The Next Thing

Fast Food

2009-03-17T04:41:00.001-06:00

The McDonald's at the Love's Truck Stop in Skippers, VA is the perfect place to eat if you're not hungry. That's because by the time you order and get your food, you will be.

- Trevor. Jackson, GA, 2009-03-17

p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hard Rock Atlanta Writes Personal Insult on Receipt

2009-02-20T15:04:00.001-06:00

Now, we visited Zoo Atlanta for the day. When the zoo closed, we decided to do a little sightseeing, and just sort of drive around downtown Atlanta for a while. Why not, right? When we saw the Hard Rock, we realized we were hungry. While we were discussing it, Lisa said, "well, yeah, ok, we could go, but won't it be hard to find a place to park?" Right when she said that, we came up to a sign for a parking garage. We figured we were meant to go there, so we did.

For those of you who are aware that we're doing Dave Ramsey's Debt Snowball, part of his Total Money Makeover, you should also be aware that this mini-vacation is budgeted, and it's covered by money that normally would be used to cover expenses when I have home-time. So while it seems extravagant, it's actually costing us less than if I just went home as I usually do.

So, we went to the Hard Rock. We were too friendly to the wait-staff, so between us and the kids they knew we were from Michigan, and that we were staying in McDonough (with the implication that both of these places are Timbuktu or farther out). Danielle and I both had the Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger, Lisa had chicken fajitas, JJ had something, and the little kids had something else. Imagine my surprise and deep personal feeling of terrible insult when I got this receipt:

Hick Burger. I'm insulted.

But hey, the Hard Rock was an experience, as usual. Not nearly worth the money, and it was a mistake to go there. At least the receipt was funny - it all evens out.

- Trevor. McDonough, GA. 2009-02-20.

Hmm, What Might That Mean?

2009-02-18T08:23:00.001-06:00

We're in a motel, and this morning I woke up to hear Austin (4yo) using the bathroom. Apparently, Aubrey (2yo sister) heard him, too, because she went and stood just outside the (open) door to keep him company. They greeted each other, and Austin finished up. I heard silence for a short time, then, "Aubrey, watch... when I do this, it gets bigger!"

- Trevor. McDonough, GA. 2009-02-18.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T16:53:00.001-06:00

I saw an ad for Valentine's Day. It said, "Nothing says I love you like flowers."

So that's what I got her.

Nothing.

Happy Valentine's Day.

- Trevor. Bessemer, AL. 2009-02-14.

Advice From The Things-I-Do-Even-Though-I-Know-Better Department

2009-02-11T23:48:00.001-06:00

Don't read political commentary by a favorite musician.

- Trevor

2009-02-11 - San Antonio, TX

Zune

2009-01-27T23:23:00.001-06:00

I've been looking for podcatcher software to replace iTunes. iTunes is ok, but there are a few features I would like that it doesn't have, and the fact that it doesn't use a regular Windows window means it has compatibility issues with other programs I run. One of these is my screen dimmer, monitorBright, which makes the screen dim enough to use while driving at night - iTunes just blazes brightly away in Mini Player mode, or doesn't display anything readable in regular mode). I also would very much like a rewind button - not only a slider that backs up in huge chunks. I listen to audiobooks, sometimes the files are as much as ten hours long, so if I miss a word and have to back up 1% of that - I have to listen to 6 minutes of book that I just heard, and by the time I get back to the word I missed, I'm daydreaming and miss it again!

So, I downloaded and tried Zune. After trying it a little, over a couple of weeks, I decided that there is one feature I like very much about Zune - it's very easy to find in Control Panel's uninstall list, which is alphabetical.

Goodbye Zune. You were horrible.

- Trevor.

Somewhere in Oregon (if I knew, I would tell. I-5 exit 148, if I remember right).

2009-01-27

p.s. Any recommendations on podcatcher software? I'd also like to be able to change the playback speed dynamically - some things can be listened to much faster than others! And hey, if I like it, I might write about it here (if I don't I almost certainly will!)

In Memory of Fred

2008-12-30T14:26:00.001-06:00

Fred's web site at Fred Gibbons Photo.com is about to expire. All of the content of that site is now available on this blog (Fred Gibbons Theatrical Photography), and here is a link to his guest book:

Still missing you, Fred.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2008-12-30

What Libertarian Means

2008-12-21T15:09:00.001-06:00

I'm a Libertarian. I want complete control over my life, and none over yours.

- Trevor.
2008-12-21
Branch, MI

Adult Education

2008-12-21T12:29:00.001-06:00

I recently saw a billboard advertising some sort of adult education program. In huge letters across the board it said, "Not To Late To Educate."

I think maybe, just maybe, it is.

- Trevor.

2008-12-21

Branch, MI

Fred Gibbons Theatrical Photography

2008-11-13T16:29:00.001-06:00

Fred passed away almost a year ago. It's strange how much life has been the same, and how much it has been different.

Fred was a theatrical photographer. Here are some of his favorite photos, from his web site. Click for larger images.

It's also strange to think exactly how much influence Fred had on my life - I mean, I'll never know exactly how much, but just thinking of all the time spent at the theatre, all the things I know about photography, even so much of what I know about dealing with people (yeah, I mean it...).

I'm sad he's gone, but I'm glad he was here.

Thanks, Fred.

- Trevor.

Branch, MI

2008-11-13

In-Depth Research

2008-11-11T14:40:00.001-06:00

I have done the research, combed the data and reached this conclusion: I agree with the points made by the author of this blog 87% of the time.

- Trevor

Branch, MI

2008-11-11

Something Seems Different... Did We Have An Election?

2008-11-09T11:04:00.003-06:00

I have to say that I am EXTREMELY disappointed with certain facets of this election. For example, that people kept talking about it. And they're not stopping.

To quote Dave Ramsey: "Breathe, people."

I'm also very upset with Audible.com, because I made it to late evening of November fifth without finding out who won the election, and I wanted to make it a week. Unfortunately, I went to Audible to buy a book with a coupon, and on their front page they had a free download: McCain's concession speech, and Obama's Acceptance speech. Of course I didn't download it, but now I knew the results.

Two words about this election: WHO CARES???

For my election coverage, here's a piece I stole in its entirety (Well, I may have obfuscated it a little)from another site... but since this is all over the place it seems silly to credit them:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Major Research Institution (MRI) has recently announced the discovery of the heaviest chemical element yet known to science. The new element has been tentatively named Governmentium. Governmentium has 1 executive neutron, 21 assistant cabinet neutrons, 100 deputy senatorial neutrons, and 435 assistant representational deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 557. These 557 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected as it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete when it would normally take less than a second. Governmentium has a normal half-life of three years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause some morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to speculate that governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

- Trevor
2008-11-05
Battle Creek, MI

Franklin Covey PlanPlus for Outlook v 5.0 - Revisited

2008-10-18T14:57:00.001-06:00

In the Quick Prioritize window, you can mark a task as done, or even delete it, but there is no way to check if there is data in the notes area of that task - so it's extremely easy to delete entire swaths of data without ever knowing it was there. Of course, there should be an indicator of notes data even on the regular task list, but at least there you can double click and check before you delete it if you wish.
The task list doesn't always re-draw correctly when deleting or moving tasks - and then if you edit a task subject line, you're actually editing a different task than you think - or worse, you're deleting a task you have not yet completed. Maybe for most people that just means something small, like they'll lose their job, but for me I see it as even worse, because I rely on this program to remind me about these tasks. I know I shouldn't, but I do. So here's the real problem - if I ever remember this accidentally deleted task, and think "I should do X - I then remember that I've put it in my planner, and will be reminded when appropriate, so I forget about it again, and this item will *never* be addressed, even if I remember it! To worry about each item and double check to make sure it's in the planner is to defeat the purpose of using the planner - which is to allow me to relax, knowing that I can't forget anything because it's being remembered for me.
If you delete a recurring task instead of marking it finished, it will let you do this without asking if you're sure. I don't like a nanny-program any more than the next guy, but there is no icon or indicator of any sort that a task item is set to recur. So, again, PlanPlus makes it very easy to delete data without realizing it was ever there. If I could remember, on my own, which tasks recur and which ones don't, I probably wouldn't need the program at all. My work-around: whenever I set a task to recur, I mark it "(recurs)" at the end of the line. It's not a perfect work-around, because the line may be too long to see the mark, but without an indicator of some sort it's the best I can do. This is particularly annoying, because earlier versions of Franklin Covey planner software (Ascend) had such indicators, along with indicators for notes.
Here's one you can play with: make a change to an item in the home view. If you hit enter, it creates a new task and moves the focus there, thus encouraging you not to hit enter if you want to work with the same item. However, if you don't hit enter or click somewhere else, and if the change you made changes the sort order (like a name change changing the alphabetical order) and you subsequently click and drag the task to a new date or to the trash, you will be moving the wrong task. There will be no indication that you are moving the wrong task, until you can't find the task you moved, and of course you won't know which one that is, because you didn't mean to move it in the first place, and it didn't show on the screen when you did it.

I just re-read that last item, and even though I wrote it, and understand it, it makes almost no sense. It certainly wouldn't make any sense to someone who hasn't used the program.

Here's the upshot: If you change a task in a way that changes how the list of tasks sorts, at that point it's easy to end up losing a task item without knowing it, and with no way to retrieve it other than restoring the entire database from a backup - which offers up its own full set of problems, such as losing all recent changes. Since each task item can hold documents, pictures, recordings, full notes, and many other things, losing one task could amount to losing months of work.

True, trusting months of work to any program would be a bad idea - but it would be an exceptionally bad idea to trust months of work to *this* program!

The data integrity issues I mentioned only have to do with the user interface, not the back end. I always worry about the inner workings of programs that have poor outer workings, but in this case PlanPlus for Outlook uses Outlook for the inner workings, so I continue to use the program. If I had used the stand-alone version, and the UI was this bad, I would have stopped using it already.

A thing that has nothing to do with data integrity: When I mark a task finished, the focus follows the finished task to the end of the list - why would I want to look at it again? And failing that, why would I want to look at all the other finished tasks? Don't you think I might want to look at my next highest priority task? If you're going to scroll to the bottom of my list every time, at least put something funny down there, like a note that says, "cut it out and go home" or something.

I'm now checking my PlanPlus task list for items I've marked: BLOG - REVIEW - PLANPLUS. Because PlanPlus's project function seems to be essentially worthless, I've found that if I mark my tasks hierarchically like such, I can always find them alphabetically, by project. Because I've got too many tasks for PlanPlus to handle, I can't simply go to the master task list, I have to go to the Quick Prioritize window, where I can find the tasks I'd like to work with, then move them to today so I can read them or mark them finished. Yes, it's very clunky, but it works. My original problem with getting the software to work was really only this - it takes 45 minutes to two hours to open the master task list. I assumed that was an error and there was something more fundamentally wrong. Since it turns out that this is not an error, but expected behavior, I can only say, "I'm sorry I thought that was a bug. What was I thinking?!?"

I only found two such items on the master task list, and it turns out I've already addressed them. Luckily PlanPlus made this take an extra five minutes, so I had time to type a bunch of meaningless words for you to peruse. Wasn't that fun?

Ok, so I was wrong. I did just as poorly with this review as the last. But you learned a little more detail, along with one important thing: 8 months later, using the program nearly every day - and I still don't like it. YMMV.

- Trevor.

Jackson, GA

2008-10-18 (Happy Birthday Danielle - why am I always writing about PlanPlus on someone's birthday?)

One of My Favorite Photos Ever

2008-09-18T14:56:00.001-06:00

I know I'm a rebel - you can't stop me!

- Trevor.

Branch, MI (the picture was not taken in Branch, MI).

2008-09-18

I'm Honored

2008-09-18T14:42:00.001-06:00

Ok, so this is old. At any rate, you all should be very proud to know me, as I'm going to be included in a book listing very important people. Or, could have been, at any rate. Here are the details:

Thank you, Jennifer, I'm very honored. And if I ever do opt for the surgery, I'll fill out an application from the recovery room.

- Trevor

Branch, MI

2008-09-18

Shopshurco.com

2008-09-14T17:45:00.001-06:00

They told me this:

Shopping Cart Empty

Your shopping cart has expired due to inactivity. Please return to the store and select your items again.

My question to the blogosphere: would you? (I didn't).

I would have complained to them, but they didn't provide a link for that either. I suppose I could have found one, but maybe not, and it would have taken longer than complaining here, which is more satisfying anyway.

- Trevor.

2008-09-14

Branch, MI

Texas-Sized Speed Limit

2008-08-16T16:04:00.001-06:00

Here's a speed limit sign with bigger numbers than most of you have seen. :-) It's real, but sadly the next sign, that you might be able to read if you squint, limits trucks to 70. Of course, with $4.00 per gallon fuel, I rarely go over 67 anyway.

- Trevor.

Grand Island, NE

2008-08-16

The Places I've Been

2008-07-21T10:56:00.001-06:00

I haven't kept up well with my "Weeks in Review", so I thought it would be fun to list the cities in which I've picked up and delivered since I last reported on that. Not necessarily fun for you to read (definitely not fun for Lisa to look up), but fun for me to post.

I'm not sure if this goes back far enough, but I picked up in Burns Harbor, IN on January 31st, 2008 after spending a couple days at a hotel with Lisa and (most of) the kids.

Burns Harbor, IN - Cleveland, OH - Warren, OH - Colton, CA - Calexico, CA - Whitestown, IN - La Porte, IN - Marietta, GA - Jackson, GA - Jackson, MS - Cedar City, UT - Orange, CA - Brighton, CO - Pueblo, CO - Clarksdale, MS - Jackson, MS - Jackson, GA - Pueblo, CO - Clarksdale, MS - Jackson, MS - Jackson, GA - Solomon, KS - Cody, WY - Casper, WY - Mechanicsville, NY - (Home-time at Mom's) - Warren, OH - McDonough, GA - Jackson, GA - Mabelvale, AR - Malvern, AR - Murray, UT - Ogden, UT - Vancouver, WA - Seattle, WA - Morton, WA - Grand Prairie, TX - Jackson, MS - Jackson, Ga - Corvallis, OR - Tacoma, WA - Grand Ledge, MI - (Home) - Warren, OH - McDonough, GA - Jackson, GA - St. Mary's, KS - Gillette, WY - Belle Fourche, SD - Lousiville, KY - Shelbyville, IN - Meadowlands, PA - Warren, OH - Orlando, FL - Sarasota, FL - Monroe, GA - Spring, TX - Houston, TX - Lindon, UT - Ogden, UT - North Wilkesboro, NC - Greensboro, NC - Naperville, IL - (HOME) - Warren, OH - Tacoma, WA - Morton, WA - St. Joseph, MO - Atchison, KS - Republic, MO - Springfield, MO - (breakdown) - Denison, IA - Omaha, NE - Springfield, MO - Montgomery, AL - Birmingham, AL - Sharon, PA - Warren, OH - North Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas, NV - East Hazel Crest, IL - Chicago, IL - Ambridge, PA - Bedford Heights, OH - Cedar Springs, MI - (HOME) - Warren, OH - Colton, CA - Corona, CA - Sea Island, GA - Ridgeville, SC, and tomorrow I'll deliver in Plymouth, UT.

Streets and Trips says that comes out to 63,185.0 miles. Makes me feel tired just thinking about it. I'm glad it's almost noon so I can go to bed.

- Trevor.
2008-07-21

North Platte, NE

Twitter

2008-07-21T08:23:00.001-06:00

You can now follow me on Twitter, my username is pecktec. Don't ask me how, I have no idea. Well, you can start by going to http://www.twitter.com. You will find fewer pictures there than here (by about 100% or so), but you will undoubtedly find it updated more regularly.

- Trevor

2008-07-21 (countdown: 497 days)

North Platte, NE

Flying J - Birmingham, AL

2008-06-20T18:27:00.001-06:00

If I had to choose between eating (again) in the Flying J restaurant in Birmingham, AL, or starving, I would pick eating in the restaurant.

But not by much.

- Trevor

2008-06-20

Birmingham, AL

Salvation Kit - $22.99

2008-06-17T13:23:00.001-06:00

They have everything at the Flying J!

Posting Again, Trevor? Your Truck Must Be Broken

2008-06-16T21:38:00.001-06:00

Yep.

Here are some of the things I've taken pictures of since the last time my truck was broken. Or maybe it was the time before that...

I figure this must be the shortest book ever published. Something like this:

Step 1 - Put down this book.

Step 2 - Read your Bible.

The End.

I hope you find this as funny as I did.

The sign says "Welcome to Texas, Drive Friendly - The Texas Way." It seems to me that if they're going to go to all the effort of putting up the sign, they should decide which way they want you to drive - friendly, or the Texas way.

These are pictures of some kids. I like them (the kids, and the pictures).

This truck is for sale. Buy it.

I saw one of these that had captions under the pictures. It said "Push Button, Receive Bacon."

If you don't think this sign is funny when you first look at it, it's probably best if you go on to the next set. There's a nice bit about Danielle there, you'll enjoy it.

How many Danielle Peck's can you see in these pictures? Right - one more than normal. Danielle Peck got to meet Danielle Peck - pretty cool! Made the front page of the local paper in Big Rapids, MI. We'll have more about that later.

I read it, and I had to buy it. I hope the humor speaks for itself. If it did, I wonder what language it would use???

- Trevor

Springfield, MO

2008-06-16

Short Lesson on Capitalism

2008-04-08T22:05:00.001-06:00

As a free-market proponent and a libertarian, I find I very much want people to understand the basic rules of capitalism. Here they are:

proper nouns
names of languages
most words in titles
days of the week
the first word of a sentence

Hope that was helpful.

- Trevor

2008-04-08

Limon, CO

Technorati Tags: Capitalism,libertarianism,free-market

License Plates

2008-04-07T21:50:00.001-06:00

I know the pictures don't show these plates very well, but I did the best I could while staying safe.

This plate is PECK. Really.

This license plate was: ILIAD.

I thought, "Hmm... Must be an English teacher or something." Then I thought, "Hey, that plate would be funny on a Honda Odyssey," I looked back over, and Bingo! That's what that is!

That's a nice plate.

This plate is: WHLSUP

I was thinking: That's not right, you don't want your wheels up while driving, you're supposed to keep them down. Hmm... maybe the guy's a pilot.

So I looked back, and again - it's a Honda Pilot! Honda has too many funny license plate cars.

- Trevor.

2008-04-07

Rawlins, WY

Technorati Tags: License Plates

Wyoming Crash

2008-04-07T21:35:00.001-06:00

Loyal readers will no doubt be aware that I lost two days of last week to a winter storm closing the roads. Wyoming is famous for not doing much to take care of the roads, they simply let them get bad, then close them. Compare that to Iowa, where you see snowplows out ahead of the storm, laying a coating on the road that helps to keep it from icing.

This picture, if you look closely, shows the parade of trucks leaving the Petro and Pilot once the road opened again - by my count it took three hours to empty the truck stops of westbound traffic - and the police were not only directing traffic to speed things up, but they were turning cars around and sending them to another interchange about a mile away.

For this particular storm, however, the two days I lost were nothing compared to what some people lost. When we finally got rolling on Tuesday afternoon, I saw four miles of debris about a hundred miles or so down the road. There was freight, tracks from all manner of vehicles, parts of vehicles, clothes and personal belongings, and a lot of stuff I couldn't identify. There was also this truck, one picture taken coming up to it, and one reasonably lucky shot over my shoulder as I passed at about 65 mph:

I couldn't even guess at what kind of trailer that used to be. If I had a way to insert a moment of silence into my blog, this would be where.

There was another crash that Tuesday afternoon, and the drivers coming eastbound were saying it was about a six mile backup, so I stopped and tried to take a nap, hoping to wake up in the middle of the night and drive on to Salt Lake City. I did get a short nap, eventually, and then drove to about the forty mile-marker on I-80, figuring I could sleep 8 hours and then drive in to SLC (excuse me, officer, that's a typo, of course I meant I could sleep for ten hours - really, look at my log book). When I woke up the next morning, the road was a skating rink. I saw two zambonis and a couple of Red Wing Jerseys in the first mile! I finally decided to give up when I saw this:

So I stopped at that T/A you can see in the background of the picture. Luckily, the sun came out and dried up the road around ten or so, and I made my deliveries in the Salt Lake area that Wednesday afternoon. The trip to Washington was pretty uneventful. I'm now back in Wyoming, not all that far from where I was stuck last week, and this time my truck is in the shop with a transmission problem. I should find out in the morning, but right now we're optimistic that it simply needs an adjustment, and I can get back to work.

This hasn't been the best west-coast turn I've ever had, but if I get rolling early tomorrow with a small or reasonable-sized repair bill, it won't be the worst. And either way, while I might not be in a very good situation right now, I'm a lot better off than the people who spent Monday night on that four-mile stretch of Wyoming highway.

- Trevor

2008-04-07

Rawlins, WY. Quality Inn Room 165. Using Taco John's wifi Internet access from next door because the hotel's doesn't seem to be powerful enough to work in room 165. (I ate at Taco Johns - it only seemed fair. Pretty Yummy, too.)

Some Old Business

2008-04-07T18:28:00.001-06:00

I told Austin about these forklifts when I picked them up, and had Mama look up a picture of one online by using the model number. I don't think I ever showed him this picture of the three of them actually on my truck, so I hope he checks the blog.
Below are some pictures of that trip from Salt Lake City to Houston, from the day after I loaded the forklifts. Sorry I don't have any pictures from when it got really bad out there - I was kinda busy keeping it 'Shiny Side Up and Rubber Side Down'

I know you can't see it very well (if you want to, try clicking on the image for a bigger image), but there's a semi-truck that slid off the road in the fifth picture. I couldn't help him because to get out of the way of traffic behind me I would have gotten stuck too, but I asked him on the radio if he needed help, and when he asked me to send a him a tow I called 911 (didn't have a phone book handy) and they were very helpful. Hopefully they followed through (I bet they did.)

As a truck driver, we're often forced to make choices between two bad options, like when we're not supposed to be driving because we've used up our log hours but there's no place to legally park. Stop or go, either way you're breaking the law. They're not usually as blatant about it as at this particular intersection (I think it was in Cleveland, but I could be way off). If you look closely in the upper left hand corner you'll see a red light, which as a traffic control device means 'stop'. If you look closely at the right side, you'll see a sign that says "NO STOPPING ANY TIME". I chose to stop anyway.

- Trevor

2008-04-07

Rawlins, WY. Quality Inn, Room 165. Truck Broken.

The Three Keys to Happiness

2008-04-07T17:16:00.001-06:00

I just realized today that I have three assets that, taken together, have everything a man needs to make himself and his family very happy: Laziness, good disability insurance, and a high tolerance for pain.

Hmm... On second thought, I really only have the first of those three. I'll work on the other two and get back to you.

- Trevor.

2008-04-03

Vader, WA

Ratatouille and Local Area Networks

2008-04-07T17:13:00.001-06:00

I just received one of those helpful emails that Amazon.com sends out with recommendations. I like these emails, because they usually recommend to me books and other products that I am especially interested in. Of course, I often visit the library to read those recommendations, but I buy from Amazon often enough that I don't feel bad about taking their recommendations elsewhere. :-)

This email had something strange in it, and if any of you could explain the connection, I would be most grateful. Here's the bit that seemed strange to me:

We recommend: Ratatouille
DVD ~ Ian Holm
...

Recommended because you purchased or rated:
* NETGEAR FS105 ProSafe 5-Port 10/100 Desktop Switch

- Trevor.

2008-04-03

Vader, WA

Technorati Tags: Ratatouille,Netgear,Amazon

Things Kesia Said

2008-04-02T13:59:00.001-06:00

Kesia came with me in the truck for a while last summer. She said a couple of funny things, and I thought I'd tell you about them.

One day I was teaching her about the meaning of the lines on the road. Specifically I was pointing out to her that if the yellow line is solid in the lane you're in, that's a no passing zone, and you can't cross over to the other lane. We started down a mountain grade a short time later, and I pulled out to pass a slow truck (he was heavy, I was light). Traffic coming the other way was not allowed to pass, so the line was solid yellow on their side. When we got fully into that lane, Kesia, said, "Oh No! Now we can't go back over there!"

I guess I should try to be a little more clear. ;-)

Later in the same day, we stopped for fuel. We were "Running With" another truck, and when I pulled away from the fuel island they (a father/son team) were not yet ready to go, so I stopped along the exit drive out of the way of other trucks. As I came to a stop we passed a "No Parking" sign, and Kesia just had time to read the "No." So she asked, "What did that sign say 'No' about?" When I told her that it said 'no parking', she said, "Dad, you're breaking the law!"

I asked her if she thought I'd get arrested, and she thought for a minute before replying, "No, I guess no one will be able to see the sign until you move."

- Trevor

2008-04-01

Laramie, WY

Technorati Tags: Kesia,No Parking,No Passing Zone

Wyoming Roads

2008-04-02T13:51:00.001-06:00

Well, my plan was to park somewhere in far western Wyoming on Sunday night. Or maybe even in Utah. I had to be fairly close to Salt Lake City, because I needed to be there at 8 am and I don't much like getting up early - the closer I parked the later I could get up and still make it on time.

I stopped at the Flying J in Cheyenne, WY to squeeze in as much fuel as I could, since it costs a bit less there than farther west, and I never even went in the building. I hopped right back on the highway, the entire stop probably took me less than fifteen minutes from the time I exited - and that might be some kind of record.

I knew I was going to run into a little bit of snow, partly because I'd looked up the weather report online and saw some pockets of snow here and there, but mostly because a lot of trucks coming from the other direction were covered with ice and muck - I think I even saw a little yuck on a few of them.

As I got close to Laramie the CB started making noises like this:

'Well, is 30 open? 30 would take us right around.'

'Where did you say it was closed?'

'What about 287? doesn't that go around the mountain?'

Those are the kind of noises that usually mean one thing: Your plans are about to change.

So, it's Tuesday afternoon, and I'm sitting parked on a residential street in Laramie, WY, waiting for the road to open.

Why on a residential street?

Why on a residential street? Well, Sunday, when the signs kicked us off the highway, I was able to snag one of the last few spots at the Petro, and it turned out my Flying J Wifi Internet Access even worked off and on. That was lucky! Then on Monday morning they opened the road. Knowing how things tend to happen right after they open the road, I waited a couple hours before leaving. But of course, They closed the road just as I left the Petro. Luckily, I was able to turn around at the truck stop exit and even get my old spot back!

I figured they'd clean up whatever happened and open the road again later that evening, so I went to get something to eat. I overheard a driver tell another that he had been about 60 miles down the road when they made them turn around - due to a pretty horrific crash, apparently - and he decided to come all the way back. I did the math and realized that in order to make that turn around in sloppy weather in a company truck, it's pretty likely he was one of the first drivers to leave when they opened the road. Since he still didn't get through, I had definitely made the right decision by waiting.

But they never did open the road that night. They put a recording on the 511 line that said it would be closed until sometime in the morning on April first - that turned out to be true, by the way, it was closed until every point of this morning, and still is. But - I had been watching the Internet road information, and at 10:07 this morning Wyoming's web site said the road had opened... but still no one was leaving the truck stop! This seemed like a perfect opportunity to get out ahead of the rush, and therefore avoid the dangers of driving in the big pack. This turned out to be a mistake.

First, there was a huge line of trucks and other traffic waiting on the shoulder of the road for when it opens - and they all would have been either in front of me or right with me. Second, the road was still closed! Yep, it said it was open on Wyoming's own web site - still does, as a matter of fact - but the signs, barriers, and state vehicles parked in the way of the ramp are pretty strong evidence that it's not true. What does that mean to me? Well, it means I gave up my cozy little spot with Internet access, proximity to food, and most importantly, proximity to a bathroom. I doubt anyone else had taken my spot, but it was very difficult to get out of in the first place because of the overflow of trucks, and it would be nearly impossible to get back in it.

So here I sit on this residential street, typing this using Windows Live Writer and knowing that I'll get to post it - eventually. I know the Wyoming web site still says the road is open because Lisa checked for me - but the 511 phone message now says "will be closed until sometime today" instead of "until sometime this morning".

The hold up has already cost me any chance at getting paid this week (this'll be two in a row due to Easter) - and if I don't get to go deliver pretty soon it will actually lower the amount by a week's worth of expenses, because I'll get paid a week later but not have any more loads finished that I can turn in.

But, after all that, the only thing that really gets me down at all, is that if I weren't going to be working anyway, it sure would have been nice to spend this time with Lisa and the kids. I'm very glad I got to see them (and Mom!) last week, or this would be unbearable.

- Trevor

2008-04-01

Laramie, WY

Technorati Tags: Laramie,Wyoming,WY,Interstate 80

Peace Now!

2008-03-27T19:50:00.001-06:00

Recently I saw the words "Peace Now!" spray painted on an overpass near Springfield, MO. While I agree with this sentiment completely, I also had to wonder at the abilities of this anonymous genius wordsmith: in just two words, this artist's views on both war and vandalism were made crystal clear.

In contrast, it took me seventy-six words (counting 'West Memphis' as one, both times) just to tell you about it.

- Trevor.

2008-03-27

West Memphis, AR

P.S. I would have said something about trombones leading a parade, but it wouldn't have made sense if I had to count those words. The postscript doesn't count because it didn't mention "Peace Now!"

P.P.S. I heard a great quote today, unfortunately can't remember who it was attributed to. From a Gresham College lecture by Michael Mainelli, it was: "I don't forecast, and I never will."

Technorati Tags: War,Peace,Activism,Peace Now,Word Count,Wordsmith,Gresham College,Michael Mainelli

Review of "Money as Debt"

2008-03-26T18:45:00.001-06:00

To understand this post, you need to first view "Money as Debt" (the link is to Google video), a 47 minute animated feature by Paul Grignon. You can find out more about this video at http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

The Explanation

It is an excellent, nearly perfect primer on how money is created, and what our money actually is, even though it misses a bit in the explanation.

It skips the details of how money is created, the issuance of government bonds and bills. That part of the story is not terribly important since they later point out the ridiculousness of the government borrowing its own fiat currency. So they do point out the big picture part of that point, and I suppose an animated short is not the place for a detailed examination of exactly how we're being ripped off, but I think it might make it more clear to a viewer, and thus easier to accept as truth.

The author either ignores or misses the idea that for money to be useful, it has to represent something that is useful to a consumer - goods or services. I see this as the main reason that people allow this debt creation to go on in the first place. Debt would likely not be so easily incurred if people equated each restaurant dinner, for example, to exactly how many hours of work, after taxes, it will require to pay back principle and interest.

The important point to understand when trying to make sense of these concepts is that money is not strictly necessary for a society to function. People can trade without money, money is just a tool that makes it easier. For a large, modern society to function with a high level of creature comforts, such as ours, money must exist. But separating the idea of money from the idea of products is why when this movie starts to talk about solutions, the viewer feels like they have still missed something.

They have missed something: when the bankers create that money, and receive the interest payments, it is not the money that we miss. We don't care if our money says 1, 5, 20, 100, or 100 million on the front of it, as long as the products we create, represented by our income, can buy us the products we want. What we miss is the spending power, or more specifically: food, clothing, shelter, entertainment, and the capital goods to make these things.

The point to be made here, and it wasn't entirely skipped even in this film, is that the bankers, and the government, are stealing those things from us.

It becomes clear why they omitted this point when they start to propose a solution. A solution that by their own arguments is worse than the problem.

The root problem

The crux of the problem this movie describes is that a small number of people are able to make the decisions about where and how capital is spent, to take a portion of the produce for themselves, and thus to keep people under their control, for the benefit of the small group.

The movie then says the correct solution would be to make that group smaller, allowing only the more powerful part of that group (the government) to make all of the decisions, and that if we do that, the group will suddenly decide that they don't really need very much of what we create, they will be happy to let us keep most of it, and if they don't we will rise up and stop them. There are so many problems with this idea it's hard to know where to start, but I'll try.

If we would rise up when the government started to steal from us again, why have we not done so now? Is it simply that the masses are ignorant? I think not, but if so, how would having a smaller group in charge make them more knowledgeable? I can see how it would change the target of their ire, but the government is clearly responsible enough now (as mentioned in this film), and rising up against it would have as much chance of success now as then. A great man once said:

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

If they do not rise up now, when things are facing crisis, what motivation will they have to rise up then? And even if we grant that they would rise up, their chance of success against such a power is no greater than the chance such an uprising would have today.

Leaving only the government in charge of the money supply doesn't fix any of the problems, it just changes the faces of the people in control, and even that is very limited because the people who are currently in control have the resources necessary not just to fight the government, but to become the government. To get elected all you need is money, and that is not something top international bankers lack.

The current system, as is accurately described by the beginning of this movie, has one major advantage that would not be present in the proposed solution: capital investment decisions are still made by investors who must repay loans or face dire consequences. Thus, business decisions currently are made by people who successfully forecast what consumers want, and supply it. Those who don't make the right decisions are drummed out of business by the bankers, thus preventing more capital from being spent where it is not wanted. In a system that has the government making those decisions, we've simply let the people who are currently cheating us have more power over us. Decisions will be made based on political concerns rather than for economic, social, or personal reasons.

We would have beautiful bridges to places no one wanted to go, parks with beautiful statues of the people who make the decisions, large well-lit grocery stores with shelves full of things no one wants, libraries with more beautiful statues but very few books, and certainly none that say anything bad about the people who bought them for us.

My inadequacies

Unfortunately, I'm not a very good writer. I never worked on it because I never thought I'd have anything important to say. I have something to say now, but the fundamental principles are so clear to me that I have trouble seeing the problem from the other side, the side many readers are on. I don't know your objections, or where I'm not making myself clear. Please leave comments telling me how horrible I am so I can address issues I've neglected.

The letdown

I can't find words to communicate how disappointed I was with this film. I have never found anything so close to mainstream that explained the problem so well. I was so excited. Then the proposed 'solution' came, and it's so much more horrifying than what we have now. Granted, what we have now can't last, but how is making the system worse going to make the symptoms better?

The Solution

I do have a solution to offer, and from the way the film mentioned legal tender laws over and over I thought for certain they were going to suggest the same solution I had in mind. I'm flabbergasted at how wrong I was. This film correctly points out over and over again that if it weren't for legal tender laws, we would not accept this worthless currency, and the system would not be able to victimize us any longer. Apparently, the problem is in that tiny misunderstanding: the writer seems to fail to recognize that money represents real wealth, but is not, in fact, the wealth itself.

Wealth can, and does, exist without money. The transition away from the fiat currency will be very painful no matter how it happens. Some people will lose everything. But wealth is created everyday, and it can be created everyday going forward from that point. People will need an easy way to facilitate trade, and they will use what seems best to them, and just as it happened before, money will be re-invented. Gold has inherent problems, but they are nothing compared to the problems of letting small groups make the decisions for everyone. The best part of a free market in money is that no one is forced to use money they don't trust, and systems can be easily put into practice that allow people who don't know each other, wouldn't like each other, and don't trust each other, or each other's money, to easily trade with each other.

It only takes one very simple piece of legislation, maybe one of the shortest ever, to make this possible. It has the added benefit of making the transition away from fiat currency as painless as possible. It has yet another benefit that is almost hard to believe, and that is that it has already been introduced into congress. It is simply a repeal of the legal tender laws. You may use fiat money, or you may use something else: shoes, wheat, gold, snowshoes, candy bars, or even the infamous widget.

The movie does make one telling point against this idea: it won't last forever. Someday, people will forget how bad fiat money is. They will forget how much of their earnings are stolen from them by governments and bankers when they're allowed to control the money. They will forget what we went through to give them sound money. They, like us and our forebears, will not even notice as evil groups again gain control of the people through control of the money. True. But it's not a reason to give those evil people complete control today. Let them wait.

- Trevor.

2008-03-26

Jackson, GA

P.S. For more information, please visit:

DownsizeDC.org A non-profit organization devoted to reducing government harm through relentless pressure where the ballot box always fails.

The Ludwig Von Mises Institute. Advancing the scholarship of liberty in the tradition of the Austrian school.

A book: Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt. This link will take you to Amazon, if you're interested in the book but don't want to support my blog, please simply type the title into Amazon, as if you buy using this link I will receive a few pennies (fiat pennies).

Congressman Ron Paul's web site

Technorati Tags: Money,Money as Debt,Paul Grignon,Socialism,Libertarianism,Economics,Sound Money,Fiat Money,Mises,Ron Paul,Henry Hazlitt,DownsizeDC

The Fake 'FeedBurner Revisited' Post

2008-03-09T12:21:00.001-06:00

I wrote this post yesterday, Saturday, March 8th. While I was writing it Blogspot's servers had some sort of problem. You can probably read all about that elsewhere in the blogosphere. Anyway, I tried to post this 5 or 6 times yesterday, and luckily, it didn't work all of those times. If you're reading this, it worked this time. I will finish this post, but I have no idea when. I now use Windows Live Writer, so I can write blog posts while offline and upload them when I get a connection, but for this particular post I need a connection just to write it. I'm in Oak Grove, KY right now, delivering in Clemson, SC in the morning, then picking up in Jackson, GA going to somewhere in Wyoming. No idea if I'll have time. Stay tuned ... or don't, whichever works best for you.

I wouldn't post any of this until it's done, but the previous post promised this one. This one actually spawned that one. And while I think it's funny to have a post entitled 'One Post Leads to Another' and have only the other and not the one, it does look kinda weird.

Speaking of spell check, this spell checker says that 'kinda' is not a word. I know that, but I kinda like it anyway. :-)

- Trevor.

Oak Grove, KY

2008-03-09.

This post is unfinished due to circumstances beyond my control. Please do not read it. Pretty please?

Since I added FeedBurner email subscriptions to my blog, I've had hundreds of requests from readers asking how they can add subscriptions to their own blogs. The first thing I'll say to them is that exaggeration is very important on blogs when you're trying to build up a reader base. For example, if your sister asks you how to add FeedBurner email subscriptions to her blog, you should say something like, "I've had hundreds of requests from readers ..."

The next thing I'll say to them is how to do it, to answer those dozens of requests I've had.

To accomplish this I'm going to add FeedBurner email subscriptions to another blog of mine, OnlyIdiots.tv, and write about it as I do.

This means that you may have to set up a FeedBurner account on your own (Google has acquired FeedBurner, so maybe you can sign in with your Google account by the time you're reading this). But once you've done that, the steps should be the same for you as they are for me... so come along ...

Go to http://www.feedburner.com, and sign in if necessary.
Enter your blog address in the box they provide. For the blog I'm adding this is http://www.onlyidiotstv.blogspot.com/. I guarantee yours is different.
FeedBurner automatically identifies feeds found on the web page, and since mine (apparently) has two, it has asked me to choose. I need to choose between atom and RSS. I know what RSS is, and have no idea what atom is. I bet I could find out since I am hooked to this Internet thing, but for now I'm just going to select it and see what happens as I'm beginning to be in a bit of a hurry. :-) If you have a similar choice you may wish to make a more informed decision. My guess is that either one will work perfectly.
Now you give your feed a title (which you probably already know) and an address at FeedBurner (the one FeedBurner has chosen for you will likely work just fine). Then click "Activate Feed".
The next screen should say, "Congrats! Your FeedBurner feed is now live. Want to dress it up a little?" If it doesn't, go find a blog from somebody who knows what they're doing and read that. If it does, read the rest of the screen and proceed to step 6.
Click 'Next'.
On this screen you may choose to spend money. I like FeedBurner, and I think you probably should. But I'm not going to (yet), so I'll just click 'Next' again.
Google, which runs Blogspot, appears to be having server trouble. Hooking up with FeedBurner is not working at the moment, but I promised that this post would follow very soon, and who knows if I'll get back to this in the next day, week, or month... so I posted it like this, and I will edit it when I can. If you feel like you just got interrupted in the middle of doing something and it annoys the hell out of you, then you did everything right, and we both got to exactly the same place!

So, I hope that (eventually) answers the person (alright, it really was just the one, ok?!?)

- Trevor.

Springfield, MO

2008-03-08

One Post Leads to Another

2008-03-08T10:42:00.001-06:00

While writing the FeedBurner post (to follow soon, I promise), I spelled FeedBurner correctly in the title, but forgot to capitalize the 'B' in the first line. The Windows Live Writer spell check caught both words, because 'FeedBurner' was a new word to it (my previous post about FeedBurner had been composed directly at Blogger). Unfortunately, I clicked on the misspelled word and clicked 'Add to Dictionary'. This set me on a quest that took almost an hour. I finally found a blog post that gave me the answer I needed: Changing Windows Live Writer Dictionaries at Grand Stream Dreams.

The Windows Live Writer dictionary files are stored in: C:\program files\windows live writer\dictionaries which makes perfect sense. However, the user customized dictionary file(s) is stored elsewhere. It's actually stored in a decent location, just not one that I guessed!

Once you know to look here: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Windows Live Writer\Dictionaries\userdic.tlx fixing your dictionary is as easy as running a text editor.

On my Vista system, I just right click on the file and click "FastEdit." You probably can't do that on your system unless you download this wonderful little (3 kb) app by Nicola Viganò, called, of all things, Fast Edit. It's worked beautifully for me since Windows 95, through 98 and XP, and now on Vista. You just right click on any file, and FastEdit will be an option. Click it and it simply opens the file in Notepad. Depending on the file you selected you won't always be able to read the data, but you'll see it represented on your screen. :-)

- Trevor.

Springfield, MO

2008-03-08

Danielle Likes Microphones

2008-03-08T07:34:00.001-06:00

A long time ago, I learned that it was possible to record sound in digital format by hooking a microphone to a computer. I thought it would be nice to have some recordings of my children to listen to later. Boy was I wrong!

Click on the video below to see what I mean:

Thanks, Danielle, it was a wonderful and beautiful song, and I think Brian Regan stole this song to make his bit about the businessmen who make too big of a deal about their computers when flying. He probably wasn't even funny until he heard this song, and now he's the funniest man in the world (probably, I haven't met everyone), and the 'Best Christmas Present Ever'. How he heard the recording, which until now existed only on my computer and some old backup discs, is a mystery to which we may never find an answer.

- Trevor.

Springfield, MO

2008-03-08

Hablo Inglés Ahora

2008-03-06T00:08:00.002-06:00

Another embarrassing story:

Years ago I pulled a reefer trailer for a few months. One place I delivered was a potato chip factory in Kansas City, KS. It was actually kind of cool in the end because to unload the potatoes they had me drop my trailer on a platform, open the doors, and watch while they tilted the platform way up into the sky to dump all the potatoes out the back. Too bad I didn't have a digital camera back then (somewhere around 1998 or so).

But when I first got there, I couldn't find anybody I could talk to. Everybody spoke Spanish only, and maybe sign language, but not any signs that I understood. So I kept wandering around getting more and more confused, and finally I decided that I was going to try to remember some Spanish. Two or three years of Spanish classes in high school and a month spent in Spain should help me out of this tight spot, right?

So I decided I was going to tell the next person I met, in Spanish, that I didn't speak much Spanish, but could they help me? So after a minute a guy, who looked Mexican, drove up to me on a lift truck, and like everyone else had that day, just kind of looked at me. I said, "No hablo Inglés."

He said, "You don't speak English?!?"

And I've never tried to use my Spanish in public since. :-)

- Trevor.

Branch, MI.

2008-03-06

P.S. I am learning Spanish again, through the wonderful new(ish) technology of podcasting, and an excellent program called Coffee Break Spanish. Check it out if you're interested. Maybe someday soon I'll work up the courage to say something stupid in public in Spanish, instead of the normal routine of just saying stupid things in English all day.

Trucker Talk

2008-03-05T23:35:00.001-06:00

I said a long time ago that I was going to put some trucker talk in this blog. Well, here's some:

Skateboard: n. A flatbed trailer, or a truck with a flatbed trailer. "Come on over skateboard, you missed me."

Here's a license plate spotted in Denver, Colorado:

Here's the truck it was on:

- Trevor.

2008-03-06

Branch, MI

P.S. I'm working with Windows Live Writer, which allows you to compose wysiwyg posts offline to be posted whenever, and so far I'm liking it. If my posts seem to be formatted slightly differently, that's why.

Austin Loves Mom

2008-03-05T23:16:00.001-06:00

A couple weeks ago while talking to Lisa and Austin on the webcam, Lisa and I were involved in a conversation about bills or money or some other stupid thing like that. Austin kept saying, "Dad... Dad... Dad... Dad..." until I said, "Austin, your Mom and I are talking right now, and you're interrupting. You need to wait until we're finished and then we'll ask you what you wanted to say." He said ok, but he didn't sound happy. We soon finished up whatever it was we were talking about and I said, "Austin, it's your turn now, what did you want to say?"

He said, "Dad... I love... Mom."

Cute kid.

- Trevor.

2008-03-05

Branch, MI

Feedburner

2008-02-17T21:29:00.003-06:00

I know that one of the most pressing problems in your life has been worry over whether The Next Thing has been updated and you've gone and missed it. I can't help you with your other little problems, but if you click on the link over to the right, that says "Subscribe to The Next Thing by email", I can make sure you never miss another post.

Well, as long as you don't change your email address.

And as long as you remember to check your email.

And as long as nothing goes wrong with any of the zillion (ok, 3) servers involved.

One email each day I post something new. If I don't post, no email. If I post a hundred new articles, 1 email. Enjoy.

- Trevor.
2008-02-17
Richfield, UT

Franklin Covey PlanPlus for Outlook v 5.0

2008-02-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

This is like a placeholder post so you'll know I'm not gone.

I'm still trying to get PlanPlus for Outlook version 5.0 to work on my new (Vista) computer. It takes up all of my free time because I depend on that program so much. I don't have much free time, a couple hours a week. After I get it working and have my task list back, I am going to work hard to find an alternative, as the last few versions of Franklin Covey's productivity software have been horrible, and getting worse. Even some of the tech support pages admit to allowing data to be created (like a to-do task) that will not be retrievable because of how it was created. They apologize, and say they can't do anything about it because of the way Outlook is programmed. It's true that they can't make it retrievable, but it doesn't seem like it would take much to keep it from being created that way in the first place. There are other programming problems with it that allow data to easily get lost - not much of a feature in a program you're counting on to help you remember things.

As I write this I'm letting PlanPlus try to open - it took about two hours to load my task list after I got it to work right, then I re-booted and tried again to see if it would still work. It looks like it might be working, and it's only been 45 minutes! :-|.

This was originally meant to be just a placeholder post, but I guess it turned into a review of Franklin Covey's productivity software. On any scale from 1 to anything I give it a 1. On the thumb scale it would be two down. Because I have Google Ad-Sense on the site, there may even be an ad for this software on this page. PLEASE do not think I did that on purpose. I would recommend Franklin Covey's books, and their paper planners. But NEVER would I recommend their software. Any efficiency gains are more than made up for in installation and tech-support hassles - and don't forget the cavalier attitude about data integrity.

- Trevor.
Whitestown, IN
2008-02-09 (Happy Birthday to me...)

RoboForm

2008-01-31T18:13:00.000-06:00

My computer recently developed a physical problem. Being bounced around in a truck will do that to a person - apparently computers, too :-). So, because I'm never home long enough to get it fixed somewhere, and I can't live without it for the time it takes to send it in, I bought a new one. I won't have to do that again because now I'll get the broken one fixed, and if/when I need to fix the new one I'll use that in the meantime.

Anyway, a couple of the programs I rely heavily on - Outlook and PlanPlus for Outlook, are not migrating well to the new computer. They work just fine on either one, but are being extremely stubborn about accepting my data. Last night I thought I had it working, so I rebooted and opened it again, just to check. Opening my 'Master Task List' took a very long time (around 10 minutes - I have hundreds of tasks I intend to get to someday)... and once it was done loading each task it proceeded to delete each task. Calmly and methodically, as I watched in horror.

It's been two full days of System Restore, resetting to factory settings, thinking things are working and downloading new email, then finding out it's not working so I have data all over the place, with no full copy anywhere, old system or new. It's some of the most frustrating work I've ever done, and when I finally get it all to work, I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that I am in the same position I was in a couple weeks ago before my old computer broke, minus about two weeks wages. Nice.

But through this all has been a bright shining spot: Siber Systems RoboForm. I've re-installed it many times in the last few days, every time it has found its data if it's anywhere on the system, and if it wasn't on the system it has been easy to import. This program not only remembers all of my passwords, and information for filling out web forms, but will enter the password information into a login page with one click. It won't enter that information into a phishing site, and it keeps all of that data encrypted, only opening it with a master password of your choice.

I just re-installed it again, and even though I bought the program years ago for about $10, I go to the site's web site and enter my name and email address and they remember me... and happily activate my new installation without any hassles, complaints, or demands for more money. And this is not the old, clunky version I originally bought, this is their newest, sleekest, coolest version. Again, they did this for *no* extra money.

The program that I can't get to work yet, PlanPLus, charged me $50 for the priveledge of upgrading to a release with fewer features, because the one I purchased won't run on my new Vista OS. (more on Vista later, early returns are surprisingly good).

So even though I'm not yet calling up Siber Systems and trying to get them to take a little more money, I just wanted my friend(s) to know that there is one software company that knows how to take care of its customers. If you need any of the software they offer, go buy it now.

- Trevor.
Perrysburg, OH
2008-01-31

Death Threats

2008-01-20T17:50:00.000-06:00

I find it worth noting that in my life, I have not had one credible death threat.

- Trevor.
2008-01-20
Resaca, GA

Strange Things I've Seen While Driving, Part I

2008-01-14T18:01:00.001-06:00

I used to have a job that got me to Chicago about five nights a week. One night after loading I was stopped at a red light on the service road, about to get back on the Dan Ryan and head to Holland, MI. I happened to glance down at the lane next to me, and I noticed something strange. It appeared that the second car in line was actually touching the car in front.

I looked closer.

Yep, they were definitely touching. Very odd.

The light turned green, and the cars took off - much faster than my truck could take off, of course. When the first car was a safe distance in front of me, its turn signal came on, and it changed lanes to the right, just like a good driver will when there's no reason to be in the left lane.

The car that had been touching the lead car pulled up even with him, veered left suddenly, then veered back right very suddenly, and SLAMMED into the other car. They both spun a little and came to a halt, nearly, but not completely, blocking the road.

I wasn't up to speed yet, so I stayed slow to see if I was going to have to stop or if I could make it past... when the door opened on the car that did the crashing.

A woman got out, went to the other car, opened the door, dragged a guy out of the driver's seat, and started beating the hell out of him.

True story.

- Trevor.
2008-01-14
Denver, CO

PayPal

2008-01-14T16:55:00.000-06:00

PayPal is a lot of things, most of them good. But one thing they do is not so good. I won't go into specific details about what happened that made me want to write about this, as it involves people who are not me.

When you go to PayPal to pay an invoice, or an eBay auction checkout, or to "Send Money," you get a page that lists everything you need to know about the transaction, and has a "payment method" drop down box near the bottom. It will default to your primary bank account, because PayPal makes more money if you pay with your bank account than if you pay with a credit card. That's not a problem, it's easy to choose another method if you wish. There's even a link to add a credit card if the one you wish to use is not already on file with PayPal. So far so good.

The problem is after you go to the page to add the new credit card, type in all of the information about it, and follow the menus to end up back at this page, it still defaults to your bank account, even though it's obvious to all involved that you meant for the credit card to be used. I'm not sure about all browsers and screen set-ups, but on some at least, you don't even see the drop down box to choose your new credit card as method of payment unless you scroll down, and there is a "Pay Now" button at the top, so it's very easy to think you've done everything right to charge this transaction to your credit card, but you haven't.

I'm sure for most transactions of $20 or so, once you've accidentally used your bank account instead of the card you wanted to use you just open up your checkbook and note the transaction, no big deal, and PayPal makes a few extra pennies. But what if you were talking about a larger transaction, like, just to pull a number out of thin air, $2000? What would you do then? Would you simply edit the transaction on the confirmation page before it's final? I bet you would, assuming you received a confirmation page, which you didn't. You received a page that said Transaction Complete. This could be a problem if you needed that $2000 to pay bills that week. It could be a larger problem if you don't have $2000 in that account. It could be an even larger probem if you do have $2000 in that account, and have just mailed a bunch of checks that are now all going to bounce because PayPal takes the money first.

This is still not a problem, because you can just call PayPal and tell them that since their system is designed to make you make this mistake, could they please fix it? Interestingly, they answer very politely, but in the negative. Further pleading and pressure, even threats to close this stupid PayPal account and never use them again, are greeted with further polite replies. All negative.

If there were a confirmation page, making it clear to the customer exactly what transaction they were going to perform before clicking the "Pay Now" button, politely declining to help would still be a terrible way to handle this situation. Since there isn't a confirmation page, it's an almost unforgivable way to handle this situation. Since they DO offer a confirmation page if you successfully choose to use your credit card, a page on which they offer you three or four bullet points to pitch the idea of using your bank account instead, it makes this handling of the situation seem almost criminal. Almost like they did it on purpose.

I'm completely certain that is not the case, because if I were certain, and I said so here, I can see how they might want to do something about it. And we've seen their tactics already, so I don't want to do anything to incur their wrath.

I'm certain that this was a design oversight, and that they will have it fixed as soon as they can get around to it.

- Trevor.
2008-01-14
Denver, CO

Brian Regan at The Little River Casino

2007-12-29T01:06:00.000-06:00

Well, tonight JJ and I went to see Brian Regan perform at the Little River Casino in Manistee, MI. Bad weather lowered the turnout by at least one: the comedian who was going to be Brian's opening act. Since nothing in the advertisements or on the tickets mentioned an opening act, we didn't know there was going to be one, and it's hard to feel a sense of loss over something you didn't know you had. I still did feel that sense of loss, but it was hard.

Brian did mention that his buddy had flown from New York to Chicago, apparently for no reason, and was now looking for a space on the floor to curl up and sleep through the rest of the holidays, so at least we got to laugh at the poor guy. I would tell you who he was, but his name was never mentioned, so I have no idea. If you were at O'Hare airport on Friday, December 28th, and slept on the floor next to a very bitter looking guy that seemed especially disgusted, and yet was funny anyway, that was probably him. If you got his name, let me know.

Just to set the tone for this "review," let me say that our expectations for this show were incredibly high, so Brian Regan had no chance to live up to them. He still did.

He started out with some banter about the weather, and some local jokes. Something like: I got a comment online that somebody was coming *down* to see my show. *DOWN*? To Manistee??? Who is this, Santa Claus?

It was interesting to notice the change when he slipped into his more "prepared" act. Not more or less funny, just different.

One disappointment with the evening was that I had seen most of the bits already on YouTube. I wouldn't have watched them, but I had no idea we'd ever get an opportunity to see Brian, as at the time of finding out about this performance there was no possibility that I would be able to get the time off work. Since I figured he wouldn't do another show in the area for quite a while, I thought I'd be safe to enjoy a bit of his humor online. Wrong. Of course, he's much, much funnier in person, but a lot of the time I knew what he was going to say.

The other was the big screen on either side of the stage. We sat pretty far back ($45 for these seats, and we were in the front row of that section) I think it was like $90 to sit down front. Anyway, from where we were we could see his face pretty well, but of course the screens showed it better, so during the punchlines I always found myself looking at the screens. I kept thinking, I could be sitting at home watching him on TV, I want to look at the actual dude!

But, for all those little details, and the incredibly slow drive there and back - it was snowing very hard, but come on, if you're going to drive 20 mph on a two lane, pull off every once in awhile and let the people who know how to drive go by - it was an incredible show, and as I left I noticed I had tears at the corners of my eyes from laughing so hard.

All but a couple of the bits I hadn't heard were unbelievably funny, and the ones I knew were still worth a second listen. Brian must have come equipped with some extra face muscles that we don't all come with, he can stretch and make faces that would make an on-duty D.O.T. cop laugh. And one time, he made his eyeballs completely disappear while his eyes were all the way open! Unbelievable!

As we walked through the snow to the car, JJ said, "This was the best Christmas present ever." Wow. She got a computer last year. This year she got a T-shirt that says "When I grow up I want to be a dumbass, just like Daddy" (get yours at OnlyIdiots.TV.) And this show was still better.

So Mr. Brian Regan, you are definitely the funniest man I've ever seen, and my daughter thinks you're the best Christmas present ever.

I would have a couple more things to say, but my truck is in the driveway and somebody just called and said they need some logs. So, just one quick Pop-Tart and I'm outta here.

- Trevor.
2007-12-29
Branch, MI

P.S. Get your piece of Brian Regan, the best Christmas present ever:

Shorts and Sandals

2007-12-27T11:37:00.000-06:00

I wear shorts and sandals almost all of the time, even in winter. I prefer them whenever it's warm, and even in the winter I spend nearly all of my time in a warm environment. When I have to work outside, or be outside for any length of time, I put on warmer clothes. But I don't change just to run into a truck stop.

Last year about this time, I stopped at the T/A truckstop in Fort Bridger, WY because it looked like the weather was going to get very bad very fast, and I thought I should find out what I was going to be driving into before I did it. Turns out it was a very fortunate decision because about a half-hour later they closed the road due to a severe crash, and it was closed for a long time, like half a day or more. Because I stopped when I did, I didn't have to spend that time in my truck on the side of the road, with no facilities. Instead, I was able to spend it parked near a restaurant and bathroom! Yeah!

There was no snow when I pulled into the truck stop, but by the time I got parked and was ready to go inside, there were a couple inches on the ground (it was snowing pretty hard). But I was parked fairly close to the building, and I didn't see any reason to change for a quick walk. When I got near the door a driver going in held the door for me and waited. As I passed by I said, "Thank you."

He replied, "You're welcome. The way you're dressed I wasn't sure if you'd know how to work a door"

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-27

Carpool Lane

2007-12-26T22:17:00.000-06:00

I do quite a bit of driving, which means I have time to think, and often while thinking I see road signs.

Road cops have such an awful job that it doesn't take them long to turn into very nasty people. In their defense, they *have* to be pretty nasty people to do that job, so it's likely that a lot of them started out that way. :-)

Anyway, I like to try to think of ways to mess with them that would get them back for being jerks to me all those times when they were (and sometimes, they were incredibly unbelievably bad, although in truth I've gotten tickets from some good guys over the years).

So, this thought has been running around my head for a couple years, and it seems like the perfect "crime". Please, if anyone can think of a reason this wouldn't work, click that comment button right down there \|/.

You get a friend to lie down on the floor of the backseat in a jurisdiction where back-seat passengers are not required to be belted, then go drive in the carpool lane. You could do one better by having a blow-up doll or mannequin or something in the front seat.

It seems to me that you're perfectly legal, while looking illegal. I think it would be wise to make sure your car, insurance, and registration are all *COMPLETELY* up to snuff, 'cause if I'm right this guy is gonna *WANT* to write you for *SOMETHING*.

If you try it, let me know, and if it works, you'll get hero status from me!

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-26

P.S. I've also considered displaying a ton of license plates from all over on the back of your vehicle, with only one of them being the correct one, and that one *not* in the middle. My guess is they've probably got a rule about this one, but I don't know of one.

Paradigm Shifter

2007-12-26T22:00:00.001-06:00

I've been having some troubles seeing things from other people's points of view. Thinking I could use a little help, I superglued a couple of dimes to my gearshift so now everytime I go from zero to sixty I've used my pair-a-dime shifter about 12 times. YMMV.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-26

Treasure Hunt

2007-12-26T21:54:00.000-06:00

The post below that says it's "Just for Danielle," is part of our Christmas treasure hunt. One of her clues sent her to my blog to find her next clue, which by now you may have guessed was found in a book entitled "Into the Wild," at Chapter 13.

She eventually found her present, a Fur-Real Friend Kitty Cat named Sorrelltail.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-26

Mom's New House

2007-12-26T20:44:00.001-06:00

Mom recently moved to Owasco, NY to take up her post as Pastor at Owasco Reformed Church. She lives in the parsonage next door, and although almost everyone who cares has seen the house, I thought I'd post a couple pictures anyway. It's a *very* nice house, with lots of interesting details and history. The pictures don't really show that, but they do show that it's a nice place.

In this photo, the church is just to the left of the camera, about 30 feet from the house. Although a lot of a pastor's work is done away from the church building, Mom's going to have a hard time calling in and saying the weather's too bad to go to work.

Those are some snapshots of her house, Kitchen, Living Room, Dining Room, Master Bedroom, and Sewing Room. I hope I'm able to visit quite often. Even the people are nice there in Owasco.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-26

It's Been a While

2007-12-26T20:11:00.000-06:00

It's been very busy these last few months. The few times I've had time to get to the blog to tell the two of you about things that were going on, I haven't felt like it. So, it looks as if you're going to get caught up in a hurry, with a bunch of posts. The neat thing is: the way this blog works, you'll probably already have read all the catching up by the time you get to his post. Neat, huh?

- Trevor.
2007-12-26
Branch, MI

This post is just for Danielle

2007-12-24T17:32:00.000-06:00

"Into the Wild", I won't go there. Maybe you could, Chapter 13, that's where!

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-12-24

P.S. credit goes to JJ for authoring this post.

P.P.S. If you're not Danielle, and you're reading this, it's not likely to make a lot of sense. So in other words, it's like the rest of my blog.

Goodbye Fred

2007-12-05T00:00:00.000-06:00

This man brought an entirely new outlook into my life.

He made my Mother happy.

He made the world bigger.

The trials of life are easier to take because I knew Fred.

He was famous for his gruffness, but because he was honest, no one would call him rude. It might have been hard to make him smile, but when he did, you knew he meant it.

I have wondered for two weeks why it was so hard to understand that Fred is gone. Now I understand that Fred will never be gone, because his uniqueness is branded into everyone who knew him.

I'll miss you Fred, and I'll always be a better person because I knew you.

- Trev.

On Monday, November 26th, at Owasco Reformed Church in Owasco, NY, friends and family gathered for a Memorial Service for Fred. Fred's Stepdaughter, and my sister, Katy, sang Amazing Grace from the balcony. Just her voice, it was the most powerful music I've ever heard. Ever.

There were many people in attendance, I didn't think to count. I'm sure at least a dozen people stood to speak of Fred, his life, his exploits, and the people he touched.

To end the service, we stood and sang "Joy to the World." Well, most people did. Every time I tried to add my voice I got choked up, so mostly I just stood there and felt the moment.

Fred only got 66 years, but he lived every minute. And enjoyed most of them :-).

And Heaven and Nature Sing.

- Trevor.
Barstow, CA
2007-12-05

Updated:
Springfield, MO
2007-12-06

Please visit FredGibbonsPhoto.com

Place Holder

2007-12-01T14:35:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone (with emphasis on the *one*, since that's how many of you there are :-) ).

I will post here soon.

This is a placeholder post.

If you want to catch up on news before I post about it, please check out this wonderful post by my sister, over at the "SeaSaw MaMa by the Seashore" blog: Hello, Goodbye

- Trevor
Springfield, MO
2007-12-01

Cute Smiles, Snow, and Upside Down Trucks

2007-11-12T23:16:00.001-06:00

Yep, that says, "Emergency Assistance Illinois State Police 309-752-4911 CALL COLLECT.

I feel safe.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm biased about certain things. I mean, I know I'm biased about everything, but it seems to me that I can see the bias when I actually think about it and make an attempt to recognize it. I recognize quite a bit of bias in a lot of things I think. I just wonder how much bias there is that I don't recognize. Anyway... that is one cute kid!

And that is two cute kids!

This is what winter looks like. Remember winter? We're going to hope that this winter I keep my truck "Between the ditches, shiny side up and rubber side down." (Sorry about that, except for the usual foul language, I hardly ever break into Truck Driver Talk... but in some situations it just seems natural.)

You don't need winter weather to mess up. This was a big one. I was in stop and go traffic for two hours coming up to this. There were many vehicles involved that I didn't get pictures of, and lots and lots of skid marks. I didn't see much more than what's in the pictures, because I was concentrating on getting through there as fast as safely possible so the people behind me that had been waiting two hours could get where they needed to go as well. I just held up the camera and hoped I got some good shots. The reason the quality is so low is because to get pictures that look decent from shots you took without looking, you have to crop quite a bit away. ;-)

- Trevor
Denton, TX
2007-11-12
(Here's a first - I had to open my GPS to find out where I am... didn't realize I didn't know until I went to type it!)

Find a Penny, Pick it Up

2007-11-10T23:11:00.001-06:00

Ok, everyone knows the old poem:

Find a penny, pick it up
All the day you'll have good luck!

BUT... what happens if you find more than one penny in a day??? I mean, do you get extra good luck? Does it cancel out? Do you have to put the first one where the second one was found? Do you get extra good luck if you leave it there for someone else to find? If so, do you get even more if you walk past it and "find" it a few more times before someone picks it up?

I'm looking for answers, people!

- Trevor.
Bessemer, AL
2007-11-10

Quick Note

2007-11-10T17:59:00.000-06:00

Next time you have a problem with what a truck driver is wearing while walking into the truck stop, reconsider, and think about what you wear on your way from the bedroom to the shower.

- Trevor
Bessemer, AL
2007-11-10

P.S. I know the socks look goofy with the sandals, but I don't want to touch them until I'm close to the shower.

Respect for Truck Drivers

2007-10-27T07:07:00.000-06:00

Here's a little story to give you an idea of how much respect truck drivers have earned. You'll notice that this story is a touch out of date, since it's main point hovers on it being hot in a factory in Delaware.

There's a shipping office in a steel company in Delaware. It's around the back and kind of difficult to get to. Once you get there, and you go inside, you'll notice that it's air conditioned. Well, at least the part the office workers are in is air conditioned, not the part the drivers wait in.

There's a sliding window between the driver's hallway and the office itself. This allows a driver to see the clerk, and hand paperwork back and forth. Next to that window, on the wall, is a window unit air conditioner. With the back side facing the driver. Yes, that's right... the hot air from the office is pumped out... not outside, but into the area the drivers wait in!

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-10-27

Some Truck Stops Have More Services Than Others

2007-10-27T06:38:00.001-06:00

When I left my shower room at the Flying J in Hope Hull, Alabama the other day I saw the janitor's cart sitting in the hallway. This is normal. I also saw a large squeeze bottle full of a blue liquid. Its spot on the cart was labelled, very clearly and in nice handwriting, BOWEL CLEANER.

- Trevor
Branch, MI
2007-10-27

Trip In Review (I'm Finally Home!!!)

2007-10-27T03:14:00.000-06:00

Wow. I'm finally here! I intended to tell you all the places I went and all that - But I think I'll just sum up: I went East as far as Boston, South as far as Miami, North as far as Seattle, and West as far as, well, Seattle. And I did it a lot of times.

So, here are some pictures and stuff. It's been a while, so there are a lot.

This is kind of an addition to the private showers post. Here is one of those showers I mentioned. It's a small one, most are bigger now. This one is a Flying J shower.

Well, it made me laugh. It's on the floor of a stall in a rest area... and it's an Immodium wrapper.

Yep, that says "God Hates Graffiti"

The sign says "This register is only for Drive-Thru orders." I guess not at this one, but at most McDonald's, the drive thru is actually outside.

Yeah, but how much for just, like, a regular one?

My favorite picture of the entire trip.

Mostly they did, but there was still writing on the walls.

This sign, in case you can't make it out, says, "Restroom Temporarily Closed. Lobby Open." I probably shouldn't tell this story, but I will. Thank you to the state of Pennsylvania for causing me unbelievable distress. There were no signs coming up to this rest area, or in it, to indicate that my time would be better spent finding another restroom. I had to park almost a half-mile away from this building, and hobble all the way to it. And then, I had to hobble back and look elsewhere. Thanks for the 45 minute hellish interlude into the middle of my night you low-life jerks. Since then, I've realized that maybe the "Lobby Open" part of the sign meant that I should have left my deposit there... I mean, that would make as much sense as the rest of the situation.

Me too.

I like inventions. Especially seatbelts.

I swung through the house one day, left the next and delivered my load about 150 miles away, then returned and left again the next day. Austin (and JJ) came with me on the delivery trip. I guess JJ wasn't being cute, 'cause I don't have any pictures of her. :-)

Most of you reading this blog know that I think government is worthless and that we would all be better off if it went away. I think that applies as much, if not more, to highway safety as to economics and other areas. But here, they're doing something right, and I think if I'm going to rail against all the stupid things they do I should give kudos where appropriate. So, thanks, Ohio D.O.T., I appreciate the new signs. Oh, I should mention that I first saw signs like this in Washington. And for those of you who think I'm going soft, I am aware that if highways were completely privatized, the signs would not only probably not be needed, but if needed they would cost a small fraction of what they cost now and would be paid for by people who want them, not by people who would rather spend their money on other things - like popsicles, for instance.

Sometimes this is the view from a truck driver's windshield. Still think it's a good idea to dart in front to try to save fifteen seconds?!? :-).

I'm thinking this must be the Santa Claus lane from the song... dontcha think?

This is Kesia, and that is the Pacific Ocean.

That's Kesia on a rock.

That smashed up black truck over there is the subject. He flew by me and right up to the back of the person in front of him, darted into the right lane, sped up to get right on the tail of the person in the right lane, stayed there until the guy on the left was past him, then darted back behind him, stayed there until there was room (almost) to squeeze around that guy on the right and continue speeding off. About twenty minutes later I took this picture. You never know what "woulda" happened, but I'm guessing he "woulda" got there faster (like, ever) if he'd relaxed a little bit. It's not driving fast that (usually) causes things like this. It's driving like an idiot. Here's exhibit A to support my position.

Did you see any green, bug-eyed monsters on your trip? Ummm... no, not any green ones.
Kesia on Cabbage (Cabbage is the name of the mountain, at least, that's what the drivers call it), with a load of onions (not pictured), and Pendleton, Oregon way off in the background. Wildhorse casino is over there too. Too bad we didn't have time to stop, they have a cool child play area. Danielle and JJ each got to go there, but Kesia didn't get an opportunity yet (we had to average 850 miles a day for 3 days to make delivery of this load on time. That doesn't leave a lot of time for dilly-dally).

These two trucks parked about four spaces over from each other right in front of me one day. I think I need a Tonka truck on my trailer.

In'n't she cute?

Do you ever get held up in a big traffic jam and think you are the one having a bad day?

I don't know what happened, but this guy in my mirror was right across the road from that other truck. I think even he could say, "Well, yeah, this is bad, but I really just feel bad for that guy over there."

Ok, a new feature: "Quiz Show". This is how it works: you guess what that is in the picture.

I'll wait.

Ok. You guessed? If you said, "Well, Trevor, I believe that's a Ziploc bag full of urine in a rest area parking lot." Then you win.

This guuy crashed, and went so far off the road that it's easier to drag him into the adjacent parking lot than back onto the highway. Cool, huh?

I hollered for Kesia to come up and look at this power plant. She said, "Cool! it makes clouds!"

I went to sleep one night, and when I woke up, there were these two trucks in front of me. The one on the left is Austin's Trucking, and the one on the right just says "Austin" in big letters on the trailer. Weird, huh?

Did I just drove by the Cozy Cone????!!!??? This place is in Holbrook, Arizona, on old Route 66. And I thought those Pixar folks were just clever. :-)

Ummm...

The End.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI
2007-10-27

Stuck on a Bumper

2007-10-20T20:25:00.000-06:00

Saw a bumper sticker on a Jeep in Reno, NV:

Nevada. Don't much care how you did it in California.

- Trevor.
Girard, OH.
Saturday, Oct. 20th.
(Happy Birthday, Katy!)

Trucking Math

2007-10-20T20:17:00.001-06:00

Two recent incidents come to mind.

While getting loaded, I mentioned to the guy, "They told me I'd be getting 45 thousand pounds, but it doesn't look like this is going to be that heavy."

He replied, "Well, they're about a thousand pounds a bunk, you'll be getting twenty bunks, so... we'll be pushing thirty."

Another time (earlier, actually) I was talking to a driver while tarping, who said it was about an hour and a half to the state line... he didn't know how many miles it was, but he knew he could go about a hundred miles in an hour, if he, you know, set the cruise at about 70, 75.

- Trevor.
Girard, OH
Saturday, Oct. 20th.
(Happy Birthday, Katy!)

Construction Speed-up

2007-10-20T19:41:00.000-06:00

On October 11th, I went through a construction zone, and got through *faster* than I would have had there been no construction. It was surreal!

Here's how it worked:

They were working on a road near a four-way stop, and had it closed to one lane, so that traffic from each direction had to take turns. In order to keep it from getting crazy, they had a person directing traffic at the stop sign. I got to the construction at just the right time to get waved through the stop sign. There were about 4 cars right in front of me that all would have had to stop, and I would have had to wait my turn too, but since there was construction - I didn't even have to shift!

Of course, I spent more time writing this blog entry than I saved, so I guess it's a net loss. But nonetheless remarkable.

- Trevor.
Girard, OH.
Saturday, Oct. 20th.
(Happy Birthday, Katy!)

Spanglish

2007-10-20T18:34:00.001-06:00

When JJ was in the truck with me recently for her trip home from Grandma's, I said something to her in Spanish. She said, "The only thing I know about that sentence is you didn't say anything about shoes."

- Trevor.
Girard, OH
Saturday, October 20th.
(Happy Birthday, Katy!)

Truck Stop Showers Are Private

2007-10-20T15:21:00.000-06:00

I've heard some talk, and it sounds to me as if a lot of "the public" is under the impression that truck stop showers are locker-room type, like a lot of naked truck drivers all showering in the same room. They're not. They're private shower rooms. I just thought you should know.

- Trevor
Girard, OH
Saturday, October 20th.
(Happy Birthday, Katy!)

Finally - a little breather

2007-10-04T00:08:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a breather, but it's not really a good thing. It means I'll work this whole week and make less than the price of dinner for two at a decent chain restaurant. I do get to have a few hours to myself every night for the next four days - if only I could be at home during those hours.

Anyway, I'll probably post a couple times in the next few days, so cancel your plans and stay tuned.

- Trevor.
Winslow, AZ (nope, just in the parking lot, but there is a corner not far away...)

Quick note

2007-09-26T19:43:00.000-06:00

I'm not dead... at least, I'm not when I'm writing this. I might be by the time you're reading it, but I'm not planning on it.

Since my last post I haven't been home, and I haven't really had much time to do anything but sleep, and occasionally shower. I have had a couple of meals... enough to keep up my substantial bulk, but most of that eating is done while driving... efficiency or something like that. I finally downloaded email today - 730 of them, and only about 50 were spam!

I can't keep up with "Week in Review" anymore, so we're gonna go with "Session in Review," and I'll post them whenever I get home. We checked over our bills and our projected income, and instead of going home this weekend I'll be going to Phoenix. I'll probably get home at least once before Christmas, so I'll probably post at least twice more this year!

I made a stop in New York the other day and picked up JJ... we'll cover that better in another post... so Lisa is going to come down and meet me in Grand Ledge, MI on Friday to pick up JJ and Kesia. It'll be a little lonely without any kids, but it'll make the truck a lot bigger, especially at night!

If I were going to have to continue to work like this forever, I would quit right now. BUT... it looks like this ridiculousness should be over around January, and I'll be back to making enough money to go home once in a while.

- Trevor.
Carney's Point, NJ
September 26, 2007.

AND - it's still stuck!

2007-09-01T23:07:00.000-06:00

Well, it's just the funniest video I've ever seen, That's all. I've seen it well more than a hundred times and it still makes me laugh.

Also, I'm very surprised that this never happened to me. I suppose there's still time.

A much longer version of the incident is available here, with slow motion and everything. WARNING: Profanity (but come on, after that... wouldn't you?!?).

- Trevor.
Hope Hull, AL.

Has anybody noticed...

2007-09-01T20:20:00.001-06:00

Has anybody besides me noticed this phenomenon about listening to audiobooks the second time? When I hear certain passages, I suddenly remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard it. Am I the only one?

- Trevor.
Hope Hull, AL

Review

2007-08-09T12:06:00.000-06:00

Here's everyone waving goodbye on July 4th, last time I left the house.

So I last left you on Wednesday, July 25th. My truck stayed broken, and I stayed terribly bored... I tried to work on some old projects, but I could not concentrate on them. I got a little (very little) accomplished on those, otherwise I just read my John C. Wright Chaos books, and played Icewind Dale II.

For those of you wondering, I don't really play poker anymore. I could have done that to stay unbored, but I've decided that to be really good at poker you need to concentrate on it a lot more than I was willing to... and being almost very good at poker seemed like a good way to stay disappointed a lot. I can still probably play in the top 20% of players nationwide (all players, not pros!)... but tourneys only pay about the top 10%.

This picture is from last time I was home. I took it because those signs say "5 Minute Parking Only". Has anyone reading this ever gotten a Subway sandwich in less than 5 minutes???

So, I waited there in Springfield Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and most of Sunday... then drove up to Olathe, KS (by Kansas City) to pick up a load for Everett, WA. Waiting for that long and paying the truck expenses, hotels, food, etc... that's rough on the pocketbook. The freight situation is looking a little scary at the moment as well, so I'm not sure how well we're going to recover. It won't take much luck to end up doing well... but it won't take much bad luck to put us in a *very* bad situation. I've made some very poor decisions in the last six months, and they're catching up with me. Oh well, we'll just keep plugging away. I'm at home now for a day or two, and it all looks better from here!

So I delivered that load in Everett, WA on Thursday morning, and after a very exhausting day of searching for freight, trying to make very tough decisions between bad and a different bad, we ended up booking a load from Portland, OR to North Carolina. I headed down south to be closer to Portland so I could be there to pick up in the morning. Of course, in the morning, I had a message from my dispatcher that the load wasn't going to ship until Monday, so I was left in the cold for another lousy day of freight searching, only with more pressure because it's Friday. We finally found and booked a 49,000 pound load (would be legal with my setup... but I'd have to be careful how much fuel I put in the tanks) going to Denver, CO. Other flatbedders know that Denver is not a good place to find freight. You can count on leaving there at a loss. Then just as we booked that with the broker, one of our customers came through with a load going to Grand Ledge, MI, which is a strong place to find freight, not to mention near home. Well, we jumped on that even though it didn't pay well, and I ended up bringing it home Monday night, because when we called to get a delivery appointment for Tuesday morning, they said they were booked up until Wednesday afternoon!

I wasn't going to sit in my truck and wait for a day or two when I could be at home, so here I am! I took Austin and JJ with me to run down to Grand Ledge (Tuesday night) and deliver (Wednesday morning... well, we were there in the morning, but didn't get unloaded until two...), then came back home because my next load doesn't pick up until tomorrow.

Kesia and I are leaving tonight, August 9th. This doesn't count as time at home because for me to count it I need to have at least one day where I wake up at home, spend all day at home (or at least not at work) and then go to sleep at home. I was here from Monday night (1:30 am Tuesday), to Thursday night, but didn't get one full day. That's my excuse to come home again as soon as we can afford it!

This is from the beginning of July. It's a gypsum strip mine just south of Chicago, that has two pits, on on each side of I-294. This is the one on the North side... and that is *not* the bottom.

I don't know why street names like this catch my attention...

Most guys who haul that stuff would not label it quite so clearly. This guy has guts.

Week(s) in Review

2007-07-25T17:11:00.000-06:00

Author's Note: I get a little bogged down in the following paragraphs. A little venting. If you want to skip it and get to the good bits, just scroll down until you see pictures. Well, they may not be good bits, but they'll be better than this next bit. :-).

Wow, this is going to take a minute. It's kind of neat to think that for the last month I've actually had a bit of a life - so much so that I didn't have time to write anything about it!

Ok, so a bunch of it was just working too hard, but the good parts are what I remember best. :-)

I last left you on June 30th, while sitting on my couch. I actually remember that. It's a lot more comfortable than the (now broken) seat in my truck. Yep, I broke the seat in my truck, but hang on, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

I spent a few nice days at home. I think I only left the house twice in about 4 days. Once to go out to eat, and once to visit next door. It's strange that every day spent at home seems to have a cloud over it... I can never seem to forget that I have to leave soon, and it makes the happy times almost hurt. I guess when I'm out at work I miss home and family, but I'm not reminded every few minutes of what I'm missing. When I'm at home, every minute of happiness reminds me of how many more I'm missing. Not just missing, but sometimes, by my absence, actually causing those good times not to happen.

Well, I recognize the mistakes I've made to get me here (some of them, anyway), and we have a solid plan to have more happiness than most people ever dream of (no, it doesn't have much to do with money, at least, not with having a lot of it), so I can't begrudge these hard times. It's only when I think I'm reaching too high (even though my goals are very modest) that it really scares me. What if I put in all this time and don't get what I was aiming for? Is being away from my children while they grow a risk worth taking? But I believe I need to live up to obligations I made when I was reaching *way* too high, and this is the price. If I thought it was hurting the children, those other concerns wouldn't count for much, but it's not hurting them. At least, not much.

That turned into almost a rant. Please skip those last couple paragraphs and read this instead:

My time at home was nice, but short.

(better?)

I left home on Wednesday, July 4th, to be in Warren, OH Thursday to pick up 46,000 pounds going to Phoenix, AZ (2 stops). When I got there on Monday, I decided I couldn't bear to miss picking up the kids at camp that Friday, even though, all things considered, I was going to miss a lot of revenue if I chose a load that would get me home in time. I did it anyway, and it has cost a lot of money. But we'll recover and still stay on track for semi-retirement in about two years (semi-retirement means not driving semis anymore :-) ). So it was absolutely worth it. None of the three expected me to be there, and I got to see the surprised happiness in their faces, as well as participate in a full day of camp activities with them. Look for a post about that day, with pictures, probably just above this one.

So, from Phoenix Lisa found me a nice load that picked up at a copper mine in Morenci, AZ, going to Chicago, IL. The rate for this load almost covered the fuel and other expenses to get there. :-). Loading Monday evening in Morenci, AZ, and already being tired, it would have been impossible (for me anyway) to deliver in Chicago (1700 miles) on Wednesday, and delivering on Thursday I didn't dare get a load from there going up into Michigan to deliver on Friday, because if I got held up in the morning and missed picking up the kids, I would have spent all that money, and almost a whole week of work, for nothing. And since picking up the kids took all day Friday, I had no time to pick up a load for delivery on Monday, and ended up spending the weekend at home. That's good, but, that meant a whole week for no money, and when I did come back to work, I still had to pay the truck payment and expenses for the week before, making it even harder to catch up.

Let me explain that a little. With the lease/purchase deal on the truck I'm driving, and some carryover expenses from the last truck, my weekly expenses are roughly $900. That's not much problem when I work a full week, because I can make enough beyond that to profit $1000-$1500, sometimes a little more. But if I take a week off, I then have expenses of $1800 the next week, and only $100-$600 for that week, so going home for one week amounts to me not getting paid for a week and a half's worth of work. A week sounds like a long time off, but I generally only come home about every six weeks, so that week still amounts to about half the days off at a normal job (weekends), and I don't get all that time at home that people get on weeknights either.

Now, that's not a complaint, overall, I'm still very happy with this job, it's just an explanation of how easy it is to get into a tight money position without really expecting it. I mean, we forecast and plan well, but when I decide I can get home, pick up the kids from camp, and scoot right back out, and then it doesn't work that way, it's not like I just lose the profit from a few days, I lose the profit, *and* the expenses. In a regular job it would be like taking a day off and not only not getting paid for that day, but having to *pay* your boss the amount you would have received!

So... The weekend of the 14th was spent at home, having a very good time. We went to see Ratatou... umm... Ratatooweee... ummm... Hang on, I'll Google it........
Ratatouille. WARNING! Slight spoiler: It was a pretty good movie, but unlike the movie Cars, on whose DVD it was advertised, it's not really a movie for a two-year old. Scary parts, and then a payoff that's too, well, intellectual for a two-year old. Aubrey liked it though. :-).

Then from home back to Warren, OH, on Monday, July 16, this time 39,000 pounds to Stockton, CA. From there to Madera, CA for a load of miscellaneous equipment that I guess is going to be a roof gutter system for a new Costco in Omaha, NE. Along the way on this trip my truck decided it was going to start acting like the old truck that it is. A long list of things went wrong, none of which meant I couldn't drive it back to the shop in Springfield, MO, but which did mean that I couldn't idle (and that means no a/c while parked), and couldn't pull any heavy loads on the way there. My wonderful dispatcher found me a light load that would get me to the shop almost as fast as driving straight there and pay enough to make it well worth doing!

One of the other problems was the driver's seat. A weld, or maybe a strangely shaped bolt, broke. It made it so that the seat sat higher on the left than the right. Very annoying, but ok for a day or so, I guess.

So from Missouri Valley, IA I carried five small (about 5'x10') trailers, 1 to a Tractor Supply Company Store in Topeka, KS, and four to a hardware and farm store in Independence, KS. Now, those of you who follow the news are probably aware that the area around Independence, KS was recently hit by a flood. I steadfastly avoid the news (when I eat at a truck stop, I carry ear plugs in so I won't have to hear the TV), so I had no idea. But, strangely enough, when I finally found the perfect hotel about 20 miles from the drop I had to make in the morning, I was told that there was no room in the Inn, and they didn't have a stable. But I guess the same guy was looking out for me, because they said I could go ahead and stay parked in their lot, and it cooled off so fast as the sun went down that my two fans kept me plenty cool to get to sleep, and when I woke up I even found that I had pulled a blanket on during the night. A whole night's comfortable sleep, with no noisy idling engines, reefers, jake brakes, lot lizards, diesel fumes, or other parking lot nastiness, and it didn't cost me a dime! Thank you very much to the sweet lady who met me halfway out to my truck to tell me about the situation, and thanks even more for letting me stay there!

Well, I made the delivery with no problems the next morning... and that was *this* morning. Then as I was getting into my truck, without thinking I leaned on the back of the seat, and broke it a lot better than I had broken it before. The seatcushion and seatback were now almost completely severed from the base. A truck seat has a lot of different metal parts under the seatcushion part, so I got it to sit in there ok by jamming it down hard and then putting, and keeping, my not insubstantial weight on it. I just had to be very careful not to wiggle much on the way to the yard. I know I've gotten bigger over the years, but I had no idea I was big enough to break something built to hold a truck driver!!! I guess I'll have to stop eating at McDonald's twice a day.

So after driving to Springfield and getting my truck written up and into the shop with minimal fuss, I'm now sitting in a hotel room in Springfield, MO, writing this blog entry, listening (by random selection from hundreds of songs) to a song by Kid Rock called "What I Learned Out on the Road", and picking black olives off a pizza that has other things on it that I also didn't order.

That's my "Week in Review" for this week.

Here is a selection of pictures from that period, and shortly before:

I don't know what it means, but I bet it's funny.

First of all, it's a *guard* rail, to guard against going over the edge, using force, not persuasion. A guide would be a line on the road. Second of all, if the guard rail is missing, what good is the sign? When we're spinning out of control toward where the guardrail used to be, should we do something different than if it were still there? Like scream louder? This, of course, is Pennsylvania, the land of horrible traffic backups for no reason other than idiotic traffic rules. Strange, too, because Pennsylvania is surrounded by states that at least have a clue, and they stand completely alone with their silly ideas, like yield signs at the ends of high-speed merges, lane closed signs that say "Use both lanes to merge point" (Who should use both lanes, me? Back and forth or straddle the line?), and stupid orange signs every few hundred feet that say "No Guide Rail".

This is just here for my son.

Well, It turns out they're not just the world's slowest, but also the largest. I won't name the place exactly, but I will say that it's the only McDonald's on the Oklahoma Turnpike that has ever been above my truck.

I don't know if you can see it or not, but it looked like a passenger train speeding through the sky to me.

- Trevor.
Springfield, MO
Wednesday, 2007-07-25

Still Going... The last of the catch-ups!

2007-07-20T20:22:00.000-06:00

That's Danielle's foot, at a hotel in York, NE. I think it was sometime in summer 2006.
This is from a while ago. Like, Ummm... sometime before now.

This is very likely from May 22, 2006. Kesia holding Aubrey. Oh yeah, and that's me. I almost didn't make it home for the birth, but some things fell into place and I made it. It's a good thing, because Aubrey came kinda fast once she decided to come, and she got to our house 7 minutes before the midwives did. I think it was a little scary for Lisa, but it might have been scarier if I hadn't been there either. Danielle was a very big help, so it probably would have been ok, but I would have hated to have missed it.
Amber Elk Ranch, May, 2006.
The saddest picture. It's very hard to say goodbye so often. Danielle didn't say goodbye to me this time (because she came with me ;-) ).
Our family, at Evergreen Evangelical Covenant Church, July 14, 2007. Thank you Pastor Keith for taking this photo!
Austin didn't understand how a baby toy could be for anyone other than him... I mean, he was the only baby in the family, and I don't think he understood that there was about to be another one. He certainly wanted this rattle. :-)
Here's JJ in front of the TV in the driver's lounge at The International-Navistar Dealer in Springfield, MO. You should have seen her face when she went to change channels and couldn't find any *buttons*!
This reminds us to be careful.
One of the funniest things I've ever seen. If you can't see what's funny, try clicking to make it bigger.
Here's my Hotshot rig on top of a mountain in New Mexico, in May, 2007 (we don't even have snow in Northern Michigan in May!) That little bush in front of the truck? Not a bush, but the top of a very tall tree.

Poppins

2007-07-02T15:39:00.000-06:00

Kesia was born with a birthmark on her cheek that looked just like Mary Poppins. We used to call her "Poppins." Still do, occasionally. I suppose I should go find the picture of her with the birthmark and post it here.

Ok...

I guess...

Hang on a sec...

Aha, here it is!

When this picture was taken, nobody had recognized Mary Poppins yet. You probably can't see it well without enlarging the picture (click on it). Oh, and you might have to turn your head to the right a little... well, ok, a lot. Just picture her with her umbrella and you should see it.

Here's Poppins eating a McDonald's French Fry at Disneyland. It just doesn't get any better than that! (circa December 2006)

Here are a couple of Austin being cute, and then one of him being a little nervous.

Austin:

Ummm, Dad? I know it's just a rental, but are we really supposed to be in the Trunk?!?

The license plate is of interest because DJK are the initials of the three oldest girls, in order. Neat, huh?

- Trevor
Branch, MI

More Than Halfway

2007-06-30T08:59:00.000-06:00

We're more than halfway through the old photos... and then you can start seeing uninteresting photos that are current!

These are mostly self-explanatory. I should mention that the first truck was mine, and was parked there, not crashed, and that the other trucks were crashed there, but were not mine.

Kesia is mine, and she wasn't crashed or parked. She wasn't even praying or anything, she just blinked. But I think she looks cool.

More Old, (and even less interesting), Photos

2007-06-30T08:43:00.000-06:00

That's not a joke, it's an actual tank crossing (the road is even reinforced!). This is on Fort Irwin Road, just south of Fort Irwin in Southern California.

Whoops.

There is no doubt that this is the coolest building I've ever seen.

The Longaberger Basket Company Headquarters, somewhere in Southern Ohio.

That's Austin over there <---.

And that is Austin's Apple Pie.

There's our house, and my old truck.

Week in Review

2007-06-30T08:19:00.000-06:00

As I wrapped up the last review, Danielle and I were in Gulfport, MS, planning to deliver in Savannah, GA on Monday. We did that. We then went to Jackson, GA, and picked up 15,000 pounds of metal roofing for McGuire Air Force Base. The security people there were very nice and competent, but I would have felt just as safe and happy if I hadn't needed to talk to them. Danielle has a nice visitor pass for a souvenir, so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.

We went from there to a steel mill in Claymont, DE, and picked up 40,000 pounds of plate steel for a shop in Ithaca, MI. That's apporoximately 112.3 miles from our house in Branch, so that's where we went next. And that's where we are now. And that's where we're going to be for awhile! Well, a few days, anyway. Then I will be going back to work, and soon after that Danielle, JJ, and Kesia will be going to camp! (Springhill, Evart, MI).

Sorry there aren't any pictures, but the camera is all the way out in the truck... and that's all the way out in the driveway, so I'm not going to go get it. I'm going to sit here on the couch for a little while longer. I might even post another group of old pictures, and if I do, then you have probably seen them already before you read this.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI

If you've run out of fries, look under the seat in your car.

2007-06-29T23:01:00.000-06:00

But only eat them if they're McDonald's fries, and only if they still look the right color. Crunchy is ok... but make sure to dip them in this Catch-up:

This guy's got a lot of guts.

This is somewhere in Oklahoma, I think. Could be Texas. I'm pretty sure it's behind a BP Gas Station / Truck Stop / Burger King.

This truck passed me while we were driving on solid ice in Oklahoma one night. The lady in the truck stop said it was their second ice storm in a week or so, and that they had run out of salt for the roads. I know that at points I was going less than 15 mph and was nervous about going that fast. I finally found a spot at a rest area, and gave up, even though I needed to keep going. I snapped this picture the next morning, about five miles past the rest area I stopped at.

I went anyway.

It was fun.

The kids enjoyed our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, MI back in 2005. (I did too, but don't tell them, 'k?)

No reason for this picture of Austin at Michigan's Adventure (circa 2005) to be here, I just like the little guy.

- Trevor.
Branch, MI

One More to Dip Your Fries In

2007-06-23T15:50:00.001-06:00

I think Austin might want that Apple, Kesia. Just a guess.

Ok, Mine are in the middle. Maybe I shouldn't tell you what they're laughing at... well, ok, I guess I will. We carry FRS radios for safety and convenience when "out in public". Danielle and JJ each had one, and so did I. When the kids realized the radios wouldn't fit in the Frog Hopper with them, the ride operator kindly held them during the ride. When he took them, in the spirit of having fun, he put one up to each ear, and I couldn't resist, so I said, "Don't put that there!"

And that's kinda what makes this picture, from a few minutes later, a little funny:

Sorry, Dude.

Here's 'The Next Thing' When we still had high hopes for it. The main idea of using this truck was to be by that little guy on the right more often. I'm still glad I tried. Not sure I tried the right way, but glad anyway.

Yep - this was thrown there. Good shot, Bug!

Ok, you wouldn't think this plaque would be interesting. But when you're giving an award for precision service, don't you think you might want to spell the name of the city correctly?!? Apparently not for this store in Fernley, NV.

- Trevor.
Gulfport, MS

More Catch-up Anyone?

2007-06-23T15:34:00.000-06:00

I don't talk much on the CB anymore, but here's proof that I know how.

Some of them speak for themselves. This is from a convenience store at the Oklahoma Turnpike Service Plaza near Atoka, OK.

Stop reading these words and look at the picture again.

It's right over there -->.

Now, those plaques are part of a presentation that is made in rest areas across Iowa. They don't have anything to do with the bathrooms. But I can tell you that I was nervous the whole time I was sitting down in there.

Very nervous.

Ok, first, no it can't, because you've just given me notice - it says so there in big letters, at the top. Second, don't you think your time designing that pretty border and protecting your sign in plastic would have been better spent, say, calling a Plumber?!?

- Trevor.
Gulfport, MS

Old Pictures

2007-06-23T11:14:00.001-06:00

I said I felt like I needed to "catch-up" by posting old pictures. Here I go.

This is Christmas 2006. We thought Austin had some sort of disease, since we couldn't find any reason for his eye to be like this... and he was extremely uncomfortable and ornery besides. But then, a few hours later, he was fine. Apparently, he just had something in his eye that we couldn't see. Maybe it was a twinkle.

This picture is affectionately known as "Dabutch". Jesse (Hecksel) took this shot of Danielle sometime in about 1997 or '98 at Butch's Beach Burrito's in Grand Haven, MI.

Butch's is one of a short list of things I miss about where I grew up.

Danielle is one of a long list of things I usually miss when away from home. But right now, I don't miss her at all, because, well, she's right over there.

This is me right after winning a poker tournament at The Little River Casino in Manistee, MI, on October 11th, 2005. They were remodeling the room, so this is one of very few pictures of me where the background is not (much) better looking than me.

This was my first live poker tournament ever, and I think there were 56 entries.

We started with 1500 chips, and on the first hand I was dealt pocket Kings. For those of you who don't know about poker, pocket Kings on the first hand is a very good start. Unfortunately, I lost about half of my chips, because by the river it was clear I had been beat. It threw me for a little while, because I worried I had made a mistake... but by watching the nice lady who beat me, I soon learned that I had done the right thing, and that she had outdrawn me on the river, as I had suspected.

With that recovery complete, I played very well the rest of the day. No incredibly lucky hits, but a few nice draws. I did, at one point, hit an inside straight-flush draw... but I had my opponent covered by a lot - a loss would have been almost meaningless, and a win would move me up in the money by eliminating him (7th). I also had 14 other cards that would win for me, and two cards to come. That makes it almost 50-50 to win. Everybody told me how lucky I was to hit that seven - but it wasn't exactly a stunner for me to win the hand.

The best part of this whole thing is that I also won the next live tournament I played, at the Wildhorse in Pendleton, Oregon.

I don't play much anymore, as I don't have much time for leisure nowadays, and if I count it as work, it's way too stressful. Maybe someday...

Here are a couple of Danielle on our lucky chance stopover at Walt Disney World resort. I don't remember when this was exactly... I could probably look it up, but I'm not going to. The picture of her sitting on the plant food is relevant because her sisters (JJ and Kesia) got to go to Disney World a year or two (or three) earlier - and we got pictures of each of them in the same place. I could probably go get those and post them here too... only I'm not going to. The picture in front of the guitar is at Disney MGM Studios, because luckily for Danielle my dispatchers could not find any frieght for me so we stayed a second day and went there. The roller coaster behind that guitar is the coolest one I've ever been on.

- Trevor.
Gulfport, MS

Week in Review

2007-06-22T21:23:00.000-06:00

Last Friday found Danielle and I starting out in Amarillo, TX. From there we took a load of copper (3 pieces, 45,000 pounds - those were big pieces of copper!) to a town near Pittsburgh, PA. We then picked up some big hunks of steel and took them to Eagle Pass, TX and Laredo, TX. From there to Houston, TX to pick up some stainless steel that we plan to deliver Monday morning in Savannah, GA. We're stopped for the night in Gulfport, MS at the Flying J. (You'll find a lot of my posts happen in towns that have Flying J truck stops - that's because I get my wifi Internet access from the Flying J's.)

So from that Friday to this we crossed 18 state lines, traveled in 10 states, passed through two "May-I-See-Your-Papers, Please" border patrol checkpoints, traveled about 4050 miles and spent most of one day at the shop getting the truck worked on. It's a good thing Danielle does most of the driving or I would be pretty tired by now!

I didn't take very many pictures this week (although the Big Texan was just 8 days ago, and I took quite a few there), but here are a couple that might be mildly interesting.

This is just a picture I couldn't resist taking that shows how clean and polite some people are on the road. Apparently a truck driver decided he didn't want his sandwich and threw it out the window. The picture clearly shows that the driver was less than ten feet from a trash can. And yes, as careful as I was, I stepped in it while fueling. I suppose it's possible that the sandwich was dropped accidentally - but even so... why not pick it up and put it in the trash can? I attempted to do so, but didn't have the right tools to pick it up once it was smashed.

I'm not at all sure what this is about. There are about four of these on US 69 in Oklahoma just south of the Oklahoma turnpike. They've been there for quite a while. If anyone knows the story, I'd love to hear it (even if you have to make it up first...).

- Trevor.
Gulfport, MS.

Happy Birthday, JJ!

2007-06-22T21:03:00.000-06:00

I loved you then and I love you now,
But wearing my underwear I will no more allow!

On your special day, although I'm away,
My thoughts are with you, and all my love too.

Of embarrasing photos many more did I find,
Too bad tonight I've run out of time.

I guess for this year they'll have to be shelved -
But next year, same day, don't forget - you'll turn twelve!

All my love,
- Dad e.
Gulfport, MS

My Family

2007-06-15T18:44:00.003-06:00

This blog entry intentionally has no words in it, just pictures. ;-)

Too Many Posts

2007-06-15T18:42:00.000-06:00

I know I'm posting too much, but spare time comes in spurts in the trucking game. I might put in a few a day for a week, and then none for three weeks. So if it's too much - stop reading them! They're certainly not as important as, say, vacantly staring into space for a few minutes.

- Trevor.
Joplin, MO

The Big Texan - Revisited

2007-06-15T18:19:00.000-06:00

SeaSaw Mom said...
ok, just a couple things...
1) well, at least you were near the bathroom when you had that experience
2)what's with the limo?
3)please tell me you shared the cake with Kesia...and a few hungry cowboys
4)sorry, what are the spoiler pics?

June 15, 2007 5:22 PM

1) Yes, well, if only I'd brought a spare pair.

2) I didn't explain the limo?!? The limo is available on CB channel 32. It's free! From RV parks, hotels, and truck stops in or near Amarillo. They also have a phone number, which I had to look up and call because my wimpy little CB radio couldn't raise them from the Flying J. Oh, and if you're not with a little girl who would very much enjoy the limo ride, they also feature plenty of truck parking.

3) Yes, I shared it with her, and between the two of us we ate about half of the piece. The waitress talked us into bringing what was left in the truck with us "for later," so we threw it away after about a week or so. Oh, and the way we got the cake is mildly interesting as well. With the children's meal ($6.95), is included your choice of ice cream or a cowboy hat ($2.99 each in the gift shop). Kesia really wanted both, so I said let's get the hat, and then maybe, like, a piece of cake. I didn't know that the cake ($7.99) was going to cost more than two of the hats!

SPOILER WARNING: stop reading if you're going to the Big Texan and like surprises.

4) The spoiler pics are the ones of the photographs. The scary parts only show up from certain angles, so they just look like regular old photos... until they scare the pants off you. Which they won't do now, because you didn't skip that post. :-)
Oh, and while there is a more popular ladies room farther down the hall that doesn't take you past the pictures, there's also a ladies room down the hall with the pictures, by the only men's room. So don't feel like the pictures are only for the men. :-)

- Trevor.
Joplin, MO.

Nada Spot

2007-06-15T15:12:00.001-06:00

CB Slang, or trucker talk, is a hobby of mine. I can't listen to the CB much anymore as it's too hateful and disgusting, but it used to be ok in most places.

So when I find illustrations for some words and phrases, I'll post them here.

This truck is parked in a nada spot, as in "that is not a spot."

These days you can find many trucks parked in nada spots, reasons include:
1) Laziness (near the door, or unwilling to do the work involved in parking)
2) Inability to safely back into a spot
3) Parking lot is full
and D) Truck is just too big.

I think we can go with 'D' for this example.

- Trevor.
Tulsa, OK.

Panic Stop

2007-06-15T14:40:00.000-06:00

About an hour ago, I had to swallow my heart to get it back in my chest after having successfully accomplished one of the quickest panic stops I've had to make in 10 years of driving trucks. I was not tailgating, speeding, or being inattentive. I tend to drive slower than most traffic in cities, (and faster than most outside of them). I was in a city (Tulsa, OK), and I was driving slower than traffic. I was watching a long way ahead to be aware of any hazards that might arise, but there was a curve coming up and I couldn't see as far as I would have liked. Although I could see at least ten vehicles ahead of me, I had almost no warning before all of them stopped. Luckily, I had left more room than I thought I needed. I was wrong... I needed almost all of it. It took me about five minutes before I got back to breathing normally.

As it turns out, what I felt was nothing compared to the complete terror that must have nearly consumed the people in the vehicles (pictured below) that were the "cause" of the backup. I don't know, but it looks like those people are ok.

Sorry the pictures aren't very good, but since I needed to get to speed as soon as possible to help ease the backup, and I needed to do it safely, I just held out the camera and clicked, hoping for a good picture or two.

Please, wear your seatbelt, stay *far* behind the vehicle in front of you, and don't take risks to save a few seconds. I see crashes this severe and worse every week, and sometimes more often.

It seems clear from this picture that the crash is the fault of the truck, and likely that's so. But that doesn't mean that there is nothing the cars could have done to avoid this. This was *not* the first crash... vehicles in front of these crashed, causing a panic stop. Likely the van stopped, the black car was almost stopped, and the truck hit them. Had the van and or the car been farther back from the truck in front of them, they all would have had time to stop. You can see that about ten feet more might have done it.

So don't forget - if someone is very close behind you, you need to leave enough room in front for both of you. In this situation keep in mind that the person tailgating you is not a good driver and might need even more space than you would - so you might need more than double.

"Always leave yourself an out." That means always having a place to go to avoid dangers that are in front of you that you can't avoid - and the ones from behind you that aren't your fault but should be your concern.

For example, don't get next to a vehicle, especially a truck, until you can safely get all the way past - don't hang out with other vehicles next to you - they cut off your escape routes almost as certainly as the guardrail in the picture above did.

- Trevor.
Tulsa, OK.

The Big Texan

2007-06-14T19:02:00.000-06:00

From the Procrastinators convention of 1984 to pictures that are less than an hour old in only a couple of weeks?!? That's progress!

Editor's Note: The pictures were less than an hour old when the author *started* writing this entry.
WARNING: There are some spoiler pictures near the end of this post. If you plan to visit The Big Texan, and you like surprises, you might want to skip this post.

The limo driver said Danielle was "The Most-Important-Person-at-The-Big-Texan-Today" because she was the one getting out of the limo.

Danielle eating a 72 ounce steak, a salad, a potato, and a dinner roll in less than an hour? I think not. But they did say the youngest ever to accomplish the feat was an 11-year-old boy!
The limo driver thought it would be a good idea if he took a picture of the both of us in the wagon. I guess it's not all that bad.

Also, Danielle and I can walk around ok (so far), so I think it must be one of the horses that qualify us for the handicap spot.

My favorite photo of the day, hands down.

Here are some after dinner photos:

Yes, those are the same pictures from different angles. They are on the way to the men's bathroom, and the first time I saw it was out of the corner of my eye... it was an experience I'll never forget.

A very nice lady who works for The Big Texan offered to take this photograph. Strange that she would do that, I mean, my ugliness is standing right there in front of her, and she thinks it's a good idea to record it for posterity. Ah well, she was very nice, and maybe somebody will appreciate the picture anyway.

Now, if she had taken video of me trying to get out of that chair, that would definitely have been too much!

Here are two photos of Danielle at The Big Texan (June, 2007 - earlier today):

Here are two photos of JJ at The Big Texan (April, 2004):

I forgot my camera when I took Kesia to The Big Texan, but I snapped these with my cellphone (December, 2006):
Kesia, that piece of cake is as big as your head!

- Trevor.
Amarillo, TX.

Life in a Truck - Part II

2007-06-14T18:12:00.000-06:00

Here are some uninteresting photos and stories from yesterday, Wednesday, June 13th.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but think about it this way: Danielle was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck and pointing the camera almost straight downward into the canyon when she took this photo. I don't know how far down it is, but I know that when I looked over that way and saw the guardrail that was shorter than my tire, The heebee-jeebees came and took all of my patooties.

Hey, who put this lake here? This is somewhere in the westernmost 100 miles of New Mexico. I have no idea what happened, but there's a huge billboard, and this truck, sitting in this lake. It's been there for years. I still laugh every time I see it. I hope I never find out the real story, because my imagined ones are certain to be much funnier than the facts.

ASARCO has a copper mine in Hayden, Arizona. They require truck drivers to wear long sleeves while loading, and I had none. I said I could put on my jacket, but wasn't looking forward to wearing a wool and leather jacket while working in 90-100 degree heat. The guard (who was very nice, btw) said she had some sleeves she could give me, and these are them. I felt like a girl (half) dressed for the prom. ASARCO does not allow cameras on the property, so this picture had to be taken later, after the sleeves dried out (remember the heat I mentioned?).

NOTE TO SELF: put "Long-sleeved Shirt" on the Wal-Mart list. Thanks, self.

- Trevor.
Albuquerque, NM.

Life In A Truck

2007-06-13T22:28:00.000-06:00

These are from the last couple weeks:

Truck driving is mostly just boring work. But sometimes, when bad things happen (breakdowns, layovers, etc.), we get to have a little fun. In this case, Danielle got to have fun while I watched.

Those are Danielle's feet.

I have a friend who has said from the start that the Honda Element looks like a toaster. Well, you can't read it in the picture, but the sticker on the back window of this one says: "You've just been passed... by a toaster."

I can't help thinking, "Wow! Where'd the bread go?!?"

- Trevor.

(some of) My Trucks

2007-06-09T22:47:00.000-06:00

I want to start posting here about current events, using pictures to show a few interesting things. For some reason, I feel I need to "catch up" on old photos first. Here are a few:

As most of you know, I am, among other things, a truck driver. I don't have photos of most of the trucks I have driven over the years, but recently picture taking became a lot easier and cheaper, and I have pictures of all the trucks I have driven regularly since about 2002 ish.

This Freightliner says "To Be Better... You've Got To Be Different" on the hood. It cost me about $75 to have it put on, and about $600 to have it taken off. My memory of those numbers might not be precisely accurate.

Here's JJ with the Volvo. She seems happy. After the Volvo I took a year (exactly) off from truck driving. She looked even happier then.

When we finally decided that I needed to go back to trucking (for a short while), this 2006 Kenworth W-900 is the truck we got started with.

I was very unhappy with the creature comforts and overall interior design of the Kenworth, and the company I drove for (Still do - Steelman Transportation) was kind enough to let me switch my lease over to this excellent 2005 International 9900ix - a very nice truck.

This truck, "The Next Thing," A 2002 Ford F-350 SD DRW (shown above unloading a swing at an amusement park in the Wisconsin Dells), was our next endeavor. That big, pretty, International just cost too much to be parked in the driveway (about $100 per day)... and that meant I couldn't stay home very much. We thought if we lowered our fixed expenses I might be able to be there more. It worked! We lowered our fixed expenses a little, and lowered our overall income a lot. Oops.

The trailer pictured above is for sale or trade (more on that in coming weeks), and the Ford might be for sale.

So, in May of 2007, after about three months of Hotshotting, I gave up and am now Lease/Purchasing this fine 2001 Sterling (Danielle is not part of the lease - she's already mine). It's an old truck, with all the problems old trucks have - but it has a newly rebuilt 550 C-15 Caterpillar under the hood, and I've never driven a truck with so much power. The jury is still out on fuel mileage, but early indications are that it's going to beat my last few trucks by almost a mile per gallon (well, except the Ford). At about $2.80 per gallon, that could make a difference of $200 per week!

Strictly speaking, this Jeep doesn't belong on this page. But I like it, and it's my blog. I still have this Jeep that I purchased a few years ago... right after getting rid of the Volvo if I remember correctly. Recently I've considered selling it, but I think I'd like to keep it and fix it up a little when I get time and money (like, umm, never.)

Police Chase

2007-06-08T14:08:00.000-06:00

This is a short (about 1 minute) video that's one of the best I've ever seen. It's flagged as "inappropriate" by YouTube - But I can't figure out why, there's absolutely nothing offensive about it. It's a little scary at one point, but it resolves ok.

I found it while searching the web for footage of a police chase that I saw end on I-65 in Cullman County Alabama a few years ago. A red pickup truck rolled over a few times in the median.

I even stopped at the scene of the crash to assist an officer whose cruiser had started on fire, but by the time I got to his car he had become aware of the problem and fixed it himself, so I left. If you've seen footage, and it includes a red Freightliner pulling a flatbed trailer, that was me!

Unfortunately, my search was unsuccessful - if you know where I can get any footage of that chase, I would very much like to see it!

- Trevor.

Digital Delay

2007-06-08T13:33:00.001-06:00

I'm not going to research this, so anything I say might be wrong or false (that applies to me pretty much all the time).

Cell phones have a problem, and as far as I can tell, nobody is talking about it. It's not a big problem, but I think it's making the world just a touch ruder than it was. And no, I'm not talking about people using the phones in public restrooms. I'm talking about the digital delay.

Aside about the bathrooms: when the guy in the stall next to me answers his phone - or worse, makes a call - I always want to yell out "He's in the bathroom!" - I've not had the guts to do it yet. If I ever do, I'll let you know how many stitches I need.

When you talk into a cellphone, the audio is compressed digitally to take less bandwidth (time) on the cellular system. The data can be transmitted about 8 times faster that way, so eight conversations can share the same "line" with no interference. But, since the phone doesn't know what you're going to say until after you say it, there has to be a slight delay while compressing the data. It is a very short delay.

Try this: While having a phone conversation where at least one of you is using a digital cell phone (the delay is doubled if you're both using digital cell phones), One of you counts to ten, the other joins in at three and counts along precisely with the other. The first counter will notice a gap between when he says a number, and when he hears the other person say a number, even though the second person hears them at precisely the same time. This illustrates the delay.

The problem is this: after years of having conversations, we have developed a mechanism for handling the situation that occurs when both parties start to talk at the same time. That mechanism no longer works, because now, if both parties start to talk at the same time, they each hear themselves starting first... and believe the other person rude for continuing to talk.

I have two proposals to fix this, and you will notice that neither of them is a new law:

a. Never answer the phone, simply play "phone tag" using each other's voicemail to communicate. This increases the delay but eliminates the possibility of talking over each other.

2. Be rude at all other times as well, soon no one will want to talk to you, and there will be no delay.

I recognize that more proposals may be needed before putting this dastardly digital delay dilemma to rest.

- Trevor.

The Next Thing - My first real post

2007-06-08T13:30:00.000-06:00

I've decided not to introduce myself to the blog. If you don't like that, tough. If you're reading this, you probably already know me, and if you don't - learning about me won't make you like me any better.

- Trevor.

Procrastinators Convention of 1984

2007-06-05T22:37:00.000-06:00

To-Do: Publish a blog. (I'm going to get to this one *very* soon - definitely before Christmas... 2010.)

- Trevor.