I know... I know...
It's been a while... as some of you have so sweetly pointed out to me. I've been busy as crap lately and honestly... when the day is done... I've not really been in the mood to blog or even get online. Get over it... haha
I have, however, found myself thinking about things I'd like to touch on in blogs while I've been driving my life away. Of course, at this precise moment my mind is all amuck and not sure what I'll end up writing about.
I do want to ask one question.... a favor really...
Could someone please... please tell the bugs of the world to watch out for the big orange truck? I'm not quite fond of having their last memory impressed upon my windshield. I know some of them are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I swear that the posse of eight or so bumbling bumble bees that I managed to kill in one fell swoop along I-24 the other day were in attack mode. I mean, why else would they have rammed straight into my truck? 8 at once... I swear it sounded like I'd started a bag of microwave popcorn.
I suppose that while I'm at it... I should also apologize to the family of squirrels in Kentucky who lost a loved one two days ago along the Purchase Parkway. It was out of kind mercy and good samaritanship that I put your brethren out of it's misery. Someone else had taken the first shot, I simply finished the job so there would be no more suffering... or twitching. If it makes you feel any better... I dreamed about the whole situation that same night and apologies and thank you's were accepted on both sides and we shared a walnut.
Things have been just crazy for me lately really. I had a mostly pleasant trip into Rhode Island last week. Mostly pleasant except for the pick-up of my southbound load in Bristol, RI. Look it up on the map.... tiny little place... tiny little roads. I fought off the urge to vomit at least three times traversing the streets of Bristol and it's surrounding communities. My nerves were shot! I am so thankful.. and perhaps a little lucky, that I didn't kill any cars, overhead lines or other obstacles on that journey. I survived... and that's all I can say about that.
Tennessee welcomed me with thunderous arms once again. I swear I'm just about tired of dodging tornado's. And why is it that every time I go south, severe weather is there to greet me with insanely wet arms?
I was on my way to West Memphis, AR to deliver a load, planning to stop just shy of Memphis, TN for the night. I got stopped a little ahead of schedule thanks to a severe thunderstorm that was raging into west TN from AR that was causing a lot of travel problems along I-40. Thanks to my love of local radio and the souths ability to give good storm warnings with enough time to react, I stopped before the storm hit my area and made safe haven in a truck stop to wait out the worst of it, and ended up staying the night.
While in the truck stop with about 20 other patrons and employees, the storm raged on. Blowing down trees across the road, knocking out the power and ripping the awning of the gas-pump island overhead clean off. The rain and the wind were astonishing to watch from the safety of a well built, albeit darkened building. I kept eyeing out the window towards my truck to make sure it wasn't getting blown over. I had been the only truck in the parking lot when I arrived. Thankfully, about 5 other trucks had filed after the storm started to really get going and were probably the only things keeping my truck and theirs from being toppled over. I swear, the winds were THAT bad.
I've actually seen a trailer toppled onto it's side by sheer force of wind. It had happened when I was in training up in Green Bay, actually. There was a remote lot that instructors would use as a place to do some extra parking practices since the on-site lot could get pretty busy. A storm had blown through the night before and blew sand filled barrels all over the place and a free standing tailer was on it's side, a casualty of the storm. Pretty impressive... and a little scary to think that me, in my rig could just be blown over like that.
Of course that's part of the reason I grabbed my umbrella and headed into the truck stop before the storm hit when I stopped the other day... no way I was chancing a tornado ripping me and my truck to shreds. It could have the truck... but my life is way to precious to me to risk.
A tornado did touch down in the area during that storm. But it was about 30 miles northeast of where I was. Still... too close for comfort. So for those of you who can talk to bugs... let your friends who can talk to the weather know that they can sit weather down and let it know I'm not happy with it right now.
Hmm..what else can I blog about? I'm on a roll I think. Well... I was anyway. Suddenly my mind is going blank and blurry. Oh wait... I just realized I'm a little hungry which of course brings me to rave about my RoadPro Portable Stove.
OMG that thing rocks and has saved my life from the bowels of Fast Food and Truck Stop Buffet hell. Seriously. I was home for two brief days recently and took a little time to go grocery shopping for things I wanted to try cooking in my new stove. I have to say I'm very pleased to know that I can cook just about anything I could cook at home on the stove top in my little lunch box sized stove.
Why just today I had a hearty helping of carrots and stove-top stuffing with canned chicken. It was delish! I've also been making shells with marinara sauce, seasoned rice, hot dogs (a staple for any trucker) and I've got big plans for so much more!
My stove is my miracle. I've only eaten at a truck stop now once since I started preparing my own meals, and that was just because I was in the mood to sit down and pig out on items I didn't have handy to cook myself... you know... like steak. lol
But seriously... I love my stove! And if anyone has any recipes they'd like to share that don't require raw meat or too-fresh veggies, please send them my way. I'm up for new things and ideas!
Ok... I think that's it for now. I feel good now that I've finally blogged. I was in quite a mood yesterday and was still a little broody today, but apparently a good soul cleansing blog can work wonders!
Toodles for now folks!
I have, however, found myself thinking about things I'd like to touch on in blogs while I've been driving my life away. Of course, at this precise moment my mind is all amuck and not sure what I'll end up writing about.
I do want to ask one question.... a favor really...
Could someone please... please tell the bugs of the world to watch out for the big orange truck? I'm not quite fond of having their last memory impressed upon my windshield. I know some of them are just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I swear that the posse of eight or so bumbling bumble bees that I managed to kill in one fell swoop along I-24 the other day were in attack mode. I mean, why else would they have rammed straight into my truck? 8 at once... I swear it sounded like I'd started a bag of microwave popcorn.
I suppose that while I'm at it... I should also apologize to the family of squirrels in Kentucky who lost a loved one two days ago along the Purchase Parkway. It was out of kind mercy and good samaritanship that I put your brethren out of it's misery. Someone else had taken the first shot, I simply finished the job so there would be no more suffering... or twitching. If it makes you feel any better... I dreamed about the whole situation that same night and apologies and thank you's were accepted on both sides and we shared a walnut.
Things have been just crazy for me lately really. I had a mostly pleasant trip into Rhode Island last week. Mostly pleasant except for the pick-up of my southbound load in Bristol, RI. Look it up on the map.... tiny little place... tiny little roads. I fought off the urge to vomit at least three times traversing the streets of Bristol and it's surrounding communities. My nerves were shot! I am so thankful.. and perhaps a little lucky, that I didn't kill any cars, overhead lines or other obstacles on that journey. I survived... and that's all I can say about that.
Tennessee welcomed me with thunderous arms once again. I swear I'm just about tired of dodging tornado's. And why is it that every time I go south, severe weather is there to greet me with insanely wet arms?
I was on my way to West Memphis, AR to deliver a load, planning to stop just shy of Memphis, TN for the night. I got stopped a little ahead of schedule thanks to a severe thunderstorm that was raging into west TN from AR that was causing a lot of travel problems along I-40. Thanks to my love of local radio and the souths ability to give good storm warnings with enough time to react, I stopped before the storm hit my area and made safe haven in a truck stop to wait out the worst of it, and ended up staying the night.
While in the truck stop with about 20 other patrons and employees, the storm raged on. Blowing down trees across the road, knocking out the power and ripping the awning of the gas-pump island overhead clean off. The rain and the wind were astonishing to watch from the safety of a well built, albeit darkened building. I kept eyeing out the window towards my truck to make sure it wasn't getting blown over. I had been the only truck in the parking lot when I arrived. Thankfully, about 5 other trucks had filed after the storm started to really get going and were probably the only things keeping my truck and theirs from being toppled over. I swear, the winds were THAT bad.
I've actually seen a trailer toppled onto it's side by sheer force of wind. It had happened when I was in training up in Green Bay, actually. There was a remote lot that instructors would use as a place to do some extra parking practices since the on-site lot could get pretty busy. A storm had blown through the night before and blew sand filled barrels all over the place and a free standing tailer was on it's side, a casualty of the storm. Pretty impressive... and a little scary to think that me, in my rig could just be blown over like that.
Of course that's part of the reason I grabbed my umbrella and headed into the truck stop before the storm hit when I stopped the other day... no way I was chancing a tornado ripping me and my truck to shreds. It could have the truck... but my life is way to precious to me to risk.
A tornado did touch down in the area during that storm. But it was about 30 miles northeast of where I was. Still... too close for comfort. So for those of you who can talk to bugs... let your friends who can talk to the weather know that they can sit weather down and let it know I'm not happy with it right now.
Hmm..what else can I blog about? I'm on a roll I think. Well... I was anyway. Suddenly my mind is going blank and blurry. Oh wait... I just realized I'm a little hungry which of course brings me to rave about my RoadPro Portable Stove.
OMG that thing rocks and has saved my life from the bowels of Fast Food and Truck Stop Buffet hell. Seriously. I was home for two brief days recently and took a little time to go grocery shopping for things I wanted to try cooking in my new stove. I have to say I'm very pleased to know that I can cook just about anything I could cook at home on the stove top in my little lunch box sized stove.
Why just today I had a hearty helping of carrots and stove-top stuffing with canned chicken. It was delish! I've also been making shells with marinara sauce, seasoned rice, hot dogs (a staple for any trucker) and I've got big plans for so much more!
My stove is my miracle. I've only eaten at a truck stop now once since I started preparing my own meals, and that was just because I was in the mood to sit down and pig out on items I didn't have handy to cook myself... you know... like steak. lol
But seriously... I love my stove! And if anyone has any recipes they'd like to share that don't require raw meat or too-fresh veggies, please send them my way. I'm up for new things and ideas!
Ok... I think that's it for now. I feel good now that I've finally blogged. I was in quite a mood yesterday and was still a little broody today, but apparently a good soul cleansing blog can work wonders!
Toodles for now folks!
Comments
Re: Your miracle stove: I eat a ribeye or two a week. Complete with 'shrooms and onions. Sear the outside of the steak and put it in an aluminum pan. Pour the 'shrooms and onions over it and freeze overnight. It takes about two hours to cook to medium.