RowdyRebel

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Just make sure ya haul in some fill before ya let your wife back the car out of the garage

I don't care what party folks are affiliated with...I vote for the individual candidate. In the event NEITHER candidate meets my approval, I vote the one I disapprove of the least. At first glance, the GOP seems to have a pretty strong field...some stronger than others. In the Senate race, I'm not too thrilled with the Andy Martin ads against Mark Kirk...if there is even the slightest shred of truth to them, I can't vote for Kirk...and if they aren't 100% truthful, I cannot vote for Martin. So, since there is probably at least a shred of truth to the ads, but are not likely telling the whole story, I won't be voting for EITHER candidate. Luckily, there are 4 others in the race to choose from... Don Lowery John Arrington Patrick Hughes Kathleen Thomas...although I can't really support a candidate who says: If it's a MAJOR question being asked of you as you travel around the state, it demands more than just a "nutshell" answer. The Governor card is equally strong on the GOP ticket (again, some stronger than others): Bill Brady Dan Proft Adam Andrzejewski Andy McKenna...but his campaign site was on the 3rd page of google, which meant I got to sort through a few pages of news stories like this Kirk Dillard Bob Schillerstrom Jim Ryan And the Lt. Governor position has a decent candidate or two as well: Jason Plummer Brad Cole Don Tracy Matt Murphy Dennis Cook Randy White Sr. Comptroller has 3 candidates running: Jim Dodge William Kelly...who wants to sue to stop Gitmo terrorists from being housed in Thompson If Illinois is doing ANY business with Gitmo, we oughtta be shippin' our crooked politicians down there... Judy Baar Topinka...the ex-treasurer who failed to defeat Blagosab!tch not too long ago for governor. Personally, I've got an anti-Chicago attitude this year. Any candidate from the Chicago area has to be stronger on the issues important to me than a "Downstate" candidate with acceptable stands on the important issues. I don't want to hear how BAD the "other guy" is...not in the primaries. Just tell me what YOU will do...where YOU stand...etc. Get Chicago OUT of Springfield, and Illinois will be better off for it

Get one of these: Ground the clamp, and test the wires for juice...if it lights up, there's power running to them wires. There oughtta be a hot wire coming from the fuse panel (if there's a fuse...otherwise ya might need to insert one) and a wire or two that heads off towards the lights. I'd look for the wires for the lights up under the bumper somewhere. They may not be obvious...may have to search for 'em a bit...but I'd imagine they are up there somewhere. It's easier to wire all the trucks alike and add/subtract the various features as wanted by the purchaser, rather than to custom wire all the trucks differently depending on what options are spec'd. But of course all that is just a guess...don't assume I know what I'm talking about. I HATE dealing with electrical stuff...I usually just run a new circuit from the battery to make it easy on me instead of trying to find the "factory" wires....

Don't get me wrong...I don't want the GOP to have total and complete control either....'specially when too many of 'em are "moderates" and side with the liberals all too often...allowing at minimum the false claims of "bipartisanship", and in the worst case lays the blame for stupid policies squarely on the GOP. I mean look at Bush! Yeah, he was good on some things...but he placed far too much emphasis on being "compassionate" even when we couldn't afford it, setting the stage for this stooge we have in office now. A balance of power...with a SLIGHT majority (as in 1-2 seats) leaning toward the party NOT occupying the white house...seems to be the best way to go.

I try to do right...doesn't always mean I'm successful. Do unto others and stuff. Yeah, we're all human and we'll all fall short of expectations once in a while...but that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying to be the best people we can be, should it? oh yeah...and ya don't bring a knife to a gunfight

I don't care WHERE I get coffee, it is rarely strong enough. When I make it here at the house, I've got an 8-cup percolator. I use 4 or 5 heaping scoops of coffee (fill the basket 3/4 full) with 6 cups worth of water. I get it started cooking about an hour before I pour my cup, so it's got plenty of time to cook...pours out good & black Every once in a while, I'll stop off in a truck stop and they'll have the old style coffee pots (the glass ones that you can actually pick up & pour into your mug) and I'll look for one that's been on the burner for a while & cooked down a bit...usually it'll be strong enough. I can't stand watered down beverages. I'd rather drink WARM coke than watered down coke. My parents banned me from making kool-aid at the house growing up, because I'd use 1 gallon's worth of mix to make 1/2 to 3/4 gallon of juice. When camping, if I didn't feel like mixing up the orange juice, I'd just drink the concentrate straight out of the cardboard tube it came in...just pop the top & drink it. Even my sweet tea that I make in the summer time (in lieu of coffee) is good & strong...strong enough that normal people can fill their glass with ice & top off with my sweet tea and it's about right for them....of course I drink it straight up...maybe 1 or 2 ice cubes on a particularly warm day... I hate pouring clear liquid that is SUPPOSED to be coffee into my mug...

I don't worry about machine errors...unless I get the short end of the stick . Besides, finding a $20 in the ATM dispenser is like finding a few quarters in the change slot on a payphone or vending machine...someone obviously didn't want it, and there is really no way to know EXACTLY who the money belongs to. I don't like ripping people off, though. Whether its the owner of a business, or just a cashier who made the mistake, or even an error with the equipment they are depending on to make a living...especially someplace where I show my face with any regularity. At the very least I wanted them to know where the error had occurred. If they had said "thanks...but don't worry about it" I would have said "cool, thanks" and left it at that...but I just couldn't leave without at least trying to correct the situation. I'd like to think I would have done the same thing had it been a big chain truck stop, too, instead of just a tiny little non-affiliated, single location fuel stop....but it wouldn't have been near as easy for me to do at a Pilot, T/A, Flying J, etc...

If you've ever talked to a lineman (or at least the ones around here) they'll tell you that their first priority is to get to the line they have to fix...even if it means charging full speed through the ditch into a muddy field. The wrecker or another truck will be along in a while to pull 'em back out, but they have to get to where they need to do the work in order to get the power back on... ...and when the drivers ain't gotta worry about the repair bill, ya gotta spec it tough

So at the end of the day, I fueled up the truck before heading back to the house...that way I'm ready to roll with it in the morning. It was pretty low on the fuel gauge, so I was expecting to pump around 70 gallons (give or take). I topped it off, evening out the dollar amount on $229...which was 77.653 gallons. Seemed like a lot, considering I've only got an 80 gallon tank on one side and a 20 gallon tank on the other...but it was pretty far on "E", so I didn't think much of it. When I went to pay, they rang it up as $183.05...or 62.072 gallons. I told them that wasn't what the pump said, and one of the employees went out to look at the pump. The guy came back in and said the pump was on $229...so obviously there was a problem SOMEWHERE, but they were guessing the pump was wrong and their computer was right. So, they ran my card for $183.05 and I went back out to the truck....it just didn't look right on the receipt. I pulled out a calculator and crunched the numbers. I had run 427.8 miles since my last fill-up. 62.072 gallons would have put me at 6.892 mpg...and I have only done that one time when I was hooked to a 1000 cu. ft. tank running empty at 55 mph through Illinois the whole way. I had more loaded miles on this tank of fuel than normal...and I have NEVER seen that sort of fuel mileage on dumps...even when empty (the tanks are a little lighter and a lot more aerodynamic). 77.653 gallons would put me at 5.509 mpg, which is in the right ballpark. I could have left, and nobody would have said a thing...but I didn't. I went back inside with my calculations and informed them that the pump was correct. Of course they thanked me and told me they were HOPING it was the pump that was wrong, because it was cheaper & easier to fix...and then they charged me the remaining $45.95 that I would have paid had they rang it up at the $229 the first time. Sure, I COULD be sitting here with almost $46 extra in my pocket...but I'm not sure I would have slept well knowing I had taken more than I had paid for Sometimes having a conscience really sucks...

dammit...a '98 ain't all that much older than my '01 ...and I sure as hell ain't gonna get rid of IT just because its "old". As long as it runs strong and does what I need it to, it'll stick around.

That pic was when I was buyin' it...they was swappin' some stuff around so I could get right to work with it when I got it home.

Don't make me go all WWE on ya...

Actually, they are Alcoas

this ain't the only thread w/ multiple pages from yesterday...

Your truck is 4 1/2 FEET shorter than mine. yeah, that's a 36" box on the side When I was hauling logs, the knuckle boom truck had a full trailer. I used to back it up without locking the front axle all the time. When loaded, it was actually easier to do it that way, because it wouldn't want to turn if ya had it locked.

I can't even get back under a 39' trailer if it gets past about 45 or 50 degrees...my truck is long & don't like to turn. I could back up until the trailer is jack knifed so bad its only 2" from my stacks, cut the steer tires towards the trailer as sharp as they'll go, and the trailer will start straightening out. I could drive around in circles with the wheel cut as far as it'll go and I'm LUCKY if the trailer will get to the point of pivoting on it's axles. Gimme a mile, I'll turn this rig around I wouldn't want a 28' trailer unless I could chop about 3 feet off the wheel base of my truck.

That doesn't sound TOO far off...oil temps ought to be high enough that water evaporates out to eliminate contamination...and will be higher on a long climb when the engine is working hard. I was worried about low oil pressure on mine, too...but was told low oil pressure is normal on these engines...everything was within spec. I'm just an owner/driver...so take my for what it is...

I'd like to get there someday...for now, though, I've got a 1st & 2nd on the house, the truck note, and a business loan I took for operating capital when I bought the truck. The 2nd was taken because I used my house as a savings account for the first few years I owned it...couldn't see paying 7% interest on money I had in the bank getting 1%, so I overpaid considerably each month to pay down the mortgage...then tapped into the house for my down payment on the Mack. Everything else is mine free & clear. Looking back on things, I would have been better off saving my money to make the down payment instead of overpaying & taking a 2nd. Even though the 1st was refinanced to 6% when I took the 2nd, the 2nd is at 10% and now the banks say I don't make enough to refi both loans (wrap 'em into 1 loan) at 5%...even though my monthly payment would drop. I'll probably have to wait a few more years until the truck depreciation is no longer included on my taxes, or later on this year after I get hitched and we can use her income to supplement mine on the loan application. Truck will be paid off in about 2 years...the business loan soon after. Hopefully have the house paid off in 10....putting me in the neighborhood of 40 when I don't owe anyone anything. Maybe even a little quicker once the woman gets here and we have a second income to devote entirely to paying things off.

Yup. I have a project truck buried out there in a deep dark corner of my garage....an '86 Ranger that was the first "new" vehicle my dad ever bought. I LOVE working on it, but ran out of money when I started moving forward on my plans to buy a work truck. I've got the 289 block (from a '66 Mustang) stripped down...just gotta buy the parts and get to building it. I've also got a new cab to put on it...just got a few tiny holes in the floor to fix...and a few other things. Them projects cost money, and these days I don't spend money I don't have to spend on anything not related to my Mack and keeping it working for me...always scared that today's frivolous purchase will mean I can't fix tomorrow's breakdown. Hopefully things turn around soon and rates start coming up again...it would be nice to actually be able to have hobbies again. Don't get me wrong...I have enough to cover my needs and the bank account is growing (albeit slowly)...it's just that I don't have the "cushion" I would LIKE to have...but then who does? Easier to just do without life's frivolities for a few years until you can better afford them than it is to get everything you want right now at this very second and then spend the next 20 or 30 years miserable as you try to dig yourself out of the hole ya dug getting everything ya wanted back then. A dollar stretches a LOT farther when ya don't owe it to 12 different people 6 months before ya earn it.

nope. ...although one of these wouldn't be too bad, either....if a Mack or a Ford just wasn't an option:

All that talk about work is makin' me tired...

....and you chose a petercar?

pickin' on ya ain't as much fun when the joke goes over your head & ya don't get it. Look at the driver of the car in the pic...peering through the steering wheel 'cuz you're too short and ya can't see over it