Here ya go B, "Pimp my Semi "
http://worksafevideos.com/photos/cars/pimp_my_truck.htm

Simply amazing, the great variety you can get with bad taste and money. :lol:

Still hanging around.

Currently in Texas. Plthijinx, wherefore art thou? I'm in Houston tonight and will be in Austin tomorrow early am.

Darm posting and email is always too slow anyway. I need phone numbers!

Brian

Now on my way to Phoenix. Anyone there I should meet? I will be there with nothing to do for the whole weekend (truck service time again).

Anybody in the Seattle area that I should know about?

I'll be there tomorrow evening or early (very) Thursday morning.

Brian

travels update
 

I am now driving from Minneapolis to Dallas via I35.

Anyone along the way I should know about?

Elspode, I will call you at home after 1200 to see if we can meet up.

Dallas anyone? Anyone?

Brian

I'm meeting Brian at the Flying J near the Missouri River around 9:00 PM tonight. Cowhead? Iggy? Barefoot Serpent? Care to join us?

Change two: meeting has been changed to (maybe) tomorrow morning for brunch, assuming 'spode's health holds out.

I am at the Flying J, I435 exit 57 on the east side of KC if anyone local cares to meet me. Look along the back row of trucks for a blue Werner Freightliner Classic XL, number 42797. Please knock on the door if I am not visible. Chances are I'm in the back on the computer or else I'm inside. I will be wearing my black Cellar Tshirt.

Brian

Holler whence in the VA burbs of DC. Always up for black coffee at a truckstop diner in the middle of the night or day.

As I am awake due to inability to sleep from extreme congestion, it is looking doubtful that I'll be making it for breakfast, damn it. Have just taken yet more cold drugs...

If you don't hear from me by 9:00 AM Brian, assume I've died.

Alas, poor Elspode. I knew him, Horatio!

I'll send flowers sooner or later.

Having just awakened, exuding bloody sinus drainage, I think perhaps it is for the better that I stayed home lest you end up in the same boat. Ick.

okay, Mari....your turn. I'll be passing through Denver tomorrow afternoon-ish.

I think I will stop off at the chain bank even though I technically don't need to. It is on I25, south of town. I will be arriving on US287 to I70, way east of Denver and coming west. I will likely stop at the Flying J in Aurora for food and a break.

Brian

The forecast is for 3 inches of snow, otherwise I might take you up on your offer, Brian. I-25 in a snowstorm is no picnic and I'm 60 miles to the south of where you'll be which would mean a 120 mile round trip, including crossing the Palmer Divide twice. Tell you what, though. If you ever have occasion to drive 160 over Wolf Creek, I'll be living in Mancos in another 6 weeks and there's a real nice little restaurant where we could do coffee. Let me know. ;)

No problem. I will be through again sometime when it's warm.

BTW, I have to drive I25. In the snow. To GET chains!

Brian the Fearless

You ARE fearless! First I-25, then Vail Pass. No thanks!

I'm serious though about highway 160. I'll be living a 1/2 mile away from it, so if you ever find yourself on the southern route thru Colorado, let me know, and I'll show you the sights or at least where to go for a good cup of coffee!

- Mari

What bravery? There was no snow and except for Denver, no traffic.

And I will look forward to accepting your invitation someday, only remember that I do not drink the evil brew. I'll have a Coke instead.

Brian

Hey BR---

If you reach the SF Bay Area, I'm here for you, man. I am west of the end of I-80! I can go east to like Oakland or something. Coca Cola is good with me. I'll start following this thread, if you are heading west. Break a leg.....

...RS

Been there, done that. Dropped a load near there and picked up one in, uhmmmm, that town with the think tank....umm, oh yeah! Livermore!

Missed me. Ya gotta pay attention, I move fast!

Mari, you get another chance. I'll be in Pueblo on Saturday.

Also, heading back to Ft Worth, TX. Anyone there?

Brian

Here ya go Brian R , http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=52354

Hell of a truck !!!!!

I saw that. Amazing huh? I had to go take a cold shower!

Brian, if you find your way to St. Louis, holler at me.

Will do. I've been there many times. Keep an eye on this thread for my next route.

Didn't catch your reply about Pueblo until just now, Brian. You may have already gone through, but I'll check back on this thread just in case. I know a couple of decent spots in Pueblo for an ice cold cola!

- Mari

Luck is on your side. Due to logbook issues, I will not be there until tomorrow at the earliest. I am still several hours from Cheyenne. PM me your phone number and I will call with updated arrival information.

What? You don't keep 2. Or just throw one away and start a new one.:D
Times are a changing.

Will do. I have one commitment tomorrow, but lets see if we can work something out. I haven't noticed Perth on the board lately, but Perth if you're still around we can drive down together and make a mini-cellar gathering!

Nope. I can't do that. My company uses electronic logging via QualComm. I can't even fudge it a little. I have identified a few bugs in the programming that sometimes give me a few extra minutes and sometimes not. Big Brother giveth and taketh away I guess.

If I had paper logs, I would have more ontime deliveries and NO logbook violations, as I have several now due to unforeseen complications (no place to stop for 30 minutes etc) which I chalk up to not watching my clock and checking my remaining hours more frequently. I have been making more of an effort to keep track of time lately though.

Brian

as I have several now due to unforeseen complications (no place to stop for 30 minutes etc)

Are they Seriously going to bust your chops over 30 minutes ???

You bet your ass they will. Computers have NO margin for error. The DOT will usually let a few minutes go by if you are trying to get to the nearest safe haven after a long onload but the computers never let you slide at all!

Now I begin to understand why I see truckers ditched in some of the oddest pullouts I've ever driven past. There's an exit off I-70 maybe 20 miles or so over the Colorado border into Utah. There's nothing at that exit except a wide pull around spot, and a dirt road that leads out to the Book Cliffs. I went camping out there once and was puzzled to see 6 or 7 semi's parked along the edges of the pull around. "What on earth?" I wondered. I guess their computers got them and that exit has become known as a good spot to pull your truck off the road for a while.

BTW, my Exploder broke down about 15 miles up that dirt road which has many twists and side trails brancing off it. I had driven up it in the dark, late at night and was exhausted and just crawled into the back of the Explorer in my sleeping bag to get some sleep. In the morning my battery was dead. I didn't have a map on me and I was unsure of how to reconstruct the route I had taken in the dark to get there. I knew that at night I would be able to catch glimpses of light on the distant interstate to help me keep my bearings, so I waited all day until dusk, made myself a thermos of coffee over my campfire, put several candy bars in my pocket, and began the 15 mile walk toward the Interstate to get help. It was late November and very cold. I made the Interstate around 2:00am, but I had arrived at a spot that was east of my original exit, since I was going on foot, cross country.

I must have stood on that freezing cold Interstate for 45 minutes in the dark before , finally, a truck pulled over to the side and stopped. The trucker inside was busily scribbling something in his logbook (I guess he didn't have a computer yet - this was 7 years ago). I ran up and tapped on his window and he glanced at me in surprise and rolled the window down. I told him of my plight and asked for a ride to the next spot where there was something open 24 hours and that had a phone. He told me that he wasn't allowed to take on passengers, and was going to call back to headquarters for permission, and then stopped and said, "Oh, just get on in. The hell with the main office."

He told me that he made a run from Salt Lake to Denver on a regular basis and that his usual habit was to stop at the Green River exit some 40 miles back to go over his paperwork and make sure everything was in order for when he crossed the Colorado State line. He said that that night for some reason, he had forgotten to make his usual stop in Green River and had only remembered when he got to the exit sign that I had been standing next to. He hadn't even seen me in the dark, so he was quite surprised when I tapped on his window.

I told him that the angels must have sent him that night, and he laughed and said, "No, just the Russian government." Turned out he had fled the Soviet regime about 15 years before, been granted entry into the US, learned English, got his CDC and had been driving his truck on I 70 every since. "I love it!" he said. "There's no comparison between my life as it was back home and the way it is now."

He drove me all the way into Grand Junction and let me off at a huge all night truck stop with a warm restaurant and phones. I shook his hand and thanked him and expressed concern that he might get in trouble with the main office for picking up a hitch hiker. He grinned and said, "If I can outwit the communist government, I can outwit headquarters. Don't worry"

Then he drove off into the night and I never even got his name.

I got your message about the weather, Brian. Standing by!

When I crossed the country three years ago I should have gotten gas in Grand Junction. I didn't realize the remote desert I was headed into. I think I was probably somewhere near where Marchiko was when by pure luck I drifted into the only gas statin within a hundred miles. I laughed when I saw the price. If I remember right it was around $2.30? gal. It was at least .50 cents more / gal. than anywhere else. The first time I'd paid more than $2.00. And I was so grateful.

Change two
 

I have swapped trailers with another driver, who wanted to "go home", whatever that means. The upshot of this is that I will NOT be going through Colorado Springs as planned (sorry Mari) but heading to Sacramento. Rock Steady? PM me contact info and let's see what happens. Should be there the day after tomorrow or so. Anyone else?

Sorry, I didn't stick around Sacramento long enough to meet anyone. I needed to get my next load before the place closed and get away before the rush hit or I would have had to sit until after.

Next up, Albe...albuker....the capitol of New Mexico.:right:

I'll be rolling east along I40 if there is anyone in Arizona too.

Brian

Just say the place where Bugs should have taken a left turn. Everybody will know where you mean.

Rancho Cucamonga is in California, Wolf.

Sorry I missed this earlier. Busy with work, first product release.

I'm also sorry I missed you in Pleasonton, 30 miles away. Sacto is 120 miles and I can't take that kind of time away right now.

Keep on truckin'

how about Houston Brian? you can have a beer or two with me and watch NBN make a freak out of himself. errrrr i mean be himself!:D

Sorry Wolf. I must have been thinking of another episode or something. I'll take the hit for a goof.

Plthijinx, been there, been through there, will be back there. Remain in holding pattern until approach contacts you.

Brian

Interesting thread. could you use those Frappr maps to track your progress?

Perhaps we should contact NORAD to see if they'll do a "NORAD tracks Brian" -far more interesting than that predictable dude in the sleigh they follow at Christmas....

Yeh , I was thinking about a thread called " where in the US is BrianR " he could post a random pic and have us guess .
Sound like fun Brian ??

We could have a weekly sweepstake -pay your money and pick a square on the map. Whoever has where Brian is at midday on Saturday wins. (Cellar would have to take a cut for running costs, of course....)

Has anyone met Brian yet? Does he really exist? Is there a reward for an authentic picture of the B-man? :lol:

/it's been a long, hard week, humour me......

I've been met, yes. Pictures exist, but only because I don't know about them.

Next up: LA.

Any takers for April 3?

Some companies allow tracking of an individual truck via the internet.

This is usually used by spouses that want to keep an eye on their husbands' location. My company is not one of these however. But it may happen one day. Lord knows I'm tracked six ways a week anyway.

You know.;)

Roger that. will get an EFC update from you.

Okay, my dispatcher signed his own death warrant and sent me back to the frozen hinterlands (again). Via LA. During rush hour. AGAIN! His ass is MINE, I tell ya!

Anyway, I'm off for Auburn, WA, near Tacoma. Anyone brave enough to venture out to meet me?

He came to his senses. The coward!

Swapped my load and went to Los Lunas NM instead. Never again will I haul to that location. Damn people said it was a drop trailer but really meant I had to unload 42000 pounds by myself, break down the pallets and restack them. All for $20. NOT worth the effort, I assure you. I can't abide liars. Turns out that all drivers to that facility either do their own or use the lumper (professional unloaders) service. Of course, MY company has no such service. So I managed to do it all in 90 minutes. You have NO idea how heavy tomato paste is until you try to drag a pallet of it up a ramp and tear it down into individual boxes and neatly restack it on another pallet.

Anyway, job complete, shit list is now a little longer and I'll be off to El Paso as soon as I feel like getting up, which won't be anytime soon. Dispatch owes me big time.

As usual, if you are in El Paso and want to meet, let me know.

I have glimpsed Hell
 

and it looks a lot like California.

Three weeks and I'm still running here. I'm SO SICK of Interstate 5 and CA99 that I could scream!

I thought for sure that I was going to escape this time with a big load out to SLC. Nope! They swapped it on me and sent me right back into the heart of LA! The worst traffic in the entire nation and they send a huge truck into it to deliver cookies of all things! A mere 12,000 pounds of cookies (in two stops yet) that could easily be carried by an LTL truck but NOOOO! *I* gotta do it. And I have to unload it by hand (so as not to crush the delicate cookies) each stop for a miniscule $20 extra.

I'm about to put in for early hometime just to get out of this Godforsaken reject from the Soviet Union cum Mexico.

Anyone want to come help me smash some cookies tomorrow morning?

Anyone? anyone?

Brian

I'll smash some cookies with you in spirit, Brian! I've never wanted to go NEAR southern Cali, myself. Northern was bad enough!

Question: Since you are a pro, maybe you have some ideas? I need to get a small amount of my belongings from Colorado Springs to just west of Durango (I-25 south to Highway 160 West). I doubt if my stuff would even take up 3 feet in the back of a moving van. I am terribly strapped for cash since I've had a number of unexpected financial set backs in the past few weeks. Are there any outfits that might take my small load as a sort of after thought to a regular one for a reasonable price? If so, how do I contact them, etc.?

Are you green with envy?
Do you wish you could climb up into the cab and look down on the world?
When you went to the cowboy movies did you envy the stagecoach driver?

ebay to the rescue! :rolleyes:

Why Oh why didn't *I* think of that?

Brian , I have driven I5 befor and I have NO Idea just how mutch of a Bitch it must be with a big rig , but the scenery ( From Up in the cab ) MUST be COOOOL !!!!
I know I ALWAYS like driveing in the summer !!!!!!

Okay Elspode. I'm here. Back row, near the scale. I strongly recommend that you park in the car area and walk back. Trucks will total your car if you park back here. They turn right in front of me.

I will be here until seven am tomorrow morning, at which time I will roll out for Columbus OH. Gotta be there by seven pm. Gonna be a tight one. Again. As usual.

Brian

I say that Denver is a boring city.

Anyone want to come out here and prove me wrong?

I'm at the Flying J exit 285 of I70

How's Shotgun doing?

pretty good. Eye is clearing up and the UTI is almost gone.

When I get her home again (in a month) she's scheduled for a follow-up and evaluation of her tumour. I'll keep y'all posted!

I'll be in Boise tomorrow morning. Who knows where from there?

Truck got washed today. Boy, it needed a bath! And have I mentioned that I hate it when they try to sell you umteen services in addition to a $36 wash?
I mean, really! I know car washes try to bump up your level of wash but do they offer to polish your chrome, use citrus-y stuff to shine the aluminum (and make the OUTSIDE smell good to boot, natch), wax, hand polish (but not the top!) and much more. THere is a LONG list of extras they can sell you. While I was waiting, I figured out that my basic wash could go up to $79 by adding in the extras. Sheesh! My Scotsmans' thrift was screaming LOUD today!

Brian