On the Road with the original florida kid week24

"On the Road" with the original florida kid...
Hello again fellow truckstars !
It's Week 24 and you're on the road with the original florida kid...........
Grandma, barbie and the whole gang here at the ranch say - "Hey!"
KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN' -
First up, I want to give a hearty "shout out" to our German trucker brothers and sisters, as I understand it, this blog is being translated into German, and being widely read, so I want them too to know that I love em' and appreciate them takin' the time to jump on the road with us all here at "On the Road" with the original florida kid..... Don't think, truckstars, that truckers all over the world don't go through the same trials and tribulations as us, here in the U.S., I'm here to tell you that they do.... I travelled a lot when I was younger as an aspiring pro surfer, mostly to third world countries, and you might be more than a little surprised to know that people all around the world are basically the same, and we all have common hopes, dreams, and.....problems.
True, they may live under different circumstances, but, as we're all humans(okay...uhhh..most of us.....) I've found that no matter where I go people are, well, just people.....
Let's take the Mexican trucking debacle, I don't blame the Mexicans and for that matter, all the central americans, for trying to make it over here to work - WHAT?? - you might be screaming.... No, I don't, in fact I more than understand....Think about it truckstars - if you found yourself a citizen of a third world country, what would you do? I'd swim, run, jump fences, crawl on my belly in the middle of the night to get to the U.S. at whatever cost.....Now does that mean I am in favor of the illegals coming, and being, here? No, it dosen't, because I'm not..... American business wants them here, and the government has been turning their heads for a long, long time....we ALL know that.....THAT'S why they are here...Being from south florida , it's an everyday thing for people to wash up on the beach. All the outdoor service trades, lawn co's, tree trimming services, plant nursery, farms, construction, roofing, the restaurants - they all use spanish and haitian labor.....they have for 50 years, that's right 50 years that I have personally witnessed, probably longer. What's really going on here is the kind of business and politics that made slavery a successful enterprise, globally, for thousands of years.
Listen to this - you're not going to believe this - I'm looking at the cover of a magazine called "Landscaping Management, the Jan. 08' issue...the cover story, with photos, is, and I quote, " What Now? - Smart strategies to survive and perhaps even prosper in spite of the DELAY and LOSS of H-2B WORKERS" - (H-2B workers being the kind of worker that we are talking about, many with weak forgeries of documents that no one really bothers to check and many with NO papers at all) South Florida isn't even close to being the exception to the rule, these workers are all over the U.S., and have been.
Who cuts the grass and trims the bushes at the mall or the apt. complexes and condos near your house? Hmmm?
That the trucking industry has been targeted for cheap labor to increase business profits should be no surprise to anyone, and trust me, big biz and their gov. puppets are counting on the fact that truckers will do little or nothing about it....You've read and heard about this for at least a couple of years now - I think we're all, to an extent, sick of the headlines and endless discussion, but I want you to check out the latest issues of Landline(theOOIDA mag, and while you're at it SIGN UP) and others like "The Trucker" or Overdrive, Fleet Owner, and roadStar. Every one has their perspective, which they are entitled to, but all seem to agree that the political pressure from the trucking side is DEFINITELY having a big effect on the situation. The ATA too, they are lobbying heavily for the trucking industry !!
Here they are, bookmark these sites ;
To find your Representative - www.house.gov ( just enter your zip)
To find your Senators - www.senate.gov - scroll to your home state.
Write them often, tell your friends to write them often....and tell them too that prices are not going to go down on Mexican shipped goods either......just more dope, crime, junky un-safe trucks with bad drivers, accidents and public costs.....Keep it going! Politicians care about 2 things most of all - Votes, and Money, in that order.......we elect em' that means they work for us.....doesn't it???..........
Freight is down..(we know)....even for us boat haulers.....so the experts are saying, and we could be staring into the face of a recession....(uhhh, I thought we already were in a recession...oh, sorry, am I bad...... I guess the dark cloud I see hanging over the country is just smoke from the forest fires.........riiiiiiiight........)
Truckstars - the gloves have to come off !! - roll up your shirtsleeves and get involved.......PLEASE........
Sprint seems to be the best mobile web access....so far.....
If you wonderin' where you're going to get the extra money for a decent laptop with mobile web capability - try this - for the next month save every single receipt you spend a "dime" on, and at the end of the month sit down and look them over. What you'll find may surprise you....it does me.(I even had the cable "movie" channels turned off) You'll see what your spending habits are and most people are shocked at the stuff they spend money on, too much money on. I guarantee over the course of a few months you'll be able to corral enough money to pay for a good laptop AND a monthly web access fee. Remember? In a recent blog I told you that you only really need one monthly web access provider and the tech mags all talk about how the trends are pointing to mobile web access being the new frontier....whether you're on the road or at home you can be online 24/7.....what'cha think truckstar? Weather, new release movie downloads, even tv, audio/visual communication with your loved ones at home, Skype for online phone service - there's pretty much everything you need to do you can do on the road now.... www.laptop.com - check it out!
I thought Fox did a great job with the Daytona 500 yesterday, kinda seemed like the Superbowl, only with race cars, didn't it? The #12 alltel car driven by Ryan Newman after an un-selfish push from teammate and number 2 finisher Kurt Busch. Mr. Penske is a great man, and though I'm partial to the Hendrick team because of family ties, I'm still ecstatic for the "Dodge boys".......Junior, Jeff, and JJ - don't worry Hendrick fans they'll be in it all season long...Junior ran a tight race, Jeff G. has suspension problems, JJ had a wreck.....get em' next time.........I'm still tryin' to get used to seein' the Toyota name on race cars.......and hearing race drivers talk who can't speak english..........whaaaaat-EVER.......
PBR action in Oklahoma over the weekend was great too at the Copenhagen Challenger Tour event in Oklahoma City for the one of the richest purses in PBR history - $500,000 for the first place win! It was a night for the Texans as Clayton Williams, out of Carthage, Texas for the second time, bad elbow and all rode all 3(the only rider of the event to ride all 3) of his bulls to take the CCT event. Oklahoma knows bull riding and the fans saw a dramatic finish that took the competition down to the wire.Young Brain Richardson out of Dallas, texas took second followed by Brazilian sensation Robson Palermo. Rising superstar Kody Lostroh came in 4th overall. A great show PBR fans, and next week follow the action when the Built Ford Tough Series makes a stop in St. Loius for the Enterprise Rent a Car Invitational!
Don't forget truckstars to be careful with what you eat! I know it's tough on the road to get to the salads and low fat salad dressings, whole grain foods with 0 trans fats but if you start looking for this kind of stuff more and more you'll train yourself to lean that way. IT DOES MATTER ! Fat is the killer in most peoples diets......Please take care of yourself...I want to see you back here next week! Okay? Great!
More on diet and germ warfare - NEXT WEEK !!
Help an abused kid in your neighborhood, you'll be a hero, trust me.........
See you on Facebook !!
I don't know what it is but I keep getting these "friend" requests from really cute young women on MySpace.....OOoookay...uhh...it ain't because of my animal magnetism or the fact that I'm rich and handsome(I wish.....)...soooooo...I don't know, maybe I'm dumber than I thought......aahhhh yes - to be young again.....
Okay truckstars - I gotta go....I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul, so until next week..........(truck payments....know what I mean vern??)
Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day!
Contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows! Let's do this!!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's "Open Road Phone Line"
on-the-air - 12noon - 4:00pm - mon thru fri - you can call into the show at 817-451-6055
Remember - NO load or NO paycheck is worth dyin' for..........
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me - I know...........
As always I want you to remember - I love ya and I'm prayin' for ya!
Play nice, drive safe and pull it on home...........
Crank em' up - check your gauges - watch out for four-wheelers.....
Are you ready? Let's roll..........
you're on the road with the original florida kid...................we gawn..........