other dog

Yes,that is correct-when I first went to work for H.H.Moore his grandsons Jeff and Todd were still in high school. When they were old enough they started driving,local at first,then long distance,so they know the deal.They realize that when they go home at 5 O'clock the drivers still have a days work to get done to deliver the next morning,something a lot of dispatchers seem to think happens by magic. A buddy of mine was a driver for awhile then went to dispatching, and said some of the people in that office talks about drivers like they are dogs.. really pisses me off. I just talked to another buddy of mine and he's in west virginia, said he got off of interstate 81 @ exit 221 then went across hwy 250 into west virginia. He said it was pretty steep hills to get across, have you been through there? I was just wondering if it was as bad as he was letting on. Glad to know your boss realizes how it is not many does. See ya Buddy. 250? from Staunton over into West Virginia? that bad? ha-ha,heck no,I've been across there a few times,it's probably worse! I mentioned going across rt. 33 a while back,250 is as bad or maybe worse than rt.33 as far as steep grades,tight turns, big hills, sharp curves, mountains,..let's see,did I leave anything out?..oh yeah,the sharp turns and mountains-otherwise a nice ride,very scenic. What the heck is he doing over in there? Nobody goes that way,except Big Jim,and he ain't right. Big Jim runs that way fairly often,even though he doesn't have to. I always suspected Big Jim wasn't exactly factory,if you know what I mean, but that's his binness if he wants to travel the road less traveled,not mines!

oh,'52 F-600-what kind of shape is that in? I ain't got no money,just curious...got any pictures of it?

Yes,that is correct-when I first went to work for H.H.Moore his grandsons Jeff and Todd were still in high school. When they were old enough they started driving,local at first,then long distance,so they know the deal.They realize that when they go home at 5 O'clock the drivers still have a days work to get done to deliver the next morning,something a lot of dispatchers seem to think happens by magic.

Hey Joe,how's it going? What's Parker and Paxton been up to,if anything? Parker called me the other day,I think it was Tuesday,and said Paxton had been picking on him. Paxton called Wednesday and said Parker had been teasing him . I told them both you'd get them straight this weekend. ( kidding of course...they called me,but didn't say anything about picking on or teasing each other ) I checked out your cabover gallery-I drove a truck like that to Chicago once. H.H.Moore had several Internationals like that,with 400 Cummins engines and 13 speeds in them. I never had one as a regular tractor,but drove one to Chicago when my truck was in the shop for something one time.

I don't know about all that locking release in the tool box beneath the sleeper,but I once stopped at a self service car wash in Buena Vista,Va. when I was on the way to Covington with a load of chips to spray my truck off. I jacked the cab up and it wouldn't go back down. I pushed on it so hard it left dents in the front of the cab,but it still wouldn't come down. Finally I called headquarters and told Teddy what the problem was,my cab wouldn't come back down. He said after you jacked it up past a certain point you couldn't just release the valve,you had to jack it back down too...oh...I put the jack handle in the jack,pumped it a few times,and it came right on down. I didn't know that. And the cold-I can deal with that. I have a sub-zero sleeping bag that I've never used, A Czechoslavakian military surplus parka I ordered from Sportsman's Guide for about $19.95,it's really warm-so warm I haven't worn it yet ( weighs about 8 lbs!). You can always put on more clothes-but i've never been a heat person. I don't particularly like driving in snow and ice,but I took an Orchard Park over a Boca Raton a while back. The heat like we had here last summer was just miserable to me...I can still remember the 114 degrees in Savanna,Ga.when I was loading something or other,and i'll take the cold anytime.

Well it's been 9 days since the last cigarette...but who's counting,right?.. and that was an ultra light-only one all day,while I was fueling up before I left for Orchard Park. Went to Zelienople and Fremont this week,loaded back to Roanoke out of Macedonia both times. Yesterday I went down to Petersburg and loaded 60' piling going about 10 miles North of Portage, Wisconsin for Monday delivery. Already got a load back to Norfolk out of Crystal Lake,Il. We had about 18-20 loads going up there,most on 53' trailers,but I pull a 48. I put about 3' hanging off the front ( we have headache racks on the trucks,no headboards on the trailers) with about a 9' rear overhang. I could get away with a little extra overhang on the front because the piling is all in one stack in the center of the trailer,so it won't hit the headache rack when I make a turn. Some guys are leaving tomorrow,some Sunday. I think I'm going with the Sunday morning departure.The return load doesn't load until Tuesday,and as the late "Hippie" used to say " everybody can't be first ". I used to leave after church on Sunday going to Boston and Chicago and be there at 7am Monday morning,but that's when I was A young man. If I leave pretty early Sunday I should be able to get it off by Monday evening anyway. And that's something that doesn't really bother me A lot anymore. Sometimes of course A customer may need or want something at 7am and I'll do my best to get it there,but for the most part when I get tired I'm looking for a wide spot and pull over and take a nap. The company I used to drive for,for over 25 years ( until the one A-hole dispatcher came along that I just couldn't get along with,and anybody'll tell ya if ya cain't get along with me,ya cain't get along with yourself! ),would fine you $25 (taken out of your safety bonus) for not delivering at 7 am,whether it needed to be or not. Todd told me when I first went to work for him " I'm more concerned about my trucks arriving somewhere safe and up on the wheels than I am about them being somewhere at 7 am". Makes sense to me. I have unloaded in Fremont,Ohio on Monday morning, sitting there when they opened,loaded back to Lynchburg,Va and was sitting back in Fremont Wednesday morning before they opened,loaded back to Lynchburg out of Sharon,Pa, and was back in Fremont Friday morning when they opened. But if I hadn't unloaded until after lunch every time,it wouldn't have made any difference at the end of the week. I would have still ran 3 Fremonts that week,and that ain't shabby.

Over to BNZ...or is it BMZ?- it's one or the other, it's over across the tracks near Frankenstein concrete,home of a nice looking Diamond Reo mixer. It might be by that Rome Metal,I don't know. There's a place close to it where I see trucks loading steel but I don't know the name of it. I have loaded at Main Steel before though,but only once. We had three trucks unloading in Zelienople Monday,so it must be a pretty busy place. Anyway,you take 19 North right into downtown Zelienople,then make a left on 288 (tight turn!),then another left just before you cross the tracks,then bear right and another right into their driveway,right across from Frankenstein's.

Very true Speed,I thought about doing just that,then I decided to try to clean it up some and see how it turns out.

Thank you Joe,I really appreciate the encouragement.

I couldn't have said it better...Wow!

VERY FUNNY! PVS yeah,I thought so too.Glad i'm 500 miles away just the same.

thanks Joe,that was very informative-I've got it soaking in Dawn and water,but no vinegar.That's what I was wondering,that article said the acid would stain the pewter,and vinegar is very acidic,that's why I thought it would work good at dissolving the concrete.

yeah,sounds like it just came out of the deep freeze!

I found out quitting smoking is ridiculously easy-all you gotta do is not do it anymore! Now that I know that,i'm gonna run over to 699 Market and get me a pack...no,can't do it. I know from past experience,having quit several times before. And I don't mean quitting for 39 minutes,I mean quitting for years-then starting back. Once I was over at the hunting cabin,hadn't smoked for years,quit- A man named Dennis got the last cigarette out of the pack,crumpled it up,dropped it on the coffee table and said " see y'all tomorrow,i'm going home" and left. I picked up the pack to throw it away,and said "this pack ain't empty,there's still one in there-i'll just smoke it". So I did...next thing ya know i'm en route to the store to get me a pack. Then Henry was over at the house one time,and said " here,have a Newpote". I said " thanks,but I don't smoke,I quit". He said "quit?! awh,come on man,smoke a Newpote with me-besides,one ain't gonna hurt 'ya!". So I did,and it wasn't long before I said "hey man-can I get another one of them Newpotes?". When somebody said ''We're going to the store-anybody need anything?",I said "yeah-pack of Newpotes!". I know you're wondering-yes,alcohol was involved. Then there was the time-well,never mind,you see what i'm saying-I've done that time after time. Must be like a recovering alcoholic I guess,when they say they're one drink away from being back-I understand what they mean. You can't smoke just one,can't take one drink,or you have to start to quit all over again. I can kind of take it or leave it when it comes to drinking,but I like a beer as much as the next guy.In fact,i'm having one now...and it would be so good with a cigarette...but ...it's been 4 days-I can't promise I won't buy a pack tomorrow,but i'm not going to tonight. And I went to Fremont,Oh. Wednesday...cold as a-and snowing across W.V... Turnpike was clear though.Just getting to the Turnpike,and after you get off it, can be a problem though. Loaded at Macedonia and unloaded in Roanoke Friday morning,now loaded for Zelienople,Pa. for Monday. Might even see Big Jim,he's going to Zelienople too.He's my best friend,we talk on the phone regularly,but seldom actually see each other in person.We're always on opposite ends it seems.

got this belt buckle from my Uncle David and Aunt Helen for Christmas (they got a BMT calendar). It's really neat,it's a genuine pure pewter buckle,copyright 1982,made by the Great American Buckle Company. It's A cement mixer as you can see,and obviously used.It has dry,hardened concrete stuck all over it and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas as to how to clean it. I thought maybe soaking it in vinegar to get the cement off,but I didn't want to mess up the pewter...isn't pewter just lead? Any ideas? anybody got a smoke?..

Thanks Joe,nothing new yet,but i'm still gonna try to do a better one with a real video camera soon,as in whenever Jeff and Teresa get back from Florida.

well thanks Mack,thank you very much indeed(David Gilmour). glad you liked them...i'd like to go to the store and get me a pack of them red Pall Malls,with no filter on 'em...

Hey Joe,how's everything? What's Parker and Paxton doing?

not a problem,Paul- just go back and look at the digital pictures you took and printed when you were taking it apart.

ARRRGH!...none since Wednesday.Just one then-it was an ultra lite.

I'm off until tomorrow,so today I had the traditional New Years meal of blackeyed peas and greens. They were mustard greens,but mustard,turnip,kale,they all taste about the same to me-I like'em all. Creeces are the best,but hard to come by. They say the greens are supposed to bring you money in the new year and the blackeyed peas bring you luck.You're supposed to have hog jowl too,but I skipped on that part. I don't know what the hog jowl is supposed to represent anyway,but money and good luck covers most things I guess. I'm also gonna try to quit smoking. I had quit for 10 years or more but started back just before my wife passed away. One of the more foolish things I've done-it's A hard habit to break.

those white ones would match the sign on my water tank perfectly-same logo!

Hey Joe,I hope Parker and Paxton are doing well...did you check out the youtube videos yet? I told you they were pretty bad,but everybody has seemed to like them. Makes me want to borrow Teresa's video camera and try it again.Should sound better anyway-I was surprised that little camera of mine picked up the sound as good as it did. Take care,catch you later.

I know exactly where you're talking about,though I've never been through there in the snow. Most of the old road has been bypassed with the 4 lane. I've always wanted to stop at the little truckstop on top of Steam Valley hill,but never have. Old Bill had an excellent story about it in his stories-it's the Florida trip story. All his stories are really good. You might have already checked them out, http://www.thedieselgypsy.com/Florida%20Bound%20-%202.htm Next time I get a load going that way i'll let you know,and give you my cell phone number.