On the Road with the original florida kid - week23

"On the Road" with the original florida kid
Hello again fellow truckstars!
It's week 23 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" -
Soooooo.... let me get this straight....but first....grab a cup of coffee, an ashtray, pull up a chair and let's sit down and hash this thing a little bit (more......) Barbie sure makes a great cup of coffee, and she looks kind of cute in her little pink tank top and her baggy pj bottoms this morning..........
Oh - before I forget - Cummings just came out with a power gen. that meets California's emission standards. Someday, and it looks like someday soon, this will be the minimum standard for power when not running. More and more, almost every day I read of another state or region banning idling. Now, I've driven in sunny Cal and it seems to me there is an underlying tension in that state between the drivers and the state. I wonder if they realize that beating up on the trucking co's is only pushing their freight and consequently their product costs even higher.... I know, I know this is an obvious point, but I also know that Cal. is one of the most expensive states to live in too and it's just their nature to cut off their nose to spite their face.(Also truckstars, frankly I think we should drill oil wherever and whenever we can, we have enough of our own oil to meet our needs and by the time we run out there will be alternative means, that is if the oil co's quit suppressing the new technologies)........... I have family, an ex-wife and a rock star kid there in California, I lived there in the days when I was a stuntman in Hollywood. I often wonder where the road tax money is going.....it's not going to the roads, at least in the greater LA area......
Been doin' a lot of reading lately.....and this mexican thing isn't going away. A few of the mex co's are backing out of the deal,( and I have yet to see a mexican truck that I would let, even, someone I don't like drive......... and the OOIDDA is still bangin' away at the legislature over this. I highly recommend becoming an OOIDA member.....at least check out their website you'll see what I mean when I say they are going after this thing with both barrells blazing. One guy or gal standing there screaming isn't going to crumble the wall...........but many of us will........I honestly feel like I'm a part of something with the OOIDA, and, if you want to get involved, and you should, they show you how, right from their website. And let us not forget truckstars, and everyone seems to be dancin' around this one.....we can always STOP buying products from the co's using mexican trucking.....who are they?? Probably the same cheap asses who ditched your neighbors job last year........I wonder if the exec's of these same co's got a pay raise and a bonus for fiscal 07'.........plus - and get this - foreign grown fruits and vegatables are often grown using pesticides and herbicides, (not to mention poor grade fertilizers made from God knows what) - that we outlawed in the US 40+ years ago....
GM is still tryin' to kick the UAW's ass. Their offering a buyout(whatever that really means) to some 23,000 workers. Why? So they can hire cheap labor like Asplundh(the orange truck tree trimmers), Waste Management, and a few other big, greedy co's?
I love the way(uhhhh...not really....) big business thinks......they pull the rug on their customer base by outsourcing US jobs, then they have the ba....uh, nerve, to raise prices(Levis,Ralph Lauren) even though their production costs have decreased by 30+ percent, then they get on the tv and cry about fiscal losses and how business is down and that we're in a recession. Corporate executives, however, don't seem to be suffering much I have to say, I'm in the high end boat hauling business and, trust me, biz is rockin'.............hmmmmmmmm..........oh yeah while I'm on a roll here let me mention these so called "trucking community" websites, which are really nothing more than little ad money machines for some yahoo who thinks that if he puts up a "closed" community, where you can't mention anyone or anything that takes you off the site, and manages it with an iron fist, and, this kills me, they all claim to be the fastest growing site on the web(with all 2,000 members......out of a poss. 3 to 4 million......) while doing absolutely NOTHING for drivers........ God! Well - it is a free country.............so how come nothin's free??? Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good trucking websites on the web, okay well not a lot, but the free exchange of info and discussion on top notch sites like - truckertotrucker.com and truck.net and thetruckersreport.com, I'm also a member of a site called mytruckingspaces.com too, (drivers and drivers family members) and I've met some great and interesting people there, these guys, especially truckertotrucker.com / truck.net know what's going on in the world because they let people talk, exchange ideas and information.........Listen - I wasn't born yesterday - everyone has an "agenda", I do too, we're all tryin' to make a livin' the best way we know how......but the guy at truckerspaces.com(a copy cat site) needs to understand that people will come back to you if you're site is a good place to meet people and come away with new ideas and information and not feel like a ping pong ball bouncing around in a shoebox.........
Still with me truckstar??
Single? Check out www.countrymatch.com(this is the best site I have found for "country" lovers, cowboys and cowgirls, to find like minded "real" people.) Check it out!!
Also - the best credit monitoring site is www.myfico.com these guys are the ones the credit reporting agencies go to for info. The credit scores are accurate, unlike the big 3 who also have their own services too.(yeah, that's like the fire dept. hiring arsonists.....) Get on their monitoring program, a monthly fee and they let you know if any un-authorized activity happens, immediately so you can do something about it. Plus you can look at your credit report whenever you want. Tip of the day - make sure you check to see if the limits on your cards is posted with the account info. Why? Because it will read/show you are maxxed on the account no matter what amount you have charged on the card and that will drive your credit score down. This is a tactic some of the card co's use so they can manipulate your % rate at will. You can also call the card co's and negotiate a lower % rate too! AND if you see something not right on there, and check each agency report carefully, call them directly and dispute it, and I mean you're telling them, not asking them......got it?
Did you see the Bud Shootout last weekend, now that's racing!! Awwww come on now, let the boys settle their problems amongst themselves.....Tony? Kyle? Go to you're rooms - you're grounded! (I would've paid to see that one, how 'bout you truckstar?).......
I don't know why, to me, the NASCAR hierarchy is seeming more and more like a bunch of nazis, true, racing has come a long way, and any thing like this needs supervision, but racing has not become what it is because of "them" but because of the tech people, the owners, the drivers, and the fans....... and while I'm ranting here's another two cents worth.......Road course racing??? are you kidding me?? for cars that can race 180-200mph all day long? Let's just say that I know for a fact that the drivers HATE the road course tracks..........as a fan - so do I.......anyway I think you can look for Junior, JJ, and Jeff G. and the rest of the boys to drive the tires off the cars this year. Daytona - this coming Sunday.........wohooooo!
The last few weekends have seen some great PBR action - Paulo Crimber, he's a braz rider but he talks like a redneck.....he won the Anaheim Classic last weekend, my man travis Briscoe, Brian Canter and JB Mauney did great, I think they're nursing injuries.... Mr. White did alright, as did the aussie Brandon Clark. Justin and Ross and Chris.....where are you????????.........
Next weekend Oklahoma City!!!! Feb. 15.16 and 17th...
The next few issues will bring back all the different departments everyone seems to enjoy so much, including the Wanted:Heroes, Health Department, Cowboy Corral, Jukebox, and Truckstar Tech. and a few new dept's., like The History Book. (I like history, not just trucking history but American history too. I found out there are a lot of Civil War relic hunters, for example, and I find this kind of thing very interesting.)
Also a new section I'm calling - TRUCKSTAR KIDS - (check out these sites for kids, http://www.howtoons.com/ and http://www.truckerbuddy.org/)
I'll be writing a weekly series on the exciting adventures of Johnny Duke, and his computer wiz kid pal, Tommy "the Hacker" Jenkins, as they solve crime mysteries, while on the road with Johnny's trucker Dad.
JD and TJ are 12 year olds who want to be a trucking industry detectives when they grow up.....
The adventure begins when Johnny thinks he sees a suspicious vehicle, an older model Ford van, white, dirty, following them from a hazmat pickup in Miami, Dad says it's nothin' but Johnny and Tommy think otherwise.......Tommy's runnin' the plates...don't ask how..........

Don't forget about abused kids, and our impoverished neighbors in West Virginia !!
Write down the following web addresses, bookmark em' and make it a regular part of your web surfing!
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 trucks and bad drivers, accidents and public costs.....Keep it going!
Remember - NO paycheck and NO load is worth dyin' for......
Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day -
contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's Open Road Phone Line,
12noon - 4:00pm, mon thru fri - call him at 817-451-6055
Don't forget too, truckstars - if you're lookin' for a critter - I highly recommend you start lookin' at:
www.aspca.org and www.hsus.org (humane society) I see lots of drivers with little buddies on the road, I like the Jack Russells......
DON"T FORGET! Check out www.laptop.com You really need to start thinkin' about gettin mobile web access you guys, seriously. Just Google "refurbished notebooks" and you'll find, usually factory sites, with really good deals. You want mobile web access capability, upgradeable ram, a big screen, a built in web cam amd mic, if not,then just buy a headset with a mic.The Skype.com download is free and it's dirt cheap to make calls on, I used it all day yest. I think I called everyone I've ever met, I even called myself(alright you in the back...I heard that) I called myself to check the voice quality, which was great.................. QVC and HSN also have a good selection of notebooks with great features AND you can break up payments on for 4 to 5 months too! More on this next week! I'm hearing Sprint has the best mobile web network......I'll let you know....T-Mobile too, AT&T?? Don't know yet.....
Well alright - that's it for this week truckstars!
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me........I know......
Watch what you eat and watch the road !!
As always I want you to remember - I LOVE YA AND I'M PRAYIN' FOR YA!!!!
So - play nice, drive safe, and pull it on home...........until next week -
you're on the road with the original florida kid......................we gown..........