Loading a section of the old Woodrow Wilson bridge that had been the  Interstate 95 crossing  of the Potomac River on the southeast side of DC for years.  I took this piece down to Virginia Tech at Blacksburg, VA so the engineering department could study it.  It was apparently the first post tension bridge of this size to have lived out it's useful life and was therefore sought after for an understanding of what did and what didn't work in its structure over the years.

  I'm a very particular truck driver.  One of my bosses, in a slip of the tongue he apparently instantly regretted (if the sheepish grin and stuttering were any indication) once said that one of the main reasons I got one of the trainer positions was because I am so anal.  

Double rainbow in El Paso, TX on my way out to California several years ago.

Ok, so that's not the exact adjective I would have liked him to use, but after a moment of taking offense, I had to admit he wasn't far off the mark.  I don't pull out of the yard without at least checking all my lights, all 18 tires for low pressure, and physically getting under the truck to check the brake linings and that the fifth wheel has latched properly onto the trailer.  Even though I don't get paid for it, I take the extra 15 minutes at the end of a route to throw the trash into a dumpster and to arrange the trailer neatly so that when it is backed into a dock, the loader won't have to waste 30 minutes running around the warehouse and trailer cleaning up before he starts to load the trailer.   I waste my time reading the government's press releases when they offer notice of an intended rulemaking.  I pick the brains of my lawyer friends over barbeque in the back yard, to understand how the laws are being applied.

Looking at myself in the shiny back of the truck in front of me at a stoplight.

When people ride with me, they often express surprise at the risks I take and the speed at which I'm willing to drive on twisty mountain roads and through the city traffic.   They are appalled at my willingness to flash my headlights to let someone know that I'm overtaking them and would like them to move over so I can maintain my speed, or my insistence on communicating my presence with my horn to those who (in my opinion) appear ready to make an unsafe move in traffic. (I really don't care if it hurts your feelings that I tooted my horn, if it averts an accident where you are much more likely than me to be an injured victim.  I'm more than likely not angry, just protecting the space around my vehicle and doing my best to reduce the chances I'll be explaining your poor driving choice in court one day.)

My Gracie several years ago at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas, TX.

 What they don't see, though, is that I know my machine works, because I have physically touched or looked at the important parts of it to make certain it does.    I have a good idea when a driver in my vicinity is making a decision that will result in an unsafe situation.  They also may not notice that I follow at a ridiculous distance from the vehicle in front of me, or that I'll pull over and buy a soda or take a restroom break if someone insists on tailgating me or driving unsafely around me.    I guess what I'm saying is that in my million plus miles of driving an eighteen wheeler on the highways and byways of the North American continent, I have developed some strategies that keep me from even experiencing a lot of the dangerous situations you will experience on the road.  

That's a tanker that has just been righted after rolling up onto the side of the bridge and hanging out over Curtis Bay, near Baltimore MD.

One of the important strategies that has helped me to keep coming home alive and uninjured from the concrete jungle is simply avoidance of unsafe situations.  Most of you will drive in 10 years the miles I drive in one, so I simply have to stack the odds in my favor if I intend to continue making my living this way.

I drove a million miles in this truck alone, not including the various other truck driving jobs I've had for short periods of time over the last 14 years.

All that said, I currently, as at various times in the past, earn part of my living training new drivers.    Even understanding that  truck driving jobs simply attract men who are competent and have a certain personality type (two traits of that personality being hard headedness and a bit of a "fighter jock" swagger)  I am sometimes and in even parts, amazed and infuriated, at the willingness of a complete rookie driver to tell me how the safety precaution I just recommended, is simply stupid.  

Though my truck wasn't the prettiest, I always made a point of tarping my load neatly.

The next step is always an attempt to educate me as to why that particular precaution was unnecessary in that particular instance, even though their tone assures me that they understand I'm probably too old and set in my ways to come around to their way of thinking.  After the latest incidence of this exact scenario, when I told a particular new guy that, seeing 3 cars parked on the shoulder of the DC beltway in the dark with their flashers on (or any time there were occupied vehicles on the shoulder), he should get in the habit of flashing his high beams for a few seconds to make sure there was nothing in the road, and then get over a lane so as to avoid any surprises.  I was treated to an especially enjoyable lecture about how he had observed the situation and there was no danger of anything happening so it was perfectly safe to retain the lane he was in,  I had to just sit back, smile, and hope he'd become more careful with time, knowing I'd have another good story to tell next time I'm sitting at the bar eating dinner and swapping tall tales with the truckers and farmers who are sharing a few hours of company in between long, lonely days out on the road or in the field.  (Anyone noticed that communal eating at restaurants, is simply not popular in this country except at truckstop "bars"?  Maybe that's a topic for another day.)

That's my Dad, behind the wheel of the ol' red Freightliner.  He died unexpectedly, the month I took the old beast off the road.  This pic caught me by surprise as I was digging for pics for this post, and now I'm glad you can't see through the computer, b/c watching a 6'2"  200 pound bald man cry, ain't a pretty thing.  Make the most of the time you have with your family, b/c the only time guaranteed is this moment and the ones you've already had.

14 February

 Yesterday was to be the day my wife and I celebrated Valentines Day by spending the day together in Annapolis.  Insensitive me, I woke up with a terrible sinus headache and nausea that lasted until late in the evening.  So our plans were nixed and I spent the day in bed.  At around 9:30pm, I finally roused myself and was very, very hungry, so I had some Oreos, some tortilla chips, and a couple bowls of the ham soup my wife had made for dinner.  I was, for whatever reason, craving grapefruit juice, so I made a quick trip over to the grocery store to grab a bottle.  While I was there, I thought I'd salvage our plans at least a little by buying some potted tulips, a card and some chocolates.  I got home and arranged them in the kitchen where the wife wouldn't be able to miss them when she got up this morning to pack the kids' lunches.  The kids and I were up first, and the kids asked if they could make Valentines, too and put them up with the flowers for their Mama.  I said, of course they could when they were ready for school.   They hurriedly ate breakfast, got dressed, and made their  valentines  finishing and arranging them with the flowers just before Tina got to the kitchen.   She took a minute to read them, and after she got the lunches packed, she walked into the living room where, by then, we all were waiting to see when the bus would show up.  "I can't believe you kids got me flowers and candy and even made me valentines and your Daddy didn't even think to get me anything,"  she said with a sideways wink toward me.  The kids response?  Cherubic smiles and utter silence.  Nice job there, kids.

I got a phone call last night saying that I'd been identified as a universal donor for platelets with a sample from my last blood donation, so would I mind donating soon, since they were in short supply?  So, after I dropped Tina off at work, I crossed the bay and spent two hours of my afternoon watching a movie with an IV needle in each arm, while my blood circulated through a machine the size of my refrigerator.  Spent an hour or so trading war stories at the bicycle shop on the way home, and was pleasantly surprised to find my brother visiting when I got home.

Tina and I will be grabbing dinner down at Doc's  (at the Centreville Wharf) here in a few minutes when I pick her up from work, so all, I suppose, is not lost.

Now just for fun, here's a picture of Sam (my 14 y/o) and Papa Ron (mil's husband and unofficially adoptive grandfather) posing with a couple of our guitars.

 One of my favorite places is Harper's Ferry, VA, right where Virginia, West Virginia and Maryland meet.  Sometimes, when I know I'll hit traffic on the way back from my last delivery (if I take the most direct route, which takes me around the Washington D.C. beltway), I'll take the long way back to our terminal.  It adds about 15 miles, but sometimes it can save me a couple hours.  It is also a much less stressful drive, as there is very little traffic and the scenery is just gorgeous. Here are a couple shots taken over my shoulder as we were passing across the bridge from Virginia into Maryland.

Not sure if I've posted this already, but I love the shadows of the trees on the cab of the truck.

Another one I might have already shared with you.  Crossing Mt. Weather into the Shenandoah Valley one morning I grabbed this shot of an old truck as we descended into a cloud that was part way down the mountain.

A friend was over and tried to take a family pic at Christmas this year, but when we got the results we realized it was too blurry.  Tina wants me to try again, but for now, this is our family.

Gracie playing on the computer. (with a rainbow wig)

Shenandoah River looking toward Massanutten mountain, the mountain which runs down the middle of the Valley the whole way down to Elkton, VA.

The end of Massanutten Mountain had caught a bit of a cloud just after a storm passed through.

My landlord had a bike he had never gotten fixed.  It's probably 8 or 10 years old, but hadn't been ridden more than just around the neighborhood, b/c something "just wasn't right".  Finally, last month, he told me if I'd get it out of his garage, I could have it.  Took me about 30 seconds to find and fix the mechanical problem, then over a couple of weeks I acquired parts to replace stuff that age had destroyed.  I had to put on a tire, handlebar tape (Danny actually put that on.  It was the first time he's ever wrapped a handlebar, and he did a fine job.  I've seen "professional" jobs that weren't done as nicely.),  a new seat stem (someone had replaced the original with one that didn't fit properly) and a new seat b/c the ones TREK put on their bikes at the store were pretty useless. They said that people always change the seat as soon as they buy the bike anyway, so for years they just put crappy ones on to save cost.

 Now it's as good as new.  We've decided that it's going to be Grace's.  Danny had first dibs, since he helped recondition it, but he still likes the one he's currently riding, (the red and white one in the back of the picture above) and when I asked if anyone else wanted it, Sandra and Samantha were considering the idea, and Gracie spoke up without hesitation. She's beyond excited to have her own road bike.

I have one more run by myself this weekend, then for a couple months, I'm scheduled to be training a guy who came over to the trucking side of our business from the warehouse.  He has been with another trainer for a couple months already, but he has to get 400 driving hours before they'll let him out on his own, so he still has a ways to go.  Nice thing about that is that I'll be working only two days a week while he's with me, so I'll have some extra free time on my hands, for the next little while, and assuming no major delays, I'll have Sunday's with my family for a while.

  Because, sometimes I like to read your posts but don't have anything relevant to say, so I just don't say anything but am better for having read what you've taken your time to write, and would like you to know I did just that.  Plus, it does me good to see when you've done the same. 

Her diary:  

Tonight I thought my husband was acting weird.  We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner.  I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it.  Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk.  He agreed, but he didn't say much.  I asked him what was wrong: He said, "Nothing."  I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset.  He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me and not to worry about it.  On the way home, I told him that I loved him.  He smiled slightly and kept driving.  I can't explain his behavior.  I don't know why he didn't say, "I love you, too."  When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.  He just sat there quietly and watched TV.  He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed.  About 15 minutes later, he came to bed, but I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else.  He fell asleep.  I cried.  I don't know what to do.  I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else.  My life is a disaster.

His Diary:

Motorcycle won't start...can't figure out why.

Unashamedly stolen from here:  http://piccsy.com/2012/01/picc-7gspq4uot/

 Several months ago, my boss called me to let me know I had been selected as one of the new driver trainers and I would also begin training as a fill-in manager for the days when two of them would be out at the same time.  I was flattered, of course, and humbled because all the current trainers and the only other guy they selected this time around have been with the company for years and I'm the new guy on the block; here only a little over a year when I was selected.    Recently, with little fanfare, the schedule started to show that I'd be teamed up with one of various new guys, and I went home one day a driver then came back for my next shift to meet my new trainee.  I sold myself for the job based on several flaws I saw in the current training system that I identified and showed that I could address, so my first few weeks training came with a fair bit of stress.  I needed to teach everything the current trainers were teaching and also fit in the time consuming stuff that they had been neglecting.  According to the feedback I've received from my bosses, I've been doing an acceptable job.  I'd prefer to hear glowing terms like "phenomenal" and "wonderful", but I'm not that guy.  I am good at identifying issues that others overlook and proposing solutions, but when it comes to implementing those solutions, I'm just another guy struggling to adapt like everyone else.  I think what sets me apart is that I make every effort to adapt while a large portion of the workers are still in the mode of resisting change to see if they can outlast the resolve of management.  I've learned that they pay my check, and the faster I adapt, the more I shine, since I'll never be the flashiest, fastest guy around.  An added advantage to this strategy is the ability to be one of the first to be able to provide relevant feedback on new policies. Because they know I actually try to do things the way they say, they know that my feedback is based on experience, not just typical truck driver resistance to change.  All that said, it has been hard work learning to train these guys, considering most of the people they hire are very experienced truckers and really only need  training in our computer systems, learning to identify and pick product for deliveries, actually making the deliveries in the store (our company requires us to rotate and put away any product that goes in the walk-in cooler), and getting into the physical shape to be able to do this type of work.  It has been exhausting, but fun and I've managed to get several new guys who have good attitudes and learn quickly.  

Last Saturday, I got my newest trainee.  He was friendly, and his almost instant grasp of our computer system was refreshing.  For whatever reason, new guys normally have a lot of difficulty with that aspect of the job. When he came on duty halfway through the route, he appeared to have no trouble with the physical aspect of the job, and he had a natural rapport with the customers.  There were a few minor issues, but they were mainly things I knew I could train him to do correctly.  The impressive thing was that he did the work I asked of him as if he had been doing it all his life.  We rolled in to the warehouse empty, early Sunday morning and were off duty 'til Wednesday.  I rolled back in to work 5:30 and he followed soon after.  Our truck was dispatched to leave at 7, so we got hitched to the trailer, did our pretrip inspection, counted our load and pulled away from the dock.  I loaded up my hand trucks and ramp, locked the trailer and met him at the cab where he told me he had decided to quit.  I was truly speechless.  Here it is our busiest week of the year, he'd been offered a darn good paying position at a very selective company and he quit just like that after one day's work!  I tried to talk some sense into him, even offered to let him just do the driving and I'd do all the delivering, just to get us through this week's schedule without screwing up everyone else's and let him collect his pay (he was scheduled to work three days and would have made awfully close to $1,000 WHILE TRAINING!) while giving management time to fix the schedule for next week, but he couldn't be persuaded.  He didn't even go talk to the boss, just got in his car and drove off.  He told me the work was hard, but that he thought he could do it, but he couldn't handle the schedule (3 days a week for guys who run team).  Then he told two different bosses two different stories, on the phone, of course, after he was miles away from our warehouse.  I already knew from previous experience in the food service delivery industry that a lot of guys get starry eyed about the money, then when they realize they actually have to work hard for it, they quit, but this guy really caught me by surprise.  When I rolled in to the yard last night, my bosses both had a good natured laugh at my expense,  then scheduled me to work next week with another guy who's the exact opposite of most other new guys.  He was a warehouse hand at our company, and is new to the trucking part, so though he's been at it for a couple months now, he needs training only in the actual truck driving part.  I've had him once before and he's a pleasure to work with, so maybe I'll be able to  get my blood pressure down a bit by working with him.  Meanwhile, I just have to convince myself that though the other new guy (the quitter) cost me a third of my pay this week, by screwing up my schedule and making me lose my extra route, it's really not worth losing sleep considering the third route was an extra and my reduced pay will be what I'd make in a normal week when I'm not training anyway.  Having to follow that convoluted line of thinking tells me that I'm just trying to feed myself a line of horse manure to keep myself from crying over spilt milk.  

There! I've vented!  Though that would be enough reason for me to write this in the first place, I'm curious.  Tell me your stories of infuriating, inconsiderate people who caused you some sort of loss (financial or otherwise).

23 Jan 12     

   I've been really enjoying my extra days off now that I'm training new drivers, and since I haven't yet gotten a side business up and running, I'm trying to use those days without using extra money.  That means I have a lot of free time to fill.  

         This morning, Tina had a huge headache, so I got the kids up and then helped get them ready for school.  She insisted on at least making their lunches, but then went back to bed.  I'm starting to worry, she's been getting a lot of terrible headaches lately.  She's going to the doctor tomorrow, b/c she couldn't ease the pain with anything short of the serious pain meds today.  We're hoping they're sinus (which is a huge issue with a large portion of the population here b/c of local conditions) or strep (she always gets really bad headaches when she has a strep infection) b/c both of those are somewhat easily dealt with.  I had such a terrible sinus headache yesterday I couldn't focus my eyes and I was walking like a drunk man.  I had to resort to my old standby.  I ran a tub full of extremely hot water, stood over it and then plunged my head in upside down and let the water fill my nasal cavities for about 30 seconds.  It took about a minute of pretty bad pain, then 3 powerful sneezes and another ten minutes or so of blowing my nose, but I felt like a new man, just like that.  It works every time.  It just takes a lot of pain to get me to the point where I'm willing to use that solution.   Anyway, now that I've passed along my last resort medical advice, we got the kids off to school and I sent Tina back to bed while I went to an appointment I had previously scheduled.  When I stepped out of the house into the gray mist of a cold winter morning, I saw the coolest thing (aside from the flat tire on the front of the car, one of the two tires I bought just last week).  Though you could see for the better part of a quarter mile on the ground, the fog was much thicker just a couple hundred feet up.  There were apparently geese foraging in a nearby field because you could hear their quiet honking through the mist.   A minute later, though, I heard the louder honking of geese in flight, and looking up, a V formation of the Canadian variety began to appear out of the mist.  As it was a large flock, the lead geese disappeared into the mist on the one side as more followers appeared from the other.  I couldn't get to my camera in time, but I'm pretty certain a picture couldn't have done justice to the scene spread across the sky anyway.  The flocks of geese this year have been much larger than any I can remember since my childhood.    Sometimes the skies are filled with geese, seemingly from one horizon to the other.   After they passed, I grabbed the bicycle pump, and got the tire pumped up (my oldest daughter had started the job while I was off to my appointment, but had only gotten from the original 10 psi up to somewhere around 15.  My failing, I suppose for not teaching her how to use a pressure guage.)

By the time I got back from my appointment, Tina's pain meds had kicked in and she was functional, so we headed off to Annapolis.  She, a couple months ago, was diagnosed with Haglund's deformity on her heel, and since she'd like to put off surgery for a while, the doc told her she needed a specific type of shoe.  She bought one pair and has been making do, but I thought it was time to get her a dressier pair, and I knew she wouldn't spend the money unless I forced the issue.  Last week my boss handed me an envelope and when I opened it there was a Visa gift card.  The company was giving them to all the employees who didn't smoke as a way to say thank you for keeping the health insurance costs down.  It presented the perfect opportunity.  I told her that the shoes would now cost us nothing from our budget and if she didn't spend it on shoes I would buy a completely useless toy with the gift card.  We got to Annapolis, dropped the car at Sears to have the tire repaired and headed into the mall to look for sales.  Struck out at a couple stores, then  grabbed some lunch.   Afterwards we started looking again and struck gold at the first place we looked.  Aerosoles was having a phenomenal sale and for the price we had budgeted, we got her two pair of dressy shoes and had enough left over to pay for most of a new bra at Victoria's Secret. (That's another thing I have to make her spend money on, even though the cheap ones always end up hurting her.  If she had her way she'd get by with one, and wash it every day and that'd be a cheap one that hurt to wear.)  I considered it a very successful day until we got back to Sears and they said they wouldn't repair the tire b/c we had punctured the sidewall.  I looked at the old tire and though the puncture (a little smaller than the size of a sewing needle) was in the side, it was the side of the tread and had punctured through the bottom and not the side of the casing.  I'd have patched and repaired it, but I don't have the equipment to mount and dismount low profile tires on aluminum rims, so I just bit the bullet and bought a new one.  Got a good deal, but I'm still chafing a bit at having been talked into replacing an easily repairable tire with plenty of tread left on it.  I guess you win some and lose some.  

It was nice to have a day with the wife, and I've managed to fill tomorrow's time off by volunteering for an extra route up into central Pennsylvania.  It'll add a nice chunk to the paycheck and leave me with only four days off this week, so maybe I'll stay out of trouble.  It's been a good day, but it's one of the only day's I can remember to be foggy from sunup to sundown.  I'm glad this weather's not typical.  Stepped outside a few minutes ago and it felt like the temperature was actually rising.  Looked at the thermometer and it's up to 45F.  Don't know what the weather's gonna do this winter.  

   I've been wondering if I've lost my muse, or if it's just that my life's become boring.  I just haven't had much to write or pics to post lately.  I'm pretty certain this roller coaster ride can't be boring so I suppose it's just me.  Meanwhile the world keeps spinning and life keeps sliding by.  Today I figure I'll just write, since anything I've ever written worth reading has typically been written while I'm writing as opposed to when I'm staring at the screen waiting for inspiration.   So here's what's going on in the life of this fair sized family.

1.  Groceries.  Holy Crap! Have you seen the prices they're asking for a little something to eat at the grocery store?  I've never made close to the amount of money I made this year and it seems like we're grocery poor.  My wife clips coupons religiously and does her rounds of the two grocery stores in town, plus the Walgreen's pharmacy and the dollar store, and it seems like every shopping trip just about sucks the bank account dry.  I'd go into a long rant about the government stepping in to see to it that food crops are used for energy production and such, but you don't wanna hear that, and I don't wanna have a stroke.

2.  I suddenly have much more time on my hands.  I'm now training drivers and one of the benefits is that my run only takes one day instead of two, but pays the same.  Now, when I have a trainee, I only have to work two days a week instead of four, but the pay increases.  Of course it is earned pay, b/c riding in the passenger seat of an 80,000 pound rig with a guy who's driving skills are an unknown adds a bit of stress to life. Nice thing is, it leaves open the option of taking a third run and increasing the income a little that way, too.  Because of my training, the kids are happy to find me at home some days when they wake up expecting me to be gone.  This morning after rolling in getting a shower and falling into bed at 4:30 am, I was awakened at 8 by a loud voice (my 8 year old's) over the cranked up speaker on the kids' karaoke machine.  "Please be very quiet.  Daddy got in late and is trying to sleep!"

3.  With the extra time on my hands, I've been itching to somehow get something going on the side.  Once you've been in "the game" and been able to bring a little extra income in on the side, it is difficult to have to wait two weeks for a paycheck when there's so much money out there to be made, and all your contacts are still out there and the built up knowledge is wasting away inside your head.  Over the last few weeks, I've been running into guys who are steady at it, and the itch is becoming almost unbearable.  That said, I'm almost ready to spend my safety bonus (which pays out at the end of the month) and a little I've got saved up to buy a truckload of hay to ship down to drought stricken North Texas.  My old boss has been itching to do this for years because he lives in Rockwall and has equipment and a barn and just needs someone who can buy and ship in the hay.  It looks like we could presell about half a truckload each time to a local feed store and then sell the rest privately at a much better profit.  I mentioned it to my wife and she responded that she's been surprised that I hadn't started wheeling and dealing again long ago.  She doesn't quite understand how much getting burned by my partner and losing my previous budding freight brokerage business a couple years ago messed with my confidence and ability to do business.  You may have read about that whole situation in an older blog.

4.  We had a blast over the last week getting the little kids ready for their auditions for the kids part in the high school production of "The Music Man".  I told them if I didn't get tired of hearing whatever song they'd picked out, I wasn't even going to waste my time taking them to the auditions.  Well, I'm sick of "Tomorrow", "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" and "Bicycle Built For Two".  They tried out, and apparently did well, but since half the town showed up for the audition, they're waiting with bated breath to hear if they got a part.  Their older sister, my 14 year old already has a part, and this high school does phenomenal productions, so it'd be fun if they got parts.

5.  I had a habit of buying a box of 3 or 4 muffins and pastries at Panera while I was out on the truck and eating them throughout the day as I needed energy, but lately as I haven't been out riding the bike much to offset the intake, I end up just looking at the box and thinking, "I'll have one later."  That means I bring home a box of goodies for my wife.  She is not happy, b/c she doesn't buy that stuff on purpose, knowing if she does, she'll eat it, so while I'm maintaining or losing (and realilstically, I'm pretty certain she's not gaining)  she ends up with a box of good stuff looking at her all night.   It makes me think of something I heard a comedian say one time.  He said, "When we go in the room and close the door, and the kids hear all sorts of happy noises, they think, "Ew, gross!"  What they don't know is we have a stash of brownies and are eating them as fast as possible, because we know if they find out what we have, there will be none left for us."  

6.   My wife's a little peeved b/c she had planned to buy me a DSLR camera for my birthday.  When she casually asked me which one I had been looking at, she realized that she hadn't saved enough money and then wondered why I felt like I needed one that nice.  I said I was grateful she had asked, because I had been wanting one for a couple years, but had been putting it off 'til I could get the one I really wanted and if she got me a cheaper one I'd never buy the one I wanted b/c it would feel sort of dumb to spend the money.  Now, I'm thinking about using the money as part of my seed money to buy that first truckload of hay, so who knows if I'll end up getting my camera this winter at all.

7.  My wife was trying to figure out a way to save space displaying pictures at the consignment shop where she works, so she came up with an idea and I bought wood and built them a rack of sorts. I've never been a phenomenal woodworker, and was a little nervous to make something for someone else, but was pleasantly surprised when her boss made a point of thanking me and saying it was well done and would be useful.   

Finally, while I haven't been posting a lot, I have been enjoying reading the stuff you guys are posting.  Since the bicycle racing season started this week, I'll be on the computer most days to check the racing results and highlights, so maybe I'll be posting more often, myself.

Oh, that reminds me.  Tuesday a cyclist was in a bad wreck, abandoned the race and was taken to the hospital where they found out he had broken his back.  He had a fractured C6 vertebra for those of you who know that kind of stuff.  He's disappointed because he'll have to be off his bike and not racing for at least 3 to 6 weeks.  Three to six weeks for a broken back?  These guys are tough!

   Turned 40 yesterday and worked from 3:30 am 'til almost midnight.  Turned out not to be a bad day, though.  I got several phone calls from family wishing me a happy birthday.  A whole bunch of friends sent birthday wishes on FB, and one of the stores I delivered to broke into the Happy Birthday song right in front of all the customers when I brought in their first dolly full of groceries.  It was actually a pretty fun birthday for having had to work.  When I woke up this morning the kids brought in some gifts that turned out to be more cold weather gear for riding my bike in the winter.  To top it all off, I had a new trainee with me, so I got home and slept in my own bed and was able to go to church with the family this morning.  This evening, the kids decorated the cake they had baked for me and spelled out OLD in sprinkles on it.  Mmm. Not a lot else going on, but the wife just said dinner's ready and it's venison stew and homemade biscuits, so I'll see ya later!

Danny's birthday party 2004.  That's my Granny in the background.  She turned 100 this year.

Gracie playing in the tires at Tuckahoe State Park near Ruthsburg MD.  Our family has enjoyed playing at this park for at least three generations.

Rebekah sliding at Tuckahoe.

Mama holding the child who would turn out to be our last. Isabel.

Another one of those pics that holds sentimental value despite imperfection.  Danny used to love to hold his little sisters.  Isa here.

Three generations of McCreary men outside at the farm on Ellwanger lane.  Dad in the car, me and my brother David standing and Danny by Dad.

Sam tastes the (very welcome) rain during a summer storm in TX at the inlaw's house near Palmer.

This only ended well in the sense of no broken bones.  Note the homemade smoker in the background with brake disks and transmission parts for counterweights.

Samantha, Sandra, Isa and I at Isa's first birthday party.

Isa found a new use for her sister's potty training seat.

Sandra, Sam and Gracie dressed up for Easter, out at the farm.

Christmas Parade, Centreville MD.  Santa visited!

Sandra and Isa having a blast watching the Christmas Parade.

Every one of our children slept in this position for the first years of their lives.

Isa loved to play with this hat.

The one that didn't make it as a family portrait.  The lime green and pink bike was Tina's 10th anniversary gift.

Rebekah at Millstream Park.  Centreville, MD.

Gracie with Trenton, one of the TX cousins.

Gracie and Rebekah, same rainstorm as Sam above.

Dad and I killing time in Harrisburg PA, got our pics with Santa at the Bass Pro Shop one of the last years we ran UPS trailers together before he died.

Isa asleep with some flowers