The journey begins - purchased a truck.

Well I caved - Wichita to O'Hare, secured O'Hare back to Wichita today - nothing famous, or @Old Man load material - heck, everything else I tried to line up fell through - but about $4500 TTT for a 72 hour round - $2.50+ all miles to the truck, it'll keep the LS wolves at bay for a final paycheck for the year.

Get home safely all!

 

Now, I'm in big trouble.

Way too much analysis involved in this one - but it's the 3/4" tube with a now bigger spot mirror on it for a 'looks good' extension mirror.



What scared me, was Oklahoma's super efficient routing to essentially get toward Wichita . . .



Wait - Wichita - that's heading north right, so how far are you going? This far . . .




It started off with a phone call earlier in the week, I had one planned down to Texas that was decent, this one starts from Oklahoma going to . . . basically Canada, eh - a few miles short of the border.

The more I thought about it, the more I tried to wriggle out of it. LS stepped up my level to FB4, and it still requires a 'control number' . . . it's 14'8" wide and 80' long.

I consulted with many voices.

The 'I don't turn the key for less than $5/mile' said - "He asked me, and I said about 5k higher"

The good friend that runs my trailer said " Ooooooooooooh, well - you ARE the money prostitute THIS week"

The CFO said "Heyall no - look at all these things that can go wrong!"

The voices in my head put me in bed before 8pm some nights, and woke me up at 4am on others. Why?

It's wide, it's long, it's winter, I need chains, permits, escorts, ice melt, brake line antifreeze, it's the biggest I've ever pulled, I'm scared, and I want my mommy.

That said - go big or go home. After attempts to wriggle out of it - the agent blew warm smoke in my rectum and said they needed a good guinea pig capable of excellent communications and a professional attitude. I guess I wasn't hugged enough as a child.

Schematics, photographs, permits, routes, pilots, . . . can we get a tape measure on that just one more time . . . Friday appears - welding on trailer - can't find cables - bugger - go for chains . . . block heater decided to quit . . . aaargh !!!!!!!!

I guess the block heater was weak - been in there a while. As is with all things for winter, or summer, they'll break in their respective seasons and display obvious parts shortages. A new one (drain coolant, remove sleeve to impact wrench the booger out, replace hoses and heater) yields 160 degrees on a temp gun, and a nice warm start - unlike the "Fill the shop with smoke as the Series 60 attempts a launch into space out of the frame cold start" that it was before.

Hang the chains on the trailer, fill the freezer with leftover Christmas food, pack the closets and bags . . . and off I go. Wish me luck. A lot of it.

 

Duly noted. These pages may be required as evidence in court . . .

 

In Austin - another tight squeeze building delivery, a whopping 57’ long . . .





To the “Are you sure about this” load . . .




As seen from the rear.



81’ long, 14’10” wide.