Re-Grand Opening
DEER CUT UP, HOLY SH**, I’M BACK!
Two or three weeks past, I was traveling through somewhere in eastern mid-state New York, a part I had not been to before. Can’t remember where exactly, then again I can’t remember where I was yesterday. Not kidding. Anywhere North Of New York City is beautiful country and this area was no different. I always enjoy the sights and it was a beautiful day other then it being nose hair frozen cold, it was showing nine degrees on the display in the truck!
It must have been some kind of hunting destination as I observed a whole bunch of Taxidermy shops along the way. I’m just puttin’ along when a sign catches my eye, it was about the size of a sheet of plywood, painted white with red letters. It looked not professionally done, but better then a five year old given the task of writing something with a paint brush could do. It said simply “Deer cut up.” That’s it. Big red letters that anyone passing by could not have missed.
Seeing that kind of cracked me up and at the same time I was struck by the brilliance of it’s simple message. Often times we need to say something in a different way to get others to understand what we are trying to convey. Have you ever read or heard something so technical you had no idea what the meaning of the nonsense you just heard meant that you were forced to ask “what does that mean in plain English?”
Who ever thought up that sign has everyone covered- I know he can take care of the Buck I just shot (if I were a hunter) and he also has those covered who have no idea what a Taxidermist is or does. Can’t you just see it? Billy Bob and Old Uncle Joe are out hunting deep in the woods when Billy Bob gets in a lucky shot on a direct descendant of Bambi. After a couple of celabratory high fives and such, Billy Bob scratches his head and asks Old Uncle Joe “What are we gonna do now?”
Old Uncle Joe replies “I don’t know, guess we need to get this here deer cut up” Of course poor little Billy Bob has no idea what all those taxidermy shops are for, but he did see a sign once that he did understand! Sometimes all the difference is in how we word our thoughts.......
*****************************************************************************
Last week I was parked at a little truck stop in Laurel, Delaware that was exactly one and a half miles from my first the stop the next morning. It’s not much of a place, but it was close, it has a Hardee’s for breakfast (Turns out eating their food most of the week doesn’t work out so good for me. Can you say “Intestinal Emergency?”)
I was there early enough to find a space and looked forward to enjoying another quiet night with my newly installed fancy APU. (Auxiliary Power Unit- That means no more running the truck for heating or Air Conditioning. More on that later!)
Just after ten at night I finished reading the paper and was ready to drift off to sleep when I heard some mumbling like some people might be having a conversation nearby. Not too unusual as it is a truck stop and there truck drivers walking around. Then it became yelling.
“STUPID MOTHER F*****S!"
"F*** EVERYTHING!"
There was also a lot of the N-word flying around and a lot more vulgar language (which I shall not repeat) being yelled very loudly- by one single person. A good ten minutes worth! There was no argument, somebody was just simply going insane in close proximity to my truck. I was concerned and no longer in the mood to go right to sleep! I had to investigate.
All the lights were off in my truck so I slowly made my way to my top teardrop window and oh -so- slowly peeled back it’s cover so I could see out on my passengers side. There was an empty space between me and another truck whom I believed was the offending disturber of the peace. I could see someone sitting in the drivers seat but not real clearly, I went downstairs to have a better look out my passenger door. I looked over the curtain and saw the guy still sitting there and his head was kind of bobbing back and forth, like he was nodding off or God knows what.
All is now quiet, but I’m still concerned. The ‘what if’ machine wheels begin to turn in my head:
What if this guy is on drugs and really goes nuts?
What if he has a gun and starts shooting into my truck? ( I figure if he does shoot, I’ll be sleeping upstairs, most guys sleep downstairs so if he wants to hit someone, he’ll shoot low and miss me entirely!)
What if he breaks into my truck and I don’t hear anything till it’s too late?
It wasn’t a full blown panic I was experiencing but one can never be too cautious these days! I decided I would reach under my seat at my work station and grab my hammer from my side utility box, this way I wouldn’t have to go outside and open the box and possibly risk bodily harm. I took the hammer upstairs, stashed it in close reach and slept like a baby. Never needed the darn thing, but it was comforting to know it was there!
Of all the places I have parked in my few meager years as a truck driver, there was only one other time I thought death could be imminent but for the most part I feel pretty comfortable everywhere I go.
Fun Stuff, between being scared to death momentarily and seeing a “Deer Cut Up” sign.
******************************************************************************
With that, Road Adventures back. For those who read the blog before, I did say I was done with it. On to bigger and better projects. The bigger project is still on, but for awhile I didn’t write anything at all. A handful (literally, I could count them on one hand) of people have mentioned that they miss reading my blog. Over time I realized I missed writing in it.
So far, in my life, I became aware that some things I said I would never do again, I did (I’m not blind yet!) While other things I shall not. ( No more sleeping in somebody’s car that I do not know in the middle of the countryside. Didn’t work out so well, long story. I’m saving that one for the book!) One of my favorite books of all time (Won’t say by who or what title, don’t want to spoil it for you) ended with these words: "Everything in this book may be wrong." I was wrong to write my blog was ending!
After even another period of time, I realized I could still update it occasionally without interfering with my so called bigger project. What finally convinced me to fire up the machine again is that good stuff, and some assorted not so good stuff has happened in between then and now that is already gone from my memory. That’s one of my greatest joys of this blog, looking back and remembering all that’s happened over time. It will make for great memories when I am old and gray. Not to mention I can someday share the stories with my grandchildren and even that hot little young number I’ll eventually trade my Wife in for! See that, I still have my great sense of humor and I sure hope she does too, it will be hard to write with broken fingers (amongst other bones).
My greatest purpose here is to remember it all, the good bad and the downright ugly. And of course for my family, friends and whomever else read it before to once again join me on my adventures.
Welcome back, readers, if there are any of you left. I’ll be writing here again soon!
Two or three weeks past, I was traveling through somewhere in eastern mid-state New York, a part I had not been to before. Can’t remember where exactly, then again I can’t remember where I was yesterday. Not kidding. Anywhere North Of New York City is beautiful country and this area was no different. I always enjoy the sights and it was a beautiful day other then it being nose hair frozen cold, it was showing nine degrees on the display in the truck!
It must have been some kind of hunting destination as I observed a whole bunch of Taxidermy shops along the way. I’m just puttin’ along when a sign catches my eye, it was about the size of a sheet of plywood, painted white with red letters. It looked not professionally done, but better then a five year old given the task of writing something with a paint brush could do. It said simply “Deer cut up.” That’s it. Big red letters that anyone passing by could not have missed.
Seeing that kind of cracked me up and at the same time I was struck by the brilliance of it’s simple message. Often times we need to say something in a different way to get others to understand what we are trying to convey. Have you ever read or heard something so technical you had no idea what the meaning of the nonsense you just heard meant that you were forced to ask “what does that mean in plain English?”
Who ever thought up that sign has everyone covered- I know he can take care of the Buck I just shot (if I were a hunter) and he also has those covered who have no idea what a Taxidermist is or does. Can’t you just see it? Billy Bob and Old Uncle Joe are out hunting deep in the woods when Billy Bob gets in a lucky shot on a direct descendant of Bambi. After a couple of celabratory high fives and such, Billy Bob scratches his head and asks Old Uncle Joe “What are we gonna do now?”
Old Uncle Joe replies “I don’t know, guess we need to get this here deer cut up” Of course poor little Billy Bob has no idea what all those taxidermy shops are for, but he did see a sign once that he did understand! Sometimes all the difference is in how we word our thoughts.......
*****************************************************************************
Last week I was parked at a little truck stop in Laurel, Delaware that was exactly one and a half miles from my first the stop the next morning. It’s not much of a place, but it was close, it has a Hardee’s for breakfast (Turns out eating their food most of the week doesn’t work out so good for me. Can you say “Intestinal Emergency?”)
I was there early enough to find a space and looked forward to enjoying another quiet night with my newly installed fancy APU. (Auxiliary Power Unit- That means no more running the truck for heating or Air Conditioning. More on that later!)
Just after ten at night I finished reading the paper and was ready to drift off to sleep when I heard some mumbling like some people might be having a conversation nearby. Not too unusual as it is a truck stop and there truck drivers walking around. Then it became yelling.
“STUPID MOTHER F*****S!"
"F*** EVERYTHING!"
There was also a lot of the N-word flying around and a lot more vulgar language (which I shall not repeat) being yelled very loudly- by one single person. A good ten minutes worth! There was no argument, somebody was just simply going insane in close proximity to my truck. I was concerned and no longer in the mood to go right to sleep! I had to investigate.
All the lights were off in my truck so I slowly made my way to my top teardrop window and oh -so- slowly peeled back it’s cover so I could see out on my passengers side. There was an empty space between me and another truck whom I believed was the offending disturber of the peace. I could see someone sitting in the drivers seat but not real clearly, I went downstairs to have a better look out my passenger door. I looked over the curtain and saw the guy still sitting there and his head was kind of bobbing back and forth, like he was nodding off or God knows what.
All is now quiet, but I’m still concerned. The ‘what if’ machine wheels begin to turn in my head:
What if this guy is on drugs and really goes nuts?
What if he has a gun and starts shooting into my truck? ( I figure if he does shoot, I’ll be sleeping upstairs, most guys sleep downstairs so if he wants to hit someone, he’ll shoot low and miss me entirely!)
What if he breaks into my truck and I don’t hear anything till it’s too late?
It wasn’t a full blown panic I was experiencing but one can never be too cautious these days! I decided I would reach under my seat at my work station and grab my hammer from my side utility box, this way I wouldn’t have to go outside and open the box and possibly risk bodily harm. I took the hammer upstairs, stashed it in close reach and slept like a baby. Never needed the darn thing, but it was comforting to know it was there!
Of all the places I have parked in my few meager years as a truck driver, there was only one other time I thought death could be imminent but for the most part I feel pretty comfortable everywhere I go.
Fun Stuff, between being scared to death momentarily and seeing a “Deer Cut Up” sign.
******************************************************************************
With that, Road Adventures back. For those who read the blog before, I did say I was done with it. On to bigger and better projects. The bigger project is still on, but for awhile I didn’t write anything at all. A handful (literally, I could count them on one hand) of people have mentioned that they miss reading my blog. Over time I realized I missed writing in it.
So far, in my life, I became aware that some things I said I would never do again, I did (I’m not blind yet!) While other things I shall not. ( No more sleeping in somebody’s car that I do not know in the middle of the countryside. Didn’t work out so well, long story. I’m saving that one for the book!) One of my favorite books of all time (Won’t say by who or what title, don’t want to spoil it for you) ended with these words: "Everything in this book may be wrong." I was wrong to write my blog was ending!
After even another period of time, I realized I could still update it occasionally without interfering with my so called bigger project. What finally convinced me to fire up the machine again is that good stuff, and some assorted not so good stuff has happened in between then and now that is already gone from my memory. That’s one of my greatest joys of this blog, looking back and remembering all that’s happened over time. It will make for great memories when I am old and gray. Not to mention I can someday share the stories with my grandchildren and even that hot little young number I’ll eventually trade my Wife in for! See that, I still have my great sense of humor and I sure hope she does too, it will be hard to write with broken fingers (amongst other bones).
My greatest purpose here is to remember it all, the good bad and the downright ugly. And of course for my family, friends and whomever else read it before to once again join me on my adventures.
Welcome back, readers, if there are any of you left. I’ll be writing here again soon!
