Feb 8, 2007

Astrology

I am such a sucker for this stuff!! So in an attempt to avoid 15 YEARS of bad luck, here is my reposting of the Sexy Zodiac.

TAURUS The Tramp

Aggressive. Freak in bed. Rare to find! Loves being in long
relationships. Likes to give a good fight for what they want.
Extremely outgoing. Sexy as ........ Loves to help people in times of need.
Outstanding kisser. Very funny. Awesome personality. Stubborn. Sexual
as ......... Most caring person you will ever meet! One of a kind. Not
one to F### with. Are the most sexiest people on earth! 15 years of bad luck
if you do not repost.


Actually, I do agree with just about all of this...

A Ghostly Tale

The following events transpired in the year of 2000.

It all started when I moved in to a little house in Sulphur Springs, Texas. There were 3 of us residing in the humble abode... Myself, a roommate, and a dog named SAM.

Upon studying the layout of the house, I chose a bedroom on the west side of the structure, immediately adjacent to the smaller of two bathrooms. I would have preferred the larger spare bedroom, but with 6 large windows facing the morning sun, I opted for a darker domain!

Later, I noticed that the vacant room mysteriously remained a noticeable 20 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. Even with 6 floor length windows staring into direct sunlight. I might also mention that the house was cooled by window units, but not one was mounted in this particular room.

After a few months, Sam started to act strange. Almost cautious at times, staring vacantly into the air. He would extend his nose as if to smell the air, but nothing was there. Now, the backdoor to the property was located off of the mysteriously cooled spare, vacant room. But, when Sam wanted to go outside, he absolutely refused to intrude on this territory to make his exit. He would stand at the threshold of the bedroom, sniffing , staring vacantly, and shaking!

Eventually, when he would zone out into oblivion, he got to wear after sniffing the air, he would slowly began to wag his tail.....After barking in a playful manner, he would dart off to the doorway of the vacant room. There he would halt in his tracks, back up and dash into the bathroom, the second portal of said room. Once again, he would stop.

One evening when Sam was carrying out his antics, I noticed a few more peculiarities....There was a dream catcher hanging on the wall. It would slowly start to sway, back and forth. Sam would stare intently , while playfully nipping at the air. I dismissed this, thinking the window unit was creating a breeze. But alas, the air conditioners were not running.

Now at this point, I hadn't really put a whole lot of thought into the fact that the vacant room was cooler, Sam would not enter it, and he seemed to have some sort of invisible playmate. After all, he was still a puppy, barely a year old. That is until......

On a dark and stormy night......

Okay, so it wasn't dark and stormy........One evening while sprawled out in the floor, playing with SAM, mayhem broke loose. In the middle of an intense wrestling match, Sam suddenly stops..... Looking over my shoulder, he thrusts his head forward and starts wagging his tail. I had assumed my roommate had returned home, but as I turned to look, no one was there. Then Sam's attention turned to the hanging dream catcher. I watched as it begin to move, ever so lightly. Gaining momentum, it eventually fell to the floor. Noticing once again, the window units were not running, I felt all the hair on my body stand up! I started to shiver as I noticed the room temperature has dropped. Sam began his custom of running from door to door, barking into the vacant room. I decided it was time to investigate.

The main entrance to the spare bedroom was located immediately off of the kitchen. As I wandered into the area, I immediately noticed that EVERY DRAWER and EVERY CABINET was standing open. Sam was literally raising hell at the doorway, and abruptly became silent and wandered back into the living room, where he commenced playing with a chew toy. After closing all the storage areas, I gazed into the vacant room for quite some time.. Sensing nothing, I returned to the living room myself. After 30 minutes had passed, Sam once again tears out and makes a mad dash through the kitchen. I jumped up to follow him, and there it was! ALL the drawers and cabinets OPEN again. By now, I am freaking out a little.

When my roommate returned to grab a few items before heading out on an overnight trip, I mentioned the strange happenings. She dismissed everything I said as a prank.

Over the course of the evening, the kitchen was inhabited several times. I finally went to bed leaving the everything open. I shut the door between the bathroom and the vacant room. This was something I did every night. I had noticed in the past that the door was always open in the morning. I had always assumed my roommate had opened it.

The next morning, I had a big surprise waiting for me. I entered the bathroom and not only did I see the second door standing ajar, but also the little prankster had been moving other things around. In the center of the floor, my step stool was turned upside down. On each of the four legs, one item belonging to me was precariously balanced.

Once again, my hair stood up as chills ran over my body. My roommate was out of town, and there was no way Sam could have done this...

Over the next few days, these strange occurrences would seem to happen with no rhyme or reason. The second time my stool was flipped over, I decided it was time for a confrontation. I nervously closed myself into the bathroom. I started talking to this spirit, asking it to show itself.. Nothing happened.....I made several attempts to communicate, but to no avail... Then I had the bright idea of using a form of code . I turned on the overhead light, and once again began to speak into the coolness of the room.... After asking several questions, the light flickered....

"One is for YES, two is for no.... Do you understand?" I cautiously murmured into the air. There it was again, a tiny flicker in the light. The spirit was communicating with me.

After what seemed like an eternity, with my hair standing on end the entire time, I was able to learn a little about my playful spirit. It was a friendly spirit, indeed, very playful. It meant no harm. It loved to play with Sam! and it had lived here in the flesh many years ago, and had died a peaceful death due to illness.

Over the course of the next few months, we played several more games with the cabinetry, and Sam eventually crossed the threshold of that room, only to claim it as his playroom. Whenever he would vanish from my sight, I would always find him yapping away, chasing invisible objects throughout the vacant room.

After living here for a year, I decided it was time to move on. I had one more bathroom session with the lights.... I told the spirit I was leaving. It answered with the flickering of lights, indicating sadness.... I asked it to come with me, I enjoyed its company as did Sam, but it once again I received a negative reply. It couldn't leave.

After making my departure, my roommate phoned to ask what had happened. She stated all the cabinet and drawers were open..."Were you in that big of a hurry to get out of here?" she asked.
Then she mentioned that several of the light bulbs throughout the house has shattered. It had never manifested itself in her presence, and never did!

Once I got settled into my new accommodations, I begin to miss my ghostly friend, and had hoped that somehow it could have made the journey. I tried the bathroom communication several times, hoping for a sign..... I never got one!

Feb 3, 2007

Brothers



This one is a Classic!!





I am very thankful for my Brothers and love them very much!! So I thought I would share a childhood memory!


This is one of my favorites.


When I was very young my brothers told me the story of how when they were born, they were also little girls!! This fascinated me, because I dreaded all of the things that womanhood would bring... Intrigued, I begged for more information. It seems that there was but one way to remedy my current situation. They told me if I kissed my elbow Yes, lips to elbow, no cheating!! that I too would transform myself into a boy. Excited about this prospect, I immediately began to attempt the impossible. I tried and tried, but could not reach the spot!! I am sure they must have been laughing at me, but I never noticed. Unaware to my surroundings, I continued in my endeavors.




This went on for a few days.. If I was awake, I was trying to kiss that elbow! Not to disappoint my mother, I would always do this away from prying eyes. It seems her little girl was a gift from God!! Especially since her other girls were now Boys!! After several days and numerous attempts I was still determined! Eventually my mother spotted me outside on the swing set crying my eyes out. She rushed to find out what was wrong. With trepidation, I told her of my desires and and the dilemma I was facing...


This is where the memory begins to fade, so I am not sure how long my devastation continued from this point. But I am vaguely aware that my precious brothers were punished in some way for their actions... They did get a good laugh out of it though..


What is even worse is that twentysomething years later, I began to tell this story to my nephews and niece. They also have laughed at me as well. Seems I am the only gullible one in the family...
Oh Well!! Yeah Brothers are great!! And I wouldn't trade mine for anything. Thanks guys, for the memories!!! I love You!!

Feb 2, 2007

And Speaking of Queens...

One of my favorite locations to deliver to is the Dave Sanders Co. The reason is the employees. Good bunch of people!! My favorite of course is the guy that unloads the truck. Jimmy. He is what I would consider a "typical" New Yorker. Load and Brash with those who attempt to run him down in the street (once again, unloading a flatbed double parked!!) But really a very sweet guy. Willing to skip lunch or stay late to get me unloaded and has on several occasions had lunch waiting on me when I would arrive.

Also, this is the only safe place to nap if coming into the City during the night. Definitely a bonus!! Which leads me to my story....

About a year ago, I headed to Astoria for a morning delivery. Arriving around 9 pm, I settled in for the night. Now directly across the street from Dave Sanders is a donut factory. Of course they have a shop to purchase a few of these glazed concoctions right around the corner.
So after watching some TV, I decide to call it a night and snuggle in. BAM, BAM SPLAT!!!
What the hell was that?? At this point I am rigid with fear. After a moment, I cautiously peek out of the curtains to see what all the commotion is about. I see nothing!! I look again, and behold the smears on my windows. Then there they are. A group of teenage boys walking the streets, eating donuts. They are well out of my range and continuing to dwindle into the night, so I feel confident the little escapade is over. Not confident enough to investigate further, but I was able to get back to sleep within the hour.
Next morning was a sight to behold. I jump out of the truck to survey the vandalism and what do I behold. Roughly two dozen doughnut holes scattered about my truck... I cleaned my windows (I was tempted to lick them clean, but chose Windex instead) and waited for Jimmy to show up. And waited. and waited some more... When he finally arrives (30 minutes late) he immediately notices the doughnuts and proceeds to question their very existence...

With a straight face, I tell him, " I had breakfast for you this morning, but since you were late I said to hell with it!" His reaction was priceless!! I later explained the scenario and we had a few laughs!!

The next time I made this delivery, Jimmy was waiting with a egg sandwich for me and dropped it on the floor just as I was reaching for it. "Paybacks are a B*@#h", he says. And a moment later, "Gotcha".. The sandwich was 2 days old and not fit to eat.....

No, Not Brooklyn..PLEASE

I must admit, while I am fearless in my journeys, I do have a few locations I don't particularly care for... The most Hated being Chicago... I have not been there in over 4 years and have no desire to every return in a Big Truck. Of the destinations I frequent, Brooklyn is the least desired.

The reasoning is as follows:
1. Road Construction. I don't think road construction in Brooklyn will ever be completed!! And the potholes are big enough to swallow cars whole!

2. Traffic. My loads are always arranged to where (If I were delivering in Brooklyn)I would be driving during the morning commute. What a nightmare!! and with all that construction...

3. Brooklyn Customer Locations. We have 2 that I know of (until now). The first is on Atlantic Avenue, which is a very busy major roadway. The freight has to be hand unloaded while double parked!! But the fun part is trying to make a U-turn in six lanes of congested traffic. I have done it twice in 4 years. The second stop is off of 3rd and 32nd. This area is a bunch of one way streets directly under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. The only way to safely maneuver this delivery is to arrive before 5am and drive down a one way street, the wrong way!! Otherwise you cannot get to the loading dock. Nothing wrong with that, except that they don't open until 8:30. There is a bright side, you can see a pretty good view of the Statue of Liberty from Brooklyn.


So, this past week, I was informed I would be making a delivery in Brooklyn. An unknown location to top it off. I quickly pull out the lap top and type in the location. Thanks Bro. It looks easy enough on Microsoft Streets and Trips. Take the 39th St Exit off the BQE, make a U-turn , then a quick right and BOOM, there they are. My morning started out on the Island and therefore I had to deal with rush hour commuters. Distance 56 miles, travel time 2 hours. I made the call to the customer to let him know my ETA and of course he understood the traffic delays. All is well!! He would have someone meet me on the street, to let me know just where to deliver.. Talk about curb service. When I pulled up, there he was. Coffee in one hand and a fresh croissant in the other. Breakfast for me!! After a quick unload, and several minutes of friendly chatter I was on my way.

Next Stop, Queens.

We'll Leave The Light On For You.

So last week I told you about our little Reward Program to reduce idle time in the Big Rig.. And yes, 3 mph is still a major issue to me. So, after 8 days of not idling the truck, I managed to get my reward back. EIGHT FREAKIN DAYS. This has happened to me one other time, but then it only took 3 hours to correct the injustice.

Well, lets just say I raised a big fuss about it when I returned to the office last week. I was informed once again, that the program was not designed to reset in the middle of the week. And if it did, it should not affect my percentage. WELL IT DID!! After a lengthy discussion with several folks, I was informed that I would be allowed to rent a motel room each night and be reimbursed for up to $50 a stay. This does me no good out on Long Island, where any decent room runs well above $100.

We ARE Determined To Reduce Idle Time!! Aren't we??

So, this week I did just that. East Lyme CT. Motel 6. Truck Parking. Yippee for me!! I rather enjoyed myself, even thought its not the best motel chain, but hey it was under $50. So I grabbed up one of their handy little motel guides, complete with truck parking information. And I quickly discovered that there are several locations along my route that I can get into to with the Big Truck!!

$100 bucks to idle the Truck five nights, or a $250 dollar motel bill. Who am I to argue with their logic.

Get Your Kicks On Route 66

I recently posted about how some of the male truckers behave while travelling down the interstate. So now let me clue you in on how some of the male automobile drivers behave as well.

This week, while heading west on the Long Island Expressway I had the pleasure of getting a big laugh out of one particular fellow. Lets call him "Freddie" (that is what it said on his license plate anyway). Now Freddie was also heading west and after several miles I begin to notice that he was hovering beside me. Traffic moving in various speeds all around me, but Freddie was hanging in there. Immediately, I suspected what he was up to. (This has happened on several occasions!!) So, I casually glance to my left and there was Freddie in the throes of passion. Albeit, a solitary act of passion shall we say. Totally exposed from hips to knees, Freddie is getting busy!! He never noticed that I had looked his way. He also never noticed the Police Officer on his immediate left!!

Yes, the blue lights came on!!

I just wish I could have heard him try to explain his way out of that one!!

Finish What You Started!!

Okay, I figure it is about time to go and close up some loose ends...

1. Wally World- After many attempts to get a resolution, I finally decided just to let it go. My limited amount of home time is precious to me. I spent many Saturdays at Wal-Mart trying to get them to see things my way, but to no avail. I made many phone calls to speak with the appropriate Manager only to be dismissed. My last attempt was sometime in November, and the response I had received was to go get an estimate from a particular vendor (whom was over an hour away). I was instructed to bring the estimate back to the Tire and Lube Express for approval. Then the manager informed me, " I have to be honest with you here, There is no evidence of abuse on our video tapes. No visible proof that our technician damaged your wheels. And our claims department is more than likely going to deny the claim with no footage."
Now let me get this straight... The car was 4 months old, the tires had never been rotated or balanced, the technician had 3 days of untrained experience, and the wheels had to be rebalanced when he got finished. Not to mention that I would need a police report of the damage before a police officer could view the video tape (not me, I would not be allowed to view it without a court order!!) OH TO HELL WITH IT!!!
I know that my meager contribution to Wal-mart will in no way be missed, but I have not purchased anything at that store since then... Besides, Publix has fresher produce and fruit anyway!!!

2. Scratches- I have yet to pick up the little thing-a-ma-jiggers for my doors. I went by there, but the parts guy was at lunch and his replacement did not know how to look up inventory to find them... Other than that, I am just procrastinating.

3. Uniforms-Six weeks (or is it seven??) and still no replacements... I am not making this up. That's okay, the uniforms remind me of a clown suit anyway. By the way, we order our next set of free uniforms this month. I should have mine by Fall, at this rate.

4. Old Flames-Yes, I can breath again. It took two weeks (not bad if you ask me) but I got a response from Mr Wonderful. I was pleased to hear he was doing so well. He even remembered old passions and nicknames which really got me going!! I was hoping for a reunion, but did not mention it because he is to be married soon. So, I will let that slip back into my memories and wait for the next available individual of the male species whom has a pulse to come along..

5. New Home- Yes I still have some boxes that need to be unpacked. *hee hee* I told you I am the Queen of Procrastination.

Well, I guess that should about cover it!!

Five Things... you might not know about me!!

Recently my SIL did post revealing 5 little known facts about her. Her Mother has previously given it a shot. So I figured it must be my turn....

This should be fun!!

1. I have always wanted to be an actress.. (When I was a child I would reenact entire movies, with my stuffed animals as an audience. I can still recite the original Robin Hood cartoon movie to this day.)

2. If you tickle my feet, I will laugh for a moment. Then I will cry. Hyperventilation comes next. Most likely I will pee in my pants (this should be a good deterrent to prevent anyone from attempting the obvious) and then I will start to thrash wildly out of control until I hurt you.

3. I have amazing self-control...(I have only broken one nose while thrashing about wildly.)

4. I am clinically only 3-3/4 inches away from being categorized as a dwarf.

5. I have had strands of gray (or is it grey) hair since I was 8 years old!!

Washington State

Scenes From The Road



This week I am showing some older pictures I took while I was a long haul Trucker.


Not that NYC and Boston are not a long haul from Atlanta. In the past, I would travel days at a time to reach one destination... But now, I travel to many locations in a single day. I guess you could say that I am an out of town Local Delivery driver. To give you an even better idea I might mention that on Monday I delivered to Bristol, PA;Edison, NJ;and Central Islip, NY. Tuesday included stops in Bay Shore (Long Island), Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Stratford CT, and Glastonbury CT. And Wednesday was all about the surrounding areas of Boston. See what I mean about local?? Next week, 16 stops, same locations!!

So, on with the show!!


This first pic was taken in September of 1999 at a ski resort in near Deming, Washington. Needless to say, I fell in love with the area. I believe this is part of the Cascade Mountain Range. Only miles from Canada. And yes, the Big Truck made it up the mountain (the trailer stayed in town).




This next shot is at the same ski resort.. I met a mountain climber who had just finished scaling the peak in the background (center, above trees).


And for the Finale...... drum roll please.........





I captured this picture while driving down the side of the mountain at about 35 miles per hour. I was in such awe of the scenery that I just keep snapping pictures. Didn't realize the waterfall was there until after I took the shot...



So until next week............