OK

OK, Red soil and no sign of intelligent life anywhere. Oklahoma, the land of Oakies from Muskogie even though Ol' Merle Haggard I believe was from Bakersfield, Ca. Hey, it doesn't matter to me but I am just saying. And John Denver was from Texas...so there!

I am on my way to a non descript warehouse on the east coast, Alexandria, Va and a second drop in Maryland. It represents a stroke of luck in the accumulation of miles game that us truck drivers like to play in the name of paying the bills. For the first time, the other day, I had a pre-plan for my next load issued to me. I about wrecked the truck as I was in such shock. I naturally thought that perhaps my manager had simply called in sick and someone that did not know any better was actually doing their job. But, it turns out that ol' Bret was there and yet, I am getting a preplan...Don't get me wrong, I like it when things work the way they are supposed to.

Then after I get the preplan and drop my Santa Ana bound load, I get a message from Dave the weekend guy. He wants to get me into a Grandview, Wa load that delivers one day earlier than the one I currently had. I wanted to help him out as the other driver was shorter on hours than me. So, I said sure, why not? Bret came in Monday morning and saw what I was doing and had a fit and swapped me out and gave me the load I currently have. It all worked out in the end. I certainly am not complaining as the miles in the last month have not been there and I have tried to be patient with the company as I am used to the idea of it slowing down in the winter. I have been there before and see no need to rock the boat for a situation that no one really has control over. Preplans would have gotten some of the gaps between loads to go away however.

I was on I-40 Westbound on the way to California, being passed by a truck with "Jesus Christ Is Not A Swear Word" in large letters on all sides of the trailer. More specifically, red letters on white trailer. I noticed that his trailer lights were not working and I got on the radio to let this obvious fine gentleman know about it as I would want someone to let me know if there were a trailer problem. He replied, "don't fucking worry about it". Which I have to admit that there really is some irony in that somehow. So I decided to go back out to him and inform him that something was also badly missing on his trailer as well. He comes back with "and what the hell would that be?". I just love the culture and class that I am privledged to encounter in my travels, so I replied that the lettering on his trailer should include the words "and I am a stupid fat asshole" on all sides of the trailer as well. After all, I am not one to false advertize as you well know. He came back with all sorts of profanity and I just laughed at him and egged him on by saying that I was in a big black truck that somehow did not say that I am an asshole on it and the trailer is also black with Jim Palmer written on the side and all he had to do was slow down in order to "catch" me...that just seemed to make him more angry. I was having fun by this time so I added that maybe he was just too fat and lazy to even do that as he was certainly too lazy to take care of a simple thing like ensuring that no one rearends your trailer by checking the lights. By this time, he was yelling on the radio but others were laughing and making fun of the guy. Well, fast forward to yesterday, I parked at a lot in Seligman, AZ. I got in the parking area and sure enough there he was. I pulled right next to the moron and turned my interior light on and gave him a little toodaloo wave and stared at him. He didn't even get out of the truck. I said "you get your lights fixed yet?" He reached over and turned off his radio...I guess he didn't get them fixed yet. Perhaps he might change his trailer lettering to read "I am an asshole, but Jesus loves me" Dedication:^