Hello OTR pro drivers and acourtesyflush pundents. We're here at the FJ in beautiful Evansville, IN off I65. It is an absolutely beautiful spring day with the birds chirping, a light pleasant wind and everything blooming. Makes ya, well, just wanna feel good for a change. Usually when I'm here I'm freezing my ass off. Now if the FJ waitresses would only wear skirts we'd be talk'n.
So, just to get out of the truck, I went inside to sample the buffet. I'm not that hungry, just need a plate of some steak and greens to "fill out the corners" and the opportunity to see some "real" folks. So there I was, about to dig in, when I see that Court TV is on. And guess what? They're profiling some trucker that killed a woman. I would say that about 3 or 4 of the truckers sitting to the left and right of me easily look just like the murderer. One guy in the corner dressed in cammo sporting really long dirty straggly hair looks like a serial killer.
So there is this little girl a few tables over watching this on tv while looking around noticing that the other patrons kinda look like this trucker on the tele. She moved closer to her mother who was also watching. Needless to say this is just great PR for our industry. I was too busy watching and thinking about all this to ask the rather cute waitress to change the channel. And as I was walking out, yes, everyone in the place was watching this program. What happened to the weather channel?
In the parking lot, and I see them everywhere, is one of those Fedex customer critical trucks. This one is a modified Freightliner Century with a large sleeper, lift gate and tag axle with (about) a 26 ft box. It is driven by husband and wife team who are probably in their early sixties. I wonder about these folks. The truck payment must be high. I wonder about how much their earning when I see them mostly sitting around in truck stop parking lots.
I know you've seen those Verizon commercials with that little shit walking around with a crowd of technicians and customer service people behind him. He reminds me of the nerd football players would beat up in high school. I've been a Verizon customer for a bunch of years using their nationwide cell service. Generally the service is ok, but there are many spots along numerous interstates where there is no service. And it makes no sense. On I20 between Atlanta and Birmingham the service stinks. This morning on I55 before Cape Girardeau MO, for about 30 minutes, there was no service. Now this little shit should stop hanging around the big cities and take his "crew" in a Verizon truck and make sure the damn service truly works on every interstate around the country. I won't even begin to try and figure out why mobile wireless internet service doesn't piggyback cell service. I'm just a truck driver - what do I know?
So I'm cruising along talking to mrs. acourtesyflush. And I'm talking and talking about this and that. I had received a message from my dispatcher basically telling me to hang on a few days longer and don't quit as she is coming back from short term disability. I gone through hell for 7 weeks while she was being put back together. I believe she whacked a driver and broke her arm in a whole buncha places. I'm talking about that. I would say about five or more minutes go by. There is silence. Another Verizon dropped call. But, I gotta tell ya folks, what a cathartic experience talking like that is. No wonder I don't need a therapist.
Did you see the Democratic debate the other night on tv? I consider myself very well informed and I never heard anything about it until it was over. Today, news coverage of stuff like Imus, American Idol and Alex Baldwin is so much more important.
If I had the time tomorrow (Sun.) I'd park and watch the race at Talladega. Mrs. acourtesyflush has been asking me if I want satellite tv in the truck. I'm not sure. I have a lot of technology right now and I don't know if I have the downtime to make the service worth the cost. At least I can listen to the driver-crew transmissions on Sirius.
Has anybody "popped" $8.50 for a roll of Gorilla Tape? Regular duct tape goes for about $3.50. I've used the Gorilla Glue and was not impressed. Super Glue is much better and far cheaper. The tape is good, but not that good to shell out $8.50 for it.
My "small" Wal-Mart order today totalled $60.02. I had wanted to spend $20. My head is still stuck in the 80's. It seems I get less and less filled plastic bags for more and more money. After I die, I guess my son will get one bag of Wal-Mart stuff for $35. If I had shopped elsewhere it probably would have cost $80. After putting everything away,I went back in to get a VCR/DVD player combo for $59.86. Similar costs over $200 at Circuit City or Best Buy. How do you say great deal in Chinese?
I have been wanting to purchase another Wilson (electronics) cell antenna for some time. I had one two trucks ago. I been waiting for a price break and sure enough I was CAT scaling my load today and noticed that the antenna was on sale for $39.99. I don't know if its going to make difference, but I'll install it and let you know. The adapter to the actual cell phone is kinda "hokey." It comes with a little strip of Velcro so it doesn't fall off. What's that all about? The adapter costs $9.99. It should be an exact fit.
Headed to St. Albans, WV with 45,120 lbs. of 48 ft pipe for Monday AM delivery. Remember next month is Mother's Day and Memorial Day.
And finally, from Dick Morris...
OBAMA WINS FIRST DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
Published on FoxNews.com on April 27, 2007.
"Senator Barack Obama emerged as the big winner at Thursday's first Democratic presidential debate. It's not so much that he scored a knockout punch, or that he was head and shoulders above any of the other candidates. In fact, it's the opposite.
Obama held his own with the others, particularly vis-à-vis his chief rival, Hillary Clinton. He clearly showed that he belonged on the stage with his longer serving rivals. In doing so, he helped vanquish his leading negative: inexperience.
The polls indicate that experience is Hillary Clinton's leading virtue in the eyes of her supporters; her experience is clearly derivative of her husband's and has been, at times, a decidedly mixed bag. It looks good in contrast with the Illinois State Senator, who, with a smattering of time in the U.S. Senate, is running for president. Once Obama overcomes his inexperienced perception, he'll gain quickly in the polls, and continue the surge that has animated his candidacy ever since 2007 began. The debate also helped to clear some of the obstacles in his path.
Hillary's advantage over Obama is rooted in the experience issue. But, as Nixon found out in his debate with John F. Kennedy in 1960, experience is a quickly vanishing asset in a presidential race. Having capitalized on his eight-year tenure as Eisenhower's vice president, Nixon's slogan was "experience counts." By the time his debate with Kennedy was over, it didn't. The young senator had shown himself to be just as adept, equally well informed and even more articulate than his more experienced rival."
