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Saturday, November 26, 2011

Within Ourselves

Today's Thoughts 11/26/11 Within Ourselves

Here's hoping everyone had a great Thanksgiving this week. I know that for me, just actually being home on a major holiday for a change was an awesome thing in its self. That being so, it's been quite awhile since I've been out in the real world instead of being stuck at some truck stop away from the real world and it's real people. I often wonder just how I will survive when the time finally comes for me to rejoin normal society after I am no longer able to drive my truck.

I got a little taste of that yesterday as my wife and I made a trip down to the auto parts store to buy a new light bulb for the tail light on our T-bird. We were the first of several cars to pull into the parking lot and as all the spots close to the store filled up, the last car was left with only the row away from the store. There are only two rows, one facing the store and the row facing the road so the extra distance needed to make it to the door really only amounted to a few extra steps.

Anyway, I backed in against the road and the last car as I watched the two occupants looking for a decent spot to park in; they choose the handicap parking spot right in front of the door instead of the several empty parking spots next to me. I really did not think too much of this until my wife and I approached their car and we watched as they pulled out their handicapped permit and threw it up on the dash. SO one of them must be handicapped I'm thinking and I take an extra second to hold the door open for a man and a woman in perfect health to walk right on by without as much as saying thank you for my effort to hold the door open for a handicap person.

They proceed to buy a quart of oil, walk back outside, lift the hood and add it to the engine. As they leave, they grab the handicap permit from the dash were they had laid it and placed it back in the glove compartment where they keep it stored for quick access I guess. I'm going to leave the rest of this paragraph empty for these of you that might want to add a few of your own words.

Morals and Ethics. It's hard for those of us that have them to watch as these sorts of things go on in the world. What's even harder is not jerking a knot in their butt like their momma and papa should have done so many years ago. I mean in reality what is it that we can do about these types of people?

Talk bad about them for one but that’s about it.They kind of frown on us shooting them. Beating them with a stick I guess might work if you don’t mind spending a little time in the pokey over it. Nope, really all we can do is talk about them and I had just about the whole store in laughter as I pointed out what was going on.

When all is said and done though, the best way to combat these sorts of things is by the way we live our own lives. We have to look within ourselves as we live our daily lives and find the morals and ethics that we know to be right and apply them to our everyday activities. I know it’s hard sometimes especially when it cost you something like little extra time or perhaps some cash. But it’s the only real weapon we have against those that would have us dealing with each other as if we still lived in the animal world. We need to pass these things on to our children ourselves instead of letting the village teach them as they see fit. As for the rest of the world, all we can do is look within ourselves and lead by example and hope they see just how big of an arse they are when they do these things.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Monday, November 21, 2011

Left Sided Truck Wash

Today's Thoughts 11/22/11 Left Sided Truck Wash

Sometimes in this world, even the simplest things turn weird. This happens a lot I suppose in the world between sleep and becoming wide awake to the knowledge that something just is not right. I have an early morning appointment tomorrow, well; I guess that’s today now. So I went to bed early hoping to get a good night's rest. After I unload, it's only about a three hour drive back home to the house. Anyhow, after an hour or so of sleeping, my mind started wondering and worrying about how things are going to turn out with my truck and the expensive repairs I have to make, I was not doing a very good job of sleeping.

But then the rain comes. I'm lying here in the sleeper berth with my curtain closed. Its pitch dark and the rain starts to fall on the roof of my truck. I cannot see out but the sound of the water gently falling on the roof is quite relaxing. It comes in waves sort of like some of the hurricanes I sat through back a few years ago. Wave after wave of water that you could watch moving across the land until it finally washes over your truck.

And that’s when in my half way between sleep and wide awake state of mind, I started to realize that something just was not right with this rain. When a rain cloud moves over you, it normally moves in one direction. But the rain I was experiencing in my half asleep world would first hit the front of my truck and wash over to the rear. Then the next wave would start at the rear and then wash out over the hood.

As settling as the sound of rain is on a tin roof as most of you I'm sure know, each pass found me more and more awake. Finally to the point that I'm lying in the dark timing each pass and guessing with great accuracy the direction and timing of the next wave of rain. And then the rain stops. I lay there wondering if it's going to start again. I'm awake now as you can see. I just had to know. So I get up out of my bunk and I go sit in the driver's seat for a few minutes.

This is where reality sits in for me. I'm backed in with the left side of my truck up against the curb. The parking lot all around my truck is soaked with water with streams of it still running towards the drain. The sprinklers have not only done a fine job of watering the grass, but of also washing the left side of my truck.

Ok, all is right with the world again. I can now go back to sleep knowing that the rain when it does come again, will move in the direction it is supposed to. Well at least I hope it will. Good Night Peeps. Sleep well.

Be safe peeps …

Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Trucking Santa's

Today's Thoughts 11/20/11 Trucking Santa's

All throughout the year I'm mean and grouchy. On a good day I can be a total, well, you know. But come Christmas time I become a complete sap. My little Grinch heart grows bigger and bigger and I fill up a special made Santa Clause bag and find a bunch of kids and let them take turns reaching in and grab whatever gift they wish. Eyes closed of course. And watching their faces light up pretty much makes my whole year. This tradition started for me a few years back when it became near impossible to buy a gift for so many nieces and nephews. And as they grew up and moved away, well, the kids next door work just fine. Even when I'm stuck out on the road, my wife and son pick up the duties and my Santa Clause bag makes the rounds without me.

It's been several years now since I've actually been home to do the job myself. With any luck I'm going to remedy that this year. Another thing I like to do is send out a few books to Trucking Santa's wish list. It's something easy and simple for me to do and it makes my little Grinch heart just a little bit bigger too. I'm not sure just what it is about Christmas, but it seems to me the more involved I get into it, the more I give, the more each and every smile that I see does for me. Just knowing that the things I do with my wife brings so much joy to some child somewhere brings us closer together as a couple. It's who we are.

Anyway, before I get all long winded, sappy and start crying in my egg nog. How about you? Are you planning to share a little Christmas Spirit this year? I certainly hope so. Not only does it make your own Holidays go so much better, but it really makes the day of child that otherwise would have nothing. That’s part of what started my Christmas Grab Bag. Once a child showed up unexpectedly and the look on his little face as he stood there without a present, heart wrenching to say the least. Not going to happen again if I can help it.

Trucking Santa's is a great way for drivers to help keep those sad faces tucked away on Christmas Day. Families that need a little help are already found and all that is needed now is for a trucker to donate a little time to provide the presents that these families need for their children. Then on Christmas day when you're at your own home or perhaps out on the road once again, you will know that you put the smile on a child's face. Put a little love and hope in their little Grinch hearts.
Last time I looked there were still about forty four families that needed a trucker to help out this year. With about three million truck drivers out there, we should be able to cover this. I added the link below for those of you that might be interested. Let's make this a very Trucking Christmas for every child we can this year. Let's put a smile on the face of children all across our wonderful nation. From truckers that care, a gift from Santa Clause to you.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/groups/232519576806281/?notif_t=group_activity

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Blind Spots And Skid Marks

Today's Thoughts 11/19/11 Blind Spots And Skid Marks

Well, it looks like we are back into the Holliday season again. Personally, I'm going to try and be home this year on the major travel days. Looking back, I cannot remember just when the last time I was home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. This year would be a good year to remedy that I think. As for the rest of you that will be out there wandering around, I thought I would just throw in a little something I wrote because I would like to see everybody back next year. So here goes.

I was pulled up at a stop sign one day doing what I was supposed to be doing. That is looking both ways before turning left out onto the highway. Each truck has just a bit different set up when it comes to the positioning of windows and mirrors and such things. With my truck that day, I leaned forward and looked out my passenger window past my right side mirror. The road looked clear but to be safe I leaned back and look to the right past the other side of the mirror one more time, still clear.

A quick look to the left at a clear highway and I started to roll forward to make my left turn onto the highway. As I make that last look to the right to make sure I had not missed anything, a complete sixty five foot long eighteen wheeler goes right in front of me at highway speed. Where did he come from I'm thinking. I know I look not only once, but twice around that mirror and still I missed a complete eighteen wheeler. WOW.

How did I do that? The answer might just keep you alive no matter what you drive. Remember that out there on the road, you not only have to watch what you are doing, but you have to know and understand what the other guy is doing. That will help you see their mistakes as they happen so you can adjust and keep yourself out of an accident.

Here's what happened as I looked to the right past that mirror. Objects as I'm sure you know always look smaller the further they are away from you. So as I leaned forward and looked down that highway, the far away truck was small enough and at such an angle that it was hid behind the mirror that I was looking around.

Keeping in mind that that truck was traveling at about sixty miles an hour, as I leaned back to look around the back side of that mirror, the truck traveled forward in a path that kept it hid from my view behind the mirror as it moved toward me. So in essence, I lost a whole eighteen wheeler behind a ten inch wide mirror. Imagine trying to find something as small as a car.

It's a good thing I'm in the habit of checking three or four times before I pull out onto a road. That could have been the end of not only my career right there, but the end of me too. Lessons we learn as we move through life.

Blind spots are on every vehicle that is out there on the road. You cannot count on the driver of another vehicle to know and understand those blinds spots. Yes they should know them I'll give you that. It is just not going to happen all the time is all that I am saying.
For one thing, people rent cars and drive them. It takes time and experience with any new vehicle to learn the blind spots. Truckers, especially company drivers are all the time swapping trucks. It takes time to learn that vehicle and its particular blind spots. So that leaves you and your ability to see what they cannot. Right off I think everyone knows the old saying "If you cannot see a driver in their mirror, they cannot see you". I think that is very true in most cases but not all.

The biggest blind spot I see in most cases is people just not looking far enough in advanced for a sudden situation. Always know where traffic is around you so that when you need to move out of the way fast, you already know where to go. Know your escape route in advance.

Truckers I think have a lot more blind spots the most people think they do. And most of them are not on the truck itself. I received a ticket one day from an officer that told me that I made a car put on its brakes as I pulled out from a side road. I was wondering just what car that was because as far as I could see, there was nothing on the road I was pulling onto. Or was there?

When a car driver pulls up to a intersection, any stop sign or other traffic device is usually above the head of the driver of the car. A very good idea our government has in doing this. Unfortunately for truck drivers, above the head of car drivers means right in a truck drivers face. The traffic device actually blocks a trucker's view of oncoming traffic. And as I described earlier, you can lose a whole eighteen wheeler behind an ten wide inch mirror.

As if this was not enough, at this intersection that I received my ticket at, the city decided to make the area look pretty by planting trees. Of course all the lower branches were trimmed back so car drivers could see under them, but the truck drivers were left to look through the leave covered branches. A major blind spot built in by the city.
This is where team work out on the road comes in. If you're coming up on an intersection that in itself creates a blind spot for the traffic pulling out in front of you, then you need to take the time to slow down and allow for the fact that you are probably not going to be seen by the people pulling out.

One of the best signs that this has been happing at this intersection is by the number of skid marks on the road in front of you. The more skids marks, the more you can bet your butt you had better slow down because you know it happens a lot at this intersection. Skid marks show us lots of things depending on where they are. Like a red light that is quick to change or just a turn off of the highway. Wherever you see them, figure out why they are there and be ready so that you do not add a new set of skid marks of your own, on the road or in your shorts.

Anyway, be safe out there this holiday season. Take the time and the patience when the other guy screws up. And they will, you can bet on that. Then you be the one that avoids the accident. Remember, it's a whole lot easier to tell them that they are number one if you're not eating your air bags.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Feeding Our Children

Today's Thoughts 11/13/11 Feeding Our Children

We watched again this last week as our Commander And Chief once again destroyed more American jobs. As he put at the forefront his chance at reelection and politics over what is best for America. As you may already know, he canceled the oil pipeline that was to bring cheap oil from Canada down to the Gulf States where it would be refined and distributed throughout our great land providing not only jobs, but cheap fuel so that America's industry could begin to grow strong again. All this was done to please the environmentalist and gain support for the upcoming elections. And I must say, this really shows his leadership ability and his willingness to take one for the team.

You see, after awhile, you come to the understanding that the goal of the far left is not to build America strong, but to bring her down to her knees and with one final swift blow, destroy her completely. By saving the owl and our environment as they say they are doing, they are actually destroying our ability to grow strong as a nation. Take away our ability to stand on our own two feet and feed our families without having to stand in line and take the handouts that they will now have to provide us with. The very handouts that they will then stand up and take the opportunity to tell us how they care for us and we should vote for them because they are giving us the food we need to survive. They want us to be proud as Americans as we sit on our arse and vote for our new providers and the free things they are providing us with.

Screw them I say. And screw that owl and the environmentalist they rode in on. No I not saying we should destroy our country or our environment, not at all. What I'm saying is that there comes a point that we need to stop the garbage they are dumping on us and demand to stand up proud as Americans. Demand that we should be allowed the ability to provide for our own families as we stand on our own two feet. Let them know that we will not become a nation of worthless welfare recipients voting for the politician that gives us the most as we waist our lives away sitting on the couch. There are indeed people and families that need this kind of help and we as a nation have always been generous in providing the truly needed with the things they need. But what is being shoved done our throats is a nation of everyone being needy because they took away our ability to provide for ourselves. They are creating a socialist nation. Our great leader is doing one heck of a job as you can see once you realize his true goals.

As we approach this next election you will see and hear things that will make you take notice of each respective politician and what they can do for you and this country. Our economy will indeed get better and jobs will start appearing over this next year. Each and every politician and special interest group will take credit for this. All of them will be full of crap as they do. You have to be smarter than they are. Before you take what they say at face value, look back into history at not only what they voted for, but who it was that supported them. Learn their true agenda before you make your decision. This next election will determine if we will stay a free nation or descend into the depths of socialism and eventually communism.

Myself personally, if it means that we stay free as a nation. That we can stand proud as we provide for our own families instead of sucking of the government teat. I really do not care if some owl somewhere has to pack it's bags and fly off to whatever awaits it. Working jobs that feed our families is a much more important thing at this time in our history. Pipelines run all over this country as we already know. They are buried under ever street in every town and when one does decide to bust. We simply turn of a vale and clean up the mess and life goes on. Shutting this pipe line down had nothing to do with saving the environment. It all boils down to the destruction of our American way of life. It’s time to stop the bull and put leaders in our government that will make America strong again. It's time to tell the environmentalist to go ride that owl out of town and do with it as they will someplace else. We have children to feed and a free nation to build, again. We can only do this if they allow us to be proud hardworking individuals. Saving the owl needs to take a back seat to feeding humns.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Butts

Today's Thoughts 11/09/11 Butts
That’s what I said. Talking out your butt and as everyone knows that means saying things that you could not possibly have any proof of. Yet people will put things out there and actually expect that people will take it as actual truth. Now I could be wrong on this, so I'm going let you take a look at the comment I came across today and let you make your own decision. "Did you know bisexuality is found in over 450 different animal species? Homophobia is only found in one."
And of course you know I had to add my two cents in on this well thought out and I'm sure scientifically proven fact. "Very cool.... and just wondering, how in the world do you know that? Are you saying that you can speak the language of 450 different animals? Don't take this wrong, it's not about what you dig in the bedroom, that's between you and your partner; it is an honest attempt to try to understand how this conclusion was reached."
And I really do want to know how they came up with this fact. One could speculate such a thing I'm sure. But to actually with complete honesty be able to say that, I don't think so. The statement as I see it is an attempt to promote one's life style and nothing more. And of course everyone has the right to do so. I'm sure that I do the same thing from time to time. I hope though that I choose statements that have a little more substance to them.
But there is something good that can be learned from statements such as these. And that lesson is never accepting anything at face value. Always look beyond the statement and learn the agenda of the person or group making the statement. By doing a little research of your own, you can find out if the statement is actually true or is someone actually just talking out of their butt again. Then you can make your own educated opinion on the subject at hand.
On today's statement about how different animals feel about the subject of homophobia, its way beyond me to understand how anyone can tell me how any particular animal feels about the subject. All that can be done is too interpret how the animal reacts. That's just an opinion and we all know what opinions are associated with. Butts. And we all have one of those, don’t we?

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sabotage

Today's Thoughts 11/07/11 Sabotage
Sabotage, what a funny sounding word and one that I heard a democratic pundit use describing what the republicans were doing to all of Presidents Obama's efforts to straighten out America. I heard this today as I listened to all the Sunday talk shows. I thought how funny it was that sabotage was the word that that I use to describe what President Obama is doing to America himself. Again this pundit put forth the fact that the republicans were the party of no as they stopped the president newest jobs bill. Well, let me take just a moment to explain this so that not only the president himself understands, but all of his pundits as well.
No. Not only no but hell fricking no. From Obama care to just about anything he has done in the name of saving this country and the air we breathe has been done with a socialist outcome. Every fix that he has laid his hands on has been designed with the basic intent of bankrupting this country and delivering it on a silver platter to the one world order. In his own words given in a speech, he is bankrupting every industry he dislikes and the biggest thing he dislikes is freedom. This man is pure socialist and his intent is to bring down our constitution and the freedom our forefathers fought and died for.
So I'll say it again. Not only No, But hell fricking no. Sabotage is not a bad thing when freedom loving Americans use it against our enemies. One would think foreign but in this particular case, domestic. It is the job of every American citizen to protect our way of life and if sabotage is what it takes to kick socialism out of our free country, so be it. Now let's go sabotage some socialist butt.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"
http://runninglegalblues.blogspot.com/

Friday, November 4, 2011

Screwed Again

Do I understand this correctly? President Obama is trying to get the student loans reworked so that they pay less and if they default, the banks that made the loan and the student themselves are no longer responsible for the balance of the loan. The balance due then becomes the responsibility of me, the tax payer. Lets take this step by step.

Years ago as I watched the world push for everyone to go to college, I could see a future of a over population of college graduate with not enough jobs for them to work. I made the decision not to go to college and instead work a trade.

Working my trade I spent over one hundred thousands dollars to start my business and the same atmosphere that has todays college graduates unable to find work to pay for their college loans, has my business at a lack of funds for me to continue on much longer.

So my question is, if the college graduate made the wrong decision and made loans that they will never be able to pay for. Why is it that I, having chosen a path that did not leave my financially broke, now have to pay for their mistake when I can barley keep my own head above water?

Most importantly I would like to know, when did we start paying ransom to people that hold property illegally and break any law they wish including fighting our police forces. If I walked into a bank and demanded money, my butt would be on the way to jail.

It is time to bring law and order back to this country. Stop making those the did the right thing pay for those that made bad choices. And most importantly, Stop the buying of votes by any politician. That sir is all this bailout is all about.