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...

Just for laughs...

Today I came across an old video that Jim and I did -- and it made me laugh. We just looked so stupid.

Actually it was the very first video we ever created (with our new video camera), and it was simply a trial & error thing, but for some reason, we felt compelled to post it.

At the time, we were about to embark on a trip to Gatlinburg for the weekend... and we were eager to record everything with our brand new Canon digital video camera.

Trust me when you watch this (well, I don't know... maybe only our close friends will "get it"), but I think it just goes to show how valuable unedited, first attempts and first impressions are -- no matter WHAT the topic!

Welcome to the work week!

Blah, blah, blah.

Well, sit back and have a listen.

Maybe this will make you smile...

Here are some fun (and funny) things to do at work. You know... to spice things up a bit, and break out of your old boring routines.

Warning: You (and your co-workers) will need to have a good sense of humor!

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!

As most of you know, we do a website for About.com called 4wheeldrive.about.com. It's a 4-wheeling site for people who own four-wheel drive vehicles or ATVs and enjoy driving them off-road.

(...Yes, we own a four-wheel drive vehicle, and yes, we enjoy taking it off-road.)

Well, the big news in our world is the fact that we've just been bought by the New York Times! Whooo hooo!

Early on, we both knew that we wanted to pursue careers that were in some way related to Journalism. In fact, we both served on our respective high schools' Yearbook and Newspaper staffs. But when we tried our hand at it in college... it was our professors who advised us to seek alternative careers.

So, to all those told us "No" along the way, try this on for size...
Somehow, we each managed to have successful careers -- primarily within the fields of Journalism and Marketing.

Here's a little about how we've incorporated our skills in journalism, marketing, advertising, publishing, writing, editing, computers, and developing websites to get where we are today.

Check out these photos of Lynnette & Jim workin' hard for the money!

Need a creative gift idea for someone?

Check out these colorful cartoon prints. They can be personalized, and they make great (somewhat comical) keepsakes for people of all ages.

As most of our family and friends are aware, we've been striving to achieve "Top 50" status with our 4wheeldrive.about.com website for quite awhile now.

In recent months, we've taken the site to new levels, mostly by taking the focus OFF "Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles & SUVs" (from the angle of including all makes & models and posting reviews for potential buyers) and ONTO "Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles & The Sport of Offroading" (more of a participant sport, including 4-wheeling and ATVing).

Well the time has finally arrived... Corporate provides us with the "stats" for our site every week, and we finally broke the Top 50 in terms of About.com's most popular and most profitable sites! Out of nearly 500 different About.com websites... that's pretty good, don't you think?

We'll probably be doing some Jeepin' tonight to celebrate!

Betchya Didn't Know...

• Bicycling is my drug of choice.
  
• Prefer TV to music.
  
• Florida is my favorite place in the world.
  
• Not much of a hugger.
  
• I tend to drive with my shoes off.
  
• Scrapbooking puts my entire life in perspective and incorporates my favorite pastimes of photography, writing, and organizing.
  
• Great listener. Horrible rememberer.
  
• So organized it's scary! I'm always seeking ways to de-clutter and minimize "stuff" around the house and at work. I'm a purger.
  
• Each year I really DO come up with a New Year's Resolution & try to stick to it!
  
• I've kept both my toe rings on 24/7 since the day I bought them in 1998 in the Florida Keys.
  
• Prefer working "behind the scenes". I don't mind playing second fiddle to someone else, because I'm more interested in the creative process of getting things done, than the end result.
  
• I love being a tourist ...even in my own town!
  
• I was born a Hoosier, became a Texan, lived life to the fullest as a Floridian (and married one). Now I'm happy to be a Tennessean living in Music City USA. (...though I'll always be a Floridian in my mind)
  
• Love to be tanned!
  
• Until recently, my favorite color was "white". Because it goes so well with "tanned". Lately, my favorite color is "black". Because it goes so well with chubby.
  
• Whenever I have to come to a sudden stop in traffic, I deliberately veer to one side, so it will be obvious to the drivers behind me that something's up. (This came in handy recently!)
  
• The only black & white movies I'll sit through are Shirley Temple movies.
  
• I keep every box from everything we ever buy or that ever gets shipped to us... just in case we ever move again. (Or I want to later sell that item on eBay.)
  
• I've never colored my hair. (Though I should... there are lots of greys in front now. Though they sometimes look blonde.)
  
• Been known to spend upwards of 8 13 18 hours a day on the computer (..work, fun, and hobbies are all one in the same these days!)
  
• I majored in "Marriage & Family Counseling" in grad school, but never felt qualified to tell people what they should be doing, feeling, and thinking - have always struggled with the "authority" that counselors assume.
  
• I love board games, card games, word games and puzzles.
  
• Don't like playing computer games. Or video games.
  
• I'm a dog person. Not a cat person. (...had one once; it insisted on jumping in the shower while I was bathing, and playing in the dishwater while I was washing dishes!)
  
• I'll e-mail you before I'll call you.
  
• Lived in New York for 3 years (waaaayy upstate in Lake Placid... 40 miles from Montreal Canada and Burlington Vermont).
  
• I'm NOT politically correct (...I'm honest instead.)
  
• Prefer flip flops & t-shirts to business suits & briefcases when it comes to work attire.
  
• Favorite TV shows are all fact-based -- home improvement shows, Lifetime true stories, prefer Reality TV to sitcoms and dramas (...USED to enjoy Tech TV before they switched their focus to gamers!)
  
• My "15 minutes of fame" happened without me being present. My dad was the big winner on an episode of Hoosier Millionaire (only he didn't get a million, he got $42,000), and he talked about me, his beloved daughter, "live" on TV.
  
• "Top salesperson" the summer I sold gold-by-the-inch necklaces & bracelets at Cedar Point Amusement Park.
  
• I can't drive a stick shift.
  
• I love to read magazines that are months old that others have thrown out.
  
• When I read a newspaper or magazine, it is with scissors in hand -- I cut out and save every great idea I come across. (Even in books, I will highlight or transcribe into my computer any of the tips gleaned from within.)
  
• Don't like sushi (for the fact that it has no flavor).
  
• When I worked outside the home, I used to listen to Bob and Tom on my way to work every morning. I was even a VIP member for awhile. All the comedians featured Bob & Tom actually appear here at Zanies in Nashville).
  
• I love that tired and hungry feeling you get after spending a day at the beach.
  
• I've never been to one of my high school reunions, though I used to plan reunions for a living!
  
• If it's not online, I probably haven't read it... can't sit still long enough to read much more than the day's newspaper (even prefer to read that online!) and won't even touch a book if it's not purely fact -- I don't do fiction... only non-fiction.
  
• Never, ever eat Breakfast (but always always eat post-Breakfast, pre-Lunch, post-Lunch, and pre-Dinner).
  
• I don't drink coffee. Didn't have my first sip of coffee until 2004. Still don't drink coffee. (...can't get past the smell of it on people's breath!)
  
• My only fears are: getting lyme disease (I actually know someone who has it) and brown recluse spiders (they're everywhere here in Tennessee... and they're poisonous!) [UPDATE 4/19/08: I have Lyme Disease]
  
• I have a birthmark on my right cheek (...the lower one).
  
• Was named after a Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello.
  
• Usually don't have any desire to buy any of my favorite singers' CDs in record stores, but I'll be the first in line to buy their Greatest Hits album when it finally hits the streets.
  
• I'm not a good test taker... on paper. But I can figure out a-million-and-one answers to any question... in real life.
  
• I failed the GRE (grad school entrance exam) twice before I squeaked by with the EXACT score that my graduate school (Texas Tech) would allow (800).
  
• Don't do malls (unless it's Clinique "bonus-time"). I shop online instead. Okay, and at Kohl's.
  
• I'm a neat freak... need to have everything around me "in its place" before I can jump in and begin a project.
  
• Still get a charge out of the minute detail associated with cross-stitching, but I haven't done it in awhile since I can't think of anything FUN to do with the end result.
  
• I've never seen a single episode of The Sopranos.
  
• I'm a "techie" but not a "trekkie"...Don't know the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek.
  
• I'd rather be hot than cold - anytime!
  
• I spent most of my adult life 'finding my religion' til I finally found a church for people who've given up on church.
  
• Held a baby orangutan in my arms -- when I worked at the ZOO in Gulf Breeze, Florida.
  
• I like packing for a trip. It's similar to working a puzzle for me... "What's the bare minimum I can fit into a very tiny space and not leave out any of the bare necessities?"
  
• I shop for Christmas gifts year-round, taking advantage of bargain prices and going-out-of-business sales. By November, we're usually 90% done!
  
• I don't "get" Jimmy Buffet and his parrotheads (...but I love the Keys, does that count?)
  
• Prefer small groups (individual & couples activities) to large groups (where I revert to "people-watching" instead of chattiness and gossip).
  
• I'm a list-maker, and I take great satisfaction in crossing things off my list. (Secretly wish I had invented Post-Its... cuz they're just so ME!)
  
• Don't like roller coasters. (But not as much as Jim doesn't like roller coasters.)
  
• I once biked 300 miles in 3 days for charity.
  
• Like to cook using SIMPLE recipes (10 ingredients or less), but I don't like anyone helping me.
  
• I won't sing a lick in front of another person (...not even Happy Birthday).
  
• I was atop the World Trade Center several times prior to September 11th; even hosted a private party there ("Windows on the World") when I worked for PSC.
  
• The "return queen" -- I buy things with the intention of returning it if I don't like it later.
  
• I'm an excellent parallel parker.
  
• Favorite motto: "Change is good... ALWAYS!"
  
• Used to live close enough to the Kennedy Space Center that I could watch the shuttles take off & land from my living room window, or drive 35 minutes to the coast and watch it close up!
  
• Like dry mushrooms on my salad and wet mushrooms on my pizza.
  
• I was the Grand Prize Winnerin a drawing held at the mall. The prize: an all-expense paid trip for 2 to New York City (including 3 nights in a nice hotel on Times Square, the Broadway play of our choice, roundtrip airfare, and free ground transportation).
  
• Love fresh orange juice, but only if it's ice cold.
  
• Won't touch a glass of milk.
  
• I have this uncanny ability to get every repairman that enters our house to open up and spill all the details of his family, kids, and happiness with his current job.
  
• Most of the sunglasses I own I found (rather than bought) -- I have at least 8 pairs at any given time!
  
• I've always been intrigued by dolphins ...and whales in the wild (and the skill of their trainers in animal parks), and real estate as a profession.
  
• I can't fall asleep in the middle of the day... even when I'm tired. Naps are for old people.
  
• As a tiny tot, I scarred the back of my leg with a hot iron, cut off one of my two ponytails, swallowed a handful of thumbtacks, walked nose-first into our mailbox while waving goodbye to my parents on the first day of kindergarten, and wrecked my bike on the first day of 2nd grade while riding down the hill in front of our house.
  
• I used to go to a chiropractor monthly to relieve my neck and shoulder strain -- from all the computer work. The lower back adjustments were a bonus.
  
• Much like my little niece, I don't close my eyes when the preacher says, "Let us bow our heads and pray."
  
• And on a related note... I'm not the type that could be hypnotized either. I'm far too aware of my surroundings at all times, and I like to be in control of my body.
  
• An excellent researcher.
  
• Each piece of jewelry I own (except for my wedding ring) cost less than $19.95!
  
• I was involved in a robbery, with a knife to my back during a hold-up at a convenience store in Lubbock, Texas where I was the only one working that day (PT job during grad school).
  
• Actually enjoy cleaning up the kitchen & doing the dishes after a meal. But I don't like anyone else helping me.
  
• I locked my keys in my car 3 TIMES in one day when a friend and I took a road trip from Orlando, Florida to Helen, Georgia. (Thank goodness for AAA!)
  
• If something's usually done one way, I will always try to do it ANOTHER way... just to be different!
  
• Favorite radio station: "SCAN" (...bits and pieces of random songs).
  
• I always check the license plate on the car in front of me to see if it's expired.
  
• Like hot & spicy foods, especially hot peppers and Thai food.
  
• I fret over signing greeting cards, taking at least an hour to compose the "perfect" phrasing for the recipient.
  
• Don't like bright lights (I'm always dimming the lights at home) or loud noises (too many people talking at once or the TV too loud). I think I'm part Autistic... heck, we all are!
  
• It takes a lot to "shock" me, or even to keep my attention. I'm not easily in awe of people or things.
  
• Taught myself about computers, the Internet, website design, and HTML coding before the days when programs like Dreamweaver, FrontPage, and Content Management Software did all the coding for you!
  
• I (and everyone else who went to IU or grew up in Bloomington, Indiana) still call him John Cougar.
  
• My m.o. in life is to think outside the box -- there is more than one way to do virtually ANYthing.
  
• Watch a lot of movies, but own less than 10 on DVD.
  
• Prefer Arby's french fries, Burger King burgers, McDonald's fish sandwiches, and Wendy's salads.
  
• I ride in the HOV lane alone sometimes... Because my windows are tinted. Especially when it's raining or snowing. But never on a Friday. And never on the last day of the month. (Pssst!... the fine is only $50 if you're caught!)
  
• It drives me crazy when singers on stage have a guitar in hand, but they strum a few chords, then just stop playing it. (Hello Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson!)
  
• I love to hear a few key notes on an electric guitar -- at "that right spot" in a ballad.
  
• It might seem morbid, but if I should happen to know that my end is near, I want to spend those final days in a rented beach house and enjoying long drives in the country -- like in the movie "Beaches".