Ho Hum

Yep, a little HO HUM for me. They are running me ragged and I haven't had the energy or brain power to post anything recently. I know, me.....short on words...........impossible!!!!! Actually, I have visited a couple of places that were terribly exciting to me like VERMONT and Up State New York. Wow, here are the places that storybook fantasy are based on. Life is simple and slow there. I went through a little town in Vermont and they were having an outside band concert. Everyone had lawn chairs and there were balloons and kids...just like a chapter in a book....I could have taken a picture and you would have recognized it from any elementary school book. It was wonderful. HOWEVER........in trucking terms, these fairy tale towns were a NIGHTMARE! The streets were narrow and curvy. I had to watch the track of my trailer constantly to make sure I didn't hit something, of course, needed to watch the front at the same time. HA HA!!! I made it through but there were some hair-raising times. As with many of the customers I visit, they are out in the middle of no-where and my directions from dispatch go something like this....."go south to the blinking light, go past the white house and to the first pond, back into the dock"....you think I'm kidding but this specific direction is one that I am on right now. I found the blinking light and a large gravel lot to the left, I pulled in and am here for the night. There was a restaurant close by so I went in to verify where my customer is. They said to "go through the blinking light............." ha ha ha!!! And the folks in the North say WE ARE behind the times in the South..The big secret that no one in the south realizes is there are as many, or more, country bumpkin areas in the north as could ever be found in the south. I find it comical! One thing I will say for the Up State of NY, I found some incredibly kind people. Everything I have every thought about "New York" has been dispelled and now I can distinguish between the "city" and the wonderful people of the "Up State". I could see myself living in the Up State areas. It is beautiful. I hope to be able to see it in the fall when I am sure it will be breath taking.

I had an interesting event this evening. I had stopped to fuel and had just gotten back on the highway. There was a pick-up truck behind me and they came around to pass, or so I thought. There was a man alone and he just hung right with me. Of course, when I see something unusual it catches my attention. I looked and the man was gesturing to me. I couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell me, I was afraid that something was wrong with my trailer or truck and he was trying to indicate that to me. Then I realized, he held up two fingers and then five fingers and then...the mic of his CB. Oh, I see, lets go to channel 25 and talk. I think NOT! If there was something wrong with my truck, he could have easily told me on channel 19 which is where my radio stays. I tried to ignore him, he pulled ahead of me and got in front of me. He then slowed way down so much so that I had to pass him. I am at a distinct disadvantage here, I can't speed up too much, my truck just won't do it. He was playing a dangerous little "cat and mouse" game and it was unnerving me. He again came up to my left and motioned for me to go to channel 25. He was smiling and he gave me the total creeps! I ignored him still and finally, he got off on an exit. I am not going to speculate on this but he really gave me an awful feeling of vulnerability. I know my vehicle was bigger, but I can only run so fast. Getting away from him proved impossible. I just felt like a very little fish in a very big pond, swimming upstream alone. Was an unsettling feeling.

Well, as you can see - Ho Hum. Hardly worth the read huh? Until next time..............keeping it between the lines...................