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Fri.Dec.31.2004

1:32 am EST        62°F (17°C) in Edwardsville, IL

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Believe it or not, I am not making up that temperature reading in this St. Louis suburb. After going through several days of bone-chilling frigid weather back at home last week, it's nice to get a taste of spring on New Year's Eve.

While I am certainly not a professional meteorologist, nor even an amateur one, I do have an interest in and some knowledge of weather patterns. That is to say, I have neither the tools nor the expertise to do any forecasting, but I can certainly understand the mechanisms that create certain conditions, and the effects of topography on local conditions. Additionally, three years of driving has given me enough observational experience to know what certain weather conditions do to the roads. Since much of my driving seems to happen in the Mid-Atlantic and midwestern states, lake-effect snow has become one of my favorite weather subjects; though it obviously won't be happening in the next week or so, given the warm temperatures expected, there will be plenty more of it coming in the next few months. It is amazing how one place can get a foot of snow dumped on it, while a place ten miles away will get a dusting or nothing at all.

I've been running pretty hard in the last four days since returning to the road. On Monday, I was sent out to western Michigan to get a Pennsylvania-bound load; after delivering that one Tuesday night, I picked up a Hershey candy load and ran it to a distribution center near St. Louis. I don't know if dispatch will have any freight to offer me for a couple days, what with the holiday; but frankly, I wouldn't mind a little rest, a chance to get a shower, and some time to get a truck wash.

I'm about ready to fall asleep over the keyboard, so I'm going to post this and shut down for the night.