My Little Buddy Benny

Benny was the anti-sidekick in the movie the Mummy with Brendan Fraser. Benny leaves Brendan's character to be slaughtered at the hands of the cult that guards the Mummy's tomb.

A bad character. I picked up my own Benny at a garbage dump in Barrhead Alberta.

I was directed to this location by my carrier. Pick up 33 tons of scrap to be delivered to Richmond by Monday. Unfortunately, my carrier did not say that I needed wire straps instead of the web straps I was carrying. Using the web straps on the load would have resulted in shredded straps and a sizable fine by the DOT for an unsecure load.

This is how Benny and I met. Dunnage was the answer. Most truckers scrouge dunnage to fix a tie down problem. Dunnage is the material that protects the load and the load securement. The dunnage would protect my straps from being shredded. Dunnage can take form from cardboard to 2x4's or in my case carpet. I needed 425 square feet, the size of a small condo, to cover the top of the load.

And here was were Benny and I became acquainted. 3 hours later, I had scrouged 425 square feet of carpet from the dump for the top of my load. I had my dunnage and a new friend.

Techicolor Dreams

My life has been a blur since I left MTI. I made my first call on a carrier that I was referred too.

Bingo...I am employed. Perhaps not the best contract but it is a gig.

I didn't realize that I would be jumping into the deep end of the pool but more on that in later posts.

I parked at a turn off in the dark. I was on my way from a town with no water pressure...Macklin Saskatchewan... with 30 tons of pipe for recycling. I was weary from the drive and weary from the impact of the absence of my family.  I parked and passed out.

I dreamed of my family. The emotion was intense. The colors were in sharp relief and the joy of holding my daughter was irreplaceable. A blue ray video of my family... Happy and together. My reality had been changed. When I awoke, the after glow of the perfect joy of knowing the intimacy of my family was ebbing. It was replaced by the morose shroud that the dream was gone. 

The day was cold. Time to move on and check the tractor. I opened the door and this was the sight I saw. It is hard to convey the impact in a blog photo. The scenery over whelmed by sight and my mind.

One scene changes to the next...

The View from My Office

People wait all year for their vacation so they can see a view like this one. I will see this type of scenery everyday.

This picture is a small lake at the top of the highest passage in Canada. The Kootenay Pass is open most days and exceeds an elevation of 3000 feet.

I took this shot on the first all day drive in my commercial driver's course. It's hard to believe that I have been in BC for close to twenty years and have not been able to take the time to see how beautiful it is. Now I will be paid for it.