Traffic Stopping Skyline

The Chicago skyline. Photo taken while sitting in traffic on Interstate 90/94.


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1 YEAR AGO: When You Are Proud To Be Told Your Roots Are Showing
2 YEARS AGO: Engulfed In Color
3 YEARS AGO: Fish And Loaves Of Bread Are Not The Only Things He Is Generous With
4 YEARS AGO: 23 Things

I Am A Kandee Addict

I have loved makeup for as long as I can remember. I think I came out of the womb with lipgloss on. I'm actually a borderline addict, and I only say "borderline" because I don't have daily access to it; if I did, I'd be a full blown addict.

I have plenty of makeup in the truck, but it's not like I have a regular job where I can just stop at the mall on my way home every few days. I really don't like shopping in general, but I can spend an hour in the makeup aisle at Walgreen's, so it's a good thing there's not a Sephora on every corner. As it is, I always buy something new no matter where I go; just recently I bought new mascara and another lipgloss (in Freedom of Peach because that's Queen Latifah's signature color and I love it!).

I have eleventy million lipglosses and surely don't need another one, but I wanted another one, and I find if I throw it in the shopping cart amongst the pasta, paper towels and yogurt, Ed doesn't even realize he's buying cosmetics every week!

Recently, I have been hooked on Kandee. Kandee Johnson, that is.

First, let's have a peek at her:

Cute as a damn button, isn't she? Well, a stunningly beautiful button. I came across her blog by accident, but I'm so glad I found it. I have been obsessed with watching her makeup application videos on YouTube, specifically the recreations of movie characters she does. I'm thinking I might be stealing one of those ideas for Halloween this year. I'm trying to get Ed on board too. How fun would it be to drive around looking like we just stepped out of a Tim Burton film? Ed as the Mad Hatter and me as the Queen of Hearts perhaps? I think it would be fabulous!

I also like her celebrity makeup looks and know that I'll definitely be doing the Sophia Loren eye! Being a makeup freak from birth I know most of the basics, but I have to say I've learned a couple of things from her, and it's also gotten me back into paying more attention to my makeup than I have in the past couple of years. I've found that I've gotten a bit lazy due to the environment I'm in and sometimes just throw on a quick sweep of mascara and lipgloss and call it a day.

That stops right here, right now! From this moment forward, I'm going back to full blown face! Well, maybe not full full, but no more of the lazy hand I've been using. A trip to Sephora and another stop at the MAC counter is most certainly in order; in fact, I think we're going to need another storage box on the trailer for all the goodies I have in mind.

And come Halloween....look out!


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1 YEAR AGO: The Tiny Intersection Where The Colors Collide
2 YEARS AGO: Loved Shack
3 YEARS AGO: Holy Mother Of Pearl
4 YEARS AGO: The Starfish Effect

Vegetarianism Brings On Extinction

Not only does my boyfriend see meteors when I'm not awake, but he's also got a dinosaur in the family (sort of). Yep, you heard me right. Dinosaurs.

Ed's mom was married once before; she has three children from that marriage, which gives Ed three half-siblings that range in ages 14-22 years older than him. Her first husband Billy, who everyone is still on good terms with, lives with his current wife on a ranch in Texas. And on this ranch, archaeologists have discovered dinosaurs.

You know, dinosaurs, those creatures that lived millions of years ago? They named the dinosaur has been named Paluxysaurus Jonesi which refers to the town of Paluxy, Texas and the Paluxy River by which it was found and the land it was found on, The Jones Ranch - Billy Jones' ranch.

This particular dinosaur supposedly inhabited the earth 95 to 112 million years ago and in my brief search on Google, I found this: "The Paluxysaurus jonesi is the most complete sauropod dinosaur known from the Cretaceous of North America. The holotype is an associated left maxilla, nasal and teeth. Associated partial skeletons and isolated bones from at least four individuals are referred to Paluxysaurus jonesi. Paluxysaurus is about the same size or slightly smaller than its closest relative Brachiosaurus."

Below is a picture of the actual dinosaur they found. Can you believe you're looking at a DINOSAUR? A dinosaur that was found on the land of someone I KNOW??? I had Thanksgiving with these people, for God's sake! And Ed's brother Bill currently lives on this very ranch!

Look at that ribcage! Look at the person standing next to its leg. What's cool about this is that it's not in a museum yet. Billy and his wife went to the facility where they are assembling the dinosaur to get a sneak preview of it.

Anyway, this dinosaur supposedly measured 70 feet long (that's as long as our truck and trailer), was 12 feet high at the shoulder and weighed as much as 20 tons! Here is a picture of the tail, which alone measures 20 feet.

And here is a picture of Billy and his wife, Decie. Look at how small she looks next to that leg!

The dinosaur is nearing completion and will be ready for display at the Omni in Fort Worth, hopefullly in November.

This dinosaur, like other sauropods, would have been a large quadrupedal; which means having four limbs or legs. (I just learned that, but it makes me sound smart, doesn't it?) It was also a herbivore, which of course means it's an animal that eats plants.

It may have a small head and a skinny neck, but for someone who eats leaves, he sure is pretty hefty everywhere else. And eating all those plants didn't keep him around very long, now did it? So much for the "healthy" diet.

I think I'll stick with eating meat and Twinkies, thank you very much. I kind like my proportions, even if they are a little rounder than most. At least I don't have a ten foot neck!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: Its Beauty Is Just The Beginning
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie Relaxes In Style Friday
3 YEARS AGO: How To Tell Your Parents You Don’t Have A Roommate
4 YEARS AGO: For some reason, I double posted on this day. Bonus for you!
Mangia!
You Just Know When You’ve Met “The One”

Not So Deep Impact

This morning in Oklahoma, during the very wee hours, Ed witnessed a meteor falling from the sky. He was so excited you would have thought he saw, well, a meteor.

He said it was green, about the size of a bowling ball, with a flaming red tail. It landed in the middle of a field and I guess extinguised itself, or went out before it hit, who knows? The best part about it? He got on the CB and talked to the only other lone trucker on the road, who also saw it.

We will be driving back through there in a few days and now Ed wants to buy a metal detector to go check out the landing site to search for meteorites. If we find anything, you know I'll be take pictures.

It's not enough that we have to look out for drunk drivers, motorcylists, speeding four wheelers (that's you people in cars), tired truckers, inclement weather and wandering wildlife; now we have to make sure that a meteor doesn't hit the truck.

Greeaaaat.


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1 YEAR AGO: My America. Your America. OUR America.
2 YEARS AGO: Frozen In Time
3 YEARS AGO: Ohhh, Paaablo
4 YEARS AGO: Apparently, Aliens Tell Time With Their Ass

Living Outside The Touch Of Time

Last night while looking for a good birthday quote for my brother, whose 41st birthday is today, I read a snippet from an old article that quoted Erica E. Goode, the author of "The Secret World of Siblings". It said, "Sibling relationships outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust."

I feel this way about my brother. No matter what happens over the years, to me, my relationship with him will always be one of the most important and most precious of my life; flourishing in "a thousand incarnations".

Just like Erica E. Goode says, we outlast marriages, parents, quarrels, distance, etc. I might not be physically close to my brother because I'm on the road all the time, but he is with me every day. I have a picture of him and my nephews on the wall just above my kitchen counter; I see it several times a day. My brother's wife, his kids, his friends, his job....they are part of his life, and by extension a small part of mine, but they will never keep me from him. I would fight to the death for him. I would give him my kidney. I might even give him my last Devil Dog.

I have always felt we've had only good times. I don't count stuff that happens when you're young, quarrels and such, as having much significance, and any disagreements we've had as adults most certainly would never be something I'd give up our relationship for. Almost every sibling goes through an argument or two in their life. What's most important to me is that he's still in my life and nothing has been able to tear me away from him. Even if he did want to break away, I'd never let him. I'd quit my job and set up camp at the end of his driveway. And I'd most certainly stalk him daily. I'm a truck driver; no distance is too great for me!

In talking with a friend of mine recently, I've realized that brothers don't always see the brother-sister relationship as us girls do. My friend is a greater distance from her brother than I am from mine, yet our situations with our brothers are not so different. We've talked about how we handle the distance and what we do to keep our brothers close. We know boys are wired differently and come with no schematic, so sometimes it's frustrating and often it's challenging to have a relationship, close or otherwise with them. But in the end it's worth the work to find out what makes them tick.

For instance, my brother likes his space; I like to be right up in his face. He doesn't care what I ate for dinner or that I just saw a moose cross the road; I want to know if he likes pancakes or waffles better (pancakes) and what he watched on TV last night. He can go a week without calling me; I have to sit on my hands not to dial him several times a day. And usually when I do call, I don't even have anything to say, I just want to hear his voice. I can't tell you how many times I've called him while he was working only to hear him say, "the same thing I was doing ten minutes ago" in response to my question, "What are you doing now?" Yes, I am that annoying.

I never can fully express in words how important he is to me. How I think about and worry about him daily. How when I'm driving at night, just me and the road, I see his face as it has changed through the years; swinging from the vines in our backyard, running around the deck of my Aunt Ronni's pool with my cousins, fishing at Swan Lake with my Dad, working on his Mustang in our garage, laughing with my cousins at family gatherings, working in the kitchen at our restaurant....his face is never out of my mind. And everything I do, every day, I want to tell him about. I want to take him out on the road with me for a week to see all the wonderful things I get to see. I want to have time alone with him, all to myself. And late at night, when it's just me and the road and my memories, I think things are still the same as they used to be. Until I remember they're not.

I did eventually find a quote that I liked and it sort of sums up my thoughts. Here it is:

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time."

Perfect.


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1 YEAR AGO: Girls And Their Boys
2 YEARS AGO: Living History
3 YEARS AGO: Company On The Prairie
4 YEARS AGO: Rack Eyes

Eddie Smiles With The Pasties Girl Friday

Eddie in Key West, Florida posing with the girl selling pasties. He didn't want to do it and I had to pay the girl a dollar (what a deal!) for her to pose with him, but it was worth it.

He's always very resistant to stuff like this, but that smile tells me he's really not that opposed to doing it; no matter what he says.


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1 YEAR AGO: Who Needs A Man When You Have A Kindle??
2 YEARS AGO: Phone Calls And Fellatio
3 YEARS AGO: Color Ring
4 YEARS AGO: We Go All Out!

When Continuing South Isn't Possible, Here Are Some Other Choices

In Key West, there are several directions you can go; south isn't one of them.


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1 YEAR AGO: Neat, Trim, Appealing And Sophisticated. In A Word: SMART
2 YEARS AGO: I Know She’s Topless, But Is That A Castanet In Her Hand??
3 YEARS AGO: A Wicked Good Time
4 YEARS AGO: All The Boring Details

From Swings To Eighteen Wheels

This was taken in my Aunt Vera's backyard in Westchester County, New York. Who would have thunk that a mere thirty-nine years later, I'd be driving an eighteen wheeler?

Not me, in those white patent leather shoes, that's for sure!!

Happy Birthday to me!!

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1 YEAR AGO: Fishing Expedition
2 YEARS AGO: Eggs Of Wisdom Apparently Start Hatching At Forty
3 YEARS AGO: The Birthday Wagon Train Takes Off Today
4 YEARS AGO: 38 Special

The Italian Energy Drink *

I'm not a big coffee drinker. By that, I mean that I don't and won't likely ever drink a cup of coffee black; it must have milk and it must have sugar. I couldn't tell you if one was "good" over another because I usually numb the bad flavor with milk and sugar making it palatable.

I do know though, that I don't like Starbucks coffee. Oh, I go there and will buy their latte, but I don't love it. It often tastes "burnt" to me. I don't know if there is an official coffee lovers term for that flavor, but to me, it just tastes wrong.

Back in May we delivered a load to Queens, the Fresh Meadows neighborhood, and while there, I met up with one of my blogger friends; someone I've "known" for almost three years but had never met. Since our load was delivering a mile from her house, I called her to see if she could get together.

She had time so we all got together and went for dinner. Actually, we picked up dinner from a Dominican restaurant in her neighborhood and took it back to her place to eat. It was delicious! I don't even know what we had, she ordered it, but it was fantastic. While waiting on the food at the restaurant, we popped into a little grocery next door and I saw a jar of instant espresso. I was thrilled!

Making espresso in my little espresso machine had become a bit of a pain in the ass. I don't have room on my counter to leave the machine out all the time, so every time I wanted to make some, I had to take out the machine and all its little pieces, make my coffee and froth the milk (which was sort of a pain in the ass and didn't come out as frothy as I liked anyway) and then I had to clean everything and put it away. WAY too time consuming.

Enter Café Bustelo.

Now I just boil my water in my hot pot (it boils almost instantly!), make my 4-6 oz. of espresso, warm my milk in the microwave in my mug, then froth it with one of these. Which, by the way, is probably the best twenty dollars I've ever spent. It whips my milk into a frenzy, getting it foamier than any barista at Starbucks ever has. And it's easy. Once my milk is light and airy and practically foaming at the rim, I pour in my espresso, add sugar and get ready to have the easiest latte ever made.

In Key West this weekend, Ed made a discovery; Bustelo Cool Cafe Con Leche in the photo above. If I don't make an iced latte myself, I sometimes buy this and pour it over ice. It's yummy. But now that I've found the Bustelo Cool....well, it's just yummier. Of course, I'll probably never be able to find it.

Cafe Bustelo ground coffee for a coffee pot is easy to find in almost any grocery store, but I can never find the instant. I actually had my friend from Queens buy me some and mail it to me at home; it'll be waiting for me when I get there. In the meantime, I have my instant Medaglia D'Oro espresso (which I just found out is also a Cafe Bustelo product) to tide me over.

My friend Paul uses Cafe Bustelo ONLY as his emergency backup espresso. Since he's way more Italian than me, I'm going to take his suggestion and try some of the other brands he told me about, even the pricey ones, as money is no object when it comes to a good latte. I may not drink it black, but if I'm going to indulge, I want to find the best product.

And when Gil sent me this picture, which is the same pot my father used to make espresso in, I decided that I'm going to use that once in a while also. My mother still has it, so I'll be getting that when I go home too.

The hundreds of miles a night I drive will now become that much easier since I'll be on an espresso buzz the entire time. Who needs energy drinks when you can have a latte??


* Yes, I know this is not an Italian product....but I'm referring to espresso itself. That's very Italian in my book!


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1 YEAR AGO: Shroom
2 YEARS AGO: Looks Fairly Serene To Me
3 YEARS AGO: Taste, Smell And Hear The Memories
4 YEARS AGO: Eddie’s New Ride

This Guy Sucks

Eddie always brings me the best gifts; this one he found in the ocean in Florida. I didn't keep him, but I did let him suck on my hand for a little while. Here's a VERY SHORT video...look at those little feelers!

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1 YEAR AGO: Shine And Shine
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie Hoots It Up Friday
3 YEARS AGO: Eddie The Bird Whisperer
4 YEARS AGO: Laundress

The Other White Meat: Tropical Style

A few days ago, Eddie and I pulled over to check on the scooter and saw a coconut tree. We found a coconut that had fallen off, cracked it open and ate some of it. Eddie had never had fresh coconut before and I had never had one with the hull still on it. Today we went back to the tree to get more.

This is the tree:

This is Eddie throwing the coconuts that had already fallen off, at the coconuts that were still on the tree. He was trying to shake the others loose, gettnig them to fall. I learned that when they are green, they are still young, but when the hulls turn brown, they are ready; most of them falling on their own.

A few successful tosses later and we had a bounty of coconuts. You can see him in action here:

Here is my scooter overflowing with the ones we're taking home with us. We harvested fifteen of them!

This is what they look like close up, which is nothing like the ones you get in the grocery store. In the store, you are just buying the actual seed, the coconut. This is the entire pod or husk that surrounds the coconut. I've never seen these before, let alone opened them to get the coconut out. It was really pretty awesome!

I'm hoping to get these home in good enough condition to give a few to my nephews, but I don't know yet what I'll do with the other twelve; perhaps I need to peruse a few recipes that call for its tasty innards.

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1 YEAR AGO: Night Falls On The Fuel Island
2 YEARS AGO: Wanderlust Checklist
3 YEARS AGO: What Are Records??
4 YEARS AGO: Hello, America!

Wardrobe Malfunction: Intentional And Uncensored

Some may consider losing their top at a street festival to be cause for concern; not this partygoer. She just had another one painted right on!

I saw her early in the evening and she just looked like a person who would be topless by the end of the night. I guess I was right, although since I took this picture around nine-ish, I'd say the beginning of the night was more her speed. She was moving around quite a bit showing off her....art...which is why the picture isn't too clear, but if you click to enlarge it, you can see a little more detail.

I considered getting one myself, but I don't think a cat looking at the ground all night would be as appealing.


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1 YEAR AGO: Eddie Friday: Outlined
2 YEARS AGO: Modern, Yet Not So Much
3 YEARS AGO: Why Higher Education Is Desperately Needed
4 YEARS AGO: Does A Bear Shit In The Woods?

Eddie Watching Boats And Waiting For Brisket Friday

Eddie sitting in Turtle Kraals restaurant in Key West, checking out the boats in the marina while waiting on his BBQ brisket sandwich to be served.

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1 YEAR AGO: It’s Probably Best To Not Piss Off The Devil
2 YEARS AGO: Reminders For Morons
3 YEARS AGO: Feasting With Saints And Sinners
4 YEARS AGO: We Live In The Signpost Forest

He Wasn't Hiding His Face Once The Camera Started Rolling

This is a little video clip of the crab Ed caught:

He's quite a ham, don't you think?


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1 YEAR AGO: Waiting To Be Served
2 YEARS AGO: The Men In Mexico Are Snappy Dressers
3 YEARS AGO: A Mystically Beautiful Day
4 YEARS AGO: Rock It!!

It's A Shame He's Such A Crab

Eddie found this while we were on the beach in Fort Zachary Taylor State Park. We were snorkeling on our own with our $8.00 snorkeling gear from Kmart when he hollered for me to come over and take a look....he said he saw a rock move.

He clearly was not getting enough air through his snorkel! Moving rocks?

But it wasn't a rock, it was this little crab. He is known as a box crab or a shame faced crab because he holds his little claws up to hide his face. He was totally cute and very durable.

I took some video of him (which I will put in the next post) and when we were done...

Eddie returned him to the sea. Rest assured, no crabs were hurt in the filming of the video.

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1 YEAR AGO: I’m A Big Fan
2 YEARS AGO: I’ve Been Everywhere Sunday Coming To An End
3 YEARS AGO: And Everyone Thought It Was Dick Cheney
4 YEARS AGO: But They’re Hard To Find!

Not Such A Bad Idea, This Man In Chains Thing

Another street performer on Mallory Square in Key West. Eddie took this picture. The guy was in a straight jacket and then wrapped in chains. After quite a bit of squirming and contorting, he got free.

I'm still not sure if that's a good thing.


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1 YEAR AGO: Razz Ma Taaz Me!
2 YEARS AGO: Casa De Cambio
3 YEARS AGO: Eddie Birthday Suit Friday
4 YEARS AGO: Goodbye Alaska

Ring Of Moving Fire

Fire performer in Mallory Square. Key West, Florida.


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1 YEAR AGO: Everything Is Weathered In Weatherford
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie The Professional Tourist Friday
3 YEARS AGO: East Coast Tag
4 YEARS AGO: Float And Set

Not Quick Enough For A Sunset

Our first night in Key West. We were tooling around on our scooters but missed the actual sunset. Maybe tomorrow night I'll get lucky!


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1 YEAR AGO: We’ve Got Onions, Cream Cheese And Choppers!
2 YEARS AGO: Just Steps Away From The River
3 YEARS AGO: The Anything But Itty Bitty Co-Op City
4 YEARS AGO: What The Hell Are You Looking At?

I Only Think I Know A Lot Of Things...Here Are Ten Of Them

1. This is first because I truly believe it IS number one. If you don't like your job, QUIT. Immediately. Yes, they will know what to do without you. No, it's not worth the aggravation. Yes, you will get another job. No, you probably don't get paid enough to put up with whatever it is. And even if you think you will, you most likely won't wind up living in a cardboard box.

2. You’ll never truly know the power of your beauty in your twenties. By the time you realize what you had, it’ll be gone or less than it was. If someone tells you you’re beautiful, say thank you. You don't have to hide it. Just try to be as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside because pretty just doesn't cut it if you're a bitch.

3. An education is never wasted, but paying more for it than you could is just plain stupid. A college isn't "good" just because it's expensive. And that "good" school is probably all about appearances; it really matters only in your mind. When it comes right down to it, no one cares. Well, maybe unless you're a brain surgeon. And you CAN get a job without a college education. Thousands of people do.

4. Don’t waste time in life. Do what you want when you want to do it. You may not have another opportunity.

5. Speak your mind. Be clear. Say what you want. Don’t be afraid to be different.

6. Learn a language or an instrument. Both, if possible. It will open all kinds of doors.

7. Call people back. Or email them. Or teleport. Or whatever is the communication link of your day. Yes, it is important and no, we don't believe you were "busy".

8. Boys don’t get any smarter. Ever. Learn to work around it. If you keep your expectations low, it may be easier for them to meet them. (But don't count on it.)

9. Travel. It doesn't have to be across the world, just get out of your bubble and see other places, meet other people. It will definitely open your eyes and maybe even enrich your life.

10. Save money; no matter how little. Twenty years later, you'll be glad you did.


* Photo by Eddie
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1 YEAR AGO: Texas Love Bugs And Hurricanes
2 YEARS AGO: Pimping For Presidency
3 YEARS AGO: Demographics Of A Lifetime
4 YEARS AGO: Glacial Impact

Eddie Dumps It Friday

I complain about everything. Absolutely EV-ER-REE-THING. Eddie, on the other hand, doesn't complain about anything. I even try to get him pissed off about stuff every once in a while to see if he has it in him. He doesn't. He just has a good attitude no matter what he's doing.

This picture is Exhibit A; big smile with arms raised in the air exhibiting joy. He looks happy, right? You know what he's doing?

He's dumping our porta-potty.

Just entertaining the thought of having do that would put me into a "Why do I have to do everything??" complaint tailspin. Yet he does it all the time without uttering a word.

How can I not love a guy who not only loves me, but loves my poop as well?

OK, I know he doesn't love the poop....but you get the point!


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1 YEAR AGO: Vicki Goes Hollywood
2 YEARS AGO: Market Flora
3 YEARS AGO: Now Where The Hell Did She Park My Truck???
4 YEARS AGO: Channeling Angelina Jolie

Comrades In Driving

I've been thinking about my fellow blogging drivers and thought I'd do a little post to honor my comrades on wheels by giving you all a little heads up to some of the men and women out there who haul your shit around the country. Drumroll please.........


THE HIGHWAY HAGS

What can I say about my favorite women? I really want to gush, but they seriously might think I'm a deranged fan or a stalker. Although, stalking in a seventy-five foot vehicle isn't very sneaky or stalker-y, so I guess I'm safe if I do my gushing from a distance. And as I write this, they're stuck in Memphis and well, I'm not. So they'll never catch me.

Hedon and Stace are two very intelligent, very witty, very well read women. And I don't mean they're reading People magazine either. They write about boobery on the road, the evil that employs them (known as TWMNBN - Those Who Must Not Be Named) including Uriah (the evildoers manservant), and they also post pictures every once in a while (which usually depict seedy side roads in Newark or docks they deliver at that have a large rat population). They're also pretty into politics, although sometimes they have to abstain from the idiocy that is the news so their heads don't explode. Stace is particularly careful of staying away from the television during times when hot issues are being debated ad nauseum. Also, she severly limited herself when the bumbling “Decider” was in office.

You won’t get a picture of these two since they’re camera shy, but there are plenty of pictures of Maggie; that’s her up there on the pink satin, posing for her Glamour Shot. She's cute as a damn button, so when you think about it, who really cares to know what my two favorite trucking bloggers actually look like. I think I can live without it. I've seen so many pictures of Maggie that if I were to spot her in a truck stop, I'd just have her lead me to the Hags. But, if you can’t sleep without seeing what they look like, click here to see what they have to say about themselves. Consider yourself warned...you are entering a domain where the inhabitants exist solely on Diet Coke, dog biscuits (Maggie, not the Hags) and books on tape.

I'm pretty critical and I don't like to waste my time reading crap, so I'm pretty confident that I'm recommending a good time here. From Stace's exquisite green eyes to Hedon's gigantic ass, I love every inch of them. I hope you do too.


GI-GI ROXX


Gi-Gi calls herself an "Over-The-Road Adventuress", and boy is she. A beautiful, young (just turned 30 on Tuesday!), cheeky solo driver, she provides some excellent posts for our reading pleasure. She's very wordy, and I mean that in a good way because I LOVE it!

She writes in the same manner I'd imagine she talks. I feel like I'm sitting at her kitchen table or across the booth in a truck stop listening to her when I read her posts. (She probably should know that I laugh and smile at all the right spots when she's telling her stories.) I also always read her posts to Ed whether he wants to hear them or not. We sit three feet apart; he has no choice.

Why? Because I'm in awe that she does this all by herself. I have Ed if I get into a jam on a street that's too small or magically turns into a dead-end; Gi-Gi calls the local police to help her out. I have Ed if there's an icky looking guy loading the truck at a shipper and I just don't want to deal with him; Gi-Gi does it herself. If I'm jonesing for a Hostess Cupcake at midnight, I have Ed who will walk across a dark truckstop parking lot to get it for me; Gi-Gi has to do it herself. Of course our situations are different since we're team drivers and she's not, but still. Although, Ed would probably love having a team driver like her! At least she'd get out and slide the tandems if they needed to be moved. I would just be like, "Tandems? We don't have those, do we?" Which of course translates into Ed doing it. (We actually don't have tandems.)

Go on over and check her out; in most cases, you'll get a blow-by-blow on what a day in the life of a truck driver is really like. She's very descriptive and gives great detail. And she also posts plenty of pictures. She drives for the big orange pumpkin and has even gone as far to give her truck a name; it used to be “Trucky” until they retired Trucky and gave her a new ride. Now she travels the highways in the saddle of “Kenny”, who for all intents and purposes, goes by the affectionate nickname of “Squeak”. Read this post to find out how the gears in her head churned to come up with that one.


FANDANGO TRAVELERS

Tony and Jana hail from the Lonestar State.....waaaaaaay down near the border in the tiny town of Terlingua. Say that five times fast; tinytownofterlingua, tinytownofterlingua, tinytownofterlingua, tinytownofterlingua, toonyternoftoonlingua.

Towny Tern of Toonlingua??? See what happens!

Anyway, Jana writes the blog and you’ll find many pictures of places they travel, locations they deliver, restaurants they eat in and places Jana shops (check out her Asheville, NC finds!). She reads a lot, loves music and crochets like a fiend!!

I’m starting to feel like a real slacker since I’ve never made anything that I can actually snuggle up to in my truck! Knitting needles might be considered a weapon at some places (those hyper-vigilant military installations), but I think I might be able to sneak through a crochet hook!


ALL THINGS BRADBURY

At this location, you’ll find Ruth Ann and Ralph “Brad” Bradbury. Salt of the earth folks from West Virginia document their travels through Ruth Ann's e.e.cummings style of writing. She eschews the use of capital letters.

I'm a big fan of these two people. Never met 'em, but like them nonetheless. They are funny and kind, have some of the best white knuckle adventures I've ever read, and as "internet friends" have often reached out to include us in their lives...they even invited us to join them for Father's Day at their home, even though they were planning on having a house full of people!

I have to say, I might be a bit in love with them because Brad barbecues a mean rib (so I hear) and Ruth Ann can whip up one of Ed's favorite meals (Biscuits and Gravy) with her eyes closed. I'm guessing we'd get along pretty good if we sit down over a plate of those! We keep going back and forth about getting together and they've invited us so many times I can't count anymore, but I won't stay away forever. One of these days we'll be passing through and I promise you I'll be right on their doorstep. Ruth Ann better have those biscuits ready!


CAFFEE'S TRAVELS

Linda and Bob Caffee are expedite drivers. That means the stuff they haul has to be there yesterday. I'd imagine that kind of thing can be stressful when you have to deal with the same traffic, accidents and slow moving tourists that we do. Getting stuck behind grandma and grandpa in their RV on the way to Quartzsite for the winter has got to make them want to pull their hair out! But then, these are people who HIKE, so they obviously like torture and pushing themselves to limits unknown to sorry drivers like us.

From one of their early posts, Linda tells a little bit about them and how they got into the expedite business: “We have been married thirty-one years and have two daughters. Bob was a mechanic and has worked on cars, irrigation motors and diesel engines and was the shop foreman for Morton County, Kansas. I was a stay at home mom until the girls started school. I was very lucky to start out on the ground floor when our county first started getting computerized. I started the county's in house mapping program and was involved with the county’s re-appraisal. I worked at the courthouse for 14 years and left as supervisor of Data Processing. Throughout Bob’s career when an extra truck driver was needed, Bob or I would fill in. We both have our class A licenses and over the years have hauled grain to elevators, hauled water to drilling rigs, and would fill in at times as a dump truck driver. We knew when the girls left home to attend college we would go through the empty nest syndrome so we made plans for our future. We started our research in the trucking world. Our youngest daughter was still in high school, so we decided Bob would go to truck driving school and I would continue my job until she graduated. Our plans included me eventually going to school so we could drive as a team. I figured out really quick I liked that passenger seat and every time I looked in the mirror and saw 53" of trailer behind us I became even more attached to that seat! We were from a very rural area of SW Kansas with all two lane roads and the closest stop light was 35 miles from our small town, all of the traffic situations that Bob got us through constantly amazed me. After being out on the road for a year as a driver Bob decided that being a driver was not for him so we started a lawn care business….."

Intrigued? Read the rest of the story here. They have moved from their original blogspot location, so when you're done over there, visit them over here at Expediter's Online.


DECORINA AND SKYLAR

This multi-talented woman is a truck driver AND an interior designer. She currently lives in Colorado but has also set up house in Virginia and the historical copper mining towns of Arizona. On her blog you'll find pictures of fabric samples, before and after shots of renovations and politics, politics, politics.

She loves our president (I think even more than I do!) and blogs her little heart out about him and much of what's going on in our country today. She doesn't have much tolerance for idiots (unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there) but she doesn't mind a good debate.

If you don't have a strong stomach for politics, you might want to skip those posts and read the other goodies!


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1 YEAR AGO: Black, White And Tan
2 YEARS AGO: If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would Fart At The Speed Of Light
3 YEARS AGO: Draped In Sarcasm
4 YEARS AGO: Feast Your Eyes

Miss Tooth Reigns Supreme

WHO: Me (and Eddie, working the video camera)
WHAT: An interview
WHEN: About six months ago
WHERE: Somewhere in Iowa
WHY: Because we were bored

I don't know how this video happened, it just did. One minute, we were taking pictures, the next minute, Eddie was interviewing me. If you follow me on YouTube, you might have already seen it. If not, sit back and enjoy.

If you're from Arkansas, don't be sending me any hate mail. I don't sound like this in real life, but if you're from the south, chances are pretty good that YOU do. Deal.


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1 YEAR AGO: And This Is Why She Will Always Be A Maid At A Hotel
2 YEARS AGO: I’ve Been Everywhere Sunday
3 YEARS AGO: Family Reunion Rules
4 YEARS AGO: Chillin’ In Anchorage

Under The El

Brooklyn, New York

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1 YEAR AGO: We Escaped With Our Teeth Intact
2 YEARS AGO: Praying In The Jewel Of The South For Over 250 Years
3 YEARS AGO: Drive Time Champion
4 YEARS AGO: Yukon Bet We’re Far Away

Where Is A Palm Reader When I Need One?

This is a picture I took of an impression of the palm of my hand after I smushed it into a ball of pink Play-Doh.

All the important lines are there, but what do they mean?


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1 YEAR AGO: Fred’s Plan Appears To Have Backfired
2 YEARS AGO: Eddie Plays A Round Friday
3 YEARS AGO: Don’t Worry, Be Happy
4 YEARS AGO: 50 Little Facts About Alaska

Popeye Would Love This Stuff

My father used to make spinach pie for us all the time when we were kids. Yes, we were kids that actually liked spinach! He typically made it in a square pan, like Sicilian pizza and it was always so flavorful and delicious. Sometimes he'd add sausage; oh what a wonderful treat that was! Our favorite way to eat it was cold the next day, so he always made plenty to have around.

Unfortunately, since he's passed on I can't just call him for his recipe and my mother didn't have a copy of it, so I made it the way I remembered he did. It is very simple in the ingredients department and I watched him do it so many times I could probably make it in my sleep anyway. I rarely, if ever, cook from a recipe and my father was the same way. So I'm guessing that if the "like father, like daughter" thing applies, my spinach pie is going to come out amazing!

THE INGREDIENTS
1 – 16 oz. ball of frozen pizza dough (I used Tiseo’s Frozen Pizza Dough because that’s what they had in the grocery store I happened to be in at the time.) You need enough dough to make a 9” pie – top and bottom crusts
2 - 16 oz. bags of frozen cut leaf spinach (or chopped spinach), thawed and drained of water
1 Medium white onion, diced
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Grated parmesan cheese (Pecorina-Romano, Locatelli, etc.)
Shredded mozzarella
1 egg (to be used for glazing the dough)

THE PROCESS
1. Coat the bottom of your frying pan with olive oil. Throw in your minced garlic and chopped onions and start to sauté. While that’s cooking, put your thawed spinach in a colander and press the water out of it.

2. Once you’ve squeezed all the water out, throw the spinach in the frying pan. Add salt, pepper and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes – the amount depends on how spicy you want it. It really doesn’t have to “cook” since you’ll be putting it in the oven, but I like to make sure everything is mixed together. I just left mine on a low heat until I was ready to use it.

3. Take your ball of pizza dough and cut it in half – half for the top crust and half for the bottom. Sprinkle a little flour on your counter top and roll out the dough to fit the circumference of your pie tin. Put the piece you’ll use on top on the side for now – you’ll need it later after you fill your pie pan. I used a 9” aluminum pan because in the truck, my convection oven is only so big. I would rather make it in a square glass pan like my father used to do. Either way is fine.

4. Once the dough is stretched out to fit, lay it in your pie pan and then fill it part of the way with your spinach mixture. Then, sprinkle the spinach mix with grated cheese and add a handful of shredded mozzarella. Spoon in the rest of your spinach mixture and do the same thing again – add grated cheese and mozzarella.

5. Once that is done, lay on your top piece of dough. Pinch the edges of the top and bottom dough pieces together. Beat the egg with one tablespoon of water and brush it on the top of the pie. Poke a few holes in the top crust with a pointy knife to let steam escape.

6. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until crust is nice and brown. Keep an eye on it, you don’t want the crust to burn!

7. When the pie is done, let sit on the counter for about 10 minutes before slicing. If you’d like, you can just stare at its beautiful crust while you’re waiting. Go ahead, no one’s looking. The pie sets up nicely in the fridge overnight and I happen to like it better cold than hot, but it’s good either way. 8. Enjoy!

Click HERE for a printable version of the recipe.


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1 YEAR AGO: From The Confines Of The Hampton Inn
2 YEARS AGO: When I Grow Up I Want To Be…
3 YEARS AGO: Fire Water
4 YEARS AGO: Ed Having Fun With Photoshop

4423 Humboldt Street

This is the courtyard where I took the graffiti photo. It's an old warehouse in Detroit that Eddie and I went to look at; it was for sale - 45,000 SF for $150,000.00. They billed it in the ad as a place that would be "perfect" to make into loft apartments. Yeah, if you had thousands of dollars to convert it. It was soooo run down.

Here's another version of the tag I posted a few days ago. I really like this shot because it shows the entire wall and the trees growing out of control behind it:

Now if only I could read what it said.

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1 YEAR AGO: Eddie Tourist Friday
2 YEARS AGO: Ripe For A Dognapping
3 YEARS AGO: What Lies Beneath
4 YEARS AGO: Big Sky Country

An Icy Glare For The Heat Miser

Ed and I were invited to my cousin's wedding a few years ago and surprisingly, were the only ones to show up in a Freightliner!

It was a BAZILLION degrees and this is a picture of me sitting in the truck, IN the air conditioning, waiting to go into the church till the last minute because the church had no a/c. I was happy about the wedding but cranky about the heat. The deadpan look was brought on by the misery of the sweating.

Eddie thought it looked cool all decked out in Photoshop, so here I am. Even though Photoshop alters the colors, you can still see my dangly gold earrings!!


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1 YEAR AGO: Jazz Funeral On Decatur
2 YEARS AGO: Keeping The Homeland Secure One Dog At A Time
3 YEARS AGO: Reputation Is Everything
4 YEARS AGO: ”_______________”

The Lady And The American Pro Driver

In addition to being featured on the FastLane Hires Community page, I also have a little piece of the web over at American Pro Driver; there, I've been dubbed "The Lady".

American Pro Driver, a website created and maintained by Stephen Heisler, is dedicate to the trucking industry and its professional drivers. He pulls stories from the web that he thinks would be of interest to those of us in the thick of it; and let me tell you, he comes up with some great ones! I read all of the trade publications and often peruse industry related web sites and he's picked up on stories I've never even seen!

He often puts his comments at the end of the post, highlighted in red text. I expect to be doing something over there weekly and will let you know where you can find whatever I write. In the meantime, please head on over there and check out what he has. He posts a "Ride Of The Day" which showcases some pretty beautiful rigs. I'm starting to think I might have to convince Eddie to paint some flames on the side of our ride...

On a side note, the article about FastLane Hires which was originally featured on Entrepreneur.com, has now been picked up by MSNBC, Fox Business and Yahoo! Small Business. Yay for them!


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1 YEAR AGO: The Signs Don’t Scare Me
2 YEARS AGO: Pocket Full Of Min Pin
3 YEARS AGO: Less Is More
4 YEARS AGO: Sleep Deprived

My Nizzl Fa Shizzl

I know many people consider graffiti unsightly, and many times I would agree. But sometimes, it's so colorful and so creative, that you can't help but sort of think it looks cool.

This is one of those times. Ed and I found this at a warehouse we went to look at in Detroit. I love the brick wall it's on and I love the charred wood in front of it.

It's just damn arty. Fo’ shizzle.

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1 YEAR AGO: When You’re Smiling
2 YEARS AGO: I’ve Been Everywhere Sunday
3 YEARS AGO: Decision Dilemma
4 YEARS AGO: Alaska Later