Hooray--the truck started!
I took a calculated risk and left the truck at a truck stop over the weekend (Friday evening to Sunday mid-day) without the motor running and without it plugged in. Since I had a steering column lock (anti-theft device) in place, I could have left the truck running the whole time I was gone. However, that seemed to be a waste of fuel in my mind. The temperature was right around freezing the entire weekend so I guessed (correctly) that the truck would start--even without the oil pan heater plugged in to heat the oil and make the starter work less hard in starting the engine.
After the truck started, my wife and I ate lunch in the truck stop to let the truck warm up a bit. Then I was off to Marshfield and arrived there in the early evening hours. On the way there, my wife called. Or at least I thought it was my wife. The home phone number was correct. And it was right about the time she would have returned to the house. I answered the phone with the usual affectionate name I call her since we've been married (and I added the new affectionate term she gave me permission to use at the truck stop for good measure. And no, I will not share either affectionate term with you the reader!). I was rather stunned after my greeting to hear my son say in monotones something to the effect that her sister hit her in the face. In other words, he ignored everything I said (my affectionate greetings to my wife), said "Hi dad", and then and proceeded methodically give me the facts of his injustice. I got two words in and the phone died (Note to Sprint: Increase your coverage areas!). Then I started laughing out loud. That was the first time my son (6-years old) called me (he got the number from his sister--the same one who hit him in the face; I'm still trying to figure out the logic in that--"Ow, that hurt. By the way, give me dad's cell phone number so I can tattletale on you."). A couple of seconds later he called back and said matter-of-factly "the phone died" and then our conversation resumed and eventually I got the story by both siblings on what had transpired.
Well it turned out that they were having a fight and punches (more likely light taps) were flying. I sort of straightened that out over the phone and said my good-bye to the kids. Then a few minutes later, our upstairs tenant called to say that my wife was stuck in a traffic jam on the freeway due to a bad accident. Yikes--if she had left 5-10 minutes earlier from the restaurant, she may have been involved in the accident. Later on, we both had a good chuckle as I related the way our son had called and talked to me.
While fueling in Marshfield, I put a gallon of oil s-l-o-w-l-y in the truck. Since I had forgotten to put a gallon of oil that I carry in the outside storage compartment of the truck on the inside of the cab (to keep it warm and pourable), the oil drained very s-l-o-w-l-y down the funnel. I even started the truck in the hopes that the vibration would speed the oil down the funnel (it did a little). After about 15-minutes I decided that 3/4's of a gallon was good enough and then parked the truck for the evening.
Well, delivery of the current load will be tomorrow morning in town. The delivery instructions on my QualComm unit said that drivers should be on their best behavior since the unloading may go slowly. Hmm...I'd like to think that us drivers are always on their best behavior. Apparently not. At any rate, this driver will be on his best behavior for tomorrow's unload. Actually, my curiosity is kindled--how slow can this company go in unloading the truck? At what point will my good behavior be tested and tempted to erode? For those answers and more, stay tuned in tomorrow (or whenever I get access to a Wi-Fi connection!).
miles driven = 131
9:42:08 PM
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