Thursday, January 27, 2011

Going South for a HOME VISIT and other EXPERIENCES!


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Well at the end of the last post on January 19th, Tomo was in Vancouver, British Columbia (A) trying to back his lovely big RED truck down a slope to a dock with very little visibility.  So after that job was done, his Road Manager gave him the option to head south to the Seattle area, and if he was interested have a night in his home community of Granite Falls, Washington (B)!  Tomo's response was to put the truck in gear and head for home.  He made it in time to gather with many friends on that Wednesday night and enjoy some special fellowship.  He spent the night with his former boss and family and youngest brother.  

On the following day, January 20th, while waiting for the call for his next assignment, he went back to his former work place and visited around with the crew.  In the afternoon, he hooked up his trailer and was going to proceed to his next assignment in Tacoma but ..... his truck had other plans.  The truck stalled outside the company and would not start.  Once again, Tomo called for a tow truck and off his RED truck went to Everett for a check up.  With a back up at the repair shop, on Friday the 21st, his truck was looked over and after full diagnostic testing and repair (to the tune of about $530) and all, it was decided that the truck's fuel pump O-ring ($34.00 item) was damaged.  Unfortunately, now the part had to be ordered and the earliest delivery would be on Monday morning. 

On Monday, the 24th, Tomo received his truck back and headed south to the Port of Tacoma, Washington (C) to the pick up site.  He was told to pick up on the following morning at 7 am and head to Alberta border (D,E) where he would swap trailers (passing the baton--like action) with another driver as the repair work had put a delay on the delivery and time was running out.  The next driver would carry it through the night to make the morning delivery deadline.  One side issue developed.  Unfortunately, at that pick up spot, Tomo's truck was leaking oil and that caused a bit of a complaint from the site manager as it was a land and environmental violation against the company and equipment.  Although there was nothing Tomo could do about it, he just called his supervisor and let them handle it.  I can only comically envision a large diaper on the truck to keep the oil from leaking on the the land!  
Edmonton HWY 2
As of tonight, Tomo is in Edmonton, Alberta (F) with a load of office furniture to be delivered on Thursday morning at 7:30 am.  Next destination point is unclear, but rumor had it, that he might be headed back to the Company yard in Anaconda, Montana (G).  Total mileage: 1,741 miles/ 2,802 kilometers.
Night scene of Calgary, Alberta
In for the OIL LEAK repair, Missoula, Montana

1 comment:

James Fitzpatrick said...

Hey Tomo,

Remember me? I'm James who went to college in Hirakata back in 1992. It was good to read your blog and see you are doing well. Maybe your truck is not so well having problems. Hope you come to Ohio someday or I could meet you somewhere in the Midwest. Say hi to your folks and family. Have many good experiences and adventures in the truck.

With Love in Him,
James