RowdyRebel

Because if you are pulling a shorter trailer, you've got to abide by the federal bridge law....and by sliding that 5th wheel all of the way to the rear, you stretch the wheelbase to allow a little more weight. You might also haul a load that has front overhang and need a little extra swing, so you slide the 5th wheel back to allow the load to keep from hitting the cab. Or you might hook to a step deck trailer without much clearance between the pin and the drop, so to keep the drive tires/mudflaps from hitting the trailer you have to slide it back. There's probably more reasons out there....but you get the idea.

Damn...even "The Trucker" newspaper writer knows what the Gold Bulldog means... http://www.thetrucker.com/News/Stories/2012/3/23/Mackaddstointegratedproductportfolio.aspx You'd think someone working at a Mack dealership would know that too....

Exit strategy? WIN! The easiest way to differentiate the aggressor from the defender in any action isn't necessarily to look at WHERE the conflict is taking place, but rather to ask yourself one simple question: If side A stopped fighting, would side B continue to fight? Flip the question around. If side B stopped fighting, would side A continue to fight? In our current "conflicts", we are fighting them on their soil...because if we don't fight them there, they will fight us here. Unfortunately, we are trying to fight a "politically correct" war. We do not want to harm the civilians giving aid to, encouraging, and providing cover for our enemies....but our enemies think nothing of crashing planes carrying civilians into civilian buildings. We condemn soldiers who pose for pictures next to the remains of a suicide bomber....meanwhile they are torturing, beheading, burning, and dragging through the streets the bodies of ANY American, without regard to whether they are military or civilian, and posting those videos on the internet for all to see. War is hell. Untie our military's hands and let them do their job. Go in, kick ass, and when the enemy has lost the will to continue the fight, THEN bring our military home as victors. Leave the enemy sitting in their own rubble contemplating the mistake they made picking a fight with us. It's bullshit that some 3rd world country picks a fight with us...so we go in and while we are fighting the extreme fringe which poses the threat, we are also building infrastructure...hospitals, schools, water, roads, etc...this is WAR, not the Boy Scouts. We don't have to leave their shitty country "better" than we found it. Let them pick up their own damn pieces. Bush was a Compassionate Conservative....not to be confused with an ACTUAL Conservative. He let his "compassion" stand in the way of the Constitution...especially when it came to fiscal matters....approving a lot of policies and spending which SHOULD have been vetoed. The deficit really ballooned during his last 2 years...when the Democrats had the congress. FY2007 (last GOP budget year) only had a $161 billion deficit. The Democrat's first deficit (FY2008) was nearly 3 times as bad at $459 billion. The Democrat's second deficit (FY2009) was more than 3 times their first at $1,413 billion...which of course included the $831 billion "stimulus" signed by Obama.

...already off to a WONDERFUL start. Woke up WAY too early, so I went back to sleep.....and overslept. So, it was too late to go to the sunrise service (which would have had me home by now leaving MOST of the day available to get some work done around here)....so now I'll have to go to the 9:30 service...which will leave me with only 1/2 the day to get stuff done. ...and the Easter Bunny didn't show up 'round here....Dozer skeerd him off.

Well, my ride didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I rode to church, and after church was going to do a nice little loop north of town, but my temp light came on....radiator had sprung a leak. Parked at the Hardees to have a chocolate shake while it cooled & tried to refill the radiator with water...but it was leaking out as fast as I could put it in. So, I walked on up the road a block or two to the Casey's & bought some stop-leak stuff....just SOMETHING to try to get me the 10 or so miles home. It worked enough to let me fill the radiator again, and I decided to try one of those Southwest Patty Melts.... ...FYI, the blonde does NOT come with the burger. Yeah, I asked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1eLolzfRC4 Anyway, the stop leak worked well enough to refill the radiator, and after lunch I fired it up and headed home. Of course the leak started back up again before I even made it out of the lot, but I got home. Left the bike in the driveway so it could finish peeing & cool off a little before bringing it into the garage...and when I went out to move it inside, I saw some commotion on the highway by the tracks. 35 laps to go in the NASCAR race, so I figured if they were all still out there then, I'd wander over and see what was going on. Of course, by the time the race ended, the cops were there...along with an ambulance....but all the motorcycles and the semi truck were gone. Turns out a rider lost it going over the railroad tracks....had a chat with a deputy, who was just out here on Tuesday when the crossing gates were malfunctioning and traffic was getting crazy with people going around the gates and other vehicles stopped waiting for the gates to go up without looking for people coming around the other way.....I called 'em out when I witnessed 6 or 7 near head-on's within 2 or 3 minutes.... Anyway, it's been one of those weeks.....

So was this road... ....didn't stop me from runnin' it, though.

Bush was no angel, but nowhere NEAR as bad as the current occupant-in-chief.

...at least I got to the DMV today. Renewed the tags on my motorcycle so I can go riding tomorrow (expire at the end of March). Was going to go by the bike shop & have them look at a couple things....maybe get the brakes bled out a little better....look into a popping sound coming from the forks they just rebuilt....etc...but didn't quite get that done. So, I still don't have brakes for tomorrow's ride...but whuddaya need brakes for? All they do is slow ya down! I had bled them again last night and they are better than they were last Sunday...but still not 100%. Calipers were rebuilt when they did the forks. Out of the 14 pistons in the brake system, only 3 were functioning...the rest were froze up pretty good. Getting all of the air out of 'em is proving to be quite the chore....wish it had air brakes. MUCH easier to work with.

He's only doing what he said he was going to do....

Yeah, it's a little more expensive than the "el cheapo" batteries....and I've never tried 'em in a big truck, but Die Hard batteries have done pretty well in my pickups. My '92 Ranger had one in it when I bought it over 5 years ago...truck sits for months at a time....starts right up with the first turn of the key. My F250 was eating an Exide battery every 6-8 months....put a Die Hard in it and no more issues. 3 year free replacement sounds good, too.....wouldn't hurt to ask if that will be honored if you have problems with them in the Mack. Sears stores are all over the place...so finding 'em shouldn't be too hard. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_02850131000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1 THE MOST POWERFUL AND RELIABLE DIEHARD PLATINUM MARINE BATTERY EVER! 3-year FREE Replacement Limited Warranty 1150 Cold Cranking Amps – Provides power for RVs, trolling motors, marine accessories, and starting needs in all weather conditions, due to the use of 99.99% pure virgin lead plates and tin-coated brass terminals 205 Minutes of reserve capacity - Ideal for multiple electronic accessories Deep discharge recovery – Ideal for marine & deep cycle applications Combination stud/post terminal design – for multiple connections Longer off-season storage time – Ideal for boats AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) construction - Provides mounting flexibility & guarantees longer service life Worry and maintenance-free operation - High purity grade acid held safely in place by glass mats makes a non-spillable design that gives mounting flexibility Military-grade construction & proven vibration resistance – Offers superior vibration resistance

I got some bull for ya....from the local paper: ...so when can we expect YOUR resignation, Mr. Emanual?

When that battery exploded, I disconnected the cables to it and ran off the other two the rest of the day. Truck still fired up just fine without that battery connected. While I've never tried it, I would imagine the truck would also start with just one battery. In other words, the batteries don't have to be 100% for the starter to spin the engine "normally". You might also look into the AGM batteries that a lot of these truck makers are putting in to power the truck accessories while the truck is shut off....getting to be more and more common as more and more states become "no idle" zones.

How depleted do the batteries get powering all of that stuff overnight while the truck is shut off? Lead acid batteries like to remain as close to fully charged as possible....charging & running 'em down repeatedly tends to shorten their life cycle. Possibly switching to some deep cycle batteries would help?

Voltage regulator? Possibly cooking the battery by overcharging? What does your ammeter look like when you're running down the road? What about when idling? Are you changing all of them? Or just 1 or 2 that "test" bad? I'm not a fan of "cheap" batteries....not anymore. Not after I had one blow up.

I used to work with a guy (at a Boy Scout camp, no less....) who was dating a girl named Peaches. This song was on the radio at the time, and let's just say that by the end of the summer, he was sick and tired of hearing us sing it....

Conflict resolution workshop marred by fight

...so you're saying when I have electrical work to do here at the house, I should cut power first? I've always just worked with the wires hot...whether I was swapping old outlets for new ones, replacing switches, installing lights, or whatever else I might need to do. I always thought it was too bothersom resetting all of my clocks after I tried figuring out which circuit needed to be cut in order to do the work...

In another month or two, I'll be able to afford to make a stupid mistake...carrier I'm leased to is making us buy occupational accident coverage. Up until now, my "insurance" was paying attention to what I was doing so that I wouldn't get hurt. Hell, I'm the kind of person who could be in a friggin' body cast and still not miss any work...especially now that it is my truck.

What's a "GPS"?

"Oh, Tommy is doing just fine...he just got married last spring and they are expecting their first little bundle of joy any day now. Can you believe I'm going to be a great grandpa? His maw is just so proud of him, as are we. So how do you know Tommy? Did you go to college with him?"

....so one of you old farts need to get one of those old maps.....then take a road trip out that way. Drive around like you're lost...and when you stop & ask for directions....or if you get stopped by a cop, ask HIM for directions.....pull out that 50 year old map to try to figure out where you're at. Keep a confused look on your face as you use phrases like "what road is that over there?" "I don't see it on my map." "Where is this road (pointing to a road on the map that ain't there no more) I'm supposed to be looking for?" See how long you can keep 'em going....

The only vehicle I've ever owned that I don't still have is my first motorcycle. It was a '95 Suzuki GS500E...bought it new/leftover with 0 miles Memorial Day weekend in 1997. By Spring Break (March) of 2000, I already had over 22,500 miles on the little 500 and I needed a bigger bike. Being a broke college kid at the time, I had to let it go....it was my down payment on the 1100 Kawasaki I'm heading out to the garage right now to finish bleeding the brakes (just rebuilt the calipers & put new lines on) and install a new battery. Hell, just dumped about $2500 into a bike that probably doesn't book quite that much...but it's a good bike and I like it. Lots of "Redneck Custom" features on the thing....hell, I've had it for more than 12 years now.

I have never owned a car. My first 2 vehicles were motorcycles...didn't even own my first pickup truck until I was 22.