STRAYCAT’S DOGGONE BLOG

Life Day 21598: “Vegging” in Vegas

August 31, 2006 on 8:57 pm | In On The Road | Comments Off

After arriving in the wee hours on Wednesday AM , I went to bed. I woke up somewhere around 0700. After breakfast, I started organizing my time off. High on the agenda was getting the MMM bathed and groomed. I called a couple of new places, trying to find someplace closer to the WWW than the PetSmart in Henderson, where the groomers are almost always booked up for a week in advance, but to no avail. I finally called the PetSmart on Tropicana and Eastern, where I used to take them before they closed the Veternary part of the store. They had a few openings for Thursday. I opted for a 1300 appointment. After running a few errands, I began “geeking” about noon. Everything was going along fine until about 1800. All of a sudden, after publishing a Post on my BLOG, everything went to huge, extra collossal size type. I tried everything I could think of to remedy the situation (which isn’t much). I went in to the Control Panel and reset everything to “default”, but nothing worked. I finally gave up in frustration, and went to dinner. I tried the Swiss Steak at the Black Bear Diner. Like everything i’ve tried there, it was delicious.
On Thursday, I piddled around until it was time for the MMM’s appointment with the groomers. It takes about 3 hours to groom them, so I had lunch at a pretty good Mexican fast-food restaurant the name of which I forget ( it is in the same shopping center as PetSmart), then waited in the parking lot. After they were done and they had their “shopping spree” in Petsmart, I went to Fry’s with my computer to see what the ?@%# I did to screw it up. After a 1/2 hour wait, I finally got to see a technician. I explained as accurately as my limited computer vernacular allowed what I was doing when the computer “went insane”. It took him about 20 minutes to figure out what was wrong and restore it to normal. Somehow, I managed to get to ‘applications’ competing with each other for control. DON’T ASK ME HOW I DID IT, OR EVEN IF I DID IT!!! Anyway, it’s all better now and that’s what counts. After that, I returned to the WWW. The MMM looked so good after their tonsuring, that I couldn’t resist taking this picture of them on their walk after returning to the WWW.

After this, I geeked for a while, then had dinner there. I went to bed about midnight.

Life Day 21592: Languishing in the shop in Lewiston, ID

August 24, 2006 on 7:22 pm | In On The Road, Travelblogue | Comments Off

I began the trip to Aurora, CO at 1100 on the 19th. I drove to the Idaho Visitor Center and Rest Area. I took a short break here because of the different speed limit in Idaho. It is a pleasant, serene place. The Salmon River runs along behind it. I took these pictures.

The community in the background of the left picture is Ontario, OR. From here, I drove to Eden, ID. I had dinner here, then drive to Brigham City, UT. I stopped here for the night because I found a parking place. The truckstops in and Ogden would have been full by this time.
On the 20th, I left Brigham City at 1130. I drove to Rawlins, WY where I fueled and had lunch. At 1715, I drove to the first customer in Denver, CO. I spent the night on the street outside their facility.
I had a moderate days driving on the 21st. I awoke at 0615, and had the MMM already walked before Recieving arrived. They started to unload me as soon as I was in position. It took a little more than an hour. I then drove to the final customer in Aurora. I had to wait until my appointment time of 0930 before they would unload me. It again took a little more than an hour. I then drove to our terminal in Denver to fuel and wait for a PrePlan. I recieved a Plan at 1300 which picked up in Brighton, CO and delivered in Hamilton, MT. I called the shipper and they said the load would be ready about 1600. I arrived in Brighton precisely at 1600, and true to their word, the load was ready. I did the drop/hook, but on my walk-around inspection, I found a leaking wheel seal. I drove back to the Denver terminal and had that repaired. I then drove to Evansville (Casper), WY where I stopped for the night. Pesky 14-hour rule. I still managed to drive about 330 miles.
On Tuesday, I only had a total of 9.5 hours available to drive, not enough to make it all the way to Hamilton. I left Evansville at 0830 and drove to Billings, MT. I took a lunch break here. I then drove to Rocker (Butte), MT where I fueled. My Air Conditioner stopped working between Billings and Rocker, so i’ll need to have that fixed before too long. After fueling, I decided to go use my remaining 3/4 hour to drive to a Rest Area at mm168. That’s 50 miles I won’t have to drive tomorrow.
On Wednesday, I left the Rest Area at 0630. I “guestimated” the travel time required to drive to Hamilton and arrive before the appointment time of 0900. I was pretty close. I arrived at 0845. I positioned the trailer and then went to breakfast at Perkins Restaurant and Bakery. They are a pretty good chain of Restaurants in the vane of Cocos or Marie Calendars. After breakfast, I walked the MMM again then settled in to wait for them to finish. About 1130, I was told to deadhead to our Terminal in Lewiston, ID. I left about noon. I drove over US-12 to get there (only after I arrived in Lewiston did I discover that this route was recently restricted for use by trucks). Swift routed me that way, so that’s the route I took. It is a beautiful drive. It parallels the Clearwater River for much of the way. I stopped about midway there at a Rest Area and took these pictures.

I saw no Harlies, but I did see a Gold Wing.

The MMM enjoyed a refreshing dip in the River.

There was even a little beach.
When I arrived in Lewiston about 1700, the sun was behind a big smoke cloud.

There were a couple of big fires just west of Spokane.
I decided to put my truck in the shop to fix the A/C and have a vibration in my front-end checked. I was also due for a PM Service. MORE SHOP TIME!!! WHEN WILL IT EVER END??? The answer is of course, the first part of November when I get my new truck. Anyway, after I checked in with the Service Desk, I was told to wait in my truck for the mechanic. I was amazed when he showed up 1/2 hour later. Usually it is a wait of 3 - 24 hours (occasionally more). The mechanic diagnosed the A/C problem as a damaged A/C Condenser (it had a hole in it) so all my Freon leaked out. Unfortunately, they didn’t have one in stock and would have to order it from Spokane. The vibration turned out to be an alignment problem. He did the alignment, then returned my truck to me so I could sleep in it. I went to Rusty’s Ranch Grill for dinner. It’s not much on aesthetics, but they serve a pretty good Chicken Fried Steak. Also, I was pleased to note on the menu that they served Buckwheat Pancakes. Now my breakfast decision for tomorrow AM is already made. After dinner, I drove back to the terminal, parked in front of the Service Bay, and kicked back until bed time.
On Thursday, at 0630, I took the MMM for their morning walk. By the time they were done, the mechanic was there to begin the PM Service. He found a loose shock absorber and some cracked brake shoes on the right steer axle. After he was done, I took the truck to the tire shop to have the steer tires rotated. Because of the mis-alignment, the left tire was wearing on the inside causing the vibration. Since i’m soon trading this Albatrose, I didn’t want to spend $800.00 on new Steer tires. The rotation will help with, but not solve, the vibration, but I can live with it for 2 more months. I then went back to Rusty’s for my Buckwheat Pancakes. After breakfast, I drove back to the terminal to wait until the A/C condenser arrives from Spokane. By this time, I had decided to take 34 hours off and re-start my 70 hours. The 34 hours will occur about 0215 tomorrow AM, so I just set my PTA for 0800. About 1400, the part came in, so they put my truck back into the shop. It took them about 2 hours to do all the work. Then it was “kick back” time again. I checked with the Planner and accepted a load which was pre-loaded, and could pick up anytime tomorrow. It picked up in Lewiston, ID and delivered in Ft. Worth, TX. Not a bad run, over 1800 miles. Then I just ‘vegged and geeked’ until about 2300, then went to bed.
On Friday, the 25th, I woke up about 0700 and walked the MMM. I found out that they were having a little Driver Appreciation Bar B Q, so I decided to wait until after lunch to pick up my load. Hey, free food is free food. I, of course, got a little extra for the MMM, which they enjoyed immensely. About noon, I drove over to the customer and picked up the load. The trailer had a few lights not working. I solved that problem by spreading the contacts on the ‘connector box’ with a screwdriver. Whenever, there are multiple lights inop on a trailer, this is usually the cause.
About 1215, I left Lewiston and drove to Caldwell, ID, just north of Boise. I had lunch, then drove to Twin Falls, ID. I took a 1/2 hour break here, then continued my journey. I drove to Salt Lake City, UT where I stopped for the night.
On Saturday, I left Salt lake at 1100 and drove to Green River, UT. I took a short break here, then drove to Gallup, NM. Another short break, then I drove to Albuquerque, NM where I stopped for the night.
On Sunday, I left Albuquerque at 0830 and drove to Amarillo, TX. After a lunch break, I drove to Wichita Falls, TX. I took a short break here to walk the MMM, then drove to the customer in Ft. Worth. I parked on the street and vegged until about 1030, then went to bed.
On Monday, the 28th, I decided to try to get a PrePlan before I delivered the load. There was an open delivery window until 1400. I got a load which picked up un Ardmore, OK and delivered in Reno, NV. Another good load, about 1700 miles, plus it has an open delivery window until Friday at midnight, so I’ll be able to take a couple of days off in Vegas. At 1230, I did the drop/hook delivery and left for Ardmore. It’s about a 2 hour drive. I did the drop/hook pick up, did the paperwork, then drove to Oklahoma City, OK. I fueled at our terminal there, then drove to the TA truckstop and had dinner. At 1830, I left OKC and drove to Amarillo, TX. I took a 15-minute MMM break here, then drove to Moriarity, NM (actually, 40 miles east, but this was an Native American Trading Post on I-40 at mm234, but there is no post office there, and the closest one is in Moriarity). Anyway, I arrived at 0215, right at the limit of my 14 hour window.
On Tuesday, I left the trading post at 1230, and drove to Albuquerque, NM. I took a short break here for the MMM. They can romp untethered at out terminal here.

The picture on the left shows a tree growing right through the chain-link fence. At 1415, I drove to Flagstaff, AZ. I took a short break here, then drove to Kingman, AZ. I fueled here, then, at 2245, I drove to Las Vegas, NV where I naturally stopped. It’s nice to be home for a couple of days.

Life Day 21586: Stanfield Syndrome

August 18, 2006 on 9:17 pm | In On The Road | Comments Off

The 14th was pretty much non-productive. I accepted a load which picked up in Vegas and delivered in Benicia, CA with an additional drop in Lodi, CA. After buying my new “toy” in the AM, I drove to the shipper at the designated pick-up time of 1800. The load wasn’t ready, so I settled in for the wait. It gave me the opportunity to begin setting up the new computer. At 0100, the load was finally ready. Because of the late (or more accurately, early) hour, I just drove back to the WWW and parked for the night.
At 1100 on Tuesday, the earliest I could legally drive, I left Las Vegas. I drove to Bakersfield, CA. I had dinner at Bill Lee’s. Yummy as usual. I then drove to the first Consignee in Lodi. I spent the night on the street outside their facility.
The next morning, I checked in with Recieving at the appointed time of 0800. They took over 3 hours to unload their portion of the load. At 1130, I drove to Benicia, arriving at 1245. This stop took almost 2 hours to unload their product. While waiting, I recieved and accepted a load which picked up in Sacremento, CA and delivered in Hermiston, OR. At 1530, I drove to Sacremento arriving just before 1700. This load wasn’t ready yet (I see a pattern developing). It wasn’t as bad this time, just a wait of 1.5 hours. At 1900, after doing all the paperwork, I left Sacremento and drove to Corning, CA where I stopped for the night.
The 17th was the first good days driving on this outing. Before it began though there was a little excitement. About 0330 I was awakened by both MMM furiously barking at something. I awoke just in time to see the truck parked next to me (he was on the end of the row) having his front end demolished by another truck cutting the corner too close. I watched him park and waited to see what he was going to do. After a couple of minutes, when he didn’t come to check on what he had done, I got out to get his truck & trailer number in case he tried to take off. I then went to find the driver of the damaged truck. He was already up and dressing. I showed him who had done the damage, but he said he already knew. The other driver was a Trainee, and said that he was unaware that he had done anything. I find that hard to believe, but anyway, he woke up his Trainer who had somehow managed to sleep through it all. It took about an hour and a half to get the local police there to do the accident investigation and all the other sundry rigmarole. I gave a statement of what I saw. The MMM tried to give their statements throughout the whole process as well, but no one would listen to them. Pity, they saw it all. Anyway, I finally got back to bed about 0500 for a couple more hours sleep. After breakfast, I left Corning at 1045 and drove to Weed, CA. This is where I had to make the transition from I-5 to US-97. I took some pictures of Mt. Shasta. It looks a lot different in August. I also wanted to play with the “newly discovered” zoom feature on my camera.

After this break, I drove to Bend, OR. This is a beautiful drive, especially the drive along Klamath Lake. Unfortunately, there are no places to stop and take pictures if you are driving a 70+ ft vehicle. After a short break, I drove to Stanfield, OR where I stopped for the night. The truckstop in Stanfield is less than 5 miles from the Consignee in Hermiston, so it worked out nicely.
This load was scheduled to deliver this evening (Friday) at 1800. Not wanting to waste all day waiting, I called the customer about 1000 to see if I could deliver early. They said they would take it immediately, so I drove over and checked in. It took 2 hours to unload. After that I went back to Stanfield to wait for a PrePlan. About 1430, I accepted a load which picked up in Wallula, WA and delivered in Aurora, CO with an additional stop in Denver. I drove to the Shipper arriving at 1530. This load wasn’t ready yet either (3 in a row: Good if you’re bowling, bad if you’re trucking). About 1800, the load was finally ready. I hooked to the trailer and went to their scale to weigh the load. It was overweight on the drive axles. After making all the adjustments I could make, I re-weighed the load. It was still overweight on the drives, so I had to go back to have the load reworked. About 2000, I finally had the load legal. At this point, tired and frustrated, I just drove back to “good ole” Stanfield and parked for the night. Along the way, I stopped briefly at a turnout I noted on my way to Wallula that offered a good view of the Paper Plant on the Columbia River, and took these pictures.

I arrived back in Stanfield about 2045.

HP HOORAH!!

August 14, 2006 on 9:45 pm | In Miscellany | Comments Off

On Saturday evening, I went computer shopping. The hard drive on my old HP is developing a mind of its own. The keyboard is working slowly and erratically, it stopped recognizing my Sprint PCS wireless card, the touch pad stopped working 3 months ago, and the disc drive failed over a year ago. I went to Fry’s Electronics to look for Laptops. I found one that I really liked, the HP-8330. It had all of the “whistles and bells”. A 1.73GHz Processor, 200G memory, and was TV capable. All you had to do is hook up an antenna, dish or cable. I don’t watch that much TV anyway, so that feature was a “non-starter”.
Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, I went to Fry’s top competitors to do some comparison shopping. Best Buy had only 4 models with a 17 inch screen. Circuit City had only 3. Ultimate Electronics doesn’t even carry Laptops. None had anything comparable to the 8330 at Fry’s for the price. After trying these 3 stores to no avail, I gave up and went back the TA truckstop. Comp USA was clear across town and it was just too darn hot to bother with them. The afternoon wasn’t a total waste however. While at Ultimate Electronics, I was looking at Digital SLR cameras. I told the salesperson that I already had a good camera and was just looking. The conversation turned to Zoom lenses. I said that my camera was supposed to have a 12X capability (3X manual and 4X Digital), but I couldn’t make it work. She asked if I had it with me. I did and brought it in so she could take a look at it. She showed me how to use the Zoom feature properly, and showed me more about the “movie” feature as well. I thought that was nice, told her so, and thanked her profusely. It’s rare to find such personal service in these big warehouse stores these days, especially when the salesperson already knows that they won’t make a sale.
Today, I went back to Fry’s and made my final decision. I did a ’side by side’ comparison between the HP-8330 and the HP-8320. I finally decided on the HP-8320. And what a sweeeeeet machine it is. The only differences between the two were the 3 features mentioned in the first paragraph above. The 8320 fit better into my budget because it was about $200.00 cheaper. It has an Intel Centrino Duo Mobile 1.6GHz Processor, 1G RAM and 160G memory, a High Resolution 17 inch screen, an 8X DVDR/RW disc drive with double layer support, and Windows XP Media Center Edition. It is also Windows Vista capable, if Microsoft ever gets around to releasing it. I’m happy with my decision.

Life Day 21578: Homeward, Ho

August 12, 2006 on 4:30 pm | In On The Road | No Comments

This was a good outing, except for the oppressive heat. Today, i’m in Salt Lake City, UT. I delivered a load in Clearfield this AM, then drove to SLC. I only have about 1 hour remaining on my 70 for the week, but at midnight, I pick-up another 10 1/2. I have a PrePlan which picks up anytime tonight or tomorrow here in Salt Lake and delivers in Henderson, NV tomorrow night. I’ll pick it up tomorrow morning, then take the weekend off in Vegas after I deliver it.
Now, i’ll bring you up to date on my activities since the last post. On the 3rd, after wilting in the heat in Bloomsbury, NJ, I recieved and accepted a load which picked up in Jersey City, NJ and delivered in Butner, NC. I left Bloomsbury at 0800 and drove to the Shipper. I’m not one to disparage any region in the United States as a general rule. With that in mind, let me say this about Jersey City. If one were to administer a suppository to America, Jersey City would be the appropriate place of insertion. After being loaded, I departed (gleefully) and drove to Rutger Glen, VA. I took a short break here, then drove to the Consignee in Butner, where I spent the night. This was a ‘live unload’, so in the AM I checked in with recieving at 0530, and was assigned a door. The unload took 5 hours. In the interum, I accepted a load which picked up 20 miles away in Youngsville, NC and delivered in Laredo, TX. Not a bad load. After being unloaded, I drove to Youngsville, arriving about 1400. It took an hour to be loaded, after wasting another hour obtaining the correct pick-up number from the CSR. I was fortunate to be loaded today because this customer closed at 1700 (1500 my time). At 1630, finally loaded, I drove to Kings Mountain, NC where I called it a day. Most of my time today was spent in unloading/loading.
On Saturday, I left Kings Mountain at 0830 and drove the 60 miles to our terminal in Greer (Spatranburg/Greenville), SC. Here I fueled and replaced my wiper blades. After a quick MMM break, I drove through the rest of South Carolina, and Georgia to the Alabama Welcome Center/Rest Area on the GA/AL border. I made a sandwich or 2 here and walked the MMM again. At 1500, I drove to Grand Bay, AL near the Alabama/Mississippi border. I had dinner here at the TA. Nothing special. At 2000, I used the rest of my 11 hours driving to Abita Springs, LA.
There were no real facilities here, so on Sunday morning, I drove to the Petro truckstop in Hammond, LA for my daily toilette and breakfast. At 0845, I left and drove to Baytown, TX. I had lunch here and walked the MMM. At 1430, I drove to Ganado, TX. I took a short break here, then drove on into Laredo. I spent the night at our Terminal here. I was pleased to notice that the new Flying J truckstop is almost ready to open (Grand Opening on the 12th of this month). For my entire driving career, the ONLY truckstop in this area has been a Pilot, and they knew it. This was due mainly to local political corruption in that the mayor and city council were part owners and they insured that the zoning laws perpetuated the Monopoly. The service was abysmal at best, prices were “jacked-up”, it was always crowded, and the only food available was “fast food” (McDonalds). They also charged $12.00 per night to park there. Listen for the “Giant Sucking Sound” on the 12th when everyone leaves the Pilot for the Flying J.
Monday, the 7th, was another largely unproductive day. Before I could deliver this load, I had to have the trailer inspected at the Swift terminal prior to delivery because it was going into Mexico after I dropped it at the Marshalling Yard. This little fiasco took almost 2 hours due to the line of other drivers doing the same thing. The technician found a wiring problem in the course of his inspection, so I spent another hour in the shop for the repair. While all this was happening, I recieved and accepted a PrePlan which piked up in Laredo and delivered in Clearfield, UT. After I drove the 8 miles to the Marshalling Yard and dropped the trailer, I had to drive back to the Swift terminal for an empty trailer and some fuel, then drive back the 8 miles to pick up the Clearfield load, which loaded a block from the Mashalling Yard. I finally got out of Laredo about 1630. I drove to Del Rio, TX for a short break. Del Rio is the home of Laughlin AFB, where I spent about a year in 1971/1972. It was affectionately known as Laugh In AFB, after the popular TV show of the time. Anyway, from there I drove to Fort Stockton, TX where I called it a day. I did manage to drive about 350 miles today. Not too bad considering the slow start.
On Tuesday, I began driving at 1000, the earliest I could legally start after arriving here at “the witching hour” last night. I drove to El Paso where I fueled and took a nice break. I saw signs like these all along I-10 between Ft. Stockton and El Paso.

I haven’t seen speed limits over 75 in over 35 years. I fueled at the Flying J because fuel there was 8 cents cheaper than at the Swift terminal here, and 32 cents per gallon cheaper than at our terminal in Albuquerque, where Swift had me scheduled to fuel. That’s one of the “bennies” of being an Owner/Operator. From El Paso, I drove to Las Lunas, NM. I did some shopping at “WallyWorld”. At 2000, I drove to Jamestown, NM where I stopped for the night. I managed to drive 570 miles today.
On Wednesay, I left Jamestown at 1030. I drove to Cortez, CO where I took a quick MMM break. I then drove to Wellington, UT. Along the way I stopped to take some pictures of this interesting rock formation between Montecello and Moab. I’ve seen it for years and always found it intersting.

If you are traveling north on US-191, you see the picture on the left. As you drive by, you see the picure on the right. Your eyes have decieved you and there is much more to the formation than you thought. Anyway, after another short break, I drove the rest of the way to the consignee in Clearfield. I covered about 520 miles.
Back to today. After a brief stop at our terminal, I drove to the Sapp Brothers trukstop to hang out for the rest of the day. They had Driver Appreciaton Day this afternoon with a BBQ and a Band .

They only had burgers and hot dogs and potato salad. It wasn’t bad, but i’ve seen better at some of our Swift terminals. For instance, from past experience, when the Salt Lake terminal has their Driver Appreciation Day, they will serve marinated chicken breasts along with the burgers and hot dogs. They also have macaroni salad and green salad in addition to the potato salad. They usually have baked beans and chips as well. See, much better fare at Swift.