Singing in the Rain

Is the song now, stuck in your head?

Traffic in the rain is not anything like singing in the rain. Most people are not sure how to drive in the rain, so they slip, slide and take curves at superable speeds.  This scares me to death. I don't know if they are going to run into me or into someone else.

Seems like we've been in rain almost every day during this past week.

Slow down, but not in the hammer lane. Another problem is when a police car is flashing their lights, people slow down too slow. Get in the other lane, if possible, but don't bring all traffic to a standstill. When rain and police lights are mixed together, it's not a good situation, watch for the other guy. Don't go below the speed limit in the hammer lane unless totally necessary and remember even if you have your cruise set, you can speed up or step on the brakes when it's needed.

View over the hood of our truck. It may not rain often in Arizona, but when it does, it's a gully-washer for sure. We almost got washed off the road in one area. Then today it was almost like a small hurricane, the wind was blowing, the trees were bending and the water was flying. But, all this was followed by a beautiful Rainbow, which made me think of Singing in the Rain. 

Westward Bound

Interesting trip this week. We were shut down twice for road conditions. The first time in Cheyenne, Wyoming and the second time on Donner Pass in California. Since we haul sensitive freight, that means one of us has to sit in the driver's seat at all times. Fun! We have another friend who practiced putting his chains on his truck this week. He practiced In Georgia. We have them, but we avoid putting them on, if possible.

I'll post some photos later. The snow drifts in CA were huge. Beautiful on the pass, but the roads were still slippery. The photos are on my Droid.

Only had two trucks pull out in front of me yesterday (I was in the fast lane). It seems that big rigs are getting worse than 4-wheelers when it comes to respecting other drivers. YOU HAVE BRAKES DRIVERS--use them--so I don't have to. Why should we both lose our momentum? Of course, I did almost run over one 4-wheeler when they pulled in front of me to try to get out of another cars way. Come on, who do you want to run over you?

Fun part of this week was while we were shut down, I got to do a little gaming. Not much, but I found a machine that was paying really well. Of course, by the time I found it, the roads were opened up again.

Here's a recipe from my friend and fellow driver Diana Robinson. She and her husband drive for Tri-State. This is good if you have a confection microwave (which I am getting as soon as possible), a toaster oven or the NuWave Oven.

If you're wondering what to do with that can of chicken try this:

 Here is Chichen in a basket

1 can chicken ( drained)
chopped onion
3/4 can cream of mushroom soup
mix in small bowl , set aside
Unroll 1 pkg of crescent rolls. Leave 2 together to form a square
Spread cream cheese on rolls, then place large spoonful of chicken, sprinkle cheddar cheese on top. Fold all four sides over to meet in middle. Use toothpick to hold in place. Bake until rolls are brown.
Makes 4 large baskets.

Thanks Diana. I'll catch you all in the Fast Lane. 

Life in the Fast Lane--Bad Drivers and Taxes (Unrelated)

So muddy, clean the truck floor, drag in more mud, clean the truck floor, drag in more mud. 

My least favorite chore on the truck is making the bed. Yesterday, I washed the linens and rugs, swept the truck out real well and removed a ton (no exaggeration) of merchandise from the truck. Del cleaned his toolboxes and the Outhouse (headache rack). After all that, I broke two nails and skinned my knuckles tucking the sheets behind and under the mattress. Oh, but it's so nice to have clean, fresh sheets against your body. (Smiles) 

On the way home, I determined Pennsylvania gets the bad drivers award (If I were giving an award—Altogether now—RASBERRY, ok, try that again RASBERRY). I almost ran over at least 5 or 6 4-wheelers (cars). They just seemed to pass me and then come to a near stop. 

They were all over the road, and almost all of them were on their cell phones. You can tell when someone gets a phone call—4-wheeler or Semi. They swerve a little, slow down, wobble and then straighten, still going under the speed limit. You could give them the bird, stick your tongue out, flirt, whatever you wanted to do, and they would not notice you. Hey person on the cell phone, you're a driving and about to cause a 20 vehicle pile-up. Hands-free is better. All drivers need a headset. I know you're just running to the store or taking Junior to soccer, but you know someone will call you before you get back home. 

Del discovered chains are not that easy to put on the tires and that we have the wrong size. Grr. Best solution, just don't go anywhere chains have to be put on. Right! 

Tax time is ridiculous for a truck driver. I've worked like crazy most of the time we've been home to record the receipts. I know, should have been doing it all year. Next year, I promise. Today I must finish and get it ready to mail to my accountant. The magic worker, Nils Lenz. Thanks Nils.

Next time we meet, I'll let you know how my NUWave Oven is doing. I'm also going to have a guest blogger. Next week think of F words, in a nice way. Flattery-fun-fabulous-food-fast. Leave me a comment here and send me an email with your ideas on Life in the Fast Lane and F-words and your email may be what the next blog is about. Welcome to guest bloggers. 

Our ID photos

Gotta go, need to work some more on my taxes and finish the laundry. Catch you later from The Fast Lane.