average person. I have rubbed elbows with "Stars" (Jane Fonda, Sophia Loren, opera singers, politicians (Gerald Ford), BIG money and little money, haves and havenots, cubicle monkies & "no fences hold me" people. Where I fit in that listing has not been totally decided....but I do know that I am not normal!!!  Whatever "normal" is!!  LOL   

As I sit here and look back I see many, many miles....5 beautiful kids with great minds and great potential....5 beautiful grandkids....having had the opportunity of trying many different things.....seen many beautiful things....seen many depressing things.....seen fantastic man-made things.....seen horrific man-made things.....been in desert so dry that spit won't make it to the ground.....driven thru snow so deep that it came up over the hood of a '78 van (and me thinking "ok stupid, how are you getting out of this one!!!).  

I'VE BEEN ABLE TO ENJOY A VERY FULL LIFE!! AND STILL GOING!!

I've learned over the years that "good" in man is not natural, but learned. That Love is grown, nurtured and looked after. Hate comes on fast and furious and is hard to overcome. That beauty is all around us, but you have to look hard sometimes to see it.     

I don't feel like I have lived through 59.5 years....but each morning when my feet hit the floor my body reminds my brain that I HAVE lived through 59.5 years....some mornings I am reminded of it even more that others!!  But that is life and we all have one (a life that is) and hopefully I  have been able to help a few folks thru it and possibly kept a few from making it harder on others. Time will tell.   

I carry too much "technology" with me, but it has become such a part of my life that I have to put up with it. Don't get me wrong, I like my technology....but there are times that I turn it all off and just drive along listening to the wind, or sit on a picnic table and stare up at the stars and listen to the wind. And listening to the wind and nature and the stillness of the wild is something that we don't listen to enough. We extend our day into the night with lights and noise....and we don't listen to the little voices around us.  We rush too much.   Guess what, most of the stuff that we rush around for will still be there, even when we take a few minutes longer to get there by taking that side road that has a view instead of runing helter skelter down the interstates  of life!!   

I think that is enough "philosophy" for one day....my brain is fogging up and my eyes are blurring!!  

My hope is that each of you will have a Great 2014 and the things that you hope to achieve this coming year will come to fruition. That each day will bring on a new adventure of some sort so that each day will be a memory.   

And to each of you was a part of my 2013, Thank You! 

And I look forward to you being a part of my 2014!  :-)

NRH for the Weekend!!

Well, I've been at Tiffany and Cary's for the past 2 days and will have to get back on the road tomorrow. It has been a really nice, relaxing time off. When I get to take a couple of days off, I just seem to go into mobile vegetative state!  LOL  And it is really a nice feeling to just relax! But I will have to get ready to put my brain back in gear! 

Tif and the herd spent part of last night making a "family turkey" for the season....and it didn't even get messy!!

First you paint daddy's hand......

It's amazing what all you can use a hairdryer for!!!!....

 

Then mommy's hand gets done.....that takes care of the body and a bunch of the tail feathers......

 

  ....then Julia's hand gets painted to do the fill in for the body and the rest of  the tail feathers......

Then Josceline's foot makes the body/head of the turkey....

 

 

 

And....we now have a thanksgiving turkey to hang on the wall!!

 

 

But during this visit there was also plenty of time to rest and relax to get all refreshed.....

 

 

Some of us relax better than others!!!

 

 



Hay to Longmont, CO

Made it to Longmont, CO in one piece...nothing exciting....except for the fog last night....got pretty thick late.  but all 465 bales got to their new home.

 He had a neat little attachment to the tractor that allowed him to pick up about 16 or 20 bales at a time.

 

He had his son, 2 grandsons, friend of grandson, neighbor friend and friend of son there to do the loading....I could watch good men work all day!!

Ended up with a full load, nose to tail, side rail to side rail...and he wanted to add another row, but that would have put my height at about 14' 2"...to tall to be legal.

The drive over was just another drive...but the stable where I delivered to...oh what a view!!

It sets at the top of what they call Lookout Ridge...thus the farm name..Lookout Ridge Farm.  :)  There were 3 young Mexican guys there to do the unloading...so that took about 2 hours...

but gave me time to look around and take a few pics...and visit with some really good looking horses!

I'm now parked about a mile from the farm, in the valley, on the side of the road, right past a main road, for the night!  Fairly quiet, level, just finished listening to the football game for the night, catching up on this blog and my paperwork for last few loads, having my evening coffee (lost count of cups...heheheh), and looking forward to rolling again tomorrow. Hopefully! There just aren't many decent loads coming out of the Denver area, especially non-tarp (I make Erin's life difficult!).

So sleep well everyone, enjoy each day that you have, and I'll be navigating on towards retirement a little more tomorrow!!  :)

1,010 days to go!!

Found CBS...FOOTBALL Tonight!!

I moved from Wally to Home Depot....AND....now I have a very good connection for the CBS station....So I won't be moving for several hours now....I'm watching A&M right now, and I will be watching Bama this evening!  It is amazing how a little move will make a massive difference with this digital over the air tv signals. 

And I just opened up this Toughbook a few minutes ago and I'll add pics later. Somehow I knocked it over or the vibrations from the APU made it fall over and it landed infront of the heater vent for the sleeper area....which is a Wambosco (or something like that) heater. It runs off diesel fumes basically is gets pretty warm....well....let's say it gets real damn hot!!!! 

13 of the buttons are melted, shriveled, re-molded....use whatever description you would like, and are laying on my table now!  The little button points still work, and all the keys still work....the keyboard is functioning just like new...with the exception of the missing keys!  LOL   :)   I am glad that I have a replacement laptop with me if needed and have another Toughbook coming....I will have to get thru the house after CO to get it.  HEHEHEHEHEH!!!!!  Just another day in the learning curve in the life of a truck driver....during the winter make sure that there is NOTHING that can come into contact with the heater vent in the sleeper!!!  

Makes me feel like a rookie!!!!  LOL   :P

Anyway, now to finish drying out my straps, running into HD to see if they have a fan. Think I'll also work on my outside lights for loading at night.

I'll make another post this evening after Bama beats up on LSU!!  ;)

Nice Drive!

I've gone from Houston, TX  to Theodore, AL to Chattanooga, TN  to Hays, KS.  And the drive yesterday and today was just about perfect....if you leave out the 25-30mph wind with gusts up to 51mph!  LOL  When you have to keep the wheel turned like this, you know it's blowing!

Welcome to the midwest of the US!  It really was a gorgeous day looking at it...clear skies, 55-60 degrees, everything green, still!  And then the wind started....and boy did it start!  Was coming out of the SE and headed for the NE....another words....from left to right across the highway!  It made the day quite interesting.

I made it to my drop right when I said I'd be there....3pm. Another garden spot in the oilfields, LOL!

 Got unloaded and figured I would be sitting all weekend....but Erin worked her usual magic and I have a load out of the Kansas City area to Colorado, loading Sunday and delivering.....when I can get someone to meet me there!  LOL  A load of hay!!  But....no tarp!!!!!   YES!!!

Decided to spend the night next to the Wally here in Hays.  They are like a lot of the Wallys now...don't really want trucks in the parking lots.  But there is a deadend street next to the store where I am backed up into a field for the night.  Peaceful spot....no traffic at all!  

Tomorrow I'll head for my pick in the morning, stop and get fuel on the way...or maybe on the way out.  But there is a PetCo on the way, so Abbie gets a spa day....she is overdue for one!  And, today she decided that running thru a muddy spot looked like fun....so she will be sleeping on the floor tonight and will have a shampoo tomorrow!  (Update.....the PetCo in Topeka doesn't have grooming?!?!?!?!  That is wierd!!!  So she will get a dry bath tomorrow with the waterless shampoo that I got for her )
But you still get to see some nice vehicles while out here.

And while she is getting all spiffied up, I'll go do my grocery shopping for the next two weeks and maybe get my hair removed!  heheh  Need some supplies, little food, check the DVDs for anything new that I might like, need a couple of pair of pants.

Tomorrow or Sunday or Monday I'll add some pics of the past week and this weekend (DONE ) ....and the changes that I am going to be doing to the truck this weekend so you will have an idea of just what my nomadic life is like.  I like it....will like it even better when I finally get my act together and get things all set up the way I want them and everything is in its place and it really feels like a "house". It's getting closer each week, but trying to get it done while making runs is quite a challenge, because I still have to sleep sometime.....and having clean clothes is always a challenge....but we're getting there, slowly but surely!!

I took this pic yesterday of the cost of regular out here....it is 2 cents lower this morning!!!

All I can end this installment with is......1,013 days to go!! And Abbie and I will be in the our little motorhome traveling at our own pace!!!  CAN'T WAIT!!!  :)

1,020 Days! heheheh

Still on the road....and still love what I do!  But it is still a challenge at times.

Take the run that I just finished. I loaded out from Houston yesterday morning and it was raining like a monsoon!  Apparently from midnight to 7am Houston received over 3 inches on rain!  It was unreal...and the sad part is that I was in it from Houston to Theodore, AL!

It made for a very long day of driving. Each time that I stopped for a break, it would "run" on ahead of me...and then I would get rolling again and catch back up to it!  LOL   I got tired of liquid sunshine!

But, at least the load was an easy load....I had onboard 10 buoys for oil recovery work in the Gulf. I like easy loads like this....

BUT.....it did let me see another example of bureaucratic redundancy that permeates every level, it seems, in both gov't and corporate structure!  The warehouse should probably have been manned by 2 guys to do the job.  But.....I had one guide me in and "guide" the big forklift....

Then,once the major job of lifting off one of the buoys from the trailer, the large lift "maneuvered" around the rear of my rig, and set the buoy down....so that a smaller "reach" type lift could pick it up and move it to the storage area.....

and as you can basically tell from the pictures...we're talking about a movement of about 55 feet....sooooo...you had 2 lift drivers, 2 "guides", an overseer, a foreman and a supervisor in the warehouse to make sure that the unloading was expeditious and VERY safe!  They had their morning safety meeting an hour late and I got to listen in.....if I had to be told what they were told I think I would have to run over my own foot!  Good Golly Miss Molly...where has personal responsibility  and  common sense run off to!?!?!?!

The load that I'm under right now is the blue and gray containers that are in the middle of the pic.  I love loads like this...6 chains and I'm rolling down the road....of course, where I loaded was a huge project that was doing pipe for the underwater pipeline...men, equipment, vehicles, material piles all over the place. Needless to say, it took me about 20 minutes to get turned around and out of there...took 2 minutes to get into the area!  LOL

And for the first time in quite a few years I am actually decorating for Christmas!  I will be adding a few lights to the grill next week and to the inside of the truck. 

So, I am just chilling out this evening and will be resting this weekend, to be able to have a full log.  I'll be in Conroe, TX Monday, from there...who knows...just another day!!  Heheheheh

Colorado....yeah, so!?!?!

I've been in Colorado Springs, CO since Saturday....delivered that morning and have been here since then taking a 48 hour break so that I will have a full log.  It is gorgeous outside, 50 degrees....last night it was cold,windy, with snow and freezing rain!  My how things change!

I'm waiting for a load so that I know which way I'm headed from here.  :)  I'm trying to work my way back to AL for a visit, and hopefully will be there in a week or so.  Time of the year to keep myself down in the warm country as much as possible!  Heheheh

Think I just might work my way over to someplace...a grocery store for a couple of things then find somewhere else to hide until I get a load.  :)

Maybe I will get more consistent with BLOGGING!! LOL

It has been a few weeks....again....since my last post....SORRY!!!  :)

I've been coast to coast at least twice since last post.  Have had quite a few different loads....

from cable frames for tie lines for cell phone towers (put in hole and concrete poured in) to...... 
 
scaffolding that was going to be used in an upgrade construction project at a TVA power plant site....picked up in Maryland and taken to Tennessee....

I had never really realized just how large the cooling towers are for these power plants....and there were 2 at this plant!

I hauled my last load of onions....I don't do onions anymore, there are just not worth the $$, no matter what they are paying...they just take too much time to tarp, up to 3 hours, and they leave your tarps stinking for weeks afterward!

 

One load of "oil field equipment" was anything but that!  It ended up being a load of 4X4's that are used to block up the pipeline being laid while it is welded and then set...

and the wood was not banded very well and I had to stop several times to push in pieces and actually had to pull out a couple before they fell off the trailer!



The load I'm under right now is a load of "poles" that came out of Idaho to Riverbank, CA.  And the little "plant" I picked up at was a trip!

It is in the northern end of the that is called "Hell's Canyon", ID.  









And the road out was about as interesting as the way in!

But when out in the road, the view and the sights make for short memories of the rather lousy load/deliver spots that we end up in at times.

And thanks to the boys and their Comcast account, I actually get to watch a little football every so often!!

At the same time, the roads can be a real "pain".. not long ago, when I had a load of PODS on board. As I was going around LA I hit construction on I-5....and I hit a "bump" (that's what the sign said) that was so hard/abrupt/deep, that it shifted a loaded POD 6 inches to the right and rearranged my truck interior!

And you even get to see some really well done up vechicles that almost make you want to take some time in one spot to see if you can fix up one for yourself!!  Like a 1972 restored Ford Bronco!!!  Sweet!

  BUT.......I just have 1,038 days left out here.....as far a "working" goes!  I am obviously looking forward to 62 and Abbie and getting in the Beast and hitting the back roads with my kind of pace...50 miles today, 150 miles 4 days later and maybe, just maybe, 300 miles over the next 15 days!!  LOL

 I am about to eat some dinner and then go wash some clothes and then take a shower....then later I will be driving on over to my drop and parking there outside the gate so that I will be there when they open in the morning.

So, until my next post......have a great week!!!!  :)