The evidence is now conclusive.  Bad things do not happen in three’s.  At least not for me.  But before I tell you about that, I have a few announcements to make.

First of all, my sister Rose has a new post on the TexAltaRescue website. Response has been positive to the stories of animal rescue and there will be many more to come.  There are still a few days left to take me up on my offer and donate a few more of my dollars to the animal rescue cause.  Just go to http://grumpyoldtrucker.com/animal-lovers-unite/ and leave a comment.  I have pledged to donate a dollar for every positive comment, to TexAltaRescue efforts.  Of course I would love to see folks adding donations of their own to this worthwhile endeavor as well

Second thing on the agenda today, is to invite all my readers to see my wife Marilyn’s new Nature Photo site.  She has been working very hard to add more photos of Nova Scotia’s natural beauty, as well as photography tips, in her blog.  I must say though, she has had more visitors to her site in the first month of it’s existence, than any of the dozens of other websites I’ve built over the past few years.  I’m sure anyone who visits will happily spread the word among their own friends and acquaintances.

Honorary Grumpy Old Trucker Ross St. Quintin

Last, but not least by any means, I wish to welcome a brand new Grumpy Old Trucker.  A good friend of mine from Perth, Australia, Ross St. Quintin ordered a Grumpy Old Trucker T-Shirt and joined the ranks of official Grumpydom.  Ross was a public accountant in Australia, now retired.  He has several websites, of which my favorite  is Travel Western Australia. His site includes some great pictures and fascinating information about his favorite parts of Australia.  Ross and his wife Jan travel extensively, including a trip they took to British Columbia and Alaska this past spring.

Now back to things happening in three’s.  Last post I told about the speeding ticket, the rock in the windshield and the blown tire.  Little did I know that was just the beginning of things to come.  A couple of days later I was picking up a load in Brandon, Manitoba to head back to the east coast, and the check engine light came on.  I tried to get into the Freightliner dealer in Brandon but they were booked up, so I headed onwards to Winnipeg after a call to Waterous Power Systems, where I’d had such good service in the past.

Well Waterous service hadn’t changed, but neither had my luck.  It turned out that the DPF unit (part of the emission control system) had reached the end of it’s serviceable life and needed to be changed.  The closest one was in Calgary and it had to be shipped overnight.  Luckily my load didn’t deliver in Moncton till the following Monday so I spent the night and returned to Waterous in the morning.

Well, about 24 hours later and $855 lighter I was back on my way to the Maritimes.  I delivered Monday morning as planned, then headed home for the first time in 30 days.  I was only home about a day and a half but that was sufficient time to spend another $650 on changing oil in the transmission and rearends on the 300,000 mile service requirement, get the stone damage repaired on the windshield,  mow the lawn, wash the truck (with Marilyn’s help) and a few other minor chores.

I had spent so much time sitting, waiting for loads over the past month, I simply couldn’t afford to stay home longer.  I had to try and get another 3,000 miles on the books before the end of the month.  Then, on Friday in Northern Ontario, almost exactly three days after paying for stone damage repair, CRASH!  A passing truck threw another huge rock at the same windshield and it now needs replacement.  Another $300 to the cause.  The only thing I have to be thankful for is that I didn’t decide on replacement instead of repair a few days earlier.

So all this just goes to prove, that, in my case at least, bad things happen in whatever frequency they feel like.  I’m holding up the white flag of truce now.  I really need a break. Anybody listening?

If you’re one of those people who believe things happen in threes you’re not alone. I personally don’t believe in it, but things tend to happen to me in threes anyway.

It started last Thursday in Calgary when I got a speeding ticket. In the first place, I never speed. I’m not saying I never exceed the speed limit. When one averages a thousand kilometers a day, speeds tend to fluctuate due to conditions. It can be over or under the posted speed limit by 5 or 10 kms. at any given time.

What I mean is, I never knowingly or purposely exceed the limit by any great amount for any length of time. Usually I just set the cruise at or about the limit and leave it there.

What happened Thursday was, I was late for an appointment, I was on a road I’d never been on before, I hadn’t seen a speed limit sign, and I was matching the speed of the vehicles around me. Some of the 4-wheelers were actually passing me.

Of course the nice policeman targeted the biggest vehicle in the herd and awarded me the prize. Aren’t I lucky?

Number two incident happened in Manitoba on Saturday. On Highway 5 a few kilometers north of Neepawa, a car going the other way threw a rock at me and took a divot out of my windshield. To put it another way, I’ve got a hole in one.

Number three happened after midnight, my time, Sunday night in Alberta, on Highway 1 west of Medicine Hat. I blew a drive tire with a bang loud enough to wake the dead. Well it sure woke me up anyway, right in the middle of a Green Hornet episode on Oldies Radio.

I proceeded to make a couple of life long friends by waking, first the duty night dispatcher, and then the duty maintenance manager. Aren’t cell phones wonderful? They make it so much easier to tick people off. Sorry Barb and Gordie.

I then got to meet another nice young fellow, Rylee from Kirk’s Midway Tire in Redcliff. We had a lovely little tire changing party on the side of Highway 1, and I was soon on my way again looking for another great adventure. Of course I get the dubious honor of footing the bill for the party.

I don’t know if things happen in three’s.  Maybe we just stop counting there and start on a new batch, because it would be much too depressing to think that they happen in tens.

After many years of pursuing her artistic side as a painter, knitter, crocheter, quilter, and all-round artistic person, my wife Marilyn has turned her artistic ability to the field of photography.

Of course she didn’t just start taking pictures yesterday. For over a year now I’ve watched her gradually hone her skills and apply her artistic talents to the camera lens.  Of course no one is a tougher critic on an artist than the artist herself. However, she has gladly accepted help and advice from many people who’s opinion she valued.

Now finally I have managed to build her a website which I feel is worthy of her craft.  A venue to display her work in it’s best light, and allow us to share her art with friends, family and strangers alike.

Please take time to browse though some of the beautiful photos Marilyn has added recently and will continue to add in the days ahead.  (You should see the thousands she rejected)  If you like what you see, please vote for your favorites. Click “more” on the thumbnail,  then click the appropriate ratings star above the photo.

By all means leave a comment or question if you wish, or a criticism if you must.  All comments are welcome.  Bookmark the site and come back often, I’m sure you will find something delightful every time.

Click Here to Visit    Marilyn’s Photo Shoppe

Today’s animal rescue story concerns a dog who only wanted to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

Dobie is mostly Dachshund with a little something extra mixed in for good measure. Once you’ve read this story you could be forgiven for thinking he might be part cat. He hasn’t used up all nine lives yet but he’s working on it.

Dobie, the talkative dog.

Dobie started out as a beloved pet of a man who lived in town. The only fly in the ointment was that every now and then this man and his wife would have a bit too much to drink.

Drinking usually resulted in fighting and the fighting would lead to throwing things. This didn’t affect Dobie too much at first. He would just lay low and try to stay out of the line of fire. The next day things would calm down and the air would once more be free of flying objects.

However, one day Dobie himself became the flying object of the moment. In a fit of alcohol induced rage the wife launched poor Dobie right out the door.

The dog catcher soon found Dobie and because he was wearing tags his owners were contacted. Soon, having sobered up, the pair showed up to claim him and vowed to take better care of him.

Just one week later, the couple got to drinking again. However, this time they took the show on the road so to speak, in the family car. Apparently they took along a supply of missiles including the reluctant Dobie. By now I think he recognized the signs.

You guessed it, Dobie ended up getting launched from the moving vehicle. Several locals witnessed the launching and this time the dog catcher decided, tags or no tags, Dobie wasn’t going back to his owners.

When the dog catcher called to see if Rose and Bill had room for one more dog, they dropped everything and went to the dog catcher’s home to pick Dobie up.

On the way back to the farm it was discovered that Dobie is a talker. Whenever a person speaks to him Dobie tilts his head to one side, looks at the speaker and makes one of a variety of sounds in response.

Well needless to say, Dobie’s flying career is over. He has now been at TexAltaRescue for about five years and has made himself Bill’s dog.

Dobie is getting up in years now so no attempt has been made to find him a new home. He spends the summers outdoors and the winters curled up in his bed or at Bill’s feet whenever possible.

Just in case any of my readers think I’ve given over my site entirely to animal rescue, today I want to talk about customer service.

When Marilyn and I were on our way back from our trip to Alberta, we spent a couple of nights in Winnipeg awaiting a reload. Due to seasonably warm temperatures I was forced to run the truck both nights so we could keep it cool enough to sleep.

Now anyone who has one of these environmental engines will know how much they hate to be idled for any length of time. As much as I love this DD-15, all the problems I’ve had with it involve environmental mechanisms.

On the second morning, while picking up my load in Portage la Prairie, the “regen” light starts flashing at me. While that in itself is not too serious, I know from experience, that to ignore it for too long can result in complete engine shutdown.

I tried to do a parked “regen”, following the directions in the manual but the light continued to flash tauntingly at me.
My first inclination was to take it to a Freightliner dealer since that is what I’m driving after all. Turns out there are only two of them in all of Manitoba but one is in Winnipeg and it wasn’t too far out of our way.

The first thing I noticed upon arrival at Freightliner was a lack of parking. Not a good situation when your primary customers drive big trucks. So I parked in the yard of a warehouse across the street and walked over.

The first person I encountered was a sour faced woman at the service desk who was having an unpleasant encounter with a customer who soon left in disgust and frustration. From this I figured my best approach would be a low key one, with a little humor and empathy thrown in for good measure.

“Looks like I’m not the only one having a bad day.” Says I with a little smile.

“Wouldn’t be so bad if I could get a few things caught up” she replied, not even looking up at me. She continued what she was doing for a few minutes while I waited patiently.

Finally she looked up and said in a grumpy voice, “What can I do for you?”

I explained my problem, to which she immediately responded, “We couldn’t even look at it till later in the week.” As if I’d told her I had a picture of my truck I wanted to show her.

The lady (and I use that term loosely) did me one huge favor though. When I protested that I had a load of frozen food with a desperate need to be in New Brunswick by Thursday, she said, “Why don’t you try Waterous Diesel?”

She even went so far as to give me an address and look up the phone number for me. I marvelled that their shop was doing so well they could afford to send business elsewhere, but thanked her politely and left.

Now this is the point where my Winnipeg experience made a definite change for the better.

I went back out to the truck, told Marilyn what had transpired and called Waterous Power Systems on my cell phone. The man who answered was friendly and polite. Told me, “Sure come on over. We’re a bit short handed but we’ll fit you in.” He told me how to get there, where I could drop my trailer and said he’d see me when I got there.

I was already feeling better about my situation than I had since it started.

I don’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary so just let me say this. I encountered, and spoke to, six different people during the time I was at Waterous Power Systems. Every one of them was friendly and helpful and treated both Marilyn and I with nothing but respect.

Most importantly they solved my problem in about an hour and we were on our way. Well maybe that wasn’t quite the most important part. When I asked how much I owed they said, “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t actually do enough to make it worth printing out a bill.” Then they gave me a two page printout of my fuel consumption data and bid us a good day.

Now you tell me. Where do you think I’ll go first if I ever have engine problems in Winnipeg, Manitoba again?

Thank you Waterous Power Systems. You’re tops in my books.