primitives discuss stories from the road

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018305970

Oh my.

It's a v-e-r-y slow day on Skins's island today.

Tobin S. (5,362 posts)    Sat Feb 16, 2013, 12:20 AM

Stories from the Road: In Between Here and There

In my sixteen years of trucking I've come to realize that in between here and there is where all of the fun stuff happens. In my forty years of life I think the same principle holds true.
 
When I was a long haul trucker, the fun wasn't in picking up and delivering the load. It was in the space in between from getting it to point B from point A. It was driving down the road listening to the radio and smoking cigarettes. It was finding a place to bed down for the night and then finding that said place had a sub-place in which to party. It was in being in the middle of the Nebraska corn fields in the middle of the night away from all of the city lights and seeing the Milky Way. It was in ending the day on the west coast and watching the sun being extinguished by the Pacific.
 
I don't do any of that long haul stuff now days, but I still have my in betweens. On any given day I can see pink clouds as the sun rises in the east over the Indiana flat lands. In my short hauls I have the glory of the satellite radio to keep me company. When I take a break in Portland...Indiana, and shut off the truck, I can hear the timeless wind blow over the terrain and not much else. The beauty of trucking isn't in picking up your load and delivering it. It's not in getting paid, although that is essential. No, the beauty in trucking is what you do in between.
 
Such an ugly profession filled with assholes and bastards, addicts and self righteous bigots. Yet somehow they are a part of all this beauty. Such is trucking, such is life.

There's this comedy material:

CaliforniaPeggy (102,300 posts)    Sat Feb 16, 2013, 01:15 AM

5. That's really beautiful, my dear Tobin...

Thank you for letting us see that beauty.

Tobin S. (5,362 posts)    Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:19 AM

16. Thanks Peggy

I think you know a thing or two about beauty.

   

In_The_Wind (33,806 posts)    Sat Feb 16, 2013, 07:33 AM

12. I never felt so powerful as when I was working OTR. Assholes and Bastards are a very real part of working in the truckin' industry.

I pity the poor, hard working, honest truck drivers who's paychecks are ~ robed by the companies employing truckers and pilot cars.
 
There are trucking companies still owing me monies for successful OTR jobs I've done.

The best days of my OTR life didn't come from working hand n hand with police up in Thetford Mines (Quebec, Canada) moving a 20 wide load for Landstar, or even the load with a stretch trailer (overhang was not to be believed) going to New Orleans.

It was on the deadhead from Montana to home, my last long OTR escort.

imo: America, in all of it's splendor is truly beautiful.

Your words

It's not in getting paid, although that is essential. No, the beauty in trucking is what you do in between are perfect.

[BattleHymn]

I don't expect many replies, as most of the primitives will have no clue what the tobin primitive is going on about. 

He's speaking of flyover country- red state hell. 

[I_B_Perky]

I don't expect many replies, as most of the primitives will have no clue what the tobin primitive is going on about. 

He's speaking of flyover country- red state hell. 

Why would they have a clue? He is talking of that dirty four letter word that all the dummies abhor... work.

[Delmar]

Why would they have a clue? He is talking of that dirty four letter word that all the dummies abhor... work.

Even though he is talking  about a job he doesn't seem too concerned with the actual work that comes with the job--mostly about all the skylarking he does when he should be working.

It was finding a place to bed down for the night and then finding that said place had a sub-place in which to party.

[Jasonw560]

So?

I can sit on the love seat outside, prop my feet up on the table with a cold root beer and a good cigar, and watch the beautiful golds, oranges, pinks, and reds merging with and slowly enveloping the blue as the sun sets on south Texas. And I don't look for any place to party.

[BlueStateSaint]

Well, lookie here . . .

Tobin S. (5,362 posts)    Sat Feb 16, 2013, 11:19 AM

16. Thanks Peggy

I think you know a thing or two about beauty.

She's a prime example of what it isn't.

[Dori]

It was finding a place to bed down for the night and then finding that said place had a sub-place in which to party.

Hmmmm.  I've heard a lot of hanky panky goes on at truck stops. 

[Vagabond]

Hmmmm.  I've heard a lot of hanky panky goes on at truck stops. 

My uncle use to OTR truck.  He told me a story about a truck stop somewhere in the Missouri Ozarks.  He had pulled to the pumps to fill up before going off shift for the evening, he didn't notice anything unusual as he stopped and got out.  Shortly after he started the pump, he said the most horrible smell got to his nostrils, human bodily functions combined with layers of sweat and bad breath.  As he looked up to see where it came from he saw a woman standing in front of him that was the source of the smell.  She offered for some price to get in his truck with him, which he quickly refused.  She wandered off, but he felt filthy just from being in her presence. 

A bit later, as he sat at a table by the window, he observed the woman going into another truck.  He actually bought an air freshener and had it sent out to the other trucker.

[Chris_]

My uncle use to OTR truck.  He told me a story about a truck stop somewhere in the Missouri Ozarks.  He had pulled to the pumps to fill up before going off shift for the evening, he didn't notice anything unusual as he stopped and got out.  Shortly after he started the pump, he said the most horrible smell got to his nostrils, human bodily functions combined with layers of sweat and bad breath.  As he looked up to see where it came from he saw a woman standing in front of him that was the source of the smell.  She offered for some price to get in his truck with him, which he quickly refused.  She wandered off, but he felt filthy just from being in her presence. 

Reminds me of the neighborhood around NC State where I used to live.

All the freaks came out after dark.

[BattleHymn]

My uncle use to OTR truck.  He told me a story about a truck stop somewhere in the Missouri Ozarks.  He had pulled to the pumps to fill up before going off shift for the evening, he didn't notice anything unusual as he stopped and got out.  Shortly after he started the pump, he said the most horrible smell got to his nostrils, human bodily functions combined with layers of sweat and bad breath.  As he looked up to see where it came from he saw a woman standing in front of him that was the source of the smell.  She offered for some price to get in his truck with him, which he quickly refused.  She wandered off, but he felt filthy just from being in her presence. 

A bit later, as he sat at a table by the window, he observed the woman going into another truck.  He actually bought an air freshener and had it sent out to the other trucker.

Dollars to donuts he was at Hood's, in Bois D'Arc.  I'd bet every penny I have on that. 

[JohnnyReb]

Well, women do strange things to themselves while motoring on the open road.....like this one time, there was a good looking woman in a red convertible Macedes Benz with a little monkey...... .....she passed me three or four times before going on down the road.