There's no lie in that statement..

I should put in this topic how and where I met Doctor Who it should get a charge out of him!!! :lol: :P

Let's see, it was a bright sunny day at the port in Mobile Alabama where I was to pick up a crane and I ran into a panicked driver trying to figure out how to get a crane loaded onto the lowboy he was pulling. Poor guy was about out of patience when I jumped out of my truck to help him.

To be continued

Look at what I did I pushed it to page 45 :shock:

 

I asked the driver what his problem was and he told me that he had never operated a crane before and wasn't sure how to load the "bloody" thing, his word not mine. He also said something about never pulling another special load for his boss again. After a quick introduction I showed Doctor Who how to correctly load a crane on a lowboy and how not to lose it while riding down the interstate.
I asked him where he was taking the evil machine and he told me to New Jersey and it turned out that we were both going to the same place.

We did have a fun ride back to the North East but I did have to unload the crane at the destination. Just on a whim I told the Doctor that the company I drove for was looking for drivers to haul heavy equipment. He just mumbled something and said that he would rather haul sulfuric acid in a rusty old tank trailer before he pulled anymore heavy equipment.

I do believe that he did change his mind later, not too sure though.

 

I'll never tell!!! :P

 

And now for this:

MAJOR SNOW STORM BLASTS THE NORTHEAST!!!

And I missed it... Oh well, I'll get over it plus, it brought back some frigid memories of times past when the phone rang on a snowy night and having a distraught dispatcher asking if I could come in and take a load out.....

More to come

 

.....I know how you feel. I love snow. Almost as much as I love trucks! And one time when I went down to south Texas to see some family, it snowed a couple of feet here. When I got back, there was none left. I was so disappointed.

 

You're not talking about the SNOW OF '79 are you?

I also believe the Doctor was being sarcastic about missing the snow!

 

Correct on both counts.

Now if I can find the SNOW WARS Chronicals I'll be good to go!!

 

While the Snow Wars Chronicles is still lost somewhere in the closet of NO RETURN.. It was brought to my attention that the replies were stuck at 666! Really not a bad number for those who believe in Numerology plus, it was my code number to get into one of the gas terminals. Imagine the shocked expression of the operator when he saw it on his computer screen. He did ask me if I wanted to change it. I told him no it was rather unique...

MY RIDE IS NOW OVER

After 32 years of wandering the country, chasing numerous sunrises and driving off into numerous sunsets my adventure in trucking has come to an end due to health problems that, for some reason, can't be fixed. To think I am 3 months shy of 33 years plus, just short of 4 million miles.

Of course there will be aspects of the career I will miss like, the ever growing cast of characters I've met during the longest running "REALITY" show: "The Road Show"! Some I will remember forever, others I'd like to forget and still others who have touched my life in a positive way.

There are other aspects I will not miss such as: The bad Truck Stop cuisine, shower facilities where, it was wiser to wear clothes while showering and the nightly entertainment of the constant knocking on the door by some of the UGLIEST humans on the planet.
I would be remiss if I didn't include the "Ninja" fights on the 11 meter radio (CB)! What other occupation can one find such entertainment and get paid to enjoy it?

One other thing I should add is that I waded into the Atlantic Ocean, then drove across the country to do the same thing in the Pacific just to say I did it. I do regret not having the chance to drive to Alaska on the Al-Can highway.
I will miss the pleasure of sitting in traffic jams just watching the antics of the 9 to 5'ers as they inch their way along the concrete strip. Other drivers would bitch and complain but I found it a great source of comedy and great fodder for the ever growing journal. If the antics were ever made into a motion picture no-one would believe it.

I will not forget all the snow storms, torrential rain storms, "twisty" clouds and other fun weather phenomena I ran across in the past 32 years.

There is much more I can write but trying to fight back the depression and the tears is getting to be too much for this worn out old TRUCKER!

So for all the professionals, the "soon-to-be's" and the "wanna-be's" enjoy the ride in the most entertaining show in our small part of the universe: THE ROAD SHOW!

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that this topic would have over 90,000 views. Thanks Brian for starting a never ending journey!

 

Doc first off I want to thank you for all your years of driving and doing your part in keeping this country going. I read your post and it even brought a tear to my eye. I also wanted to thank you for all of the posts that you have put on this board as so many of them have helped me personally to have a better respect to this industry even though I was pretty much raised in this industry. You have also given some very good pointers here that have helped my husband out. There have been times that my husband has called home when he first started out OTR and here I was sitting at the computer reading some of your funny posts in this forum...at those times my husband sounded so down and wanted to come home and give his dream up...I would be laughing when I answered the phone. With that being said I would read him what I was reading and he would be laughing his butt off. Thanks for that too Doc as your stories have brought laughter to us on the worst of days.

Thanks Doc. Prayers from here for the depression it will pass as I well know. I too was depressed when I found out that I will never have the chance to drive truck due to medical problems but you know I looked for the positive in all of it. I get to be the navigator in a few years when our kids are grown, I get to be the one writing down things in the journal from now until my husband and I retire, I am the one to take the pictures while he is driving and the best part is that I get to sit back and be the Proud Wife to a trucker who is out there fullfilling a dream. You have 32 years of knowledge and some great stories, I personally would be one of the first in line to buy a book when you get one done.

 

Doctor Who, Thank you for the description of life on the road. I am envious. I had the brief opportunity (only 7 months)to travel a bit via 18 wheels. In that short time, I grew to love the road. Thanks again for reviving those memories.