My story of trucking in North America

Quick catch up

2011-08-06T20:11:00.006-06:00

Hi all, well Matt has been and gone and I think he had a good time and enjoyed his stay. I dont know if the planners and despatchers had anything to do with but but we got some really good trips so thanks to them. I have posted some of my favourite pics from Matt's visit. Hope you like them.

Matts here and so is the sun.

2011-07-02T17:57:00.004-06:00

Matt had a good flight and on Saturday I was asked to take a different truck as mine had a multitude of faults and would not be out of the shop for at least a few days. After swapping some of my stuff over we set off bound for Laredo Texas. Stopped at US customs to get Matt a visa and headed south. There was nothing really exciting happened on the way down but for Matt it was all new. Stopped at every state sign we could and arrived in laredo to unload. Afetr almost 9hrs the US customs official arrived to break the seals and an hour later we were empty.
Reloaded out of Galveston TX and after spotting a sign on the shippers window headed up 14th street and parked virtually on the beach. Took an hour or so off and swam in the Gulf of Mexico. We saw some good sights on the way back north, downtown Houston and Dallas.
Parked in Limon Colorado at the minute as out of hours but will be leaving in the morning hopefully getting as far into Montana as possible and then into Calgary the following night.

Good weather and a steady run.

2011-06-21T19:54:00.002-06:00

Well had a good run to Santa Fe Springs and a quick reload. Ran north and had 2 collections, loaded the first but the second had still to be chilled so I called it a night and loaded in the morning. The load is bound for Saskatoon SK and I had plenty of time to do it in.
One thing you notice about California is how clean and shiny the trucks are, everything is polished and gleaming, well except Piglet. The trucks can be washed at Lethbridge but the trailers come first and to be honest they are so busy that there is very little chance of having your truck cleaned. A new wash has been installed at Calgary which is a drive through one, now it’s ok as long as your truck isn’t that dirty, you know Its’ just a bit dusty as the wash only jets the water at the truck but also due to Freightliners build quality also all over the floor and inside of your windscreen and windows. So I have to confess I paid to have piglet scrubbed, yup…I know what you are thinking. Now, I have my standards as piglet is my home, she is nearly always spotless inside but to be perfectly honest when I drove into a customer’s premises or truck stop I was embarrassed and felt ashamed. So $35 later and after 6 guys scrubbed her she is nice and new again. It goes without saying that I will not be reimbursed for the wash but to me it’s worth every penny.
At the minute I am at Saskatoon waiting to deliver in the morning. The truck stop’s internet is down so this will be posted when I can next log on. Then fingers crossed its back to Calgary as I have Friday booked off as I have a visitor coming, my nephew is going to be with me for a month and he needs picking up from the airport.
Until next time, be good!!

Things are picking up.

2011-06-16T20:32:00.009-06:00

Well, left Montreal with a trailer for Calgary but it would be far too easy for me to take that one so I did a switch in the Winnipeg yard with another trailer bound for Calgary ??? Highlights of the last few days are not only did I see 3 moose but also a black bear, sadly I wasn't quick enough with the camera so you will have to believe me.
Reset in Calgary and due to the truck not having a tripak the batteries had shut down and I ended up throwing all of my food from the fridge into the trash, what a waste. I really am beginning to think that the addition of another battery pack isn't such a good idea.
I was initially planned to run to Iowa but when I started the truck that had been changed to California so I picked up the trailer from the meat plant, crossed the border and headed south. The following night I parked at Nephi Utah and managed to get my first photos of lightning, I was very pleased.
I have to say that the weather is great, if not a little bit to warm. Today the temp hit 41c which you don't really notice with the air con on until you step outside and it hits you.
Stopped for lunch today at the Gold Strike casino, $6.99 for an all you can eat buffet so I pigged out on oven baked Tilapia with a butter and herb sauce, fried rice, stir fried chicken and a piece of lemon meringue to finish.
I also stopped at Peggy Sue's 50's Diner for a vanilla shake as well as to take some pics.
Parked at Barstow now with a 110 mile drive into LA in the morning. I hope the aircon holds up for the night, its 9pm and its still 35c.

Caught another "Woops" moment because I know you like them.

Got rid of the load at last.

2011-06-09T20:15:00.003-06:00

Finally got rid of that godforsaken load when I unloaded this morning at Montreal. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.
Picked up a trailer in Montreal for Vancouver but dropping it in Calgary. I need to get my foot down a bit as Monday is day 14 for me and I will need a 24hr break, that is unless they send me south from Winnipeg as the last few days poor miles have given me hours back to be able to run again in the States.
No new pictures lately so these are from the trip to Nogales a few weeks ago.

Massive pay day...how will I spend it all ?

2011-06-07T16:58:00.000-06:00

Hi, so I am sat on the dock in Brampton waiting…and waiting.
To bring you up to date, I collected the trailer from Schuyler IA and set off running towards Sarnia which is the border where you cross the Blue Water bridge into Canada. All was going well, no messages on the satellite and clear roads. With concentrating on keeping up with the diary I had totally forgot about my driving hours and when I calculated them up I was going to have 15 mins to spare when I got out of the USA.
The second I crossed the bridge into Canada the satellite started chirping. The first message I was pleased I received as it was to remind me to go to the customs broker; this was one of the stops I thought had been left off the load and was an important one. After listening to 3 women talk about what happened over the weekend, how they had caught the sun and so on for almost 2 hours I was told that part of the load was to be re-inspected at a place called Guelph, this was the second stop I thought had been left off the load. So after receiving more messages reminding me to go there I set off, arrived, booked in and waited for 2hrs until the inspector there came out and told me I was at the wrong place. After receiving the correct inspection site address I set off to fuel and park as I had been told the load would not be inspected tonight. For the day I had wasted over 5hrs all of which without pay, if you include fuelling and pre-trips then you are looking at almost 6hrs.
That was it for the day, I was foolish to think things would go well and I would be dropping the trailer in the yard at Brampton. At this moment in time I have all the deliveries to do which considering I really have not started them yet as the load is still waiting to be inspected is going to be a long, tedious day with little reward at the end of it.
Mileage for the last few days is:
Saturday, Waterloo IA to Schuyler NE to Avoca IA, 445 miles and did an 11 day Inc breaks and 7.5 hrs drive.
Sunday, Avoca IA to Battle Creek MI, 584 miles, a 12hr day Inc breaks and drove for 9.5hrs
Monday, Battle Creek MI to Mississauga ON, 356 miles, no breaks and 12.25hr day and 7hr driving.
Just an update as I am still sat on a dock. It’s now been almost 5hrs, I am beginning to lose the will to live. I have no idea how companies can justify taking this long. Look at the women yesterday in the brokers, 3 of them chatting away for hours, being paid and looking forward to going home at a set time. I find that a lot of places I go to the staff have no interest in the job and it shows. I wonder if I would still be here if I was being paid say $25 an hour. Truth is I will get $25 for however long I sit here which is the standard pay for unloading.
I was eventually released 9hrs later. Saying nothing else about it as I am fucking furious.
Started this morning at 5am pre-tripped truck and trailer, ran 15mins to drop, sat for 9hrs, ran 15mins to yard for DEF , ran 15mins to Husky for trailer fuel. It’s now 5pm so that’s a 12 hour shift. Earnings are once again not what you would call acceptable. The mileage isn’t be paid, nor the pre-trip, DEF fueling and trailer fueling. So basically for a nightmare 12hr shift……..$25.00. That is barely enough to buy a meal at the Husky and I am pretty hungry considering if it wasn't for a few things in my fridge I would not have eaten today.
But its still not over, oh no ! The other drops are being re-booked for tomorrow and I will be doing them.
I am going to predict the future; I will end up in Montreal and have to reset there, yet again a reset where I have no interest in taking my break. All of this makes me wonder if its worth just working 10 days and having 2-3 off because being willing to go anywhere, staying away and not refusing loads just opens you up to having the piss ripped out of you!

A bit of good luck. The Diary

2011-06-04T19:50:00.002-06:00

Well I heard nothing for the rest of the day. My plea's to set off running towards the load fell on deaf ears and I was dispatched this morning. So 340 miles later (actually 325 but a 15 mile detour for a trailer washout and back) I arrived at the shipper and was greeted with "Its loaded but we are waiting for the bills (paperwork). Oh well, "they should be 20 minutes"....I nearly jumped for joy. Not only was the trailer ready but the deliveries which I was concerned about, time wise, had been taken off the order so now I can have a leisurely 1000 mile drive to Brampton Ontario.

Its not really a happy ending to this diary, financially the diary is over. Due to the pay structure the empty miles and the return trip to Brampton will not be added to this pay cheque as the trip will not be complete by tomorrow night (Sunday) so it will be a pretty poor wage I will get in a fortnights time. On the upside I will have about 1350 miles to carry over for the start of next week which if I have a decent couple of runs will result in not only a large wage but a huge tax deduction. Bummer !!

As a rough guide I have done the following this pay week including empty miles:
Winnipeg to calgary...825
Calgary to Waterloo...1530

So thats a total of 2355 miles which will gross me roughly $942
Less deductions and so on I will be expecting roughly $550. Not brilliant eh ?

It could be worse, recently a new system of getting the signed paperwork into H&R has been implemented. Basically it a fancy fax but the beauty is that you will be paid for the work you have done for that pay week. If it had not been introduced then my wage for this week would of been horrible as it would be unlikely that I could have got my signed documents to Lethbridge for the Wednesday cut off and then all I would of been paid for this week is Winnipeg to Calgary.

I have just had a thought, had I been dispatched on Friday and ran a few hours, I could of possibly made it to Brampton and dropped the trailer by Sunday night. That way I would of got paid for the whole lot, roughly 3700 miles which would of made a really decent wage, what a difference a few hours makes eh ?

What has happened here with the wages is the exact reason that when I am contacted by prospective drivers and find out they are bringing families over I stress for them to bring as much money over as they can. OK, the big wage will be there the following week but what if you need it now ?

The diary continues.

2011-06-04T09:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday, Thursday 2nd was an easy day even though I couldn’t really afford to hang around as I needed to cover some decent miles. Started the day at 7.45, took 45 mins off and parked at Clearwater Minnesota at 1945hrs. The 12 hour day consisted of 622 miles and a 10.5hr drive. Also there was 2 fuel stops in the shift as well as pretrips.
But, the good thing was that the satellite only bleeped twice all day, piece, quiet and being left alone to get on with the job.
Up early (ish) this morning and was on the road for 6.45am. Drove straight through to my destination and after fueling I dropped the trailer in the customers yard to be unloaded. Usually there are empty trailers which we can hook up to but today I was out of luck and had to wait for one to be unloaded.
While waiting I have been preplanned for what I describe as a pig of a load. A collection with a 26hr loading window so you have no idea when it will be loaded and 6 deliveries, 5 into Ontario and one to Montreal, 4 of the deliveries have booking times already so the pressure is on. Even more so considering I am 320 miles away from the collection which is in the opposite direction that I need to be going and the time to have the trailer there to start the loading is ……..20 minutes ago.
Not a good start to say the least and I don’t have enough time to get there to drop the trailer tonight. Dispatch hasn’t replied to my messages yet asking if they want me to set off on my way, maybe they have somebody closer to cover the load.
So, at the time of writing this its 18.30pm Central time and I don’t know what lies ahead of me, I have only driven 300 miles today and been on duty for 6.5 hopefully I will find out soon whats going on and when I know I will let you know.

No takers on my bet, I am not suprised.

2011-06-01T21:24:00.003-06:00

Not one person contacted me to claim there $100, what a bunch of honest law abiding drivers you are.

So, on with the diary.
Picked up the trailer and sent in the relevant messages including one that stated I would be in Calgary at 12pm. First message came through and.."can u be in Calgary for 8.30am". Of course the reply was no. That message was the first of roughly 35 I was to receive until the trailer was in calgary. Now remember, I was quite happy to deliver this load to BC and had ample time to do it, but somebody else had better ideas and I had to switch trailers believe it or not with a team. I was parked at 8pm, they rolled up at about 11pm, I went to bed.
Facts and figures for that day are : Total shift....11.45hrs, total drive...10.5hrs, total miles...590.
Yesterday morning I set off with my new trailer, destination Calgary with the instructions to drop in the yard. Once again it was too good to be true. Beep...."are you aware you have to deliver this afternoon at Walmart", my reply.. "err, no, told to drop in yard", "please deliver to Calgary Walmart". So I set off, ran the 15 miles or so out of my way, battled the traffic and sat behind two trucks booking into Walmart. Beep...."please deliver Calgary Yard", "Ok, once I deliver this walmart", "Dont deliver it, please go to Calgary yard". So I pulled out of the queue, drove the 15 miles or so back through traffic and dropped in Calgary Yard. Load finished and I was thrilled to have rid of it.
So then I was preplanned for a load to Iowa and had to go through the usual rigmarole of finding an empty trailer, fuelling it, having it washed out, pretripping it then dragging it the 2hrs to the meat plant where now you spend more time on the weighbridge and doing the securities job for them than anything else.
Thankfully everything was in order and I set off south.
Started at 7.30am yesterday, finished at 9pm, did 8hrs driving and covered 450 miles.
I have finally caught up, today I have just finished and got parked up. Had a bit of hassle at the border as the load had not cleared and that cost me an hour but other than that its easy sailing. No messages on the satellite, no grief, no worries.
Had a steady day, did the trip to Walmart for shopping and rang home.
Today I started at 7.15am, finished at 8.30pm, took 2hrs off, drove for 8.45hrs and covered 470 miles.
Because of today and my taking it easy I need to push a little tomorrow and will be looking at 600 miles. In order to do that I need to be awake and as its bed time for me I will bid you all a good night.

While I remember, if you do want to leave a comment, at the bottom of every post is a "comment" link so click that and you are ready to go. All comments are vetted by myself before publishing so please if you want others to read it, tone down the language, dont mention any names and try to make it legible.

One hell of a storm ahead.

Whooops !!!

Already its on the slippery downhill slope.

2011-05-29T23:53:00.002-06:00

Not long after I posted the previous entry I received a satellite message dispatching me for the load, bear in mind it isn't loaded yet. When I informed the dispatcher my reset would be up in the morning which would be approx 2hrs after the trailer would be put on the dock and could I go in for it then the reply was basically no. I asked if the trailer had been loaded early, if so seeing as how I had already had 24hrs off I would run a few hours tonight so I could be in Calgary the following day, once again the answer was no..it wasn't loaded but I would be in Calgary tomorrow anyway !!

So, I throw out an open challenge. I will pay $100 to anyone who can travel 825 miles in 13hrs when limited to 62 mph (even in a car). The "average" speed needed is 63.5 mph

The good news is that I am dropping the trailer in Calgary,the bad news is I don't know whats happening when I get there.

Oh well !!

More pics and whats coming next.

2011-05-29T15:04:00.007-06:00

Hi all, more pics as promised along with a few new ones from Las Vegas. Stopped off there for a few hours on my way back from Mecca CA.
Coming up is something that is not new but I have not done it for a long time. Its a detailed diary of what happens to me, how long I drive and where I am and so on and so on. I am on a reset in Winnipeg MB so I will be starting a fresh week and will log in as often as I can. Doing this type of thing really shows both how good the job can be and vice versa.

So to start, I parked up at 1930 last night which was Saturday 28th and am due to reset until 07.30 on Monday 30th. A reset wipes out any hours that I have previously used and in effect wipes the slate clean so its a fresh start.
The plan so far is to load out of Winnipeg or rather pick up a loaded trailer and head across to Surrey BC for delivery on Wednesday 1st at 7pm. Its roughly a 2271km (1420 mile) trip and I will have 3 shifts to do it in, easy enough if things go to plan.
We will see what happens, so enjoy the pictures. I have put a link on this page to my Flickr page, this holds all of the pics I have uploaded and a lot my blog readers will not have seen.
Speak soon. Any feedback would be welcome regarding the larger picture sizes, do you prefer them or not. Cheers

A busy bee

2011-05-20T17:39:00.003-06:00

Hi all, lots of miles and no internet have made my posts a little scarce.
I think I was in Washington state when I last posted, no I was in Vancouver (after looking in logbook). Well I got across to Calgary, had a quick reset and ran with an empty trailer to Lethbridge and since then the reason I love this job took over.
A load to Nogales which is on the Mexican border but its the drive down I enjoy. You take in Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona, going through cities like Salt Lake, Phoenix and Tuscon as well as driving through the Grand Canyon National Park.
Arrived at Nogales, unloaded and since my reload wasn't until later that night I nipped across the border on foot and spent a few hours in Mexico which was an eye opener to say the least. There was a lot of poverty but the people were great and everywhere is bursting with colour.
Anyway, loaded and headed back in 80f temps until I hit Flagstaff AZ when the temps plummeted to 34f and hail and snow fell like it was going out of fashion. Once out of the Grand canyon National Park it warmed up again to the 60's until I was a short distance into Utah and the snow fell like it was December. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.
At the minute I am in a place called Mecca California waiting to load watermelons back up north,. For some reason I have been routed the backroads but I wont complain as you get to see things you wouldnt normally and thats a bonus.
So, I have loads of pics of Arizona, Mexico and a cool place called Cliff Dwellers to upload when I have a faster connection.
Speak soon

The Californian Dream

2011-05-11T15:39:00.000-06:00

Piglet 4th is The California Dream.
California has some of the most stringent green policies regarding trucks in N.America and piglet isn’t fazed by them one little bit. Pulling the latest of H&R’s trailers she is super eco-friendly.
If we start at the back and work forward we have super wide single tyres, somehow they reduce rolling resistance which results in better mpg and tyre wear. If anyone is interested in the size they are 455x55/22.5
Next up are the long and low side skirts. When travelling at speed these flap frantically in the wind and in very much the same way a hovercraft works they provide a down draft which helps to raise the trailer and alleviate the weight which once again results in better mpg. ;-) The eagle eyed amongst you may also have spotted that the truck side skirts are longer than on previous Piglets. This hinders access to the tyre chains which are hung behind them but looks better.
Neither in the pictures nor on the truck is the Tripak. This was used to monitor and charge the truck batteries as well as to supply power to the inverter so mains powered appliances could be used. Very handy but noisy, this has been replaced by an additional bank of batteries which I don’t think will be a success but I will no doubt be proven wrong.
The reefer unit or fridge motor. Now it’s whisper quite and I think that’s about it. Probably had some sound deadening materials fitted….very nice though when you are sleeping.
Now onto the engine bit. Piglet 4th has a Detroit DD15 engine and that’s about the only facts I know.
DEF fluid is a liquid which is expensive, stinks and goes into a tank with the blue cap next to the battery box. I understand that it is injected into the hot exhaust system and does wonderful things to the gases. I really don’t know.
DPF. A filter which filters out particles in the diesel (hence diesel particulate filter). The cool thing about this is that every once in a while it needs “Regenerating” which sounds like something like from Star Trek.
Anti-idle. Or anti tick-over, after a few minutes the engine will shut down to save fuel and cut down on emissions.
Some have said that piglet 4th is so eco-friendly that you could fill the fuel tanks with horse piss and spring water will jet from the exhaust stack like the Bellagio fountains, watering the crops while she cuts through the air and drives on by.

No lights make my job difficult.

2011-05-11T15:36:00.000-06:00

Just imagine you are going out for the day, the weather is bad but that hasn’t put a downer on it. If it was night time you would have your lights on, why bother at 2pm in the afternoon ? This is what I see when its raining and the spray is getting kicked up.
Can you spot the vehicles?
Headlights are not only to see in the dark with, they are so others can see you.
Click on the images to enlarge them then click back on your browser otherwise you will close my blog.

Playing the waiting game.

2011-05-05T06:32:00.002-06:00

Sat in calgary, have been planned to run into Idaho for a load but its all gone a bit wrong.
Had to reset as didn't have enough hours for the States, so far the reset was completed 6hrs ago.
My load was supposed to be ready yesterday morning but has been put on "test" whatever that is and I have heard no news since 3am....yes I was up that early.
Its now getting to the point where I will not be able to deliver the load ontime so basically I have lost it as well as the cash I could of earned running in Canada as I had hours available and only needed to reset for my US hours. If I am honest the trip wasn't really worth the reset as it was only 1000 miles which isn't a lot when you consider how its turned out.
Its annoying, frustrating, call it what you want, personally I would call it something a bit stronger but this is a family blog.

Stonehenge replica Maryhill Washington

2011-04-29T16:46:00.004-06:00

This replica of Stonehenge was built in 1929 and can be found in Maryhill WA overlooking the Columbia river and into Oregon. Built in honour of Military personnel who gave there lives in World War One.
If you plan on visiting it the access is easy via a twisty narrow road and when there providing it isn't too busy there is ample turning.

Since Washington I have been ..........

2011-04-29T16:40:00.002-06:00

Its been 6 weeks since I got back and my first impressions of how much more “planned and organised” things seemed have been beaten back by the proverbial shitty stick. Although I am getting decent miles, decent runs and a decent amount of time off its things like being given impossible pre-plans, good pre-plans which work out for you being taken away and doing trailer switches where the other driver is only 100 miles away but takes 6hrs to get to you. I can moan and grumble but that's the way it is and maybe I was being over optimistic thinking it would be any different.
I have been running across Canada lately.
Kennewick (Washington) to Delta (BC)
Delta (BC) to Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)
Saskatoon (SK) to Brampton (Ontario)

and at the moment I am waiting for a trailer to be loaded :

Brampton (ON) to Annacis Island (BC)

All very good miles but the roads are disgraceful. I am sick of seeing the signs for bumpy road and cracked pavement. Why don't they just put a sign that says “Third world country roads for the next 1000 miles”. Once again I understand why they are like that...massive country and no people to pay for it but then again that means less traffic so something is going wrong somewhere, maybe in the construction of them because the severe winters that destroy them are not a new thing.

As I write this I have just found out that the Annacis Island load is getting dropped at Calgary which is a good thing. Speaking of “as I write this” I am parked at the miserable Husky at Mississauga which once again has no internet. My mini campaign to boycott them (after the Beef dip sandwich sham) and not spend any money unless I have to is going well and although I don't count the pennies I must of spent around $30 in them which is mainly buying milk and the odd coffee.
BBQ season is almost upon us and the George Foreman grill is getting a hammering by everything I can throw at it, marinaded meats, sliced potatoes, onions and peppers are the food of choice at the minute. I reckon I can make a restaurant standard meal for less than $4. The other day I even made scrambled eggs with cheese and onions in the slow cooker, granted it took some time (about an hour) and when I forgot to stir it for a while it rose like a massive soufflé but it tasted great and I would make it again. Top tip : Scrambled egg makes a bit of a chore of cleaning the cooker so throw a bit of water in, put the lid on and let it steam itself for a while which makes cleaning it easier.

Time to go for now, this will be posted when I can next get an internet connection.
Coming up soon...Telus Mobility, are they conning b*st*rds ?

Washington, The Rockies and Buffalo

2011-04-25T16:54:00.004-06:00

Portland Pictures

2011-04-22T09:25:00.002-06:00

Saturday Market, Downtown Portland

2011-04-19T11:55:00.000-06:00

After the experience of seeing the spuds being unloaded I was asked to run 4hrs west empty to just the other side of Portland Oregon. Went to the shipper, saw it was unsuitable to park there as my load wasn't until Monday morning so parked North of Portland at a truckstop called Jubitz. Its a good stop and has a hotel next door with loads of amenities.
Woke Sunday morning to find my simple one collection load had turned into a multi pick and still didn't start until Monday so I had a day off (again....now up to 3 resets in the last week)
After asking in the hotel lobby I find out how to get into Downtown Portland and was even offered a lift from the hotel using its cab service. I jumped on the Maxx which is a train shuttle service, changed trains at the Portland basketball Stadium and within 10 minutes was in Portland at the Saturday Market. This is an area of town not far from Chinatown and has a market and entertainment from what I can gather is held when the weather is good. The place was very busy, lots of food stands, music and street acts.
Wandered around all day and had a good time.
Now the fun and games started once I was on the way back to Jubitz. I jumped on the right train..red line first, change onto the yellow at the stadium and get off at the Expo Centre. I arrived and there was nothing..no cabs or people and a hell of a walk ahead of me. I spoke to the driver of the train who helped me out. I needed to take the train back for 3 stops, get the number 6 bus which would take me to Martin Luther King St where I needed to get the 8 bus which would drop me at the Truckstop, easy !!
The return journey went without a hitch. I forget to mention that at the Maxx station I bought an all day pass for $4.75 which gave me access to unlimited Maxx trains, buses and street cars
and lasted until midnight that day.
So, I enjoyed my day out , its Monday morning and I am still waiting for confirmation of my next load.......when ever that may be !! Pics to follow when I get a faster internet connection.

Spuds all over the floor.

2011-04-16T11:41:00.002-06:00

Arrived at Pasco in Washington at the customer and opened the back doors....oh my god !!
51,000lbs or roughly 25ton of potatoes dumped on the trailer floor, no bags,sacks or crates, just dumped. How the hell are they going to unload this.
Well the solution was not only brilliant but fast.
A conveyor was fed into the trailer with what resembled a bobcat (mini digger) bolted to the front. A bucket on the front of the bobcat had mini conveyors which scooped up the spuds, fed them out of the back and onto a big conveyor which took them away. Total unloading time was about 40 mins.

Diversions, floods and undelivered loads.

2011-04-16T11:31:00.002-06:00

Volvo trying to disguise itself as a tree, taken in Calgary after the dump of snow which fell through the night.

Just when things seemed to be going so well it all came crumbling down, in fact it still is.
Dropped in Saskatoon and had to reset as the load I had been planned on wasn't ready, this was Saturday night. Noticed an oil leak from one of the drive axles so reported it was told to ring in Sunday to get details of a repair. Details came and the load I was planned on went to somebody else as the load had to be covered. This I fully accepted and appreciated. So I sat and waited for another load which was ready later that afternoon for and would take me back to Toronto area.
Early this morning “beep” goes the satellite and the lady who reads out the messages said “switch trailers at Headingley, what time can you be there?” I was 4 hrs away so clipped on expecting the other truck to be here but ….suprise suprise, he was 200 miles away when I arrived. At the time of writing this that was 5.5 hrs ago now even with my basic maths skills if he arrives now he has averaged about 35mph, or he wasn't 200 miles away at all.
All this throws up another dilemma and that is how to get the load I am taking to Vancouver on time which in itself will be a miracle or possibly another switch ?
Its anyone's guess what will happen, only time will tell.
Anyway, fate took hold of the situation and closed the Highway due to flooding. Took the diversion which was huge although I didnt know it at the time. When I thought I had cracked it a bridge was closed in front of me which sent me off on a diversion again. I ran out of hours so parked and roughly calculated that I had pretty much blew 120 miles in the last 2.5hrs. I thought that I had messed up, maybe missed a detour sign but I had gone the right way....unbelievable.
Dropped the trailer in Calgary as I could no longer make the delivery time and reset my hours while waiting for a trailer to Washington which is where I am now

Photo's as promised.

2011-04-10T14:25:00.004-06:00

Above and below are pictures of a Rest Area in the States. they are spotless and have fully stocked vending machines.

Try hitting this escape lane at runaway speeds and make the bend. Scary stuff.

An old shack in Manitoba I think. Going to get some more of these as they are full of character.

Roy and Haley must be a big deal in Mississauga.

Virginia and back.

2011-04-09T21:10:00.004-06:00

Hi, really enjoyed the Virginia trip as I had only been down there once before. The weather was great and hit 28c the day I unloaded. Was in and out of the factory and on my way for a reload which was from a place called Smithfield...not far from Virginia Beach. That too was a breeze and was in and out in no time and heading back North.
Ran around Washington DC at about 9pm and the place was heaving with traffic, there is some major roadworks going on but things were moving well.
Arrived back in Brampton Ontario the following evening and dropped the trailer in the yard then went to bed.
Next load was across to Saskatoon Sasketchewan so I had 3 days of hard driving on what for a good portion is third world countries roads. 1850 miles later I am here with the trailer dropped and catching up on a few hours before I turn back around and head back down the same road.

There have been some changes while I have been back home. Two of the truckstop giants have merged which for a lot of reasons is a good thing however there is bad as well. You have heard me harp on about the Flying J buffet.....well that is no more. The food side has been taken over by a nationwide diner called Dennys which has a restaurant under the Sandman Hotel in Lethbridge. Long gone are the fresh vegetables with which you could fill up on and they are replaced by mass produced food items such as burgers, grilled sandwiches and of course...fries.
When I was taken ill I was warned about the amount of salt I should be eating and the effect it can have on your heart. The following are extracts from the LA Times and backs up the reasons I enjoyed eating at a buffet so much. the second quote is in regard to a "meat lovers Scramble":

July 24, 2009|Jerry Hirsch

Doctors recommend against eating more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. Order a Denny's double cheeseburger and you'll consume 3,880 milligrams in one sitting, almost double the suggested daily allowance of salt.

But maybe the people ordering it -- including older people, African Americans, people with high blood pressure and those at higher risk of it -- should know that the Denny's breakfast confection has almost four times the recommended limit of sodium -- 5,690 milligrams of the stuff, and that several other entrees served at Denny's have sodium content almost as high. Eating meals like that is not going to be good for your blood pressure, and high blood pressure will put you at greater risk of heart attacks and stroke.

My answer to the above is to pretty much boycott both Flying J and Pilot in favour of Petro and Travel centres America, who both still serve a good reasonably priced buffet. While I am on the subject of food have the prices in truckstops in Canada risen considerably while I was back in the UK? I ate in one the other day in N.Ontario and was shocked, remember I was in a truckstop; I ordered a Beef Dip Sandwich and fries. I was served (by a woman who to be honest needed a good wash and change of clothes) with a dry 6" bread roll which contained I shit you not, 2 slices of beef about the same size and thickness of a dollar bill, a piece of that pretend cheese and a bit of onion which resembled an old mans toe nail. The fries were the offcuts of the potatoes and the 'dip' was a cup of probably something like Bovril. I had a coffee with this fine meal (no refill offered) and was given a bill for just short of $15 (a tenner in English). Needless to say that Husky truckstops are going to be avoided as much as possible as well.
So, the slow cooker has been getting a good workout and I have been eating rather well, all at a very reasonable cost.

Well I am going to watch some TV, the BBC no less. Thanks to being given a website I can now watch the BBC iplayer so I can catch up on stuff I am missing.

Photos to come soon....probably tomorrow.

Back in the driving seat.

2011-03-31T09:56:00.002-06:00

Its been a while but I am back earning a living.
Arrived back in Lethbridge On the 16th and started work on the 19th with a trip to Philadelphia which was very nice. Then I reloaded from Delaware which is a state I have never been to so that is now added to the list of States visited. Dropped in Toronto, reloaded for Saskatoon, dropped and reloaded for Winnipeg which was also dropped in the yard. Waiting now for a load to Virginia and having a reset which is a welcome thing.
Things are going well, getting good miles and hopefully will be able to add to this blog on a regular basis.

Back home again.

2010-11-11T05:51:00.002-07:00

Hi all, had a nightmare of a time getting home.
Got a lift early to Calgary yard then almost immediately got a lift to the airport. All of this added up with me being 6hrs early for the flight taking off so sat around, drank some coffee and waited. Had a wander around to where the flight was checking in and found that it had been delayed for 4hrs so after being issued with a complimentary meal voucher from Thomas Cook I had something to eat and time to ponder on how I would occupy myself.
For some reason security seemed to dislike me and after being put through the new full body scanner I had my hand luggage put through the xray twice, then opened and swabbed for drugs. Naturally all was clear, but at the gate check in to board the flight my hands and clothing were once again swabbed. I have no objections to rigorous security measures so it wasnt a problem.
The flight eventually left about 20mins late (paperwork) and was pretty uneventful.
Due to the delays I had missed my train to Darlington but the railway company honored the ticket and I was free to travel on the next train which matched the ticket price which in turn meant a 2hr wait at the station.
I arrived at Darlington at 5.30pm, tired, irritable and ready for some sleep.
My plan was to return to Lethbridge asap, however the cheap flights are now finished for the winter so at the minute unless there is some cheap cancellations about it looks like it wont be until the new year before I return.
Since I have been back I have done very little, still I have Xmas to look forward to.
Bye for now.

Some more pics from my time at home.

2010-10-29T09:56:00.003-06:00

I wished I had been a bit quicker with booking my flights to come over to Canada as at first I had the choice of flying home today which is Friday. I left it for a day or so before booking and sods law dictated that the flight would be fully booked...only Sunday available.
I have done everything I needed to do over here and sitting around is now a massive chore..I am so bored.
So here are some more pictures from my time at home
These pictures are from Ladies Day at Newcastle. Ladies Day is a big thing for the ladies, they really let there hair down and hats are the order of the day...the wilder the better.
My dad owns a racehorse and although it wasnt running that day we still had "owners and trainers" tickets for the day. I went along with Megan who is my girlfriends daughter and she very much looked the part. Needless to say that with my luck I didnt win any money but a good day was had by all.

.

Medical passed, licence issued, drug tests today.

2010-10-27T08:18:00.007-06:00

Hi all.
As I have been out of the country for over 30 days apparently I need to undergo another drug test which involves peeing in a bottle. This is not a problem, as I have never taken any drugs and my aim is pretty good.
Its been pretty boring sat in the hotel room so I have been browsing through some pics I have taken whilst at home. Anyone who follows me on Flickr will have seen them already so I apologise for that.
More updates will come soon.

This pic is of High Force. Found only a short drive from where I live

Taken with my new 180mm Macro lens. This lens bring you super close to what you are photographing and picks up details often not visible to the human eye

Bridie, my girlfriends dog.

The Angel of the North. 30 mins drive from where I live

This Lily was grown by myself from bulb, I was very pleased with it

Clicking on any picture will supersize it. Its worth it !!

Back in Canada for a week

2010-10-23T05:47:00.002-06:00

Hi all, yes I am still alive and fighting fit. Will be visiting Canada tomorrow (Sun 24th) for a week during which time I will hopefully pass my medical, catch up with a load of people and prepare myself for coming back full time.
Looking forward to seeing some old mates !!
Speak soon

Met with the heart surgeon !!

2010-04-03T08:52:00.006-06:00

Hi guys. Met with the surgeon at Newcastle Freeman hospital the other day and discussed my future.
In the end I followed the surgeons advice and have put off having any operations for at least 2 years due to the fact that the odds on the procedure being a success were slim to say the least. For the gamblers amongst you ...would you place a bet on this ? Not making it off the operating table alive - 2000/1. Suffering major after effects such as a stroke - 200/1 and only a 60% success rate on the operation itself which would mean a follow up procedure in 2-3yrs time.
I explained the importance of not being a burden on the Canadian health system and in his opinion I am good to return to work, the only problem being the atrial fibrillation but this is being kept under control by drugs. I have been in touch with H&R to see if I still have a position with them and if I do then its full steam ahead with my residency application and back to work in the near future.

In the mean time I have been getting out and about. The photos are of Easby Abbey which is near Richmond N.Yorkshire and one of Richmond itself. Its a fantastic place and I will be back there again soon for some shots of the castle. The boats and shoes are from Royal Quays Marina, the shoes are something to do with modern art, the story is the girl was waiting for her man to return and when he didn't she jumped into the sea and ended her life. I presume the man killed himself when he did return and find out what had happened.
The tall ship is from Stockton as we won a radio competition to have a Sunday lunch cruise down the River Tees. The food was good but the sights were a little bit dull.

I have more pictures to post but need to sort them out first. Hopefully I will have news of whether I have a job to be returning to in Canada by the time I next post on here.
Happy Easter everbody

Health update and a day out.

2010-03-05T08:53:00.005-07:00

Hi all, despite my best efforts its been ages since my last post, so I apologise again.

My latest visit to the hospital brought with it good news following the MRI Cardiac scan that I had. When assessed in Canada I had a deformed heart due to an excess of muscle forming to compensate for the malfunctions, it also was only working at 38% efficiency which sounds horrific but a normal persons heart operates at round about 55%. I now have a normal size heart which is 60% efficient along with a blood pressure of 120/80 and a beating rate of 45 beats per minute..........woohoo !!
I still have the Atrial fibrillation which is when my heart occasionally goes off on a bit of a tangent and does what it wants for anywhere between a few seconds to the full day and will beat either slowly, fast, irregularly or all three. The best way this can be described is that the heart (which beats from electrical impulses) is short circuiting and it looks like I will have to undergo surgery to have my "wiring" fixed. I dont have a consultation with the surgeon yet but I hope this will be soon.

Meanwhile I have been having the odd day out. Sunderland Wintergardens held a celebration for the Chinese New Year so I popped along and had a pretty good day.
I hope you enjoy the pictures which are of the Chinese dance displays and of the gardens which house over 2000 plants, shrubs and trees.

Time flies by.

2010-01-26T05:18:00.002-07:00

Hi everyone, firstly I must apologise for the lack on interest I have shown lately in the blog as it has been put well and truly on the back burner. I will endeavour to udate more regularly in the future.

I am still in the UK and having blood taken on a weekly basis along with regular hospital appointments. There has been no drastic change in my condition as my heart performs as it should for 95% of the time but occasionally likes to do its own thing and race away. The medication I am taking keeps this in check and its not a big issue. I have no idea when I will be declared fully fit although I have a Cardio MRI scan booked where the doctors will be able to have a detailed look at my heart.

My plan is still to return to Canada, complete my application for permanent residency and pretty much live happy ever after.

A short but sweet post this time, more effort will be made in the future.

Speak soon

York 3

2009-12-18T06:20:00.005-07:00

The final installment of my visit to York.

York Part 2

2009-12-12T04:51:00.011-07:00

York Minster is the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe and is situated in the city of York in Northern England. It is the seat of the Archbishop of York (the second highest office of the Church of England), and cathedral for the Diocese of York, and is run by a Dean and Chapter under the Dean of York. Its formal title is The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York.
It has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic choir and east end, and Early English north and south transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, (finished in 1408), the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world. In the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 16 metres high. The south transept contains the famous Rose window.

The Minster is built in the shape of a cross, this is the view if you stand where the cross meets at the centre looking straight up Inside the minster, changed the white balance setting on the caamera to give this rosy coloured effect.
Looking from the southern end of the minster.
The Minster has one of the best collections of Stained glass in England. There are 128 windows, containing about 2 million individual pieces of glass. The Great East window of York Minster is the single largest area of medieval glass in the world, it is about the same size as a tennis court
City walls which surround York.
Holy Trinity Stocks, the originals stocks are inside the church and date back to the 16th century
A cobbled street in York
Most of the Minster in its full glory.
The chapter house inside the minster at the Northern end.The beautiful and airy octagonal room is one of the oldest parts of the Minster. It was begun in 1260 and completed in 1286.
Created as a meeting place for the Dean and Chapter of York Minster, it is still used for the same purpose.
Each of the seven walls of the Chapter House has six seats to emphasize the equality of the Chapter members. No one can sit in the center. The eighth side of the octagon is the archway of a passage leading to the nave. There are also seven windows - among the oldest in the Minster, with glass dating from 1270. Above the archway on the eighth wall, the stonework of the seven windows is repeated.

Another view and entrance to the Minster
Guy Fawkes plaque found in the streets of York
Self explanatory, its an old pub !!
The Little Devil in Stonegate.
In the 16 Century Stonegate became famous for its book shops and printers. At 33 Stonegate there used to be a printers, outside at the corner of the shop is a little Devil. This guy got any blame when metal type was miss spelt when going to Press. It is said to unlucky to look into his eyes!

York Part 1

2009-12-10T04:23:00.016-07:00

Staircase inside Clifford Tower at York. More info on the tower is below. One of the entrances into the walled city of York
The Shambles, tiny streets and original buildings mix with the new.

Clifford's Tower. Here you can see part of the high mound upon which the tower was raised by William I.
Clifford's Tower is all that remains of York Castle. William the Conqueror built a wooden castle here in 1086, atop a high conical mound over looking the River Ouse.
That first castle was burned by rebellious natives, and a second one built. That building saw one of the most horrifying episodes in York's colourful history in 1190.
A mob of citizens rioted against the Jewish population of York, and 1190 of the Jews took refuge inside the castle. Many of the Jews committed suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured by the bloodthirsty mob outside, and more died when the building was set on fire. The remainder were slaughtered by the mob.(Courtesy of britainexpress.com)
A view from the top of the tower.
Caroline and another view of inside the tower walls.
Taken inside the Castle Museum. This is the actual cell where the infamous Dick Turpin was held. His ghost paid Caroline a visit !!!
Inside the Castle Museum again, this time a 1960's themed room.
A young girl innocently eats an ice cream outside of the musuem
The street of kirkgate as it would of looked in early victorian times

The Merchant Hall at York, In 1357 a number of influential men and women came together to form a religious fraternity and to build the Hall. By 1430 most members were merchants and mercers, and alongside the fraternity they set up a trading association or guild. They used the Hall to transact their business affairs, to meet together socially, to look after the poor and to pray to God.

Catch up time.

2009-12-04T04:10:00.005-07:00

Hi everyone, its been a while so I thought I should bring you up to date. As you may be aware I was Cardioverted just over a month ago which is where my heart was zapped with an electric current...pretty much the same as you see on the emergency room Tv programmes. The out come was that the heart immediatley began to beat normally and held that rythm for round about a month until it decided for no reason to revert back to doing as it wished. Luckily I had an appointment with the cardio clinic at the hospital the next day and the doctors confirmed that indeed it had took a step backward so I was prescribed some new drugs which I would need to take for a month. The next day, for no reason again my heart began to beat normally so at the minute I am waiting for another visit to the hospital to give them the good news.
I have no idea as to when I will be returning to Canada, the initial plan was for January but its anybodies guess at the minute.
The following pictures are from Bonfire night again only this time from Gainford which is were my parents live. Coming up soon will be a post on my visit to York which I totally forget to tell you about and happened ages ago.

All pictures taken at really long shutter speeds, sometimes over 6 seconds.

Firework Display for Halloween and Bonfire Night

2009-11-02T07:37:00.003-07:00

Went to the South Park on Saturday night as the town had organised a Bonfire and fireworks for both Halloween and Bonfire night (November 5th).
Thankfully the weather had been good as the slightest bit of rain turns the fields into a swamp. All in all the display was good but taking good pictures was harder than I thought as I had planned on arriving early and getting set up ready for the display. Arriving just as the display began meant that the camera was thrown onto the tripod and I started clicking away. The use of a tripod was necessary as some of the exposures were 5 seconds long.

Darlington town, the yards and alleys

2009-10-28T06:06:00.015-06:00

Sorry once again for the lack of posts. As usual I have no excuse other than I have been up to other things. The following set of pics shows some of the little alleys in the town which connect the more major shopping streets as well as a few of some of the sights of the town and stuff that goes on there.
The pictures were taken a few weeks ago when the Food Festival came to town which to be honest was a bit of a letdown. Local producers sold their homemade produce but I felt that they had priced themselves out of the market and were far too expensive.
Most weekends there is some sort of activity taking place and the week I was in town the local group of Morris dancers showed off there talents, it was nice to see but didnt draw my attention for too long but the colours of the costumes made for some nice photographs.

The town library, built in 1884 by Edward Pease.

For over 3 centuries this pump marks the spot where most of the people of Darlington would get there drinking water from the well beneath. It was covered over in 1886 and rediscovered in 1992 during repaving works.

This circle can be found outside the Boot and Shoe pub and reads "The remains of 32 residents of medieval Darlington excavated from the market square during an archaeological dig that was carried out in 1994 are laid to rest beneath this wheel. This wheel is a replica of the 'odd' driving wheel of Locomotion No.1 and sponsored by Cummins of Darlington.

The town clock and old style telephone boxes

Taken at the Food Festival, all of the flowers and carvings have been made from various fruit and vegetables.

The following are of various yards which are basically alleys which link the main shopping streets.

Post house wynd which once again links the main shopping streets.

Morris dancers performing in the town. I didnt realise when I took this picture that my brother is in the background.

A back lane behind my brothers house, typical of terraced streets.

Darlington indoor market and town clock.

A juggler at the Food Festival

Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle

2009-10-12T05:54:00.010-06:00

Purpose built as a museum in the 19th century by John and Josephine Bowes, the museum is a fantastice place to visit. You are free to roam around the 3 floors and photography is allowed but the use of flash is restricted.
The foundation stone was laid in 1869 and the project opened its doors to the public in 1892.
Between the years of 1862 and 1874 over 15,000 objects were purchased by the Bowes family. At every turn you can see important and precious works from all over Europe, and each piece has its own story to tell. However it is the 230 year-old Silver Swan that is the best-loved object in the museum. The Silver Swan is an English silver automaton, a unique attraction that was bought by the Bowes in 1872. The life size model is still in working order and is operated at the museum on a daily basis.

The following video is of the Silver Swan as mine was spoilt by inconsiderate people standing so that nobody else could see. The swan performs just once a day now and the performance last 30 seconds. When I inquired about the value of the swan the reply was one word........Priceless.

Raby, A Medieval Castle.

2009-10-06T04:49:00.003-06:00

Built for the mighty dynasty of the Nevills, this great fortress stands proud and defiant, its history rolling back almost a thousand years.
King Cnut (also known as Canute II the Great) owned the Estate, then known as 'Rabi' (derived from 'Ra', Danish for a boundary, and 'Bi', a settlement or dwelling) in the early 11th Century.
The Viking King and self appointed 'Emperor of the North' may well have built a manor house here, but it was the Nevills who built the 14th century castle which still stands today.
Every room in Raby Castle, from the magnificent Barons' Hall, where 700 knights gathered to plot the 'Rising of the North', to the Mediaeval Kitchen which was used until 1954, gives an insight to life throughout the ages.
Despite its powerful exterior of towers and fortifications, Raby houses a fabulous art collection and splendid interiors. Treasures include an important collection of Meissen porcelain, tapestries, furnishings and paintings by leading artists such as Munnings, De Hooch, Teniers, Van Dyck and Reynolds.

I visited this place last weekend and once again had a good day out. Its difficult to imagine the wealth that the people had and to be honest once or twice I muttered the words "is there any need ?"
Photography was not allowed in the castle which I thought was shocking considering the admission price. Pictures of the interior can be found at the raby Castle website by clicking HERE

Beamish Open Air Musuem

2009-09-24T02:29:00.011-06:00

Hi everyone, visited another place that I have never been to before and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The aim of the museum is to portray life in Northern England in both the 1820's and 1913. All of the exibits and buildings are seen in their everyday settings and characters will explain and display as well as use the exibits.
All of the buildings are original and many have been transported brick by brick from local towns and rebuilt at their new home at Beamish.

Below are just a few of the pictures, many more can be found by on my Facebook page.

Taken in the garage and is typical of pre- World War 1.

By the end of the 19th century growing towns required an effective transport system so from the late 1890's electric tramways were developed across the region

Taken walking towards The Town which once again represents a typical North East town from the early 1870's

The 2 pics above were taken in the Colliery Village. In 1913 over a quarter of a million boys and men produced over 56 million tons of coal annually from over 400 of the regions pits
Taken in the kitchen of a pit cottage. The school above was dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt. All together the Colliery village contains a row of cottages, a school, Methodist Chapel as well as a pit and engine house.

Tour of Britain 2009

2009-09-15T03:11:00.006-06:00

The cycling world gathered in Darlington (my home town) on Sunday morning for the start of the 2009 Tour of Britain. The roads in and around the town were closed at 9.30am in anticipation of the start at 10.15.
Bang on time various school kids and clubs started to lead the race as the plan is for the competitors to use the first few miles not only to warm up but to involve the community.
Plenty of people turned up to spectate and it was a struggle to get a decent position to take pictures, maybe I should of told them I was the official photographer of the Gainford Leek Show hahaha.

If you click HERE the link will take you to the Tour of Britain website

Gainford Leek Show Sept 2009

2009-09-14T06:17:00.006-06:00

Hi all, things are going well and the recuperation is going well. Had more blood tests today and will need to wait to see if any adjustments need to be made to my medication.
Last Saturday was the village Leek Show and I popped along to give my dad some support as he had quite a few leeks, vegtables and flowers entered into the show.
The photographer didnt turn up so I took some pictures not only for myself but for the Leek Club itself and for its website. I was quite pleased with the results considering I have never photographed vegtables before.
My dad did very well and was either placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in pretty much every class he entered. Pretty good !!

My dad with his prize winning trench leeks

Back home for a while

2009-09-09T03:08:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone.
Flew home last Friday and landed in Manchester early saturday morning. Jumped on the train which is just outside the airport and travelled 2.5hrs to Darlington.
Spent the first day at my brothers and slept forever when I went to bed on the night.
Have been through at my parents since and having a very restfull and relaxing time.
I need to have another blood test soon to find out if the meds I am on need adjusting.
I will be taking plenty of pictures and posting them soon. The blog looks very bare as it is so I will set about changing that.

Going home for a while

2009-09-03T21:20:00.004-06:00

Hi, due to the amount which the sickness benefit pays in Canada I cannot afford to stay and attend my outpatients appointments here. The amount which I am entitled to would barely cover the hotel expenses and being placed on a low salt diet hasnt helped the issue as that also would be virtually impossible to adhere to.
So I am flying home for a month where I will not only be able to carry on with my treatment but also eat a healthy diet which wont put too much stress on my heart.
Its my full intention to come back to Canada as soon as I am deemed fit to work and drive and hopefully that wont be too long.
Work have been great about it all, not only with the administrative stuff like booking flights but also with the amount of running around they have done, storing my stuff from the truck and arranging a lift to the airport. Its not that often that my employer gets a thumbs up but they deserve one for this; thanks for helping out, its very much appreciated. The same goes for all of the well wishes, the emails and phonecalls. A special thanks goes out to the people who took the time to visit, I understand that your home time is precious so a big thank you for taking the time and putting yourselves out to spend a bit of time with me.
The blog will continue when I am at home and I aim to post regularly.
Just a quick update on my condition, I feel great and the medication I am taking is doing its job. My heart rate has dropped dramatically however it does let go occasionally and does its own thing, the meds are regulary monitored with blood tests and fine tuned to counteract this. I am confident in myself that I will be fighting fit before long and will be looking forward to getting back to work.
No pics I am afraid, I know some of you wanted some snaps of the nurses but in the interests of your health I dont think its advisable.

Thanks again for the support I have received, I will post soon.

Below are some shots from one of my last trips which was with Paul on his mentor trip. They are all taken running across the Rockies from Vancouver British Columbia to Calgary Alberta. I will miss driving through this scenery.

I have some decisions to make.

2009-08-29T11:47:00.004-06:00

It seems that I may be discharged from the hospital this weekend, my IV drip has been removed and the nurses are constantly checking me as well as the lab techs who are taking an obscene amount of blood for analysis. The future is looking rosy.
My Doctor has advised that I will be off work for a month as I have numerous tests still to be done as well as visits to the heart clinic.
My predicament is as follows and is really a warning to all drivers over here especially with families.

I have basically a heart illness and because of this I do not qualify for "Workers Compensation Board" which only covers work related injuries. So lets give you a random scenario that you should all be able to relate to:

Nice and easy, I am getting out of the truck and slip causing my ankle to twist.
I need a few weeks off work as a doctor says I have sprained the ankle. Now is the time to start rubbing your hands together as you qualify for 90% of your wages to be paid to you, plus in my case a hotel would be paid for, plus any additional costs related to the injury. Not bad eh......no worries, cash coming in and the perfect enviroment for a stress free recovery.

Like I said I do not qualify for WCB which is a shame.
I possibly do qualify for employment Insurance. Now get this....remember I now have a chronic illness, its very serious and I may never be at 100% fitness.
At the time of writing this I qualify for a weekly payment of $450 which is subject to tax......dont bother waiting for me to add to this amount because thats it !!!!!!
My hotel bill alone swallows this amount, thats before any travel costs with getting to and from the hospital oe even eating.

So, to all of you married men, individuals with commitments......if you had a small stroke say......could you pay your bills, eat, pay the rent and generally support your family for the indefinite period that you may be ill ?

So the decision I have is do I stay in Canada for my remaining treatment which will financially hit me hard or do I fly home and get treatment where I am around family and living in a stress free enviroment ?

And just one more thing, this is aimed at people who are employed at the same company as me .......I have never been insured by Alberta Health Care since arriving in Canada. The health care system required more information when my application was submitted and contacted my employer who according to Alberta Health Care ignored the request. I dread to think what would of happened had my hospital visit been in the USA, especially the cost. Trust me, it was bad enough laying on a stretcher waiting for the Surgeons to decide if they were going to give me the Angiogram when I was at Calgary, especially when you have a weak heart to begin with !!!!!!!!!!!!

Angiogram, the procedure and the results.

2009-08-26T21:41:00.005-06:00

Hi, everyone. well as planned I was taken to Calgary by air ambulance which was an experience and possibly one of the best flights I have been on. The 2 pilots and 2 paramedics looked after me wonderfully and the view from flying at 16,000 was great.
I arrived at Foothills Hospital Calgary and was taken straight to a ward, given a bed and was told I would have the procedure shortly. It took minutes for me to notice the difference between the 2 hospitals, Lethbridge is a lot more relaxed and easy going, Calgary seemed very stern and can I say clinical. Maybe this had something to do with the fact I was laid in a heart unit rather than a general medical ward.
So was wheeled to the room where the Angiogram would be performed and was met by Dr Kealey who briefed me about what was going to happen. As things worked out I didnt need to shave my undercarriage because access on me could be had through the wrist and this is the option I chose obviously as I am not mental !!!.
Everything was pretty straight forward and I was fully conscious throughout the whole thing; I even had a good view of the TV monitors and Dr Kealey kept explaining to me what I was seeing and what was going to happen next.
After 30 mins or so it was all over, I was tidied up and a sort of plastic pressure bracelet was placed over my wrist where the catheter had been inserted into the artery. If i had chosen to have the needle in the groin then the recovery time is six hours, during which time you basically cannot move or even raise you head from the pillow, as it was I was sat up, eating sandwiches and had the bracelet removed within 2 hrs.
Dr Kealey paid me a visit and as well as giving me 2 pictures of the arteries in my heart gave me the low down on what she had found.

The Results

The arteries in my heart are in really good shape, no blockages, deformities and no signs of a previous heart attack.
I have a large heart, which sounds lovely but its the major cause of the problems I have been having. Basically the heart is large because its become fat and lazy, its only been working at roughly 30% of what it should of been so over a period of time its pretty much lost a lot of its muscle density.

Treatment

At the minute, I need to take medication which will stop the blood from clotting, stuff to help me get rid of excess fluid and another few drugs which will basically help the heart. I need to change my lifestyle...no smoking, drinking and lower salt consumption as well as trying to live a healthier life in general.
If the previous is adhered to I have been advised that in as little time as 3-6mths my heart could be functioning at 100% which is the best news I have had for a long time.

I am not sure of any timescales as to how much time I will need to take off work or when I can drive trucks again. I am also looking into finding out how much I can claim in benefits and at this moment I thank the lord I dont have family here as I would probably have a heart attack if the amount of money I have been quoted is in fact true as I wouldnt be able to survive. If you have a family over here and would be relying on the health care benefits that my company provides then keep an eye on this space as you could be in for a nasty shock.

So at the minute I still feel good, the treatment to fix me properly is underway.

I must thank again the people who have taken it upon themselves to visit me,for the gifts I have received as well as the flood of good will comments and emails. I really do appreciate it and am sure that its gone a long way to making my stay in hospital a lot more bearable...so thanks again everyone.

Angiogram, its happening.

2009-08-25T07:58:00.002-06:00

Hello everyone.
Its Tuesady,8am at Lethbridge and from now on I cant eat or drink until after I have had the procedure which is at 12. Last night I had to get ready by shaving my nether regions which by the way has left my tallywacker looking pretty spectacular hahahaha.

So the plan is to jump into an ambulance which will take me to Lethbridge airport and from there jump into a small light aircraft which will fly me to Calgary in roughly 45mins. Back into an ambulance to Foothills Hospital and then if things go well straight into the prep room and then have the Angiogram which will show any problems/blockages or damage to the heart.

If any problems are found they will be fixed (if possible) by a procedure called Angioplasty and then in theory I should be as good as new. If no problems are found then its back to lethbridge for further investigations and treatment.
So I have a pretty busy day ahead of me.

My only concern is the thought of having a catheter inserted into the artery in my groin...even just thinking about it makes me shudder.
Well I better go, I need to shower again and scrub around where the catheter will be inserted with a special soap and pack up the few belongings I have with me.

I will of course let you know how it all went as soon as I get chance and if possible will try to get my hands on a picture of my heart which I will post on here.

Speak soon.

Some pics at last

2009-08-22T10:10:00.004-06:00

Just a few random snaps from the the last couple weeks.

My Condition Update.

2009-08-22T09:52:00.002-06:00

Hi all, its been a week since I was admitted and to be honest not a lot has happened nor have any firm decisions been made regarding my health.
My heart has been slowed down, sped up. My blood has been thinned then thickened. I have been given tablets for lunch, dinner and tea and to be really honest I am sick to death of it.
The Atrial Fibrillation is the favourite however after having an Ultrasound more concerns have been raised in that I may have had a heart attack or attacks in the past. To have this confirmed I am having to go to Calgary for a Angiogram which basically means a thin tube will be inserted into my thigh and then fed up through the blood vessels and into my heart. Once there a dye will be flooded into the heart which allows for high quality pictures to be taken and then assessed by the Doctors. This was all meant to happen on Friday gone but never did so the earliest date now will be Monday providing transport can be arranged.

Once again, thanks for the visits and get well wishes. Personally I feel great, no different than I did before I was admitted or this time last year even, but obviously there is something wrong.

Things not going to plan.

2009-08-18T08:06:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone. Well, Paul finally got rid of me on saturday after roughly 22,000 miles and after dropping him back at the Sandman Hotel I took myself to the Hospital as I had become concerned about a few things.
The first sympton was that my feet, ankles, calfs and the backs of my thighs had swollen which I contributed to the fact that I had been sitting a lot more than usual as with two drivers the days had been longer. But the major concern was that when I laid down I couldnt get my breath and even the slightest bit of physical exertion left me gasping for air.
I kid you not when I say that after checking in at the hospital I was rigged up to machines and being monitored with 2 minutes. I didnt see what the panic was until I looked at my heart beat on the monitor and saw it was fluctating between 180 - 240 beats per minute, this is all of course while I am laid down and very relaxed.
So that all happened on Saturday night and today is Tuesday.
I have lost count of the number of tablets I have had to take plus all of the stuff that has been fed to me through an IV drip. My right arm hurts as blood is being taken numerous times a day and through the night.
The doctor who looked at me last night predicts that I will continue to be in hospital for at least a week so that they can get my heart under control and beating normally.
The diagnosis given for my condition so far is either Atrial Fibrillation or Congestive Heart Failure or a bit of both.

I don't know yet how this will affect my ability to drive trucks or if it will impact on my application for Permanent Residency,only time will tell I suppose.
I will keep you all up to date regarding any change in my condition.
Thanks for all of the goodwill messages I have received and a big thanks to everyone who has taken time out to come and visit. It does mean a lot. Cheers

A bit of a winge.

2009-08-09T09:53:00.001-06:00

Throughout the time I have been doing this blog I have received numerous emails and comments from perspective drivers looking at moving to Canada and I have always told them the truth when replying to there questions. I dont know if the information I gave them helped them to make up their minds but never the less they found out more about the company from the free advertising that I gave by talking about my job and posting pictures.
So, due to the already implimented pay cuts I will be withholding not only mentioning the company name but also posting pictures of the trucks. It may seem petty but its my way of disputing the reductions placed upon me. Free publicity will be reinstated as soon as my salary reductions have been revoked.
The wage cuts themselves are not massive, a few dollars taken from your loading/unloading bonus and a huge chunk from the already infamous and dreaded layover. Its now expected for you to sit for 24hrs at the companies whim waiting for a job for $50 less, the 12hrs layover which was $75 has been done away with altogether. Also a bonus for delivering into New York city markets has been done away with totally, thats another $100 lighter in the pocket.
I do understand that cuts have to be made to keep the company efficient and would like to know if the same has been applied to other departments or once again has the sh*tty end of the stick been handed to the drivers.
I will of course, continue to take plenty of pictures in the hope that the wage cuts are reversed but until that day.....the company I work for is.....the company !!!!

Is Montreal the new Waterloo ?

2009-08-04T08:47:00.002-06:00

Left Montreal with a relatively easy run back across to Edmonton. Nearly every day now it has rained in Ontario; and I mean proper rain not a bit of drizzle. Only a day or to into the trip a preplan was received which is pretty unusual as I normally receive them the day 'after' a trip. It came as quite a surprise as Montreal was mentioned and some pretty tight delivery dates were involved. Once again it looked as if Paul and I had to endure Hwy 11 and 17 once more. A few suggestions were made such as dropping the trailer we had in Calgary as that would save us a lot of time since the next trailer was coming out of High River but they were quickly revoked so we had to rely on a trailer being made available for us to run with from Edmonton to Calgary then Calgary to High River. The trailer swaps went pretty smoothly and even the paperwork was ready in the meat plant so after hitching up, weighing off and getting sealed we set off back East. Initially I had calculated that unless Paul and I ran team (one sleeps while the other drives) we couldn’t make the delivery on time. I am not a fan of running team and have no interest in doing so My main reason is that I have had to quit really good jobs in the UK as I just couldn’t get into the hang of working nights so for me its a safety issue especially when you are tying yourself to deadlines.
This was mentioned to Dispatch who said that they would have us switch along the route so after pushing pretty hard for the last 2 days in order to give the new driver(s) a fighting chance of getting the load there Paul and I find that we are to deliver the load ourselves!!!
So tonight we will be in Hearst Ontario then Wednesday morning delivering in Anjou Quebec at 02.00am which is not too awesome.
That’s about all for now, there will be a post coming pretty soon regarding pay cuts within the company, some of them pretty substantial as well and I bet you don’t need 3 guesses as to which employees are on the receiving end !!.

Montreal bound again...

2009-07-26T13:55:00.005-06:00

Hi all, well the run to Calgary didnt last too long, under 2 days to be precise. A switch was arranged at Nipigon as the drivers heading towards us had time off booked and needed to be back in Lethbridge. Waited for over 3hrs for them to show up which was not there fault as somewhere along the line the times got confused which meant Paul and I could of ran an extra 200 miles and the team we were switching with would of had less to do to get them home.....amazing isnt it that in this age of computers, electronic route planners and times being tapped into a satellite communications system that so much can go wrong !

So we are heading back to Montreal and as we will be early for the delivery the plan is to drop the trailer at the yard and then hopefully it wont be too long until we get a backload.

Highway 11 and 17 are beginning to become a bit of a chore plus its pretty much not stopped raining hard for the last few days which makes it harder to drive into the night. Bad roads,no street lighting,hard rain and the ever present threat of Moose make the trip so much harder and tiring.
Making the most of things at the minute and grabbing some internet time at Flying J truckstop, Kapuskasing Ontario before pushing out another 300 miles to North Bay Ontario where we will call it a night. That will leave 300 miles to run tomorrow to reach Montreal.

No new pictures today as to be honest its been so grey and miserable it hasnt been worth getting the camera out. I did stop at the Walmart and had some printed just to see how they looked on paper and I was pleased with the results.
Next time you hear from me it will more than likely be from the truckstop near to the yard in Montreal Quebec

Montreal or bust

2009-07-23T14:42:00.006-06:00

Hi all. Well a few things have happened and a lot of miles have been covered since I last posted. If I remember rightly myself and Paul left you in Mississauga where we picked up a trailer, ran empty to Kitchener and picked up a loaded one bound for Saskatoon. That trip ended in Winnipeg as there was an urgent load which needed to be in Montreal so we dropped ours in the yard and hitched up to the new load.
After working out what time we could be in Montreal we sent in the information and set off. Basically we had in excess of 1550 miles to cover in the shortest time possible but our estimated time of arrival wasnt quick enough and we were informed that the load should be at the customer 12hrs before we had planned. There was no way on gods earth that we could knock so much time off so the load was rebooked and we hit Montreal at 9am local time. The delivery went smoothly enough and after working silly hours to get the load here was are still sat waiting for a reload. A preplan has come through but its anybodies guess when that will be ready.
As always, the layover dodge of city work was offered and graciously declined, we both needed some sleep bigtime so the time off was welcomed.
The preplanned load we have should get us to Calgary around Monday 27th and once again its decent miles (2300 give or take)but at the minute we have plenty of time to do it in which is a blessing considering the recent trips we have had.

Lightning at Minneapolis

2009-07-17T12:22:00.002-06:00

Downtown Calgary and Paul's Mentor Trip

2009-07-17T11:32:00.003-06:00

Hi all, got loads to talk about but not sure if I have the time but we will give it a go.
I knew Paul from the UK when we both worked for Autocarriers which mainly involved delivering new cars to dealers nationwide. He is over here now and last Saturday got a lift to Calgary so he could start his mentor trip which was to... of course ... Waterloo Iowa, my favourite haunt (not).
The trailer wasnt due to load until the Sunday morning so we jumped in a cab and did the tourist in Downtown Calgary. Paul was a bit dubious about standing on the glass floored observation deck but managed even though he didnt look to comfortable hahahah.
Sunday morning came and as usual the trailer was late in getting released but we still had a chance at get through meat inspection. Called in at Lethbridge for some paperwork and found out that Paul wasnt on the system so therefore he couldnt cross into the States, not a problem was the reply from despatch we can fix it...no we cant...yes we can...errr no we cant so we will see you in the morning.

Monday morning we left for the border, went to meat inspection and was told we had a full inspect which meant more time lost. A couple of hours later we were on our way. As we had lost so much time we had to drive late into the night and wildlife is a problem on the road we had to take. Paul had a very near miss when a deer darted out and I laughed as I told him I had never come that close. Sods law kicked in when it was my turn to get behind the wheel and its at this point when I have to apologise to Bambi's mother as 5 mins later I hit my first deer, not intentionally I have to say.

Saw a massive lightening storm going on around Minneapolis and dropped the trailer at Waterloo the night before it was due delivery and went to bed.
Woke the following morning to a barrage of messages stating we should of loaded at 0800 that morning and demanding to know why we hadnt. Reason 1....we finished at 0330, reason 2... we are not mind readers, nobody told us anything.

Ended up doing a switch just south of Waterloo and then had to one hit the load to Toronto in time for delivery 11am the following morning, its about an 800 mile trip and the time was already 2pm. Managed to deliver on time and sat for over 6hrs while the labour we had to employ at a cost of $80 took his time to get the melons off the trailer.

Dropped the trailer in Mississauga and was preplanned for a load out of Kitchener Ontario to Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Since the mentor trip had started this was the first time we had were Paul could properly work out the times on the preplan and decide if we could do the trip. We agreed there was no problem and we had plenty of time. It was then after Paul accepted the plan that we received a message stating that the load wouldnt be ready until at least 10hrs after what he had planned for. Now for me thats not a problem but for somebody who is learning the ropes it is as it means going back to the drawing board and recalculating the trip.
So, after refusing city work (offered to us so that the company dont have to pay layovers) we both got a good nights sleep and are at present waiting for the beep on the satellite to let us know the trailer is ready

Stampede Pics.

2009-07-08T23:28:00.003-06:00

Just a few more, still plenty left if you want to see them.

Calgary Stampede. The greatest show on earth ?

2009-07-08T22:22:00.003-06:00

The greatest show on earth...well...errmm....I dont think so. The main reason is I got pretty wound up by the hype and was truly let down when I arrived at the stampede. It wasnt as big as I was led to believe, there was no cowboys riding around and the place was pretty deserted. I particularly wanted to see the Rodeo part of it, riding the bulls and so on but the tickets had sold out, I was offered one by a 'tout'; he wanted $125 for a $75 ticket !!!!.
If you are into cows, bulls and tractors then the show is for you, same as if you want to pay inflated prices for burgers and soda pop. Fancy a pint ? No problem if you are willing to wait in a queue that would shame the ones at Disney just to get into the bar, then after quenching your thirst and having a walk round having to go through it all again.
The highlight for me was watching a 'Pow Wow' put on by the Native Indians, I managed to get some cracking pics and they will be on here in the next few days.

The last few days

2009-07-04T11:00:00.006-06:00

Just some pics from the last few days, in Calgary at the minute and planning on going to the Stampede.
More to come very soon.

Cabinet shelves.

2009-06-28T21:17:00.003-06:00

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

2009-06-27T14:21:00.003-06:00

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.

2009-06-26T21:33:00.003-06:00

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

2009-06-24T17:44:00.006-06:00

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

2009-06-17T13:09:00.002-06:00

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.

2009-06-12T20:24:00.005-06:00

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.

2009-06-10T07:24:00.004-06:00

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.

2009-06-09T12:56:00.008-06:00

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.

2009-06-08T12:34:00.002-06:00

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

2009-06-06T15:27:00.006-06:00

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

2009-06-06T15:05:00.008-06:00

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 !!

2009-06-04T21:46:00.005-06:00

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 ?

2009-06-04T20:30:00.004-06:00

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

2009-06-02T09:33:00.005-06:00

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

Well, yesterday was absolutely.....

2009-05-31T20:38:00.026-06:00

......fantastic and brilliant !!!!

I honestly believe that there was very little that could of spoilt my day.

Waited around all day friday for nothing and ended up buying a meal which cost more than I had earned for 12hrs work. Then...
Was told to pick up a trailer and run empty south, destination California. With the sun beating down, my new camera (yes I know, the old one is up for sale soon)and no specified time limits to adhere to I set off. I will let the pictures tell of the trip down and you should be able to see why I was feeling on top of the world !!

Getting ready to leave the yard at Kelowna at about 7.30am The sun was already beating down and promising a hot day ahead.

A short while later I was running alongside the lake at Penticton which looked more like a scene from the Algarve in Portugal. This lake goes on for miles and even though there is construction going on where they close the road for 30mins at a time you have great views

Just 30mins later the rocks close in on the road and a series of twisty bends try to catch you out and drop you off into the water.

Heading down now to Osoyoos British Columbia and the border with the USA is only minutes away. The whole area is covered with orchards and vineyards and is a very beautiful sight

Now in Washington after getting through customs with just a quick cab search. Its 2.30pm and the sun is still belting down. The plan is to follow the 97 south all the way to the I-5 at Weed California.

I left the 97 at Omak Washington and the couple of minutes extra detour took me down by the Coulee Dam and the Dry Falls which were mentioned on a previous post. I had to take some more pics as the coulour of the water was amazing.Once again the road follows the lake and at times only a flimsey barrier stops you from dropping off into the water.

So by 3.45pm I was at the Dry Falls, last time I came here I was the only visitor but the warm weather as well as shrinking the ladies clothes brought out some sightseers. If you supersize the image you can see that in the left hand side of the water are 3 boats which give you some idea as to the size of the falls.

In the picture below I noticed some large birds of prey circling over head just cruising on the warm thermals. At one time there was 4 of them but it wasnt possible to get them all in the same shot. If you supersize the pic (click on it) you can see that they have bald red heads with grey on the underside of the wing which after a bit of googling leads me to believe they are Turkey Vultures; which can have a wingspan of up to 5-6 feet.

Taken from a view point of the Columbia River at just after 5pm. Just a few quick facts for those that havn't read all of my posts...The river is over 1200m miles long and drains over 250,000 acres of land.It originates in British Columbia and flows through 7 American states. The river is the most heavily dammed river in the world with over 450 dams along its length which are mainly used for hydro-electricity.

My last picture of the day taken at 8.30pm. On the far side of the river is Wasington State; not DC and I am pottering along in Oregon. It wasnt long after this was taken that I called it a day, but guess what ? Today, Sunday was every bit, if not better than yesterday. So....tune in soon and tell all your friends !!!

Hurry up and wait.

2009-05-29T14:44:00.005-06:00

The first trip I did since I got back went really well, I visited states I hadn't been to for a while but as soon as I got back into Canada things have gone a little bit wrong.
The wait for over 36hrs in Montreal, the numerous trailer changes along the route as well as over a days wait in Delta and now at almost 3pm I am still hanging about to find out whats next on the adgenda. By the way I am at Kelowna British Columbia, waiting after being unloaded this morning.
Kelowna is not the best place to be when waiting for work; a lot of decisions have to made by the planners as to what to do with you when you get stuck here, at least there is plenty of places to eat and loads of shopping to be had.
No idea where I am going to next but will let you know when I do.

The view from the Chevron parking in Delta. The Alex Fraser Bridge and some wonderful smelling Canadian Red Cedar.

Forgot to post again.

2009-05-27T11:36:00.002-06:00

Once again please accept my apologies for taking so long to post anything new.
Well to bring things up to date as its been a bit of a mess.

Collected my trailer from Montreal and set off west to deliver in British Columbia. I received a message saying that I had to swap trailers at Hearst as the truck pulling it had broken down and then do another switch at Headingley Manitoba so that a team could get it into Calgary for its delivery on time. So with this job done I had to load out of Portage La Prarie the following morning which I duly did and when it came to scale the load I was 5000lbs too heavy on the trailer axles; looks like despatch sent me in with a 2 axle trailer instead of a 3. After an hour or so some of the load had been taken off and I was on my way with a load once again for British Columbia which I was to drop at Calgary. Arrived at 12.30 on the 25th and switched with the driver who was going to take the load on the rest of its trip.
My next load came through which was for...wait for it...British Columbia. So far on the return leg from Montreal I was about to pick up my 4th trailer which would eventually get me to BC. Anyway,set off on the morning of the 26th and am at present waiting at the end of a long line of trucks to be offloaded which is grim as the customer seems to be in no rush.

And thats you all up to date.
For some unknown reason I havn't had any free time really and the photos have taken a bit of a back seat although this will change very soon, I have plenty but need to go through them and sort them out.
Piglet is going well and I am quite impressed with her. I have a 1001 jobs I need to do so that she is how I want her such as sorting out some extra shelves and hiding the wires from TomTom and the Sirius radio but like I have mentioned I just don't seem to have the time.

Fingers crossed I should be out of here soon and on my merry way.

A long overdue post.

2009-05-19T18:03:00.003-06:00

Hi guys, sorry for the length of time since my last post; I have nobody to blame but myself.
I think I left you last on my way to to Montreal after reloading out of Texas.
The weather has been great on the return leg of the trip. As well as taking in Colorado,Wyoming and Texas a few other lesser visited States were visited such as Missouri and Oklahoma which made for a very welcomed change of scenery.
Piglet is doing well, she is exceptionally quiet compared to her predecessor and my only complaint is that she is giving a very good return on her fuel consumption which in turn means I get less free showers and points on my loyalty cards. Most of the gripes I have with the truck are purely cosmetic such as why design overhead lockers then proceed to manufacture them and fit them to trucks when they cannot hold anything bigger than a few pens ? Same goes for the wardrobe, Freightliner must employ midgets as after buying a load of hangers I found that all of my clothes when hanging crumpled up on the bottom shelf...the designers must have inside leg measurements of around 24 inches. How about this for a waste of money...fit 2 switches on the steering wheel to change the info on the dashboard display when a button is fitted less than a foot away from it that has the same purpose, surely the steering controls would of been better utilized for adjusting the radio volume !! I still havn't worked out how to switch the interior lights off when you are in bed as the switches dont seem to be 2-way which means that if you turn the lights on via the dashboard you need to get out of bed to switch them off when there is a switch in the sleeper compartment. Like I say its all cosmetic but a bit of thought would of made the Cascadia a better truck.

To bring you all up to date, I unloaded in Anjou (montreal) Quebec in the early hours of this morning which was Tuesday and ran to the Yard in St Laurent where the trailer was dropped off. Pretty quickly I was preplanned for Winnipeg Manitoba and informed that the city guys would be picking up the 4 collections (heaven) but the last delivery didnt load until 12.30 wednesday. I didnt really mind but was then given the option to pick up the last collection myself as it was just down the road; I agreed and waited for confirmation. Its at this point I have to praise the City drivers and Deb (my despatcher) for passing on the message, apparently the collection is in a very "ugly" part of the city and a highway truck (piglet) would have major problems getting in and out and the city driver recommended I didnt do it; so thanks to him especially as he saved me a going through a big ordeal.

So thats all for now folks, hopefully I will be heading west tomorrow.

Monte's got a nearly new Piglet.

2009-05-15T20:44:00.003-06:00

Hi all, got in touch with work and was given a nearly new piglet, she has 30,000km on the clock which is new enough for me. Its the new Cascadia model and although there is a lot of vast improvements over the Columbia model there still is a few niggles that could of been sorted out; but more about that at a later date.

Picked Piglet up (my pet name for my truck) on Monday lunchtime and headed off to Coca cola to pick up the night load for Lethbridge which was delivered at 11pm then went to bed.
Tuesday morning was a mad rush to put all of my belongings into 2371 and then head off with a load for Denver Colorado to deliver Thursday morning.
I left a lot of my belongings out of the truck as there was going to be enough upheaval as it was trying to find new places to put my stuff and the rumour was that the Cascadia had less storage but I managed just fine.

Tipped in Denver and ran empty to Friona Texas (500 miles) where I dropped the trailer and bobtailed to Plainview Texas about an hour and a half away. Its been almost a year since I was last down this neck of the woods so the change of scenery was welcomed. A loaded trailer was picked up and I am on my merry way to Montreal Quebec with a smile on my face and the sun on my back.

Back in Canada

2009-05-11T06:31:00.003-06:00

Hi folks,
left home on Saturday teatime and caught the direct train from Darlington to Manchester airport and stayed at the Premier Inn for the night which is a mile or so from the airport. Its a very nice and new hotel with both a bar, restaurant and cost 45GBP for the room for the night which I think is very reasonable.
Sunday morning I had the breakfast buffet which was probably the last time for a while where I will have eaten real bacon and then jumped onto the shuttle bus to take me to the airport.
Checked in with no problems, bought duty free then boarded the plane which was held up for 15 mins as two passengers had been refused boarding as they didnt have the necessary visa's which is a bit of a concern as they had managed to get through numerous security checks.
The flight was good, food was ok and in just over 8hrs I touched down in Calgary.
A quick call to work revealed the fact that nobody knew anything about which truck I was getting so I booked a room at the Roadking truckstop and need to sort that problem out in an hour or so when everone is in the office. I just hope that it doesnt turn into a drama as I need to get to Lethbridge as thats where all my stuff is stored...I am sure it wont be a big deal !!
Managed to get plenty of pics while I was at home but I will probably hold them back and use them when things are a bit quiet over here or the work I get is repetitive and gives me nothing new to write about.
Thats about all for now..fingers crossed I get back into the driving seat without any hiccups.

Home sweet home

2009-05-03T05:41:00.010-06:00

My mam and Dad moved into this house which is situated about 8 miles out of Darlington in 1986.
The house was built in 1944 for the purpose of housing the local priest and any travelling bishops who passed through the parish.

In the view of the rear of the house (below) the building to the right was originally an orphanage which was ran by the Catholic church. Since then it has had a number of uses including being used as a refuge during the war and more recentley a nursing home.

I have got just under a week at home now and have made a few plans which should fill up my time. The sun is shining and a big Sunday roast dinner is in the oven, happy days !!

Darlington Civic Theatre

2009-05-02T01:28:00.002-06:00

The New Hippodrome & Palace of Varieties was formally opened on Monday September 2 1907. Its first Managing Director was Signor Rino Pepi, an Italian ex patriot who was originally a quick-change artist (or protean) and impersonator, whose love of theatre took him into a management career. George F Ward of Owen and Ward of Birmingham, a firm specialising in theatre building, designed the theatre and Owen and Ward were responsible for the building of the theatre. It is constructed from local Middlesbrough red brick with terracotta dressings. Above the Parkgate entrance is a 64foot high pyramid-roofed tower (housing a water tank) that gives the theatre's distinctive appearance and was used to provide high-pressure water for aquatic scenes that were popular at the time. The ornamental canopy is a replica of the original iron and glass structure, which was destroyed by a traffic accident in the 1960s.

The Brick Train

2009-05-02T01:12:00.003-06:00

Visitors can park at the Morrisons Morton Park shopping area and walk along special footpaths to reach the sculpture. Once there, the adventurous can climb to the platform overlooking the train from above. The sculpture is signposted from surrounding roads.

The Darlington "Brick Train" was opened on Monday, 23rd June 1997 by Lord Palumbo of Walbrook is situated next to Morrisons on Morton Park Industrial Estate.

Modelled on the 1938 record setting, 126mph steam locomotive "Mallard". Funded by the National Lottery, Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Northern Arts, Department of National Heritage, Darlington Borough Council and headed by sculptor David Mach the project reputedly cost c £760k.

A total of 185,000 bricks were used in its construction along with 170 cubic meters of concrete. The train weighs 15,000 tonnes and covers an area of 600sq meters. It is of hollow construction and measures 23ft high by 130ft long. It took a team of 34 brick layers, labourers and apprentices 21 weeks to build.

In addition, there are even 20 special 'bat' bricks built in at various places to encourage the nocturnal creatures to use it as their home. Local schools also donated 'time capsules' which were put inside the train

Miserable weather.

2009-04-30T06:53:00.002-06:00

Hi all, the weather is terrible and because of this its kept me from getting out and about. The sun hasn't shown itself since last weekend and the forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend doesn't look too promising.
Have seen most of my family and friends and have got some good nights out planned before I leave to return to Canada which isn't too far away and time is flying by.
Hopefully;weather permitting I will have some pics of the town by the next time I post.
Speak soon

Amsterdam, just made it in time.

2009-04-27T15:28:00.005-06:00

>

Hi all, we are all back from the trip to Amsterdam for Tom's 18th and nobody got left behind.
Tom's girlfriend; Naomi had an exam on the Friday we left and didn't finish it until 15.15 so it was a bit of a rush to make it to the port which is about 40 miles away in time for the latest check in at the ferry. Things went really well until we hit the Tyne Tunnel and roadworks there caused us some real problems and we ended up arriving at check in with 2 minutes to spare. Not to worry though as we had made it.
Friday night was spent in the bar enjoying the cabaret entertainment, the beer and the company of each other which was Tom, Naomi, Myself and my (ex) sister-in law Lyndsay who's birthday was on Friday the 24th.

The ferry docked the following morning around 09.30am local time and we filtered onto buses which would take us from the Port at Ijmuiden to Amsterdam; I was the one of course who was suffering because of the drink and I blame H&R for this and their zero alcohol policy !!! hahaha
The day was spent wandering around, admiring the views and doing the "must do when in Amsterdam" things. Tom was the only one in the group who participated and over-indulged in the local smoking establishments; it was funny to see him trying to behave normally when his head was in the clouds.
A visit to the sex shops pleased the girls however they were not impressed by the live sex shows; or at least the cleanliness of the cabins.
The buses picked us back up later in the afternoon and took us back to the ferry where all of us except Tom had a quick nap. Tom had decided to hit the bar straight away and ended up going to bed early due to over indulgence.
Overall it was a good weekend, its very expensive now as the Euro is on par with the British Pound but I think its one of the places you have to visit plus we celebrated two birthdays so all is good.

I have nothing planned really for the rest of my time whilst back home but as I said in a previous post I will make an effort to update the blog and try to put some interesting and different posts online.

Back home.

2009-04-24T00:33:00.002-06:00

Hi all, had a great flight over and landed in Manchester yesterday morning, jumped on the train and was back home 2.5 hrs later.
Got a busy few days ahead as going to Amsterdam for Tom's 18th and will be leaving this afternoon from North Shields and jumping on the ferry which is affectionately known as "the love boat".
Hopefully the weather will pick up as its overcast and a little chilly this morning.
Will of course take plenty of pictures and more than likely will have them posted on Monday.
Have a good weekend everyone !!

Countdown to my holiday begins !!!

2009-04-19T20:37:00.008-06:00

Hi all, well the last 4 or 5 days has really been a waste of time.
After the never ending trip from Mississauga to Delta I had my reset and then waited. Eventually I was given the Coca-Cola run to Kamloops British Columbia and when I arrived at the shipper they had no empty trailers so therefore I had to run back to Delta and pick up an empty. Sods law that while I was gone we had 3 trailers dropped off at Coca-Cola. Anyway I loaded, ran to Kamloops and was empty in 15mins.
As I had a late finish it meant I had to start late and ended up running to Osoyoos to do the milk round collection of apples bound for Calgary. Luckily I only had 3 collections and as it was a Saturday all of the shippers were waiting for me and I never really had any wasted time at any of them. Took my time running back and dropped the trailer in Calgary for it to be unloaded through the night. Picked up a loaded trailer at the yard and at the minute I am sat on the unloading dock at Medicine Hat Alberta hoping for an early delivery in the morning.
The pictures are from a place called Craigellachie British Columbia and although the visitors entrance is closed for the season I managed to clamber over the rocks to get these pictures; which thinking about it was a silly thing to do as I could of slipped on the moss,hurt myself and god knows how long it would of been before anyone had found me.
The pictures have been shot in HDR (High Dynamic Range) and tweaked a little, hope you like them !!

Britians Got talent.....Susan Boyle

2009-04-17T22:40:00.003-06:00

This post is mainly for the people who are not in the UK. Most countries now have their equivalent of Britians Got Talent so I am sure you are familiar with the programme and the format.
The following link is from youtube and shows Susan's performance on the show.
Its not what you might expect and when I watched, the clip has already been viewed almost 24,000,000 times

Click HERE to watch Susan give her all.

Just for fun....houses for sale in Iowa

2009-04-17T22:02:00.006-06:00

Due to the amount of time I spend in Iowa I had a look on the internet at some realtors (estate agent) sites, not with an intent to buy but more out of curiosity.
I selected 4 homes, two from west Iowa (Sioux City) and two from the east (Waterloo).
Each house would suit me down to the ground and I have picked an easily affordable place and a mortgage needed place.
I have no idea what the area is like surrounding each property, like I said its just for fun and all prices are in US Dollars.

Sioux City...$92,500

Waterloo....$92,000
Sioux City....$45,000
Waterloo....$40,000

Is this H&R's new yard ?

2009-04-16T00:32:00.003-06:00

Went out for a meal tonight and this is the sight I came back to. The gas station is a very busy place and its a regular stop for drivers as it has a Subway, a Burger King and is only a few miles from our yard. Looks like work might still be a bit quiet judging by the number of trucks in here considering that there are 3 trucks which cannot be seen in the picture.

Ten Mile Hill to Golden

2009-04-15T18:18:00.005-06:00

The following video is from the Ten Mile Hill brake check area running into Golden. I believe that this stretch although not difficult to drive is one of the more demanding stretches of highway I regularly use. Particular attention needs to be paid to the rockface on your side of the road and the massive drop on the other as well as watching out for trucks over shooting and cutting corners.
As the video would of taken forever to watch it has been accelerated and because of that the sound has screwed up a little, sorry about that but video editing is not my thing.
I hope you enjoy it !!

ps. The camera is sat on the dash, resting on a cigarette packet and some nonslip matting.

The never ending journey.

2009-04-15T12:57:00.003-06:00

Hi, have just finished the trip across from Mississauga Ontario to Delta British Columbia and I never thought it was going to end. Done get me wrong, the mileage is superb but its such a tedious route that its comparable with having teeth pulled.
Left on the morning of the the 10th and after 830km pulled over at Kapuskasing and called it a night. Finally lost the will to carry on at Dryden on the 11th after 947km. The roads are in a terrible state, potholes and tramlines are the order of the day and it makes driving a chore. Once again I had had enough after 927km on the 12th and parked at Regina in Sasketchewan. From there it was another punt to Kananaski where I parked at the new casino and had a meal which was very reasonably priced.
The last leg of the trip was from there to the yard at Delta where the trailer was dropped and I started a reset as I only had a few hours available for the next few days.

Total distance for the one way trip is calculated by Google maps at 4408km, TomTom says its 4430km and my logbook totals at 4451 which I would expect to be a little higher as it takes into account going off route for fuel.
To put the trip into easier terms for people back home the mileage covered is equivalent to a trip from Darlington - Rome - Darlington or 7 trips from London to Glasgow.

The weather has been great and today in Delta British Columbia its almost 60f and the sun is shining. Ontario is doing its best to fight off the winter and is slowly winning the battle although when I came through some snow had been dumped the day before but the roads were clear.

Dont know what lies in store for me next but I cant go anywhere until tomorrow when my reset will be finished.
I havn't mentioned yet but I am going home for a holiday in a weeks time and will be in the UK for the 23rd. Its been almost 7 months since I was last home and I am looking forward to having a few weeks off although I plan to make the most of it and not sit around doing nothing. Last time I went home the blog took a bit of a backseat but this time I will post on a more regular basis as I have readers who may be interested in what good old Darlington and the surrounding area has to offer.
Thats about all for now, will post again soon.

Reesors siding incident.

2009-04-15T11:55:00.003-06:00

Along with the Terry Fox memorial this is another monument that I have driven past and never really taken the time to check out. Situated near Hearst Ontario the monument stands just by the side of the road. The snow is still pretty bad there and when I stopped it hadn't been cleared so the picture was taken from the highway.

This is the site of one of the bloodiest clashes in Canadian labour history. In January 1963, a contract dispute led to a strike by members of the Lumber and Sawmill Workers' Union who cut pulpwood for the paper mill in Kapuskasing. They tried to shut down the mill by blockading pulpwood shipments from independent contractors. Just after midnight on February 11, over 400 strikers arrived at Reesor Siding to dump logs stockpiled by a local woodcutters' cooperative. As they approached the woodpiles, 20 armed woodcutters began shooting. Three of the strikers were killed, another eight wounded. The tragedy prompted the provincial government to intervene and settle the strike by arbitration.

Playing the waiting game in Mississauga Ontario

2009-04-09T16:47:00.004-06:00

Taken in Indiana I think..its not where I am eating tonight

Left you on my way to Iowa with a stop in Minnesota thrown in for good measure. Arrived at the customer about 7pm for a delivery at 9.30 the following morning and tried my luck at getting offloaded. If I was prepared to park on a "no parking" street until they "possibly" would call me sometime through the night then I "might" be offloaded. After about 2 seconds debating whether it was worth it I said my goodbye's and left to find some parking. Arrived back the next morning, backed onto a door and 2hrs later i was free to head on down to Mason City Iowa.
No problems either at this customer, was an hour early, backed straight onto a door and was leaving almost exactly at the time I was due to deliver. Things seemed to be going well so I waited for my next load.
It was a miracle, sent my empty call and within minutes I had a preplan to load out of Illinois. Accepted that and headed for some food. Had the load assignment when I returned so booted it to Wenona Illinois.
Parked for the night near the collection and ran in at 8am the follwing morning. Dropped my empty and picked up a loaded trailer, to be honest I couldnt believe how well things were going.
There was no big rush to get this load to Toronto so I took my time, had plenty of time off, did a bit of shopping and dropped the trailer this morning (thursday) at the yard in Mississauga.
Thats it folks. If nothing happens to change things then its a big steak for tea from the Steakhouse right next door to the truckstop. Lovely

This is nice to see, people involved in the crash giving each other a hug.

Some pics from the last few weeks.

2009-04-09T13:13:00.008-06:00

Crazy cloud patterns in Michigan Somebodies back yard at Sweetgrass Think this is Saskatchewan
In the Rockies, is that water or ice on the road ?
Thought I had lost my cable for the old Sony Camera and had no means of getting the pictures from it as I dont have a card adapter so I can use it in the laptop. But its turned up in exactly the place I left it which is where its always kept, guess I was looking too hard.
Things have been going well lately and I will bring you up to date soon.

Bye for now.

Nothing new..enroute to Mason City Iowa.

2009-04-05T18:56:00.007-06:00

The weather in Sasketchewan yesterdayFrom last week, taken at Broadus MontanaA sign of possible things to come, flooded median in Manitoba

Hi. The trailer was ready for me to collect out of the Calgary yard so after having a reset which cleared my hours I set off on my way and headed east as the load is crossing the border at Pembina Nth Dakota. There is plenty of time to reach the customer and I should arrive tomorrow afternoon (monday) for a 9am delivery the following morning at my first drop which is Fridley Minnesota, then its off to Mason City Iowa for 15.30hr.
Nothing eventful has happened, I did notice how ignorant some H&R drivers are and will not wave even when overtaking, mind you..the speed one of the trucks came past me yesterday I would of been suprised if he had dared take his eyes off the road.
The weather has been glorious, sunny and either blue skies or fantastic cloud formations. The radio tells me its a different story as I head south into Nth Dakota and there is heavy snow along with freezing conditions and strong winds...I mean c'mon..its April !!

A quick catch-up

2009-04-03T13:24:00.005-06:00

Bonjour. Well my last post went down like a lead balloon, not one comment, email, nothing. I had that post planned for weeks and it sank faster than a sinking thing. Happy Aprils fools day.
So, lets move on. Ran to Sioux City Iowa and was unloaded. Left there the following morning and ran 500 miles or so empty to Little Chute Wisconsin where I loaded pizza the same night. Hit some bad weather around North Dakota which eased up. Cleared customs at Portal North Dakota and ran into Calgary where I dropped the trailer last night. Have been planned for a load back south which should be ready tomorrow morning and is bound for....I am sure you dont need 3 guesses....Iowa !!

The Jackalope.

2009-03-31T23:09:00.008-06:00

On my way down to Sioux City I stopped at a truckstop called "Jumping Jacks" in Belle Fourche..South Dakota. The menu as in a few other truckstops is like a newspaper which not only shows the food menu but has a bit of advertising and local trivia.
I had heard about Jackelopes before but the article gave me a lot more insight. A cross between a jack rabbit and an antelope the Jackalope is extremely rare and even while I was enjoying my lunch 3 old men who sat drinking coffee laughed and ridiculed the other old gentleman in there group who said he seen one about 30 years ago.
Licenses are required to hunt the Jackalope and are issued by a lottery basis however one place to issue the license on a first come first served basis is The Douglas Wyoming Chamber of Commerce.
The terms of hunting must be strictly adhered to. A license allows the holder to take only 2 Jackelope in the season, a male and a female. The Buck must be taken first and then a Doe. Only traditional methods of hunting are allowed and the only means of capturing a Jackalope is by lasso'ing the hind legs; once caught the animal must be killed as quickly and humanely as possible.
As in my last post I stopped at Walldrug and was able if I so wished to purchase a mounted Jackalope as shown in the pictures. The pictures of animals that are alive are taken from the web.
Numerous sites are dedicated to the Jackalope along with details of festivals, sightings and hunts.
The 2 pics below are taken at Walldrug and the Jackalope are available for purchase

Walldrug..in Wall South Dakota

2009-03-28T20:32:00.010-06:00

Places to tether your horse in between car parking spaces

Of all the places I have visited South Dakota comes out top for cheap, easy access things to see. Not so long ago it was the 1880's Town and now its Walldrug.

A small selection from the Western Wear shop

It all started 78 years ago when Dorothy and Ted Hustead bought the drugstore in a place called Wall; home to a population of 326 people. Things were very grim until they came across the idea of giving free iced water to weary travellers as they still do to this very day.

Bronze statues on display in one of the dining rooms

Walldrug is now a 76,000 sq ft attraction which houses restaurants, over 300 original oil paintings and lifesize carvings of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made from 187yr Cedar tree.

I love this picture...Just one of numerous gift shops

Its worth a visit and there is Truck/RV parking.
Walldrug website can be found HERE

Colourful...unrealistic pictures.

2009-03-27T21:49:00.007-06:00

I have had a complaint about the pictures I post on my blog (believe it or not).
Apparently they are not true to life, too cartoon-ish and the colours are unbelievable. I say complaint but I suppose it was more of a critique.
My answer is simple and no disrespect is intended.
I take a picture and if the outcome is not how I saw it at the time I will make it so, or would even go as far as to make the photo look as how I would "like" to see it.
I think that its not only more interesting to look at (even if it looks like a water colour) but also shows my artistic flare (hahaha).
A lot of the time the colours are only saturated a little, in the example below all I did was emphasise the colours that already existed...even if the eye didnt see them.
This picture has been posted before but for some unknown reason I took it again this morning. The buildings sit next door to the meat inspection at Sweetgrass Montana and everytime I go there it catches my eye, maybe its the cracked paint or the colour...I just like it !