Cabinet shelves.

Hi everyone. Having a reset at saskatoon and what better way to utilize my time than to make some shelves for the cabinets in the truck.
Freightliner made a hanging closet that was no use unless you had an inside leg of less than 24" and each cabinet only came with a base.
A quick visit to Home Depot (B&Q) and $20 later I was the proud owner of somewhere to put my stuff. Home Depot will cut the wire shelves for you and a saw is available to cut the wooden (MDF) battens to length. Make sure you get the correct measurements and write them down.
All in all its a quick and easy job that I should of gotten around to weeks ago but at least its done now.
I have been preplanned for a load to calgary in the morning so fingers crossed its a decent load out of there.

Guestbook

Just a quickie. I cannot reply to posts entered into my guestbook as Outlook has gone a bit wrong.
If you are trying to get in touch use the "comments" link at the bottom of every post. You can leave your email address as I wont publish it.
You can also get in touch via Facebook (for the minute at least) by searching for Phillip Henderson or Montedarlo as a screen name.

Fantastic scenery.

My load from Wenatchee was a bit of a nightmare and I am pleased I saw sense and went to bed early instead of waiting. Arrived at 2pm and was rudely knocked up to load at 4.30am, luckily the load was ready to put on and an hour later I was on my way.
After driving through my second winter here I really look forward to seeing a bit of colour instead of basically black and white and the run back to Lethbridge doesn't disappoint. I thinks its a pleasure to see the sights and even if I am having a bad day they can go a long way to making it seem better.
So, arrived in Lethbridge to find out I had to take the trailer onto Saskatoon Saskatchewan which was no big deal other than Saskatoon is a bit of a deadspot when it comes to getting a reload. Met up with a mate from the UK who I knew when we drove the car transporters and I would like to wish Paul and his family the very best of luck with their new life. I have mentioned to despatch that I would like to take Paul out on his Mentor trip which as posh as it sounds is basically a trip where Paul "should" learn the basics of the job, logbooks, driving hours. customs procedures and by the end of the trip feel confident that he could go it alone; well thats the idea anyway hahaha. I need to be around when he passes his test which should be in a week or so; fingers crossed.
The loaded trailer has been dropped at the customer so all I need to do is go in for it in the morning and collect the signed delivery notes then wait to see what job I have next. I was preplanned for a load to Chicago but there was no way I had the hours to make the delivery so unfortunately I had to refuse it which was a bit of a bummer as once again its good miles.
Thats all for now folks...stay tuned.

Wow, its been a week since my last post

Hi all, doesn't time fly when you are having fun ?
In washington at the minute but not without doing more than my fair share of Canada runs.
Sat in Mississauga for a day longer than I needed then headed West with a load for Calgary. The delivery time was pretty tight which in turn meant doing plenty of miles on some of the worst roads I have driven on.
Met up with a Canadian driver, Chris and the time flew by as we chatted, put the world to rights as well as learning some useful tips, tricks and some general stuff I didn't know about.
Once again I had to deliver the trailer myself even though I was over 12hrs early for the delivery and wasted over 4hrs doing this, then another 6hrs sitting around before being told to bring the empty trailer down to Lethbridge.
Popped into the Sandman Hotel to catch up on the gossip and the place was deserted so had a few cokes and called it a night.
My trailer was ready and loaded the following morning but I had to collect it from the customer which in itself is no hardship but it does waste time.
Had a nice drive across Crowsnest Pass, well better than the truck who somehow ended up laying it down on the railway tracks.



The other pictures are snaps from today running from the delivery in Moses Lake Washington to the collection at Wenatchee Washington.
I have just got the one pick up which is great (cherries) and the one delivery which is Saskatoon Saskatchewan back in Canada. After that its anyones guess, fingers crossed its back south as lately even though I have had some big miles I have done my share of Canada for the time being.

Did a loop and back in Mississauga Ontario

After sitting and waiting and pretty much earning nothing for days I was despatched to collect a load in Kitchener Ontario and run it to Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Found 2 problems with the trailer..a flat tyre and a brake hose had been rubbing on the protective sheath, both of which needed repairing before I could leave; hence 4hrs wasted while waiting for this.
I made good time to Saskatoon and was preplanned to collect a loaded trailer from the same company which was bound for Winnipeg Manitoba, and then preplanned to load from the yard in Winnipeg to run back down into Mississauga Ontario. Pretty good miles by anybodies standards but of course it meant running on crap roads so everything needed to be battened down in the truck.
Made the drop at Mississauga last night (tuesday) and I am sat having a day off at the Husky and looking forward to going to the Steakhouse tonight for a big piece of beef !
I covered around 3600 miles on this round trip and it took 7 days which for me is a lot of miles. I didnt particularly enjoy the trip as its sleep....up....drive....sleep, not how I like to work as where is the fun element in that ?
So, its miserable weather in Mississauga which put a stop to me spending the day doing the sightseeing bit in Toronto. I really wanted to go as I need some pics for the blog and I also wanted to see the CN Tower, maybe next time.

Going on a bit of a rant.

Before you read any further, this post may contain the following:
Profanities, course language and the slagging off of old people who should know better.
A couple of things have rubbed me up the wrong way recently; maybe its because I havn't cracked one off in a while but regardless...its time to put them right.

Geriatric Cyclists..........firstly there is no need. Just because you jumped onto a bike at 82 does not mean that you are alive now at 118 because of it, its a fluke. After you have crawled up the hill and have pulled over to slurp on your "super high energy drink" at least make the effort to move away from the side of the road especially when its the brow of a hill as I have to slow down as I cannot see whats on the other side and we dont want one of you getting blown over ,do we ? Also please refrain from wearing glow-in-the-dark super skin tight clothing; trust me it does not make you ride any faster nor does it make you look cool. Just be old and be happy, go to the pub or even better have fun blasting around in an electric chariot in your local Walmart.

My Blog....I have been pondering for a while on making my blog a strictly private affair meaning that if you try to look at it without being invited then you will be refused access. Certain issues are pointing me towards this which is a shame as I have a regular following and for the last 4 months it has been visited by 65 Countries. I will of course keep you informed of this in plenty of time.

Facebook....for me is coming to an end. I am fed up with trying to decipher what people are trying to say when they intentionally misspell words. I also have no interest in "what alcoholic drink you are, how great a lover you are or what kind of lingerie suits you best". Facebook annoys me so its time for it to go.

Work...as in true Facebook style "Enuf sed"


I feel better already. On a lighter note, here are a few pics taken last night near to Longlac Northern Ontario.

Our Lady of Peace.

Found on the State Line between Wyoming and Nebraska the Lady of Peace rests on a 10 foot plinth and stands 30 feet tall. Weighing in at 180 tons she is one of the largest concrete "Marian" statues in America. ( Marian, an adjective used of things relating to the Blessed Virgin Mary)

My Fuji S100fs is up for sale.

My old camera is up for sale. Reviews can be found at the following links as I dont want to drone on about it too much so if you are interested then have a read up on it.

Digital Photography
Review

Photography Review

Londondrugs.ca

Included in the sale will be:

67mm haze filter which doesnt really do much except protect the lens from scratches.
67mm Polariser which reduces glare and gives nice blue skies.
An extra battery which is self explanatory.
A small camera big for wear over the shoulder or fanny pack style (Bum Bag)
An instuctional DVD for great pictures.
All instruction manuals and paperwork.
Plus if I can find it; an 8GB memory card.

I will be placing the camera on sale with Ebay shortly but would prefer if someone was to snap it up now as once its listed then I will not end the auction early.

The asking price on here is $450 Canadian and does not include any shipping charges.

I will try to answer any questions you have but google is a lot faster and better than me.

By the way, the camera is boxed and in "as new" condition.

Back in Canada so its time for things to go wrong.

After a really good run to Salinas CA and then a single pick up which would take me to Toronto (2750 miles)I eventually crossed the bridge into Canada. I was in good spirits until I was pulled into a scale for a full inspect. The lady who carried out the inspection was very pleasant and even allowed a smile to spread across her stern exterior. Result...Piglet passed, trailer passed, me failed.
I had miscalculated my hours and in return had not taken the obligatory 24hrs off within 14 days work. No point in bluffing to the lady so I had to hold my hands up and accept the consequences. She gave me a choice of which to this day I am truly grateful; either park up for 24hrs or receive a $400 fine and park up for 72hrs. The choice was easy, I was going nowhere for a day.
US despatch did a sterling job of having my trailer switched and I was left with a load for 2 drops around Toronto which didnt deliver until Monday (it was now saturday morning).
Sunday morning came and I was free to leave only to find out that I had to deliver the load on Monday; so 3hrs driving later that was my day at an end.
Delivered the 2 drops this morning and once again thats it for the day and possibly tomorrow. I dont know how little I have earned for the last few days nor if I was being punished for being put out of service but the idea of getting a cab into downtown Toronto has been put on the back burner.
I dont know why but coming back into Canada now seems to have an cloud of pessimism hanging over it, I wish it wasnt the case !

Califonia to Nevada..The Donner Pass

Leaving California and heading East on I-80 takes you over Donner Pass which is hailed as one of the snowiest places in the States (average snowfall of 10.5 metres a year). Its a hell of a climb getting to the top which is 7227ft above sea level. Due to the bad weather chain restrictions apply here more often than not and due to this the roads are in a hell of a state, the teeth on the snow chains make a mess of the surface.
Once at the top there is a visitors centre where you can take a walk and see huge boulders that have been left from glaciers as well as score marks on the rock face which track the glaciers movement.

Bonneville Speedway, Salt lake Flats

After a thoroughly enjoyable run empty I reloaded out of Salinas California with just one pick up which is almost unheard of when you are loading produce.
My destination was Toronto which in itself is a hell of a good run, approx 2700 miles.
As you saw in my last post I visited the Bonneville Speedway and was quite disappointed in what I saw. I had visions of Grandstands and maybe even a visitors centre or a museum but there was nothing..and I mean nothing. The road just comes to an end and thats it. The Salt Flats were still covered in water and it will need a few more hot weeks to bake the surface; but the view was amazing. Almost 160 square miles of nothing; its said that from certain areas you can see the curvature of the earth.The Salt Flats are so inhospitable that even the simplest life forms such as plants cannot live there.

Piglet makes the Speed Weekly back page !!

I have so many things to write about but I could not resist putting up this post.
You may have to supersize the picture by clicking on it to be able to read the text.
Remember to click back on your browser when done or else the whole page will close.
Proper pictures from the "event" will follow soon. Enjoy.....

Shepherds; too much time on there hands ?

Ok ok, its not rude, its safe for all ages to watch.
Thanks to John Mackie for forwarding this to me.

Living Memorial Sculpture Garden

A sombre place which in a way very much reminded me of Dachau; the Nazi concentration camp in as such the Living Memorial Gardens are deadly quiet even though a busy highway runs only a short distance away.
Dedicated to veterans of all conflicts the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden is located 15 miles North of Weed California on the 97.
Metal sculptures and memorials pay tribute to veterans of wars but also to the unsung heroes like nurses and those loved ones left behind.
If its warm outside take a bottle of water with you as its a good old hike to see all of the sculptures.
There is loads of parking both inside the Memorial and also in a large pullout area at the entrance.

The website should you be interested is HERE