Dixie The Wander Dog update

For those of you who have read all my posts, you know about Dixie the Wander Dog. For those of you who do not know the story I will recap it a little. Last year in July I was in Alabama. I stopped at a truck stop there that I really do not like. The restaurant is usually closed and when it is open the service is bad, and the food is worse. The parking lot is so full of holes that you can break a shock or a spring just driving through it, and it is always very hot there. This day it was well over 100 degrees, and the tarmac was melting under the truck tires as I parked. I had to go to the rest room bad, but as I walked towards the main building I noticed another driver trying to feed a little dog. When I asked if she was his he said, no but I think she is sick.
I gave her a quick glance, and she looked like about a four or five month old Doberman puppy. She was clean, but looked like she had been running wild for a few days. I went inside, bought a couple of hot dogs (the restaurant was closed for remodeling) and a bottle of cold water. I walked back to my truck, and for some reason the little dog was walking along the same row of trucks. I offered her a piece of hot dog, and she took it but surprised me when she examined it pretty closely before chewing it up. She then followed me to my truck. I opened the door, and put the hot dogs on the passenger floor, turned my back long enough to find a bowl to give the little dog some water. When I turned around she was gone. I put the water on the ground under the steps of the truck and closed the door and walked around the truck and got in. Then I remembered the hot dogs, I leaned across the seats and picked the paper plate up. The hot dog that I had torn a piece off was gone. Then I looked down and on the floor in front of the sleeper Air Conditioning vent slowly chewing the hot dog was the little dog. She looked at me wagged her tail and that was the start of a great friendship.
Dixie traveled every where I went, I even stopped training drivers for about 9 months. That first day was a little rough, I spent about three hours pulling tics off her neck and back. She drank some water, and I called Judy and told her about the pup, and of course Judy said I had to bring her home. That first night she managed to gnaw through the power cord for my lap top, but once I got her a chew toy she left that alone.
We took her to the Vet when I got home and found out that she was almost a year old, and was indeed sick. $500.00 later I had a truck dog. Dixie is pretty smart, and because of her Judy has started a small dog rescue. Dixie was the first dog adopted out by this rescue, and of course the first time she was brought back. I do not think that will happen this time. She has found a home. I miss her, but am glad that I picked her up and the time I had with her was great. She learned to do high fives, leave food until told to eat it, speak on command (that one she is picky about, no food no talk) and chase anything thrown for her for hours. She alarm barks very loudly, and of course loves riding in a vehicle. Her new family is very happy with her, we will see how long that lasts. The first family that adopted her liked her too, but she can be a real handful. She needs to be exercised a lot and given something to do so that she does not get bored.
So Dixie the Wander dog Wanders no more, again. Same deal as last time, if it does not work out she will always have a home in Wisconsin, and on my truck. At least I know now why I pulled off at that truck stop that day. It was because this little dog needed help and because I needed a truck dog. It all worked out well for both of us. Judy is right saving even one dog is worth the effort.

Bounce

TX,OK,MO,IL,IN,OH,PA,NJ,PA,MD,WV,VA,TN,AR,TX,NM,AZ,CA,AZ,NM,TX

Those are the states I have been in in the order that I was in them in the last 14 days. Almost 8,000 miles. It was a fun two weeks. I had a student with me. This guy was pretty interesting. He was about ten years older than me, and he was and is a pilot. He told me that a 747 has 18 wheels and ten brakes, so driving a truck should be a snap for him. He was right. I really enjoyed the two weeks I had with this student. He did a great job, and I think he will be an asset to the company I drive for, or any company he decides to drive for.

Bounce.

There are still some honest folks out there

Yesterday while starting my big truck and pulling away from a loading dock I heard a loud snap. Then I noticed that my electrical system was discharging. I parked the truck out of the way and opened the hood. What I saw was pretty ugly. The main Serpentine belt that drives my Air Conditioning and alternator had busted. On further examination I noticed that my Air Conditioning compressor pulley was a little crooked, and of course it would not turn either. The Alternator, and other pulley that the belt goes around turned just fine. I called my company Road Rescue, and good old Elvis said he had a guy in the area that could fix it for me. This was good as a big truck will not go very far without an alternator. Well the guy came out, and did not have a belt that would fit. This in itself was amazing as he must have had at least sixty different belts with him. He made some measurements and said he would be back. He was gone for almost five hours, but when he came back he had the right size belt. When I asked him where he went, he told me that he had driven about 200 miles round trip looking for that belt. He then told me not to worry he takes care of the Owner Operators that let him work on their trucks. I was expecting a really big bill for this repair, but he charged me the minimum, and cut the miles that he drove down to what they were from his home to my truck. In short I was expecting it to cost about three times what he charged me. He told me that he wanted to be fair about it, and he wanted to keep my business. Well believe me I will be keeping his card, and if anyone in his area breaks down and asks I will give them his number. Elvis from our shop told me that this guy was great, and he was right. I do not have any Air Conditioning, but the truck runs great. This man could have charged over $500.00 and got it, but he charged less than half of that.
So what could have been a miserable day turned out to be a pretty good day.

Bounce

It is Hot in July in Kansas

Today I am in Kansas,
I do not have the hours to drive anywhere, and it is well over 100 degrees here. I am trying to not use fuel, or waste any but I am not being too successful. It is really hot, and the truck is like an oven. Stick a fork in me, if I don't bleed I am done.
Such is the life of a truck driver. I did find out today that the radio interview that I did last year on Land Line now won an award for best show on air last year. Reed Black did a great job, and OOIDA really supports the Run a lot. They have done a lot of articles about us, and posted both routes last year in May. I hope they keep it up we can use all the help we can get.

Bounce

Seattle tomorrow, in and out

Tomorrow I will be in Seattle Washington. Probably not long enough to see my oldest Daughter or her family. But the scenery coming in on Interstate 90 was pretty cool.

The video that I posted the link to was edited down quite a bit. It took over an hour for the entire escort, and wow there were a lot of people lining the route. It is a great video, enjoy it. Also go to the rftw.org web site, and click on the route specific web sites link, then click on central route 2009. There are a lot of pictures and videos of this years run linked there. The Jackson County Missouri Sheriff and the Missouri State Police have also put together a really nice video of the entire escort across Missouri, and there is a link to the news report of when we came in to Wentzville MO. Good stuff.

Clyde is out enjoying being ridden and here I am working. But next month I will ride him a little. He may be complaining that he needs an oil change soon, and valve tightening too. But we shall see.

Dave Talley

I recieved the following from a Gold Star Mother that I know

Let's never lose this America !!!!



Killed in action the week before, the body of Sergeant First Class John C. Beale was returned to Falcon Field in Peachtree City , Georgia , just south of Atlanta , on June 11, 2009 . The Henry County Police Department escorted the procession to the funeral home in McDonough , Georgia .

A simple notice in local papers indicated the road route to be taken and the approximate time. But it is obvious from this video that many took notice, and even better, took action to honor this soldier.

Nowadays one can be led to believe that America no longer respects honor and no longer honors sacrifice outside the military. Be it known that there are many places in this land where people still recognize the courage and impact of total self-sacrifice. Georgia remains one of those graceful places. The link below is a short travelogue of that day's remarkable and painful journey. But only watch this if you wish to have some of your faith in people restored. Please share widely.



http://blip.tv/play/AYGJ5h6YgmE

Copy and paste the address above into your browser bar and then click on play. The cities that this procession runs through are listed in the video. This is a part of America that never gets shown on the news. This is one of the reasons that I am proud to be an American.

Everything Happens for a Reason

On Thursday I had to drive from my house to Sheboygan Wisconsin to have my fingerprints taken to complete my Commercial Drivers License renewal.

I won't get into all the phone calls, and other things I had to do to get this appointment. Lets just say it was not fun. I got there early, and the technician was there so I completed it about three hours ahead of schedule. I then drove home. On the way I stopped for gas, and got something to eat, and I also got caught in a large traffic jam. It was not a real bad jam, but it delayed me by about thirty minutes. Finally I was on my way home, listening to oldies on a local radio station.

I noticed a large cloud of dust on the road ahead of me, and saw a few cars stop. Then to my right I saw a Sport Utility Vehicle that had rolled over. I pulled off the road and ran over to the car. The wheels were still spinning so I guessed that this was why there was a cloud of dust. I was the first person to get to the vehicle. When I went around the front of it I noticed the windshield was completely shattered. and I could see people moving. That was a relief because my mind had run through the other possibilities, all not so good. I got to the top of the car, and another guy, he later told me he was an off duty Outagamie County Sheriff's deputy helped me get the drivers door open. This door seemed very heavy to hold up. But since it was the only way any one was getting out of the car I held it up. The Deputy helped the driver out of the car. A few more guys came up and got the back door open too. The rest of the passengers climbed out that way. There was a second lady in the front seat the started to climb out and she was afraid that the car would roll back on its wheels so I helped her jump down from the roof. As it turns out there were several off duty police and sheriffs people there. One little girl from the back seat had a head cut. There was a nurse there that immediately started treating her for shock and took care of the bleeding. I shook hands with the Deputy that had helped me get the door open, told him I was a truck driver, and that since he had a vest on and was controlling traffic I was going to get my pickup out of there.

I have stopped to help people on the road before, mostly with flat tires, and there was the one accident back in 2000 where a flatbed had rolled over and I helped get the driver and his dog out of the truck, and in 2001 a student and I saw a pickup hit a guard wall in Idaho and sat with the folks from that one on the side of the road till the police came so they would not freeze to death. Lastly there was Run For The Wall 2008 when I stopped and pulled a bike of a friend on the road into Angel Fire NM. That happened at almost the exact same curve that I got clipped my a truck in 2007. But this is the first time I have helped with anything this serious. I have rolled a vehicle once, and everything happens so slowly, and there are things flying everywhere. Most of them are things you never think of and they are hard and hurt when they hit you in the head. I do not know if this vehicle went all the way over, or if everyone, or anyone had their seat belts on. I am just glad I was there to help. There were a lot of folks there, but almost none of them wanted to approach the vehicle to help.

I have always believed that everything happens for a reason. I had to drive over 325 miles to get my fingerprints done. I got caught in a traffic jam that held me up just long enough that I was in the right place at the right time to help those people. Everything happens for a reason.

Dave Talley

Spidey Is blogging again

I have been following a blog by Spidey. He is a very intelligent young man and I count him as a friend. He is part of my extended Run For The Wall Family. The link to his new blog is listed below here, and I will put it in this entry as well. I think his trip is a wonderful thing, and I am glad that he is writing about it. His blog on the Run For The Wall is great too. It is also linked to this blog.

I may open up a new blog too. But I will still write here too. I try not to get into politics here, so I may open up a blog to rant about politicians.

I passed my written test for my Hazardous Materials Handling on my Commercial Drivers License, and today I get to drive about 300 miles so that I can get fingerprinted for a background check so that I can continue to do my job. I may look for new line of work. But if all truck drivers would unite, I would not have to do this. Truck drivers just cannot agree on anything.

There is an old joke about military guys, that I have adapted to truck drivers.

If you put five truck drivers in a small room with a table, and gave each of the a pencil and a piece of paper and told them that they had an hour to decide what color the paint in the room (a room painted white) was. When you came back in an hour they would all be beat up, their clothes would be shredded, the table and chairs would be broken, the pencils would be broken, and the paper would be gone. If you asked them what happened they would deny knowledge of anything happening, and would still not be able to tell you what color the room was. Krazy Karl agrees with me that this would happen. I think he agrees with me that someone should do something about this.
I may try. OK that is a political as I will get here. I will put the new blog Addy up when and if I start it.

Spidey's new blog is

themissionarykid-spidey.blogspot.com

you can either copy and paste the above to your browser window, or just go to the end of this blog and click on the link there.

OK that is it for today, I have to go get fingerprinted.

Bounce

Home at last again

(Picture is of Bear and Randy)
Dixie and I are home again at last. In the next three days I have to help Judy finish moving, get my license renewed and get some fishing in. I doubt that I will get to go fishing, but I have to renew the license and finish the move. We have been here about 8 hours, and already Dixie has managed to eat her fill of dry cat food,and make a new friend. The foster Collie Amber is here, and her and Dixie seem to have hit it off pretty well. She has also reestablished who is boss in the pecking order of dogs here. That is she has kicked Bear's butt. Bear is our 85 pound Rottweiler German Shepard mix. Randy the Old Collie could care less, and she has also chased at least two cats, she insists that if they run she has to chase them. But she is pretty happy to be out of the truck again. She will get into a routine soon.

We will continue to search for a good home for her. I love her, and she is a good dog, but I cannot keep her on the truck with me, it simply is not fair to her. She loves being there, but her world closes down a little more every day that she is on the truck. She needs to be with people, and especially kids. I think that it is a good thing that I found her in that truck stop almost a year ago. She would not have survived too many more days in that heat, and she was pretty sick too boot. So in short if anyone is looking for a smart happy little dog (at 35 pounds Dixie is still little compared to Bear) who love to ride, and has learned to bark on command, and give hi fives and low fives then maybe Dixie the Wander Dog is the dog for you. She is a lovable mutt and is very well house and truck broken. She also walks pretty good on a leash, but we are working on that whole "heel" concept. She still thinks that means I am supposed to follow her. But I suspect that she really understands it, she just does not like doing it. She will sit if you stop walking, and if you tell her to take a break she will pee even if she just did it. Pretty good considering she sometimes goes eleven hours without a break.

Well that is it for now.

Dave Talley

Poll is over,,, No decision made

Today Dixie and I are in Laredo Texas. It is really hot (108 yesterday) and to think we were complaining about Wyoming being cold. The Poll about relinking to Run For The Wall is closed. 4 votes, 3 yes 1 no. No decision made, will probably wait until next year to decide.

My earlier report about the Run being over was definitely premature. A few days ago I ran into Cadillac Lady. Well at least I saw her and a few of her friends leaving a hotel next to the Buckeye AZ truck stop I was in. I ran over to her (I am sure she was more than a little worried about a truck driver running towards her in a parking lot) and said hi. After recognizing me hugs were exchanged. It turns out that she has not been home yet. Some day I too will take a couple of months to see the country. I see a lot of the Country now, but would like to stop at all those historical markers, and see all the countless places I cannot go to now with a big truck. It was nice to see a friend and know that she was enjoying her vacation. I also heard from my friend Reg from Australia. He will be heading home soon. When he returned his rental Harley they noted a few scratches (mostly on the pegs from his little encounter on the Dragon, in North Carolina.) but he said the insurance covered it.
Well that is about it today. Hot and waiting for a decision, not about the poll but about work, I am hoping they won't make me wait till tomorrow to get out of here, because it really is hot.

Dave Talley