Mother's, Mileage, and Menus

It's not Mother's Day anymore, by about 28 minutes, but I'm thankful that my kids have a mother such as they do to celebrate that day with. She is an amazing lady who deserves a better husband than she has. So in honor of her on this special day, I ran by Subway after church, picked up sandwiches for everyone, and we had lunch around the table, all 8 of us plus Ben's sweetie, and afterwards we played a rousing game of Uno. This is what she wanted. So this is what she got. We had a blast. A nap followed and after I woke up, I called my own mother and wished her a Happy Mother's Day as well.

I would not be who I am today were it not for these two women. For them both, I am extremely grateful.

So how's life this week, you ask? Great. We had what I hope is the last IEP meeting for a while and it went well. I felt better prepared and I felt that I was heard this time. I see a great improvement in both these kids, even after just being with us for three months. It's encouraging.

I have a very short run this week. Seven windows in four stops and I'm not going any farther, further? farther? than Lafayette, IN. I could even be back home tomorrow night. Sheila would be happy, I think. But the week following looks to be quite busy. We've got a driver going on vacation and so I'll be helping to cover his runs. One thing about a light load like this is that the fuel mileage is great. 9.37 for a semi is great. But then I might as well be empty for what little weight I have on here. I recently had some issues with injectors and the intake gasket on this thing which dropped my mileage quite a bit, but that seems to be all taken care of now. She goes in later this week for an acid bath to get the winter crud off the aluminum parts. Then I'll probably spend some time polishing this week since I'll have the extra time anyway.

Preston and Nijal have been playing Coach Pitch baseball and loving it. They are both excellent players even if it is a bit of a chore to get them out the door and actually to the practices on time. But they're having fun and that's all that counts.

One of the great, if infrequent, pleasures of this lifestyle that we call trucking, is that we sometimes run across something interesting. Several months back I found such a place. Al & Joe's Delicatessen. It's a little corner store that was run by two Italian men who really know what subs are supposed to be. I believe one of the owners has passed away. I found this place after our company started with a new customer. Al & Joe's is in Franklin Park, IL, a suburb of Chicago, next to the railroad tracks, overlooked by the highway which passes by about 50 feet away, and I have to go right by them to get out of this industrial area in which I deliver. There is just enough room next to the highway retaining wall for me to park my truck and run in and grab an 8 inch Italian sub. They are fabulous, made with real Italian bread and I don't know what all else. Seems like maybe salami, ham, or capricola, lettuce, tomato, onion, Italian dressing, (and not that sweet crap), and some spicy relish mix. I love them. It's not that big of a place and it looks like it hasn't been remodeled since they opened in the 60's, but I have never had a better sub that at Al & Joe's. If you ever find yourself near or at O'hare Airport, see if you can't get a ride over there. It's not far and I promise you won't regret it.

Well, that's about it. I better head off now. Ya'll have a good evening and we'll talk again later.