Allison's Roadside

08/25/2026

Always Tired Ink

08/18/2026

So what do you suppose this guy hit? The bumper is actually a lot more damaged than the picture shows... I'll give you a hint... Look at the second picture.

So, I was the first vehicle in the left turn lane while sitting at the stop light in Woodruff the other day. I was heading south on 47, getting ready to make a left turn onto 51 North, when all of the sudden I feel a little jolt and the tow truck lurches forward with my foot still on the brake.

No damage to my truck other than a little scratch on the wheel lift, and all I could say when I got out of the cab and walked back to the other guy was, "Did you really just rear-end a tow truck?"

His reply? "I didn't see the wheel lift sticking out."

Umm.. that sticks out off the back of the truck by a couple of feet. Had he not hit that and roughed up his bumper, he'd have crumpled his hood on the back of the bed.

For God's sake... If you're going to drive, at least PAY ATTENTION.

08/01/2026

Good, local family. If you cannot afford to help, please share.

On what started as a terrible storm, tragedy struck the Vuk family in the most… Ashley Vuk needs your support for Help the Vuk Family Rebuild After House Fire

07/31/2026

Some of the stranger ones I've had Lately...

07/08/2026

Talk about a freak accident... This poor guy was coming down US-16 from US-2, heading to Phelps from his home in lower Michigan. With almost 500 miles down, and about 4 miles to go, he didn't see a well-disguised, downed tree limb that fell in such a manner, that it was sticking out into the traffic lane.

It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's about 2" thick. He hit it at highway speed and drove the limb directly through the right-side fog light and upward. Punctured radiator? Nope...even worse... It went right through the wiring harness.

07/02/2026

JUST A NOTE... WE'RE TAKING A SHORT VACATION!

A little early but, Happy 4th of July Weekend everyone!

You might say I closed out the month with a "bang"... I did end up buying that Interntional rollback at the end of last week. It's currently at Garage Heroes LLC getting a couple of minor repairs and a PM, then off to Always Tired Ink for the logo and other lettering.

My daughter, son-in-law and grandkids are coming in for the holiday weekend from Ohio, so to that end, we're taking a mini-vacation. We're closed starting this morning, but will re-open Sunday afternoon at about 1PM. Sorry for any inconvenience!

06/19/2026

Allison's Roadside started taking another big step this afternoon. I decided that while I love the Ram 5500 rollback, the 19 foot bed was getting to be an issue, as I get a lot of calls to tow 250/2500 and 350/3500 series trucks. They'll fit on the Ram, and I'll haul them, but it's tough on the suspension, not to mention the potential overweight issues.

I still have a few little details to attend to (insurance quote, price negotiation, etc), but if all goes well, I should have this in play by the end of the month. Besides, never a bad idea to have a spare truck... 😉

05/31/2026

When you spend as much time as I do driving around (it’s 3:40 PM now, I got in the truck at 5:30 AM, and I’m already up to 328 miles for the day…), you tend to notice things.

The other day I’m going through Sayner when I see this blue roadway sign (Denoting informational/amenities). Obviously it’s telling people who may not be able to read, there’s a library. I’ve seen these signs before with the word. “Library” on the bottom of the sign, but this one is blank- just the diagram with the person with a book…

Think about this for a second before you read on… We’ve I’ll see those blue signs on highway exits. It will have a picture of a gas pump and underneath it will say either gas or fuel. Or it might have a McDonald’s symbol with the word “food,” on the bottom.

It occurred to me that maybe it was for people who couldn’t read, a very sad situation, but certainly common. But why in God‘s name would anyone put a picture of somebody reading a book on a sign denoting a library, for people who can’t read the word “library,” and distracting them to a place full of books that they can’t read… ? 🤷

Things that make you go, “Hmmmm.”

I noticed a handful other signs around here it kinda made me scratch my head…

“LIMITED SIGHT DISTANCE.” OK, that’s a given. No matter where you are or what you’re looking at, your site distance is always limited by something.

“HILL BLOCKS VIEW.” Well no kidding?

“HIDDEN DRIVEWAY.” This sounds to me like a potentially dangerous game of on the road peekaboo. The last thing I need is for a bunch of people who may be new to the area, taking their eyes off the road, to see if they can beat their children at finding the “hidden driveway”. That again, I’m sure the license plate game and the find every letter of the alphabet on assigned somewhere games get kind of old.

Next question… Once you find the driveway, does it hide again or maybe they put in a second hidden driveway, but didn’t want to spend the money on redoing the sign to read “two hidden driveways.”

I don’t remember where it was at, but I saw one outside a bar the other day that read, “ OPEN DAILY AT 11 AM, UNTIL CLOSE.”  OK, maybe the opening hour is subject to change from bar to bar, but doesn’t EVERY business stay open until they close?

I saw another one when I was passing a restaurant in Wausau a couple of weeks ago… “DAILY SPECIALS. CLOSED TUESDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS.” Now, how does that happen?

 Or how about the sports bar that advertises, “ WE HAVE 20 BIG SCREEN TVS!“ Ok, but one of two things is happening here. Either all 20 of them are showing the Packers game, or they have the NFL ticket, and they’re showing 20 different games, but you can only watch one of them things at a time… I have four TVs in my house, all 30 inch screens or larger, but I certainly don’t turn them all on at one time… especially if they’re all gonna have the same channel.

Look around when you’re out there. Pay attention and be analytical… you’ll be amazed at what you see out there. 👀



05/31/2026

Marianne Allison

The temperature is rising but our speed limits are the same.

Traveling at these speeds lead to possible jail time and a $999.50 ticket.

While this may seem like “just speeding” to some, excessive speed significantly reduces reaction time, increases stopping distance, and greatly raises the likelihood of serious injury or death in the event of a crash.

Our deputies are committed to keeping our roadways safe for everyone. We encourage all motorists to slow down, buckle up, and make safety their top priority.

05/28/2026

Round #2 at Lac Da Lune (in a 5-day span…)