Two Heads Are Better Than One

Flashback to our time riding bikes around Chicago.  

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Loaded Up And Headed Home
2017: The City Girl Snaps A Sunset
2016: Imperfectly Wonderful
2015: Charleston Blues And Greens
2014: Dodging Locals Under The Oaks
2013: The Best Trail In Town
2012: It’s Even Better Than Having A “Plan B”
2011: Who Says Truckers Don’t Have Nice Legs?
2010: Boy, Have Times Changed!
2009: I’ll Have A Short Stack With A Million Scrambled Eggs On The Side Please
2008: It Came At A Perfect Time
2007: Experimenting With Scrotum
2006: Can Anyone Spare A Roll Of Pennies?
2005: Matching Purse And Flip Flops??

Mecca Of The Midwest

Navy Pier originally opened in 1916 to be used as a dock for freighters, passenger ships, and events, the 3,300-foot-long pier now houses over 50 acres of shops, restaurants, theaters, etc., and draws over nine million visitors each year.  

It's been used for everything from a jail for draft dodgers to a training center for the United States Navy to a classroom for the University of Illinois.  It is one of the most visited attractions in all of the Midwest and it's Chicago's second-most visited tourist attraction.

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2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Clean Sweep
2017: The Little French Dining Car
2016: Shiny Happy People
2015: The Oedipus Driving Complex
2014: Summer At Percy Priest
2013: Heat And Humidity Abundant, Wind Nowhere To Be Found
2012: Delicious Eats And Healthy Treats
2011: Special Seasoning
2010: Two Truck Drivers, A Writer And A Photographer Walk Into A Bar
2009: Taking The Express To The Heartland
2008: TIT-illating Sights On The Road
2007: I’ve Been Everywhere Sunday
2006: Embracing Your Inner Bike Riding Hussy
2005: It Takes A Village To Wake A Child

Midway Over Chicago

Ed and I are on our way to the Mid American Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Our flight connected in Chicago's Midway International Airport.  In all my years of flying, I've never been to Midway.  But since we were flying Southwest, and that's one of their hubs, we connected there. 

Speaking of Southwest Airlines - can I tell you that they have what's called "open seating"?  Which means....you don't get assigned a seat.  I didn't realize this until I was waiting at the gate in Tucson.  I was totally stressed out.  And we were in Boarding Group C, which meant TWO groups got on the plane first to choose seats.

Would we sit together?  Would I have to sit next to a stranger?  Would I be in the middle?  Would I spill over into someone other than Ed's seat?  I almost broke out in a rash.  Seats are small.  I'm not.  If I have to spread out, I want it to be into my husband's space, not someone else.  

While we were on the jetway, moving slowly like cattle, an employee cut in line because he needed to speak to the flight attendant before takeoff.  He chatted with us a bit waiting for an opening.  He asked how we were and I told him I was a little stressed out about the open seating.  He said, "You've never flown Southwest?"  I said, "Not in over 25 years.  And I don't remember not having an assigned seat."  He said it was like church, or the movies, you just go in and pick a seat.  Anywhere you'd like.

Uh, yeah, but at the movies, you don't have to walk single-file in a metal tube and watch everyone in front of you take the good seats while you're sweating it out in the back.  I was trying not to make a scene.  For Ed's sake, of course.

A few minutes later, this employee turned around and said, "I got you guys a row in the back, you'll have it to yourself.  You have broad shoulders..."  Um.  Is "broad shoulders" a euphemism for being fat?  Because if it is, I'm all over that shit. 

I said, "Huh.  So being a fatty finally got me some perks."  He said, "No, no.  You do have broad shoulders.  Do you really want to be squished the entire flight?" 

OK.  So they're broad.  Like linebacker broad?  I can take that.  I said, "No, of course, I don't.  Thank you so much."  He told us to just walk to the back of the plane and they'd have the seats saved for us.

What a score!!  So we had the row - three seats - to ourselves.  I took the window, Ed took the aisle, and we had a lovely flight to Chicago. 

I read this in-flight magazine article while on the plane, about Herb Kelleher, the co-founder, and CEO of Southwest Airlines, who died earlier this year.  I'd known about this guy for years.  He was always praised for his personality, and style, and the way he loved his company and the people who worked in it.  He loved his people and his people loved him.  The article stated that his legacy was love.

And today I felt that.  One of his employees took a matter into their own hands and made my flight less stressful and infinitely more pleasant.  That's rare these days.

Thanks, Herb, for leaving a lasting impression.



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2018: A Direct Route To Hope
2017: Charred
2016: Right Only At The Big Yellow Tree
2015: High Shine Pete
2014: A Big Thumbs Up On Day Two
2013: The Hospital Survives Another Week
2012: More Distracting Than Texting While Driving
2011: The Aftermath
2010: More Than Halfway To A World Record
2009: If You Need Your Hump Fixed, This Is The Place
2008: The Flight, The Hotel, The Walk, And The Sleep Deprivation
2007: A Lot Of Beauty, A Little Citrus, And A Mini Moo
2006: Shorn
2005: Sorry, no post on this day. The blog didn’t start until May 2005!

We Prefer The Slow Grind

This is what we had to look at for 600 miles.

Atlas was the lead truck in our museum move.  There were six trucks total and we were number two.  I've mentioned in the past that I don't like riding with other trucks.  In convoys or in an escort situation, because you always have to compromise.  And although I'm absolutely okay with compromise in regular everyday stuff, I don't like to negotiate the driving plan. 

Ed and I drive slow.  Every other driver we've met, with the exception of our friend Marlaina and MacG, like to do the speed limit.  In most cases, the "speed limit" is 65, 75, 80.  Whatever it is, they do it.  We do 58.  So trying to compromise with five other trucks, a total of ten drivers, is never going to favor us.  

For the first half of the trip, during my drive time, the guy driving actually was doing about 58-60 miles per hour.  Perfect speed.  When we switched out, his female counterpart cranked it up to 68-70.  Thankfully I was at the end of my shift and handed the reigns over to Ed.  Even though he prefers driving slow, too, he's much better at keeping up than I am. 

It was a short trip and we made good time.  There were only a few stops for mandatory load checks, bathroom breaks, and coffee.  

And we went back to our slow grind the next day.



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2017: Texas Really Does Have A Thing For Big Stuff
2016: Two-Wheeling In The Desert
2015: Moab Is The Place For Premium Baked Goods 
2014: A Precursor To The Real Deal
2013: Only In The Summertime
2012: Craving Italy
2011: A Perfect Way To Start A Month
2010: Old School
2009: Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough
2008: The Clubhouse Girls
2007: Morning On The Air Train
2006: The Other Side Of The Tracks
2005: Vicki Bin Laden   

Me, Augustus, And Kublai Khan

When we're on the road for our birthdays, we usually stop and have dinner at a nice place.  But this week we're on our way to pick up a load so we just had dinner on the go.  I didn't think I was going to have any cake.

But when we stopped for the night in Illinois, Ed left to go into the truck stop and wound up walking across the street to the grocery store, coming back with a carrot cake.  He knocked on the back door of the sleeper and when I opened it, he was standing there with candles blazing!

On the Google page for your birthday, they illustrate the word with a clickable link that takes you to the page showing events, birthdays, deaths, etc. for that day.

Look at all the people who share my birthday:

• 63 BC – Augustus, Roman emperor (d. 14 AD)
• 1158 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1186)
• 1215 – Kublai Khan, Mongolian emperor (d. 1294)
• 1495 – Bagrat III of Imereti, King of Imereti (d. 1565)
• 1597 – Francesco Barberini, Catholic cardinal (d. 1679)
• 1598 – Eleonore Gonzaga, Italian wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1655)
• 1642 – Giovanni Maria Bononcini, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1678)
• 1647 – Joseph Dudley, English politician, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1720)
• 1650 – Jeremy Collier, English bishop and theologian (d. 1726)
• 1713 – Ferdinand VI of Spain (d. 1759)
• 1740 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
• 1771 – Emperor Kōkaku of Japan (d. 1840)
• 1778 – Mariano Moreno, Argentinian journalist, lawyer, and politician (d. 1811)
• 1781 – Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (d. 1860)
• 1791 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer and academic (d. 1865)
• 1791 – Theodor Körner, German soldier and author (d. 1813)
• 1800 – William Holmes McGuffey, American author and academic (d. 1873)
• 1819 – Hippolyte Fizeau, French physicist and academic (d. 1896)
• 1823 – John Colton, English-Australian politician, 13th Premier of South Australia (d. 1902)
• 1838 – Victoria Woodhull, American journalist and activist (d. 1927)
• 1851 – Ellen Hayes, American mathematician and astronomer (d. 1930)
• 1852 – James Carroll Beckwith, American painter and academic (d. 1917)
• 1852 – William Stewart Halsted, American physician and surgeon (d. 1922)
• 1853 – Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen (d. 1923)
• 1861 – Robert Bosch, German engineer and businessman, founded Robert Bosch GmbH (d. 1942)
• 1863 – Mary Church Terrell, American author and activist (d. 1954)
• 1865 – Pekka Halonen, Finnish painter (d. 1933)
• 1865 – Emma Orczy, Hungarian-English author and playwright (d. 1947)
• 1865 – Suzanne Valadon, French model and painter (d. 1938)
• 1867 – John Lomax, American teacher, musicologist, and folklorist (d. 1948)
• 1876 – Moshe Zvi Segal, Israeli rabbi and scholar (d. 1968)
• 1880 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish biologist, physician, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
• 1889 – Walter Lippmann, American journalist and publisher, co-founded The New Republic (d. 1974)
• 1890 – Friedrich Paulus, German general (d. 1957)
• 1895 – Miron Merzhanov, Russian architect and engineer (d. 1975)
• 1895 – Johnny Mokan, American baseball player (d. 1985)
• 1897 – Paul Delvaux, Belgian painter (d. 1994)
• 1897 – Walter Pidgeon, Canadian-American actor and singer (d. 1984)
• 1898 – Les Haylen, Australian journalist and politician (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Tom C. Clark, American lawyer and judge, 59th Attorney General of the United States (d. 1977)
• 1899 – Louise Nevelson, American sculptor (d. 1988)
• 1900 – Bill Stone, English soldier (d. 2009)
• 1901 – Jaroslav Seifert, Czech poet and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1986)
• 1902 – Su Buqing, Chinese mathematician and academic (d. 2003)
• 1903 – Cec Fifield, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 1957)
• 1904 – Arthur Folwell, English-Australian rugby league player, coach, and administrator (d. 1966)
• 1906 – Charles Ritchie, Canadian diplomat, High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Tiny Bradshaw, American singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 1958)
• 1907 – Anne Desclos, French journalist and author (d. 1998)
• 1907 – Duarte Nuno, Duke of Braganza (d. 1976)
• 1908 – Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Indian poet, academic, and politician (d. 1974)
• 1909 – Lorenc Antoni, Kosovo-Albanian composer and conductor (d. 1991)
• 1910 – Jakob Streit, Swiss anthroposophist and author (d. 2009)
• 1911 – Frank Moss, American lawyer and politician (d. 2003)
• 1912 – Ghulam Mustafa Khan, Pakistani linguist, author, and critic (d. 2005)
• 1912 – Tony Smith, American sculptor and educator (d. 1980)
• 1913 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish painter and sculptor (d. 2007)
• 1915 – Julius Baker, American flute player and educator (d. 2003)
• 1915 – Clifford Shull, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Aldo Moro, Italian academic and politician, 39th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1978)
• 1917 – Santo, Mexican Luchador enmascarado, film actor, and folk icon (d. 1984)
• 1917 – Asima Chatterjee, Indian chemist (d. 2006)
• 1920 – Mickey Rooney, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2014)
• 1922 – Louise Latham, American actress (d. 2018)
• 1923 – Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, Egyptian journalist (d. 2016)
• 1923 – Vello Helk, Estonian-Danish historian and author (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, Nicaraguan journalist and publisher (d. 1978)
• 1925 – Denis C. Twitchett, English historian and scholar (d. 2006)
• 1926 – André Cassagnes, French toy maker, created the Etch A Sketch (d. 2013)
• 1926 – John Coltrane, American saxophonist and composer (d. 1967)
• 1928 – Frank Foster, American saxophonist and composer (d. 2011)
• 1928 – Roger Grimsby, American journalist and actor (d. 1995)
• 1930 – Sehba Akhtar, Pakistani poet and songwriter (d. 1996)
• 1930 – Colin Blakely, Northern Irish actor (d. 1987)
• 1930 – Ray Charles, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor (d. 2004)
• 1931 – Hilly Kristal, American businessman, founded CBGB (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Stan Lynde, American author and illustrator (d. 2013)
• 1931 – Gerald Merrithew, Canadian educator and politician (d. 2004)
• 1932 – Georg Keßler, German footballer and manager
• 1933 – Lloyd J. Old, American immunologist and academic (d. 2011)
• 1934 – Per Olov Enquist, Swedish journalist, author, and playwright
• 1935 – Prem Chopra, Pakistani-Indian actor
• 1935 – Les McCann, American soul-jazz singer and pianist
• 1935 – Ron Tindall, English-Australian footballer, cricketer, and manager (d. 2012)
• 1936 – George Eastham, English footballer
• 1936 – Valentín Paniagua, Peruvian lawyer and politician, 91st President of Peru (d. 2006)
• 1936 – Sylvain Saudan, Swiss skier
• 1936 – Tareq Suheimat, Jordanian physician, general, and politician (d. 2014)
• 1937 – Jacques Poulin, Canadian author and translator
• 1938 – Romy Schneider, Austrian-French actress (d. 1982)
• 1939 – Henry Blofeld, English cricketer and journalist
• 1939 – Roy Buchanan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1988)
• 1939 – Joan Hanham, Baroness Hanham, English politician
• 1939 – Sonny Vaccaro, American businessman
• 1940 – Michel Temer, Brazilian lawyer and politician, 25th Vice President of Brazil
• 1940 – Dick Thornett, Australian rugby player and water polo player (d. 2011)
• 1941 – George Jackson, American activist and author, co-founded the Black Guerrilla Family (d. 1971)
• 1941 – Simon Nolet, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• 1941 – Norma Winstone, English singer-songwriter
• 1942 – Sila María Calderón, Puerto Rican-American businesswoman and politician, 12th Secretary of State of Puerto Rico
• 1942 – Colin Low, Baron Low of Dalston, Scottish scholar and politician
• 1942 – David Renneberg, Australian cricketer
• 1943 – Julio Iglesias, Spanish singer-songwriter
• 1943 – Marty Schottenheimer, American football player and coach
• 1944 – Eric Bogle, Scottish-Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Richard Lambert, English journalist and academic
• 1945 – Ron Bushy, American drummer
• 1945 – Igor Ivanov, Russian politician and diplomat, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1945 – Alan Old, English rugby player
• 1946 – Franz Fischler, Austrian politician
• 1946 – Bernard Maris, French economist and journalist (d. 2015)
• 1946 – Genista McIntosh, Baroness McIntosh, English politician
• 1946 – Davorin Popović, Bosnian singer-songwriter (d. 2001)
• 1946 – Anne Wheeler, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1947 – Christian Bordeleau, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1947 – Don Grolnick, American pianist and composer (d. 1996)
• 1947 – Mary Kay Place, American actress
• 1947 – Neal Smith, American drummer and songwriter
• 1948 – Dan Toler, American guitarist (d. 2013)
• 1949 – Floella Benjamin, Trinidadian-English actress, academic, and politician
• 1949 – Bruce Springsteen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1949 – Kostas Tournas, Greek singer-songwriter
• 1950 – George Garzone, American saxophonist and educator
• 1951 – Steven Springer, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2012)
• 1952 – Mark Bego, American author
• 1952 – Anshuman Gaekwad, Indian cricketer
• 1952 – Dennis Lamp, American baseball player
• 1952 – Jim Morrison, American baseball player and manager
• 1953 – Nicholas Witchell, English journalist
• 1954 – Charlie Barnett, American actor (d. 1996)
• 1954 – Cherie Blair, English lawyer and academic
• 1956 – Peter David, American author, actor, and screenwriter
• 1956 – Tom Hogan, Australian cricketer
• 1956 – Paolo Rossi, Italian footballer
• 1957 – Rosalind Chao, American actress
• 1958 – Danielle Dax, English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1958 – Khaled El Sheikh, Bahraini singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Tony Fossas, Cuban-American baseball player and coach
• 1958 – Marvin Lewis, American football player and coach
• 1958 – Larry Mize, American golfer
• 1959 – Jason Alexander, American actor, singer, and voice artist
• 1959 – Frank Cottrell-Boyce, English author and screenwriter
• 1959 – Hans Nijman, Dutch mixed martial artist and wrestler (d. 2014)
• 1959 – Chris O'Sullivan, Australian rugby league player
• 1959 – Martin Page, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
• 1959 – Elizabeth Peña, American actress (d. 2014)
• 1959 – Karen Pierce, English diplomat
• 1960 – Kurt Beyer, American wrestler
• 1960 – Luis Moya, Spanish race car driver
• 1961 – Chi McBride, American actor
• 1961 – William C. McCool, American commander, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2003)
• 1962 – Deborah Orr, Scottish journalist
• 1963 – Anne-Marie Cadieux, Canadian actress, director, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Alex Proyas, Egyptian-Australian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Clayton Blackmore, Welsh footballer and manager
• 1964 – Koshi Inaba, Japanese singer-songwriter
• 1964 – Larry Krystkowiak, American basketball player and coach
• 1964 – Katie Mitchell, English director and producer
• 1964 – Julian Parkhill, English biologist and academic
• 1964 – Bill Phillips, American businessman and author
• 1965 – Mark Woodforde, Australian tennis player and sportscaster
• 1966 – Pete Harnisch, American baseball player and coach
• 1967 – Hilary Andersson, American-English journalist
• 1967 – Chris Wilder, English footballer and manager
• 1968 – Yvette Fielding, English actress and producer
• 1968 – Adam Price, Welsh politician
• 1969 – Donald Audette, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – Patrick Fiori, French singer-songwriter
• 1969 – Tapio Laukkanen, Finnish race car driver
• 1969 – Rod Pampling, Australian golfer
• 1969 – Jan Suchopárek, Czech footballer and manager
• 1970 – Adrian Brunker, Australian rugby player
• 1970 – Lucia Cifarelli, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player
• 1970 – Ani DiFranco, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1970 – Giorgos Koltsidas, Greek footballer
• 1971 – Moin Khan, Pakistani cricketer and coach
• 1971 – Eric Montross, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1971 – Sean Spicer, 30th White House Press Secretary
• 1972 – Sarah Bettens, Belgian singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1972 – Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1972 – Jermaine Dupri, American rapper and producer
• 1972 – Karl Pilkington, English actor and producer
• 1973 – Ingrid Fliter, Argentinian pianist
• 1973 – Vangelis Krios, Greek footballer and coach
• 1974 – Ben Duckworth, Australian rugby league player
• 1974 – Matt Hardy, American wrestler
• 1975 – Layzie Bone, American rapper
• 1975 – Kim Dong-moon, South Korean badminton player
• 1975 – Chris Hawkins, English journalist and producer
• 1975 – Eric Miller, Irish rugby player, footballer, and coach
• 1976 – Sarah Blasko, Australian singer-songwriter and producer
• 1976 – Valeriy Sydorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1976 – Volodymyr Sydorenko, Ukrainian boxer
• 1977 – Matthieu Descoteaux, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1977 – Dmitri Kulikov, Estonian footballer
• 1977 – Fabio Ongaro, Italian rugby player
• 1977 – Brett Prebble, Australian jockey
• 1977 – Rachael Yamagata, American singer-songwriter and pianist
• 1978 – Benjamin Curtis, American guitarist, drummer, and songwriter (d. 2013)
• 1978 – Anthony Mackie, American actor
• 1979 – Ricky Davis, American basketball player
• 1979 – Bryant McKinnie, American football player
• 1979 – Fábio Simplício, Brazilian footballer
• 1979 – Lote Tuqiri, Fijian-Australian rugby player
• 1980 – Matt White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1980 – Liz Murray, American inspirational speaker
• 1981 – Robert Doornbos, Dutch race car driver
• 1981 – Natalie Horler, German singer
• 1981 – Helen Richardson-Walsh, English field hockey player
• 1982 – Mait Künnap, Estonian tennis player
• 1982 – Shyla Stylez, Canadian pornographic actress (d. 2017)
• 1983 – Shane del Rosario, American mixed martial artist and kick-boxer (d. 2013)
• 1983 – Joffrey Lupul, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1983 – Regan Smith, American race car driver
• 1984 – Patrick Ehelechner, German ice hockey player
• 1984 – Matt Kemp, American baseball player
• 1984 – Brandon Richardson, American actor and military veteran
• 1984 – Anneliese van der Pol, Dutch-American entertainer^[1]
• 1985 – Brian Brohm, American football player
• 1985 – Joba Chamberlain, American baseball player
• 1985 – Hossein Kaebi, Iranian footballer
• 1985 – Nahomi Kawasumi, Japanese footballer
• 1985 – Lukáš Kašpar, Czech ice hockey player
• 1986 – Martin Cranie, English footballer
• 1988 – Juan Martín del Potro, Argentinian tennis player
• 1988 – Anthony Straker, English footballer
• 1988 – Yannick Weber, Swiss ice hockey player
• 1989 – Brandon Jennings, American basketball player
• 1989 – Taniela Lasalo, Australian rugby league player
• 1991 – Melanie Oudin, American tennis player
• 1993 – Duke Johnson, American football player
• 1994 – John Folau, Australian-Tongan rugby league player

Seems I'm in good company.

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2017: The Ultimate F Word - Fifty
2016: Cheers To 49!
2015: Loving Snow For Over Four Decades

2014: Hey, Hey, Hey! It's My Birthday!!
2013: Once, An Angel
2012: Halfway To Ninety
2011: Aging In Soft Light 
2010: Why The Crying? 
2009: From Swings To Eighteen Wheels 
2008: Fishing Expedition 
2007: Eggs Of Wisdom Apparently Start Hatching At Forty 
2006: The Birthday Wagon Train Takes Off Today 
2005: 38 Special