Mackey came to B.O.N.E.S. from a bad situation in central Massachusetts. He was underweight and limped painfully. X-rays revealed a displaced femur fracture in his right hind leg – it was amazing that Mackey could use the leg at all. The options didn't look hopeful, but with help from the B.O.N.E.S. Medical Director, a carefully-structured exercise program, and a lot of TLC, he can now lead a normal life.
As Mackey recovered from his injuries, long-time B.O.N.E.S. adopter John was mourning the loss of his long-time beagle companion, Hudson, whose "Chronicles" were documented here for many years. John was settling into a new job with lots of driving, and Mackey loved to ride... a great match. John and Mackey will both share their viewpoints with us on this page.
Good morning. Just a quick update from our latest trip. We are down in Florida after delivering some equipment to a new job near Tampa.
We loaded up some items in the yard in Baltimore, then loaded a skid steer and a mini excavator in North Carolina at a job that had finished up. About thirty miles out, we encountered heavy rain and strong winds. Once we got off the interstate, conditions got worse. Small branches were coming down and bouncing off the truck. The visibility was poor, and I was thinking that loading in this weather isn't going to be fun.
But almost as soon as it started, it let up. I was feeling pretty good about Mother Nature.
When I turned into the road that the power plant is on, I came upon a tree down, blocking the whole road. I called the guys, said I might be a little late, and told them about the tree.
I decided to see if I could use the truck and drag it out of the way, so I hooked a chain around the tree, then hooked the other end to the tow hook in the bumper. I was able to get the tree almost all the way out of the road. About half of my lane was still blocked.
About this time the fire department showed up and jokingly gave me a hassle about not having the road cleared up yet! We then got out some pry bars and rolled the tree the rest of the way off the road. After that, I went in and loaded the machines without any more excitement.
Friday afternoon, I arrived at the new job site in Florida. The crew was delayed. They couldn't unlock the gate into the substation until Saturday morning, so I dropped the trailer and went to the grocery store to stock up. Out back of the store was a large pond with multiple signs warning about alligators and not to feed or molest them. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone even thinking about molesting an alligator!
Anyway, after getting the shopping done, I noticed a guy taking a picture in the pond in front of the store, so I wandered over to take a look, and there was a gator about ten feet long!
We parked overnight at the grocery store and during our evening walk, I kept Mackey on a very tight leash. I had visions of a big 'ol gator crashing out of the water taking poor old Mackey in one bite!
We survived the night and unloaded the next morning. Our next stop is Atlanta for Monday morning.
Greetings from Florida.
The last week has been very wet. I don't like it at all when it's time to go out. I don't think John likes it either. He seems to try to wait until it's not raining, or at least not raining hard. The thunder and lightning are the worst, especially at night. It seems to help at night when I curl up on top of John's head. It's kind of fun to watch John get angry and try to push me off — it takes my mind off the thunder!
There was one scary time when we were nearing a job site to load. The wind and rain started to pick up and I could even hear things hitting the truck. Luckily, it didn't last very long. Not very long after, we stopped in the middle of the road and John got out. He went to work. Pretty soon there was a fire truck with all these bright flashing lights, and they were all working on something in the road. I couldn't really see. I do know that I think I would rather ride in the fire truck!
Anyway, we finally got loaded and headed down to Florida. Once we got to the job, John dropped the trailer, and we went to get groceries. We found a good spot to park around back, and there were signs all over warning about alligators and not to feed or molest them. I can understand not feeding them, but who would want to molest them? I sure don't want to run into the dog that brags that he molests gators just for the fun of it!
After John did the shopping thing, we went for a walk. On the front side of the store, John saw someone taking pictures of the pond out front. We wondered over and there was a large, I mean LARGE, alligator sunning itself on the bank. I immediately reined in on the leash to keep John from getting too close and doing something stupid, like trying to molest the gator!
We got back to the truck safely. We got unloaded the next morning without any further excitement.
