LIFES' EMBARRASSING MOMENTS

     I wake up to a beautiful spring day, the end of march, wondering what the day has in store for me. I look out the window to beautiful sunny skies and a high of 55 degrees, which is extremely good for Nebraska this time of year. I decide I will get showered and take a walk to look for some place nice to have lunch. I decide to partake in nourishment at Perkins "FAMILY" restaurant. Let me reiterate FAMILY. There are families coming in with there small children after church.   

     I have on the usual Truck driver attire, blue jeans and a nice pullover shirt. I walk inside to a packed house. People standing and waiting to be seated. I am being jovial and making the usual gestures such as good afternoon and how are you today. People are looking around at what's going on, taking in everything. I finally am seated and order a healthy meal of broiled Tilapia and shrimp on a bed of rice with buttered Broccoli and dinner roll with a glass of water.

     I am finishing one of the best meals I have had in the last month. I am getting up to leave just to realize at that moment that I have walked from the hotel, partaken in a grand meal, in a restaurant full of adults and children, all the while with my fly down.

     DEFINITELY ONE OF LIFES MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENTS.

DAY OF REST

     I am sitting here in Omaha, NE. waiting to get unloaded in the morning. When I get empty, I have to take my truck to the shop to have a auxiliary power unit installed, and as this is a 24 hour procedure, they are putting me up in a hotel. I will get a much needed day of rest away from this truck. I have spent the last 24 days in it and am looking forward to a day away from it. I will be able to stretch out in the room and actually take a bath instead of a shower. I am looking forward to unwinding a bit. I will be ready to go when my truck is done and will be ready to start working my way home for some much needed down time. I miss my family so much and it never gets any easier no matter how long you are out here on the road. 

     I hope everything is peaceful for all tonight and wish everyone a great nights rest. Until next time. Have a great day and another weekend is upon us. Yeah.

CAN'T GET OUT OF TEXAS

Here we go again. I sit all day in Houston waiting to get a load and what do I get. I load from Houston to Dallas. I just can't seem to get out of this Hell hole. I have spent the biggest part of the last three weeks in Texas. Houston, Waco, Dallas, Waxahachie back to Houston and now back to Dallas. Are there any other states in this country or have they all fallen off the map.  Could this be the Twilight Zone. OMG. Someone please wake me up from this terrible nightmare. If they keep me here much longer, I will have to start paying taxes here even though they don't have a state tax. They will create one just for me. What have I done to deserve this. To believe that people actually like living here. I can't see any reason why. Give me Pocatello, Idaho. Anything but this. 

      I guess that is enough of that. I got it off my chest. Will see what tomorrow brings. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was spent in (guess where) TEXAS.  AAAAHHHHHH. I must go to bed now so I can have a few more nightmares. Have a great evening and I will talk to everyone another time. Sianara.

BACK IN HOUSTON AGAIN

     Well, it is Sunday night and I am sitting in Houston again. It seems like I can't stay out of Texas or Houston. There seems to be so much freight coming into Texas, but very little going out. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. What ever happened to Quantum Physics. The law of supply and demand, and all that good stuff. I know that things will get better proportioned sometime, I just hope it is sooner than later.

     At least I can't ask for a more beautiful evening. Mid sixties and just absolutely wonderful. I guess you must take the bad and turn it into good so I am thankful for the great weather and it sure beats the snow up north. I guess I should count my blessings.  I have such great support from my family. It really takes special people to be able to put up with the rigors of having someone gone all the time and not there to depend on. Debbie has been doing it all our married life. First the Navy and now this. I guess she really doesn't need me as much as I need her. I don't mean that in a negative sense, but rather I know she can make it on her own if it came to that. I am the one who would be totally lost. I couldn't even pay the bills. I have never had to do it.

     It is so much fun doing this blog as it keeps me busy and helps the time go by much quicker. I get to practice my typing as I haven't really done much of it since I retired from the Navy. It is good exercise for the brain which people my age need so desperately. I really don't feel old until I get out of bed in the morning. A little exercise would do wonders. I think I want to start riding my bike when I get home. I'm sure Debbie would enjoy that too. Hopefully the bikes don't have to much rust on them.

     Well it is that time to say good night so will send my best wishes to all my friends and my love to all my loving and caring family. Thanks to you all for being you. Until later.

COUNTING THE DAYS

     It has been 18 days since I left the house on this extensive road trip. It seems like months. If it wasn't for the internet keeping me in touch with all my friends and loved ones, I would probably lose my mind. I still have about another 19 days before I go home again. This is a couple weeks longer then I usually stay out, but am doing this extra time so I can be home for Debbie's birthday. I am going to wine and dine her the entire weekend as our anniversary is the 2nd and I will miss that. I am going to make it a great weekend for her.

     It is very slow out here again. I got empty at 11 am this morning and dispatch said it would be saturday or sunday before they had enough freight for all the trucks sitting in this area. There are 8 of our trucks sitting here in this truck stop. I hope it picks up shortly. It is costing more money to be out here on the road then most of us are making. It is expensive eating out 3 times a day.

     I have been on the internet for approximately 10 hrs now and have caught up on everything that I could do on here. It is getting boring so I need to get off here for the evening and give it a break. You can bet that I will be back online first thing in the morning. It definitely makes the day go by a whole lot quicker.

      Until tomorrow, may the evening bring you all joy and happiness as the weekend is finally upon us. hoorah.

ONE HAPPY GRANDPA

     I am sitting here in Waxahachie, TX. waiting to leave for Pauls Valley, OK at 6:00 a.m. I have been online viewing pictures and videos of my precious Granddaughter and Grandson. What a wonderful way to spend the evening. I want to thank my fantastic daughters, Rebecca and Theresa for posting these pictures and videos so I can keep updated while I am on the road and so far away from everyone. It gets very lonely here on the road by yourself, but with the modern marvels of today, I can keep in touch with all my family and friends via the web and webcam. It makes life so much more enjoyable. As for my other wonderful daughter Beth, I sure would like to see you put that camcorder to some good use and send videos of yourself and Travis so I can keep up with you guys too. You are falling behind there kido. 

    I wish to say goodnight to everyone and hope your evening is peaceful and restful so you can attack tomorrow with a full head of steam as the weekend is upon you. My love to all .

BORED STIFF

     I am sitting here in Kansas City, Mo. while my truck is in the shop getting some much needed maintenance. I have been searching the web for anything and everything I could think of, from Sailboats to the most exotic cars. It is so cool how you can type in anything in google and there will be some information about it. I guess if you can think of it, there is an answer for it.

     I heard on the radio today that the main newspaper in Seattle, Washington officially as of today quit printing the paper. Everything is now online. Hundreds of people were put out of work. Nobody is buying the newspaper anymore. the news paper is becoming a thing of the past. Everyone just goes on line to get all there information. Personally, I would much rather spill my coffee on the newspaper than on my computer keyboard. Liquid and keyboards just don't mix.

     I saw a picture of Becky and Wayne today dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day. It was Wayne's 1st St. Patrick's Day. He also gained a pound this past week and is 9 lb. 14 oz.  He is growing so fast and developing quite a personality.  Matthew is going to be so surprised when he sees Wayne.  Infants grow so fast. My 3 girls were infants and the next day they were mothers. Time goes by so fast. Like a nanosecond. It is so amazing how generations are developed. There are 5 generations alive within our family. That's pretty cool.

     I will be in Ottawa, Kansas in the morning and hope there will be some freight to keep me moving. It has been 8 weeks since I have had a good productive week. I am due for some good luck.

     Well I must cut this short as I need to get some sleep before I continue my journey. I hope everyone has a wonder night and better tomorrow.

AT THE END OF THE ROAD

     Well I am sitting in the little town of Hampshire, IL about 15 miles from Woodstock. I have reached the end of the road for this trip and wonder what tomorrow will bring as far as work goes. I hope I won't have to sit to long, but am not getting my hopes up.  This has been a very easy and enjoyable 3 day trip. I finally got out of the rain this morning. I have been in the rain for the past 5 days. It is amazing how large some of these weather fronts can be.  At least it was rain and not snow. I have seen enough snow for this year and am more than ready for spring and summer. I will be ready to start making some west coast runs when the snow fall stops. Maybe I can make it out to Washington to see my daughter, son-in-law and grandson. That sure would be nice. I can't wait to get my hands on little Wayne. He needs some grandpa time. 

     I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. To all my friends, have a great night and sweet dreams.

PEACEFUL NIGHT

     I am sitting in Charleston, Mo. on a very chilly saturday night. It is very dark and peaceful. I am wondering what all my family is doing this evening. I have been on myspace killing time until I can get tired enough to go to sleep. It is nice to be working again..I have 3 days total on this trip and will hopefully be in a good area to keep working. I have to be in Woodstock, IL Monday morning between 8am and 10am. That isn't any problem. I only have to drive 430 miles tomorrow. I will be there early evening and will once again be online killing time.

     I found out that my future son-in-laws Dad passed away today. I know this is a very hard time for him. He was with his father for 2 days and then had to go back to work. His father passed right after he got to work. I pray his whole family will be able to come to peace with this in a short period of time so the healing process can begin.  My prayers are with Grady and his family.

     I hope everyone has a wonderful night and remainder of the weekend.    

THE ART OF SITTING

     I am on the start of day 2 sitting and waiting for a call to go to work. I am becoming quite good at sitting. I average sitting 3 to 4 days a week, and each week the sitting seems to expand in duration. I am becoming very good at certain tasks on the computer, as I have ample time to practice my techniques. I just had a wonderful practice in the art of video chat with my daughter Becky and grandson Wayne before we lost our connection. Wait, that is something else I can do with all this idle time. I can try to discover a way to prevent video chats from dropping off line. (making a stronger signal, since the wireless companies can't seem to get it right). They might even be willing to pay me a few bucks. Back to sitting. I figure at the current rate that my sitting time is increasing, I should have the art of sitting down to a science in about a month and then can become a full time professional sitter. The pay isn't to great, but I can work on other skills, like my typing mistakes and most importantly, my spelling. I hope all of my followers out there have a wonderful day and better evening. JOIN THE SITTING CLUB TODAY

UNCERTAIN TIMES

I am writing this much earlier than usual as it has become routine that I work 1 day and sit for 1 or 2. There seems to be no end in sight. It makes one wonder how much worse it is going to get before it starts improving. I really believe we are in this down spiral for quite some time. I think it will probably be mid 2010 at the earliest before we start to see any improvement. I pray I am wrong. My heart goes out to all the millions who have lost there jobs and have had there lives turned upside down. I am hanging in there and just feeling very fortunate to be employed. With all the companies downsizing to save money, I get to thinking. Why doesn't our government downsize. They could cut the house in half, the senate from 100 to 50 ( 1 per state), office staff etc. They might have to work a little harder and finally start earning some of that money they make. Maybe they should have to work 20 to 30 years to earn that retirement instead of only having to serve 1 term. These are just some of the things that could start in repairing our economy. It needs to start at the top and trickle down instead of the reverse. Until government is ready to practice what they preach, I just don't know how much better it is going to get.  We can only hope and pray our government will make the right decisions.

Well I hope all have a wonderful day and a better evening.

A WONDERFUL EVENING

     It is such a beautiful evening here in Houston, TX. I was on the internet goofing off as usual when I got a call on Skype from my beautiful daughter Becky out in Washington. We had a very nice video chat and I was able to see my very handsome grandson Wayne. He is getting so big. He is about to turn 8 weeks old. I can't wait to see him in person and get my hands on him. Hopefully they will be in Florida in June for a whole month. I can't wait. I miss my Kids very much. They have been in Washington for almost a year. It is hard to believe. So very far away but with the advancements in technology, I am able to talk to them face to face on the computer. It is wonderful. This is so much better than the old way of waiting for days for letters to arrive in the mail. I am so happy for all the modern gadgets we have today.

     Well, I must get ready to go to bed as I have to get up early to make my delivery. I would like to say a special good night to Debbie, Rebecca, Wayne and Debbie, the ones who read these insignificant thoughts of mine. My love to all.

ETERNITY IN CYBERSPACE

As I have come accustom, I am sitting all day with no work to do. I went online at 6AM yesterday morning and have not gotten off yet. It is 2am the next morning. This is ridiculously addictive. It is absolutely the best time to make the day go by and take your mind off the rigors of the day. I will probably be sitting all day today with nothing to do also. I hope president Obama can do something to help the economy. I did not vote for him but I will support him as he is what the general public wanted. I hope and pray it was a wise decision. I feel we are in this recession for the long haul and hope we can all make it through it. I say on the news today of over 300 individuals and families living in tents {a tent city) in Sacramento, CA. Very sad indeed. I thoughts and prayers go out to each and everyone of them as it could be me or my loved ones tomorrow. I have been through hard times before, but this just feels different. We need to stay strong and help one another as much as possible. Maybe, just maybe, this will bring us closer as individuals and as a nation. This very well could be Gods way of checks and balances. Things always seem to work themselves out. I believe that we all will survive this and become stronger individuals and a nation with new found knowledge and wisdom.

     So as I get ready to retire, God bless us all and have a peaceful and restfull night

AT PIECE WITH LIFE

It has been a very uneventful day traveling from Tonkawa, Ok. to Waco, Tx. Pretty boring actually, but I am feeling great for some unknown reason. I am in a very happy mood. I guess it is because it has been a beautiful day near 80 degrees and maybe spring is in the air. I love the changing of the seasons. Green in the spring and summer and the changing of the colors in the fall. We could skip winter. That would be fine with me. I am starting to get more people commenting on my insignificant thoughts. It is kind of nice having people read your thoughts and making comments about them. It is hard to write your thoughts when you do the same thing everyday. From the time I get up in the morning until I lay my head down to rest, always the same things just a different day. It is kind of like the movie ground hog day. How come I keep getting older. I guess there are some things you just can't slow down. I hope everyone has a wonderful and peaceful evening. Until tomorrow.

EXERCISE THE BRAIN BEFORE IT'S TO LATE

Several interesting things happened today during my travels and I couldn't wait to get stopped and add them to my blog.  As I sit here in Tonkawa, Oklahoma  rethinking those events, I realize I can't remember what it was that I wanted to put into words. Getting older has its draw backs. Brain cells deteriorate, the body joints ache and you keep telling everyone how great you feel. Hogwash. My children have all left the nest and I am away from my wife and I realize I have nobody here to keep me young. I need to find a way to exercise my brain before it is completely gone. I could call my OLDER sister and make myself feel better, but she probably wouldn't know who I am anyway. lol. I could call my younger sister, but she is always too quick to remind me that she is 15 years my junior. 15 1/2 to be exact and she won't come to the Senior Center to see me.I guess maybe typing will help me exercise both my spelling and regenerate some brain cells. Only time will tell. To all my family and friends. Have a great day.

THE MIDNIGHT POST

It's a beautiful midnight hour here in Lincoln, Nebraska. I will be leaving early in the morning for Waco, Texas. I hope today is as nice as yesterday was. I am really looking forward to spring and summer. I have seen enough snow to last me a lifetime. I love the snow from my living room window, but hate driving in it. I have 4 more weeks before I head home. Same old thing just a different day. I always find myself wondering what tomorrow will bring. That seems to make the days go by faster. I did not get to see any of my family online today which is always disappointing, but I will be thinking of them when I lay my head down tonight. To all my loved ones. Goodnight and I love you all.

MY FIRST BLOG ENTRY

I am sitting in Atalissa, IA. forming this blog per Becky's request. It is 10:35 PM and what a beautiful March evening.  As always, my thoughts are of my wife and kids. It is so hard being apart from them for so long. It gets very lonely traveling and being so far away from family and friends. We do what we must to provide for our loved ones. Just knowing that I have such a loving wife waiting patiently for my return makes it all worth while. Debbie has been putting up with me being gone for almost 32 years and she never complains. Maybe that's just because I am not around to hear it. Getting this computer was the best thing I have done in a long time. It really keeps me occupied when I have down time out here on the road. I have plenty of time to think about my daughters and grandchildren. I am able to skype  with them and see them while I am out here and it makes it seem like they are sitting in the same room. Technology is amazing. I don't know how I survived without a cell phone and computer. They sure help me keep in touch with everyone