Ohh Such Fun

Unfortunately after tipping we had to part from the Welsh Wizard,we were heading back into North Carolina while he was loading south,our reload was a load of Yams, 2 drops Montreal and 1 drop in Toronto,after our little discussion the other day about weighing off etc i kindly asked if they wanted it weighing even though the totally accurate onboard weighing system is showing all is well,the answer Yes Please,and guess what i was over on my drive axles again so as from now i rest my case and will continue to wiegh off.Our jaunt back north was up the i95 skirting Washington, well trying to anyway, the traffic reminded me of the M25 putting us about 3 hours behind,so we called it a night in Carney's Point New Jersey.The plan then was to shoot up the NJ turnpike then just before New York hit the i287 then on to the i87 which would take us through the border at Lacolle then straight into Montreal.The i87 carves its way through the Adirondack Mountains and with the sun shinning making it a rather enjoyable trip (well this part anyway).All the problems arose when i got to the border parts of my load hadn't cleared so with this delay it was making my delivery even more tight.1.5 miles away from our first drop and 20 minutes after the company was due to close (they said they would wait for me)this is where we hit major problems,anyone who has driven through Montreal will know all the signs are in French there isn't one english sign and that includes road blocks, detours etc,my first delivery was right in the centre and just before the road i needed to get down there was a bridge and it was shut due to construction, now these streets are extremely tight and most don't allow trucks down them unfortuantely the guys who put the detours sign up didnt think of this,after plenty of cursing etc we arrived 1 1/2 hours later but the guys were still there waiting for me and were extremely nice.Now to the next drop we were told they were closed now and to tip it as early in the morning as poss so we decided to make our way over there and park in there yard,again the road was blocked, Arggggg!!!!!! due to road works even though im only 100 yards from the place and can see it,it still took us another 45 mins to get there.At least we got tipped handy next morning then of we set for Toronto,The Ontario Food market enough said about this place the better, finally after the customer whining on about how the yams weren't to his satisfaction (do i really look bothered,just take it off my truck so i can leave)we were empty,then hit with please can you pick a trailer up in Brampton (near Toronto airport) and deliver it to Milton (just about 30 min drive away)not really jobs you want whan you get paid per mile but as the company man i am i agreed and with that regretted it as it took nearly 5 hours for us to unload.So now its back to PEI and a little rest before we head back out Tuesday, and into December, only a couple more weeks till were going back to Blighty so the big count down is well and truly on.

Down South and Look who i found !!!!!!!!!!

After finally getting sorted friday and getting off the island off we headed into New Brunswick and the USA border.Because off the problems with the Bridge closed etc our delivery time was put back 24 hrs making our trip pretty easy.The best thing about driving south the weather is so much warmer especially when we get news that the first proper snowfall has hit PEI.Contary to belief The Welsh Wizard hasn't been abducted by aliens he's extremely well and still Haulin Ass around North America.Ive had a couple of messages on here asking what has happened to him as he hasn't updated his blog in a good few months,as myself he has had his up and downs but it all seems to be working out well for him, now and im sure if you bug the hell out of him he will update you all. ive put a few photos on here to prove he really is alive,unfortunately he divulged a little secret to me,Derrrrr how fatal is that, now do i tell all or keep stum Lol, only if you promise not to laugh.Well here goes, the other day when he was shopping in Sobeys now bear in mind he's pretty youngish, the cashier asked if he has his seniors card on him so he could get his elderley discount,well this then provided me with wise cracks now, well Forever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!.So as you can see i saw a plate for grandad and thought it was quite apt.The last time i came down here i stopped at an outlet store with The Worlds Largest Cigar Store so we decided to head in there, i was looking to take some home for Christmas and New Years for my Friends,this also making it a couple of nice hours away from the truck.

OOH LAA LAAAAAA

After a night at the Hockey,we decided to have a chill out day,i know what your thinking, the boy works that hard he sure needs to chill a bit, well thanks for your concerns Lol.Unfortuanately i still have to do the shopping and washing etc, i just about manage to fit it all in, its a bit of a squeeze but yes i do manage, JUST.Then i get the dreaded phone call, any chance you can go out this evening Hummmmmmm, Its a load down to South Carolina, Hummmmmm,Ok. Again i know what your thinking all i do is work,work,work,well cos im such a company man i try to please (are you buying all this, "NO" i thought not lol).If the load had been down to New jersey etc i wouldn't have bothered but i like it further south and hopefully its a little warmer than where i am at the moment.Well a couple of problems arose,to take a load anywhere we need to put it on something now let me think what we need Hummmm, Oh yes "Trailers" unfortunately when you dont have any its becomes sort of difficult to transport goods around.The problem was the winds had picked up and the Confederation bridge which links PEI to the mainland was closed leaving all trucks who were returning back with empty trailers stuck on the mainland.Oh well looks like im not going out after all.Then im hit with the biggest bombshell off all, The Welsh Wizard is also going so looks like i better get my Ispy book off sheep out.Finally friday morning after what one could describe as a pretty eventfull couple of hours in the yard (one of our managers now in his wisdom thinks that weighing a load is unnessesary and costing the company to much money, as the truck and trailers have onboard scales, on which i might add are totally in accurate.So as normal the penny pinching continues and my feelings towards this was pretty much expressed.)we headed off the island, and only to prove myself right when i rolled over the DOT scale im 1800lbs overweight on my drive axle for running through the states even though the Onboard truck scale is saying im ok, guess whos pays the fine?

A night at the Hockey

We got back on to PEI Tuesday evening,a week i needed to get out of my head,so getting away from all things work was my main priority.I suppose we all have good and bad weeks no matter where we are or what we do.A quick shower and off to Eastside Marios for a full rack of ribs and then upto to the Cornwall Roadhouse for a good few Buds soon eased away the past eight days.There had been a little friction between the two off us, living together in such a small confined space can be hard at times,and on top off everything else what is going on its inevitable the odd little argument would break out, it doesn't help when were as stubborn as each other.Anyway alls well again the airs cleared,so to plan for a day off,gym,run and sauna and a little shopping,then after the previous nights conversation about hockey we found out the PEI Rockets were playing that evening,so tickets in hand we headed down to The Charlottetown Civic Centre for our first proper hockey match,i had been to a match a couple of years ago when we met up with LadyPens cousins they were involved in a friendly tournament in Salmon Arms BC but i really wasn't taking much notice off what was going on then.Well the word off the night was CONFUSION we need to swat up on the rules because we just looked at each other in bewilderment as the players constantly changed, even at the end when we thought there was more to play and still sat there,it was only the mass exodus and the lights went out that sort of gave it away LOl.It was a good evening really and definately a game i could grow to like alot so maybe this is the start of something.

A Little Trip to Niagara Falls.

Now the Potato season has kicked off on Prince Edward Island its back to the East Coast triangle,its pretty much the same week in week out, a load off the island down to Pensylvannia,or New Jersey area,then a load from this area up to Toronto, then a load back to the Island,it gets a little mundane unfortunately.So thats all its been for the last couple of weeks, because i had a little spare time on my way up into Canada i thought i would take a little detour and visit Niagara Falls.we come through this point of entry most of the time and i have never taken time to visit the famous Falls.We have been very lucky the last few days the temps are very high and yes the shorts are still on so it was the ideal time to do a little sight seeing.Now i wasn't sure where the falls are so it was a little guess work as to where to go and most of all where to park the truck,a word of warning anyone wanting to do this with a truck don't try it in summer,but this time of the year i manage to get as far as your allowed on the Niagara Parkway with a truck and was allowed to park in a coach park by a very nice customs official, other than that there isn't any commericial parking.So camera in hand off we trekked we had manged to park about 2kms away from the acually Falls, but with it being about 19 degrees this was covered in no time,i always imagined they were out in the country not in the middle of a city,maybe a little uneductated but not at all dissappointed.A very beautifull place and the memory of the thunderous noise will stay with me for a long time.Im sure this wont be the last time i come here,the Boss has already started making noises.

Summer Breeze

Blowing through the Jasmine in my mind,the smell of freshly cut grass,the trees and flowers all in bloom,smiling faces, the long warm summer evening sitting outside enjoying the odd Bud,shorts and Tee shirts, Humm all this seems an eternity away now, well except the shorts and Tee shirts im not giving up on that attire just yet.Well its finally arrived "Winter" the leaves have given up now and the last remaining few have relinquished there positions and final laid to rest,everywhere looks oh so sorry now, the trees all bare look like there dying off, all the lush green grass is now turning a horrible shade of yellow/brown making this time my least favourable.Summer is for me, give me heat, heat and more heat, give me scantly clad women, only to look at of course, I suppose with all this in mind it has started a little bit of how time has passed by especially over the last 12 months,my or should I say our quest to move lock stock and 2 smoking barrels over to Canada has certainly taken a few twists and turns and yet this continues.I think its time to give a little advice to anyone wishing to take the same course as we have, the big question i suppose would be, would i do it again like this ?to be complete honest it would be a resounding NO, NO, NO.Why anyone would want to spend as much time away from there family as i have is beyond me, this has been the most stressfull time ive ever had to endure during my short time on gods earth.Please take heed, either move over all together or get PR before moving to Canada, ok this may take 3/4 years to do but believe me it is definately a better option.I say this with experience now, ive seen grown men crying including myself all saying the same i didnt realise it would be this hard, the slightest problem turn into mamouth ones you can not prepare for this believe me.Taking the 2nd option also gives you the ace card of being able to choose from every employer instead of the ones who have to recruit from overseas,yes some are ok i do believe this to be the case with the one i currently work for they are ok, but ask yourself one question why do the same companys come up time and time again needing to fill these post with foreign labour.There is a huge shortage of drivers here with PR already in place you can pick from the best of these companys,the best payers etc etc.Then i look at the whole emigrating thing,of course its different for me to someone who has moved over here with all their family etc,so my problems wouldn't be the same as those,time and time again you hear it said, no one said it would be easy, it isn't, you get nothing for nothing here be prepared to put in a great deal of hard work, there isn't a quick fix it takes time a long time.I really miss my close friends who would love dearly to have me back in their company (not sure why lol)i miss my close family,i miss my dogs but most off all i miss England, a place where my home is, the place where everything i know is.I left because of certain things that i believe to be fundamentally wrong, i do also believe that these problems will continue and get worse, can i over look this and return and then the big question is, Would i be happy? well who knows what the future holds.When i left i was looking for something at least equally as good as i had as im sure everyone else is, have i found it? only time will tell, certain things are at least as good if not better, anyone here would problably agree with that, ive got a long way to go to get where i want to be, being reunited with LadyPen permanently is the most important thing to me so we can move forward together where ever that maybe.Do i have a downer on Canada?the answer is a resounding No,not even after 12 months leaving England, do i regret doing what ive done, YES only because ive had to do it on my own, i want to share everything with the people who hopefully will benefit from the possible outcome.Then the biggest question off all is, After all the heartache and pain with the possibillty of PR in Canada achieveable has it all been worth it?only time will tell, maybe by Summer we will have a clearer picture.

A Few Photos from our Trip out West

Ive been going through some off the thousands of photos ive taken since arriving on the North American continent,as your probably aware i haven't posted them all on here.Over the next few weeks when some off our runs take us to places which ive pretty much covered photos wise, im going to treat you to previous trip photos, especially from the last big trip we got out to California.As you can imagine travelling over 3500 mile from PEI there is a lot of landscape change from the flat lands of the praires to the mountainous regions of Colorado all 10600 feet of them,the few i have choosen in this part are from Utah the driving through this region was incredibly,the only problem this has created is ive seem to have got very restless now about trucking on the east coast and the triangle work which is all very much repetative.Having said that were still very hopefull off getting a couple of days in New York to do a bit of site seeing.

Oooopppps

I was delivering to a very well known place in Moncton on sunday morning,my booking in time was 4.30am after backing on to the bay i could hear my bed calling, thats where i was in the land of nod until i was rudely awaken by a loud bang (a good few hours later and they hadn't even started to unload me) and this was the result.Im not going into the politics off why this happened but i know the outcome of this could of been a lot worse.The trouble with the fifth wheels over hear there isn't any fail safe device like we have in europe the little dog clip to secure the handle thus preventing the handle retracting if there is a problem.

A Couple of Days of on Prince Edward Island

We decided that a little rest was in order after we had worked so hard,there is definately no better place in Canada to chill out than PEI.As i love the sea we went to the eastern point of the island called BasinHead,although it doesn't matter where abouts you are your never far away from the coast.The  rolling red cliffs and beautiful sandy beaches make the island so exquiste,one of the reason people flock here during the summer months.The temps are dropping a little now as expected so no sunbathing or swimming in the sea but still make a great day out.