A visitor to this site (from Australia) contacted me after he read this article I wrote about oversize loads.

He also sent me a bunch of pictures showing some of the super-sized vehicles that he works with on a daily basis!

In his own words:

I actually do this kind of thing for a living in Australia and I like when I see or hear that someone is impressed with the size of the machines I transport around the country.

Here is his story...

Happy Veteran's Day!

In honor of our U.S. military men and women -- from yesterday and today -- I spent the day reading through military blogs.

I've done this before, but I felt especially patriotic reading through them again on Veterans Day.

Melinda from Most Certainly Not suggests, "Why not visit some of your favorite military bloggers and leave them some love in the comments?"

Agreed.

Some of the most heart-felt blogs I've ever read were written by service men and women in the U.S. Military. I've been keeping a list of my favorites. Now it's time to share...

I've always wondered what it's really like to go through military Boot Camp.

My nephew recently graduated from Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island, and he gave us a behind-the-scenes tour of the barracks, training grounds, Commissary, and all of the steps that a new recruit goes through the moment the bus drops them off in front of the Receiving Station.

It was quite surreal to hear my nephew recount the process exactly as he remembered it: the fear of the unknown... the mundane "waiting period" where the recruits who arrived early had to watch the same video about Parris Island over-and-over-and-over-and-over again... that proverbial "first phone call"... being issued their "official" gear... and much more.

Check it out...

We went to South Carolina last weekend to watch Jim's nephew graduate from Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island.

I learned SO much in the short time I was there!

Parris Island is the Marine Corps Recruit Depot for all male Marines east of the Mississippi River and all female Marines nationwide.

About 19,000 recruits are trained at Parris Island each year. On this day, 566 graduated from Marine BootCamp -- companies "M" and "N", 3rd and 4th Battalions.

They say Parris Island is where America's young men & women are transformed into Marines. (Or, as our nephew says: "They're programmed here.")

Here are just a few interesting things I've learned from having a nephew in the Marines...

As I mentioned earlier, my nephew's graduation from Marine Boot Camp had a big effect on me.

He became a basically-trained Marine on Friday, August 18, 2006, part of "M" Company, Third Battalion, Platoon 3068.

Here's how things looked, from a proud Aunt's perspective...

All this talk about wildlife animal webcams took me back to the days when I worked at a Zoo...

It was The Gulf Breeze Zoo in Gulf Breeze, Florida -- near Pensacola. (We lived in Pensacola for a year, and Gulf Breeze for a year, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee.)

In my job, I wasn't supposed to be hands-on with the animals, but it's kinda funny how things worked out...

I was pretty much hands-on with this little orangutan from Day One -- if you count the day of my interview!

Following are links to "live streaming" animal cams featuring: baby pandas, elephants, giraffes, gorillas, apes, seals, black bears, polar bears, beluga whales, shamu, dolphins, and penguins.

First, check out this incredible live streaming video from a wildlife cam in South Africa!...

Botswana South Africa Watering Hole
Pete Le Roux, the general manager of Mashatu Game Reserve in South Africa, set out to protect Botswana's wildlife and give them room to run free in expanded territory. Concerned by the toll taken by wildlife poachers, Le Roux created his own watering hole in Africa. Then he set up a wildlife cam and began studying the animals there, with the greater vision to build links between all of the countries' national parks and reserves.

Pete's watering hole (also known as Pete's Pond) has been so successful at luring animals to this location that experts are concerned that some animal populations have outgrown the land.

Here's the wildlife cam. What's cool is the fact that it's actually LIVE and you can hear the animals as they're walking into the water, the birds chirping nearby, and various animal ruckuses.

NOTE: The camera is stationary part of the time, then it spans around to various places near the watering hole at times. As a result, you never get bored just waiting for an animal to come "into the screen". (Don't miss their description of how this is possible.)

They tell you when the best viewing times are. I checked it out at 11AM on a weekday and saw A LOT of activity!

Embark on a quiet adventure and watch wildlife gather at Pete's Pond. Baby baboons scurry in the dust. Wildebeests push and shove to make room at the watering hole. Warthogs wallow in the mud.

Here's a list of the different species you're likely to see on the video.

They've also got a daily blog which details their study of animal behaviors at this watering hole.