Keepin' on truckin'

I guess there's a bit to catch up on and will try to keep it in order and skip some of the boring stuff. We picked up the truck Thursday morning. Now remember that was in Piscataway, NJ, right on the harbor. Then headed for three pickups - Dayton, NJ, and Fredericksburg and Mechanicsburg PA with a drop at the KMart distribution center in Warren, OH.

The next work assignment was to pick up an empty trailer in ... I can't remember. Anyway it was in OH and dead-head to Rochester, NY. That's about 250 miles empty. Like Schneider doesn't have an empty trailer or driver in NY. Oh well, I get paid the same. So we picked up a bunch of auto parts at a GM supplier in Rochester and headed for the drop Saturday afternoon in Detroit.

Going east and west on I90 we went through Buffalo twice. Couldn't help but think about Tim Russert. I really enjoyed him on MTP and had read two of his books last year.

On the way through Ohio we took the Lake Erie Circle Tour drive on US-6. It was really quite beautiful. We stopped to take a few pictures. I don't know if my camera is taking a dive yet but I got 5 black pictures. DRATS.

I did get two. But the best ones are of the house the owner of this dock is painting. He's painting the house to look like the original Mayflower ship. You could see the bow and rails and spindles. Really cool. But his dock was very nice, too. My pic of the Funny Lady was also black...

We delivered in Pontiac, MI and are resting in a rest area north of town. No load yet today. If they don't hurry up we'll have to head for the casinos downtown and have a Sunday brunch.

More later.

Might be in the dog house again

Delivered the truck this morning promptly at 6:30 and they started on it right away. I chatted with the owner a bit and then headed out. Before I left I entered on the QC that I would be unavailable until tomorrow at noon ( I thought ) I actually entered today. So at noon they started shoving loads my way and when I didn't respond I got a call to get the truck and get going. When I said I really couldn't, I was in NYC I got a raft of #$%t. So I think I'm in the dog house again.

Somehow the Funny Lady found out I was going to Times Square and must have followed me there. What a beautiful day in NYC, no humidity and about 85 degrees. We took the down town and up town bus tours again. Had a wow lunch at the Taj Mahal in the East Village. Took a nap in Central Park. Enjoyed the subway in and out of NYC and cheese cake from Juniors for the ride back to Pascataway, NJ.

We walked up and down Times Square and had a blast.

Back to work in the morning and see how long being in the dog house will last.

Thanks for the VM, Ron... and, yes, I did honk at you in PA.

Moose Crossing - Kennebunkport

On the way to Raymond, NH the next work assignment popped in.



Let me back up a moment, just to fill you in. A couple of issues have come up since the Funny Lady showed up. First, I can't just stop anywhere, got to have a bathroom. I used to be able to stop most anywhere but now it's got to have a bathroom. That brings up the second issue, noise. Where there's toilets there are other trucks, usually a bunch. Many still run all night.



Some of the best places are Supercenter WalMarts. They are 24 hours and have b/r and she can get her pedicure !!!



Next are rest areas. Some are better than others. Truck stops are the worst, but they have my morning coffee.

And of course hotels...



Anyway with the combination of the above we're working it out.

So, where are we now ? The next work assignment sent us over to Hollis Center, ME to pick up
45,000 pounds of Poland Springs water. With three drops this morning, 2 in NY and 1 in NJ. I hated it. Through the tight suburbs to deliver at local A&P stores. About 2 hours at each store. Pain in the butt.

So what am I doing in the picture at the right. Well a couple of days ago the driver side latch mechanism hung up and the inside handle ended up breaking, not even the outside latch would work. So for the next couple of days I would go in and out the passenger side door. Now you can imagine the hassle that caused. Then last night the passenger side hung up and eventually that handle broke. Sot the only way to open the door was like the picture above.

Started at 0400 this morning with three stops, in and out opening the door like that... that's it !!!

I contacted emergency services and got the location of a Freightliner repair shop close by the last drop and after dropping it drove over to the shop. It was about 4:00 by the time I got there so they told me to come back in the morning. So I dropped the trailer and we bobtailed out to I287 in New Jersey and in the morning (0630) I'll drive the truck back over and let them have it. I suspect they'll need to keep it tomorrow and order parts and install them Thursday so at this point it looks like we'll spend tomorrow afternoon and evening in NYC.

We were whipped... but we had a bath and a great dinner at Red Lobster and can relax now.

Sunday - Day of Rest - NOT !!!

I wanted to add, one more time, that Tamarack - the Best of West Virginia was a real treat to stop at. If you're even close by make a point to spend some time there, you will not be disappointed.

We made it to Danville, VA by about 10:30. I thought we were going to one of their distribution centers. But no, we're delivering the grocery carts to a brand new store set to open 7/27.

I pulled up to the back wondering how I was going to get all of them out. Not to worry. About 20 "kids" popped up and started hauling them out. All new employees at the store. About 20 minutes and done.

This morning we had coffee in Roanoke, VA. Breakfast in West Virginia. Lunch, well we missed lunch but took a potty break in Hershey, PA. Then passed through New Jersey and New York and are now in Milford, CT. I think we touched seven states today. I tried like heck to get to the Long Island Sound for dinner but every bridge is under 13 feet and we just didn't fit. I had a hankering for surf and turf. We settled for fajitas at Moe's. Good, but not S and T. And for the record... BEFORE we could eat, the Funny Lady had to get a pedicure. Makes her happy and therefore me too.

We're headed for Wal-Mart in Raymond, New Hampshire (just outside Manchester) with a "high-value" load of pillows and pads. I love it. It's less than 10,000 pounds. Pays the same for me and easier to pull. We'll leave here oh, about 7 am and deliver by 1200 and then who knows.

Ron, I guess you're off the hook this trip... say hi to the folks there for me. Think about you guys often.

Mike Y... haven't heard from you in awhile, everything cool ? Any news on Matt ?

Around the States in 80 Days -

Not really but it feels like it. Yesterday we hooked up with Andrea at a truck stop just outside of Danville, IL. I think she thought we were quite cute in our little motor home. We a great breakfast at the Oakwood Truck Stop. It really helps when you are starving and we all were.

Here's proud Funny Lady and Andrea. Andrea got a job, not sure exactly when she starts, at the Hilton Garden Suites. She's going to do great there and use it as a stepping stone to many other opportunities in a couple of years.

Congrats to you, Andrea. They will love you, not like we do, but good enough.





So we continued on to Sam's and dropped our "confidential" load and then picked up a trailer with 1 pallet of erroneous baby training pants. It hadn't been on the previous bill of lading so they made Schneider take it back. I dropped it back at the Gary OC and informed them that their training pants had arrived. Got a laugh out of that one. We quickly dropped our pants, so to speak and picked up another trailer and headed out.


Headed down I65 we read the signs that there was an accident closing all the lanes about 30 miles down the road so we jumped off and headed south on IN-55. A bit slow going but nice anyway. When we got far enough south (IN-10) we headed east to pick up I65 again. On our way to I65 we saw the tow trucks hauling two big rigs away - quite a mess. Don't know how much or what else was involved but those two were ugly.


We stopped for the night at the rest area at about mile post 200. Took our walk and then I thought I would put a padlock on the load for security. So I checked the load - 10,000 pounds and no not diapers, or paper just 236 Target grocery carts. We're taking them to Danville, VA.


One the way down 64/77 the Funny Lady noticed the signs for the Tamarack. It's a great artisan - I said artisan not cortisan village.
There were numerous groups - quilts, pottery, class, wood and so on... She had to examine almost every quilt. We had a great bbq pulled pork sandwhich. Look, she's got a bag from there. Lucky for me we got out of there in under two hours and the bag is empty.


We're parked for the night in the WalMart in Princeton, WV and are about 3 - 3 1/2 hours from Danville so we'll drop by 11 tomorrow morning. I know from past experience that it is difficult to get back out of VA. If so, we'll rent a car and head for VA beach.
If we're real lucky we'll get routed through the Charlotte OC and get a chance to hassle big Ron and family. We'll see what comes to pass...


The other night we watched Bucket List - I liked Jack's line "as you grow older, never pass up a bathroom, never waste an erection and never trust a fart." We've got it covered, I guess we're older now.

Bob and the Funny Lady.

Headed for ... Illinois

Fairly uneventful trip through Tennessee and on to Georgia. Spent last night at the Atlanta OC. As I mentioned previously I was concerned that the delivery was scheduled for 6/20. Got it changed to today but still at 545 est. That requires us to get up at 345 cst. Last night, before delivering this morning got the next work assignment. Come back to the Atlanta OC and pick up a high-value load and take it to the Sam's Club distribution center in University Park, IL.

Go back about 700 dropped one trailer and picked up the next and on the road by 800 am cst.

Drove 460 miles today and have stopped in Henderson, KY. We checked into a Super 8 and The Funny Lady is reading, sunning and swimming. The Cubs are on tonight so I came in to catch up and watch the game.

Have about 200 miles to go tomorrow and we're trying to hook up with daughter Andrea around Champaign for breakfast enroute.

Got to tell you, it's rough world !!!

P.S. - passed a bunch of Red Lobsters and Olive Gardens recently and if Ron would send me a gift card we could stop in and eat, HAH !!!

Were Baaaack, and gone again

Our Saturday flight back to Chicago was supposed to leave SF at 6:20 and arrive about 12. I guess I have to report not everything goes perfect for us. The plan actually took off about 10:30 and we got into Chicago about 4 am and back to Gary a little before six... long day, but surely worth our time in CA with the kids.

Sun I picked up a Sprint wireless card for the laptop. I guess I can blog just about anywhere I want now.

We picked up a load in Gary. Iron fittings for Microsoft's new secret data center...ssshhh then drove over to the Ohare Oasis to get coffee/tea and wait for the next work assignment.

We've got it... 29,000 of mustard. Headed for a drop in Tennessee and then GA. I'm a little miffed. The load to TN has to be there by 10:00 tomorrow and then the GA not till 0545 on 6/20, three days 250 miles. Homey don't think so. We'll drop in TN then get to Atlanta tomorrow night and try to drop in College Park, GA 0800 on Wednesday. We'll see.

Anyway we're shacked up for the night at a real nice rest area in Kentucky.

So far the wireless card gets my approval. Keep you posted on that one.