This is what happens when maintenence services a truck and doesn't check the transmission oil. The reason the gears are blue is beacause that's what happens to hardened steel when it glows red hot. The blue gear in the center finally softened enough that a few teeth let go causing the gear to spin, stripping off the remaining softened, red hot teeth.

Several dozen loose pieces of metal suddenly running amok inside the transmission tore up everything else.

Our hometime begins on the 9th and my co-driver & his wife have reservations in Vegas on the 10th. In order to get us home on time we picked up a rental car at the Missoula International Airport and drove it to Idaho Falls. We're at the Best Western right now. In the morning we are switching to a different rental car (long story) and driving to Flagstaff, AZ. (all paid for by CRST) There we pick up a CRST truck that has been sitting at the Freightliner dealer. Monday morning we pick up a load in Superior, AZ and take it to Fontana, CA. Then we go home!

I'll still be able to make my niece Rebekah's first birthday party on the 15th.

Just blew my transmission in Montana.

This guy PASSED me on I-90 in Billings, MT.

Anybody want to come by and say hi? I'm sitting in the middle of nowhere in Montana (is that redundant?), I-94 x148 with a flat trailer tire. Maintenance said 'Rolling Rubber Factory' road service should be here in 45 min.

This is how the truck cam works. Top left is the program that manages the wireless internet connection. The task manager on the right shows me traffic over the connection so I know that it's working. Each blip (looks like an EKG) is one image going out from the camera. It flatlines if I lose the signal. I keep the camera software in the background so it doesn't look like I'm watching a movie while I'm driving.

...that I'll be 37 years old.

Isn't there a song about being free as a bird?

Trying out the latest version, simplePHPblog 0.9.4, of the blog software.

Cool mail box in Denver area:

Stopped to switch drivers in Baker, CA, home of the World's Tallest Thermometer. Truckers are always looking for good places to stop.

The Valero gas station/C-store (right next to Coco's) in Baker is a great place. It looks like a rat hole on the outside because it's being remodeled. Don't be fooled. A&W, Pizza Hut, Subway, TCBY & a smoothie shop are all inside. I think they're adding Taco Bell & Charro Chicken.

Clean, well lit, lots of tables, large, clean bathrooms! If you are on I-15 heading to Vegas and need a place to take a break, this is a good choice.

I'm back at our Fontana yard for some very high priority repairs. My air conditioner failed again Thursday in Kansas City, KS. They were going to have me take it to a Freightliner dealer in Salt Lake City Friday after we dropped the load there to get fixed. If you're in SLC on Friday without a load out, you'll be there Monday too. So we ran a load up to Pasco, WA on a 97 degree day then picked up a load to San Diego. The plan was to get if fixed at a dealer on the way. Didn't work like that. Every dealer on the route was either closed or couldn't get us in till Sunday PM.

My co-driver, Anthus, is usually a pretty good driver and he's an easy guy to get along with. He does have some challenges, though. He asked me how to rewind a DVD before putting it away. Twice. He couldn't figure out how to adjust the volume on the truck radio. It's that big knob on the left He's not on his way to a group home, but he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, either.

Yesterday he missed the exit to get to the shipper for the load we're taking to San Diego. Everybody misses an exit or turn once in a while (even me, gasp! ), no big deal. You get turned around and go on your way.

Why is this noteworthy? You might ask. We were coming into the Tacoma, WA area from the east, picking up the load, then heading south on I-5. I woke up and stuck my head through the curtain to see what's up. I see from the GPS that we are south of Tacoma on I-5. I thought I must have slept pretty soundly... Ummmm... No.

"Did you pick up the load?"
"No"
"What do you mean No?!?"
"I never saw the 167"

He missed the exit
He knew he missed the exit
He kept going towards San Diego without the load
He kept going for 40 MILES without trying to turn around

Do NOT buy TORTILLAS in KANSAS!

Drove through a hail storm in Nebraska (The Lucky State ) that cracked my right windshield in two places that I've found so far.

It was in the upper 80s all day today. About the time the sun came up my air conditioner quit working, again. The CRST brain trust just can't keep it working.

This was on the way out from the hail storm:
(Yes, it really was that dark inside it

I'm sitting here in Louisville, KY waiting for the consignee to open so I can deliver 44,000 Lbs of empty Freon 134A cylinders. One of the things I do to pass the time is study for the test to upgrade my Amateur Radio license, KI6FCI, to Amateur Extra, the highest class license. I need 37 out of 50 questions right to pass. I took the test for Extra when I first got my license just to see what would happen. Most sections I didn't do too bad on,some were way over my head. I got 32 right.

Here is a sample question:

E7E10 What type of frequency synthesizer circuit uses a stable voltage-controlled oscillator, programmable divider, phase detector, loop filter and a reference frequency source?

A. A direct digital synthesizer
B. A hybrid synthesizer
C. A phase-locked loop synthesizer
D. A diode-switching matrix synthesizer

Anybody want to guess?

Just made a nice pancake breakfast at 60 MPH on I-90. Don't worry, I wasn't driving. I just perfected the 'recipe' for Rolling Road Pancakes. I use flour tortillas, which are a good thing to have on the road. They stay fresh longer than bread, don't get squished, almost never mold & don't leave crumbs.

1. Nuke a flour tortilla for about 5 seconds, just to warm it,
2. Peel back the wrapper on a stick of butter and rub the end of it on the tortilla like a stick of Right Guard. Hold the stick by the wrapper. Remember, you might not be able to wash your hands for 400 miles.
3. Dip one of the plastic spoons you lifted from Wendy's into your container of syrup leftover from Waffle House. Just coat the spoon, that's all you need.
4. Dribble the syrup on the tortilla & use the back of the spoon to spread it out.
5. PUT THE LID BACK ON THE SYRUP!
6. Nuke the tortilla for 10 more seconds
7. Roll up & eat (Dont let it drip on your shirt, you won't be doing laundry for another three weeks)