Where are you

Peculiar, Missouri. J
OK another 'my mentor' story lol. We picked up a heavy load of paper rolls in Usk, WA, I had driven all night to get there, checked in with shipper, scaled on site etc, the guy says you might need to slide your 5th wheel to get legal. So mentor wakes up wants a status report (too much credit there-- asks 'what's up?' lol). Says "I will have this load taken off us before I move my 5th wheel. It has never moved since I bought (leased) the truck. I like it in the middle for my crazy U-turns." So he never taught me how to do it. But fortunately I had the handy dandy instruction booklet manual with the step by step procedures in it and was able to figure it out when the time came that I needed to do it solo. Did it at truck school a couple of times but I had no clue what we were doing-- looking back it makes sense now.

 

My mentor never move his 5th wheel and always set tandems to California. Luckily, the instructors at the Portland school went over all of that before turning us loose. The information was given. It's up to each individual to take it away with them.

I still ask my DM about tricks of the road. When I was going across Wyoming, I asked how he kept the wiper blades from gumming up with snow. (This is going to start a whole 'nother discussion.) He told me a trick that worked and I had no previous knowledge of: put the defroster on high and pull the visors down to a 45 degree angle so they catch the warm air and keep it on the windshield. This is good for "warm" snow, 25 degrees F and higher. For anything lower than that, don't turn the defroster on at all. Keep the windshield cold and "cold" snow will not stick to it. Your windshield has to start out clean to begin with, and not just where the wipers swipe. Try not to use the washer fluid. All it does is make a bigger mess.

Now, let the discussion begin:

Getting ready to leave Weed, headed to Wheeler Ridge for tonight.

 

Never leave weed. I hear thats a waste of money

 

Still at the house the office says they **think** its a bad harness causing the ACCERT to freak out and throw fault codes......whatever !!

 

Stopped at the WallyWorld in Van Wert OH for a grub run just as Black Friday Insanity was ebbing. Got grub. Got a $98 HDTV too! At the Sapp Bros in Peru IL for the "night."

Got two channels out here in the boonies... Judge Pirro and music videos.

 

or you can stay in the south,

or, you can actually buy heated wiper blades. They have good reviews from the snow plow operators , so they must work

 

At home getting ready to eat some Mommy-cooked food and enjoying time with family.

 

Joplin, MO

 

Wheeler Ridge, CA

Eating off the boofay. Lots of parking here.

But I felt like a rookie backing that trailer with the tandems set so far forward...

 

Yep, I learned that the hard way last week on my way up out of CA into OR. Ran down to my last hour planning on stopping in Weed. So I get there and see all these concrete barriers which I later learned were actually blocking the entrance to the truckstop. Having never been to that truckstop when it was open, I was unfamiliar with the area; I was thinking I got off on the wrong exit! Fortunately I found a place to park across the street from the McDonalds.

Supposedly Pilot bought the place and is remodeling it before they reopen it.