A Skipped Generation

The older I get the more like my dad I become. While my dad died when I was barely 11 years old, I have many memories of him and of course my mom talked to me about him all the time.

My personality is very "old school" because for all intents and purposes I did not have a dad like most males my age. No I am not talking about losing my dad when I was very young.

You see, my dad was born in 1902, the age of most of my friend's grandfathers. My dad was 46 when I was born and gone by 57 years old. My mom and I spent my formative years visiting her sisters and their husbands. All of the same "older" generation.

They knew "The Great Depression" first hand as young parents just trying to keep the family from starving. The next generation (the generation that was skipped on me) knew better times and formed a softer outlook on life.

I can be hard as nails and I contribute that to the "turn of the century" people that helped form my character. These people believed in hard work, taking care of your own, don't expect the world to owe you anything, and hard work. I know I said that twice but that is what they knew.

My motorbike

I have ridden my motorbike to work everyday and it is averaging over 75mpg. Hard to call a 200cc a motorcycle even though it is . I had forgotten how one notices the smells and the temperature changes while on a cycle.

I changed the oil yesterday in anticipation of taking a little ride on Thursday but the boss called and asked if I wanted to work. You may recall the I will be working just every other Thursday for the summer. This was purely voluntary on my part as the runs that were cut for the summer was being run by one person and he would not have enough work.

Swapping with him every other Thursday (my shortest day) helped him but does not effect my paycheck greatly. Also I live less than 15 miles from work and he lives 60 miles, so if (like tomorrow) anything comes up the boss will throw it my way. When you help someone it usually pays dividends.

Milk tankers

Have you ever wondered how the milk stays cold in the "milk tankers" you see on the highway? What, you never thought about it!













There is no visible refrigeration on milk tanks.













You can clearly see "reefer" units on the trailer that we haul the finished milk products on.

The truth of the matter is, the milk tankers have no way of cooling the milk. Not to worry. The dairy farmer cools the milk after he milks the cows and it is cold when it is loaded into the tankers. The milk has to be a certain temperature before the tanker truck can accept it.







Then the tanker is really just a large "thermos bottle", keeping the milk cold until it reaches the dairy processing plant. When the tanker arrives, the temperature of the milk is checked and if it is cool enough to be accepted then milk samples are taken to our lab to be checked for bacteria and acidity. After all requirements are met, then it will be unloaded. The health department has strict guidelines that must be followed.

Got Milk?

At a dairy the answer should always be "yes". We receive our raw milk by the semi truck tanker load and sometimes we process milk faster than we can receive it.


















We are replacing two smaller milk silos with two of these 106 ft. tall, 60,000 gallon, stainless steel silos. Each silo will hold about ten tanker loads of milk. We have to have at least two silos because milk can only be stored for so long in each silo and it must be emptied and sanitized before it can to filled again. Hence, production can continue from one silo while the other is being washed.


















We moved two smaller silos that will be placed beside the short white silo that is visible in the right of this picture. These smaller silos will now be used to help with our production capacity of not raw milk products.

BTW, the non- reefer trailers you see in this photo are backed to the warehouse dock and are used for milk jug storage and other non temperature sensitive loads.

It has happened again

I don't really see the big deal about having birthdays. Just still be breathing and they will come. SIXTY is a milestone and today "I is".

When I was a teenager, I thought sixty was "OLD", probably the only time as a teenager when I was right!

I wanted to take the day off but my wife said, "Get your lazy ass out the door and make me some money".

A little ironic as starting next week I will be cut back to working every other Thursday as school will be out and some of our runs are being eliminated for the summer. We have plenty of work (even need to hire a driver) but I don't want to run WAL-MART stores. So I will work 4 days every other week and be available should they need me on Tuesdays or Thursdays.

13 years is too long

13 years is the longest time in my life that I have not owned a motor scooter or motorcycle, enough is enough.

Shortly after selling my Honda Goldwing in 1995, I broke my tailbone at work. I thought my riding days were over as my tailbone bothered me for years.

For my 60th birthday (on the 22nd of May), I bought a small light weight motorcycle. They used to be called enduro bikes or street and trail but are now referred to as dual-purpose. I wanted something that was light weight so I can carry it on the back of our camper but still be fast enough for the highway.
















It is a Lifan 200GY-5, make in China. It has a 200cc engine and will run about 75mph and get about 65-75mpg on gas. I plan on commuting to work on it (weather permitting).

Back at work

Today was my first day back to work after playing hookey last week. I had a very short day and made it fine.

No shortage of breath and had plenty of energy. I'm off tomorrow and then have a long day Wednesday. I'm well rested and we will see how I handle four long days in a row. I really feel great and think I was more nervous about my health than any major problem I was having.

May book review

"The Summons",
by John Grisham






Judge Atlee, a powerful and beloved judge from Clanton, Mississippi was on his death bed when he sent a typed "summons" to his two sons to appear before him to work out the details of his estate. The summons gave the date and time just as the judge has always tried to rule their lives.

Ray Atlee, the eldest son is a professor of law at the University of Virginia and Forrest was a drug addict. The judge appears to have died just before Jay arrives and Forrest shows up an hour later. In the mean time Ray has found 13 boxes of $100 bills (over 3 million dollars) and don't know how the "honest old judge" could have saved that that much money.

It was a quick read at under 400 pages and can't say it was up the "Grisham Standard" one has come to except but it was still worth reading.

All is well (almost anyway)

My angiogram showed I have one small vein with 90% blockage but they can't put a stint in it as it might compromise the two veins beside it that are free flowing.

One other is 30% to 40% blocked (they only stint if 70% or higher), so I will be on medicine to try to rectify the situation. All in all a very good report.

I will take the rest of the week off work as I am not suppose to lift anything over 10 lbs. for five days.

We have had a phone line based DLS for some time and for some reason our phone line stopped accepting phone calls over a year ago. No big deal as we always give our cell phone numbers for contact information. The problem was we were paying a phone line bill and a DSL bill.

This weekend we switched to an "air card" for our internet. We bought the USB port "air card" because it will work on our desk top computer and lap top. The "air card" will work anywhere we have AT&T cell phone coverage. The higher the number of "bars", the faster the internet connection.

The "air card" is a separate phone number and in no way has any bearing on our cell phone service. They just use the same cell towers. We are pleased with the speed of the internet connection and look forward to having internet with our laptop when we are traveling.

One added benefit is the $30 monthly savings. Mobile coverage and a small monthly saving, works for me.

$30, heck that will buy nearly 8 gallons of gas (if it didn't go up overnight).

Still Kicking!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted but I have been under the weather and have been resting on the couch instead of sitting at the computer.

I thought I had pneumonia because I was so short of breath, but after going to the doctor ( that shows how sick I have felt), my lungs were clear and I finally saw a cardiologist yesterday.

My family has a history of heart disease and I was a little apprehensive but my heart and valves checked out very strong. With my family history the doctor decided to forgo the stress test and is scheduling an angiogram.

As long as my engine is strong they can replace some hoses if need be. The angiogram is an outpatient procedure but if they find anything they want to correct it right then. That means when they put me under I will not know the outcome until I wake up.

On a lighter note, I sold Flintstone (my Fiero) this week. I had not driven it but once in over a year and decided it was time to get it out of my driveway. I enjoyed working on it more than driving it and don't regret the purchase or the sale.

April book review

"The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck.

It has been decades since the last time I saw the movie "The Grapes of Wrath". A 1940 black and white movie starring Henry Honda. I had never read the book but as always the book is the better of the two (that is saying something since the movie was so great).

This is the most POWERFUL book I have ever read, period! Yes, sometimes the Pulitzer Prize committee gets it right. Partly because my family were the "Joads" only a few years later with only slightly improved conditions and partly by the magnificent way it is written.

Steinbeck's novel is based on articles he had written in San Francisco. The book is about "the Joad" family, one of many thousand (or hundreds of thousands) of Oklahoma "Okies" that were driven from their sharecropper homes because of the great depression and the dust bowl.

Just hard working "salt of the earth" people that just wanted to be able to feed their family at the end of the day.

If you think "money hunger companies" are some thing new, then you need to read this book. How about the whole family picking oranges all day and just making enough money to feed the family one meal.

Not only is it a novel but a great history lesson as well. While fictionalized, it is based on the facts of the era.

If you only read one book this year, PLEASE read this one.

Doing what has to be done

Yesterday I spotted this rig.












This rig is an accident waiting to happen. Besides having a trailer to heavy for the mini-van, the mini-van is front wheel drive, and this rig was being pulled by an old lady (looked to be 80) that could barely walk. She was trying to keep the safety chains from dragging when I first spotted her.

I didn't get to see plates on the mini-van, so I have no idea how far she had already traveled but she entered I-30 heading west. The hitch was near the ground just sitting still. It has to hit the ground when bouncing down the interstate.

We all "do what we have to do", but I hope the u-haul people at least informed her that this would be very unsafe.

Hopefully she makes it without incident.

Reluctant Patriarch

I am the youngest of my family of 7 siblings. I had three brothers and three sisters (one died before I was born).

Today I sadly became the patriarch of my family as I lost my last remaining sibling yesterday. Vivian was 17 years old when I was born and had the same number of children as my mom (7 with one passing ).

Viv was a lot of help to mom and I after dad passed away and even though she lived 90 miles away, she came to see us on a regular basis and would often take us to her house for a week at a time. She would come pick us up and would pay for our bus trip home if she could not take us back.

Her children are just a little younger than I and we were more like brothers and sisters than uncle and nieces and nephew.

After my mom died and we didn't spend Christmas together, we drifted apart raising our own families but were always there for each other when needed .













This picture of her and family was taken after the funeral (in 1994) of her husband.

R.I.P., I love you sis.

Texas drivers

Maybe it's the wide open spaces of Texas, but from my observation Texans drive very fast. Even when they are in Arkansas (why would any out of state driver break the law).

They drive fast but they know how to merge in traffic. Most will speed up to get in front of my truck if there is room or slow to merge behind me. Arkansas drivers (for the most part) will wait until they are on the merge lane to look and decide what to do. I have few choices, I can move over (if I could I would have already done so), or slam on my brakes as I can't speed up in a hurry, or keep my speed and hope they don't dart out in front of me doing 50mph. Then they give me "that look" like it is my fault.

The safe way to merge is to look while you are on the "on ramp" and pick an opening in the traffic that suits you best. Either speed up or slow down to blend in.

I used to drive at speeds that would put a Texan to shame but for years I have found traveling at or slightly below the speed limit (I rarely drive 70mph in my personal vehicle and my big truck is governed to 67mph and the cruise control limit is 62mph) is my preferred style.

One of the best articles on driving slower is here.

The Smart Car

I have always had a fascination with small cars and I was aware of the Smart Car before I went to France last year and knew they were all over Europe and especially the large cities.

Mirco Cars appears in Europe after WWII but proved not to be practical enough for every day use and the small cars replaced them.

Everyone remembers the Volkswagen "Bug", but there were other very popular makes in the late 50's and early 60's. In California the most popular ones included Hillman, Vauxhall, Simca, Renault, Morris Minor, and Austin American. Used models could be bought for $25-$100.

Most wore out long before they should because Americans drove them 60mph or faster, when they were designed more for speeds of 45mph. They would run fast but they just would not hold up.

Along come the "Bug" and it really didn't have enough power to tear itself apart. The valve train was designed so it could not be over rev'd and therefor became the standard for small cars.






The Smart Car is almost a Micro car. While I am sure you have seen news on the car, I thought I would show to one in traffic on the Champs Elysees
in Paris that I took last spring.











Click on the picture to get a true perspective on its size. Almost all the Smart Cars in Paris (as most cars) were diesel.

I could see myself driving one,












but I seriously lust for one of these little diesel panel trucks.

Spring fever

My favorite flower is the daffodil. When I see them growing in the wild, they mark "springtime" for me.

Every spring I develop a case of wanderlust. Not just a passing fancy but a severe case that really hits hard and I have trouble not quitting my job and pulling up stakes and traveling. I'm not talking about a trip but a whole new address.

This year the urge is stronger because I know I could actually do it. Maybe that is also the reason that makes it more bearable. The unattainable always has more attraction.

Well, it will pass in a couple of weeks as it does every year. I have taken hitchhiking trips, bus trips, car trips, camping trips, motorcycle trips, moved to the coast or back, and even a trip to France to help with the wanderlust. I think traveling is in my DNA., my dad had it and my brothers suffered from it.

I long for the days of traveling Route 66 when it was "The Mother Road". Boy do I remember the sites, sounds and smells of that grand old highway. My family traveled it so often my dad said we could stop and borrow coffee because they knew we would be back through within a few months. A 1941 Reo flatbed truck started our trips to California.

Guess I will drag out my copy of "The Grapes of Wrath" and do a little reading.

The Sunday Drive

The Sunday Drive is a term often given for any drive that is just for pleasure. It is one of life's simple pleasures. In the spring and fall, there is nothing that can compare to driving around slowly with the windows down and taking in the sights, sounds, and smells (also one of the main reasons for owning a motorcycle) of the countryside.

Back in the day (before I had a/c in my cars), finding a tree shaded road just before sunset was sheer joy.

With gas prices almost assured of reaching $4 a gallon and diesel almost there, my "Sunday Drives" no longer seem a viable option. We try to drive as little as possible to keep our fuel costs down. We still take an occasional short drive but always incorporate it with a trip to the store.

If I fuel both my trucks the price tag now exceeds $150. While I live about 13 miles from work, we have several drivers that live over 50 miles and one young man with small children that drives over 70 miles, ouch!

If there is one thing that can put us in a depression (we are already in a recession), it is fuel prices. The price of fuel drives up the price of every thing we buy. Diesel prices really compound this as trucks deliver all our goods.

So the next time someone driving too slow (like driving the speed limit) for you, just remember they might be doing so to save a little gas and you might want to consider doing the same.

Snow = money

When we receive snow (or it is even mentioned) in Arkansas, people go crazy. They buy all the "milk and bread" in the stores (it is a known fact that in Arkansas people can't survive 2 days without milk and bread).

Most of the state received snow this week with some getting up to 18 inches but here in Little Rock we received about 2 to 4 inches.












My brother-in-law (about an hour away) sent pictures of their 10 inches of snow. This was taken on their patio by the pool.

Snow means extra work in the milk business. From just extra milk on my loads, to extra drops from my trailer, to extra loads.

Extra milk on the trailer doesn't pay extra, extra drops pay a small amount, and extra loads play very well. This week I had extra drops, extra small runs and working on my off days.

Thank you "Mr. Snow Man"















The B-I-L (the one that looks like crap)
The Snow Man (the cute one)
The niece ( "a real honey" [must take after her mother] and 18 today)

Ratings

From the seat of my truck I have a nice view inside the vehicles that pass. Though the years I have watched the "little movies" (only recorded in my mind) that appear in my drivers door window.

These little clips can last a few seconds to just a quick blink, depending on how fast the vehicle is passed by. City stop and go traffic can produce longer versions of these little movies. Just like the movies at the theater, mine can be rated as G, PG13, R, X, and even XXX.

After dark when I see a vehicle with the interior light on, I usually see someone eating, reading, or selecting a compact disc.

All this looking is just not voyeurism but also a safety issue, as a car passes the air disturbance caused by my large truck can suck the passing car toward my truck ( that's my story and I am sticking to it).

Wednesday night as I was driving from from Texarkana, I noticed a car approaching and as it reached my side window, the interior light came on. The car contained two college aged girls and the the passenger put on a little show for me, I was obligated to look (can you imagine the years of therapy she would have to endure if she couldn't get an old trucker to look) and after a few seconds they both waved and off they went after turning off their interior light.

So, how did I rate the show? Differently a "D" and quite possibly "DD's", hehe.

March Book Review

"Pretty Boy Floyd", by Larry McMurty (of "Lonesome Dove" fame) and Diana Ossana.





The true facts of any famous person will always be disputed and the life and times of Charley "Pretty Boy" Floyd has many that can not to proven and this novel is written with the known facts, innuendos, and a certain amount of artistic license.

One fact is certain, times were hard in depression era Oklahoma. The novel conjours up the "Joad" family in "Grapes of Wrath". Charley helps enough poor people with food and tore up land mortgages at banks that his was often refereed as the "Robin Hood Bandit".

Pretty Boy Floyd had a wife and a son, a steady girl friend, plus an older woman (lover and mentor in his criminal live), and George Birdwell (his partner in crime).

Charley and George robbed so many banks in Oklahoma that the bank insurance rated doubled in a year.

This a not a book for the prudish but I found it a very intriguing read. After reading the book, I checked out some of the other facts and legends of Floyd online as I knew very little about him before I read the book.