So.....like the title says. Life's been pretty boring lately. Believe me, I am NOT complaining. *lol* The truck is still a truck, although it's not been giving me as many issues lately. That's always a good thing.

Been trying to kick my muse into gear and get some writing done. Apparently it's got other ideas. Haven't written a damn thing in at least 3 months. *sighs*

Ok, well.... when I find something usefull to say, I'll say it!!!

Till then...y'all be safe and enjoy life to the fullest!

Ya know, my boyfriend is the sweetest thing in the world. This past friday was my birthday and he got me a very simple, yet special, gift.

Ya see, I have this cross my mom got me yeeears ago. It has alot of sentimental value to me. Heck, the one time I thought I lost it I cried. When I found it I was never so happier in my life... till last week.

The chain on it broke a couple of weeks ago, and I've pretty much felt naked without it. I was going to get a new chain when I could afford one, truck and all that. Anywho.... he hands me this long, thin box and when I get the paper off of it I realize it's jewelry of some sort. I open it and see a cross. At first I'm thinking to myself, "How did he find one that looks like mine?" This one was all shiny and new looking. Then I saw the little bend in it. (years of wearing it has taken it's toll) I realized it was my cross with a new chain.

I could have cried again. *lol* Yeah, I can be sappy at times. Who'd have thunk it, eh? Seriously though, that was the sweetest gift I've gotten in such a long time. Now this cross is even more special to me. I don't think he realizes how just a simple chain affected me and how I feel towards him.

He's still a troll though... probably did it just to keep me off the trial of his many exploits among the ladies...

Junior has surprised me these last two weeks. She's gone through 'em with no major problems. Although at the moment I do have to get the motor replaced for the heater, and there's a lighting problem I have going on. Chicken lights aren't working and the very top row of lights on the greenhouse aren't working either. I think Frieghtliner might have bumped something when they took off the panels underneath the doors to get at the exhaust. I'll figure it out this weekend, or someone will! *lol* Like I'm a friggen mechanic... jeesh!  If Jr. here can keep acting like a real truck I might be able to make a little cash to get her AC going again.

I do need tires before winter, though. That's going to be at least two grand right there. *ugh*

I can still say I love my truck! Hopefully, it's starting to learn to at least tolerate me! *hehe*

I found VideoCodes4U.... as you can tell by the top of the page here. I absolutely LOVE this song, Leaving Left To Do. The beat is catchy, Dierk's voice is great, I dunno...I just like the song and had to put it up there. He's got another song out, Come A Little Closer.... I think it's the best love song out there.  In fact, I need to go download that song right now......

Toodles!!! And remember...

Dyin's easy...it's livin' thats scary!

Sooo...again it takes me forever to write in this journal. Eh, oh well. Guess that means at least I'm keeping busy, right?

Since my last post my truck has had the following repaired:

Wide pipe on exhuast, in which during the repair the bunk section was scratched while muffler guards were removed and replaced. Tomorrow she gets fixed though.

AC/heater blower motor died. Later that evening the entire AC system froze up. The last two weeks have given me a hint of what hell is like, and they no longer call me Cranky...it's now Stink-EEEEEEEEE!!!

I am starting to have serious doubts on if I'll make it. I'm trying, but with the repairs I've had to made...jeesh. I still owe Mid Seven about a grand for it. If I could just get a few good weeks in.... with no major things happening I'd be set.

So, if you pray, chant, bless, dance around naked in the pale moon light offering....errr just send me good vibes, k?

Anywho...onto other exciting dramatic things.

I frequent a message board that is composed of a few women who all participate in an online roleplaying/fantasy/round robin of sorts writing deal. We all have our characters, write our things, toss curves into the mix. It's fun, and through it I met a few nice gals. But alas, as it always happens (screw Murphey and his laws already) there are idiots who happen into the mix. *sighs* So, I feel compelled to state a few things here, in this fora, and hope I don't grate on anyone's nerves while doing so.

Here goes....*note - I'm not changing the names, I'm stating who and calling it like I see it.

Staci - This woman always laugh at me! Ya think I'm lying? Go on, ask her! She'll admit to it. Let me clue ya in though... for the last, what.... a little over 2 years now Staci has listened to me bitch, whine, piss and moan; given me amazing advice, been a friendly ear to listen when I need, told me I'm an idiot when I really didn't want to hear it.... to sum it up she's been a friend, an honest friend. I can only hope that I do the same for her when she ever needs it.

Dawn - Is the epitomy of sweetness. *lol* Quiet, reserved, slightly un-sure of herself (due to the unkindness of others). Don't get me wrong.... there are plenty of us like this in the world. While I may come off as brassy and bold, when face to face I'm more like Dawn than anyone would believe. She reminds me of what it's like to be a 'lady', and to me, that means alot.

Tori - There was a time when a dear friend of mine was in need of my help.... and I had no idea how to help her. Tori opened herself up to me in a way that astounded me, and helped me to help my friend. For that, I am ever grateful. To describe her I would say SHE'S the brassy n bold one.... all the time. *lol*

Nancy - Hmmm, somehow this woman puts up with me. I don't know why, as I know I've bugged her enough times with inane shit that probably left her wondering where the fark my head was. *lol* Yet, she's a kind, compassionate soul. Wait, check that...she IS the Evil One.

Wildstar and Desertbunnie I don't really know that well. I've not chatted with either of them. From what I've seen posted on the fourms, they're both wonderful women who, if I had the time, I would chat to get to know them better. But, I don't even time to keep with Staci, whom I chat with the most. Life sucks. *lol*

Ohh Serena~~~ you didn't think I forgot about you, now did ya? *lol* Again, I don't know her that well, either. From what I hear, and read, she's a great gal! Who know's, maybe she'll have a few moments one night to chat and get to be driven nutty like Nancy was..... *hehe*

One thing goes across the board for all of the women I listed here... each of them does a wonderful job of writing!!! I am left in awe, and jealous, of their skills. I've tried to mimick them, re-read what they've written to try to learn. It ain't happening. *lol* I have learned one thing through them, though, one major important thing. Everyone has their own style of writing. Ok, I learned two things....there is a group of women out there in the world who can co-exist among each other on a message board without throwing fits and having temper tantrums. And they all reside at the Oasis.......

That all leads to....WHERE THE HELL HAS MY MUSE RUN OFF TO? I swaer, I read something and I get an idea....listen to a song while dirving down the road and something hits me.... I go to actually write it down and BAM it's gone. That muse took off running faster than I can get my little Detroit to catch it. Ugh!

I did ask a friend if he would beta the story as I write it. He said yes, which made me dig out the stuff I had written already and when I read it, I see a few things to alter.... yet - for once I think, "Hey, that's not bad." Hopefully with his help, I'll be able to see where I go wrong and write it better, get the ideas into words and make it into something the writer will enjoy. *shrugs* Or I might use it for starting a bonfire. Farked if I know at this stage.

The last two friends I had asked to beta the story, well... one seemed to get upset if I didn't change the story to how she thought it should be written. The other... all he would say, "It's lookin good." I've seen first hand what Vant can do (won't use his real name *hehe*) and I know he'll be honest with me..... now all I gotta do is get the stuff written up and sent off to him.

In the real world...

Truck sucks

Mom is back in the hospital again. Congestive heart Failure again.... for the what, 50th time? I used to think CHF was something to be afraid of...I mean shit, it's heart failure!!!!! Now, I think I'm immune to the fear behind it. Mom's had it so many times I kind of shrug it off.... I know it could kill her, so could a bag of burnt popcorn, or pollen in the air, or fumes from the stacks of my truck, or or... you get the idea. Am I heartless for not freaking out anymore? I used to all the time...

Mom goes into the hospital, I freak out and worry to death. After two years of that I stop freaking out. I tell folks, hey, she's gonna die one day. I can either spend the time I've got left with her biting my nails and pulling out my hair, or I can spend it making her laugh and doing what I can to make her smile and enjoy life. I chose the later... there will be plenty of time to freak out when she really does pass away.

Now, that might have sounded callous, but honestly...I don't care what folks think of those words. I - along with those who know me, including my own mother - know where those words come from, and how they are meant. So if ya think I'm being rude for putting it that way, bite me.

Speaking of the ladies from the Oasis...I owe them all a ton of shit. They've got me on a new addiction. The Hunter series of romance novels. Yeah, yeah I know. Romance novles!!! BUT, there's more than someone else's sexual fantasies in these books. Don't belive me? Go find a book called Fantasy Lover, author's last name is Kenyon. I'm too friggen lazy to link the web site at the moment, can do that later. But I dare ya, go read it.

...I say my truck is possesed. Well.... read on.

Now, every week there's something going on with this truck. At the end of June I wrote about my king pins. Well... let me start with that and give the short version again and I promise I'll keep it short.

While on the way to get the king pins fixed the jake brake comes on and stays on. A week later I get the truck back and the jake has been disconnected under the hood for the time being. Gotta trace the wire and all that jazz. (yeah right) While driving truck home my new water sensor doesn't work. It's only a week old. Disconnect it again and plan on visiting Freightliner that weekend.

About 3 days later I discover the wipers don't work. EEEEK! Not good. Run into another ex LMT driver and he checks behind the switch panel, nothing. Check relays. Pull ALL of them. Nothing, but suddenly the wipers are working! Ok, pull ALL relays again to find the one that controls the wipers. Wipers (nor radio) ever lose power. That's odd....

But while pulling relays discover 4 are corroded, and one is cracked. Go to Freightliner, get new relays, idea pops in my brain. What if the new relays have fixed the jake? Plug it back in, and vwuahalla!!! Jake brake works correctly again.

Have Freightliner look at sensor, they discover lose connection. Drive one block and go back. Truck is shutting down AGAIN!!! The do more searching, discover wire connection and module are corroded. Still waiting on Detroit to send the part.

Head out on a new week.

By wens. I want to slaughter someone. Truck was running fine, even with disconnected water sensor. Customer I was delivering to drops a 1,000 pound bail of tin on my catwalk, it lands right on my electrical line and air hoses. <insert alot of bad language HERE>

Damage done: Air lines survived (amazed me on that one) but electrical line needs replaced. DENT in catwalk is trimmed by the frame underneath it. Dent in middle door on headache rack. Crack in catwalk. Outlet on tractor that elec. line plugs into is pulled away from it's base. They send me to their mechanic who welds the crack, there's a hole in his weld job. They replace air line. Attempt to bang out dent in headache rack door, don't succeed. That will need replaced. Their mechanics idea of inspecting the underside of my catwalk and truck consisted of sticking his head between the steps and fuel tank and taking a peek then stating, "It looks good."

WTF??!!??!!?!?!?!?

Fine. Call customer and tell them I'm taking the truck to get looked at by Freightliner. Go get my reload, notice a 'bounce' in the truck. Yeah, it's a semi, they tend to bounce. Not like this though. Get to Freightliner next day, they check truck and find a busted shock. It was so badly broken that you could wiggle the thing and hear it clanking the metal around it. (great mechanic my customer has there!!) Replace shock, but no other damage is found.

Learn that company that built my headache rack sold out to another company, so trying to find them to order new door. Have to find a way to replace diamond plating on catwalk as my headache rack (lucky me!) is all one piece.

Fine!

*note - when I called dispatch to tell them about the tin bail, he had to remind me that I'm lady (use of bad words) and told me not to hit anyone because he didn't want to have to bail me out of jail. That man is so funny!

Not.

Anywho....

Start out this week. So far so good... Go to Wisconsin, deliver, reload, go to Michigain, deliver, bounce to Chicago to reload and head for Des Moines. Notice truck is louder. The jake brake now sounds like a machine gun. This not normal, will have Freightliner check it out this weekend.

WRONG!

Will have Kenworth replace muffler on right side as there is an exhaust leak. Half a mile from truck stop I plan on eating dinner at a sudden loud rattle comes on. I think it's the jake again and disconnect it. Nope, still there. Another LMT driver is with me so he checks it out. *sighs* I need a muffler.

Same dispatch I say is funny, really is!! He tells me I can run like for a while. Don't need to replace it right away, it'll just rattle. Eh? I cross ONE single scale and I'm screwed. They hear that and I'm getting pulled around back and will get a full inspection. So, tomorrow morning I deliver and go get it fixed pronto.

Oh, when I got the truck only one speaker was working. Apparently you CAN blow 3 speakers listening to talk radio as the ex-driver of my truck did. I replaced the front one's within two weeks of getting the truck. Decided to fiddle with the back ones and put the one working speaker in the rear. Now all 4 work.

While I'm on the subject of radios... My truck has decided it doesn't like a certain song by Prince. At first I thought it was the CD, so I downloaded the song again and burned it again. It happened to get assigned the same track number. Again, about 5 seconds into the song it just stops. CD is running, but no audio output. Eject and reinsert CD and it plays just fine. So, I burn the song again and put it in a different track number. Guess what....

Jr. decides I'm not allowed to hear that song and cuts it off again. Can't be the CD player - it's fine with all the other CD's. I just got an XM radio and it's been fine with that. It's that ONE SINGLE SONG.

So, when I say my truck is possesed... don't think I'm nuts.

Ohhh I almost forgot...when I started driving the truck about a year and a half ago I dropped my phone. It was like two days later when I found it again sitting by the brake pedal. No, I didn't have it sitting on the dash, I never leave things that small up there. Hell, I even had two friends searching the front, one on each side of the truck with the doors open while I hunted in the bunk for it. We called it and called it...you could hear the cell phone ringing, but damned if you could find it.

And I can still say....I love my truck!

Ok, so this past week was weird. I had to deal with stupid and mean people waaaaayyy too much.

First off, monday was alright. I made hella good time considering two states upped their speed limits. I left Waterloo and got to IN with plenty of time to get to the jobsite I was to deliver to by 5:30 pm. I stopped to grab a permit I needed at the Flying J in Spiceland, IN. However, things changed.

Stupid perosn #1:

I go into the truck stop and my permit isn't there. I call dispatch and tell them Ohio never sent it because that is the normal thing to have happened if a permit isn't there. About an hour or more later I discover that's not the case. This one stupid wench decided I hadn't gotten there fast enough for her liking and threw the permit away. I asked her if she was ready to go dumpster diving to get it back.  To make the story short, after much bitching from me, and her searching through the trash cans behind the counter the permit was found and I went to my truck still calling her a few choice names.

Next morning, get up and roll at 4:30 am. Get to the job site, unload, head to a brickyard to reload. It's early and I know I'll be sitting in Chicago (where the brick goes to) by 8pm that night. Life is good. Getting work done and having time to relax, too. Very good!

While snaking through a little town my mom's friend JoAnn calls. Mom's in the hospital again. She told me the room number and phone number, but I couldn't write at the moment because of turning a bunch of corners in that little town. Once I get on the straight away I use my hands-free (safety first!) and call the hospital. Patient information can connect me to mom's room.

Enter Stupid person #2:

The woman who was in charge of patient info that day must have been sense. She proved it!!

First I had to spell mom's last name 6 times for her. She couldn't find her, and perhaps she wasn't in a room yet. I told her that no, mom was in a room and had her phone since JoAnn just told me that info. The woman wanted to know why I didn't just call direct.

So I'm nice and explain to the woman that I'm driving a big rig and can't exactly write at the moment. FINALLY she finds mom. She rings the room, no answer.

This woman starts telling me to write this and that down, each time I'm telling her I can't because I'm driving. Apparently after the 4th time of telling her that she still didn't get the gist so I simply said, "I can't talk anymore. Bye." and hung up.

Get to brick yard, reload, head for Chicago. Can call patient information later when someone else is there and can put me through to mom.

Enter REALLY stupid person #3:

Going through a nice sized town I'm going about 20 mph to make sure I stay on the right route. Out of the blue this little Ford pulls up next to me on the driver's side and this guy has freed Willy and is strokin' it.   Yep, that's right...he's smilin and gigglin and making damn sure I see him strokin it. So, I call 911. He sees the cell and darts off down a side street giving me a GREAT view of his licence plate. I give it to the police dispatcher along with a description.

Now, folks, usually when you make a call like that nothing comes of it. It is hard for the cops to catch someone like that and I've got to keep going down the road. However, this time they got him. YAY THEM!

About 30 miles out of town they called me back and asked me to return so I could sign a witness form. Ok, ok.... I called and made a complaint, they did their job by finding the guy, so I gotta do my job and sign the damn report. Now to find a place to turn around. Not an easy task when traveling down the backroads of Ohio.

Mean person #1:

YAY! A truck stop. I asked the girl inside if I could drop the trailer for a couple of hours so I could bobtail and why. She said sure but to keep it as close to the tracks as I could. So I do exactly what she says. I got the legs down, pulled the hoses and was ready to pull the 5th. Wheel pin when this guy pulls up to me on a backhoe. Now - the moron just WATCHED me drop the legs and pull the hoses and saw me reaching for the 5th wheel pin... and do you wanna know what he asks me?

"You dropping that here?"

DUH!

Anywho, he gives me a rash of shit asking me stupid questions and all that so finally I say fark it. I raise the legs, reconnect the hoses and he asks me, "You local? From around here?" Considering I already have a hint that he's not real sharp I point to the name on my door and say, "Do I look like I'm from around here? And oh, by the way, I want to thank you for your kindness at a time when I really needed a little bit of help. I hope that one day, somewhere somehow, someone returns the favor."

I hopped in the truck and headed back to the cop who was waiting for me at a truck stop in his town.

Fast forward....get to the cop and they got the guy with them. Dude is sitting there adamntly stating that he's never seen me before. Without even thinking I said, "Hey, I remember you. Last time I saw ya, you were playing with a worm."

Cop giggled... dude glared.

Well, this jackass tells the cop I am mistaken, he was not strokin it. He was having a hot flash and had removed his shorts to cool himself off.

Again, I couldn't hold my tongue. I'm like, "Ya know, I don't have one of *those* so I'm not really sure, but one would think that strokin it would cause friction, which causes heat. And, if you were hot, why didn't ya remove that baseball hat you were wearing backwards before?"

Cop put the guy back in the car and told his partner to take him to the station. Guess they didn't want me to really start in on him or sumthin. *lol*

Anywho... this is when I find out that this guy has done this before, this was his 4th. time being arrested for it, so when I called in they knew who they were looking for. Especially when I gave 'em that description and plate number. My signing the witness form will help alot with prosecuting him. Main reason I called the cops is because there were kids about with their parents and such. It's one thing to have someone flash you on the highway, but in a small town where kids are at?

At least on the highway I can drift over the little white line and make the person flashing me think I'm gonna hit 'em. *lol*

I told dispatch what happened and I also told him, in the most pleasant of terms of course, that there is no way in @$%#$ hell that I'm going back to Ohio for a very very very very damn long @#%#$ time. Once he found out why, it was all over for me.

One dispatcher called later to ask me what color the guy's eyes were. Next morning the other one calls me Miss Stroker when I do my daily check in. And today when I walked in the officer I pointed at them both and simply said, "Shut up! Not a word!"

So, now everyone is harrassing me about it, Stroker, Stroker Ace..... I went and downloaded that song by Clarence Cater, 'Just Strokin'. Next time I'm at the office I'm gonna blast it. *hehe*

The only thing that makes that whoe story funny... dude used a hot flash as an excuse. He honestly thought that would fly. What a dumbass. *lol*

I wonder what will happen next week....

*sighs*

Like I said, last week was going GREAT! Not a problem to be had, cept for a woke up late one morning. Even then I was able to keep things going fine. Parked friday night and enjoyed the weekend. Monday, fired her up and headed for the shop so she could get new king pins.

I made it 2 miles from the shop and WHAM! holy hell broke loose. Black smoke poured out the stacks, then it turned white...the truck was shaking like it was going to fall apart. I didn't lose power, but damn when I accelerated it was like the engine was about to bust through the hood!

The shop looked at it, and it's not the turbo. (thank God for little favors) They don't do that in depth of engine work though. SOOOOOOOOOOOO call a guy who was a mechanic for my old boss. He goes and looks at it....

I'm dreading this, really I am. I just know it's going to cost lotsa money for this....hood is open and I'm sitting there waiting to turn it off when he tells me to and I watch what Bobby is doing. He reaches towards the firewall and suddenly the truck runs normal. No more loud abnoxious sounds....

WTF? Is his touch gold or something?

The wire that leads from the dash to the jake brake is bad. He thinks it's rubbing somewhere and rather than just replace it he wants to trace the wire and see what is going on. So, for now the jake is disconnected and within the next couple of weeks he'll get it fixed. At least it wasn't the engine.

I've sat here since monday though...and now it's thursday. Not even sure it'll be worth it to grab a load tomorrow when I finally get that bitch back. Yes, I renamed the truck... BITCH. *lol* Guess I'll figure that out when I call dispatch to see what kind of loads they have. If they have something short n sweet I'll go for it. At least make a few bucks this week. If not then I'll have finally have gotten that weeks vacation I never got when I bought the truck. YAY ME! pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!

My best friend is going to have a hysterectomy next month. I'm worried about her, although I know she'll be just fine. I'm glad I'm an O/O now though. If I were a company driver I doubt the boss would understand why I need to be here for a few days when the surgery comes about. 

Mom's in the hospital again. It's the usual rough time breathing deal that always happens. She should be going home tomorrow. I gotta go visit her....

Still trying to learn more about web page building. A friend wants me to create one for her and the business she's going to start. Not sure I can do what she wants... but I'll give it a try. I do so need to update so many things....*sigh*

Ah well...time for me to go. I need sleep....

Well, the week is still going great! I can't believe how well it's gone, I really can't. I'm sitting at a John Deere dealer in MN waiting for the morning so I can unload. That'll happen early enough for me to get reloaded, and probably get that load off the truck by tomorrow evening. Even if I have to wait till friday morning I'm still ahead.





I found this site (thanks Honey!) and it's got some pretty nifty stuff in it.

Zenhex

Go check it out yerself.

Found this quiz there, along with a million others...

What does your birthmonth say about you?

And here are the results!


September
Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people's mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Thinking generous. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves sports, leisureand traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.



Now, let's see.... Careful, cautious, organized. Careful yes, cautious yes, organized OH HELL NO!

I don't like pointing out others mistakes, although I do love helping them to not make 'em.

Quiet, at times... usually when my b/f says something that just stuns me. He has a way of doing that to me. He also has a way of making me blush.

Loyal but not always honest. Ummm...hun (waves to b/f) don't believe that one!

I do work well. Under certain circumstances I'm very confident. Always been senstivie, generous, my memory sucks, cleverness? HAHAHA. Knowledeable about a few things. I do love discovering new stuff IE the looking for information. The rest is...... well..

I do hardly show my emotions to those I don't know. The folks I do know - I show them slowly. Ya know, once bitten twice shy. I do bottle up feelings at times, although I'm trying hard to break that habit. And yes I'm choosy... and now that I've chosen I don't even look anywhere else.
Yeah, he's that good.