A new day on the Millard Tidings Bridge. #VFTC

Well, this sure has been an interesting week.

This will probably be the only picture I'll be posting from
Goldie this week. 

The Doctors have determined that I'm off for the rest of this week for
a femoral artery healing after a cardiac catherization.

The results are a mixed blessing.

Arteries, veins and the heart muscle are in top notch health.

However, we're checking out the valve and there looks like
repairs are on the way.

Given that, my picture posting will move away from trucks from time to time
and onto local subjects.  Maybe y'all could enjoy some pics from the
cab of my pickup truck.

A question for those who are from other countries. 

Here in the US and Canada we call a vehicle with a cab and a short bed (< 8 feet)
on a light weight frame (1 ton or less, US Measure)
a "Pickup Truck". 

What are these types of vehicles called in other countries? 

Thanks for viewing

Walt
aka Heydriver.

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Dang it! I missed #HineyHolidaze #VFTC

@TheNose100 and @Tachoblog

I let time get away from me and wow.
Here's my late entry into the #HineyHolidaze gallery
of trucking rear ends.

I'm making sure I get in early for #FrostyFenders

shamefully late and with much regret
Heydriver

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Good morning. Pulaski, VA. I-81 S. #VFTC

So near to Mom's house.  Let's
see if things work out and I get to
visit with Mom today. 

A prayer and God's speed will at least make me feel
better if things don't work out with the visit.

Enjoy today as best as you can.
This time of year can be rough on the driver with
youngsters.  Let's remember those at home who keep
the porch light lit and the kitchen warm.

Thanks
Walt.

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Oh! Yeah, it'll stop you.

Stopping in one of these is not a soft landing.

Not only will "escape ramps" break your truck, it'll
break your wallet too.

Fines and fees to reset the ramp are driver's responsibility.

Those slow speed limits on steep grades are for real.
Pay attention, don't be a jerk.

Play nice y'all.

Oh, this is the escape ramp at the 90 degree turn on
US Route 322 E coming off 7 Mountains near State College, PA.

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Sun cracks the Sky. #VFTC

Near Utica NY the Sun breaks
through on a fine Tuesday morning.

You just don't get views like this in a
9 to 5 grind.

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A virtual reality. US Route 17 N

Just playing on a Sunday morning.

Using an old photo editing program.
Paint Shop Pro ver 9.4

A before and after edit for you perusal.

Just messing around.
Enjoy.

Walt

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Ice fog and frost. #VFTC

A frosty morning in Olean, NY.

This is a little duck pond at Olean Wholesale
Grocers.  At this time the geese have moved in.
But, I've woken before the geese today.

I'm always trying to find something nice
to look at.  How about you?

Stay warm.
Be safe.
Enjoy the ride.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Passing fair. North bound. #VFTC

North bound and rolling past.
Just a damn fine day on the road
to Buffalo.

US Route 15, near Steam Valley Pa. 

Just an old gal (Goldie) passing through.

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Danger! Little ones up ahead. #VFTC

A common sight along 2 lane roads are these little
"doll houses".  Be careful early in the morning.
There is a good chance that a child waiting for a school bus to arrive will come bolting out into your path.

Now that late fall is here winter isn't far behind.
Low temps, fallen leaves, running children and slow
school buses makes for an exciting time if you
come up on them too fast.

Enjoy the weekend and, "Hey, let's be careful out there."

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A geek quiz.

A little weekend fun.

This item was once issued with every device that you bought
that wasn't part of an OEM computer.

I think that it'll soon be a thing of the past.
I have two more of these and plan on hoarding them.

Maybe I'll bequeath one to a geek museum.

The tool was one of those tools that you only wish
you had when things went bad.

btw, you didn't have to have one to fix the problem.
But, you sure looked cool having it available to your
none geek friends.

What is it?  When would you use it?

Later!

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Lowering clouds. #VFTC

North bound on US Route 17 near Return, Virginia.

It is hard to believe that I took this picture
just before rush hour on a Tuesday afternoon. 

I try to avoid I-95 in Virginia as much as possible.
The traffic has gotten to crowded at all hours and
the photo ops just aren't there between Washington DC
and Richmond.

A driver can relax a bit off the beaten path.

Later y'all.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Road crew working? #VFTC

Howdy hey y'all!

A picture from this past Thursday.

Just a play on a stereotype.
Here in the States we have a saying about road crews.
"yup, they're working hard. One guy working, 8 guys watching."

I couldn't resist grabbing this shot. 
I did some photo editing with Paint Shop Pro ver. 9.4.
The last good version IMHO.

My apologies to those hard working folks that maintain the roads.
But, never pass up an opportunity to grab a photo of stereotypes.

:)

Walt

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Hush! We're asleep. #VFTC

At one time most of these rigs
would've had their running lights on.

Today, we shut them off to keep
from draining the batteries.

You know....drivers are 2nd class citizens
here in the USA.  The conditions the EPA
forces the States to place drivers in would be considered
inhumane if done to any other being.

Enough with the BS.  Winter is coming and
So are the anti-idling nazies.

Stay warm.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

One of the top 5 reasons I drive a truck. #VFTC

Along I-476 N (aka Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension)
The leaves are changing to Fall colors.

Am I crazy or what?  Driving this time of year always excites me.
People plan and take long weekends at expensive resorts just to look at the leaves.  I get to see them everyday.  The
foliage is in fine form this year. 

This is for Monday by the way.

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Head East #VFTC

From Thursday morning.

Heading east along I-78 near Shartlesville, Pa

Just a nice view.

Have a great day y'all.

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Daybreak and fog bank. #VFTC

On a run from Buffalo, NY to Olean, NY via
US Route 219 S.

A Fall day just before dawn I come up on a fog bank.
It will be a great day along the Southern Tier of upstate
New York.

According to a local bank the temperature was
32 degrees F.

Many of the leaves have turned colors and
already have fallen to the ground.
Winter will soon be upon the Southern Tier.

Bundle up!
Get that truck ready now!

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Starting the day with party lights. #VFTC

Just one of those days for someone else.

Here in the USA the Highway Patrol aka State Trooper will
give most folks a bit of slack when it comes to
keeping to the speed limit.   Often letting traffic roll 5 to 10 mph
over the posted limit.  As long as you "go with the flow" Smokey tends to just sit and watch.

But, towards the end of the month or during holidays they
are quite aggressive. 

Party lights at home = good.
Party lights on the road = bad.

This citizen went by me so fast it shook Goldie a bit.

I-81 N, Tully, NY.

Varoom Varoom.  :)

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Sunburst through the Pulaski Skyway. #VFTC

From Friday morning.

A rare timing event.  The Sun shines through
the Pulaski Skyway near Jersey City, NJ.

Always on alert for a unique photo opportunity.

This week I will try to get back into posting at least
one picture a day.

Sometimes taking a break from a joyful daily task results in
a difficult restart.  Going to have to focus on getting back
in the groove.

Enjoy!

Walt.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

About one more week.

I figure that I'll be smoke free in a couple of weeks at the most.

I'm going to try cold turkey withdrawal.

Since I purchase my tobacco supplies online,
the savings won't be has much as if I'd paid full carton price.
It will be a pretty substantial amount none the less.

It's no fun anymore and I hate the smell more and more everyday.

God's speed and a hearty hale howdy to all.

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Road Warriors @drivergeoff @Little_Trucker

If you've been in this business long enough you get to meet drivers from all walks of trucking.

Today @heydriver @drivergeoff and @Little_Trucker met at The Flying J in Ruthers Glen, VA. 

A flat bedder, bedbugger and a reefer healer.  Imagine that!

God's speed to all.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Off the beaten path. US 360 S in Virginia.

US Route 360 S.

On the road to Walkerton, Va.

Avoiding Interstate 95 in VA.
Get away from the madmen.  Get down
the road safe and safely.

A lot prettier ride.

Later y'all.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning. A panorama of a tractor in it's field. Used Microsoft's ICE (Image Composite Editor) to stitch the picture together.

A fine morning y'all.

I worked up a panorama of a field on a summer's day for y'all.

I'm playing with Microsoft's ICE (Image Composite Editor) program today.
It's free but you should be using .NET to try this program.

Has download options for 32 and 64 bit XP, Vista and Windows 7.

ICE is a very easy program to install and run.
I used 5 photos, dropped them into the program and voila!

What you see is what came out after cropping and some
color tweaking in Paint Shop Pro v.9

The really neat thing is the interface is about as simple as it gets.

If you search for Microsoft's ICE the first link should get you there.

Comments are encouraged and let me know what you think.

Enjoy the weekend.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning. Queen Anne's Ant "Lace"

Good morning and today we've
found the "ant" in Queen Anne's Lace.

Taken in Johnston, NY near the Walmart Distribution Center.

Have a great holiday.
Try to play nice and don't
blow too many fingers off!

Maybe a few thoughts on why we
celebrate July 4th. 

Enjoy!

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Good Morning A Gilded Goldie. #VFTC US Route 219 N. Springville, NY

The Sun's rays cast a golden light through the fog.

A beautiful day for a drive.

A relaxed ride to Buffalo, NY

Enjoy today.
We only get one day at a time.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Peterbilt dashboard in retro. Main dash panel. #VFTC Artwork

Working on some artwork today.
Here is the main dash panel on Goldie.
Reworked in Paint Shop Pro v.9.
The photo was taken with my HTC Incredible with
an ISO setting of 800. 
Changes:
DPI set to 300 vs 72 default.
Unsharp masked.
Aged newspaper set to 67 yrs.
Just playing around on a Sunday Morning.
Hope y'all enjoy.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning. Arrrgh! We awake to the burning fireball. #VFTC

Morning to all.  Summer has started and today is going to be a scorcher. 

Air Conditioning don't fail me now! 
Stay cool y'all.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning at night.

Good morning at night.

On my way to Syracuse, NY
Onward and into the night.
Working through the night as I've
always done.

BTW. This is a test of the Heydriver posting network.

:) 

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Good Morning Playing with HTC Incredible Camera settings. Pilot, Hagerstown, Md. #VFTC

Just playing around with the camera settings on
the HTC Incredible.  Posterization, camera speed
set at 1240 and full zoom.

Trying something different today.

Now, I've said this before.  But, I should say again.
My "Good Morning" pics come at all times of day.
I have no set wake up time and my day begins
at all hours.

A link to my Flickr "Good Morning" page which
shows most of my shots for "Good Morning"

Enjoy

Maybe some Pennsylvania Mountain shots tomorrow and maybe
it'll be from the morning too!

:)

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Good Morning. Sunrise Fireball #VFTC I-76, E. Laural Highlands, PA Turnpike

The Sun rise through nature's filter.

Shot through fog on the PA Turnpike.
It overwhelmed the camera on this phone
a little.

Stay safe.  More to post later.

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Good Morning. From the Head Office.

Good morning all.

At home for now.  Working on paperwork.
Well, actually messing around with computers and settings.
In other words I'm procrastinating.  Something I do
rather well.

Just wanted to post a Good Morning picture with my favorite
coffee cup. 

Now, back to work!

Here's hoping for different pictures this week. 
Boss has decided that I need a WVa and KY fix this week.

He's right.

I do need it.

Please be careful and try to hang in there folks.

Later!

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning. #VFTC Fog and The Blue Ridge. I-66 E, Front Royal, Va.

Morning all.

I've decided to keep posting pics from the road.
I like posting them and I know a many enjoy them.

I've been using Posterous and am very
happy with it. 

But, I want to start using Google's Buzz as a sort of
one post outlet to my other social pages.

So, we'll see what happens.  Maybe I can get a single picture post with text
to properly propagate across the web?

I can dream...oh yes....I can dream!

Have a safe and sane weekend.
Remember that this is the weekend when
JQP decides they can drive just like a trucker.

Watch out for the sleepy four wheelers.

ciao 

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning. #VFTC Another shot of the Tappen Zee Bridge. Goldie's looking different.

Howdy all.  Hope this Monday has found you hearty and hail.

Decided to dress Goldie up a bit.  Handles and a hood ornament.
She's looking spiffy.

I can dress her up....and take her out!
:)

Have a great week.

btw.

South on I-87 in New York
Crossing the Tappen Zee Bridge over the
Hudson River.

cya!

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Good Morning #VFTC Crossing the Susquehanna River at day break. US Rte 30 W. Near Wrightsville, PA.

A fine good morning to all.

Crossing the Susquehanna on yet another trip to Norfolk area of VA.

Instead of a front shot, I took one looking up river out the right side of the cab.

Hope this fines all y'all well.

Have a great weekend and try something different.
For example, don't towel or dry your self off in the same way.
i.e. if you start with your feet, try to start with your hair...etc.

Back out and back quiet...toodle loo buckaroos

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Good Morning #VFTC Heading east on I-80 near Clearfield, Pa. Chasing the front.

On a two day run through the Wilds of Pennsylvania.

Descending from the highest elevation on I-80 East of
the Mississippi River.

Just an interesting view of the clouds and forest.

Enjoy the day.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning. #VFTC A fine ride. US 460 E near Lafayette, VA

Howdy all.

Why run the Interstates if you don't have too?

Whenever I visit my Mom in Christiansburg, VA, I take US 460 back into Salem, Va for my
delivery. 

On I-81 there is a steep set of hills to drop down on heading into
Salem, Va.  Many wrecks happen in this area.

So, when traveling along I-81 I try to pay attention to the
overhead warning signs and use US 460 and US 11 to get around
these backups.

Something I learned when I was working for UPS many years ago.

"Know your route!" 

I always try to have a plan B.  You never know when you'll
need it.

Have a great weekend.

toodle-loo buckaroo!

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning #VFTC Descending Afton Mountain in a fog. I-64 W. Near Waynesboro, VA. Landing lights?

Howdy y'all.

Visiting with my Mom (Mum) in Christiansburg, VA.

On the way over Goldie and I had to cross over
Afton Mountain in Virginia. 

Man was it foggy out.  You'll notice the lights
embedded into the shoulder of the road.
aka Landing Lights.  These little lights
are on a sensor that activates them when the fog rolls
in.

It does look pretty when the lights are on.  Of course, that is
all you can see at times.

Drive safe and be kind to yourself.

AMF! (adios my friends)

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning. #VFTC Crossing the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. US13 S. Looking at the north bound side.

A bright sunny day in the Tidewater region of
Virginia. 

Moving south and crossing from the Delmarva
(Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) Peninsula towards
the Tidewater area of the mainland in Virginia.

One of my top 10 routes.  From the Philadelphia
area to the Norfolk Va area on US Route 13 is the best
and fastest way to get there from here.

No Washington DC or Baltimore traffic.
Quiet ride and many, many farms to look at.

And then a nice ride out across the Chesapeake Bay.

Gotta love it.

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Sneaky sneaky. #VFTC Not supposed to be doing this on the Verazzano Bridge.

The east tower of the Verazzano Narrows Bridge between
Staten Island and Brooklyn.  I-278 W heading back towards
Staten Island.

Not supposed to take pics on the bridge.  But, sometimes I's can't help
it.

Enjoy.

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Good Morning. Ducks and Ducklings. Geese and Goslings. On parade at Home Depot in Virginia Beach, Va.

These water fowl were enjoying a little pond
on a hot day.  Most friendly I've seen in a long time.

The adults seemed pretty calm at a human presence near
the young ones.

Sometimes ya just got to get out of the truck.

Quack, Honk and a Caw from one lone crow.

cya's

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning. #VFTC A look at lower Manhattan from under the promenade. I-278 W in Brooklyn, NY

What a fantastic day.

Bright sun and a great view
of lower Manhattan. 

Riding along on the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway).

The height markings on the BQE are a bit misleading. 
Posted as 12' 4", the warning signs may cause a newbie driver to freak out.

But, New York measures height from the curb and not the road deck.
And, also the measurement is from the lowest point above the curbing.

So, never fear my fellow travelers.  In the State of NY you can hammer right
under that 12' 8" over pass with nary a thought. 

Ahem!  Unless the warning sign says "ACTUAL"  Then slam the binders
and wait for the 4 wheelers to start honking their horns.

:)

btw, I do love this new phone.

Fantastic.

later y'all

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning. I'm jealous. Tigger beats the heat.

Tigger shows us the purroper to cat nap on a hot day.

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Untitled

Test post

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning #VFTC First pic posted with HTC Incredible. I-81 N Near Binghamton, NY I'm all fumble fingers.

Wow!  What a difference a new device makes.

I'm relearning everything here. 
Training and muscle memory.

Hope this looks nice.

Later.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning #VFTC My last pic from my LG Voyager.

Retiring an old and trusted phone.
My LG Voyager will now sit up on the shelf in my office
until my wife 1destroys her phone.

After this I'll be putting up pics with my new HTC Incredible.

Wish me luck!

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning, Monday in the rain and smoke.

Another Monday finds us at US Cold Storage in
Bethlehem, Pa.

Goldie and I are watching the yellow smoke across the forge grounds. 

Just another manic Monday.

lol
latrer.

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning #VFTC Sun and highlights. Sun behind cloud on I-70 E near Triadelphia, WV

A pretty picture to start the day.

Near Wheeling WV approaching the Dallas Pike exit on
I-70 in Triadelphia, WV

This is my view out of my office window!
And, the view is always changing.
For me this beats a suit and tie any day.

Have a great weekend. 
Be cool on your stool and I'll be neat on my seat.

tootle loo!

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good morning for Thursday. #VFTC Crossing the Ohio River. Pittsburgh skyline. West End Bridge.

Ah, to know a town is to know it's shortcuts.

Trying to get across Pittsburgh during rush hour
is time consuming at the least.  A crawl is perhaps too
generous for today's traffic.

Heading east on the Parkway West (I-379 E)
the traffic between Green Tree hill and the Ft. Pitt Tunnel
was stopped for the most part. 

Finally made my way down to Route 51 and headed off to the West End Bridge.
It is a fine ride that way now that the construction is mostly done.

Here we see the Pittsburgh skyline and the confluence of the
Monongahela and the Allegheny Rivers.  There the Great and Mighty
Ohio River begins.

Peace to all and
"Action does not mean to just move."

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Good Morning for Wednesday. #VFTC Mural on US Route 30 in Abbotstown, Pa.

A wonderful mural here in Abbotstown.

I've been wanting to capture this and today was
the day! 

Enjoy and do something good and don't tell anyone about it.

l8rz

Posted via email from heydriver's posterous

Good Morning Quiz #2. What? Where and Why? Hint: A lot of $$ for a 3¢ part.

Another quiz for you truckers.

What is it?
Where is it found on the truck?
Why would you want to know?

Man, you'd hate to make a road service call for
this little guy.  But, they do go bad and and the
tool to fix this doesn't cost all that much.

Have at it.
Remember to post your answers here or on
twitter.  My Facebook friends....
I guess you can post there.

As usual, there is no prize for this quiz.
Goldie will just give ya a couple of blast
on her air horn!

later.

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