Area 51 Alien Center

          OMG I finally made it!  For five years, I’ve wanted a load that would take me up US 95 in Nevada from Las Vegas to Reno so I could go to THIS truck stop.  Last week, I finally got one.  (Thank you, Joey!)

          I don’t know if I believe in the existence of alien life.  I don’t know if I believe that aliens have landed on our planet and the government is denying it.  What I do believe in is the possibility.  For me, the idea of aliens is fun to think and speculate about, but I don’t believe I will have definite answers in my lifetime. 

          I’m a Trekkie.  My two favorite Star Trek episodes are the Next Generation episode where people from the 20^th Century are found cryogenically frozen and brought back to a state of consciousness where they find out they’re hundreds of years in the future and having to adjust, and the Next Generation movie, First Contact, where the crew goes back in time to when the Vulcans first made contact with the inhabitants of Earth.  (Told you I was a nerd!)

          Star Trek and portrayed aliens as mostly friendly, whereas most other movies portrayed aliens as aggressors.  I like friendly aliens better.

          A local resident was nice enough to indulge me and take this picture.  I talked to him for a few minutes and he told me he does this for travelers all the time.  I was there less than an hour, but I had a blast.

          What do you think about aliens?  Have they been here?  Are they here now, walking among us and we just don’t know it?  Am I a loon?

The Parking Problem

           

              I don’t know if the e-log mandate will ever prove to make us safer drivers, but if nothing else, it sure has shone a big spotlight on problems that most of us already knew existed.

          Parking is one of those problems.  I’ve been hearing for years about a driver shortage, but it sure doesn’t look like it at 7:00 at night when you’ve got ten trucks circling a parking lot and there are only three open spaces.

          I told my brother last week that if I’m parking after 7:00 pm, I’m more likely to head straight to a rest area than bother being one of those ten trucks.  I never used to go into a rest area after dark for safety reasons.  After being a local driver for over 2 years, he got to see what I was talking about when he filled in for a 3-day run that had him away from home last week. 

          It doesn’t help that the 5 major truck stops are owned by 3 companies that have made it nearly impossible for the smaller chains and independent truck stops to complete.  They’re slowly ceasing to exist, taking precious parking spaces with them.

          It also doesn’t help that so many truck drivers trash a parking lot and ruin it for the rest of us.  The parking lot of the old Pilot in Winslow has been available for us to park in for years, conveniently located right next door to a Wal-Mart.  I’ve bought more allergy medicine in that Wal-Mart than I have at home.  A few months ago, barriers were put up - keeping the trucks out.  I heard that the owner got tired of getting fined for trash on the ground and decided to close it off.  Thanks guys.

          States are closing rest areas due to lack of funding.  Exit ramps are lined with trucks that ran out of hours with no safe parking available.  I’ve never been one to park at the truck stops around the yard, my thoughts being I’d rather leave those spots for the drivers who aren’t less than 2 miles from their terminal. 

I don’t know what the answer is.  Sure, like everyone else, I’ve got some ideas, but no one is asking me.  For now, all we can do is the best we can do.

Holy Cow, It's Cold!

          I didn’t realize how lucky I’ve been the past month until last Tuesday.  I skirted the cold front that came through over Christmas.  Then last week when another one came down, I was bouncing back and forth between Phoenix and Dallas on I-10/20.  Last Saturday I was running the A/C.

          My luck ran out on Monday when I was dispatched on a load out of the Dallas area to Northeast Indiana.  Holy cow, I didn’t realize it’s been so cold.  I mean… I know it has been because I’ve been hearing about it, but I haven’t had to deal with it, so it didn’t really sink in.         

          Tuesday night it was cold enough that I was able to idle the truck.  Our trucks will idle if the temperature is below 10 or above 100. 

          As long as we’re talking about cold weather… are you remembering to put Power Service in the reefer tank?  I worry about that more than I do the truck because the truck has tank heaters, but the reefer doesn’t.  When I was headed towards Dallas last weekend, I put PS in the reefer and topped it off because I knew it has been cold and I didn’t know what I was doing after Dallas.  Just trying to think ahead… makes life so much easier. 

My New Co-driver

                Last week I got a new co-driver from Tiny Tails Small Dog Rescue in OKC.  He is a pocket dog; I swear I have cooked chickens bigger than this dog.  He might weigh 6 lbs.

          I took this picture about 15 minutes after I got him.  He wasn’t quite sure what to make of this crazy lady who had just kidnapped him.  He came to the Rescue from the streets last summer.  Within a few hours, he decided I was okay.

          The lady running the rescue called him Bert… but I decided I can’t have a Bert without an Ernie, so I decided to call him Nacho, which was Bobby’s CB handle.  I figured it was appropriate… they were both little, old, feisty, Mexican guys.  Over the past 24 hours though, I have taken to calling him Einstein… after the genius peed on his own foot.  At least it wasn’t my foot, right?

          I guess he’s decided I’m a pretty okay mom.  We’ve been together for a week now.  He finally believes that when I leave the truck, I WILL come back.  He lost the battle over whether he should be allowed anywhere near the driver’s seat while the truck is moving.  We compromise about me sharing a bite of my food.  I’ve always had mixed emotions about having a dog in the truck, but it seems to be working out really well.  

Get Off Your Butt!

                About a year ago, I wrote a post about the challenges of living healthy on the road.  In the past year it has not gotten any easier, but I don’t think it’s gotten any harder, either.  I think the hardest part about living healthy on the road is overcoming my own complacency.  What’s easy to do is easy to not do. 

I’m not going to keel over today if I choose to spend my 30-minute break on Facebook as opposed to getting off my posterior and taking a couple of laps around the parking lot, but 10 years of sitting for those 30 minutes instead of getting some type of exercise will add up to obesity and metabolic syndrome, two conditions we can correct with some effort.

          Who loves you?  I have a hard time believing that there is even one of us who can’t think of at least one person who loves us.  When we neglect our health, we’re sending the message that we don’t care about the people who love us.  I heard Jim Rohn say “I will take care of myself for you and you take care of yourself for me.”

          I challenge you to take a few minutes today and ask yourself… who would be affected if I died today and how?  If I died today, no one would be affected by the loss of my income, but many would be by the mere loss of my presence… my kids, siblings, granddaughter, my friends… people would notice my absence and I’m willing to bet there are a lot of people who would notice your absence as well.

          Please, give this some serious thought and decide if the people you love - who love you, too – are worth getting off your butt for 30 minutes a day.

Off the Beaten Path

          I really love it when I get to get off the beaten path and go through the small towns.  Today was one of those days.  I went from Lawton to Elk City (OK) and there is no interstate connecting the two.

          To me, Smalltown America is still Real America.  There are still store fronts and brick roads, old theatres and diners.  I love seeing how the small towns decorate for various holidays. 

          The stretches between the small towns are dotted with farms or ranches.  I can’t seem to go fifty miles without finding an abandoned, run down farm that I imagine in its former glory and think about how cool it would be to buy and restore.

          I’m always glad to get “back to the big road,” where I can make better time, but it’s still nice to be able to get out on the smaller roads, slow down a bit and see what there is to see.  

People Are People

                I was walking into the TA in Barstow Saturday night when a gentleman sitting on the curb - with what I assume was all his worldly possessions in a backpack - asked me for a cigarette.  I was on my way to work out, so I didn’t have any with me and told him that.  When I came back from working out he was gone, but when I came out from my shower he was back.  I deposited my shower bag in the truck, grabbed my smokes and went over to him.

                I sat on the curb with him for about 30 minutes just having a normal conversation.  His name was Jacob and he had hitch-hiked from Oklahoma to California with a plan of doing construction work down in San Diego.  He’d been talking to someone on the internet and was told he would have work if he got there.  He told me that this was the 4^th time he had crossed the country hitch-hiking and told me of some of the more interesting things that have happened to him in his travels.  I asked him if he’d ever considered writing a collection of these stories and getting them published.  We talked about our kids, work, my upcoming vacation and our faith.  (He is a Christian, too.)  I gave him the rest of my pack of cigarettes and bought him a shower with loyalty points and then I had to get to bed.

                If you’re a Christian, you’ll understand what I mean when I say, “I felt like God wanted me to just go sit and talk with him.”  It was the type of normal conversation I’ve probably had 100 times with various friends.  He never asked me for anything but a cigarette.  I never felt unsafe; we were out in public in a well-lit area.

                I’ve thought about that conversation a few times over the past week.  There was nothing profound said, and probably nothing particularly important.  I didn’t do anything great.  I just had a conversation with a stranger.  What was important to me was just following my instincts and doing what I felt I was supposed to do.  I’ve also been thinking about some things that have been going on around the country that show us to be horribly divided; i.e. the Charlottesville riots a few weeks ago.  But, also the images coming from Texas of people coming together to help random strangers after Hurricane Harvey.

                It costs nothing to be nice to someone, but taking the time to do so changes the world… even if it only changes the world for that one person.

The Seven Day Water Challenge

          Recently, I came across an article on Facebook titled “I Drank Nothing but Water for Seven Days and This Is What It Did to My Body.”  I was intrigued because I know I need to drink more water, so I clicked on it.  There’s 10 minutes of my life I wish I could get back.  I was hoping for something profound, but what I found was an opportunity for a narcissist to show off a dozen creepy selfies with her water bottle.  The great epiphany?  The author had caffeine withdrawal headaches for a few days and spent more time in the bathroom.  Seriously?  I would love to see this girl on “Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader?”

          I decided to take my own 7-day challenge.  My sub goal was to drink the recommended amount of water for me.  Body weight divided by 2 = the number of ounces of water daily.  150 lbs = 75 ounces.  I’ve also heard that anything non-carbonated and non-caffeinated (milk; juice) counts towards water consumption.

          Days 1, 2 and 7 I did not hit my ounce goal.  On day 5 I caved and had a diet soda; day 7 I caved and had an energy drink.  I had 1 bottle of milk, no juice.

          So, what happened?

    1.   I lost 3 pounds.  Woohoo!

    2.   Being properly hydrated, I didn’t experience the nosebleeds I usually do from the lack of humidity in the Rocky Mountains.

    3.   My sock line was noticeably reduced. (Drinking carbonated drinks causes water retention and usually at night I have sock lines from my legs swelling.)

    4.   Without the rollercoaster of spike/crash from energy drinks, my energy level was consistent throughout the day and I slept better.

          Moral of the story?  Drink more water, my peeps!  You’ll feel better.  No great epiphanies here either, but at least there’s no creepy selfies!

Graduation Day

Yes, this really is me in a dress.

          I am a proud little sister this week!  Out of five kids, my sister Margaret is the only one of us to have a college degree.  The rest of us have done other things (i.e. truck driving school) but Margaret is the only one with a diploma from a university.  Both of our parents have passed and there have been plenty of times in my life where I have thought “I’m really glad they’re not here to see how badly I’ve screwed this up.” Sunday afternoon when I watched Margaret walk across that stage I was thinking “I wish Mom and Dad were here to see this.”

          I asked Margaret if she would mind if I posted about this here after I realized a second blessing this weekend – being able to go there in my Freymiller truck.  My second summer here, I got disgruntled and started calling other companies.  One of the things I was asking when I made those calls was about time off… can I take time off wherever I want? More than one company told me no, I could only take time off at “home.”

          One of my favorite things about Freymiller is I can take time off wherever I want... within reason, they have to be able to get a load that goes there.  I have taken time off in Indiana, Alabama, North Carolina and even Wyoming.  I’ve been able to spend holidays with different family members, made it to my sister’s graduation and got to see one of my best friends get married - without having to fly or drive my own car to do it.  This takes a great burden off me not to have to take extra time off and incur the expense of travel.  I admit that this is a major benefit for me because I’m cheap, I hate flying and driving long distances in a car.  I don't think I need to mention how much more comfortable the ride is in a Kenworth 660 than a Pontiac Sunfire either.

Elk City Tornado

·         Picture courtesy of and used by permission of OKIE Livin

·         https://www.facebook.com/okielivin/

          Tuesday evening I was down in Elk City, OK to pick up a load when the tornado sirens went off.  When I left OKC about 4:00, I assumed a quick trip down, drop and hook, straight back and home by 9:00.  You know what they say about assuming, right?

          News9 reported 1 confirmed fatality and at least 100 structures damaged with more than 50 destroyed.  The tornado has been estimated to be an EF2.  I’ve lived most of my life in the Midwest, so while this isn’t my first experience with a tornado, it is the closest I’ve come to seeing one.  I think I was about 5 miles from the path of the tornado, but I’m not familiar enough with Elk City to say for sure.

          I was sitting in the storm shelter with warehouse employees, office employees and other drivers - listening to them chatter - but staying mostly quiet.  I was praying for the safety of people who didn’t have the luxury of a storm shelter when I had the strangest thought.  “God, you know how I feel about moving into a truck, I need you to keep her on her wheels out there.”  I wasn’t concerned about my safety; one of the office people had made the statement that the shelter was built to withstand 300 mph winds.  I was more concerned about my truck.  My concern doubled when I remembered that my phone was sitting on the dash.

          By the time all the excitement was over and I got out of there; I had been there for almost 4 hours.  I didn’t get home until after midnight, undamaged but exhausted.  I’m certainly not looking forward to a repeat performance.

          Many prayers are going up for the victims of the tornado in Elk City and for the safety of all those who live in tornado prone regions.

Random Acts of Kindness

          On her internationally known talk show, Oprah Winfrey declared Feb 15^th 1994 “Random Acts of Kindness Day.”  This sparked a movement that quickly blew across the country, probably the world.  A follow-up show highlighted some of the ways people took action to show kindness to others, mostly strangers.

          In 2006, John Mayer had a hit single titled “Waiting on the World to Change.” Note: I hate that song.  I have always hated that song.  The first time I heard that song I thought “Why don’t you get off your butt and be the change you want to see in the world?”

On Day 13 of Purpose Driven Life, John Warren describes different ways people worship God.  When I read the words “Activists love God through confronting evil, battling injustice, and working to make the world a better place.” I thought “Yes! That’s me!”

It costs little to nothing to show kindness to someone.  The other morning I was in line at a truckstop to pay for a few things when a man came in the door, carrying a plastic bag with things he’d already purchased.  He grabbed two bananas and got in line behind me, making the comment “I knew I was forgetting something.”  When it was my turn to be rung up, I asked the man “is that all you forgot?”  He said yes, so I told the cashier to ring his bananas up with my stuff.  She looked surprised and he said, “you don’t have to do that.”  I said, “well I know that, but I want to.”  After a little back and forth, I paid for his bananas and we both went on our way.

That little interaction cost me $1.50, whoopee.  I recovered that before I drove to the other side of Tucson.  My hope is that my small act of kindness set the tone for his day.  I also hope it sparked him to do something nice for someone else.

There is so much discussion about how bad the world is getting, how we long for the “good old days” when people treated each other with kindness and respect.  Can we be the change we want to see in the world?  I admit, there is a lack of consideration in our society today, but that will never stop me from being nice to people.  This is just who I am.  I certainly don’t have the influence that Oprah Winfrey has.  I will probably never start a global movement, but I will always work to make my little corner of the world a better place.

Will you join me and look for some opportunities to commit some Random Acts of Kindness this week?

truckersfinalmile.org

                When Bobby passed away in February one of the concerns his family expressed was how they were going to get him from Washington, back home to California.  I told his father that there were organizations set up to help families of truck drivers in times like this and I would do some digging around and call him back with some information.  I called back about an hour later with the name and phone number for truckersfinalmile.org

          I want you to know about this for two reasons:

    1.   If you’re reading my blog, you’re probably either a truck driver or you know one and I want you to know about this resource if you ever find yourself in the same type of situation as Bobby and his family were in.

    2.   This organization runs primarily on individual donations.  It needs our support and I’m not too shy to ask you to help me support it.  Any amount…  $10, $25, $50 or more, combined with the donations of others makes a difference in the life of grieving families.

Three different family members of Bobby’s called me and thanked me for giving them the contact information for truckersfinalmile.org.  This organization is literally answered prayer for families in grief without the financial resources to bring their loved one home.

There are several organizations that have been created to help truck drivers in crisis, but after losing Bobby and knowing what his family was going through, this one is heavy on my heart.  I have a real passion for getting the word out about truckersfinalmile.org

I hope you will help me get the word out about this worthy organization.

Mt Shasta

          Is that not about the most beautiful scene you’ve ever seen in your whole, entire life?  I’m about 30 miles from the California/Oregon state line on I-5 tonight and this is the view from my office/efficiency apartment.  This picture would make an awesome jigsaw puzzle!

          It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve been up this way.  Freymiller’s freight lanes are changing, growing.  If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be heading up to Portland out of Los Angeles I would have laughed you right out of the truck.  I expected to load going back east yesterday, but instead I’m going north.  How cool is that?

          Another cool aspect about this load… I get to see a woman I trained back in 2013 who has since gotten a local driving job so she could be closer to her family.  I’m looking forward to that visit.  I haven’t seen her in about 2.5 years.

          Little piece of useless trivia for you… it’s almost as far North to South in California as it is East to West in Texas.  797 miles up I-5, 879 miles across I-10.  There, you learned something today!  

Time management? Me Management!

                I’m disgusted with myself this week.  I pride myself on being detail-oriented.  It makes me a better driver; not better than anyone else, just better than I used to be.  It never fails though; every time I go thinking I’m better than I am, God shows me the error of my ways.

                I picked up a multi-stop load last Thursday in California that finaled out in Illinois on Monday.  I thought I had enough time to make it but I miscalculated.  I thought I would start picking up hours Sunday night at midnight but I didn’t start picking up hours until Monday night.  I was 4 hours away from the last stop when I realized I only had 3 hours left on my 70.  I sent a message in to dispatch and thankfully there was another driver coming south who could swap out with me in time so that the appointment could still be made.  After the swap was done, I sent in another message apologizing for the screw up.  Clyde didn’t sound angry with me.  In fact, when I first spoke with him, he laughed at me.  I think it was because I was being so hard on myself and because this isn’t the type of thing I do very often.  I’m pretty sure this is only the 3^rd time I’ve done something like this and the other times were early in my Freymiller career when I was still trying to figure out the HOS rules that had changed since my last driving job.

                I know exactly what I did wrong.  While I tried to blame the fact that I had routed myself to the 1^st stop so I didn’t have the exact calculations to the final and then I tried to blame the fact that I’d had the cruise set at 63… facts are facts.  What really happened is I rushed and assumed.  I rushed through the calculations and assumed I would be fine.  Rushing and assuming almost always gets me in trouble.

                Trust me, no one knows better than I that I am not perfect.  I’ve never striven for perfection but I do strive for excellence.  This week, I was definitely less than excellent.  I cannot manage time.  I can only manage the way I behave in any given amount of time.  I think it’s still safe to say I haven’t arrived yet.

I'm Going Where?

                At some point during their training, almost every trainee has told me that I am either a walking atlas or a walking truck stop guide.  Comes with the territory, I guess.  I’d be more concerned if I didn’t know where to go - or how to get there - after being out here so long.

          There are 47,856 miles of Interstate Highway in the United States.  I have traveled most of them. Even Hawaii and Alaska have Interstate Highways, which makes no sense to me because by definition the highways cannot be Interstate, but would be Intrastate.

          I was pleasantly surprised last week when I was dispatched on a load that included a stop in Corpus Christi, TX.  I’d never been to Corpus Christi before, in fact, I’ve never been anywhere near it so I had to look it up just to find out where it was.  I looked it up on my phone and then had to zoom it out a few times to find out what Interstate went to it.  It’s at the south end of I-37, in case you were wondering.  I didn’t even know there was an I-37 until last Friday.  I’m a beach junkie so going near the water is always good for me.

          The load itself wasn’t much to get excited about, pay wise.  1,748 miles, 5 drops, 6 days.  My checking account isn’t going to be impressed next Friday, but that’s okay.  To me, it’s not all about the miles.  Yes, miles are important.  I’ve grown rather fond of eating and living indoors, but sometimes, it’s something completely different that makes a load a good one in my mind.  I get excited when I get to go somewhere new, or somewhere I can do something fun… like send live lobsters to my brother or drive over the Hoover Dam.  It keeps it interesting.  

Route 66

Several times a month I pass this site.  It’s not something I give a lot of thought, but every time I pass it I start singing Natalie Cole… get your kicks…

          I think I take for granted the rich history of Route 66 because I pass so many of the “Historic Route 66” signs in my daily life.  From just outside of Chicago all the way to Los Angeles I see those signs.  I pass Route 66 museums and at most stops along the way, memorabilia is available for purchase.

          Two of my aunts, along with their families, traveled that road to move out west and start new lives.  I wish I’d had the foresight when they were still alive to ask them about their journeys.

          People travel from all around the world to take the journey, mostly on Interstate highways that have replaced the “Mother Road” but in spots you can still drive on the original road.

          When I stopped to take these pictures, I had a “Whoa!” moment when I thought about where I was standing.  I was standing where countless numbers of people drove to follow their dreams and start a new life.  Times were good, times were bad, dreams were both crushed and realized along the way.  It makes me very aware of what a small part of a much bigger picture I am.

Cash For Cans

                In California, a $0.05 deposit is charged on beverage containers; i.e. aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles.  The idea is obviously to encourage recycling.  When someone takes these items to a recycling center, they get the nickels back. 

                Almost every time I stop in Barstow, CA, one of the local residents is digging through the trash cans on the fuel islands looking for cans and bottles to take in to the recycling center.  I admire the people doing this for two reasons:

    1.       It’s hot in Barstow… All. The. Time.

    2.       Digging through trash sucks.

        I really do admire the people doing this.  In truck stops and on street corners all around the country we see people panhandling, but these people are out earning money.  No, it isn’t glamorous.  I can’t imagine it’s very lucrative.  (I can tell you from when we lived out there, a lawn & leaf sized trash bag full of crushed cans will get you about $28.)  But, they’re DOING SOMETHING, not just looking for handouts.

        This really strikes a chord with me because when I lost my house in 2012, I had choices to make.  I didn’t choose to go squat on someone’s couch, I didn’t go get two cardboard boxes (one to sleep in and one to make a sign with.)  I went to work at a job that also afforded me somewhere to sleep.  I’m a hardcore conservative Libertarian, so this is a big deal to me, but that’s all I’m going to say about politics.

        I was thinking about it on my way back from my last CA run and the fact that I drive all over this country throwing away cans and bottles.  I decided to do something about it; I decided I could reduce my environmental footprint and help people who are showing initiative at the same time.  So… now I’m saving my aluminum cans.  I go through more cans than bottles, but decided I can’t save everything without making it look like a landfill in the truck.  I crush the cans and put them in a plastic shopping bag.  Right now I have one full – tied off and in the sidebox – and I’m working on filling a second.  I’m hoping to get back out there before I get a third filled.

        So who is with me?  I would love to see more drivers doing this.  You’ll never see me chained to a 600-year-old tree that some corporation wants to tear down, but I do believe in doing my part to take care of the little piece of the planet that God has blessed me with; and while you also won’t see me doing things for people that they can and should be doing for themselves, you will regularly see me helping people who are putting forth effort to take care of themselves and/or change their lives.

        So who is with me?

Thelma and Louise

                One of my favorite things about not working in a cubicle is the fun stuff I get to do out on the road.  A couple of years ago, after a trip to Maine I asked my sister-in-law what she would do if I sent her a live lobster.  She said she would give it to my brother (her husband.)  I asked him what he would do with it and he told me he would hypnotize it.  I wasn’t even sure what that meant.  

                For months I’ve been saying I needed to get a load to Maine so I could send a lobster to them.  This past weekend it finally happened.  As soon as we got empty, I directed my trainee to drive to the Turnpike Service Area where they sell live lobsters you can buy and have shipped all over the country.

                Thelma and Louise will arrive in Indiana on the 28th.  No, I’m not so cheap that I would expect my brother and sister-in-law to split a lobster tail; I sent two.  I had to call my brother to find out when would be a good time for him to receive them because you have to cook them the day you get them.  I learned that they take the lobsters out of water and overnight ship them in dry ice, so when they arrive, they’re barely still alive.  Poor lobsters.  I felt kind of bad, but I’d already paid so they were going whether I liked the methods or not.

                I did ask my brother “how do you plan to hypnotize these lobsters?”  His answer?  “I’m going to stand them on their heads… in a pot of boiling water.”  He’s a great cook, I’m almost sad I’m going to miss this meal.

Greetings From Colorful Colorado

     I cannot tell you how glad I am to see sunshine!  Last week I felt like John from the Lil' Abner cartoon with a storm cloud hovering over me.  Every.  Where.  I.  Went.  It started when I was leaving Chicago.  The rain followed me out to Davenport, IA; back to Cleveland, OH; down to Wheeling, WV; up to Scranton, PA; down to Allentown, PA; out to Edison, NJ; back up by Scranton; down to Harrisburg, PA and finally out to Indianapolis, IN.  From 4:00 Monday afternoon until noon Saturday, I was in almost non-stop rain.  I got a few 3-4 hour breaks during that time, but that was it.  Oy Vey!  I wouldn't last a week in Oregon.

     It's rare for me to complain about wet weather.  In 2006, I was living in Casper, WY when a lightning strike started a wild fire up on Casper Mountain.  I watched from my front windows as the fire made its way down the front of the mountain towards the city, wondering if we would get the order to evacuate and if so, where would we go?  Ash fell like snow, the whole city smelled like a camp fire and wildlife walked the city streets as the fire chased them down off the mountain.  Scary times.  Thankfully, they got the fire under control before an evacuation order became necessary.

     That experience changed me.  I used to whine about rain or snow if it lasted more than a day or two.  Not anymore.  Now my philosophy is: the more it snows in the winter and rains in the spring, the less it burns in the summer.  Sure, sometimes snow or rain effects my ability to do my job efficiently, but I can live with that.  I appreciate the wet weather now; but I was just as appreciative of the sun when I finally saw it again.