I have a confession…

I’ve hid this for many years, trying to be somebody else I’m really not, assuming I could forget where I came from and stupidly denying my true identity.

But for some reason the real “me” insists on pushing the real  “me” out of the closet. I have this desire to just shout it out already and come clean. It is time to confess. I’m tired of living a lie. Ok, so I’ll take a deep breathe and just spit it out for you:

I was born in New York City – that’s Manhattan, New York City. Not the Bronx, Staten Island, Queens or the Bronx or whatever else people might think of as New York City, but Manhattan, New York City. The “Big Apple”, the center of it all, the big cahoona. The center of it all.

Buffalo, for example, is located in “Upstate” New York, which I’m not sorry to say is NOT the real New York. It is “Upstate” New York, which is just not New York City. Never was, never will be. Same goes for Albany and all those other “Upstate” fake New York towns.

New York City should have long ago been declared a separate entity (State) from Upstate New York. Mayor Bloomberg should be Gov. Bloomberg of New York City. That other guy – the shifty looking 1/2 blind guy (who should wear sun glasses like Stevie Wonder so as not to appear so shifty) – should be referred to as the Gov. of “Upstate” NY, not all of NY. Just like they separate West Virginia and Virginia or North and South Dakota.

Anyway, I’ve tried to hide who and what I am. I moved down to Florida over twenty years ago and tried to forget my past. I’ve tried be a “Floridian.” I tried to move slower, think dumber and do everything else that is so characteristic of the people outside New York City. I’ve had to put with “fake” pizza, bad potato salad, funny tasting roast beef, greedy bosses from Indiana, lazy workers from Texas, stupid cops from Mississippi and stores that are nothing like you find in New York City.

I have know for the longest time that the popular statement “If you can make it here (NY) you’ll make it anywhere”, is just not true. Because making it in NY is actually relatively easy compared to rest of the country. It is truer to say “If you can make it here – let’s say Atlanta – you can in fact make it anywhere.” Why? Because folks all over the place live, work and think like people from Atlanta, Des Moines or Charlotte than New Yorkers. Bottom line is, people from New York City can and usually do go crazy trying to “make it” outside of NY. I’m living testament to that. After twenty or more years, I’m still trying to make it outside of NY. 

Ok, ok - now I know you’re asking yourself right now, what brought on this need to confess all of a sudden. Well, it’s been brewing for some time now. I was in a Wal-Mart Supercenter this afternoon and well, it was a big mistake. From wherever it’s been “hiding” the “ole” New Yorker in me surfaced up like fresh crude oil spewing from a newly drilled well.

And it was standing in front of the cream cheese shelf at Wal-Mart where it only got worse. You see, these two folks (I’m sure not from NYC) in their 50’s just stood there perusing the various choices of cream cheese. And I waited, and waited and waited. They picked one cream cheese up and then put it down. They picked another one up and then put it back. I was not alone standing there waiting for this decision “process” to end. There were was another woman. These two stood there as if no one else in the world existed to share in the joy of ignoring everyone else buying just the right cream cheese.

And for a moment I tried to assume my patient old “Southern” self, justifying my stupidly standing there thinking to myself that “Life’s a box a chocolates” and oh my, oh my ya’ll don’t know what’s inside” and…NO, I said to myself, this is it, this is enough, I’ve had it. I can’t take it anymore. I am not Forest Gump. I’m a New Yorker and I’m tired of this crap.

The fact is that all the people in this Wal-Mart appeared to me to be freak’n slow simpletons with no lives. They’re standing around reading cream cheese boxes or paper towel wrappers with what seem like no other thought or care in the world. And that’s just not good enough for me. Because that’s just not the way we did things in NYC.

I have a life. I can do my order the NEW YORK CITY way for God sakes. I know what I want. I know where it is. GET OUT OF MY WAY! I have better things to do, and I’m gonna do it, by God. Hey, I’m from New York City! And I don’t “lollygag” milling about the isles in Wal-Mart all afternoon. Because that’s just not the way we did things in NYC.

I tried to go on, but I just couldn’t. I just left a 1/2 filled shopping cart off to the side, put on my shades and walked out. Because that what a New Yorker would do. I’ll just have to go back in the middle of the night or something when, perhaps, there will hopefully be some real New Yorkers shopping, just like back in New York.

The photo credit is : www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency..

Technorati Tags: New York,New York City,New Yorkers living in the South,Florida living,Wal-Mart shopping,the slow pace of living in Florida,confessions of a frustrated New Yorker,slow shoppers frustrating a former New Yorker,trucker opinion and commentary,trucking life on the road

I decided to eliminate…

all the links I had to trucking related blogs and web sites. As I focus the “Flush” in on more “mainstream” areas with particular emphasis on featuring my writing and the challenges of freelancing and self-publishing – featuring other “trucking” sites became “non-productive.” I also felt that since I had made the effort to reach out to other truckers and attempt to support their efforts with getting absolutely nothing in return –then I will simply no longer support them. I must single out one gentleman, Wayne Weisser,who runs http://lifeontheroad.com and http://adventuresintrucking.com, who is the exception and has been quite professional and supportive. I encourage you to bookmark his sites and read them often.

Photo credit is: outlookvaried.blogspot.com/

Panera’s tastes better…

Starbuck’s will close 300 stores, lay off 6700 workers and stop serving decaf coffee in the afternoon. Listen, I drink 2 cups of coffee a day. My “secret” formula is 4 scoops of Folgers with about 5 cups of double filtered spring water in my Mr.Coffee. Add some hazelnut creamer and I’m a happy camper. There is no way I would ever spend what Starbucks charged for coffee. I did a couple times just to try something different, pumpkin coffee or something, and it wasn’t that good. The whole Grande, Vente thing was annoying. The best tasting “expensive”coffee is sold by Panera’s and I don’t go there that often. I’m sorry for the folks that will lose their jobs, but as they say, for every door that closes, another opens. A coffee place that would sell great tasting “simpler” coffee at half the price of Starbucks would do just fine. Wait a minute, isn’t that Dunkin Donuts?

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It begins…

The following draft is COPYWRITED material – it cannot be used for any reason without the permission of the author…

She had been shadowing him for months. Today she followed him into a local discount mattress store. She stood a few feet from him listening, pretending to browse. He didn’t care. Just another good looking woman with a nice ass to admire while doing business.

He ordered the most expensive pillow-top bed as a gift for his third wife. They slept in separate bedrooms. She overheard the day and time of the delivery. He would have the housekeeper leave the old mattress and box springs outside. The delivery truck would pick them up and leave the new one wrapped in plastic in its place.

She entered the home early that morning, having done so many times before without the owners knowledge. She knew the layout, where the floor squeaked and had perfected moving around in the dark in complete silence. The housekeeper wouldn’t been there for a couple hours. The delivery truck would be there in about 1/2 hour.

The alarm in the his bedroom went off when she knew it would. He got up, went to the bathroom, dressed casual and came down the carpeted winding stairs into the kitchen. He flipped on the coffee maker. He poured some OJ. He reached for the bagels. That would be the last thing he would do in his life.

The cable went over his head and around his neck. He heard or saw nothing. Then the jerk backwards. It instantly tightened. He could not breathe. There was massive pain. The blood began to flow from under the metal. His fingers could reach under the tightness now embedded in the skin of his neck. It was digging in deeper and deeper. He was very dizzy. He was terrified. He was confused. And he was dead.

Every ounce of her strength held the cable toward her. If she could have killed him over and over, she would have. She waited a minute until his jerking ceased. His right foot twitched a little and then nothing. Silence. The smell of his blood. The smell of him. His sweat on her hands. She let go and he fell to the clean kitchen tile.

She quickly rolled him into the unzipped plastic bag. She opened the fold in the side of the mattress she had cut earlier and stuffed him inside. Using thick commercial duct tape she sealed up the side. It looked like any typical old mattress that the delivery truck would pick up that day.

She dragged the mattress out the front door and stood it up next to the old box springs. By the end of the day, the old bedding, with him inside, would be slid off the truck into the intense flames of incinerator at the county dump.

There would no of him. He no longer existed. She would be moving on, stronger than ever in her quest of destroying everyone that had done her wrong. And nobody would ever know what happened to him.

Asking questions…

1. Who is more dangerous, a Gitmo prisoner picked up in a sweep of folks who look like “terrorists” then thrown in a military prison indefinitely without any rights – or – a convicted rapist, pedophile or murderer serving time in a state “correctional” facility?

2. With millions or people out of work and the economy in the tank, do the Republicans really think it’s a good idea to “parade” around their “Minority” leader tanned, teeth whitened and dressed in $1000 suits rejecting, despite the validity of the objections, the Obama recovery plan?

3. Where is the Republican plan? Whining, complaining and criticizing is not going to cut it. They’re talking, but are saying nothing. Put up or shut up.

4. Where is my bailout? If I need to withdraw my 40lK money, I should be able to do it without penalty or taxation. My insurance company for the past 25 years is “pulling out” of Florida. No more home insurance or car insurance. Where is my refund?

5. Where is Osama Bin Laden and why hasn’t he been captured yet? I don’t care about the hills, caves and crevices of the “stans” – Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no excuse for this criminal not being in custody.

6. Do “they” really think that Conan O’Brian can successful take over the Tonight Show with Jay Leno? I like  Conan, but he has an “edge” that is nasty and for lack of a better term, unfair. He was consistently out of line when he spoke of Sara Palin’s kids. Why is the television business out of touch with what American wants?

7. CNN, NBC, FOX, MSNBC – you hear “officials” say “we had a good meeting, we had a good meeting.” How cares? Boeing just announced their laying off 10,000 workers. The President calls in CEO’s for a meeting. And what do we hear? “We had a good meeting, we had a good meeting? What does that mean? Does it matter?

8. Is Rachael Maddow hot or what? I’m a guy and want to “jump her bones”, I can only imagine how the lesbians feel. Lucky girls. And yes, Maddow is on top of her game as one of the most talented, intelligent “journalists” on television. She was a Rhodes scholar and has her PhD.

9. Some are worried about the post office cutting back a day for mail delivery. Are they kidding? One less day of junk mail is a great idea. Cut back two days. Who cares? I don’t use the postal office anymore.

10. What do you think of the latest commercials on television? They’re terrible. They’re stupid. Many make no sense. Some are too long. Infomercials are the worse. Most men in commercials are depicted (true or not) as morons. Car commercials don’t address the vehicle’s fuel efficiency, strangely stressing the Bluetooth feature. Who are these people kidding?

Photo credit: : tackyraccoons.com/2008/03/24/hello-im-mr-google/

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Stuck in traffic? frustrated? Then…

sit back and play this vid. You’re welcome.

Must be emotional….

After four weeks of “trucking” in the frozen tundra, I’m back home in Florida. Yesterday, it was 85 and sunny. Today is a bit cooler, but just “perfect.” Why the heck would anyone want to live anywhere else? I mean there lot’s of great places around the country, but the winter “thing” just doesn’t cut it for me. I was going to move to Hawaii and go to college there, but it’s too far. I’ve grown fond of the Midwest, Southern Illinois especially, but again there’s that “winter” thing. On my way down here on I95, the “snowbirds” were coming down from Canada, Michigan, NY and NJ in masse. Must be nice. I’ll be here until about Friday. I’m trying to get the TWIC “process” started. Right now, I just don‘t feel like moving much. That’s photo I took of the beach back in July.

Our President on Air Force One…

YOU PAY FOR IT!

Attention FMCSA! You want healthy truck drivers? Then, YOU PAY FOR IT!

Start by paying for our healthcare – for the DOT medical exams and cards and all the paperwork – for the sleep apnea tests – for the high blood pressure and diet pills, the exercise programs, the right food and the gastric bypass operations. YOU PAY FOR IT!

We’re sick and tired of your ridiculous unfunded mandates. OOIDA, the ATA and the trucking media say nothing. But, YOU PAY FOR IT!  We need you, our government, to start paying for it right now.We can’t wait. Put up or shut up.

Since when did a democracy elected by “we the people” – that’s you – order “us” – the people - to get healthy in order for us to hold onto a job? That’s nonsense. Just who the hell do you think you are!

We should tell YOU want to do, not the other way around. You want my BMI lower – YOU PAY FOR IT! You, my government, seem to think it’s ok to tell me how to live my life, what to eat, when to sleep, when to work – all in the name of safety – then YOU PAY FOR IT!

You give billions to Wall St. so they can pay out millions in bonuses and travel and entertain each other first-class. So I DEMAND, right now, you pay for my health and medical care. That’s for EVERY driver! Not a loan, not a handout, not a bailout, not a rescue – no – just PAY FOR IT!

You start taking care of us right now. Make us healthy. Make us safe. No questions asked. You want healthy truck drivers? Then, YOU PAY FOR IT!

Photo credit: lowly-worm.blogspot.com/

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Tear down the FL AG stops…

Regular readers of the “Flush” know I truly have it out for these folks. OODIA thinks its unimportant and irrelevant. I couldn’t disagree more.

Today, I have 42,000 lbs. of steel beams headed down to Port Canaveral, which by the way, doesn’t exist according to my GPS.

Cross the GA/FL line and the signs “order” me to pull into the JAX I95 FL Ag inspection “station”. I have no agricultural, horticultural or aqua cultural that requires inspection.

Of course, Ray and Mary “Canadians” (snowbirds) are flying by with all sorts of plants, weird food from France and “weed” in their million dollar RV. But the FL Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services doesn’t care about them.

Neither do they seem to care about the 3 box trucks in front of me – one a sea container with goodness knows what inside. Trucks are starting to back out onto the interstate.

But the moron “inspector” stops me and wants to see my BOL. Why? I’ve asked this question now for years. This is nonsense. And no, I’m not filling out a 5 page form and paying FL $50 a year for a bypass transponder. Besides, if PrePass has been turned off by FL, so has the Fl AG bypass transponder.

I will not rest until these AG inspection “boondoggles” are closed or until I don’t have to waste my time going through them with a load of steel.

Technorati Tags: truck driver says eliminate the FL agricultural inspection stations,truck driver says FL s fleecing truckers,FL DOT,Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,Governor of Florida,OOIDA,PrePass,why stop at FL AG inspection stations,truck driver blogs,truck driver opinion and commentary,trucker life on the road

DRIVERS, REFUSE TO PAY…

your bill since just about every weigh station now has PrePass turned off in an effort to “fleece” truck drivers. Why do I need PrePass anymore if it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to? OOIDA is silent on the issue. What else is new? Right now PrePass is a rip-off and useless black plastic box stuck to my windshield which I'm not paying for anymore.

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When is the last time…

you mailed a letter? That is, by the way, a small 7”x 4” folded, usually white, sheet of paper, used to hold more paper. It kind of looks like a pocket. There is a flap thing that you lick to it seal up. You put a “stamp” on the front and give it to the postal service to deliver.

I’ve had a letter in my truck for about a month waiting to be mailed. I don’t have a stamp. Every time I’m in a truck stop I forget to search for a machine to buy a stamp. If I could e-mail a message to the lab that I’m mailing a bill/letter back to, I would.

Did you hear that the “PO” is going to layoff abut 20,000 postal workers? I’m sorry to hear that. But – do you get anything worthwhile in the mail. When I’m home I see nothing but junk mail. I open up the mail box and walk right over to the trash can to throw everything that was sent to me away.

99% of all my “communicating” is done by e-mail. I hate the phone. I never to talk to anyone but my wife and driver manager. My son and I text and e-mail each other all the time. We only talk on the phone when we can’t understand what either of us is saying via text. But I never mail anything to him or my wife or my driver manager.

Other than mailing bills, take away all the crap that is sent through the mail, and you only need about 1/2 the postal office. If anyone needs to get anything somewhere fast they use UPS or FEDEX. DHL is gone. Use e-mail for all the bills and you can rid of the post office all together.

So, again, I’m sorry for the postal workers – hopefully it’ll be all the rude slow ones that will lose their jobs - but we really don’t need them anymore.

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I don’t do…

MySpace, Twitter, Face book, Podcasts, Nexopia, Skyrock, Orkut, Hi5, Friendster or Podcasts. I still don’t own a Blackberry. Readers of the “Flush” will have to continue to do it the ‘ole fashioned way. I, at this point, see no personal commercial value to “social networking” (a completely over-generalized term) other than blogging and e-mail both of which have obviously replaced newspapers and magazines. When and if I see the need to “Twitter” I’ll be the first to tell you.

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Death sentences in Chinese…

contaminated milk scandal. According to the story in the New Zealand Herald:

“Dairy giant Fonterra (New Zealand) has accepted a Chinese court's guilty verdicts in the contaminated milk scandal which left six babies dead but not the death sentence it has imposed.

The court sentenced to death cattle farmer Zhang Yujun, 40, and milk trader Geng Jinping for the scandal, which also left hundreds of thousands of infants ill.

The contaminated milk powder was produced by Sanlu, a company 43 per cent owned by Fonterra, which has now written off its $200 million investment.”

The link is: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10553485

The photo credit is: www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china

Bad economy = bad service?

Absolutely not. As an over-the-road trucker I spend more time in grocery stores, fast food places and restaurants than most people. About an hour ago, I went into a store where I’m parked (Richmond Hill GA) and bought a pre-made roast beef sandwich and something to drink.

I took the items up to the cashier. She looked at the sandwich for the bar code. “You can’t buy this”, she said. “It’s no good.” She showed me the mold on the side. “Do you want another one”, she asked. “No, they’re probably all bad.” She didn’t disagree with me.

When I was looking around the coffee/soda/soft drink area, I noticed “a” manager milling around doing something to the coffee before he disappeared back into his office. Apparently he was oblivious to the bad sandwiches and didn’t even check. I can only wonder what else he forgot to do.

Choosing not to purchase the sandwich, I took a walk, in the rain, over to Wendy’s. The first thing I noticed when I walked in the door was the garbage under the tables. Used napkins, wrappers and plastic utensils not swept up. None of the tables looked like they had been washed off. What a turnoff.

I was too tired to go elsewhere so I ordered. The food looked fresh, but then so did that roast beef sandwich. I tried to find the cleanest table to sit and eat. I took a clean napkin and wiped the surface. Took bad I don’t carry my own Clorox spray with me.

So the economy is “down.” That does not mean we as consumers and managers - as operators of businesses that are supposed to service us - should lower our standards. I expect managers to manage. I actually see many workers trying harder and managers doing less and less.

That clerk at the store did not have to tell me about the stale sandwich. She did the right thing. Managers need to spend more time out on the “floor” with customers than in their offices. But, I’ve always felt that managers were lazy and I have recently seen a new low point in their lack of motivation. Shame on them.

But I’m not going to stand for it. I’m not going to lower my standards, if I can help it. I refuse to stop caring. I will continue to complain and write about businesses that don’t cut the mustard. And I would ask that you also, please, do the same. A bad economy does not mean bad service.

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THE SUPERBOWL, NASCAR, ETC…

“They” tell me the Superbowl is next week. So what. I don’t think I’ve watched one football game this year. I don’t know which team has won or lost. I have no idea who is even in the Superbowl. I haven’t followed any NFL news or know any of the players names. Wait, that’s not true – I did know Brett Favre played for the Jets, but I have no clue how he did or if he is still on the team. And truth be told, I don’t care.

It’s like NASCAR. As a truck driver, I guess I’m suppose to love NASCAR. I don’t. I did for a very brief time, but quickly lost interest. I recently saw a NASCAR driver on the “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. I don’t recall his name – he made little or no impression on me, in fact, I thought he came off as an arrogant young punk, which turned me off to NASCAR even more.

As far as other sports, let’s review them a second: I don’t like college or professional basketball; hockey is good only if seen in person and I don’t have the time or money to do that now; soccer is soccer and I never liked it or would ever play it; baseball is totally boring; professional wrestling is not really a sport but lots of truckers watch it but then they’re morons; caged fighting is kind of OK, but the participants all look like inmates with too many really bad tatoos; golf is not for me and is impossible to watch; the Olympics is good, but only if the female divers, female swimmers and female volley ball  players are on – have I missed anything?

I’m a very busy guy. I have no time for sports. I don’t get the worshiping this driver or that driver or that team or this team. Nothing I own or wear has a “team” logo on it.

It’s all childish to me. The best part of the Superbowl is the way it “stimulates” the local economy. I live in Tampa Bay and so its fine for us – the money, not the game, or the players or the teams.

You go enjoy it all, but I have better things to do.

The photo credit is: weblogs.newsday.com/.../blog/riebierisms/

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A “female” thing?

This is a photo of “The Closer” star Kyra Sedgwick and her hubby Kevin Bacon. The photo is by Getty Images. So what’s the deal here? She’s hot. He’s not. But then I’m a dude. Is this how “hot” gals want their men to look? I don’t think my wife would let me go out of the house looking like this. But then I’m not Kevin Bacon. Doesn’t he look like one of the 60 “something” Rolling Stones? What’s going on with his neck? With all their money you’d think he get some surgery to fix that. For the actual story go here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/23/sedgewick.closer/index.html

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Quite a Sight…

It was the other day that I was heading East on I20 that I passed Dyess AFB in Abilene TX. President Obama was giving his inaugural address. Just then an Air Force B1B (Lancer) bomber took off and flew low over the interstate.

Our new President was speaking about not apologizing for our way of life. Just then, the sleek grey jet flew over me. I said to myself, “wow.” It was quite a moment, which I hope was shared by other drivers headed East or West, listening to the speech and watching the flight of such a symbol of our power. Hollywood couldn’t have done it any better.

I went to the official site of the US Air Force. This is what they wrote:

01/23/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Jan. 22, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer destroyed a building in an anti-Afghan compound with a guided bomb unit-38. Enemy personnel were firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades at coalition forces from a fighting position inside the building.

Dyess is home of the 7th Bomb Wing, which is the “premier” operational B1B Lancer unit in the US Air Force. You can learn more by going here: http://www.dyess.af.mil/ and http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123132458

The photo credit is: : www.boeing.com/history/bna/b1b.htm

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Ray LaHood who?

Just confirmed as the new Secretary of Transportation, LaHood is a former member of the House of Representatives from Illinois’s 18th Congressional District. He is a Republican.

And so – we - “the trucking industry” can look forward to another “yes man – do nothing - rubber-stamper” to lead the transportation department of the United States.

This guy is no iconoclast. He is not a mover nor a shaker. He is a sure bet to do whatever an Obama staffer tells him to do. He is unknown. He’s flown way under the radar screen. He is a former teacher and an Arab-American. He replaces the equally uninspiring Bush “do-what-you’re told” yes-woman Mary Peters.

“Ring ring…Ray…this is the assistant to the assistant to the assistant to Rahm Emanuel, the President’s Chief of Staff…Ray, you’ve been a good little yes-man…we need a good little do what we tell you and nothing else to be the Secretary in the unimportant DOT…you’re doing nothing right now…since you’ve done nothing important or controversial as a member of Congress…in fact, you’re whole life…we think you’ll be perfect in this job…what do you say Ray?…what’s that?…how high does President Obama want you to jump?…that’s the spirit Ray…be a good boy and you’ll be Ambassador to Jordon in a few years..

Now let’s read and hear how the "drool over anything “breaking news” trucking new media falls all over this guy…he’ll be on the cover of every trucking rag in the next few months…and bottom-line do you know what he’s going to do for “us” truckers? NOTHING.

The photo credit is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Lahood

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So what am I supposed to do?

Destruction of the Chilean rain forest. Potentially millions of “species” eliminated, forever. Possible cure for cancer gone. Monkeys, snakes, birds and insects killed or forced to relocate. Horrible. But what am I suppose to do?

Refuse the load? El Paso to Georgetown SC. 1750 miles. The longest trip I’ve had in almost a year. Takes me right into the freight “ally” I need to get me home after being OTR for 4 freak’n weeks. All the freight inbound to El Paso from Mexico was Chilean pine, from the rain forest. I’m sick.

I took a photo of the load. Cheap wood from Chile. Shipped into and thru Mexico into the US via El Paso. Shipped to a “cheapo” manufacturer in South Carolina with (possibly) lots of “illegal” Mexican workers. No sign indicating the company name on the building. No habla Ingles. Kind of “hidden” back in the woods. Nobody answers the phone there. The end product is “low-end” cheap screen doors. These people use Swift to ship outbound. Are you surprised?

But what am I supposed to do? This makes me part of the destruction. This makes me part of the problem. I’m no better than the “evil” Latin-American (non-union) lumberjacks that cut the wood down. I feel terrible. I really don’t want any part of this.

But, what am I suppose to do?

For more information go here: http://wwf.worldwildlife.org/site/PageServer?pagename=can_results_chilean_rain_forest

Photo credit: V Grumpy

Technorati Tags: Molduras Halcon,Durango Mexico,World Wildlife Fund,Chilean Rain Forest,truckers dilemma,truckers blog,truck driving blog,trucker commentary,life on the road,freight selection,illegal workers in South Carolina

Let’s review the week…shall we

1. Close Gitmo. Absolutely. Great move. Just listen to the (conservative) morons whine – whaaaaa, what r we gonna do bout those “dangerous” terrorists? Those are the folks with no rights or legal representation? Sorry, but even “terrorists” have rights.

This is the United States of America, not Nazi Germany, WW2 Japan or North Korea. And if the folks in Kansas don’t have the balls to keep a few “terrorists” in Leavenworth, then they’re nothing but cowards. I did an earlier post on this – send them all to Rikers Island in NY or put them in a prison ship docked right across the street from the (former) World Trade Center site. I’m sure the NYPD can take real good care of ‘em.

2. Started listening to the news again. Absolutely horrible. CNN is just as bad as Fox. NPR is out of touch with reality. We now have 24/7 commentary, no news. Clearly journalism is dead. Fox has a new “show” at 5pm. Someone named Glen Beck. I never heard of him. I listened the first day. I tried again today. He is terrible. I don’t get it. Today he had on some Lt. Colonel talking about Gitmo. Lt. Colonel’s should be seen and not heard. I never listen to any member of the military unless they have 3 or more stars. Everyone with less rank is irrelevant.

Second “guest” on Beck was James Dobson. OMG. Dobson and domestic terrorist Rick Warren need to be cast away together in a little pink boat somewhere out in the Pacific. Dobson was “talking” about serial killer Ted Bundy and pornography. Dobson said something about “scantily clad women” and violence and Bundy. Beck, Dobson and Warren are loons. Takes Fox “news” down another peg in my book. Beck’s show doesn’t have the necessary staying power for that hour. I predict he’ll be gone in six months or less.

In all fairness, Beck did say one thing that made sense – that since Obama took office the “news” has been dominated by liberals vs. conservatives vs. liberals vs. conservatives. And this is really boring. How many times do we have to hear that worm Dick Morris be interviewed on Fox about socialism and a “Trojan horse.” I truly wish this guy would just disappear somewhere. Morris, Limbaugh and Gingrich now hang out in Florida broadcasting, commenting, writing books and making millions. Gingrich has been out of office for 10 years now. Unfortunately we stuck with all three of these clowns.

While CNN was reporting on new developments in stem cell research, Fox was “reporting” (breaking news) on Caylee Anthony’s grandfather wanting to commit suicide. Who cares? Don’t know who Caylee Anthony is? Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter.

Bill O’Reilly on Fox has decided he is going to spend the next 4 years being “Paul Revere.” Speaking of Kool Aid, he’s hitting the bottle, big time. 30 minutes of his “No spin zone” is worth your time – the rest is useless BS. Same with Lou Dobbs over on CNN.

3. Tim Geithner for the Treasury. Absolutely not. President Obama needs to untie this tax cheater from the dock and let him float away into the night. Why is Obama insisting on confirming him? It’s a Bush (league) move. I wasn’t too happy about Holder for AG whereas Hillary was brilliant in her first day as Secretary of State.

4. Libya’s Kaddafi says the Jews should move elsewhere and there will be peace in the Mideast. He crazy nuts, but on this one he is actually right on. I have suggested the Jews buy Cuba and move there. Then, together, we can build a 90 mile bridge to Havana from Key West and make Cuba the next State and legalize gambling there. Is this a formula for peace or what? And the Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians and the rest of the 15th Century religious nuts can go screw themselves.

5. So we’re in a depression. That’s obvious. I called it a “decession.” Especially if you get out of NYC and see what’s happening around the rest of the country. But, please, no more bank handouts, I mean bailouts. They don’t have to account to anyone what they’re doing with it. But “everyone” knows they’re hoarding the money - not loaning it out. It’s no big secret. So give the money to the people. Mail me a $2500 “stimulus” check, and move aside and watch me spend that sucker.

6. Carolyn Kennedy. She “dropped out” of the running, contest -whatever(?) to fill the MT Senate seat formerly held by now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I don’t feel this should be the responsibility of the Governor to fill the seat. It should be done by a “special” election. I said that about Illinois Governor “Blogo-stitch” filling Obama’s seat. But Kennedy? No way. Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand has been chosen. Never heard of her. Who cares? It’s NY and I live in FL.

Photo credit of Geithner is “EPA”

Technorati Tags: Glen Beck,Tim Geither,Kadafi,Jews,Cuba,Rick Warren,depression,bailout comment,James Dobson,trucking blogs,truck driver opinion and commentary,Hillary Clinton,Dick Morris,Gitmo,Conservatives,Carolyn Kennedy,Lou Dobbs,Bill O'Reilly,Rush Limbaugh,Newt Gingrich

The worst moment of the Inauguration…

Was clearly having to listen to “Pastor” Rick Warren. I said it before and I’ll say it again – President Obama made an error inviting this cretin to sour such an historical event. He is a charlatan and clearly is clueless about the true teachings of Jesus Christ. I will do my best to erase in my mind the stain he brought to the inauguration today. Follow this link to read another story on Warren’s “appearance” today in Newsweek: http://www.newsweek.com/id/180660

The photo credit is: www.jewishjournal.com/.../

Technorati Tags: Pastor Rick Warren,Obama makes mistake inviting Warren,Rick Warren a cretin and charlatan,Rick Warren clueless about teachings of Jesus

Bush out…Obama in…

Here we go folks…this is going to be fun. Fasten your seatbelts.

The photo credit is: http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/

BREAKING NEWS…

President Bush, on his final day in office, has commuted the sentences of former border patrol agents Ignacio Ramos (serving 11 years) and Joe Compean (serving 12 years) convicted in 2006 for killing a drug smuggler. Their prison sentences will end March 20th. Although commuted, both will remain convicted felons. For background on the story, please follow this link: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51

The photo credit of Compean with his daughter is the AP – Associated Press at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10552799

The 1/2 Holiday…

Today, the day before our new President takes off, we should be “honoring” the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Right now I ‘m in El Paso, TX getting my drive tires changed and waiting for freight. Although today is a Federal holiday – initially opposed by Reagan, Jesse Helms and John McCain - it seems it’s business as usual here.  Approximately 35% of US employers give workers the day off. My wife, a teacher, has the day off with pay.

Why do we have these 1/2 “fake” holidays? Our troops are fighting overseas and nobody seems to pay much attention to Memorial Day – another 1/2 holiday. What about Presidents Day? Is that to “honor” Washington and Lincoln or all past Presidents? I don’t have a clue, because that’s not even a 1/2 holiday, but another paid day off for Federal workers, who seem, are the only folks in this country who actually observe these 1/2 “fake” holiday’s.

Originally, there was some question as to whether or not Dr. King was “important” enough to get a “holiday” named after him. Why do I find that absurd, not just in light of tomorrow’s inauguration of the first African-American President, but because of the everlasting words of Dr. King and the respect I’ve always had for what, despite terrible odds, he did.

A long time ago my parents, brother and I were driving around downtown Miami. This was long before the renaissance of Miami and the beach and the popularity of South Beach. Miami was, and is still is in many parts, terribly poor. I don’t remember what we, a white upper middle class family, were doing there, but there we were.

We stopped at an intersection. There was a large “bunch” of folks beginning to cross the street off to our left. The light turned green. A large man put his hand on the hood of our car telling us without saying anything not to move, even though the light was now green.

And I sat there in the back seat of our large Chrysler station wagon as Dr.King, Jesse Jackson, Ralph Abernathy and other leaders of the civil right movement walked in front of our automobile looking very serious and determined. When they got to the other side of the intersection the large man took his hand off the hood and followed them.

We drove on. Nothing was said. It wasn’t necessary. My parents were liberal Democrats living in New York City. Believing and supporting human beings civil rights was never an issue.

My father ran a business that employed many African-Americans, in fact, a man named LD Harper, an African-American, was VP of Sales. I don’t recall seeing many African-Americans working as managers of businesses at that time. Again, as a matter of fact, I still, to this day, don’t.

So, I’m going to “celebrate” and “honor” Dr. Martin Luther King in my own personal way, which is perhaps irrelevant in the broad scheme of things. But, in lieu of not working today and doing something more pertinent to what Dr.King was trying to accomplish for the “cause” -  I’ll do my own small “thing.” It is the least I can do to honor the man.

Photo credit is: http://www.africawithin.com/mlking/mlking.htm

Technorati Tags: Dr. Martin Luther King,civil rights,the incident in Miami,trucker experiences,trucking blogs,truck driver honors Dr. King,truck driver celebrates Martin Luther King day,seeing Martin Luther King in Miami,the 1/2 holiday,the 1/2 fake holiday,Martin Luther King day

Wal-Mart Shopping…

It seems that every time I leave Wal-Mart, no matter where I am in the country, I always forget something.

Earlier in the week – I don’t recall where I was – I spent about $60 on “stuff” for the truck. By the time I got to El Paso, my list already had 10 more items on it that I “needed” to survive on the road until I get home.

There are 13 Wal-Mart stores here in El Paso! Since every Wal-Mart is pretty much the same everywhere, it didn’t really matter which location I went to, as long as it was a Supercenter. The one I ended up at was a 5 mile drive from the terminal and it had truck parking -bless their little billion dollars hearts!

Just like the Wal-Mart I go to in Laredo, almost everyone here in El Paso is speaking Spanish. I almost said Mexican, and I caught myself realizing how incredibly stupid I would sound. What I also noticed was the majority of the women shopping here have young children and are pregnant. I guess that’s good.

Before I started shopping I ordered a “combo meal” at the McDonald’s right inside the entrance. I’ve got to tell you that since I went on this diet I’m on – it doesn’t have a fancy name or anything - I don’t eat much fast food – except for Subway. But I was too hungry to shop without over buying food, so I had a burger and fries. And again, since I started the diet, fast food like McDonald’s and Burger King tastes horrible. Maybe it’s just my sinuses – I don’t know.

Before taking the last bite, I saw this little boy sitting at a small table in front of me with his dad. The boy must of just had a haircut and he had on little cowboy boots and a small jean jacket. Cute. I just smiled because he held under one arm a large sized red box of french fries – almost a large as his head.  With the other arm he ate them one by one. He looked like he was in heaven.

Let me fast forward a bit by telling you that I was moving through Wal-Mart at about three times the speed of everyone else there. I was on a mission to get my 10 items as quickly as possible and get the heck out of there.

Instead, I was getting more and more annoyed. I needed low dose aspirin and some guy was squatting down in front of the shelf reading every damn box. He seemed oblivious to me and everyone else needing aspirin.

I also needed whipped cream cheese for my “everything” bagels. A pregnant mom with three other kids was standing in front of the display looking at every box. What is it with these people anyhow?

I was mov’n and a crus’n and I couldn’t wait. I kept on mov’n without getting the aspirin and my cream cheese. I had to put a “GB” ( for go back) next to these items on my list. That did not make me happy. I decided to search around for what I really needed – a scale.

So, it’s not not in the pharmacy where all the “health” stuff is, not in the bathroom area, not in furniture or appliances. This is ridiculous. I had to do what I NEVER do. I had to ask a Wal-Mart “associate.” OMG!

I passed several in search of, what at least to me, would be someone seemingly intelligent looking who could answer my scale location query. “They’re in hardware”, I was informed. Hardware? Scales are in “hardware?” You’ve got to be kidding. OMG! No wonder I don’t understand retailing.

Whatever. Found a scale. Went back for the aspirin. Circled back for the cream cheese. Grabbed some batteries. Time to check out. Done. Back to the truck. Throw everything inside. Drive back to the terminal.

Ok – so I bought this “small” tube of cream for wounds/cuts for $8. Why do I think it costs $.75 to made this stuff? No wonder medicine costs so damn much. Anyway, I open the box and there’s something else inside – scar cover up. Someone took out the $8 cream and switched it with a cheaper product. They probably paid $4.50 for “my” $8 creme. Ok, but now I’m stuck with scar cover up cream I don’t need.

The scale. You think you’d just get on it and see your weight? Noooooo. You’ve to put the batteries in – they’re included – then enter the correct date and your height – then “assign” yourself one of 4 “identities.” OMG! Forget it. Scale back in the box. I just don’t have the time or patience for that nonsense.

Not tonight or tomorrow, but in the next town I’m in or when I get home, it’s back to freak’n Wal-Mart to replace the cream and return the scale. And get more “stuff” that will be on my list. Oh, and by the way, after spending about $60 on the first order, the second order came to $80. $140 at Wal-Mart and I still don’t have what I need. It never ends.

Photo credit is: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8333653/

Technorati Tags: Walmart,life on the road,trucking blogs,truck driver shopping,truck driver experiences,truck driver blogs,life experience,men shopping,truck driver weight issues,truck driver health,truck driver diets,truck driver trying to get healthy,truck driver losing weight

Doing some housework….

As any “obsessive” blogger knows, especially if you’ve been “blogging” for some time, there is a lot of “behind the scenes” work that has to be done.

I had been using Google Chrome and Firefox concurrently to determine which was more “efficient” for my needs. At one point I preferred Chrome and got rid of Firefox. That worked alright for a short period.

One site that I spend a lot of time on is the Blog Doctor. The gentleman who writes that site, Vin, has really assisted me with format and HTML coding “issues” that have come as I continually “upgraded” The “Flush.”.

The Blog Doctor does not “run” well using Chrome. I have found this the case with other sites. And having two “browsers” had become tedious. So I deleted Chrome and have decided to use Firefox full time. So far so good.

Speaking of tedious, Blogger, as a “service”, although free, was getting on my nerves. It has been slow, things don’t work as described and the support is terrible. I also have grown to despise anything associated with Yahoo.

I’m also not a big fan of Microsoft. I did, however, try Windows Live Writer to post, but then, because of all the “other” crap that comes “bundled” with Writer, my laptop basically had a stroke. All sorts of weird things happened. So I deleted and gave up, temporarily, on Windows Writer.

If I’m not incredibly boring you to tears, Blogger just can’t do what Writer does, and I’m not at this point going to switch over to Word press (is that what they call it?) or something similar, so I downloaded a “newer” version of Writer without all the other nonsense they want you to use, for example - Messenger. Writer seems to be working just fine now.

Ok, so more code changes and upgrades, bla, bla, bla. Then I took a hard look at the last three months of posts with an extremely critical eye towards what “message” I was delivering. Three posts in particular did not meet my criteria for what my goal for this blog is and so I deleted them. Following this rationale I also deleted a bunch of names of irrelevant folks on my subscriber and e-mail list that are, like many in the trucking industry, deadweight, and offer no value to me or what I’m trying to accomplish.

And so, I’m pressing ahead with my goal of continually upgrading the blog as a marketing tool for my own talent while making sure the content is fresh, thought provoking, sometimes funny and hopefully useful to you.

The photo credit is: http://vivirlatino.com/2007/03/13/mexico-city-to-educate-men-on-being-domestic.php

The Blog Doc can be found at: http://www.blogdoctor.me/

Technorati Tags: Blogging,The Blog Doctor,Google Chrome,Microsoft,Wordpress,Firefox,Blogger,Yahoo,Messenger,freelancing

Spring in El Paso TX…

I don’t know where you are right now, but here in El Paso TX it is beautiful. 85 degrees, sunny, humidity just right, and there is a slight breeze with Spring in the air. What a wonderful change from the last two weeks in snow, ice, zero temps and darkness.

And for those two weeks, I’ve been “stuck” in the truck. I’ve gotten little or no exercise. And I can feel it. With all my watching what I eat, I took off my clothes yesterday to shower and – damn it all – I’ve actually GAINED weight. I don’t need a scale to know it. I’m afraid to take my blood pressure.

I’ve been in sweats and now that I can put on shorts again, even with an elastic waist, they are snug. It is very discouraging. The only thing that is keeping from getting really depressed is the weather.

Video - Hudson Miracle....

Jet down in Hudson - all feared lost...

I don't think so. Some great news for a change  - a miracle in fact - all aboard survived - thanks, it would seem, to Captain C.B. "Skully" Sullenberger, pilot of the US Airways Airbus A320. 

The mass media doesn't quite know how to deal with miracles being more "comfortable" with disasters. My fav on-air moment is when CNN's Wolf Blitzer, talking about the quick rescue of the passengers and crew, referred to the "fairy" boats nearby. I thought he said that four "fairy" boats - meaning FERRY boats - came right over to grab folks out of the water and off the wings. Isn't he the same "reporter" that stuck his head out a window after taking his gas mask to see if Sadaam was using poison gas in Bagdad?

The jet, right after take-off from NYC's LaGuardia airport, seems to have been hit by birds. We'll let the NTSB confirm that. I might suggest, that to drive away the birds, the Port Authority of NYC simply erect a few large signs of Oprah around the airports. That should keep them away.

For more on Capt. "Skully" follow this link - that's also where the photo is from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/nyregion/16pilot.html?_r=1&hp

Think about it...

Some good advise from Bob Parson, founder and CEO of Go Daddy:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.

2. Never give up.

3. When you are ready to quit, you're closer than you think.

4. Accept the worst possible outcome.

5. Focus on what you want to have happen

6. Take things a day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.

8. Be quick to decide.

9. Measure everything of significance.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.

12. Never let anybody push you around.

13. Never expect life to be fair.

14. Solve your own problems.

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.

16. There's always a reason to smile.

Bob's blog (viewer discretion advised) is: http://www.bobparsons.me/?ci=13338

Photo credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Parsons