Bridgeport, CT

This T/A here off I64 in Hurricane WV is medium sized. The spaces are angled which is great to get in and out of. There is no Idle Aire which is fantastic. It has the old style Country Pride restaurant. It reminds me of what was my favorite T/A at Baldwin FL before they screwed it up. Truck drivers should design "travel centers" not MBA's or architects that wear designer clothes. There is a very large pothole at the north end of the back lot that really needs to be repaired. I love the sign in the parking lot stating "no cars only trucks are allowed in this lot."

So I drive 17.1 miles to the receiver. The time they requested "us" to be there was 8AM. So six of us sit there until they get act together and finally unload us at 11:45am. I'm not too bent out of shape since I don't have to be in Roanoke VA (187 paid deadhead miles) until 7pm. The load instructions say not to go in earlier than 15 minutes from your scheduled load time - no calling the shipper to try and reschedule the p/u time. I can already tell these people, like all steel companies, are pinheads. And then it's onto Bridgeport, CT.

April freight has been pretty good. We'll see how May goes with the holiday. My "regular" driver manager has returned. In her 7 week absence, 16 drivers on our fleet quit. I'm not surprised. Along with the accounting department of a carrier that makes sure your paycheck is correct, having a top notch driver manager is essential. I'm of the mind that men driver managers are all horrible. This is a women's job. Females have the brains, common sense and right temperament to do the job right. If I couldn't work with a woman driver manager, I would be forced to find another job.

A few years ago, I worked for a company called Charger. They went out of business causing me and my family considerable hardship which in some ways we still have not recovered from. Before I was left "high and dry" before Christmas somewhere up in Michigan, I had an amazing female driver manager. I've since forgotten her name. I was running my ass off at $.40 a mile and we actually had some extra spending money for extravagant things like a new dish washer or a set of tires. She didn't have much experience when she came on the job, but took to it like a duck in water. She ran circles around the guys. She quickly became the #1 revenue producer and there was a waiting list to get on her fleet. I loved that company. It would be years before I would come close to duplicating that situation.

Remember, pro drivers, that May 13th is mother's day. Just about all the truck stops are selling cards. If you can get to a Wal-Mart the card will cost you half. I'm sure Pilot will have something in their "magazine" about how Jesus loves mother's. Private joke, sorry. Anyway, you know how difficult it is to find a mailbox on the road, so don't wait until it is too late. And even if you hate your mother, buy her a damn card and put a $20 in it. You be the better person. If you have kids and you're still married (30 years for me!), your wife should get a mother's day card as well. Flowers would be nice and there will be plenty of deals on Sirius radio so you can afford a few roses.

Rather be at Talladega

Hurricane, WV, at the T/A off I64, is where we're at this afternoon. We have a AM delivery in St. Albans about 15 miles away. I said a few posts ago that I think T/A has the best wireless internet service and I stand by that. I had logged on and fell asleep. You know you're getting old when you can't remember how you logged in a hour or so ago. I called T/A's customer service. I have a feeling the call was outsourced somewhere overseas. I don't care. The woman at the other end quickly resolved the problem and I was back on line in minutes. That's what I like. It's called customer service. You hear that you bastards at FJ?

Today over on the other coast in CA - Oakland to be more specific - more bad news for our image. 3:42am. Gas tanker leaves the depot. The driver allegedly loses control of the truck in a curve. The whole thing turns over and bursts into flames. The freeway collapses from the intense heat. The driver will be ok. Supposedly no drugs or alcohol involved. (Tired?) Thousands of folks will be inconvenienced. They will say: "it was another truck." It will be months before the road is repaired.

A few years ago, I had tried to come in off the road to work at a local sulphur carrier. At the end of orientation, I learned my schedule was to run about 3 round trips starting at 2:30am with the day concluding much later. Not only was the material hot and dangerous, it smelled like rotten eggs. At the end of the day, I couldn't wash the odor off me. And, more importantly, I cannot function at that time of the morning. I never felt safe. Not to mention, the whole operation was third rate - old equipment and a management that couldn't give a shit about the drivers or the absurd working conditions. The last straw was when I had to work Christmas Eve and could not get home to have an early dinner with my family.

Congratulations to Jeff Gordon for his 77th race win at Talladega today. This breaks the tie with Dale Earnhardt. It was a win under the yellow caution. I'm still recovering the Mark Martin loss at the start of the season. I will be writing some dedicated NASCAR stuff soon - stay tuned.

And finally, parked next to me near the T/A garage is, yes, you guessed it, a Fedex custom critical truck with a nice old couple probably watching the race on their dish satellite tv.

Don't need a therapist...

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."

I told you so...

Well, that load of lumber from Washington, MO 2 stops to the Okie City area evaporated. I have no idea why. I knew it was a mistake from the beginning. Again, part and parcel of the nonsense that we professional drivers have to endure. I have received a new dispatch of pipe from Blytheville, AR to St. Albans, WV. It is a paid dead head of 277 miles and 551 loaded miles. No complaints other than the 24 hours I've wasted sitting here at the Fuel Stop off I44 in Villa Ridge, MO.

Are you interested in the director of admissions for MIT, Marilee Jones, resigning because she admitted, after 28 years, that she does not have a college degree. You know what? I have a degree and to me it is worth absolutely nothing. I even spent a few weeks taking an "executive" education course at MIT. I wasn't impressed. My CDL has afforded me far more opportunities. Fact was she was doing a great job and recently wrote a popular book. So what if she didn't have a degree. She probably did a better job versus someone else who had one or more degrees.

The GDP is low. Do you know what the gross domestic product is? It really doesn't matter. All numbers out of Washington are "funny." All I know is that when I go into a supermarket every item seems to cost $3. A small order of milk, dog food, this and that easily comes to $50 or more. On my block back home nobody can sell their house. And until very recently truckload freight was dead. Most drivers have not received a per mile increase in over a year. Fuel is hovering at $3 a gallon and cars and health insurance are out of reach for a lot of people. So the hell with the GDP and the 13,000 point Dow, the economy sucks right now and a lot of people are living paycheck to paycheck.

GDP = consumption + investment + (government spending) + (exports − imports)

Fighting the load switch

Item #1 - Greetings. Sitting here off I44 X25l Villa Ridge MO. Forget the driving. Here's a typical example of the stupidity that drivers have to put up on a daily basis. Mt'd out this morning in St. Louis. Received a dispatch for a load tomorrow (Fri.) morning headed to Laredo. I noticed the delivery ETA was Sat. 4/28 7am. I sent a message asking if they really meant Monday 7am. Some time goes by. I get another dispatch for an overnight load from Washington MO with 2 stops in/around Oklahoma City about 450 miles. It requires that I have 12 4x4x8's. I have to drive to the Fuel Mart truck stop and wait for someone named Mark. He will take me to the job site.

It is raining and the wind is kicking up. I spent about an hour "fighting" the load switch. Apparently the Laredo should have gone to a team. I didn't know my company had any teams. The company says do this for us and we'll reload u to Washington state. My pay cutoff is Monday at noon and there is no way I'm gonna go from Okie City to Redmond WA in 48 hours. Perhaps that trip should also go to one of the teams they don't have. Don't you love the b.s.? Anyhoo, it is now 2:38pm central time and I'm sitting here waiting for this mysterious person. No one at the company has followed up inquiring as to my status.

It has been 7 weeks since my "regular" driver manager has been out, after she broke her arm. Her 4 replacements (all men) have been horrible good for nothing morons. "They" all sounded like car salesmen. One told me he has 9 years OTR experience. I don't care. I was in the business before he knew what his "shpekle" was for. As far as I'm concerned any driver that becomes a dispatcher is a traitor. He has gone over to the "dark side." The worst dispatchers/driver managers are ex-drivers. I have this bad feeling that I'm going "a whole lot of nowhere" over the next three days.

Item #2 - I fueled at a new Pilot T/S I44 Pacific MO. They did have new Comdata card readers, but they're not as nice as the one at the new Love's locations. If your interested, I paid $2.779 per gallon. After you fuel you have to walk about what seems like 1/2 mile if you need to go inside. Thank goodness I don't and got the heck out of there. There's a similarly designed Pilot on I95 in VA, which I try to avoid.

Item #3 - Something that was expected - Toyota is now the #1 car manufacturer in the world. I've never been a GM kinda guy. I hate how the Big 3 automakers turned Detroit in a slum. I've owned two Chevy's, a Renault, a Neon, and my last car was a little red BMW. Any car that runs without problems is a great car.

It is now 6:15 pm central and nobody has shown up and I've received no follow-up messages from the company. At this point, I just might end up picking up that load to Laredo tomorrow morning.

New Comdata reader!

As I said before, don't rely on the inaccurate information in the 2007 "The Next Exit." I'm just west of St. Louis off I70 X222 at a very "convenient" QT which also happens to be a small truck stop with about 25 easy to get into spaces. The exact town is St. Peters. No mention of it in the exit guide. It is listed in the 2007 truckstop directory. That's the one with that same 'ole boring blue cover. At this QT, all the spaces are angled which is something FJ has yet to understand is safer for us to back into. And the wireless internet (linksys) service here is free!

I loaded late yesterday afternoon in Shakopee, MN with a 48K load of roofing materials. My original delivery appointment was for noon today, but the weather has been terrible all day. Due to heavy rain, high winds and flooding, I chose to remain on the interstate and take I35S to Kansas City picking up I70 in St. Louis. My company said "they're waiting on you" which is nonsense. After 30 years in the business don't try to BS me. I called the receiver (against company policy)who said they stopped unloading about 3pm and would be happy to see me in the AM. And so here I am at the QT.

Item #2 - So what's in the news. Well, Rosie is going to be off the View - don't care. Rosie lost me when she started talking about how our government was behind the WTC 9-11 murders. Heather Mills is off Dancin' With the Stars - good, I didn't like her. Have you checked out Apollo Ono's partner - she's smokin' hot! "Hip-hop" and "rap" is and always will be garbage. My son listened to it in high school and then got a job and came to his senses - he's back listening to country music. Democratic leader Harry Reid is way off the mark with all his trash talk about troops withdrawals and cutting off funding for the "war." OOIDA seems to be losing the battle to stop the spread of dual speed limits. Do you know what OSHA is? I'll talk more about that later. John McCain running for president? I don't think so. He is 70, which is too old, and I feel is weak. I am an Obama supporter.

Item #3 - Does it amaze you that drivers still do not turn on their headlights in the rain? I'm not for laws stopping cell phone usage but I do think it should be the law that you must use a headset or hands-free device when driving. One great law says you should pull over or slow down if there is a emergency or law enforcement vehicle on the side of the road. Now if other drivers would let you actually pull over! And big trucks are still tailgating me when I am passing another vehicle. What are these fools going to do when all the trucks are governed at 68 miles an hour?

Item #4 - Important - last night I fueled at a brand new Love's and guess what? Yes, Comdata finally has a brand new card reader, and it's awesome. It has a large bright easy to read screen with finger heat sensitive keys. I would post a picture for you, but after spending weeks with Dell in India repairing my laptop - now my Pentax digital camera is not working properly. So much for all this damn technology - LOL. I'll have to deal with it when I get home over Memorial Day.

"Lockdown"

Item #1 - A $400 haircut? You have got to be kidding! Having nothing to do with the fact that I'm OTR trucker, I pay $12 to get my hair cut. I go to an ole fashioned barbershop. I have paid much more for a haircut. It didn't matter. The $12 one is much better. I give the guy a $2 tip. I never have to make an appointment, the magazines and atmosphere are great. I don't think I want any of my "representatives" to spend $400 for a haircut. Something is definitely wrong there. It's a question of common sense. Did he really think that no one would question this?

Item #2 - Alex Baldwin. There is not one man out there who has ever been divorced or separated that does not understand that telephone message. I have heard similar many times in truck stops, especially around the holiday's. Yea, yea, calling your kid fat and stupid is not cool. My father called me useless. Life goes on.

Item #3 - Bush's bud Gonzales has to go. Enough with this crap.

Item #4 - Do you drive a spread axle trailer? Did you ever try to get a CAT scale to weigh the spreads individually? Lotsa luck driver. Most of the clerks at Pilot don't even know what the scale is for.

Item #5 - Are you tired of hearing the word "lockdown." I sure as hell am.

Item #6 - The news is supposed to be who, what, where, why and how. I don't care about the opinion of the reporter and don't want to hear what if, maybe, could have been or artificial labels like crisis, explosive, furor, etc.

Item #7 - Did you buy your 2007 edition of the "Next Exit?" This "thing" needs a lot of work. If you e-mail any suggestions or updates, you will never get an acknowledgment or thank you. Many Love's locations are not listed. There is too much "other" important stuff missing. I recommend it only as a backup. I'm not surprised that the editor is connected with those arrogant pinheads at FJ.

Item #8 - Our flag half mast for VT? No. Half mast for our fallen troops in Afghanistan and Iraq? Yes.

Item #9 - Speaking of Iraq - what the hell are we doing? Do you know? Does anyone know? Does Bush know? Either we shit or get off the pot. Fly our flag over Iraq, the oil is ours, everything is ours, get rid of the ooni's or fall back to Afghanistan and watch what happens from across the border. Keep it simple stupid!

Item #10 - A special message to Mexican carriers: stay on your side of the border! I don't want you in my country. I don't want your illegal relatives here either. South NAFTA is a bad idea. North NAFTA with Canada is ok.

The NRA is correct!

Hey now. Let me close my bible, turn off NASCAR, get rid of the "tabakee" (chew) 'tween my cheek and gum and let's get down to business. I guess I'll just have to miss the WWF match and Dukes of Hazzard, but then we all have to make sacrifices here and there. We're here in beautiful Bloomington, IL at the T/A right off I-55. There is Idle Aire here, but I'll ignore it as usual. Bunch of things to talk about today. We've been on the road 3 days.

Item #1 - The photo is of Lt. Commander Kevin J. Davis of the Blue Angels who was killed when his jet crashed. These guys and gals are the best of the best. Thank you for your service. We are so sorry for his loss.

Item #2 - I've spent the last six months evaluating the various wireless internet services at truck stops and here's the deal. Siricom at Pilot tops the list as the worse, most expensive service. Forget it, don't even bother and let the pinheads at Pilot work out the kinks. Flying J has their own service and although slightly better and cheaper than Siricom, unless you really need to stop at a FJ, forget it. The last straw for me was over the Easter/Passover holiday. I needed to work online at a FJ and the service was inoperative and the morons inside were clueless as to why it didn't work. At locations where it does work, I get logged off or timed out for no reason. It takes days for their customer service to e-mail you back with any answer. The best and least expensive available out there is at T/A. FJ and Pilot need to figure out how T/A does it and get "er" done. Wireless internet available through Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and the other giant telephone services are ridiculously overpriced and their coverage is extremely limited outside of major cities.

Item #3 - Did you ever go over Nickajack Lake in TN on I-24? Did you ever wonder what state official got paid off to let that monstrosity called TN/AL Fireworks be build right in the middle of the interstate? I never see anyone there so it must a "front" for something else.

Item #4 - You know what the NRA always says after something horrible like the Virginia Tech massacre occurs? If the existing laws would only be enforced something like that might have been avoided. And they're absolutely right. How a loon like that could buy a gun is beyond me. Actually it was 2 which makes it even worse. Unfortunately this nut would have used a knife or some other weapon. And, if there was a two week or two month waiting period, guess what?, he would have simply waited.

Item #5- I will be contacting Charles H. Bronson, the FL commissioner of agriculture, so he can explain to me why we need to stop at the "agricultural" checkpoint leaving FL on I-75. I'll let you know what he says.

Item #6 - Hey - check out on line ONLY banking services. Some are offering 3-4% interest on checking accounts and 3% on savings. Remember interest? Online only banking services are FDIC insured. You'll read more about it in one of those "travel center" magazines as they steal much of their material from this blog site.

Item #7 - Have you heard any of those recruiting ads for CFI on Sirius? Does anybody even bother with XM anymore? NO. Anyway, it sounds like Jeff the Drunk from the Howard Stern is doing one of the ads. Another ad has a female saying "with CFI our retirement is looking good." What the heck is she talking about? Another talks about the bonuses. Bonuses? Bullshit! I've never met a driver who gets any fuel, safety or other bonus. It's all nonsense, mirrors and funny money. The only folks that get bonuses are in upper management. You know that!

Item #8 - Obama doesn't have the experience necessary to be President? What experience would that be exactly? Maybe the same experience that LBJ had escalating the Vietnam War? Or maybe being governor of Texas prepared Bush for getting involved in Iraq? Lincoln didn't have much "experience." Politicians are lying pinheads that don't know one end from the other. I support Obama because he has no "experience."

Item #9 - Leading the pack for best truck stop is Love's. Do you want to vote. Just come over to my truck. It has the acourtesyflush.blogspot sign on the side. Many drivers love the fact that their receipts are time stamped, the rewards points are translated into a dollar value, their fuel receipt signing process is fast and simple, and they still have a dedicated driver fuel desk. T/A is a close second.

Item #10 - Did you hear that "Mayor" Bloomsfarkle of NYC wants to charge truckers $21 to enter into "his" fair city? Ever hear the expression "tar and feather"? We can do him and that other moron Blagdonovitchyswz, Mr. 55 mph, from Illinois. I mentioned this before, but that cesspool Newark should be flattened and turned into one large shipping and receiving depot for the NYC area.

Item #11 - Have you ever heard of JAG lawyer Lt. Commander Charles Swift is? Well, I strongly recommend you read the story on his crusade in the March 2007 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. The first thing Obama should do after he takes office is close this place down. It is a disgrace. Ever wonder why the "travel center" magazines never profile any of our service men and women or profile generals like Petraeus? They don't have the brains or the balls. You can also read about the SAIC in the same issue, unless of course, you prefer to spend your time off with the WWF or maybe turn on the CB and ask where all the "women" are? A smart trucker is an educated trucker!

Back on the road again...

Received a load from the Port of Manatee to just north of St. Paul, MN. It's a load of pine wood from somewhere in South America. One again the retards at homeland security are at it again, changing for probably the fifth time in six months the security procedures for drivers to enter the port. None of it now or in the past has made any sense. In fact, talking to the security folks, they're just as frustrated as the drivers are. I have mentioned in the past my 100 yard rule. That being that the freight that has to be loaded is almost always 100 yards from any security "they" set up. All of it a waste of time. The only security that is necessary is having the containers and freight being offloaded from the ships scanned for whatever it is we are worried about. If I was a terrorist and wanted to do damage to any part of the port, all I would have to do is walk or drive in. The security is comprised of retired men who need to stay out of the sun. While I was tarping a tour drove by. Yes, you read it right, a tour. In the same "getup" as Busch gardens or Universal Studios. "Yes, folks on the left is a big ship with lumber from the rain forests they are destroying throughout South America and on your right are those horrible truck drivers that everybody hates working their asses off!"

That photograph of the lumber in the warehouse is actually from the port in Baltimore. It is a load of extremely low grade lumber from somewhere in Russia. You see, as a truck driver, I move all this crap from Russia, South America and China into our fine country. Before I went on home time I moved three coils from China to Virgina. When in Laredo I move more crap from Mexico inland. On no occasion do I actually pick up anything made here and move it to the port to go overseas. Something definitely wrong there, ey?

The photo to the left I took at the Pilot off I80 in Gary, IN. A very typical example of one the many pigsties in the Pilot chain of so called "travel centers." At this location, rather than clean up the parking lot, they have to employ a full-time "security" guy to stand around with his you know what up his you know what making sure someone doesn't rob the place of all that cash they have lying around. I only go here because it is the nearest CAT scale to my customer coming out of Chicago. The other places across the street and down the block are just as worse. The inside of this Pilot isn't bad, but I would never eat here. The folks behind the counter are, which is rare for a Pilot, pretty sharp considering all the driver abuse they have to put up with. And don't blame the drivers - ever see a movie theatre when everyone leaves? Part of managing any business is cleaning it up.

This is a photo I took after delivering a load in NJ. Yes, the same state where its governor likes to drive around at 90 mph without a seat belt. The state of EPA wonder princess Christie Todd Whitman. And of course, the governor who needed to come out of the closet after his Israeli boyfriend threatened to sue him. I spent some time in NJ when it was a fairly "normal" place. There are many beautiful places there. The place I delivered to in Bridgewater not too far off the turnpike was beyond stupid. They do not allow overnight parking despite a huge empty lot across the street from the front gate because the local "officials" are morons. You have to park in the street, walk to the opposite end of the plant, go into a building probably built 75 years ago. Although I couldn't be sure, the place smelled of "union." I had been scheduled to deliver the load the day before, but they decided not to receive any freight that day. I was one of two load they decided to receive this day. There was more stupidity, but I won't bore you. Needless to say, I was glad to get the hell out of there and on my way to Philadelphia for a load home.

This is a 40,000 lb. coil being transported somewhere. The laws governing this type of freight have to be changed. I don't think coils should be placed on flatbed trucks like this and moved anywhere. Specialized trailers with coil wells should be the law. This load does not have enough chains securing the load. Even with the proper amount of securement, I have seen coils come off the trailer, especially when in the winter. In a "well" configuration, at least 1/2 the coil sits below the deck. With the right amount of chains the load would be considerably safer. Many coils are tarped, but it does not make the load any safer. Drivers will lose coil freight, but safety should be the only consideration here.

Some of President Bush's comments from Virginia Tech..

In such times as this, we look for sources of strength to sustain us. And in this moment of loss, you're finding these sources everywhere around you. These sources of strength are in this community, this college community. You have a compassionate and resilient community here at Virginia Tech. Even as yesterday's events were still unfolding, members of this community found each other; you came together in dorm rooms and dining halls and on blogs. One recent graduate wrote this: "I don't know most of you guys, but we're all Hokies, which means we're family. To all of you who are okay, I'm happy for that. For those of you who are in pain or have lost someone close to you, I'm sure you can call on anyone of us and have help any time you need it."

These sources of strength are with your loved ones. For many of you, your first instinct was to call home and let your moms and dads know that you were okay. Others took on the terrible duty of calling the relatives of a classmate or a colleague who had been wounded or lost. I know many of you feel awfully far away from people you lean on and people you count on during difficult times. But as a dad, I can assure you, a parent's love is never far from their child's heart. And as you draw closer to your own families in the coming days, I ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who will never come home.

These sources of strength are also in the faith that sustains so many of us. Across the town of Blacksburg and in towns all across America, houses of worship from every faith have opened their doors and have lifted you up in prayer. People who have never met you are praying for you; they're praying for your friends who have fallen and who are injured. There's a power in these prayers, real power. In times like this, we can find comfort in the grace and guidance of a loving God. As the Scriptures tell us, "Don't be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

*Photograph by Melanie Blanding for The New York Times

Hometime

After 4 weeks on the road, it feels great to be back at home. Watching FOX news, watching all the bad weather in Texas, Illinois and the Northeast, I can sit on my little porch where it is partially cloudy and 87 degrees. The smell of the orange groves being carried by the warm gulf breezes is marvelous. I would be in the pool, but we are in the initial stages of remodeling and many things around the house will not be usable for some time. I once asked an editor of one of those "travel center" magazines if he ever took a shower at one of his truck stops. I never got an answer. I only bring this up because having the ability to jump out of bed into your own hot shower is truly a luxury. Not having to wait until your "number" is called and told to do this and that with your towel is a very welcome change. Normally, I don't post to the blog when I'm home, but I have some thoughts I want to share with you.

Item #1 - The NJ Governor not wearing his seat belt. NJ hates trucks. The news reported a "truck" ran him off the road. It was a "pick up" not a truck. I don't care what Ford, Toyota or GM says, a pick-up is not a truck. The NJ state police - the ones that looks like "storm troopers" - need to issue the Governor a citation for failure to wear a seat belt. He is lucky to be alive.

Item #2 - As a kid, I could not join the Boy Scouts because of my religion. The same thing happened when I wanted to become part of the Civil Air Patrol. When I moved to NJ, I was told it was too bad I wasn't put in the Nazi ovens in Poland. I was told "my kind" was not welcome when I wanted to be part of the local volunteer fire company. When my wife and I were in Malaysia a kid tried to sell us Nazi jewelry. People I know cannot live their lives as they wish and are treated as second class citizens all in the name of Jesus. Good people in other parts of the world are murdered in the name of Mohammad.

When I open a magazine and see a "member of clergy" write about Jesus and Easter, avoiding the fact that many of their readers don't "celebrate" or believe in Jesus, I get really pissed off. When I was coming home over Alligator Alley (I75) from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples, a car overturned. The road was shut down for over an hour and a medical emergency helicopter had to transport the seriously injured driver to a trauma center.

While waiting, drivers got out of their vehicles to stretch their legs, walk their pets and talk. I looked at the "composition" of the drivers. They were Asians, Mexicans, Cubans, Canadians, Europeans, African-Americans, Jews, Muslims and many others. Next to my truck was a Cadillac Escalade driven by a lesbian couple. All these folks stop at Pilot, Flying J, T/A and all the rest of these "travel centers". They all deserve to be recognized and appreciated. They all don't believe in Jesus or recognize Easter. For a "travel center" magazine to avoid this fact is racist, irresponsible and just plain arrogant and stupid. It is a back handed slap in the face to all other religions and lifestyles. Shame on them and the "editors" who are both prejudice and narrow minded.

Item #3 - Truck driving is a serious business. There are many complicated issues that need to be talked about and resolved. It's not all NASCAR, hunting and Jesus. I will endeavor in this blog - soon to be a website - to continue to address many of these issues. One of these topics is depression. It is not clear how many truck drivers suffer from depression, OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or severe anxiety. I believe the numbers are high. I will be spending a lot of time attempting to educate my readers about this. If you are having trouble sleeping, eating and concentrating, please talk to your doctor. If you don't have one, get one. Hopefully, you have health insurance - many don't. You or your significant other need to made an appointment. And you need to read the following item, compiled and edited from various sites on the web.

Item #4 - John Winter, 1967-2007, morning meteorologist for WFLA-TV, was found dead today at his home in Lithia of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office reported. Sheriff's deputies and fire rescue responded to his residence on Tealwater Place around 3:30 p.m. when authorities received a call requesting them to check on his welfare, a sheriff's spokesperson said. The deputies knocked on the front door and, when there was no answer, forced their way into the residence. They then heard the sound of a gunshot coming from the garage. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A sheriff's spokesperson said a note was found, but they did not divulge its contents. Winter, who is married, was home alone at the time, the spokesperson said. "Longtime friend Robert Fontaine said that the meteorologist struggled with depression for years. Fontaine wouldn’t discuss further details of the suicide, but he did say he had accompanied the weatherman to visit doctors a few times years ago, noting there was at least one other time he was concerned the forecaster might take his own life. “Individuals need somebody to listen to them, and I think that’s what I was for John,” said Fontaine, an 18-year employee of WFLA (Tampa, FL) who works as a director on the station’s morning and midday newscasts. “I would tell him how I felt … I would share with him my faith … I think that would help John through the dark times … Sometimes, people at work may be smiling and laughing, but inside, they’re hurting.”

Item #1 - North Carolina, one of the states I hate, has a new poster boy - the retarded Mike Nifong, from Durham. Now along with bad roads, miserable rest areas, outdated weigh stations and a retarded DOT, we have a lying despicable public official. This moron needs to do some time behind bars, after he is disbarred. One wonders how many innocent folks this low life has prosecuted? Don't be surprised to see the NC Attorney General run for higher office now that he confirmed the true facts of this travesty of justice.


Item #2 - Dandy Don Imus. Who cares? I'm an OTR truck driver. I hear more insensitive racial slurs in a day than most folks hear in a year. I heard more when I was in corporate life. The "Rev." Al Sharpton and his "colleague" Jessie Jackson are snake oil salesmen. These two clowns don't represent anyone - they represent themselves. I don't care what Imus says. I don't listen to his radio show or his (now) off the air tv show. If I hear something I don't like I walk away or change the channel. This is still a country founded on free speech - like it or not.


Item #3 - A writer and an editor are lost in a hot arid desert. They've been walking for days. Finally, the writer sees some water in the distance. They both run toward it. The editor thinks it's a mirage. They both reach a fresh cool stream. The writer falls to his knees and drinks the water. The editor pulls down his pants and starts urinating in the stream. The writer shouts "what the hell are you doing?" The editor responds: "I'm making it better!"

Item #4 - Are you in your fifties or older? I'm doing a piece for the blog about our experiences. Don't you just have to laugh when someone tries to "pull the wool" over your eyes when you know you've seen it all before? I started listening to Deepak Chopra on Sirius Stars channel 102 on Saturday morning. Absolutely fascinating! One thing he said really intrigued me. Let's say you e-mail someone ideas on how to make something better. They respond by getting personal not addressing the ideas, but calling you narrow minded or self-centered or saying you have an inflated ego. What's going on, according to Chopra, is that this person is not talking to you, but in fact is criticizing himself! We seasoned 50ish folks need to just avoid toxic people like this.

Item #5 - Now under a load from Philadelphia down to West Palm Beach. After that I"m headed to the house for a few days R&R.

Another day on the road...

Point #1 - Just after I got up this morning, I called my final and was told they couldn't receive this load until 11:30am tomorrow. An appointment should have been set Friday, but my company screwed up. I'm at the FJ in North East MD right off I95 about 125 miles away from Bridgewater NJ where the receiver is located. From there I should be able to head home after being away about a month.

After that call and realizing I had some time to myself, I chose to do nothing the rest of the day. I've had to put up with so much bullshit lately, it felt good to shut out the world and all the idiots and morons. At least until I decided to go in the FJ and have something to eat.

Sitting at the counter were two loud amateur truck drivers. If I were the manager, I would have asked them to tone it down a little and please stop using language better left outside. Even though we don't like it, there are families with children who eat along side us and don't appreciate such behavior.

If I had to listen to these two clowns all day, I'd have to shoot myself. First of all, that southern twang or drawl or whatever it is called is so annoying. I've always felt that most drivers who claim to be from the south with their racist confederate flags are retarded. Anyone with a decent education was taught that anything beyond 1 becomes plural. So it is l mile, but not 2 mile or 75 mile, but l mile, 2 miles and 75 miles. Whether it be this backwater Carolina hillbilly bullshit or a NY accent or worse, that horrendous southern ghetto speek, it all makes us "normal" drivers look bad.

*** The confederate flag should go away. Remember your confederate heritage? Are you kidding? What part of racism, slavery and murdering Lincoln do we need to remember? Our world will be a far better place without this horrible symbol in our lives

Point #2 - Say what you will about the war, but we all know that Sadam was a punk. The little shit who is "president" of Iran is also a punk. We hung Sadam and we should do the same with Ahmadinaejad. We should stop screwing around and make Iraq a newUS states and build the largest military base in that part of the world. Unless Isreal destroys the Iranian nuclear machine, they should take over Cuba and move out of the middle east entirely.

Screw you and the horse you road in on....

Man oh man! Be it a dark cloud, something in the air, a full moon or whatever, I am surrounded by idiots. It makes you just want to say, what is your problem sweetheart? I'm convinced that far too many people have been misdiagnosed as normal when in fact they're retarded. Look at the folks who collect tolls, weigh trucks, hunt, edit magazines and work as security guards - all retarded.

The vast amount of drivers on the road - especially those that operate motorcycles and hang handicapped tags are all retarded. Most forklift drivers are retarded. It is a well know fact that everyone who works in safety and sales is retarded. Who can dispute that driver managers are not retarded? Ever send a e-mail to someone who doesn't answer it? That's because you didn't realize that you're sending it to someone who is retarded.

The idiot who asks for ID when you pay for your $9 buffet dinner with an debit card is retarded. OOIDA is retarded. I can go on and on and on. Makes you think the whole damn world is retarded. To all the retarded folks - screw ya'll and the horses you road in on.