Monday, May 14, 2012

Explosion & upcoming visit

It's been pretty routine lately.  3210 miles each week doing 6 runs to Midlothian from Snyder each day.  The big difference has been the rain!!  I have to admit, I had to think about how to drive in it for a little bit since I haven't seen it in quite a while!  You have to give yourself more room to stop, make slow lane changes, and make decisions further in advance.  It's a challenge but it's not bad to be forced to think about things. 
One of my favorite scenes
I did get a new critter on the farm!!  He doesn't really have a name.  We tried to get Lindsey to name him but she's too young & I don't think she understands the concept.  My wife gave me the idea to let you guys name him!! So, here's a picture.  What do you think? 

So, last night I was very close to a pretty big explosion!!  I was dumping at the shredder last night.  I was the only truck at the whole plant!!  Sunday nights are very quiet there.  That's why I enjoy going on Sunday night or Friday night.  There's usually nobody else there!  All of the sudden, a rushing wave of air came over me and into my cab and less than a second later I heard a huge BOOM!!  I looked over the shredder to my back left and there was a huge fire ball and smoke!!  The smoke stayed around for several minutes but it stopped.  Everything stopped for a while but they started back up. 
It was about this size.  Not HUGE but not small!!
That kind of thing actually happens all the time.  It's usually caused by a car's fuel tank being crushed that still has some fuel in it or a propane bottle that is still full.  When it' crushed and a spark from crushed metal is exposed to that fuel source it blows up!  Not a good thing. 
Old propane bottles.  We don't take these in, but sometimes they make their way in to the steel mill!
I'm trying my hardest to visit you guys this week!  It's looking like either Wednesday or Thursday.  I'm getting my truck washed on Tuesday morning before I get loaded.  If it's still raining, I might have to wait until the rain clears and wash Wednesday morning.  After I wash, I'll have a clean truck for you guys!  I cleaned the inside really well, so hopefully it's presentable!  I'm really looking forward to it.  I wish I could bring an animal or something but I think that would be frowned upon.  Either way, I'm looking forward to it.  I hope you guys are having a great week!!
--Mr. Walker

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