I was wondering what happened to the ultra large keto group I am in.

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What on earth? There were over a million and a half people in that group!  Oh well, there's a bunch of other groups out there, I just use them to find new recipes.  I don't need to learn any more about the keto diet, but there's always some new recipe someone is putting up somewhere that looks  delicious and many times is delicious.  

Anyway, I'm spending the night here in East Saint Louis, Illinois at a Flying J truckstop.  It's about as far as I can get without worrying about finding a parking spot.  There's a Love's 36 miles up the road - but yeah, it's tough to take that chance going up there and finding out there isn't any parking.  Run the clock out and then what?  A very nice discovery, however, is that they are building a brand new Love's literally a mile away from this Flying J.  I try to buy all my fuel at Love's.  If I make at least Platinum status every month (1,000 gallons of fuel purchased), I get unlimited free refills on drinks - that's soda or coffee, I think it's 3 points on my account for every gallon of fuel purchased (you spend them in the store, I have almost 90k points right now) and you get free showers.  Love's has, by far, the best rewards program for company truck drivers.  I've been told that Petro has the best rewards for owner operators who get actual cash back for buying X amount of fuel, but don't quote me on that.  

They get that Love's going and that will be my destination when I come through here.  Tho, I don't even remember the last time I got a trip up here. The Mapleton plant blew up - yes, it literally blew up and they are busy rebuilding it right now - and the place I'm going to now gets most of our product via rail car.  It just happens that from time to time, the rail cars aren't going to make it in time and they have to use us to bring them the product.  I left this morning, I'll have it there tomorrow morning around 9 am.  Always a nice bit of detention pay too, at least 4 hours usually.  Sometimes 6 or 7.  Just can't have them keeping me there too long or the trip goes from being a 3 day trip to a 4 day trip.  As long as I make it back at least to the Saint Louis area, I can make it back to the yard on the 3rd day.  

I count myself lucky to have gotten this trip. I was looking at this coming week's schedule, spartan.  Hardly any runs until the weekend.  When I get back, it's likely I won't get another run until the weekend, if that.  But, the sooner I get back, the sooner I get put on the waiting list and beating other drivers to get on that list.  This trip is worth around $1,100 - I'm guessing that's going to be it for this pay period.  Unless she can give me a s*** run - one of the worthless runs that would actually be okay combined with a run like this, well, it is what it is. 

The problem is that the Brownsville run has shut down yet once again. They must be having problems at the plant because they have canceled a bunch of loads.  That really hurts us when it comes to talking about having enough loads to keep us busy.  This business is crazy. These plants shut down at random times. Something breaks and the entire plant is shut down until they fix it.  So, if I had gotten the Brownsville run today? I would have had nothing.  That was the first load and I ended up getting the first load and whoever got the canceled run? Gets put back on the waiting list - from scratch. That's hardly fair, but I've been on the receiving end of it.  

Well anyway, tomorrow fireworks start up again in the Senate. Excepting now, the President's legal counsel actually gets to speak.  

Well I asked lmao.
Do you know if I have a run going this weekend?
Same answer every time: I don't know yet.
Okay I replied, lol, what else am I going to say?  Just a reminder I'm there, thanks, please give some something to do to make some money. 

Nawww, I don't say that to her, there's 20 other drivers wanting the same thing.But I've paid the price, I've done the shit runs, it's time to give me something decent.  Brownsville always preferable since it's usually 2 days work for 3 days pay : )

That was this morning, so it was a bit shocking to hear from her 2 hours later - loooong before she normally sends anything - to see a text from her.  Now, before I open that text, I can see the pic she sends, just a miniscule version of it. She takes pic of the paperwork and sends it.  I open it up - pleeeaaasseee have something decent on there, please mama I need money! Lmao

And there it was. One of the Illinois runs I was speaking about in a post earlier this week.  Notably, the Morris run.  Haven't been there in a long time. They get most of their product from rail cars, but if those cars don't show up? We Be Peeples Be Taken' Care Of Them.  Yup, it's very improper English. Lmao

It will actually be refreshing to get a trip going somewhere else.  You drive up there - well stop somewhere around St. Louis or maybe further north if there's somewhere to park, stop for the night, drive the rest out the next day.  Drop the trailer in their yard, they unload it and then up to 6 hours for them to unload the thing.  Lol, that's detention pay so it's fine. I drive to the nearest town - umm 10 miles away? I don't remember.  But there's a restaurant there that has this wonderful skirt steak and yes, I"m still doing Keto, it's not going away for me any time soon. Back to the plant, sleep for a few hours - get on the internet - whatever - get the trailer, get back at least south of St. Louis and then make it back the 3rd day.

________________

That was yesterday.  Today has been spent hanging out with friends and making food. When I make food for one of these longer trips, I always make lots extra and then we can all eat some of it as well  I look back on the last 16 months and cannot believe I've lasted on this diet this long.  I've read a lot of articles saying this is one of the worst diets to get on, because most people won't stay on it. They quit  Others say it's because the consumption of huge amounts of red meat is bad for your heart - but the Keto diet doesn't require you to eat "vast amounts" of red meat. I'm not eating any more red meat than I used to before this diet.

But while they're dismissing this diet, how can they dismiss the idea of getting almost all sugar out of your diet?  Anyone ever hear of diabetes?  Or that this diet can either reduce the effects of type 2 diabetes or completely eliminate it altogether?  And what about all the diseases related to being overweight, extremely overweight or morbidly overweight?  I've see hundreds of before and after pics in a huge Keto group I'm in, the change is amazing.  300, 400, 500 pound people transforming their bodies into these really healthy looking bodies.  People like me? Well I didn't have that much to lose, but I was rapidly gaining weight and getting rather depressed about it. It's what keeps me on it.  I'm floating between 192 pounds and 205 pounds  I could lose the rest of the weight I need to - probably another 10 pounds, but I'm comfortable where I'm at for now.

Getting off the diet, however, has show to regain weight quite rapidly.  Tho I can't say when I cheat that I'm just cheating "a little". I pretty much go way overboard and I expect to gain 10 pounds.  To finish the job off, I would have to start a real exercise program again, a thing I have found elusive in my motivation department.  I life weights - here and there. I do pushups - here and there, just not enough to make any substantial difference. 

After being on the diet so long, tho, it starts to become natural to not eat the beans, the rice, the potatoes, the tortillas, the sugar filled junk, the carb laden foods.  It's just part of a normal day after a while.  You don't think of having a bowl of sugar filled cereal for breakfast, you think of a low carb Atkins drink, a low carb breakfast from Whataburger or make your own if you are able to do so. You get tired of the same stuff every day, so you start to look for new Keto recipes and experiment. 

But I freely admit the thoughts of Dairy Queen Blizzards and a huge pile of french fries eventually creeps up on me and yes - I eat both on any given cheat days lmao. 

Well, time to finish preparation for tomorrow's trip. 

La Porte, Texas run over and done with.  I've had a Cheniere, La Porte, Houston and Baker run this year along with 2 brownsville runs. Overall, not going so well, especially considering the other runs that have been available .  Regardless, this one yesterday?  My manager informed me it was a preload deal.  Where you load one day and deliver the next.  They've never done that at La Porte and the run is such a waste of time, it just doesn't pay any money, any real money anyway.  This stuff starts to eat at me.

She simply said call them. So I did, immediately.  The guy said he'd call the plant and ask if I could unload today (yesterday) at 4:00 pm.  He called back and said yes, they'd do it.  So I got the truck loaded and drove straight down there, got there at around 3:35 pm.  Which is a good thing, because they were getting ready to go home!  They did not like seeing me pull in there, lmao, but they got right on it.  I got out of that place just in time for the Houston 5:00 pm rush hour! Wooohoooooo!!

But I made it back to the yard last night and got home around midnight.  The whole point of getting this over with asap was to hope and pray that I get one of these good loads going out this weekend, including a couple to a place in Illinois not terribly far from Chicago.  But West Virginia and brownsville are all on there.  The only "bad" load is Oklahoma.

Whatever.  Day - 4? - of this Senate impeachment fiasco.  Boring. I listened to all of this rhetoric the House impeachment managers had to say over IN the House.  Schiff is a bonafide liar, Nadler just blatantly exaggerattes or makes things up and those are the 2 biggest one in that mess.  So I've just been listening to the highlights off the news instead of watching any more of it.  Extremely repetitive, lots of mud-slinging, it's time for the Republican defense to be heard, finally.  I mean, I've already made up my mind.  I did that long ago when Pelosi declared that the House was going to start an impeachment inquiry and in the same breath admitted she hadn't even bothered to read the transcript. She presumed Trump guilty before ever seeing any evidence whatsoever.  Schiff - made up his own version of a transcript and read it to Congress.  And a whole host of other things they have done to cement this thing into the annals of history of being a total sham. 

Democrats are supposed to wrap up their side of this today and then I guess Republicans start tomorrow - but it will be Saturday and pundits are suggesting that they will have a short hearing and then dismiss for the rest of the weekend. 

Now, if you want to hear about something that we might be concerned about, this coronavirus s***.  If this garbage starts spreading throughout the US, I dunno what I'm going to do.  I'm already going to the store and getting antibacterial hand wipes and gel.  I do not want to get sick again.  And the problem here is those kids. They go to preschool, kids share their germs and then they bring all that crap home.  Even worse, the news reports that a person generally HAS the illness for 2 WEEKS before they even show any symptoms, so a person can be walking around spreading this crap all over the place and not even know it. 

I guess I screwed myself on traveling plans by having all that time off during the holidays. At least for a few months anyway. Just spent a wee bit too much money lol.  And then starting off the New Year with all of these low paying runs lmao.  I gotta get out of this mind frame and just assume that eventually I'll get a spree of good runs that will make up for it. 

Anyway, off to the races.  What races? I dunno, but I'll figure something out lol.

Guess it's been a few days since I posted.

Seamless trip to Oklahoma and back. Got my 560 miles in - as much as I can get done in the time allotted. Just too many small towns and slow speed limits to get any more miles in. I usually stop at the casino truck stop, which I did last night but had no desire, whatsoever, to go in and play blackjack.  Last time I was here same thing. It was in the 20's last night, good thing the truck heater works well!

 That was yesterday,  I ended up watching as much of the Senate impeachment trial as I could stomach.  It went until 1 am my time, 2 am Washington time  and the only reason it dragged out so long was the Democrats continuing to attempt to have endless resolutions passed and both sides having to argue all 11 of them.  That pretty much took up the entire day for them. 

Oh, I also went to the mechanic's yesterday and had him install the weird, 3 part heater hose. No more leaks, vehicle running good so far.  We'll see. The thing had been leaking on electronic inputs going into the fuel injectors, some sort of sensor sitting there and a few of the ignition coils.  Whether any damage done to them remains to be seen.  But if I have further problems it will go to Ford and I will point out what happened so they have a place to start with. 

Rainy day here and cold - okay our version of cold at 35 degrees at almost 10:00 am. That means I will be doing much of nothing today.  Which is fine, I'll probably tune into the senate trial once again at 1:00 pm washington time and at least see whats happening next.  I really think Chief Justice Roberts needs to get the decorum under control.  He made a rebuke last night, but if they all start this bantering again, he should shut it down and force the normal decorum of how Senators should be acting in the Senate back into play again. 

And having had received my tax bill for the property in Phoenix, I ended up going to the tax assessor's site to find out what, exactly, I'm paying for.  2 perplexing "taxes", one called a desegregation tax - I have no clue what they are referring to, maybe busing students from one district to another to somehow add minorities to a school system?  and a "State Equality Tax".  I don't even have a guess what that one is.  I also have zero idea why I'm being forced to pay for a technical college or why the city of Phoenix is taking money and what it's going to. There is no explanation, just the amount.  The rest of it is 6 line items going to a school district in the neighboring city.  Makes sense, there are no schools on the edge of the city where we live, they have to be bused to the next city over.  I don't mind paying for elementary schools and high schools, but I definitely object to paying for colleges.  I look at some of this junk every year and just shake my head.  If you own property, you are enslaved to the government system of being forced to pay what amounts, IMO, to a sales tax on it every single year. 

In what other venue do you buy something and then have to pay the same taxes over and over again on it?  I've been an open proponent of doing away with property taxes altogether and recovering the necessary funds for school districts in some other way.  People lose their properties because they get into a position where they can't afford to pay the taxes.  If you own the land outright, that's just sad.  You never really own the property with that s*** constantly looming over your head.

And with that, looks like I missed yet another tax sale.  No biggies.  Just want to go and check one out and see how it works. 

And, the lady of the house has agreed with me that spaghetti with meat balls and meat sauce sounds delicious for dinner.  Indeed it does. 

Okay, per the last post, a trailer didn't show up down there until 3:00 pm. So I drove 450 miles, went to bed at a truckstop and drove the rest of the route out, which was yesterday.  While at the office, a driver was complaining about an "itty bitty run" he had gotten from Ann - an Oklahoma run. It may be itty bitty but it's not neat as small pay as several other runs, I immediately volunteered to take the run if he didn't want it.

Yes, I know I had been out on the road 5 straight days, but as I said not long ago, I'm trying to earn some money to pay off Christmas bills.  He immediately backtracked on that one, I was serious too.  I'd be in the plant right now getting the trailer loaded.  Ann had told me just before that that I wouldn't be getting sent out again until Sunday or Monday.  Seems likely I'll only get one run in on this current pay period that starts today for 2 weeks from now paycheck. 

I can only hope for a Brownsville run or the West Virginia run that's available. 

Well, I left the yard and contacted the mechanic.  Are you available today? Yes, but I'm on my way back from Dallas.  All fine and well, contact me when you are home.  I stopped at Auto Zone and picked up 8 spark plugs.  I had bought a new ignition coil for the one that was bad but I figured all spark plugs should be replaced. 

That turned out to be a good decision.  A bit of sticker shock for plugs tho. $77 for 8 plugs?  When he started working on getting the plugs out of there, he immediately  noticed a crack in a heater hose fitting that was leaking coolant.  It became obvious the coolant had been leaking for a while.  It had seeped down the spark plug threads and gotten on to the tips, gunking them up. The cylinder that reported non firing from the computer results had a plug that was completely clogged up, no way that thing was working at all.  $210 on the plugs and the ignition coil spent, off to Auto Zone again to get the heater line.

Another $88 spent on that, which had to be ordered (supposed here at 7:30 am, I'll be going up there in a bit to see).  And of course pay the mechanic to install it.  I probably could - but I've all but given up on doing mechanics anymore.  1, because I work enough as it stands.  2. because I spent decades doing that stuff and I'm just plain burnt out on it. I just don't want to do mechanics anymore.  I'll just pay someone else to do the stuff for me, and this dude isn't asking a small fortune for his services. 

I have no great plans today. 5 days on the road deserves a day off. Laundry, dogs, basic stuff but nothing too involved. The front yard is covered with leaves - it won't get done unless I do it, I guess - I have a huge bag of winter grass seed I bought a while back. But, can't plant it with a yard covered with leaves. 

Enough. Haven't had enough coffee today lol

I have to admit that I sometimes get an - eerie - feeling about hauling this stuff.  Ethylene that is.  I'm mostly comfortable with it now, tho with a serious dose of respect, but there are times when you start thinking about the 40,000 pounds of volatile, explosive, highly flammable cryogenics you're hauling down the road  I can't quite explain the feeling, but it's almost like dang, am I going to blow up today? type of thing. 

It crept into me today.  I think it was the workers at the plant, started talking about it's volatility and it's rating compared to other highly flammable and explosive things such as gasoline.  Or one of the plants I go to. They used to just treat it like unloading a truck full of water - which I thought a bit crazy. And then one day I went in there and they literally shut the entire road down with cones and caution tape from both directions.  "Why are you doing that?".  "Well we read about this stuff after being warned about it's flammability.  We didn't realize the potential for disaster while unloading it".  And things of that nature. 

It didn't help that I watched a video on one of the trucking groups I'm in - they post all kinds of different stuff in those groups, much of which has nothing to do with trucking - where this dude pours 5 GALLONS of gasoline onto a pile of rubbish.  I already knew what was going to happen before it happened.  I frequently start fires for burning grass and brush in the open pit we have in the back yard with gasoline.  I put a layer of stuff down, then pour the gas over it, and then dump a bunch of stuff on top of it and then, a little more gas and a trail about 20 feet long of gas to light it with, stay out of harm's way.  But I don't even put a quarter of a gallon of gas on there, I know what will happen. I light the trail on fire and back up even more before it hits the pile. There is always a thump sound, as the gas ignites underneath.

It works very well.  The leaves and branches will burn even if they're green.  Anyway, this guy doesn't even try to light up a trail leading up to the pile, he just lights a piece of paper on fire and throws it onto the pile which instantly explodes.  The next thing you hear is this dude gasping for breath and the guy that's taking the video asking him several times if he's okay?  The guy doesn't say anything. The video ends, no idea whether he was hurt or just had the wind knocked out of him, but standing that close to that explosion? I assume he was hurt.  That's just sheer stupidity right there.

I got past that feeling after a couple of hours, just have to clear the mind and get peace back.  Yeah, this gig pays a lot of money but there's a certain amount of risk involved with it.  But I'm good now lol. 

Anyway, I was third load this morning, one of the loads before me was a Brownsville run as well.  He got down here long before I did and fortunately for me, he was forced to back under the only empty trailer there.  Meaning I get detention pay. He won't, since there was a trailer there.  I mean, I'm not gleeful he didn't get the D pay, I'm just glad I am, lol.  Especially after the Houston trip, gag. Just trying to make some decent checks here lol. 

I had thoughts of having my SUV towed out of the yard and over to a shop while I was gone on this trip.  Just get it done so I don't have to be without a vehicle.  I dunno.  It's running enough to get home.  Just sucks dealing with it.  I don't need a vehicle breaking down all the time.  Not that it's done that, but the last deal was a $1,200 strut job on it.  Not cheap and I don't want to start getting nickle and dimed with this thing.  If it's going that route much longer, I'ma dump it and get something else.  I really should have thought about this a bit better tho, I could have dropped it off in the town my work is at yesterday and have it ready by the time I got back. 

 Well I'm going to bed lmao. It's midnight. No trailers will show up until 11:00 am at the earliest but I need my old age beauty sleep : )

Woke up at the truck stop this morning in Houston via the alarm clock.  Got dressed and ready to go, opened the curtain from the sleeper, to see? Rain.  I literally went back to bed.  I have to 11:00 am to get there.  Well, I went back to bed after checking the forecast.  It said it would be gone in an hour.  An hour later? Alarm goes off again after resetting it - and more rain. But, I decided to get up, get some coffee, get over there. Good thing, too.  First time I have ever encountered or heard of anyone experiencing them not being ready to get you in and get you out of there.  

Meaning, sit there for 6 hours waiting on them to unload into a tube trailer and then get rid of the vapors.  They didn't bring the tube trailer up for 2 hours after I got there and it takes eternity to load one of those things.  They hook up this little bitty tube to fill it with 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I already knew I was in for problem when I looked at that gauges on their tank. The pressure was sitting at 150 pounds -  fully 90 pounds over what I will even think about offloading at and they had 10 inches on the water meter - tells you how much fluid is in the tank.  They can't offload a truck without having their tank totally empty.  Further complicating the situation - 2 men standing there looking at the tank. I approached them - electricians.  They were there to deal with the ground pump - that's the pump that offloads the truck into the tank.  A very in depth conversation about why they were there and what they were going to do ensued.  Yup, that's just me, very inquisitive, especially in a situation this totally off kilter. But these guys knew literally nothing about how all of this works, they only knew they could turn the pump on and off! LMAO

 I have to say I wasn't feeling right today, so spending 6 hours laying in bed in the truck wasn't that big of a deal. Plus it rained - off and on but mostly on- the entire time I was there. 

Well whatever. Truck unloaded, I was out of there in time for? The beginning of rush hour traffic in Houston! Wooooo hoooooo! Y'all gotta love that!  I was halfway back and Ann contacted me.  Are you going to be back today? Yup, I just left there.  She then texted me a run - to Brownsville - for tomorrow morning!  I didn't go home today after this run, lol.  I am spending the night in the truck. I can go to Maria's, get the dogs, go home, spend the night there, get up early, take the dogs back to Maria's and then drive all the way back to work? Or just stay here.  I've kind of gotten used to the idea that it plain isn't worth doing all that driving if I'm getting sent out again the next morning.  

And I can tell ya, after this worthless Houston trip, I"m very glad to be getting a Brownsville run!  

Well lots more, but I'm tired. 

G'nite!

Started smoking that roast yesterday far too late.  11:00 am. Sounds early, but it's not. Not with a pork roast that size and slow cooking it at around 225 to  250 degrees. That went on until after 9:00 pm last night lol. I actually could have cooked it another hour or so, but it was getting too late. You have to consider pulling the roast out, letting it sit for 20 minutes, cutting it up and letting it cool before you can put it in the refrigerator.  I just got busy with other stuff yesterday and it went out of my mind until late morning.

But it turned out delicious and I just had a nice portion of it for dinner tonight. It tends to taste better the next day. I can't explain that to you, but that's my experience. 

I did end up taking the SUV to the Autozone yesterday. Their read out came up with bad ignition coil on cylinder 4 and spark plug.  Well, I bought the coil.  But I think I'll go back and get the plugs and wires as well and replace all of that.  I will let the mechanic I have found do that work - I'm not interested in dealing with electronics on a newer model vehicle.  I was going to take it to Ford but this seems pretty straight forward and simple.  We'll see, I guess lol.  Likely the spark plugs and wires have never been replaced, undoubtedly the ignition coils are the originals. 

Tornado sirens went off last night. I slept right through it.  I know, pretty insane for a light sleeper but I never heard them.  And it's LOUD.  But no tornadoes actually touched down, it just rained a bit. The bad stuff went around us.  Taylor said the lights flickered at midnight, but the power never went out.  My dogs didn't wake me up, so it must not have been that bad. 

That was yesterday, just hung out, mostly, it was nice and cool so I had a fire going outside all day long while the smoker was running.  Taylor smokes, so she came out and enjoyed the heat from the fire as well while toking on cigarettes.  I'll give her credit. She works a full time job and now has a job that has her working some 30 hours a week extra. She loves to buy stuff : )  She spent all day yesterday doing her job - it's an at-home job now - and all day today. 

Me? I was in no mood to drive today.  It's Sunday.  I've worked Sundays for however many in a row.  A lot.  I kept my crankiness to myself. Addler understood tho, lol. He was allll affectionate and giving me the eyes you can't resist.  Dogs know your moods.  They really do. If you don't believe that, you probably have never had a dog.  They respond to every mood differently.  But, unlike humans, they never reject you. 

Anyway, I got to the plant only to have to wait a long time for the truck in front of me. I didn't care about that tho. I was only going to be driving to Houston, I thought, I can sit here for hours and get paid.  It was like an hour past my appointment time before that truck was loaded and gone. The problem? That driver showed up 50 minutes late.  Figures.  Not our company, those people either show up hours early and try to sneak in/encroach upon another appointment for someone else or they show up wayyyy late.

I was sluggish when I started out driving. What the h*** am I doing out here on yet another Sunday.  I had pretty dismal thoughts.  But, a couple hours into it I was out of that thought line and into  - get this over with.  I was surprised at how busy the freeways were in Houston on a Sunday night.  Moderate to heavy traffic. Huh? What's going on here? lol But I made it here - a truck stop in south Houston on the 288 highway, it's a pay truckstop but it's the closest thing to the plant I'm going to in the morning and I"m going to turn in the receipt and see what happens. Other drivers say the company pays for paid parking, I didn't have that luck the first time I turned in a receipt and explanation, I"m going to try again. 

But I would have come here anywhere regardless. It's close, it's convenient, it keeps me out of the worst of the Monday morning rush hour s***.  I just hate this run because it's like giving away your time for nothing.   It's around $300 for 2 days worth. You might as well be just giving away your time.  I make $350 minimum a day going to Brownsville.  Whatever, I'm just going to hope for some better runs going forward, because I have been dumped with this pile of garbage and a Cheniere this year.  I had the Brownsville last trip, just saying I've had 2 out of 3 trips that are low paying and full of headaches. I have to unload this trailer tomorrow morning, so I get to stand around an hour and a half messing with tank pressures and keeping an eye on it.  Plus driving back. Im just text Ann as soon as I get on the road: I'll be back X time, please put me on the list. 

I vent a lot on this blog.  Lol

My hair. Growing back, but seemingly far too slowly.  And misbehaving even with gel.  Like the stiff gel that could put most hair up into a mohawk.  It's just not long enough yet.  Might be a couple of months or more before it is long enough that I can force it into submission. If I last that long, I may just end up going to the barber "cut this all off" and never try this again? I dunno. For right now, I'm trying it. But when I wake up in the morning, my hair will be a total disaster and not much I can do with it without showering and getting it soaking wet and more manageable. 

Well whatever. It's not getting late but I'm tired. It's  a Sunday thing. 

Saturday. 
Vehicle running poorly. 
Going up to Auto Zone since I  have no other options, have them plug in their computer and see if it comes up with anything. I'm guessing and actually hoping it's just a sensor.  They can be pricey, but not near as pricey as some other things that can go wrong on a vehicle. 

If they can't figure it out, I'll have no choice but to drop it off at the dealership. I'm not going to start taking it to auto shops and pay money to have them not be able to diagnose it. Been there done that, would rather just take it to Ford and have them get it right the first time.

I'm not really sure I should be trying to drive it to work tomorrow. 

Regardless, it's a cool day out - mid 40's, good day for a fire.  Excepting all the wood is soaking wet lol. but that's when those fire logs come in handy.  They'll burn regardless and then you dump the wet wood on top of it and eventually it will start burning. 

And smoking.  In fact, I need to get out there and get the smoker going before it gets too late. 

Yup, best get moving here. 

Well, I posted a day and a half ago's post - just now actually.  Got busy when an empty trailer showed up - I get distracted at that point. Put everything up, let's get moving.  That was around 4:00 pm yesterday (Thursday). I figured to drive to south of Houston and stop for the night. It would have been a 3 am night if I had tried to drive straight through and there wasn't any need to do that. 

100 miles into the run, I got pulled over yet again by a Texas State Trooper.  No rhyme or reason, she was wanting to do a roadside inspection.  I didn't bother to tell her it was less than a week since I got inspected last.  I figured I was good for an inspection, let's do it.  So, that passed, the only drawback is how much time it takes.  Even a short inspection will take a while because they have to do a lot of inputting into their computer in their cruisers. 

After that? I stopped at a place in Robstown - maybe 50 miles down the road - another driver told me about it in Brownsville, it was worth the stop.  It will become a regular stop from now on, actually.  Just incredibly good food!

After that, I figured the time to get to the truckstop just south of Houston.  And then, a 10 hour break and then what time I would be heading out. Ummm, no. It would have been around 8:00 am, just when things are getting shi*** for traffic in Houston, so I decided to drive through Houston and find a place north of there.  It was quite the drive north of there before I found a place. Midnight I was done, but better than 3:00 am. 

After arriving at the terminal, I heard my manager yelling at the top of her lungs, in very emototional manner, at someone on the phone.  She had the door shut but it was quite clear she was very unhappy with someone. I figured a higher level manager, because one thing I heard clearly was: "I give you my input on what we need to do but you never listen!!!". She was crying and screaming at the same time. 

She had texted me before she went in there about my next load - a worthless Houston run, which only helped that I could back under the trailer and get it ready for Sunday. It's either a whole day wasted - starting early morning to get there in time or 2 days wasted - get there the day before and not have to get up at 2 am.  It will be 2 days wasted for me, I'm not getting up that early in the morning for this run. Sunday I will go over to the plant, get loaded, head to Houston, stop a truckstop near the plant and head over the next morning. Avoid rush hour traffic as well. 

Well anyway, after that I had walked into the office, some other drivers were in there, we were all chatting when all the screaming started.  Ouch.

After getting home? She texted me asking to confirm I had received the dispatch for the Houston load. Yes ma'am, are you okay?  She was like, huh? I explained we heard her "talking" to whoever, it was carrying through the door. She called me and we had a lengthy discussion.  I'm on her side, tho, I don't have to like some of the loads I am getting to understand that she does her best.  It could be better if she could keep better track of what drivers are where and when they are getting back and dispatch loads accordingly. I don't say anything to her about that anymore, it doesn't help anything. 

It turns out they were wanting to get rid of 2 trailers.  She was standing firm on the point that we don't have enough trailers as it stands.  She said we can get rid of one trailer - it's in very bad condition - but the other one? We are not getting rid of.  Another interesting piece of news is that the Mapleton run is coming back, as early as March, maybe even sooner.  That run, when added with everything else, helps keep us all busy. Without it - and another run in Illinois that we probably will never get back as they switched to getting their product through railcars - we aren't near as busy as we used to be.  Now, it turns out, there are 3 trailers - old ones but in good shape - that are sitting somewhere that could be converted to ethylene - that was a product of her call today, they are going to work on doing the conversion and getting them into our yard. 

I learned alot of things today that I didn't know, actually.  Not going into all of it, just too much information and not likely that interesting.  But one other thing are drivers that take too long of breaks.  3 or them, or more maybe, that are close to retiring.  One foot out the door, they don't really care if they get back with trailers quickly, which hurts the rest of us.  I like a day off between runs. If I've been running hard for a while, a couple days is good. But 3 or 4 days?  No thanks. 

So, it's Friday evening. I have the rest of today, all of tomorrow and not needing to be to the plant until 1:30 pm on Sunday off.  Bad weather coming in a bit here. Likely tornadoes and preparing for power outage.  Why? Because every time a bad storm comes through, the power always goes out.  So at least get the candles out!

I'm now in Brownsville, Texas.  Got here late last night, around midnight.  I had a late load yesterday morning and didn't get out of the plant until almost 1:00 pm - but I was bound and determined to get down here regardless and get some detention pay if available.  Sure enough, no trailers here and now it's the next day - Thursday, they're saying trailers won't be here until around 3: 00 pm.  That's great, Ill have my 14 hours of detention pay in, I can drive 5 or 6 hours, spend the night somewhere south of Houston, get up tomorrow, finish out the trip and have a decent paycheck next week.  I only got paid for 2 trips for this week's check - but that was 2 Brownsville runs plus holiday pay plus $75 for getting pulled over by Texas State Troopers and getting a passing report on the inspection. 

The company is not, obviously, so fond of non-passing reports, it assesses points against the company and the driver.  So, they incentivize making sure your truck will pass an inspection at all times by giving you both some money on your check and some credits towards their catalog.  I must have a lot of points by now, I haven't used any of them in a long time and they keep accruing.  I don't need an incentive from the company, however, to make sure the truck is safe and really, those troopers are looking to ensure your truck is safe when they do inspections, not be some sort of demons from hell that are solely there to aggravate you.

But, some drivers get extremely aggravated, angry and even hostile towards troopers when they get pulled over for safety inspections.  Pretty dumb, IMO, to let your emotions get the best of you in a situation like that.  The trooper will find something wrong with your truck when you are acting like an ass towards him/her.  However, other driver reaction to troopers is not my problem, they want to pile tickets on themselves, be my guest.  

So, it's almost noon here and I just got word that 2 trailers will be coming in around 3:00 pm.  Since none of the border tractors have left the yard yet, that is probably correct.  They hook up to other types of  tankers and take them across the border and then bring our tankers back across.  I assume these trailers are en-route from Altimira and they are simply waiting until they get here or get close.  Hopefully not too late, I can leave out of here, drive 5 or 6 hours, spend the night somewhere just south of Houston, get my 10 hour break in and leave in time to miss Houston rush hour traffic.  I will not try to make it all the way back if they don't get here before 1:00 pm. I simply have no need to be driving til 2 or 3 am or even later.  It messes up my internal clock.  I got 8-1/2 hours sleep in today, but that doesn't mean I want to drive all night long.  Last night I pushed it got get down here so I could get that coveted detention pay.

As for other things, the drama in the other house - not really subsiding that much, because that lady really doesn't understand the idea of respect for others and not being so selfish in their living with other people. So, we continue to press it with her. The latest is taking food into their room and not bring dirty plates, dishes and silverware back out - and more pointedly now - silverware disappearing never to be seen again.  I agreed with Maria to tell them if they can't/won't bring out their dishes, no more eating in their room.  They're down to 4 spoons because apparently they "accidentally" threw them away.  That kind of stuffs annoys me greatly.

I'm finally starting to feel better after - 9 days? - of being sick.  The coughing is still there but not near as bad as it was and the runny nose and headaches and such are all but gone.  I really could go without getting sick again for a long, long time. This is the second coughing cold in a few months time. I'm considering just making sure, when anyone in the house gets sick, to simply stay away from them and keep to myself in my room when home. I guess that's not very likely but the older I get, the worse the effects of any kind of sickness seem to have on me.  I still managed to work/drive but it wasn't fun at all.  It's during those times when 2 or more people are sick in the house that I wish I was out on the road on some long roadtrip, like to Stryker, Ohio or perhaps West Virginia.  

As it stands, this week's schedule is light on long trips and  heavy on shorter ones.  There's a Brownsville run every day this week through Monday, but just one per day.  The rest is Oklahoma runs, one Stryker, a Houston Airgas and I think there was a West Virginia in there somewhere.  I'll take any of them, I guess - except the airgas, a completely worthless run that just wastes time.  

As for politics, Pelosi has far overstepped her authority, is still attempting to do so and I'm aghast at the powers she believes she has.  

So I got stuck up in Oklahoma for there were no empty trailers.  Unless they've changed it, I won't get paid for the 14 plus hours I had to sit up there and wait overnight and well into the morning before they finally got one unloaded.  They had 4 full trailers sitting up there, including mine, they are well behind their projected usage and they cancelled several loads this week. Which kinda sucks, because that takes away from the available loads and may make me end  up waiting 2 days off for another load instead of one day in between. 

We'll see. 

This sickness continues.  A bunch of foul stuff coming out of my lungs, my throat feels funny but I am a bit better.  That was the only reason I didn't care that much about spending the night up there in Barnsdall - I felt bad and just went to bed and slept 9 or 10 hours.  I never did make it to Urgent Care, just kind of trying to decide whether I'm getting near the end of this or should I go get some meds?  I didn't have to cough for 45 minutes this morning, that was a good sign.

I've lost 12 pounds since restarting Keto. That is quite encouraging, I'm down less than when I went off for 14 days cheating.  It's 11 pounds at this point to goal weight.  That's the highest weight I can be and not be considered overweight.  Or, if I wanted to revert to my weight I had most of my adulthood until I got into my late 40's, I would have 15 pounds to lose.  I dunno.  Getting into the 180's range is the goal, I'll let nature determine what weight is a good one to stop at before going on maintenance, which I figure is just upping carbs.  I think sugar is probably something I'll try to stay away from, for the most part, for the rest of my life.

Cheating excluded. The trip to DQ and getting a Blizzard is a rare treat that I really enjoy.  I don't enjoy the crash afterwards, however, it usually makes me have to go lay down in bed for a couple of hours! And, of course, the rare treat of eating lots of potatoes.

As for today? Nothing.  I'm keeping it low key until this chest cold junk passes. I know from experience that going out and doing anything that requires a lot of movement will just make it worse.  I guess I could smoke a rack of ribs for the fun of it. And go to the store and get the ingredients to make low carb Keto friendly bread.  It's really nice to be able to make sandwiches of various types.

The deer!  I was driving up Highway 11 west - 2 land highway, full of curves, hills and places where I have to slow way down, especially loaded.  They've had tanker rollovers on that stretch of highway before, I don't envision me as being one of them.  Anyway, when I went up there it was night time.  I came over the crest of a hill and saw them.  Too late to do anything. I was only going 45 mph (in a 55 zone), but there was no way I was going to get that truck stopped before I took out at least one of them. They were parading across the highway.  A LOT of them.  I'm not crashing the truck to save a deer, that or those deer can die, tho I can't say the truck would come out of it unscathed. 

I was right  up on them almost instantly after coming over the top of that hill - I lightly tapped the horn and thank GOD the one that I was about to run over turned tail immediately and ran off, the rest of them scuttled off just  in time.  The people driving behind me didn't see what was happening and realized after I passed through there - rather quickly lol - that these animals were still wanting to cross the highway. They all slammed on their brakes. I mean, these things can cause accidents and panic drivers to the point they slide off the road in order to avoid them. I simply have no such thoughts.  40,000 pounds of volatile, flammable, explosive, cryogenic liquid takes precedence over the idea of attempting to avoid a deer. They will get flat run over before I do that. 

There was that and this dude yesterday while driving home from the yard after I got back last night.  This guy cut me off on the Interstate. I'm used to it, I just wait for a passing opportunity and get past them.  He was slowly going to pass a car.  Okay, whatever.  He got past the car, however, and then decided he wasn't going to get back over.  I went over in the slow lane to pass him, he sped up so that I couldn't pass him before coming up to the next vehicle.  Again, I am used to this.  People play games out on these Interstates all the time.  So I got back behind him - he brake checked me.  Then he turned on his rear cargo light.  Total a-hole.  No reason for it. I didn't cut him off, I didn't show him finger birdies, I did literally nothing to him, he cut me off and I was willing to just let it go. It's really not worth it. But after he brake checked me, that was enough. 

I sped up to a considerable speed after the next opportunity came up to pass him, he wasn't going to let me pass and he was slowing WAY down once he caught up the next vehicles.  I got past him, got in front of him and then let off the accelerator.  I didn't try to get him into an accident, but he done pissed me off by that point.  I got past a line of vehicles which is when he attempted to pass me on the right. Not a happening event.  He then started coming over into my lane, apparently trying to scare me. Rest assured my SUV is WAY bigger than his pickup truck. I just stayed put in my lane and he backed off.

See, I don't understand why people act like this out on the highways. They are probably "normal" people otherwise, but something about toying with other drivers apparently is too much of a temptation to them.  Like they are some sort of civilian police out there, applying their version of traffic laws.  I don't even look at these people when I pass them, it is likely it can even further inflame the person that is already angry - over nothing. 

I got off the Interstate and then stopped - for a minute - at the stop sign. No way I'm having this jerkoff following me home.  But he continued on the Interstate and I continued about my way. 

Whatever.  I just got back from the grocery store, I am wanting bread and the only way I can get it is to make it myself.  I am not paying $28 for 2 loaves of bread ordered on the internet and they don't have Keto bread on grocery shelves  here - yet.  I just got texted with a run to Brownsville tomorrow, so I'm going to have some bread, make a nice chicken breast and cut it up so I can make sandwiches out of it.  I was thinking about cooking a rack of ribs - smoking them. I think I"ll just slow cook them in the oven instead and take them with me. 

And before I end this one and start my bread baking aspirations, my hair.  I have decided that years worth of this buzzed look is enough.  I hate the trouble of dealing with hair everyday while out on the road, but I'm tired of the current look. So I'm attempting to grow it back out - and boy is it rebellious. It just wants to stick straight up! Like a whole headful of a tomahawk hairdo!  LMAO.  I put gel in it this morning after showering and at least it's behaving. Behaving by force, but it's behaving. 

And with that, off to the kitchen. 

Soleimani is taken out - literally - after Trump authorizes it and the democrat world goes haywire.
Instead of congratulating our US military for taking out a completely evil, sordid, western hating man that is responsible for taking the lives of countless Americans, democrats are questioning why Trump didn't ask them for their permission first?  Or that it might escalate into a war?  This man was the face of satan. This kind of reaction gives come credence to the term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and other such statements about democrats who suddenly love things they used to despise - because they hate Trump. 

I'm certainly not interested in another prolonged, protracted war with loss of US military lives and trillions of dollars spent engaging in it.  But we won't start the war, Iran will have to do that if it comes to that.  Iran has been poking the bear for some time, this embassy attack wasn't the first act of terror they have committed. 

Regardless, I spent last night out in the rain. Well it rained on and off unloading the trailer. But it started pouring at one point - and that is when all 5 of the plant workers literally disappeared. I am required to stick with the unloading operation regardless of weather, if something goes wrong, someone has to be out there to stop the flow - ie: shut off the valves.  I just thought it crazy that they would just take off running.  I am not responsible for the plant side of the unloading, that is all up to them, tho in this case I do know how to shut off their valves simply from having had watched it enough times.  However, for them to abandon it? 

Weird stuff.  But I was glad they were in a hurry to get m in and out of there.  These people didn't know what they were doing.  I mean, instructing them on everything was also weird.  They should be fully trained in what they were doing.  When the trailer was empty, I told them - it's empty, let's drain the vapors.  So they switched the valve on their side and said, ooh noooo, there's still liquid coming through.  I didn't want to argue with them, but I've done this 50 times at their plant, that was the sound of vapor going through.  So a few minutes later they tried again. Same sound. A few minutes later, the same thing. I finally said, hey, this trailer is empty, there is no more liquid in here, I'm telling you this is a done deal.

So they turned their valve on again, same sound but this time they let it go.  And the pressure in my vessel - tank - started going down lmao.

I got out of there, drove 70 miles, found a place to park and spent the night there. It was midnight before I got finished.  My manager called this morning, I called her back (missed the call), but I called her back right after waking up.  So my voice was an octave lower than normal - being sick - and extremely raspy.  Oh my goddd! You sound TERRIBLE!!

LMAO.  I got back to the yard. We're very busy now.  4 to 5 loads going out per day - that's a lot for us.  4 loads going out tomorrow, 5 on Sunday.  She asked me if I was good to go on Sunday?  Yup, I can't afford to take any more time off.  I suppose other drivers are all working too. Nope, she replied, some called out sick, but yes there's other sick drivers.  Well, I thought, misery has company lol.  What's telling?  Walmart is out of Mucinex and most of their cold medicine is gone. Kroger's was out of all of it's night time cold medicine and most Mucinex products.  This thing is going around and it's not a short lived virus, it goes on for weeks. 

She did not know what I would be getting. There are 2 Brownsville runs, 2 Baker runs and another Chineire run. I'll find out soon enough, it's getting late Friday. 

Tomorrow, I am attempting to motivate myself to go get the 4 wheeler.  Just haven't even been in the mode for it, driving, sick, driving, sick.  At least I'll have 3 runs on next paycheck. 

Today? I went to the other house, got my dogs, came home, sat down and here I am : )  I'm not cooking dinner, I'm not doing dishes, I'm not doing anything. 

I will likely go to the doctor for some "super good" cold medicine.  Cause nothing else is working. When it hits, it goes on for 30, 40, 50 minutes, non stop, sounds like a person dying lol.

Thursday. Reality hits for lots of people - but I'm sure there are still lots of people taking the entire week off as well.

For me, the reality of Cheniere wasn't as bad as the shock of just having had walked out to the kitchen, opening the door and finding that all the meat had been cleaned out and thrown in the trash.  Some of it needed to go, yes, but some of it was still quite good, edible and was planning on taking  some with me on this trip as there is literally nothing down there - where Cheniere is - to buy.  If you happen to get stuck down there overnight and you take nothing with you to eat? You are going to starve, plain and simple.  If there is a cafeteria at the facility, I have no idea where it is or if they would allow "outsiders" in there to buy something to eat.

My smoked rib roast - trashed : ( !!

Oh well.  I found some Omaha steaks in the freezer - they're small so they cook easily even if frozen.  Those are about done. Found some cream cheese and sliced some onions to go with the steak.  Take some Atkins shakes and I will at least have something to eat.  Yes, I cheated - a little - yesterday for New Year's. But the cheating is over now.  I won't cheat again for quite a while. 

Well, I'm going to pull out a large chunk of meat from the freezer, put it in the freezer and hopefully get home in time tomorrow to cook something for road trips.  Really, I guess I should have put some of that now-trashed meat into plastic bags and frozen it.  Just have to remember that for the future. I was going to do it, but I've been ill and thinking about driving,, much less plans for driving, haven't exactly been at the top of my priority list.  When I went to bed last night, about 30 minutes later, the coughing and hacking kicked in.  For a good hour. I had taken a Mucinex before going to bed so I thought that would deal with it.

It did not.  Instead, I dragged myself out of bed, went into the bathroom, turned the hot water on and stood in there breathing in the steam for quite a while, which eventually dislodged whatever in my lungs and I was able to go back to sleep.

And, of course, it's raining as the weather app predicted.  And will be raining down there. And supposed to deliver this stuff tonight, regardless of weather : ( 

Whatever. I always take extra clothing, I'll just have to get out of that facility tonight, strip down and change out.  And warm up. And hope no worse ill effect.

Ugggg, and the rotting food put on the counter after emptying out the refrigerator : (  Why do that? I cleaned most of it up, but, it's time to leave.

Happy New Year!

That's it, lol, Happy New Year!

I did not stay up for it last night - went to be at 10 and I did not get up early this morning.  You know, still being sick and all.

I am being dumped with a Cheniere garbage run tomorrow so I'm just taking it easy today.  I haven't had to go to Cheniere in quite a while, thankfully.  The biggest drawback to that run this time around is it is supposed to be raining down there tomorrow - I'm not a fan of standing outside in the cold rain unloading a trailer, even moreso not a fan when I'm sick.  It's a late load - scheduled at 1:30 to load the truck - so I know regardless, I won't make it back tomorrow.

And, it's the first load of the year lmao.

$16,000 in the various Federal taxes in 2019.  I find that to be outrageous.  And these democrat president candidates want even more?  How much is too much? That's just federal taxes, that doesn't included city sales taxes, county taxes, state taxes, property taxes - etc ad nauseum.  These politicians - and I don't care what label they give themselves either Republican or Democrat - see no problem in enacting more and more taxes.

I'm not sure what happened to Conservatives in this nation, but they are either not saying anything about all of this crap or there just aren't that many of us left. Trump signed off on a huge budget bill that puts us much further into debt and deficit spending.  I like a of what Trump has done, this s*** here isn't part of the equation or his desire to enact more gun restrictions.  But, no one is claiming Trump is a conservative.  He claims to be Republican but if he is, it's definitely in the moderate range.  He's gleeful of a huge amount of money being spent on our military once again

You know, some of these nations with ultra low taxes and low cost of living for retirement seem more and more appealing.  A few hundred thousand dollars plus your SS check every month and people live in those nations like royalty.  Just seems unnatural to contemplate leaving your homeland to retire tho.  I just don't see any end to this parade of new and higher taxation at all levels of government ever coming - unless a convention of States is ever in the works.

I guess those aren't the most positive of thoughts on the 1st of January, I was looking at my last paycheck of the year and contemplating once again the high amount of taxation we already have in this nation.  Why can't government live within it's means? We take in well over 3 trillion per year in tax revenues at the federal level but we still have to add a trillion dollars worth of debt to it? Why?
What do we have to show for it? Now they are contemplating attempting to get a infrastructure bill through - that's at least a trillion dollar proposal.

Okay.  Off of that subject.  No New's Year's resolutions for me.  I'm well back into the diet, cheated alittle last night, but very little and still in ketosis today, amazingly enough.

The situation at the other house - has fluctuated.  Lots of drama, s*** I don't need or want.  I intervened and told the lady to get her act together or get out.  That was really the only way to handle this, her actions were becoming too much for anyone to deal with.  Whatever.  I just talked to everyone and decided that they need to work this out.  There is no perfect living situation when you are residing with strangers, but there should be consideration and respect shown from everyone to everyone.  But I'm not going to eat anymore rent lapses as I did last month.  About $150 worth.  The few occasions this has occurred I've just shrugged my shoulders and thought how much more it would have cost to keep my dogs at a shelter or just leaving them at home when I'm gone and them getting into trouble.  But 2 months in a row? Not really interested. It's a difficult tenant market out here, nothing like Phoenix.

Okay. Regardless of what goes on at that house, this month the entire bill will be paid by them, nothing coming from me.  The Phoenix house - now that this nonsense of not paying the rent is gone, the power reader should never have to have me adding obscene amounts to it again.  Maybe a large payment in May, but that should be it.  And, the guy that prepays for 6 months at a time - his last payment is done so I will be getting his full monthly payment starting this month again as well.  I put his payment in my savings account last time, but I'd rather just get the monthly payment.

The Keto Diet

KETO
Read this thoroughly:
If you are a keto newbie- This should help pretty much all you need to know to get a good start.

- Meats: ZERO CARBS
• Beef- Ground beef, Steak, Ribs, and Roasts
• Pork- Chops, Ribs, BACON, Loins, sausage
• Chicken/ Turkey- Thighs w/ skin or wings are the best because breasts are high in protein. However, you CAN eat breasts, just have to eat more fat to compensate.
• Fish- Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Haddock, etc.
• Shrimp/ Lobster- Go crazy, use lots of butter!
• Pepperoni

-Cheese: MOST are no carb, almost all are low carb
• Mozerella & Cheddar- Buy in bulk, they freeze well and are insanely versatile!
• Colby jack, pepper jack, monterrey jack
• Taco style, Mexican style
• Parmesan, Asiago
• Ricotta- Freezes well, very versatile
• Cottage cheese- Good to throw in your lunch with berries, usually around 4-8g of Carbs per serving
• Cream Cheese- Freezes very well, this is one of the things that I always glance at whenever I go to the store, and always buy a bunch of if it's under 75 cents per 8oz.

- Vegetables: No potatoes! Get your carbs from above ground veggies!!!

• Leafy greens- Spinach, Spring mix, Kale, Romaine
• Zucchini- Great for a noodle substitute!
• Avocado- Awesome source of natural fat!
• Eggplant
• Brussels sprouts
• Tomato
• Spaghetti Squash- Versatile, makes a great spaghetti substitute and is even great for making hash browns!!
• Cucumber
• Peppers- Jalepeño, banana, green/ red/ yellow/ orange bell
• Broccoli- Great with cheese, steamed or just raw!
• Asparagus- Awesome roasted or sautéed with bacon and garlic!
• Cauliflower- AWESOME potato substitute!!
• Celery- Great with cream cheese or all natural peanut butter!
• Cabbage
• Pickles (Read nutrition labels, watch for sugar and carbs)
• Olives
• Green beans- Awesome sautéed in bacon grease with garlic, (watch portion size, though).
• Onions- Red, yellow: use somewhat sparingly, to taste
- Fruits: Most are a no-no, especially bananas, oranges and grapes.
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Raspberries
• Blackberries
• Lemon/ Limes- Adds great flavor!
- Nuts (grams of Carbs per 100 grams, or 3.5 oz)
• Pecans/ Brazil (4g)
• Macadamia (5g)
• Hazelnut/ Walnut/ Peanut (7g)
• Pine (9g)
• Almond (10g)
• Pistachio (18g)
• Cashew (27g)
- Oils/ Fats
• Coconut Oil
• Butter: Kerry Gold is best but just make sure it's REAL butter and not a spread or margarine
• Olive Oil
• Vinaigrette
• Hollandaise
• Bacon/ sausage grease
• MCT oil- easily ordered online/ in specialty stores
-Dressings/ Condiments/ Fats
• Ranch, Blue cheese, Cesar, Thousand Island, Balsamic- Watch carbs/ sugar, but there's tons of brands, so you can find one you love!
• Mayo- Natural/ organic is best, but I use Hellmann's all the time.
• Aioli
• "NO SUGAR ADDED" Ketchup or sugar free ketchup
• G. Hughes brand sugar free BBQ sauce
• Yellow/ Spicy Brown Mustard
• Soy sauce
• Hot sauce
- Liquids: Use as base for sauces/ soups
• Heavy Whipping Cream (HWC)
• Broths/ Stocks: Stay away from reduced fat. Bone broth is awesome!
- Snacks
• Pepperoni
• Slim Jims/ jerky (watch carbs)
• Homemade cheese its/ tortilla chips
• Cheese
• Pork rinds (0 carbs, very versatile. Can be used as breading, nacho substitute or even sprinkled with cinnamon & stevia and eaten like cereal with Almond milk and tastes like cinnamon toast crunch!)
- Drinks
• WATER- Lots of it!
• Crystal Light- Tons of options and very convenient!
• Tea
• Coffee- Add a Tablespoon of coconut oil or MCT oil, Stevia/erythritol, heavy whipping cream and vanilla, pumpkin extract or Cocoa powder & peppermint extract *BOOM* Homemade creamer!

- Alcoholic Beverages - contrary to popular belief, straight liquor has NO carbs!  And there are many brands of beers out there that are low carb.  I'm not suggesting you start a diet while drinking, but for those of you that just can't break from it, here you go!  I will tell you IMO that you will have reduced results drinking while dieting, but to each his/her own!

• Beers (grams of carbs per 12 oz serving)
▪ Bud Select 55 (1.9)
▪ MGD 64 (2.4)
▪ Rolling Rock Green Light (2.4)
▪ Michelob Ultra (2.6)
▪ Bud Select (3.1)
▪ Beck's Premier Light (3.2)
▪ Natural Light (3.2)
▪ Michelob Ultra Amber (3.7)
▪ Coors Light (5)
▪ Amsterdam Light (5)
▪ Bud Light (6.6)
. Corona Premiere (2.6)
• Vodka: Whipped Vodka & flavored water or pineapple Pinnacle with crystal light are a couple of my favorites!
• Whiskey shot (0g carbs)
• Brandy shot (0g carbs)
• Dry Martini (0g carbs)
• Tequila shot (0g carbs)
• Champagne (~1g per serving)
• Dry wine (~2g per serving)

- Sweeteners
• Stevia drops (0g)
• Erythritol (0g)
• Truvía (0g)
• Monkfruit (0g)
-Swerve

- Other common Ingredients I use
• Almond flour
• Spices: Garlic powder, onion powder
- Dont forget your electrolytes, they are needed daily.
• A good form of electrolytes is:
• Powerade zero
• Pickle juice
• Pink Himalayan salt added to your food
- Strict keto - counts all macros, does not eat processed foods.
- Lazy keto - doesn’t track all macros, still eats processed foods, as long as they are on plan
- Macros are a break down of the calories you intake for the day.
- Carbs are a limit - try not to go over your carb limit. 20 NET CARBS!
- Fat is a lever - you don’t have to meet your fat macro, it’s simply there to help you get full.
- Protein is a goal- try your best to reach your protein goal.

Adding to this list:
Prepping is the best way to be successful!
Plan and make your meals in advance, at least dinner if nothing else.
Some examples of delicious things you can eat:
- Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers
- Keto friendly version of meatloaf
- Lettuce wrapped bacon burgers with guacamole - no bun! Top with mayo, sugar free ketchup, a few pickles, onions, a bit of tomato, I've learned to like the lettuce wrap more than buns!
- Pot Crack Chicken! This is such a delicious meal and soooo easy to make!
- Steak
- Shrimp
- Meat sandwiches using almond flour bread! 
- Fathead Pizza dough pizza (make it yourself!)
- Alllllll kinds of different egg dishes, ample recipes you can find simply googling "Keto eggs". 
- Stuffed chicken breast - this is usually a cream cheese mix that you stuff inside of the chicken and also dump on top of it, ohhhh so delicious!
- BBQ Pork sandwiches - you can take a picnic or butt roast, dump it in the crock pot, get it nicely cooked, pull apart with a fork and then slather it with Sugar Free BBQ sauce!  Home made bread or rolls to put it on!
-Keto spaghetti and lasagna! More companies are jumping in on the keto bandwagon (and cash cow for them) and making all kinds of keto friendly stuff including noodles.  It isn't quite the same as real spaghetti noodles, but it's close enough! The sauce is made with Rao's sauce, a bit pricier but it's low carbs.  Delicious!!! There are lasagna recipes out there where you make your own noodles!! Very simple to do!
- Did you know there is actually Keto ice cream out there?!! One brand is called Rebel (some people love it, others not so much) and Enlightened are the biggest contenders out there and available in grocery stores.
- Keto friendly sweets!  If you just can't do without your chocolates, there are ample recipes on the internet to make keto chocolates of alllllll kinds!
- Keto bagels! Thin Slim is my first choice brand of them (I buy them on the internet and have them shipped).  They are very good and a nice substitute for "real bread" products. 

Besides those meal suggestions above (there are a LOT more on the internet, just google "keto recipes" and you will instantly see more sites filled with recipes than you will ever need.  Just be forewarned, some recipes are delicious and some - mehhhh - not so much. Trial and error. Don't be afraid to experiment, just make sure you're using keto friendly ingredients)

Remember, you do NOT have to exercise to make this diet work! It is recommended, of course, that you DO exercise, but many people have seen phenomenal results without any exercise at all! 

Count your carbs!  Keep track of your calories if you wish!  Weigh yourself and take your waist, hip, leg and belly measurements before you start and take "before"pics! If you are serious about this diet, you will be AMAZED at how much of a transformation you can achieve in a relatively short period of time!  You may enter a phase where you don't see any weight loss - but - you are still losing fat!  If you stall, check what you are eating!  Many people don't realize how many carbs are in that innocent condiment you put on your burger!  They call them "hidden carbs", you must check everything you eat before you eat it!  You can either use a carb app or you can simply google it. For example, if you google "carbs ketchup" (I always just put in carbs and the name of whatever food or ingredient I'm trying to find info for), the first thing that comes up is a graph and shows that a tablespoon of regular ketchup has 4.5 carbs! That's a lot considering if you are doing strict keto and trying to keep your net carbs at under 20 per day! Plus you have the possibility of sugar spikes that may possibly kick you out of ketosis! 

It's the New Year! Good time to throw out all of that carbohydrate laden junk food and get a fresh start on your life!  Good luck!

Yesterday.
Making it down here, to Brownsville, was not fun, at all.

Long story short, I ended up stopping 3 times, taking half hour breaks all 3 times, sleeping those breaks and then attempting to push on down the road to get down here.  I already knew after another driver phoned me that there were no empty trailers down here, that was the motivation needed to get here and get on the detention list.

It's now a quarter after 1 the next day - being Monday - and I'm waiting on a trailer to show up. 2 trailers came already, but they said one more is coming.

Unfortunately.  Cause' I could use a good full day's rest before attempting to start back up.  It's foregone conclusion that whenever it gets here, I'm not driving all the way through. No way am I staying up til midnight or later attempting to drive feeling like this.  I only feel a little better than last night/yesterday cause I slept 10 hours.  And have had a nap. And another nap, lol.

If this other trailer gets here before 4 pm, I"ll try to get 5 hours of driving in and then I'll only have half the trip to go tomorrow. That actually sounds better than trying to drive all day long tomorrow. 

The mechanic texted me earlier - the ATV is completed.  He sent a video of him riding it down the road by his house.  4 wheel drive works and I'll be happy to get over this sickness and take it out for a nice ride at a nearby riding park. 

Gator Run isn't too far from where he lives and it's a huge riding park, thousands of acres. 

Anyway, this Dish Network app stinks badly. At least when trying to replay saved movies and shows.  It cuts in and out and in and out the entire time.  Even with excellent cell reception, it just doesn't work right. Never had that problem with Directv - tho I still have no regrets dumping all ATT services. 

Well, I think I'll be home tomorrow night to celebrate the incoming of a New Year.  No resolutions for me, thanks. I started back on keto 4 days ago, but definitely not as a New Year's resolution type of thing. I fail at those resolutions miserably and I have determined that it is better to start some new journey at any time of the year but  the New Year. It's like a curse - make the resolution and guaranteed to fail!  I've started intermittent workouts as well.

I call them intermittent cause' it's hardly a regular routine. More like when I feel like it stuff. 

If they are doing fireworks, I'll watch from a distance. The lady across the street calls the cops every time.  The cops come out, say sorry, you can't do that, if they call again we'll have to issue a citation.  They're nice enough about it, but who needs the stress.  I'll probably just go into my bedroom and sleep lol.

And I think after this trip, I'm not contacting my manager. She can do her usual - give-me-a-run-when-she-gets-around-to-it thing instead of notifying her I'm available.  As much as I need the money, a couple of days off to rest would be really nice right now. 

With that, I"ma take another nap before this other trailer shows up. 

Living in a house with young children - who go to preschool - who get exposed to other young children - and then bring the sicknesses home - well, that's not exactly a "pro" in my book. 

I woke up in the middle of the night last night, my lungs felt like they were on fire.  My head was hurting and I was coughing.  So I got up and took a Mucinex, which eventually helped me get back to sleep, actually. 

I have zero plans for anything today.  I'm holed up in my bedroom and I intend on staying in here until tomorrow morning, when I'll have to get up, go the yard, hook up a trailer and get over to the plant.  And then, on down to Brownsville again. I'm really not looking forward to that, but I'm not calling in sick, either.  I have to have this money, it's just plain simple mathematics - refill the checking account or start dipping into savings.

The 4 wheeler is allegedly going to be done today, but again, I'm not going and getting it, I'm not doing anything.  He has the front differential working now - 4 wheel drive instead of just 2 wheel drive. That was a bit pricey and I should have waited until after the New Year to get it done.  He can bring the thing up here, I guess, if he really wants to get paid, tho I paid him down to zero last time I saw him, so there shouldn't be much more than a hundred or 2 to finish paying him off.  \

My tooth - not as painful today. I have decided to try and wait until after the New Year to get it fixed - I'm assuming/guessing it needs a root canal.

Well, I changed that plan. I took the old Iphone 8 to the post office, that has to be back to the insurance company before 15 days are up.  Still have a week for that. Went to the store and got some more Mucinex.  Cause' the stuff works.  And now home again, doing nothing.  Watching movies, bedroom door shut, I'm not a very nice person when I'm sick and I just keep to myself so i don't go around offending everyone lmao.  Ok, my doggies put up with me regardless of my moods or physical well being, so they're in here with me : )

Yup, nice lazy day.  Put on my new - steel toed tennis shoes lol. Thanks to my employer.  I don't need another pair of work boots, these shoes cost less than the amount my employer gives each year, which is $125, these shoes are quite comfortable and should last quite a while.  And they look good : )  With that, I think I'll finish watching the Lord of the Rings and then take a nice nap : )

 Because coughing, hacking and sneezing all day are the way to do it!  If y'all gonna be miserable, let's do it right! Start the day with a giant headache, get up anyway, get the show on the road!

And after 5 straight hours of driving, stop for your 30 minute break, take a nap, fall into a deep sleep and wake up feeling even worse! Like freaking helllll

That was my day today : )

I can't take any more time off, that's just not a happening event unless I am soooooooo  miserable that I literally cannot get out of bed! I ain't there yet and I refuse to succumb to the forces of internal agony. 

It's Friday night - not late tho, I got started early enough this morning  that I was able to get back a reasonable time.  I walked into the house with full Christmas festivities going on.  Yes, I know Christmas was yesterday, don't tell anyone here that! Ok, grandma and grandpa came down with a TON of toys for the kids, so it's all good. 

Ohhh! Border patrol checkpoint! Dude says how's it going?!! Good! (lying I guess cause' sickness killing me, but I didn't feel the need to get into a sob story).  Anyone in there with you? They always ask that because there is a sleeper and I keep the curtain closed.  No.  Well have a great day!  Really? When do these people say stuff like this?  He didn't even ask if I am a citizen!  Well, you too! 

Not impossible, I guess, to have a cool interaction with those people. But, you know, when they are demanding me open the door and let them search the truck?  LMAOOOOO

NOOOOOOOOO I don't consent to ANY searches OR seizures!!

Lol. I get a bit funny when I'm sick.

Oooh, and the Stripes in Riviera!  Riviera Texas, that is.  I'm back on Keto - I'm not in ketosis but I don't expect that to happen for several more days.  Anyway, there was a HUGE line at the register. And I stood there at the place where you order, there as a line of orders 15 long.  Ohhh myyyyyyyyy!
But I was starving - and the 14 hour clock has plenty on it coming back up cause' I ain't loading the truck and spending 2 to 3 hours of it.  So I thought oh well, I'll just wait as long as it takes. I ordered 4 helpings of the eggs and bacon in a container, no tortillas, went to the register, got that done.

This dude?  Taking the orders? Sees me standing there, pulls out a giant cup, loads it up and hands it to me!  I didn't ask him or even look at him, I was willing to wait my turn in line.  I bypassed a very large amount of orders sitting there, lmao.  Thank you!!!

A busload of tourists at the Love's where I took my 30 minute break.  I pulled in there - Edna, Texas - went to sleep and woke dazed and confused.  Like, what the heck and where am I?  Ohhh, ok, I figured that out quick. Decided to get a cup of hot tea, might help with these symptoms. Or an old wives tale, who knows but it couldn't hurt.  This tour bus had pulled up 20 feet in front of me. Alll of these people giving me strange looks when I got out of my truck - properly parked in a truck parking space - they were just blocking shit lmao.

I never did figure that one out. In and out of the store, a group of people staring at me I wasn't gross looking, lmao.  I didn't say anything to any of them, I just smiled as I walked by. I can tell ya, when I feel that bad, I am in no mood to talk to anyone  about anything, but I don't want to be rude, either. 

Yeah, it was weird.  I resisted the urge to stop at Dickey's - its a smokehouse BBQ joint in Seven Oaks, Texas, on the way back. It was an extra stop. I was hungry, no doubt, but I figured to stop in Lufkin, refuel, and get an Arby's turkey salad.  It filled me up, too. And keto friendly, very low carbs in that affair. 

In all of that, somewhere along the way, I had texted my manager: I'll be back tonight, if there is anything available this weekend, I'm good to go.  Yup, I can feel like hell but my bank account can feel even worse if I continue with this non-working nonsense. It was fun while it lasted, it's time to work!  I didn't bother to tell her how I was feeling, that wouldn't help my cause.  So, I am home tomorrow and right back out Sunday and back down to Brownsville.

Did I say my tooth is getting worse?  Oh, I didn't. So besides all the hacking and head nonsense going on, I have a tooth getting worse by the day. But today, lmao, it got much worse. I can't chew on anything without sharp, shooting pain. Tomorrow is Saturday, no dentists are open, lol. So we've got that going!  Actually, I might wait until the 1st, then I can use my insurance to fix it.  I'm guessing a root canal.  Who knows, but it's not getting better and time to crack out the pain relief  Yup, I didn't take anything all day today for this other stuff going on. I knew it would make me feel like going to sleep so  just said no thanks.  I gotta get home! 

That's enough for one entry. Cause' honey, I'm going to bed! Trying anyway lmao

Payment was due today.
Payment for what, you ask?
For having all of this time off, getting up whenever I please and doing whatever I feel like doing. 
I know, I went to Oklahoma 2 days before Christmas, but that was literally nothing like how I felt today.  At 4:00 am, the alarm went off. I was in a very deep sleep - I think the kind you are better off not be awakened in the middle of.

My head hurt, my throat was sore and I was coughing. Yup, the sickness that has pervaded in the house for weeks now finally caught me.  The 2 year old and Taylor have both been hacking, wheezing and coughing for a couple of weeks now.  I had hoped it was the cold I already had not that long ago and my body was now immune to it.

But you know, there are so many strains of colds and flu going around out there, well, obviously I got hit with a different strain. 

Feeling like death warmed over - I really did not feel well at all - I went to work anyway.  I cannot afford to take any more time off.  I just can't and I've toughed out colds before - flus not so much but a few occasions.  However, the older I get, the worse impact even a simple cold has on me.  I simply feel like hell with legs. 

Getting to the plant this morning, I sat on the scale for literally 45 minutes. I normally have to wait maybe 2 or 3 minutes.  Occasionally 10-15 if they're really busy. But no-one was in there.  After getting the ok to leave the scale, I got to the rack, parked the truck and the operator went to work hooking up the truck. I thought it odd that it was taking him so long to come back to the office - they usually hook up, turn it on, let-er rip and come straight back to the office module.  When he did, finally, get back, he informed me the pump wasn't working, had contacted maintenance, we have to wait. 

Great!  Delay this day even longer! Make it stretch out forrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvveeeeeeerrrrr.  I didn't say that to him, I instead just tried to sleep a little.  That didn't last long, tho, as the second load driver came in to chat! I had texted him that the pump was broken, but he came anyway! Woohoo! Do you know what I reeeeeeaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyyyy don't like doing when I am sick? Talking to people!  I can literally do without talking to anyone the entire time I am sick and not miss a beat! 

So, that went on the entire rest of the time I was sitting there, he only left when we both heard the operator banging the hammer on the fittings to force them to release. 

In spite of all of that, I got on the road, drove on down the highway and stopped at a favorite Mexican food restaurant.  I brought no food with me, I expected to stay off the Keto diet until January 2, but something kicked in this morning and said, nope, we are going back on the diet, 14 days off was long enough, 9 pounds gained, gut starting to come back, no thanks.  So, I ordered what I normally do there, in great detail telling them exactly what I want - if you're going to do Keto you might as well at least try to make it as enjoyable as possible - and yes, they totally screwed the order up!! Woohoo again! What a great day this is turning out to be!!!

It wasn't bad, mind you, and they didn't put any non-keto stuff in there besides a tortilla I specifically told them I didn't want - and threw in the trash can when I got into my truck - but it wasn't what I wanted darnit!  Oh well, I was in there for 26 minutes - far longer than I have ever had to wait there before, I wasn't about to wait even longer.  My 14 hour clock wasn't going to be enough to get me down to Brownsville, even with the "16 hour exception" I would be pushing it after spending all that time at the plant.  So I just rushed out the door, at the food - and was starving an hour later. 

My belly told me that it was unhappy and wanted more food!  My head told me that it didn't like what was going on in my lungs and throat!  Yeah, SCREW all of that!  I didn't eat again for 6 hours - when I stopped at Love's and they had - nothing I could eat but a hot dog.  I got a plain hot dog, no bun, didn't bring my sugar free stuff with me, so I devoured the freaking thing and at least felt better after that.   A little bittle teeny weeny better, but better is good!

So, here I am in Brownsville! And there was an empty trailer here! Gaggggg.  I need money right now, this wasn't helping.  But it's whatever, I dropped the full trailer on a concrete pad and got hooked up under this empty thing and I'm ready to go in the morning!

I can tell ya right now, I am not  setting the alarm and I don't care what time I leave!  My manager won't care either. There are 5 Mexican trailers sitting in the yard right now. Those are dedicated trailers for the Brownsville run, she doesn't need an empty right away, I will get about the driving business tomorrow when I damn well feel like it!

Can you tell I'm in a mood? : ) Woohoo!  What am I doing up? Well, it's 9:00 pm and I am just waiting til' it's around 10:00 to make sure I am good and sleepy so I can hopefully sleep through the night.  If I don't sleep through the night, and wake up in the middle of the night - happens enough - I'll just sleep in in the morning until I wake up and feel rested! I might feel like s***, but rested s***! 

Yes, it's a real drawback living with adults with kids. The kids are exposed to all the other kids at daycare and they gleefully share their germs with each other, including the sick ones!!! Woohoooo! So, they bring those sick germs home with them and fill the air with Holiday germ spirit!  And we all get sick!! Yeeeeehaaaaawwwww!!

Guess what? I am starving again!  Nope, I'm in the yard, I hooked to the empty, I am not going anywhere. I will sit here and reap the rewards of not bringing any food with me! I could have brought ham and rib roast!  And salad fixings!  But nooooooo, I was going to just go on eating whatever until the 2cd! 

No matter. I will go to sleep and it won't affect my sleep. I'm not and never have been one of those people that gets up in the middle of the night to go raid the refrigerator. Eating doesn't cross my mind if I wake up in the middle of the night. 

Ohhhhh!! And speaking of bad days!!!  Taylor texted me this afternoon and said she was really lucky she decided to go smoke a cigarette when she did. Whyyyy? I asked.  She went on to tell me about the garbage truck driver - in this case recyclables - who pulled up to our can, grabbed it with the hydraulic handles, lifted it up and - it dropped to the ground! Lmao. She then said he got out of the truck, picked the "damned thing" back up, and then proceeded to try again, this time, the entire can fell inside the truck~! 🤣

It then dawned on me that I could watch this whole scenario play out on the camera we have for security! Sure enough, I saw all of this, and then he got inside of the back of it and threw the garbage can up and out of the truck!  Hahahahaha. He was clearly pissed.  Bad day! Sorry dude, but your day isn't going any worse than mine! And I wasn't having a hissy fit! Just mind battles - keeping my mouth zipped.  Oh well. 

The day is finally over is what I can say and I am elated for that.  I'll have an entire day's drive tomorrow - when I get around to it - but I won't be near as pressured. If I have to stop, I'll have plenty of on-duty hours to take nap if I need to and try to feel better enough to get on down the road. 

I'm not saying anything to my manager about being sick.  I want another run as soon as possible when I get back. It's time to go to work, whether my body feels like it or not!  I don't know what the wait time is for another run, but tomorrow is Friday and she always hands out the runs for Saturday, Sunday and Monday in advance. No way I want to go until Tuesday without working!  I'll be texting her tomorrow early afternoon - I'll be back to the yard - tonight probably unless my body unleashes further hell upon me - please put me back in the queue for whatever comes up.  I literally don't care what - either - I need to work!!  I can be picky at other times when I have full paychecks coming in, right now? NOPE.  Let's git-er done!! 

Wait, but Christmas was great! I can't and won't complain about that!

C'yall next time!