Where Have You Been? And What Have You Been Hauling???

Sometimes it might be interesting for you all to know what we haul and where we go...
so I will be posting from time to time what has been going on....

Clackamas, OR > Boise, Idaho - Produce
Boise, ID > De Kalb, Illinois - Powerbars
Aurora, Illinois > Atlanta, Georgia - Can't remeber
Atlanta, Georgia > Sealy, Texas - Crayons
Houston, Texas > Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - Motor Oil
Oklahoma City > Brundidge, Alabama - Potatoes
Calhoun, Georgia > Appleton, Wisconsin - Bread Crumbs ((yes, I'm serious))
Plover, Wisconsin > Byron Center, Michigan - French Fries
Quincy, Michigan > Ogalalla, Nebraska - can't remeber
Ogalalla , Nebraska > Kent, Washington - can't remeber
Kent, Washington > Minooka, Illinois - frozen waffles
Portage, Wisconsin > Tolleson, Arizon - meat
Phoenix, Az > Green Bay, Wisconsin - can't remeber
Chicago, Illinois > Mechanicsburg, Pennsevania - Gum
Harrisburg, Pennslyvania > Fogelsville, Pennsylvania - can't remember
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania > Carthage, Missouri
Springfeild, Missouri > Stockton, California
Castroville, California > Atlantana, Georgia
Garner, North Carolina > Carol Stream, Illinois
Paw Paw, Michigan > Fargo, North Dakota > Paw Paw, Michigan - juice boxes.


That should give you some of an idea! We did all of this starting on 8/4/09, the last one the most recent.

Thanks for reading, caring, and loving us...
Kiss, kiss,
Terrilynn

Just another day, another load....

Well...just to let you know about some of the "fun" trucking can be....

We were on our way home. We were booking it back so I could make an event @ the Ramtha School of Enlightenment (www.ramtha.com) I have missed quite a few events over the years for varying reasons...but, we had the money, the time, and we were on our way home. All was well. We would be getting into town the day the event started ((three days later than I requested off)) and we would rush to pick me up a new tent, Randy would drop me off @ the ranch...and 'Bob's your uncle' we all would be happy.

Well...so i thought.



I was driving along ((unfortunately wouldn't be able to stop and visit family because we were in such a hurry)) on I-94 just passing Fargo ND. And the Qualcomm (satellite communication device with our company) beeps @ me. I thought it was just a lovely safety message...but they said I needed to turn around and return the load BACK to Paw Paw Michigan!!!

I fought it but in the end the company won. So after driving 755 miles I pulled off of the west bound, pulled into a truck stop Eastbound and proceeded to cry my head off. It even scared Voodoo to hide @ Randy's feet.

But after a good hard cry that lasted less than a few minutes...I sniffled and went back to the drivers seat and headed east.

Well...I thought that would be the end of our little detour...but I was wrong.

We got to the shipper/receiver and did not have the correct number to return their product to them. We were there just the day before...with their paperwork and their seals...and they wouldn't unload us. It took them 3 hours to locate this correct number...not to mention MANY phone calls...Finally I walked in and used my charming firm voice and said "C'mon, Isn't there someone you can call and talk to?" I was dealing with my company AND a broker (sub company that gets loads and then sells them...genuine pain in the ass's) and I told this guy that we are just not coming up with the right number. There were 5 trucks behind me waiting to get a door (to get loaded or unloaded) and I was worried we would be there all night. And although I am totally involved in my current book...


The idea of sitting there all night was not appealing to me at all. Do you ever have to stay somewhere when you really wanna be someplace else...like I am sure there are days that you are sitting in the office looking outside especially on a warm spring day where everything smells fresh...you wanna go on a hike, or paddle, or make some sweet love in the park, maybe have a glass of wine on your porch...yeah...that's nice!

Anyways...we finally got unloaded!!!!

Now...we go to Illinois to pick up something that goes to Indiana. (300 miles) THEN we have a load that picks up in Indiana and then another pick up in Wisconsin...then...can you guess...then...that's right folks THEN I get to go home.

Well, by then the event will be over...
BUT the Pollyanna in me says...well...I will get to enjoy wine with my sweetie...

We're gonna put the semi in the shop for some sweet loving...my pickup which has been so very neglected over the years will go into a shop as well. The car needs an oil change and tires. We'll get wood for the winter. I will cook some fabulous meals. Randy will buy his shot gun. And maybe we'll get a REAL couch! Maybe see some friends and family. Maybe plant some winter type "crops" Not an event...but lots of "maintenance" going on!

So if ya get a chance to...hug a trucker today!
Looking forward to "home time!"
Kiss Kiss....
Terrilynn

PS a really big upswing of this delay to home time is we get paid an extra $40 a day that we didn't make it home. Although we have never cashed in on this before...we will now!

Road Blocks

First...update....
Houston....yeah, we got out of there after 10 days!!!! The repair was covered by another store. If we would have paid for the repair...it would have been around$6,000...or our LIFE! Yikes!!!!

But, we are rolling again. And all is well.

But to the blog...
What do you do when a road is closed? The way appears blocked?


This is coming from more my own inner contemplations vs. our TRUCKING life. But it kinda applies...

What do you do when the way is shut?

If you were and epic hero like Frodo...you keep going. Regardless of what/who/where/what happens. But is this the way ordinary folk live their lives? At all costs...lay it all on the line...finding the other paths to the same end all be all's of what ever it is we are trying to accomplish?

In winter...if the road is closed out...depending on where we are...we just "shut down." We hang out, watch movies, take showers, do laundry...sleep. Until the magical moment comes and the road opens and we continue on our way.

I have something I am trying to achieve in my life...and I keep hitting road blocks...so my BIG thoughts of the day are do I keep with the head strong me...and FORCE it? Do I gracefully bow my head and walk for a door? Do I wait it out...knowing the road will open eventually? Spring will come and melt it all away? The waters of emotion will recede and I can continue on.

What do you do? Beg, borrow and steal till it happens? Laugh at another block and continue on? Tell yourself it should not be this HARD if it is "meant" to be?

Close our eyes and focus?

This is what is troubling me today...

I want to be studying and using this down time to be productive...but this oyster has a big grain of sand in her shell...I hope I don't choke on it... and I can turn it into a pearl of wisdom!!!!

Hanging on...still in Houston.

Update on our truck repairs...

Yes...we are still in Houston!

It's almost been a week. In fact tomorrow it will be a week.

Although I am enjoying the "study" time (I've been reading a bunch), I really feel for the rest of the members of our little family. Voodoo is trying to sneak out everyday, although, she refuses to walk on her leash. Deja keeps going into the kitty carrier. Randy is starting to climb walls. (Not in that oh you're rock climbing sorta way.)

We're gonna post some fun pictures of how we cross the road to get to the movie theater, restaurants and such...and yes...It actually does involve a chicken.
I can't post 'em yet, they are on the phone and he left to watch District 9. Personally, government segregation of anyone/thing with then revolutions...yeah...I rather miss out on...I saw the news last night with all the anger on the health care reforms...I think we will be seeing more government involved in everything way to soon.

I rather stay home (here in lovely room 112) and watch a Ramtha video, drink some wine, and read.

Kiss Kiss to you all,
Wherever you maybe...
Terrilynn

Hung Up In Huston

Well, this really isn't the view we have currently, however, it is the correct sky line. Houston Texas!

We've been here for a little bit now due to an unplanned yet very needed repair.

Our transmission was FALLING off. Not due to any negligence on our part. Just sometimes screws work their way out of being screwed in...in the end leaving us a little screwed. We've been here since Monday morning...it's now Wednesday afternoon.

We've had several meals at Denny's (conveniently located in the parking lot of the hotel we are in). Had Domino's pizza. And watched some awful TV. How can a hotel NOT have the Sci-Fi channel. If they had that...I'm sure we'd be much more entertained. ((By the way skip seeing the movie "The Watchmen." Dr. Manhattan was really what kept me involved...but other than that i could have skipped the experience.))

Randy is getting a little board, Deja was sitting in the carrier as if to say "let's go." However, any time it seems like we are leaving Voodoo hides! I've been reading a lot. Just finished The Psychic Warrior by David Moorehouse. And now I am well into my second reading of Brother of the Third Degree.

Being stuck this long is a bit much...we don't make money sitting here that is for sure. And we both could think of @ least 50 places we would rather be...Houston in the summer ....HHHHHHOOOOOOTTTTTTT!!!!

hot hot hot...and humid....not our gig.

We found a pool here (they didn't tell us about it) I have no swimming suit...but since my underwear and bra cover more than most swim suits...I think we will go cool off!

Tonight we might venture across the freeway for a steak dinner and a movie.

Ya see there are wonderful parts of trucking and then the not so fun stuff. But we are together, safe, and relatively happy. Which is much better than what could have happened if we didn't put the truck shop. If we would have neglected to take care of this issue...to put it bluntly I wouldn't be here any longer, nor Randy, nor the cats.

Happy to be alive,
Happy to be hot even,
as long as I am here!!!!
And with the man I love,
Terrilynn

Uh oh...Randy just found Criss Angel on TV...looks like swimming is put off for a bit...I'll pour some wine and expand the mind! Finally some thing worth watching! I am sure it will still be hot in a little bit!

Cabin Picture Update

OK folks as promised this is the cabin that we are now living in...for real...not some random picture I pulled off the web. If you look really close you can see Voodoo in the yard...and Piere as well. If ya don't know who Piere is...well...he's unexplainable.

We got to spend a little time at the cabin moving in some of our stuff. Currently we are using the patio furniture as our living room. But, we do have dishes and spices of course.

The cabin is small but perfect for our needs. Kinda like a big studio apartment on 150 acres! The cats of course are crazy about it. And it is easy to get the truck to, in, out and around this area.

I have a couple of wine drinking girl friends that live on the property...which I am so very jazzed about!

There are cows, horses, stray cats, and rusting cars...all the things of a perfect farm.

Next time we go home for home time we have promised ourselves a short stay with no work. It will be the first time in almost two years we weren't staying in a hotel, or moving stuff or whatever else...I think I will drink wine and make a music mix!!

Well...
With much love,
Kiss Kiss,
Terrilynn

Public Service Announcement I "That Sweet Spot"

Ok...it seems as though we get a lot of interesting questions as truck drivers. Me especially since I am a girl. One of them is what is the thing you are most afraid of as a truck driver...that question is easy...killing someone/Randy/and/or the cats.

But as a driver there are things that you folks in cars JUST DON'T KNOW. You folks...we call you "4 wheelers."

This is the first in a God only knows how long series I will be calling "Public Service Announcement."

Because I love ya...and I know that you are clearly UNAWARE of what you are doing.

So this first one is dedicated to that sweet little spot in front of a semi. You know it. It seems as though you are late to God only knows what. You're in a hurry. Ya gotta get the kids. You don't want to sit in traffic. You're late to work. You're just reckless/clueless. Whatever...we all have this issue. And here comes a semi. You know that there will be a "sweet spot" in front of it. Almost like that driver is saying "here...I know ya got stuff to do...come on in, I saved you a spot." It's a nice big space. You might be thinking ((if you even see the driver)) that "wow, that truck drivers letting me in." If you are in California(or Detroit, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, Seattle and the entire eastern seaboard), you especially use this spot as you book across 5 lanes of traffic to get that off ramp that you didn't think about till the last minute. Then you desperately truck hop.

Listen, I am not coming down on you all! I just want you to know what that spot is ACTUALLY for.

TRUCKS TAKE A LONG TIME TO STOP. They are very heavy. They are big. They are heavy. And if that truck driver is doing what a lot of you are doing (texting, makeup, changing the radio station, talking on the phone, spilling coffee...) then he/she has even less time to stop. And we don't want to hit the brakes too hard...because then something else happens...not only would the truck driver take you out...but then the trailer would jack knife, and or roll...and think of how many people are on the road next to the truck...they too would be literally wiped out.

There are many parts of the braking system and it is all about timing. The driver needs to see you. Then (hopefully) they react. Then is the actually stopping of this big heavy mass of metal coming your way. And again hopefully the driver doesn't brake too hard causing a jack knife.

That little spot in front of a truck is a drivers way of being safe. They could tailgate like so many 4 wheelers do...but, that can get messy really quick.

So please...use that spot in front of a truck with care. Know why it is there and pay attention.

Thanks for your time...
Kiss Kiss,
Terrilynn

PS Rule to remember....back in drivers ed we all learned about that two second rule. You know the one for following distance.......Trucks have a 15 second rule. Yes, I said fifteen seconds of following distance.

PPS the following picture is a result of a truck that is unable to stop in time. As far as I know, no one was hurt. However, most drivers would loose their careers, because they were unable to stop in time, no matter if it was the car's "fault" or not. Which really sucks.