Tender Mercies

When I was in Springfield MO this last weekend, I got to spend extra time, because the clutch on the semi decided that it was not going to work anymore. So after spending 2 full days at the shop, and enough to buy a used car, or a generator, or ..... well you get the idea, I finally get back on the road. Simple enough, go to Laredo, TX, pick up a trailer headed for home, stop at Jacob's to help bleed the brakes on his car, and then head home.

The drive home is uneventful, until I start down Soldier Summit on Highway 6 between Price and Spanish Fork. I start to hear a little bit of noise in the drive train. Not too bad, keep on driving. Go up and down Sweetzer in Idaho, then the next mountain is up and over the Blues in Oregon. Now there is a lot of noise when on flat ground and just idling along. Into Washington, take the truck up and over White Pass. Winding, narrow, and not a place to break down. Made it home, and parked the truck for the weekend. So on Monday, I figure it's time to crawl under the truck and see where the noise is coming from.

The support bracket for the drive shaft was barely hanging on. It only takes 2 bolts, one was completely loose, the other was only hanging on by about 3 threads. I didn't know whether to be hopping mad because the mechanic didn't tighten the bolts, or happy because it was an easy fix.

Then I was very aware of how close this was to being a catastrophic accident. Several years ago I was talking to a driver who saw a truck wreck when the drive shaft came loose. It took out his airlines, and he had no brakes coming down a mountain. The driver of that truck didn't survive. That could easily have happened to me.

I remember hearing in General Conference about the Tender Mercies of the Lord. That is the overwhelming reaction that I have today. Definitely a time for reflection, and gratitude.

My head hurts.....again

I pop up the news when I am waiting to get the truck unloaded, and the headlines are "Obama awarded Nobel Peace Prize". Even though I qualify to join AARP (NEVER GONNA HAPPEN), I do realize that I remember when being awarded a Nobel Prize was something that really mattered. It signified a momentous achievement.

Awarding the Peace Prize to President Obama is the equivalent of the home run records of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, David Ortiz,.....need I go on? It doesn't mean anything, because it is tainted. In the case of baseball, steroids. In the case of the Peace Prize, political correctness, and progressive idealism (fancy name for socialism) have embraced Obama as the poster child for changing the world.

If making apologies for everything that ever happened is considered peace prize worthy, then every teenager going through puberty should be set for life.

Another hi jacking

I am driving down the road, listening to the news, trying to stay in touch with what is going on in the world. I hear that Homeland Security has taken away the authority of Sheriff Joe Arpayo in AZ to detain and arrest illegal aliens. What the heck is going on? He is enforcing the law as it is written. I thought that the only way a law could be reversed was either through the legislative process or if the law was ruled unconstitutional. This is absolutely crazy.

The only way that I can interpret this is that Janet Napolitano is making him pay for his maverick attitude when she was the governor of Arizona. If this is indeed the case, then it needs to be addressed. Of course, this would mean that someone in the administration would have to show some character and be a leader. I don't see that happening....if there is one thing we can see from this administration, character is not a high priority.

I hope that people have a long memory. The elections of November 2010 will be the test.

Chicken Run

I can't let this just be a family memory. RaeLynn and I go out to buy stuff for the house, Emily stays at the house with her kiddos that are too young for school. So while we are out, she calls us and says that our roosters are evil.....

Some background. We live out in the country, on a couple of acres. RaeLynn has 13 chickens. They were all supposed to be hens, but obviously chickens aren't as easy to tell when they are little. Good thing that we don't have that problem with our own babies. So we ended up with 2 roosters. They are also free range chickens, with a coop they go into for the night.

Emily goes outside to take her puppy out for a "nature" call, and the roosters are territorial as can be. They get aggressive with her, she starts to run, they attack, she falls, gets bruises, scraped knees, grass stains, and a severely bruised ego.

So of course she goes to Facebook to rant. Bad decision. Her brother reads her post. They are both adults, but even though it has been 15 years since they lived in the house together, he cannot pass up the opportunity to tease her for all it is worth. You have to look at my Facebook page, it is priceless.

Don't know what the final outcome will be, there is the possibility that there may be a fresh chicken dinner on the menu in the future. Bon Appetit!!!!

Time flies

Where did the past week go? It has gone by so quickly. Maybe it is because our life is moving at a breakneck pace. I was able to be home for about 48 hours, would have liked to be there longer, but after worrying about the level of freight during the past 8 months, September is very busy. So to follow the adage of the farmers I was around when I was in high school, it is time to make hay while the sun shines.

Then to see if we could cram more into our life, Emily and the grandkids got to our house on Saturday. Very exciting. I'm sure Em didn't want to hear "are we there yet" ever again. They sure were happy to be out of that van. And then they found out there were horses nearby that they could feed apples too, chickens that layed eggs that could be gathered, and the biggest bedrooms they had ever seen. Of course, the downside was that the UHaul had to be unloaded. Thank goodness, it was just a trailer.

We sure are not impressed with the people who do the registration/scheduling at the middle school. The 2 oldest ones won't even start on the same day, we are still trying to figure out that one. So a week after they arrive in WA, they will be back in school.

I am in Indiana today, on my way to TX this weekend, and should be home again by Thursday. Really glad to be home for General Conference.

Grounded

The trucking business has been a real adventure with the economy. Not as much freight, the rates are lower than they were 10 years ago, and operating costs are up. What I used to earn in 18-20 days before, I now have to do in 25-27 days. It makes it tough to be home as often as I want to, and we keep going, because we have to have hope.

In normal years, the freight volume and rates start to go up in March, and by May, things are very busy. Not this year. Starting the beginning of September, things started to look up, and I have been busy. A trip to MA, and then pick up in NY going to TX. From TX to BC, and then home for a couple of days. The downside is managing the logbook so that I can run legally and be at the places I am supposed to be, when I am supposed to be there.

So I'm driving today, trying to be at my delivery on time. I was over on hours, and was planning on stopping for a long time once I got to my destination, except......for the open truck scale, the ticket, and being placed out of service for 10 hours. Basically, I grounded myself. Plus I get to pay the ticket (Dave Ramsey calls this stupid tax).

There was a time when I know I would have been fussing and fuming about stupid law enforcement, stupid rules, and complaining about how unfair this all was.

I might be learning something in this journey through life. I certainly am not happy about having to pay the ticket, but I have learned how to take responsibility for what happened. I did it to myself, and I am accountable.

It is unfortunate that RaeLynn will have to bear part of the cost of this, because it means I have to find freight to pay the ticket, and she pays with her time away me.

I hear lots of people say that what they do doesn't affect anyone else. That sure isn't true. We are not islands, and the ripple effect cannot be ignored. I suppose I will just have to continue learning until I get it right.

Education through experience

The weekend was pretty eventful. Jake calls me about the brakes on his Pathfinder. He's done brakes before, no big deal. So on Saturday he is working on them, and finds out that the protective boot is torn that covers the cv joint. Now it's a big deal. He has never worked on one, and I'm 1000 miles away. He calls for guidance. Ever try to describe the picture in your mind to someone so that they can understand what you are trying to say? Wow, it's harder than you think.

He finds out that 1: Nissan makes 2 different kinds of cv shafts 2: He has the one that is hardest to work on 3: He needs more tools 4: The bolts he is trying to get loose have been in place since 1993 5: He can get the job done, without taking it to the repair shop 6: It saved a whole lot of $$$$ and finally 7: He is so much like me temperament wise, that he gets frustrated at not being able to fix things, especially when he is flying by the seat of his pants in doing something for the first time.

I told RaeLynn she deserves a medal. She has survived me, and she survived the junior version of me. She laughs, because she knows that Jake has the next generation right there with him, and they outnumber him.

Distractions

Spent most of yesterday dodging traffic. Depending on the location, it was either Virginia Tech fans (what exactly is a Hokie?), or University of Tennessee fans. Both had home games, and the traffic volume was extra heavy for both. I imagine that it is the same way for most college towns. Mental note, avoid college towns on game day.

I am sure that others don't understand my casual interest in football anymore than I understand the rabid passion that they display. I would rather read a book. Interestingly, I enjoy books about sports. I guess it is more about reading the history of things than being excited about the emotion of the moment.

The emotion of the moment is much better when thinking about being around family and friends. Focusing on relationships just seems much more satisfying than focusing on an event. My opinion, but it even goes back to when I was in the Navy. I remember the people much more than the events.

I suppose that is why I am excited about having Emily and the grandchildren come up to our house while Gary is overseas on deployment. I realize that our house will be much louder, will have more messes to clean up, and it will take us much longer to get out of the house on our way to wherever we are headed for that excursion. It also will have the added perspective of children telling me "the most important thing ever", and reading stories, and fishing, and playing catch.

I think that there will be a shock for them living with 2 old people too. We don't watch very much TV, couldn't tell you when the latest popular show comes on, and in reality can't even tell you what they are. Pretty bland life compared to what the world seems to think is important.

To piggy-back off my last post: It was quite the transition of seeing all of the flags in New England on 9/11 to seeing cars decorated with symbols for a favorite football team. I sure wish that the attention span of my fellow citizens wasn't so fleeting and temporary.

Have you forgotten? Part 2

My son is in the 2nd E of REMEMBER. Just wanted to be accurate

Have you forgotten?

An emotional day. I think about where I was 8 years ago. I was delivering freight in Gilroy CA. Waiting at the dock, I turned on my TV just as the 2nd plane flew into the towers. At first, I thought it was a trailer for a movie that was coming out. It horrified me, and I woke up several people with phone calls that morning.

The drive back to WA was surreal. It was also very difficult. I don't remember why I didn't use I-5, but as I drove through the small towns of Northern CA, and up highway 97 in OR, one of the memories I have is of all the flags that were being flown. I wonder where all of the flags are now?

In fairness, I have spent the past day in NJ and MA. There is no shortage of flags here. I see them on the fences that are on the highway overpasses. I see them on businesses. I see them on construction equipment. Most importantly, I see them on houses. They have been there for awhile, not just pulled out because today is the 11th of September.

When my daughter and grandchildren arrive in WA, I know that one of the projects that we will do together is to install a flagpole in front of the house we just moved into. The house we moved out of in 2007 had a flagpole I installed, and we flew the flag 24/7, lit it at night, and I hope that it was noted by my neighbors. It has been difficult to not have a flag flying since we moved, but that will change in the very near future.

One of the greatest pictures that I have is of the Marines in Iraq where they have spelled out WE REMEMBER. It is especially important to me, because my son is standing at the bottom of the first E in REMEMBER.

Take a moment today to remember. Thank you to all of the service members and especially the members of their families who serve and have served our country. If we forget, if we let down our vigilance, then many will have sacrificed their lives in vain.

You lie!!!

I have been listening to all the news reports about Congressman Wilson from SC who had the "You Lie!!!!" outburst during the speech by President Obama.

Most of the commentary appears to be criticism about the 'lack of decorum' shown by Rep. Wilson. My response is at odds with most of the intellectuals that I have been hearing.

My mother was a great fan of education and reading. She was of German stock, and was a 1st generation American. Interestingly, she never graduated from high school. I will say that she was the hardest working woman I have ever known. When we were growing up, before we went to school, we learned to read, and do multiplication, all of the things that the schools don't seem able to get done today. Thanks Mom.

We read classics. Robin Hood, Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Tennyson, and yes....even the Bible. We read stories like Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood, 3 Little Pigs. We learned that these were not Disney movies, the stories all had teaching in them.

One of the stories was "The Emperors New Clothes". It is well known. Everyone fawned over the Emperor, and echoed the things they heard (it was what the polls said was true). Then during a parade, the boy hollers out "HE'S NAKED". People woke up. The Emperor was embarassed. The tailors (advisors) were exposed for the dishonesty they had shown.

THANK YOU CONGRESSMAN WILSON!!! Even though you may have embarassed the rest of the crowd, you spoke up. I hope that this is a precursor to more people waking up.

It's time to speak up

I have been thinking about starting a blog for several weeks now, and it is time to act on it. I am a retired Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy, and now I drive truck for a living. I have 2 great adult children. When I say adult, I mean more than just age. My daughter is married to a career Navy man, and they are expecting child number 9. The great part is that they have learned how to stand on their own 2 feet, and don't come running home to Mom and Dad when the going gets tough. My son is a former Marine, and he takes care of himself and family without complaint. I have the greatest wife, married to her for 34 years, since we were both 18. Family is very important to me.

The biggest reason for starting this blog is that I don't want to have to face my grandchildren and have them ask "Why didn't you do anything when our country was being taken over by liberals and special interests?

I have to do what I can. So here we go.

First of all, groundrules: If this blog is read by anyone, and they choose to respond or comment, do not use profanity or vulgarity. This includes cutesy ways to try and hide words by clever use of symbols etc. It will result in immediate blocking of your posts. I spent 24 years in the Navy, worked with people in substance abuse treatment, and have driven truck for 15 years. Additionally, my father was a veteran of WWII. I have heard enough foul language for 10 lifetimes. It will not happen here.

That is it for this post. More later