Singing

While attending church last Sunday ... I sat next to one of my sons. For some odd reason, we have very similar singing voices. One song he sang the 1st verse with me following the bass line. Then on the remaining verses he sang a higher harmony to my bass. It was lovely. And the fellow sitting in front of us was highly impressed.

I get in trouble for being too noisy in church with the grandkids ...

Picked a few wild onions growing in the weeds near Bud's Produce. DELICIOUS!

1953

A Little Short ...

Maybe I cut my sleep time a bit short on Tuesday night and Wednesday night (not enough deep REM and all that) ... because when I got home last night (Thursday), I laid down on the bed and went to sleep ... got up for a brief break at 10 p.m. ... then went back to bed until 7 a.m. this morning.

Other than updating this blogsite, I haven't accomplished much of anything all day.

And tomorrow I'm back driving on the road.

Technical Difficulties!!

There I was ... driving down the road with my CB off ... because I don't like to listen to the trash talk ... which you hear most of the time ... when a UPS driver pulls up alongside me and honks his horn ... then points at his CB mike. So, I turned my CB on ... and he tells me that my rear driver-side trailer tire is tearing off. I glanced back in the mirror ... and the wheel was definitely flopping from side-to-side.

I immediately slowed down and pulled off the Interstate ... I was at exit 95 in Indiana. The trash talkers continued on about how as the yellow truck was probably driven by a trucker with a phony "green card." While I pulled off to the Pilot Truckstop. This happened to be one of the few Pilot Truckstops that has a maintenance shop.

The nuts were all tight, but you can see the bright silver from where the rim was tearing loose around them. In the other foto you can see where the small round holes have become large and in some cases show sharp corners where they are starting to tear loose past the nuts ... the rim was doing its best to rip off past the nuts and go bouncing down the road thru the cars in the left lane ...

The third foto shows how the nuts were worn away. Anyway, 3 hours later, I had 2 new rims, new inside and outside bolts & nuts ... and a Bill for $514.56

Bud's Produce

I've found this business called Bud's Produce that is located just a block away from the church. They don't work on Sunday. So it is a great place for me to park my truck and just walk down the street to go to church in Elizabethtown, KY. After church I have to drive to Chicago so I can deliver my load.

I'm driving Angel's yellow Freightliner truck ... on the left side of the foto.

While walking to church I go past this field that has these great big tall dandelions ... most of them had gone to seed ... but they were really interesting looking ... so I had to take some fotos. You can even zoom in on the seeds ...

Visitors !!

I received an email to which I promptly responded ... and got a reply back. Ahha! 'Nae was live on the net ... managed to track her down to her mother's. After a pleasant chat ... she decided to come over for a visit ... complete with children (they don't have school this week). It didn't take them long to get bored ... so Arline entertained them on her computer while 'Nae and I looked at fotos and chatted with a caller. Arline fixed us all a lovely dinner complete with cupcakes (which required child help ... and licking of the bowl).

You will notice That I'm not in my normal trucking attire. I decided to wear a Sunday Suit and walk around in stores today so people would call me "sir" and make offers of being helpful. A suit gets that kind of response ... even in WalMart. One fellow even mistook me for a Realtor.

ALM is Home Again!

After coming within 45 hrs of dieing ...

the Doc said that if she had stayed in bed when it started ... and just rested ... in hopes that she would feel better ... there would have been no hope for her after 48 hours. The upper part of her heart was in fibrillation (A-Fib) ... wild micro-vibrations without actually pumping (much). Just kind of quivering.

After 48 hrs it would have built up bad clots and you die of a coronary thrombosis (not related to a trombone -- a family humor trait -- stop groaning now ...).

HOWEVER, since we got her there fairly quickly ... the meds and Doc were able to stabilize her heart beat back to normal (after 17 hrs).

She's thrilled to be back home again ... sends thanks to Katrina for the lovely flowers ... to the grandkids for "Teddy" the bear ... had to go shop for more food at WalMart (after realizing we'd bought almost nothing on her list that was still on the dining table ...

Almost normal again ... which means she wants to know when I'm finally going to take out the garbage ...

:0) "Yes, Dear ... "

Our Home Office

In case you were wondering ... on the left is a foto of our "Home" Office ... the foto doesn't show the 26 horses and mules out in the pastures around it.

Below that is our yard. The reason there are 3 trailers instead of only 2 ... is that I just dropped off the reefer on the left.

So, Now you know what Southern Contract Carriers' headquarters looks like ...

Woo--Woo !!

Hospital Run

Arline was having heart problems this morning. Her heart would sometimes stop, and then at other times race away ... heartbeats between 115 - 180 bpm.

I took her to the V.A. clinic ... all they wanted to do was call an ambulance to take her to the hospital next door. We walked out and I took her to the Emergency Room at SEAMC Hosp. (saved $200 for the ambulance ride).

This machine kept going off with noise and a flashing yellow light ... kind of like being in a casino ... except no quarters were pouring out. How irritating!

The upper chambers of her heart are vibrating and not beating in synch with the lower chambers ... which screws up the electrial node that connects them.

The doctor says she will be there until Friday.

I have this horrible lousy cold ... but need to drive this load to Jacksonville and deliver in the morning. Ugh.

Geneva, Wisconsin

There I was ... driving up SR 120 in Geneva, WI when I saw this Danish flag flying in the breeze ... along with the American flag. I couldn't turn down that street, so I turned into the next entrance ... which happened to be a WalMart parking lot. I hopped out ant took this foto. I have no idea why it was there ... maybe they were selling Danish furniture?

Other than that ... my life recently has been dominated by ... SNEEZE! hack, cough, choke ... cough , cough, cough. And the need to have a paper towel around for the drippy nose.

I made it to the house today. Heading to Jacksonville, FL tomorrow evening.

Hot day in Chicago

It was like 61 degrees F in Indiana & Chicago today. Lots of groups of motorcycles running down the highways (they were still a little bundled up) ... with blue skies and sunshine.

Oh, I managed to help Dan replace the latch on the driver's door ... a little plastic widget had broken ... and stopped the door from opening. That's a foto of the new pretty latch ... which now works wonderfully.

Having a cold-type hack and occasional drippy nose ... I didn't visit with any grandchildren this week.

Azalea-Dogwood Trail

They have this annual Spring event called the Azalea-Dogwood Trail in Dothan, AL. My wife just has to go see it. So, I took some fotos. In this one you can see azaleas, flowering dogwood tree, and some purple wysteria.

For all of you up north who wonder when you will ever see the green of Spring ... it's here already! :0)

From Robins to Frogs

I was bundled up in 2 coats against the biting cold wind in Omaha, Nebraska ... when I saw that the robins had migrated north to there.

Upon arrival in Jacksonville, FL tonight ... the frogs in the ditch next to the driveway were making a cacophony of mating sounds ... and this little tree frog was snoozing on the handrail going up to the guard shack.

A farmer in Iowa had a sign on his fence that reads:
"Oil Leases Available
1-800-Dry-Hole"

Nashville was a major "parking lot" this morning ... there was a 6 miles stau (traffic jam) behind a wreck north of Macon, GA (somebody smashed into the rear end of a large, commercial tractor-trailer) ... and there was a drenching cloudburst when I stopped for fuel in Valdosta, GA.

I'm stripped down to my undershirt and knee-shorts, screens in the windows, and the aux fan blowing ... no, the A/C doesn't work ... and I have to exit thru the passenger door, because the driver door won't open. From freezing to roasting in only 2 days ... life in a truck. :0)