Just What Makes That Little Old Ant........

Think he can move that rubber tree plant.....

High Hopes, Baby!! That's what...

But, alas, it is not meant to be. When I ventured out Sunday evening for a quick 2 hour trip into Bama, my hopes and dreams of smooth sailing were quickly diminished. Merely minutes after setting sail, I noticed a rattling noise. After unsuccessfully trying to locate it while driving, I eventually pulled into a truck stop for better perception. That is when I, and everyone else in a 10 mile radius, noticed it was coming from under the hood. So, I pulled it back and took a gander. After checking all of my belts and pulleys, I decided there was nothing I could do about it at midnight, so I headed to my first delivery. The next morning, upon firing up the old girl, the noise was perceivably much worse.....At this point, I am getting a little bit upset. I just cannot seem to catch a break!!

Fifteen minutes after leaving my morning delivery, while sitting on a two lane road that was shut down to one lane for construction, with me staring down the orange vested man controlling traffic, it finally happened. Whiz! POP! zing...... "Come on dude, turn the stupid sign around!!!!"

I gingerly ease into the throttle and the noise is gone. My next instinct is to check for any signs of smoke. Nothing there...So, I opted to head on down to Montgomery and let the shop take a look under her hood. I knew what had happened. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, my voltage meter was reading around 12.5 volts.... Not good. I fully charged set of batteries should be holding around 13.7 volts. I don't have enough juice left to crank the damn thing if it did die!

The mechanic confirmed my assumption. Belt was shredded, and the pulley on the alternator was spinning like a top. He spent the next 2 hours trying to locate parts before loading me down with four new batteries and sending me to another shop, which was located 30 minutes from my second delivery point.

I made my way into the second shop. They could not find new parts either, but lucky for me, there was a truck being rebuilt with used parts on it. So, after getting the pulley replaced and the new belt in position, we decided to tackle a few more repairs, because at this point I was already too late to make my second delivery. So, I got an air leak fixed along with a few other minor repairs. Next, I mentioned the suspension issues.

Did I tell you, both trucks had the exact same problems, both got new valves, and both still had issues. The mechanics decided I should head across the street to let the professionals have a look at it.

I get into Volvo explain the situation. They look at it and remark it is out of adjustment. So they adjust. But my dilemma of over inflation and under inflation during the course of my journey is too confusing for them to comprehend. I should only have a variation of 2-3 pounds at any given time, but NO!! my truck likes to fluctuate up to as much as 15 pounds.... After scratching their noses and picking their....... no wait..... after scratching their heads and picking their noses, they decide that my problem just does not exist because they have never heard of a truck doing that. This is at a dealership!! They were also astonished to find out that I even had a suspension gauge on my dash! Well......golly gee, lookee there!!!

So, I have come to the conclusion that I will indeed put it to rest and just grin and bear it. After all, I am not the owner of the truck, just the driver.

Next up, after finishing what should have been a 10 hour run, a mere two days later, I lucked up on a trip down into Miami to help out on the paycheck this week. As of Tuesday morning, I had only 500 miles in my pocket. Normally at this point, I should have had 1500. So I ease into the Sunshine State with the intention of bedding down on the Turnpike somewhere near Orlando. No dice!! Every time I pulled into a service plaza I had the pleasure of watching the last fellow who had passed me two miles back, pull into the last remaining parking spot. This continued to happen at each subsequent plaza. By the time I found a spot to camp out, I was nearing maximum overload. I believe I actually screamed into my windshield at one guy who passed me only a few hundred feet before the ramp to claim the last parking spot. I was furious.

Along with my anger, I was also beginning to experience the first telltale signs of the exhaust leak that was never repaired. Okay, I am assuming it is exhaust by the symptoms that were tormenting me, but I could be wrong. Excruciating headache, lips drying out, eyes burning and turning red. I could alleviate the symptoms rather quickly by rolling down my window and airing out the truck, but it was 40 degrees, so it was a battle for warmth or sanity.

The return trip was not too bad, and I was determined not to let this situation get the best of me. I actually remained in fairly good spirits throughout most of it, because I did request the swap AND my legs were no longer hurting. But I also found there were fresh rips in the interior walls where someone had drilled holes to mount something. I detest having a truck that is all ripped apart, even superficially, so this annoyed me. AND, the inverter no longer works which means I cannot use my microwave. I have a smaller power supply that I can use to charge my phone and laptop, but it is just so frustrating that I can never seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel.

Did I mention that I have not seen New England in weeks....Oh well, I refuse to give in to this completely....I am notorious for being in high spirits most of the time, and dammit, they are not gonna drag me down.....any further!!