August 31, 2009
I made it back to Asheville, NC today. It was a long journey. Today on my flight from Denver to Charlotte the guy sitting next to me kept "spilling" over into my seat. I guess I should have read the fine print that said I was paying for only half of a seat and not a whole one :). It did get annoying and I really don't like strangers touching me that much so the window became my friend...I was sitting very close to it the whole 3 hour flight. We were just about to land in Asheville when the plane suddenly pulled up and the first thought that came to my mind was "NO"! Well, I can't do anything about it but pulling up means we have to fly around the airport and do another approach. I guess ATC had us coming in to close to a "heavy" (747 or similar). It added about 15 to 20 minutes onto our already delayed flight because the GPS had to be reset back in Denver after we all boarded. The flight from Charlotte to Asheville was a quick 20 minute hop and the guy next to me on this flight decided that he was going to fan me with his papers every time he turned a page in his magazine...what a treat (not really). We got our bags and went out to get a taxi since the truck is still in the shop. The taxi guy said it was a really slow day and he had been sitting there since 2:00pm (it was now 6:15pm) so he was glad to see us and glad that we needed a ride. I hope to get the truck back tomorrow.
August 31, 2009
August 26, 2009
Blue Ridge Parkway
August 26, 2009
This morning I took the truck to an alternator shop (basically the only one in town). I pulled up to the place and wasn't sure what to expect. It was on a small side street and the building didn't look like much. I started looking around and noticed a lot of alternators lying around which is a good sign. I met the owner and he was really nice and smart, I love talking to smart people. They make me feel like I'm not speaking a foreign language. We discussed the truck and had the typical "what does this thing do" conversation. He said “lets take a look under the hood” and I said “OK, but you aren’t going to like it”. Taking out 3 alternators from a diesel engine and testing them and then reinstalling them is no small task. I would not want to be the one to do it. After about 30 minutes he ended up giving me a ride back to the hotel so I didn’t have to wait for a cab, which was appreciated. The car conversation was about all of my travel and how much I’m home, or not, how long I’ve been doing this job and how old I was. I just laughed. I told him my age and he said “oh, I would have guessed younger” I said “yeah, that is what most people say”. I got out of the car and said “I’d tell you to have fun but I know you won’t so good luck” he laughed. I’m glad the truck is out of my hair for a couple of days and I hope the guy can fix the truck by Monday/Tuesday morning. He said that sounded like a reasonable date to have it done so we’ll see.
I am flying back to Denver tomorrow and will be there for the weekend. I hope to be back out here on Monday or Tuesday next week and then the truck will be working so I can finish Blue Ridge Parkway!
This morning I took the truck to an alternator shop (basically the only one in town). I pulled up to the place and wasn't sure what to expect. It was on a small side street and the building didn't look like much. I started looking around and noticed a lot of alternators lying around which is a good sign. I met the owner and he was really nice and smart, I love talking to smart people. They make me feel like I'm not speaking a foreign language. We discussed the truck and had the typical "what does this thing do" conversation. He said “lets take a look under the hood” and I said “OK, but you aren’t going to like it”. Taking out 3 alternators from a diesel engine and testing them and then reinstalling them is no small task. I would not want to be the one to do it. After about 30 minutes he ended up giving me a ride back to the hotel so I didn’t have to wait for a cab, which was appreciated. The car conversation was about all of my travel and how much I’m home, or not, how long I’ve been doing this job and how old I was. I just laughed. I told him my age and he said “oh, I would have guessed younger” I said “yeah, that is what most people say”. I got out of the car and said “I’d tell you to have fun but I know you won’t so good luck” he laughed. I’m glad the truck is out of my hair for a couple of days and I hope the guy can fix the truck by Monday/Tuesday morning. He said that sounded like a reasonable date to have it done so we’ll see.
I am flying back to Denver tomorrow and will be there for the weekend. I hope to be back out here on Monday or Tuesday next week and then the truck will be working so I can finish Blue Ridge Parkway!
August 25, 2009
Blue Ridge Parkway
August 25, 2009
Today I spent the morning on the phone with the company that build our truck trying to figure out a power issues. The voltages are dropping really low when we have our strobe lights running during collection and the alternators are not kicking in to recharge the batteries. I could also hear a belt slip every once in a while. I think I ruled out the regulator so we took the truck to a Ford shop to have them look at the belts etc... and they said that the belts and tensioners looked fine and they thought it was an alternator and something was shorting out. I found an alternator shop in town that can work on our truck starting tomorrow, which is great. I'm dropping it off in the morning. We have three alternators on that truck and the oldest one was installed in December of 2007 so I'm guessing that is the one that is going bad. We'll see. I was explaining the truck to the alternator shop guy and he said "you have three alternators" and I said "yes, it is a specialized truck" and he said "do you know how much money you have in alternators on that truck" and I said "yeah, a lot" and he said "you have more money in alternators in your truck than most people spend on a car". I don't know if I'd go that far but I did tell him it was a million dollar truck. I hope he can get the work done and i'll be grateful because getting those alternators out is the worst job. There is not much space to work under the hood.
Today I spent the morning on the phone with the company that build our truck trying to figure out a power issues. The voltages are dropping really low when we have our strobe lights running during collection and the alternators are not kicking in to recharge the batteries. I could also hear a belt slip every once in a while. I think I ruled out the regulator so we took the truck to a Ford shop to have them look at the belts etc... and they said that the belts and tensioners looked fine and they thought it was an alternator and something was shorting out. I found an alternator shop in town that can work on our truck starting tomorrow, which is great. I'm dropping it off in the morning. We have three alternators on that truck and the oldest one was installed in December of 2007 so I'm guessing that is the one that is going bad. We'll see. I was explaining the truck to the alternator shop guy and he said "you have three alternators" and I said "yes, it is a specialized truck" and he said "do you know how much money you have in alternators on that truck" and I said "yeah, a lot" and he said "you have more money in alternators in your truck than most people spend on a car". I don't know if I'd go that far but I did tell him it was a million dollar truck. I hope he can get the work done and i'll be grateful because getting those alternators out is the worst job. There is not much space to work under the hood.
August 24, 2009
Blue Ridge Parkway
August 24, 2009We got stuck in a traffic jam today and this time it wasn't because of a bear. Some semi flipped his rig on it's side on the interstate. It took us an extra hour to get to our destination. It turned out to not matter that much anyway because the roads were even more wet today. It wasn't supposed to rain!!! I don't get it, there is something fishy going on here and I think it is a black cloud over our truck. The truck is also having some power issues again. We spent a good 3 hours trying to figure it out and the verdict is still out on that one.
I took a sunset photo outside my hotel window. It was nice to see after a crazy day.
Blue Ridge Parkway
August 23, 2009
Blue Ridge Parkway is defiantly getting on my last nerve. It hasn't been raining much over the past few days but the middle section of the parkway we still need to collect must be getting rained on every night. We drove 2 hours up there again yesterday only to be disappointed. The southern sections are dry but we have to collect the sections in order so until the middle section is dry we are out of luck.
I do have one story for the day. We got pulled over by a park ranger who decided that he was going to pull us over on the parkway where there was no pullout or place to pull over and he was going to use his siren! Are you kidding me! I guess he missed the memo that we were at the park. Most of the time I'm fine with people asking us who we are but this guy, in my mind, was inappropriate/unsafe. We are clearly a work truck and pulling over a million dollar truck on a 2 lane road with no place to pull over is pretty dangerous. I had no choice but to stop there and ruin the file we were collecting. The ranger really had nothing to say except "I wasn't sure who you were, you are with the DOT or something". Really! I think he just wanted to use his siren and put his hand on our truck because he had to touch it when he walked up, which for some reason I found extra offensive (or I'm just overly protective). I explained to him what we were doing and he said "well we don't usually like to have work done on the weekends that will hold up traffic". OK, here comes the good part....we were collecting a 12 mile section where the posted speed limit is 35 and we were going 35mph while collecting! I guess the ranger really meant to say that he didn't want us to make people go the speed limit on the parkway. I told him we were sorry but it has been raining and we had to get the work done and we work on the weekends all of the time. He said "I understand" and the whole thing ended with him saying "enjoy your stay". Uhhhhhh. We ended up junking the file we were trying to collect since the roads were still wet under the tree cover and we left anyway. The whole thing would have been much better/more safe if he would have waited so we all could have pulled off the road and not have to stop in the driving lane on the parkway!
After we left we washed the truck and did some laundry and then went to see Inglourious Bastards the movie. That was not my pick, David. It wasn't all bad. There were some good parts and Brad Pitt by far did the best job with his character. I did laugh a couple of times but I could have done without the violence. When violence is tied so close to what could be "reality" it really isn't for me.
Blue Ridge Parkway is defiantly getting on my last nerve. It hasn't been raining much over the past few days but the middle section of the parkway we still need to collect must be getting rained on every night. We drove 2 hours up there again yesterday only to be disappointed. The southern sections are dry but we have to collect the sections in order so until the middle section is dry we are out of luck.
I do have one story for the day. We got pulled over by a park ranger who decided that he was going to pull us over on the parkway where there was no pullout or place to pull over and he was going to use his siren! Are you kidding me! I guess he missed the memo that we were at the park. Most of the time I'm fine with people asking us who we are but this guy, in my mind, was inappropriate/unsafe. We are clearly a work truck and pulling over a million dollar truck on a 2 lane road with no place to pull over is pretty dangerous. I had no choice but to stop there and ruin the file we were collecting. The ranger really had nothing to say except "I wasn't sure who you were, you are with the DOT or something". Really! I think he just wanted to use his siren and put his hand on our truck because he had to touch it when he walked up, which for some reason I found extra offensive (or I'm just overly protective). I explained to him what we were doing and he said "well we don't usually like to have work done on the weekends that will hold up traffic". OK, here comes the good part....we were collecting a 12 mile section where the posted speed limit is 35 and we were going 35mph while collecting! I guess the ranger really meant to say that he didn't want us to make people go the speed limit on the parkway. I told him we were sorry but it has been raining and we had to get the work done and we work on the weekends all of the time. He said "I understand" and the whole thing ended with him saying "enjoy your stay". Uhhhhhh. We ended up junking the file we were trying to collect since the roads were still wet under the tree cover and we left anyway. The whole thing would have been much better/more safe if he would have waited so we all could have pulled off the road and not have to stop in the driving lane on the parkway!
After we left we washed the truck and did some laundry and then went to see Inglourious Bastards the movie. That was not my pick, David. It wasn't all bad. There were some good parts and Brad Pitt by far did the best job with his character. I did laugh a couple of times but I could have done without the violence. When violence is tied so close to what could be "reality" it really isn't for me.
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