Where Have I Been

Welcome to Louisiana

Lake Charles LA

Someone having a VERY bad day in Palestine TX










Inpending storm in Corsicana, TX

downtown Nashville TN










Jack Daniels sign on I-65











Bulldozer graveyard on the TN/AL border on I-65:











Somebody getting funky in Chunky (Alabama)? :)











downtown Jackson, MS











Pittsboro IN, the hometown of Jeff Gordon













Willie's Place in Waxahachie TX:











Welcome sign on the north side of Laredo TX on I-35 (in Spanish)











Laredo Operating Center




















Downtown Dallas TX

J-Dawg

20 Questions - June 22, 2009

1. What is your favorite physical characteristic in the opposite sex?

I would say her smile. From there, how her eyes sparkle when she smiles. :)

2. What is the first TV show you remember watching as a child?

Romper Room – AND, it was filmed in Baltimore MD!

3. What is your favorite quotable line from a movie?

((knocking on the outside window))
HEY – DO YOU LIKE APPLES???
((guy who he scuffled with at bar see him thru window))
Yeah, I like apples
((Will takes Skylar’s number she wrote on a napkin and slams it on the window for him to see))
WELL I GOT HER NUMBER!!! How you like DEM APPLES??!!!!

~Good Will Hunting, 1997

4. What is your favorite kind of sandwich?

DAGWOOD!!!!

5. How old were you when you got your first kiss?

14, I can even tell you when and where (HI DEB!)

6. I don't understand:

Why people ASSUME in an accusatory tone, THEN ask questions!! We all know what the words ASSUME spells!

7. Your opinion about love at first sight:

It can happen, just not to me! :)

8. How does it make you feel when you hear people argue?

GET a room! I don’t need to hear your sh!t

9. Have you ever fallen for someone who turned out to be nothing like they seemed?

If I have to REALLY answer this question, I will just point you to my archives!

10. Do you mind sharing the food that is on your plate with someone?

Not at all :) Ask though, don’t just TAKE!

11. Somewhere, somebody is asking him- or herself whatever happened to you. Who is it?

I would hope it would be Jenny Arnold - its ashame we drifted apart and havent talked in almost 15 years...and I dont even know why

12. How did your car get that little scratch/dent?

I hit my work bench in my garage with it – not paying attention and scraped my fender extenders

13. Would you rather get up early or sleep in?

If the Lord would have wanted me to see a sunrise, he would have made it for noon!

14. Last person to leave you a comment?

My dad (via email since he doesn’t have a blogger acct). Thanks Dad :)

15. Who out of your friends has the next birthday coming up?

Jerrod at the end of the week

16. What is your favorite Disney movie?

If Pixar counts, then it has to be Madagascar

17. In what position do you sleep?

((so glad I read the ENTIRE question LOL)) on one of my sides

18. How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning?

Anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour

19. What do you have for a ring tone?

For the general public, I have The Soprano’s theme (although I can change it to any one of about 30 MP3s I have on my new phone!), for Rick I have Its Tricky, for the kids I have “I LIKE TO MOVE IT” from Madagascar, for Val I have Sarah McLachlan, and for my truck driver friends, I have the “Smokey and the Bandit” theme

20. What scent is the air freshener in your bathroom?

Does FEBREEZE count?

J-Dawg

Fathers Day 2009

First of all, I want to wish all the dads of the world, that they had a wonderful Father's Day with their families.

The kids and I went up to Door County for the day, which is the little thumb of Wisconsin just NE of Green Bay. This is a real "touristy" area for all the Chicago-land people, lots of little shops and things. We started out our odyssey at Wilson's in Ephraim. This is a little ice cream shop that has some really great comfort foods as well. They make all their own ice cream. Its a really nice place to grab something to eat.

We then went over to Pirate's Cove to play miniature golf. This is a really neat place to play. It is set up like a pirate ship, then you have to cross thru the waterfall tunnel to play...the kids had a blast!!

We then went over to Bailey's Harbor so the kids could throw rocks in the water...this seems to be a regular activity for them when we go up there! I think they like the "SPLOOOOOSH!" the rocks make when they hit the water :)

We then made our way down the shoreline to Algoma, where we all played in the sandy beach area before we packed up and headed for home. All in all, it was a great day with the kids and I certainly enjoyed my Father's Day weekend with them!



This last picture is from Ephraim pointing west across Eagle Harbor towards the bay of Green Bay. It was 77 and B-E-A-utiful on Sunday!!

J-Dawg

Bottle of Wine

You are probably thinking why I would write about a bottle of wine, but it really isnt about that bottle (actually 3 by the end of the night) at all...it is what came about AFTER the wine.

I had to have a very difficult conversation (two actually) in which in the conversation came up the topic of SELF WORTH.

Unfortunately the subject of the conversations wasnt the other person - no, it was me. My divorce took alot out of me emotionally, physically, mentally, monetarily, etc.

So how did we get on the subject of self worth? Simple really...both people know me very well, in fact one of the two is the person I was seeing for almost a year after my divorce was finalized. Her and I have known each other for about 8 or 9 years, but we never met until 2007...we worked together in separate offices for the same company. When you talk to people day in and day out, you get to know alot about them, and you get the feeling of a connection with that person. When they tell you about their parents or their kids, you feel like you were there when they share what happened. When their spouse is injured you are concerned for their well being, as if it were a relative of your own. Maybe for the longest time, I have put the value of who I am as a person in the wrong places. Tonight, I am still not clear on what self worth means to me. Does it mean that I make someone happy? Does it mean I help someone out? What does it all mean?

For the longest time, I tried to live up to expectations that I had in my head. I thought for the longest time that I was letting my father down. I still havently completely gotten over this one, because there are days when I feel I have let him down. Being a father myself, you hope that your kids do better than you did. How do you look your own father in the face and say "Dad, I'm sorry for what I have become" You always want better for your kids, and all I can hope and pray for is that my kids, are better than me. I am not happy with where I am in my life. I know some of it was out of my control, but I also know, that some of it was. How do you think it feels to have to tell your own dad that you have been let go from your job (all be it, economic cutbacks but still)? How do you think it feels knowing that this might be the best it ever gets?

I spent how much money getting an IT degree, only to STILL not be doing anything with it. I have had to go back to driving to pay bills. I turned to drinking wine to drown out my sorrows and my pains...not very smart especially since I havent eaten today. REALLY not smart since I have consumed two full bottles of wine, and tapped open a 3rd.

I've been told I read too much into things too...maybe that comes from my overly-analytical mind. I think (and overthink) things to the point of exhaustion. Maybe it is the fear of being alone. Sometimes I base my self worth on being with someone. If I am not with someone, I must not be worth anything. Funny thing is, they are right. That is exactly how I have been thinking. The fear of being alone has consumed my self worth. Just like work consumed my entire life to the point where my life revolved around one building.

I look around sometimes, and I dont know if it is jealousy, or if it is more like the old phrase "keeping up with the Jones's" but I look at my life, and I look at the lives that others have, and I wonder where did I go so wrong? Materialistic things dont bother me. I dont need to drive a Hummer or Mercedes Benz. I dont need a 7 bedroom mansion. That's not me at all. I dont have to have the nicest house on the block, or be on the next episode of CRIBS to know where I am with my life. I never expected life to be easy, but I also never expected it to be this hard either. This roller-coaster of a ride seems to be getting bigger hills to climb and bigger decents to tackle.

I was told self worth has to come from within. Right now, I dont know where to start. Looks like a pretty big pile of stuff to go thru.

J-Dawg

My Birthday...and other things

Hey everyone!

May 21st, I celebrated my 9th anniversary of my 29th birthday -- and let me just say, I had fun that night! I went to a place called the Santa Fe Cattle Company. It was in the same parking lot as the Wal Mart Super Center where I was stopping for the night in Jenks OK. I enjoyed a nice rib eye with mushrooms, beans and rice, and cole slaw. It was a great atmosphere, and great dinner.



Since my last post, I have been to Chicago, then to Cincinnati, then to Indianapolis, then Terre Haute IN, then Jenks OK, then Dallas, then Alachua FL, then Albany GA, and now, I am in West Memphis AR at our operating center waiting to deliver my load this evening. I am already on a pre (next load assignment) for tomorrow to pickup in Jackon TN and head to Carol Stream (Chicago-land) IL...and hopefully from there, to Green Bay to go home for my daughter's dance recital. So I am happy to be heading in the right direction :)



Life is going very well for me...wish I were doing something OTHER than driving, but I am enjoying it while I can - I wish I were doing something with my IT degree, but Green Bay isnt the IT capital of the world...but I am confident I will be off the road by end of year (I hope to be anyway)...we shall see what happens. Hope all is well for everyone!

J-Dawg

2000 visitors

I never thought I could get 20 people to read what I write, let alone 2000! Sometime since I last posted, I have cleared the 2000 visitor plateau :) I know it is nothing like Dawn over at Thoughts From Along the Broken Road and her 2.8 million visitors LOL (ok, maybe just SLIGHTLY exaggerated) but I am happy to get to 2000.

I am home from another 2 weeks on the road. I was able to get some pretty decent pictures while I was out there...I will post them at the bottom. In this last trip, I went to Atlanta GA, Beech Island SC, Columbus OH, St Louis MO (3 times!), Neelys Landing MO, Indianapolis, Chicago, and the bustling metropolis of Tomah, WI, then home. Tomah is actually a nice little town!

RAIN and WIND were the two major components for this trip. I came out to 2 straight days of rain and wind (torrential downpours in TN and Atlanta) then the wind again from Columbus to St Louis, then the rain, and it rained....and it rained...and finally I ran out of it...then 2 days ago, the wind and rain returned on my drive from Chicago to St Louis...and it was fierce! I somehow missed the tornados in and around Missouri.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I will touch base before I head back out again!

The Arch, St Louis MO:



Driving above the fog near Wytheville, VA:








As I was sitting at a rest area, I came across this unique setup:




This is a field full of yellow flowers:




Chicago skyline (sitting in downtown traffic - YAY!)




Sunrise, then sunset, in Indiana on the same day:






Enjoy
J-Dawg

The Last 2 Weeks

Internet access apparently is harder to come by than I thought. I got my new truck charger while I was home last time. So when I DO get internet access I will update a little more often.

These first couple of pictures are of a place called "The Caves" in Independence MO -- There are over 75 businesses who have their docks INSIDE a mountain. Here are some of the pictures from inside:
































Then here are a couple from PA ... I just realized that I really didnt take many pictures this time out...will have to do better next time!







Hope you all have a great week - Until next time!

J-Dawg