Never on Sunday (well *almost * never)

I'm cutting ties with Navizon, so you won't see our Buddy Locator button anymore. I'll still be looking for a tracking site so you can see where we've been lately. It's just that Navizon has changed its format and it's not even close to user-friendly anymore.

A comment on the last post from VM:



Funny you should mention that, mano. I carry a high-end Yamaha electronic keyboard in my trailer in case there's an opportunity to use it. But it seems like I never get the time anymore. Maybe some day we both can retire and start a little band or something.

But now it's time for our favorite contest called "What's Wrong with This Picture???!!!"

If you had to look at this more than 5 seconds then you probably should consider letting someone else drive. This ugly mess was brought to my attention shortly after I took off on I-10 going east out of Baytown, Texas. I had just had a trailer tire replaced in San Antone, and the T/A mechanic noticed that all of the trailer brake pads were worn too low, so I let him replace them too. Did he adjust the brakes too tightly? I can't tell for sure. All I know is that I was headed east on I-10 out of Baytown and I saw a motorist pointing to my left like there was something really wrong on that side. I looked in my mirror and didn't see anything, so I figured he was just another kook, like the dozens of other space cadets that we encounter every day that do the most bizarre things without the slightest thought. But he kept at it and when I looked again I saw smoke pouring out from one of the trailer wheels. My first reaction was that I needed to prevent a trailer fire, so I put on my blinker and downshifted while looking for a chance to get to the shoulder. A friendly motorist flashed me so I could change lanes, and I found the first open spot in the area which was restricted by a lot of construction. I pulled over into the space after an on-ramp, and I managed to get the rig out of the travel lanes. The wheels smoked heavily for a while, but eventually they cooled off. Initially the bearing was still intact, but not for long. I backed up the onramp a bit and tried to weigh my options. It seemed that if I could drive back the 20 miles to the truckstop things might work out okay. Since I still had a bearing at the time, and the manager at the T/A said they could do the repairs, I thought it might be worth a try. I found out I could get online using my Verizon connection, so I did a virtual recon of the route I would need to take using Google's mapping and satellite services. I have to say there were some sketchy places along the way. Considering that I would need to keep my speed at 20 mph or lower, I had a bunch of construction areas to go through that had no place to pull out of the travel lanes, and at one point there's even a bridge. But if it looked like everything might hold together long enough, I might be willing to try it. I had called my dispatcher Paul (on a Sunday-sorry boss!) and he thought it might be worth a shot. While I scrutinized my planned route online, a Texas trooper suddenly appeared in front of the truck. I explained the situation and he thought I would probably need a complete axle job on that side, which is what the T/A manager had said. He said he could call a wrecker for me, but I told him I wanted to see if I could limp this thing back to the T/A. He pointed out that the road going back to Baytown had a lot of construction, and if I got stuck there it would really mess up traffic. I nodded in agreement. And then he suggested that I could go to Beaumont instead, which would be going east the way I was headed, and I wouldn't have to go through any construction. This seemed to be the answer. So I powered down the laptop and tried to merge gracefully into traffic. (I need to give a lot of credit to the Texas trooper for his wonderful attitude. Other states would have shut me down in a minute and found a dozen ways to fine me for my problems. But this guy was totally sympathetic and he gave me credit for being the proffesional that I am.) I found a huge opening and started up through the gears to an incredible speed of 20 mph (with my flashers flashing away)! I was ready to merge onto the travel lanes when I noticed two trucks approaching. There was a tanker in the right lane and another truck in the fast lane. They were about 1/2 mile back when I saw them, and I noticed, to my horror, that the tanker was running side-by-side with the other truck, and he wasn't slowing down a bit! So I did the safest thing I could think of and used what little shoulder I had to come to a stop out of the travel lanes. Of course, Mr. tanker couldn't resist blaring his horn as he passed me. Does the term "aggresive driver" come to mind here? I don't know about you, but whenever I'm in the right lane, I am actively prepared for anything. Driving in the slow lane, the last thing I expect is that I can drive along at 70 mph and not come across something that will slow me down. But what I figure happened is that Mr. tanker was in a hurry and he was probably trying to pass the other truck on the right, and since this isn't a densely populated area, he wasn't expecting merging traffic. Big mistake, mister. I'm sure he realized his mistake when he saw me at the last minute, but of course he couldn't help blasting the horn just to cover his error.

My actual journey from the breakdown point to where I am now was not much more than a mile. When I finally got back on the highway again, I took the first offramp so I could inspect the condition of my wheels. I didn't see any smoke, but I thought I should see how things were holding up. Fortunately I found a Bar-B-Q place called "Gator Junction" that had a nice big parking area for trucks. And this is where I took the picture you see. No bearing. Kind of scary, actually. Frankly, there ain't much to keep those tires from flyin' off the end of the axle and making life a lot more sucky. So I opted for plan B. Which is either find someone who can do a little major axle work out here where I'm parked, or have someone come out and pull the wheel off and chain the axle up so I can make it to a mechanic in Beaumont. I tried calling several places today but noone answered the phone. Heck, waddya expect? It's the Chinese New Year!
(A curious coincidence: Chinese New Year today and US Presidents' Day tomorrow. Think about the connection: What US president won great acclaim for his diplomatic victories with China?)

It slowly dawned on me that my accumulated milage today might be a little less than the 600+ miles I was hoping for. Total miles for Feb. 18: 23. Resolutely, I resigned myself to this fate, and tried to make the best of things. And here's one of the things that made this side trip a little more tolerable: Texas Bar-B-Q, baby! After being taunted by the smells coming from Gator Junction, I decided it was time to see what they had to offer. For those of you who know what good Texas Bar-B-Q is like, you don't need any explanation. For the rest of you, I feel only pity. You see, in Texas they don't bury everything in a bunch of sauce. What they do is slow-cook the heck out of some really top-notch pieces of meat, with a perfect blend of seasonings, so you have this wonderful carne just falling off the bone. I went for the brisket and rib combo. What I should have done was just ribs alone, because brisket tends to be somewhat dry, and I'm kinda sensative to dry meat. But they gave me some sauce to dip the strips of brisket in so it wasn't too terrible. But the ribs? I could eat them every day for the rest of my life and ask for more! Actually I just did. Since it was approaching 9 pm, I figured I should make one final run before the place closed. Yes, they had some of those delectible ribs left. So I eagerly ordered a plate and chatted a bit while my food was prepared. Everyone noticed I had been here a good part of the day and we all joked about it. I explained to them why I was stuck here, and one of the employees told me about a mechanic nearby that I could talk to. Very friendly people, these Texans. And now if I have room, I'll finish the beans and coleslaw that came with the meal. But oh those ribs! Just enough "tang" to remind you you're close to Louisianna. But always that incredible smokey flavor that sets Texas cuisine apart from the rest. Poncho Villa, eat your heart out!


Here I am at 7:30 pm pacific time, and 9:30 pm central time. I guess I better get to bed. Let me leave you with these pearls of wisdom I found in the men's room at Gator Junction:

Category Posted: General