On the Road with the original florida kid - week 38

"On the Road" with the original florida kid......
Hello again fellow truckstars! It's week 38 and....you're on the road with the original florida kid.....
Grandma, Barbie, Pup the Wonder dog and the whole gang here at the ranch say a big cowboy howdy "hey"!
KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN"- Alright, alright grab a chair and a cup of Grandma's famous cowboy coffee(now I told ya last week about checkin' your boots before you step in the kitchen, Grandma's got her old wooden spoon out and she WILL crack ya one.....) the rest of us already have ashtrays and Tommy Boy took a pull or two off Grandpa's bottle of JD under the sink.....it's okay he's an adult....) Tommy's trucking co. he's worked for for a long time is goin' belly up due to high fuel costs, low freight rates and a slow-down in freight loads....he needs a couple of shots, he's got kids......(don't worry Grandma will keep an eye on him.....)....and we'll be eatin' some bbq soon too so.....
I guess it'll be snowin' in hell before our impotent, spineless, bought and paid for politicians do something about the un-fair advantage the larger trucking co's have bein' able to bond themselves and not have to pay insurance like the rest of us so's they can under-cut the market....as well as corruption among the surcharges, and.......Do you think they'll ever have the balls to go up against the oil co's?
Don't hold your breath....we'll lose ya !...
.......and of course, brokers and others involved in the rate setting and payment of freight to shippers don't give a damn if you can feed your kids or not.....I bet they can feed theirs....bet they can even pay their bills too.......seems like the most important factor in the whole equation is the one gettin' the worst treatment......us....
Greed is killin' this country AND the American dream......( I know, I know, I don't have one anymore either.....)
The third world economy they are creating in this country is going to come back to haunt them.......yeah it is........
Well since last week's blog, I can't tell you how many guys and gals have sent me e-mails telling me about their situations most of which are bad, and getting worse.........even the very, very worried wives and girlfriends of some ol' boys out there killin' themselves.......this really really really breaks my heart...that's why I've been carrying on about it so much for the past several weeks and put off some of the other sections I usually have here in the blog......and truckstars I'm sorry for that but this is, in my opinion, an emergency situation......we're too big a labor force to have this kind of recession and depression affecting us this bad......
Okay, for starters, we're NOT talking about losers or slackers, bums, crackheads, drunks or third world foreigners looking for a handout.....we ARE talking about the very fabric and fiber of these United States....the American worker.
And, for you nit pickers, I'm also speaking about men AND women here....black, white, Asian, Indian, and yeah, even people from third world nations looking for a better life who are willing to work for it......
All of US !
So, we have a serious epidemic raging through the trucking industry.....people working and still not able to feed their families and pay their bills....some losing everything after years of dedicated service....and sadly and most scary of all....there's no end in sight...it's that simple....and the so-called friend of the trucker - trucking co's are full of it when they say they really care about their drivers, and okay...maybe they do, but they care more about their bottom line than they do about you, in fact they have the same mind-set as any big corp. .......
I don't believe trucking is going anywhere either, but the game plan damn sure has changed....Some people seem to think, mistakenly, that fuel prices will stabilize...and sooner or later we'll all live happily ever after when everyone involved comes to their senses, but the fact of the matter is that big business, in an ever changing world, is doing what it needs to maximize it's profit margin at whatever cost, in unprecedented ways - globally - in ways that it never has before. They aren't going back to expensive U.S. based manufacturing.....and countries like China, that have never been major players in the manufacturing arena around the world, now are.
Obama's dreamin', and being a professional politician, I'm sure he knows it, but....he's tryin' to get a job, like any politician, sayin' what he needs to say and a desperate American public wants to believe him.....and his racist friends.......
Costs are really cutting in to my take home.....and not everyone's situation is the same, there are too many drivers losing it all for this to be a case of personal mis-management across the board......
Obama's talkin' a good game, but I really don't believe he can back it up........McCain is probably hooked up with the same people Bush's people are hooked up with(which means we're screwed for another four years at least......)
Let's face it, beyond politics(what does "politics" really mean anyway?......) is "big business" and that's where the problem really is......the government doesn't do what the people want, they do what big business wants......and that's why we're in this situation......yeah....so.....what now truckstar?
I have some sad news ....Bozo The Clown is gone.....I was a kid and I'm sure I wasn't watching the real, the original Bozo , he was actually created by Capitol Records in the 40's for recordings, then cartoons, then tv and appearances. A guy named Larry Harmon bought the rights to Bozo and trained many clowns to be Bozo in different parts of the world - he became Bozo and to me will always be Bozo. Some of you younger truckstars might not be familiar with this American treasure but us older truckstars sure are...Back in a simpler day, a time where it was okay to think and do the right thing, a time where greed and self and sex wasn't the sole mission in life, a time when laughter was true and genuine and wholesome, a time the world will never likely see again, Bozo represented a part of that for some of us kids back in the day. Maybe that's why I stopped in my tracks when Barbie told me, when I got in from a run to NY on friday the 4th night, for some reason I sat down and had to think of why it upset me so much to hear the news Bozo The Clown was dead....I guess it was just a signpost of the times in my life where things we see, and hope to see - go from the "up ahead" windshield view to the "rear" view mirror view, in what seems like an instant.
TRUCKSTAR TECH- Well it looks like the "mini-laptop" is quickly gaining a foothold in the notebook and mobile tech race with Hp, Acer, Dell, Asus and a few others gettin' into the game.They're smaller, cheaper and do more.....I want one that I can do everything on - including phone/visual calls home on, plus have a real time 3d weather program amd a mapping program running all the time while I'm doing a live blog and broadcast from the road, but alas, I have big hands and I need a much faster processor and I like the big HD screen idea to watch movies and tv on....so what's a tech trekkie to do? Go with the machine that serves your needs, both biz and personal and keep an eye on your futre tele-com needs, like phone and visual communication...check out the www.alienware.com notebooks. If you're going to pay for monthly mobile service you may as well get the most out of it....e-mail is so, like, yesterday dude........and the newer "Smart Phones", like AT&T's new Samsung Access can recieve tv, the web and all the usual suspects...hmmmmm.....still - for me it's a picture size thing.......Oh, and hold off on the new Sprint mobile thing till the end of the year......make sure you have the very latest virus, spyware and security on your computer. The experts recommend trying to "hack" yourself with programs like : www.wireshark.org and experts are sayin that keeping an eye on unknown text messages in your cell phone too is a wise idea - in short - just delete them before they make your phone dial expensive networks and steal all your info, it's the next criminal frontier......
I saw a poster, the other day, for the National Text Messaging Contest with a $50,000 grand prize....it'll probably be won by an 11 year old girl......aww God....the world is definitely coming to an end.........
THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT- Okay so how's the diet coming? What diet, you say? Don't tell me you're idea of food is - fast food and you're idea of a snack is chips and a donut? WHAT??? You're kidding me , right? How about something with whole grains in it and a bottle of spring water instead of soda or even Gatorade (which has a huge amount of sugar in it), try a MetRx protein Bar, they really taste great, like a regular candy bar....or a little box of whole grain cereal......Got Vitamins? What are you taking? Do you even know what's in them? Well....why not? Get a GOOD whole food organic multiple vitamin and a good protein shake, like - www.labrada.com.....trust me on this one.........Listen...I like to eat too, but the extra weight you're carrying around will not only ruin your life....
...............IT'LL TAKE YOUR LIFE..........Yes truckstars I know it's a bitch having to think of this crap all the time, but listen to me, it's like anything else you do again and again, you get the hang of it and then begin to do it automatically.....and before you roll your eyes....do this....take all your clothes off and go stand in front of the mirror...it's not about what you see, it's about how you feel about what you see.............now do you get it?
Want to be a hero to some abused kid? You can, you know.
Check out www.uscattlehaulers.com and find the link to the OOU, it's a new group who's only agenda is the welfare of drivers and Dan Little, who by the way is a working driver, is probably our best hope as a leader and fighter for truckers across the board. It's only $20 to join.....I've talked to Dan several times and I truly believe he's the real deal....see for yourself......I'm in.......you?
Also, in case you feel like rattling someone's cage -
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......when? Right NOW !!!!!
Before anything else happens I hope we can all get together on a National Truckers Prayer Day.....the bible says - "if God is for us - then who can be against us?"
Do you think for one second that God would be on the side of some mindlessly greedy, earth raping corporation? Do you?
I bet He's wondering why 2 or more have not gathered in HIS name and asked for HIS intervention.........
Tis' the season for Chuck Wagon Cook-offs!! (http://www.chuckwagon.org/),check their site for the 08' schedule, and truckstars if you only go to one event or take one vacation this year, and you're a fan of the old west, then you have to go to the big National Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas - Sept. 4-7th(http://www.cowboy.org/ ) the Chuckwagon Cook-off Championship is held there!!
Take a minute and PRAY, with me, for our troops around the world - truckstars....whether you agree with the war or not - I think we can ALL agree that these are OUR men and women over there, our KIDS, and, the politics involved is way over my head, not to mention the idea that there's probably a lot going on we DON'T know about, so......and let's not forget about GOD in this equation....it's HIS will I want done, not some profit crazed business man's, not the government's, and damn sure not my own, I'm just not capable.....how 'bout you?
Okay truckstars - I gotta go - I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul....(truck payments....know what I mean vern?)
So until next week -
Remember - NO load and 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...........
Are you ready? Let's roll..........
......you're on the road with the original florida kid...............we gown..........