The Beauty of Baltimore, Sunsets & Socializing
Sunrises, and sunsets seem to be my latest obsession. I have been taking notice to a lot of really cool ones lately and I’m not entirely sure why. They have always been there but I can’t remember seeing such great ones, even as recently the past Summer season- maybe it’s the time of the year that has shown some great starts and finishes to our days. Maybe it’s because I have been taking a lot of pictures with my new camera and notice the picture worthy ones that much more.
Sunday evening I was on my home after running a shuttle up to our drop yard in Massachusetts and wanted nothing more then to get back home and fill up my belly and see the kids before bedtime. Unfortunately, the Sun was putting on another spectacular show and I ended up chasing it, just to see if I could get another picture to add to the millions I already have in my collection. Here’s the one I liked best:
I think it turned out half decent, and I even learned something from that particular sunset. Sunsets (and Sunrises) are a fluid situation, the sky is changing second to second and the bright ball seems to always be moving even faster then the clouds that are airbrushed in and around it. I had the benefit of being in my car when I was chasing this one, so I had the ability to go on whatever road I wished and parking is so much easier when you’re not dragging a very long box behind you. I was a half mile from an intersection where I make a right hand turn, and they just recently added a traffic signal complete with a no turn-on-red sign. That’s fine and dandy, but the light often takes what seems like hours to change green and I often end up yelling and cursing, or worse, breaking the law and making a right-on-red.
Because I was after a picture, I turned right on a random road before that hellish intersection, parked the car and snapped some pictures. When finished I merely followed the road to see where it would take me and voila! I arrived a good half mile away from the hellish intersection (and closer to home) at the simplest form of traffic control, a stop sign! No longer will I have to endure the longest traffic light in history, nor will I have to break the law. Simply take my new route and turn right when traffic allows. Never has such a beautiful Sunset taught me such a beautiful, quality of life enhancing, shortcut to happiness. My thanks goes out to the Artist that painted such a beautiful scene that evening.
Monday I ran down to Baltimore where I began 10 stops that finished up in Laurel, Maryland. Laurel, while a half decent place, gives me the heebie jeebies. That’s a story for sometime in the future. Otherwise, it was a beautiful warm day, all the customers were well behaved, and I was done just in time to enjoy rush hour traffic up 95 North and all the way up 83. There was of course a beautiful sunset to take the edge off, but I was trapped in a moving truck with no place to park for a picture.
My Tuesday adventure, I learned on the way home, would be seven drops- all in Baltimore. It’s odd to see the same city twice in a row, but it didn’t bother me as Baltimore is hands down my favorite city to be buzzing around. I enjoyed an evening at home and developed a plan for the next morning.
My best calculations had me getting up at 5, hit the rain room then head to the diner by 6. After my belly refueling, head to the yard and hit the pavement sometime between 7 and 7:30. Route 222 heading to Lancaster is under construction and down to one lane, and rush hour gets to be painful through that stretch of construction, where by the way I never see much constructing going on. Technically, I could leave at 8 but plan on leaving early to allow for traffic and arrive at my first stop at 10 when they open for the day. One of my life struggles has always been developing a plan and then sticking to it, but it turns out that’s not always a terrible thing, at least in this case.
I stuck to the painful get-up-at-five part of my plan, but as I drove along in the early morning I knew what would happen. The sun was already just beginning to show it’s rays and I just knew by the time I passed by Blue Marsh Lake it would probably make for a pretty picture. Again armed with a camera and a car, I parked along the road and snapped a few pictures. These didn’t turn out quite as well as I hoped and I probably would have benefitted from hanging around until the sun stuck it’s nose over the horizon and gotten some even better shots. It’s unfortunate I had a truck to catch, and a departure plan to try and stick to. Here’s the best picture from that morning:
Breakfast at my favorite diner with my familiar waitress friend was good as always. My Waitress friend has a boyfriend who is a truck driver and she was telling me about how he was out West at some truck stop in the desert and he wanted to walk around and try to take a picture of a Rattle Snake which seemed to concern her a bit. I myself think Sunsets and sunrises are a whole lot safer, but I kind of envied the guy, just for being that far West. Sometimes I think I’d like to find a gig that would allow me that scope of travel, maybe when the kids all grow up or the Wife becomes too much of a nagger. Perhaps which ever comes first? Actually, I’d be too scared to be that far away from her- what if I fell ill? Who would take care of me and keep me from calling 911 at the slightest hint of a cold?
Arriving at the yard, I parked the car and made a beeline for my truck. Actually, it wasn’t mine- mine is in the shop again, but that’s a story for next time. As I walked, I noticed a friend of mine, Mike, who is a yard jockey recently turned local driver, sitting in his truck.. A yard jockey moves trailers around the yard, from the loading doors to parking spots and vice versa. Mike has been a yard Jockey for the past several years and has been wanting to be a local driver for most of that time. I respect him for hanging in there for so long till the company finally gave him a shot, he could have easily found a driving job elsewhere, but he wanted to drive for our company. I’m thrilled for him that they finally gave him that opportunity but still think he’s half nuts for wanting to do local work. In my opinion, he could have become an over the road guy like myself and lived out a less hectic career. But who am I to judge? Maybe his kids are perfectly well behaved and his Wife hasn’t nagged him even once in his life and he just wants to be home in that kind of environment every night. Tee-Hee.
Anyway, I had not had the chance to speak with Mike since he took on the road, so I wanted to chat with him and see how it was treating him. He opened the door and I asked him how things were going. He seemed quite down about things, specifically about Philadelphia. He spoke of a trip down there recently that seemed to be quite an adventure and on this day was facing another run down to the City of Brotherly Love giving him a look of even more anxiety to the day. I tried to relate a story of my own trial and tribulations in Philly and he replied “did you have to call the cops to help you back out from a low bridge?” I didn’t only because I had a pup trailer (only 28 ½ feet) so I turned around easily, but I did stop and talk to the cops for help, which they provided.
I was there as a friend trying to reassure him that things can only get easier in Philly the more you are there and suggested that his adventure was nothing more then valuable experience. He said the experience isn’t the problem it’s the trauma of it all as it is happening. His was so bad that he actually considered calling a cab and just going home, and he wasn’t kidding. I understand that kind of trauma, but I always take the attitude of a ships Captain, that I will go down with the truck and not abandon it, no matter how difficult or traumatic the experience may be. I’m sure glad Mike didn’t take the cab home and I’m sure he’ll be okay but even after we talked I couldn’t help but feel he was only one more bad trip to Philadelphia away from packing it in.
I speak from experience (I waited my whole life to say that!) when I say I know how difficult the first few weeks, or even months on the road can be. Little known fact: In my first year at my present company, I was dispatched on a bunch of stops down in Washington DC. I got myself so worked up the night before that I got absolutely no sleep. I was absolutely convinced something would go horribly wrong and I’d end up on the lawn of the White House and promptly be shot dead. I felt absolutely horrible in the morning and I’m not ashamed to admit I called in sick that day.
It seems silly to me now, but back then it wasn’t fun at all, kind of what my friend is experiencing these days. Things become much easier once you get a hold of your thoughts and change them to more positive ones. After that, the continued experience of going into a big city over and over again erases whatever negative impressions that were once there. The best advice I can offer my friend (or any new driver) is to take it day by day, trip by trip, stop by stop, street by street. The rest takes care of itself.
I’m quite positive Mike will pull through because he has waited too long, while working too hard, for his new opportunity. Luckily, he has a great bunch of his fellow local drivers and even our dispatchers, to help him work his way through the city and with any other issues that may pop up. I’ll be standing by for moral support and to help out where ever I can. If things work out the way I hope they do, in a few months Mike will look back on his current state of affairs and laugh. I laugh at myself when I think about the DC trip I never took. These days, my biggest concern when heading into the United States Capitol is where I’m going to stop for lunch.
After Mike and I parted ways, I went inside the building with intentions of dropping off some paperwork, visiting the rest room and hitting the pavement, and hopefully as quickly as possible. As soon as I opened the door, I spotted one of our Massachusetts drivers, and he spotted me. He’s a super nice guy, and he loves to talk and I have no problem listening, but I keep my eye on any clock I can see thinking about the seven stops ahead of me. I learned he recently hit a deer. Then he told me about other drivers hitting deer which evolved into moose stories, and not just about people hitting those monstrosities. He told me this story about some guy who befriended one, the poor thing then died and he hand raised the babies and now uses them in his logging operation to pull the logs! How did he know this? He read it on a place-mat in a diner. Who knew you can learn such fun facts from a place-mat? I kind of wished my diner had place-mats like that, but I like my chatty waitress just fine. After that story he moved on to Nova Scotia and how they’re building hundreds of miles of fence because they had so many collisions with Deer and the dreaded Moose. Another fifteen minutes shot and our conversation left me completely paranoid about hitting a deer for the rest of the week! Driving at night became nerve wracking! Like I said, he’s a cool guy and he’s helped me around his part of the World when I was visiting up there, sometimes I wish I had more time to chat with the bloke.
Up next was my friend Doug, who mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Doug is a great guy mostly because from talking with him, I learned he thinks about our World almost like I do. Even if I accidently severed a limb, I’d put off getting treatment if Doug wanted to chat for a bit and today no was no different. He related some tales about his own recent 10 stop adventure through Connecticut, which somehow included a whole bunch of problem customers, something I also have experienced. Doug is also an avid reader of what I write, so I say again to you my friend: you have an open invitation to be my guest writer and share your tales with the rest of us! That’s all I want for Christmas, just one good story. Thank-You.
By the time Doug and I were finishing up, I noticed other people were filling up the room and rather quickly. I saw this only through my peripheral vision, I couldn’t risk looking anyone in the eye and start another time consuming conversation. I quickly escaped through a door, did my pit stop in the boys room and ran across the yard to the truck, looking at the ground the entire time. My stint as a social butterfly was about to make me late, as it was just past 8 when I released the brakes and left the yard.
Soon enough I realized socializing was the best thing I could have done that morning. While other people were going painfully slow through the construction zone during so called “rush hour” I was catching up with some friends. By the time I got there, everyone was gone and I zipped right on through! The whole ride was virtually traffic free and I arrived at my first stop at 10:15 which is plenty fine. If I skipped the Chatty Kathy routine and left when I wanted to, I would have arrived at the same time! I plan on doing more socializing with who ever I can from now on.
My second day in Baltimore was another stunning fall day with sunshine a plenty and temperatures left over from a few weeks back. My second to last stop was in a gritty area of Southern Baltimore and my final one was more toward the Northern part. My customer suggested I go back to 95 and around the beltway and avoid the red lights but I quickly shot that down. I see the beltway plenty of times and on this day, I wanted to punch right through downtown, hook up with 83 North and see something different.
This was another great decision of mine! I got to go right past the Inner Harbor area, which I don’t think I ever saw before. I made a mental note to bring the family down in the Spring and check it out a little more. The stop lights were even welcomed, they provided the chance to just sit and look up at Baltimore’s Historic buildings against the beautiful blue sky. I’ll always be a Country Boy, but I swear a part of me fell in love with Baltimore that day- If I was forced to live in a big city, this would be my home.
My last stop was in a fancy trendy district with lots of fancy looking people milling about. It was my only concern of the day and I was just there the day before. The concern was for the 40 some pieces they would be receiving, and past experiences with them led me to believe this might be a couple hour adventure. To my surprise, there were a few sharply dressed, very friendly men there to unload me. To my utter amazement, we were done in under a half hour!
One of the well dressed guys walked over to count all the pieces that were now stretched out on the sidewalk in front of their store, and I became a tourist of sorts, taking in the sights of all the shops in the proximity and wondering if I should add this locale as a stop when I bring the family to Inner Harbor Day. The counter guy finished counting, walked over to me with a quizzical look on his face and said “forty?”
I looked him right in the eye and said “Nope, I’ll be thirty-six next month though.”
He started laughing and walked away, presumably for whomever had the paperwork and knew exactly how much furniture they were supposed to be receiving
I think I may have accidently lied to him- there’s a chance I might be older then that when my so called birthday arrives next month, though I’m not entirely sure. The thing is, a few years back, I thought it a good idea to give up the thought of when my birthday is and even gave up celebrating it. If I need to refer to the day I was born, I’d prefer to call the occasion ‘The day the earth was first blessed with my presence.’ This way, and I wrote about this previously, I’ll never know how old I really am and remain forever ageless. I Like to think I look the same as I did at eighteen!
I don’t think my Wife subscribes to my theory because I often point out quite a few of her gray hairs while wondering aloud if it’s a sign that I should trade her in for a newer model. She doesn’t seem to like this activity much and I highly recommend you not try this at home.
My theory is working for me though and here’s proof: A few weeks back I stopped at a service plaza along the thruway in New York. I went into the gift shop and asked to purchase a few bucks worth of Mega- Millions lottery tickets. I kid you not, the person behind the counter asked me for ID. I had no idea you had to be 18 just to play the lottery, which is just ridiculous in my opinion.
When I was eighteen, had I won a multi-million dollar fortune I would have blown through it in less then a year, most of it on fast cars and even faster Women. Now? At the ripe old age of however old I am, I’d be perfectly content to purchase a big old stone farmhouse in the Country, with a big chunk of land to house a hangar and a small collection of airplanes. Maybe a few bucks in a special account for the occasional truck wash with out the guilt the Wife lays on me now. The rest of the money would be stashed away to see me and my family through the rest of our days in a comfortable fashion. That, my friends, is why I hereby suggest we raise the lottery age to at least 30. Age and wisdom raise the ‘common sense with money’ factor considerably.
By the way, if you are reading this and you’re an eighteen year old girl who has just won a multi-million dollar lottery prize and happen to be in the market for a faster Man, I highly recommend you get in touch with me immediately. All I require is that you cook me food, clean up after my mess and buy us an old stone farmhouse in the country where I can house a hangar and a small collection of airplanes. What can you expect in return? Well, whenever I write, I’ll be sure to mock your cooking and any thing else about you I feel like making fun of. I’ll even be sure to point out your gray hairs when they come about, which probably won’t be long once you really get to know me. No reason to fret My Love, these terrible things I’ll be writing about you are only my twisted way of showing the Whole entire World, how much I truly adore you.
Getting back to my Baltimore Adventure, I had that run finished up by 2pm and made the short jaunt back to Leesport well before the evening rush hour people even had a chance to think about hitting the road. Sometimes I feel a little sorrow in my heart for those people who are trapped in cubicles and/or windowless offices all day, while I’m moving about having all this fun on a daily basis.
Once in Leesport, I stopped by our fueling location to cure my trucks thirsty condition. The liquid gold takes forever to fill her tanks, I used the time to look around at the sun that was now setting. I couldn’t help but take a picture:
It was the perfect ending to another perfect day. I would soon drive away into the darkness for several hours after which I would stop and sleep. I’d be anxious to wake up the next morning and check out the next sunrise, unless of course it rained. In that case, at least I’d have pictures to remind me of the good ones.
By the way, my paragraph about the “eighteen year old multi-millionaire” wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. I speak from experience when I say that the best things in life, like awesome sunrises and sunsets, and even the Wife I have right now, (and hopefully forever) are free.
Sunday evening I was on my home after running a shuttle up to our drop yard in Massachusetts and wanted nothing more then to get back home and fill up my belly and see the kids before bedtime. Unfortunately, the Sun was putting on another spectacular show and I ended up chasing it, just to see if I could get another picture to add to the millions I already have in my collection. Here’s the one I liked best:
I think it turned out half decent, and I even learned something from that particular sunset. Sunsets (and Sunrises) are a fluid situation, the sky is changing second to second and the bright ball seems to always be moving even faster then the clouds that are airbrushed in and around it. I had the benefit of being in my car when I was chasing this one, so I had the ability to go on whatever road I wished and parking is so much easier when you’re not dragging a very long box behind you. I was a half mile from an intersection where I make a right hand turn, and they just recently added a traffic signal complete with a no turn-on-red sign. That’s fine and dandy, but the light often takes what seems like hours to change green and I often end up yelling and cursing, or worse, breaking the law and making a right-on-red.
Because I was after a picture, I turned right on a random road before that hellish intersection, parked the car and snapped some pictures. When finished I merely followed the road to see where it would take me and voila! I arrived a good half mile away from the hellish intersection (and closer to home) at the simplest form of traffic control, a stop sign! No longer will I have to endure the longest traffic light in history, nor will I have to break the law. Simply take my new route and turn right when traffic allows. Never has such a beautiful Sunset taught me such a beautiful, quality of life enhancing, shortcut to happiness. My thanks goes out to the Artist that painted such a beautiful scene that evening.
Monday I ran down to Baltimore where I began 10 stops that finished up in Laurel, Maryland. Laurel, while a half decent place, gives me the heebie jeebies. That’s a story for sometime in the future. Otherwise, it was a beautiful warm day, all the customers were well behaved, and I was done just in time to enjoy rush hour traffic up 95 North and all the way up 83. There was of course a beautiful sunset to take the edge off, but I was trapped in a moving truck with no place to park for a picture.
My Tuesday adventure, I learned on the way home, would be seven drops- all in Baltimore. It’s odd to see the same city twice in a row, but it didn’t bother me as Baltimore is hands down my favorite city to be buzzing around. I enjoyed an evening at home and developed a plan for the next morning.
My best calculations had me getting up at 5, hit the rain room then head to the diner by 6. After my belly refueling, head to the yard and hit the pavement sometime between 7 and 7:30. Route 222 heading to Lancaster is under construction and down to one lane, and rush hour gets to be painful through that stretch of construction, where by the way I never see much constructing going on. Technically, I could leave at 8 but plan on leaving early to allow for traffic and arrive at my first stop at 10 when they open for the day. One of my life struggles has always been developing a plan and then sticking to it, but it turns out that’s not always a terrible thing, at least in this case.
I stuck to the painful get-up-at-five part of my plan, but as I drove along in the early morning I knew what would happen. The sun was already just beginning to show it’s rays and I just knew by the time I passed by Blue Marsh Lake it would probably make for a pretty picture. Again armed with a camera and a car, I parked along the road and snapped a few pictures. These didn’t turn out quite as well as I hoped and I probably would have benefitted from hanging around until the sun stuck it’s nose over the horizon and gotten some even better shots. It’s unfortunate I had a truck to catch, and a departure plan to try and stick to. Here’s the best picture from that morning:
Breakfast at my favorite diner with my familiar waitress friend was good as always. My Waitress friend has a boyfriend who is a truck driver and she was telling me about how he was out West at some truck stop in the desert and he wanted to walk around and try to take a picture of a Rattle Snake which seemed to concern her a bit. I myself think Sunsets and sunrises are a whole lot safer, but I kind of envied the guy, just for being that far West. Sometimes I think I’d like to find a gig that would allow me that scope of travel, maybe when the kids all grow up or the Wife becomes too much of a nagger. Perhaps which ever comes first? Actually, I’d be too scared to be that far away from her- what if I fell ill? Who would take care of me and keep me from calling 911 at the slightest hint of a cold?
Arriving at the yard, I parked the car and made a beeline for my truck. Actually, it wasn’t mine- mine is in the shop again, but that’s a story for next time. As I walked, I noticed a friend of mine, Mike, who is a yard jockey recently turned local driver, sitting in his truck.. A yard jockey moves trailers around the yard, from the loading doors to parking spots and vice versa. Mike has been a yard Jockey for the past several years and has been wanting to be a local driver for most of that time. I respect him for hanging in there for so long till the company finally gave him a shot, he could have easily found a driving job elsewhere, but he wanted to drive for our company. I’m thrilled for him that they finally gave him that opportunity but still think he’s half nuts for wanting to do local work. In my opinion, he could have become an over the road guy like myself and lived out a less hectic career. But who am I to judge? Maybe his kids are perfectly well behaved and his Wife hasn’t nagged him even once in his life and he just wants to be home in that kind of environment every night. Tee-Hee.
Anyway, I had not had the chance to speak with Mike since he took on the road, so I wanted to chat with him and see how it was treating him. He opened the door and I asked him how things were going. He seemed quite down about things, specifically about Philadelphia. He spoke of a trip down there recently that seemed to be quite an adventure and on this day was facing another run down to the City of Brotherly Love giving him a look of even more anxiety to the day. I tried to relate a story of my own trial and tribulations in Philly and he replied “did you have to call the cops to help you back out from a low bridge?” I didn’t only because I had a pup trailer (only 28 ½ feet) so I turned around easily, but I did stop and talk to the cops for help, which they provided.
I was there as a friend trying to reassure him that things can only get easier in Philly the more you are there and suggested that his adventure was nothing more then valuable experience. He said the experience isn’t the problem it’s the trauma of it all as it is happening. His was so bad that he actually considered calling a cab and just going home, and he wasn’t kidding. I understand that kind of trauma, but I always take the attitude of a ships Captain, that I will go down with the truck and not abandon it, no matter how difficult or traumatic the experience may be. I’m sure glad Mike didn’t take the cab home and I’m sure he’ll be okay but even after we talked I couldn’t help but feel he was only one more bad trip to Philadelphia away from packing it in.
I speak from experience (I waited my whole life to say that!) when I say I know how difficult the first few weeks, or even months on the road can be. Little known fact: In my first year at my present company, I was dispatched on a bunch of stops down in Washington DC. I got myself so worked up the night before that I got absolutely no sleep. I was absolutely convinced something would go horribly wrong and I’d end up on the lawn of the White House and promptly be shot dead. I felt absolutely horrible in the morning and I’m not ashamed to admit I called in sick that day.
It seems silly to me now, but back then it wasn’t fun at all, kind of what my friend is experiencing these days. Things become much easier once you get a hold of your thoughts and change them to more positive ones. After that, the continued experience of going into a big city over and over again erases whatever negative impressions that were once there. The best advice I can offer my friend (or any new driver) is to take it day by day, trip by trip, stop by stop, street by street. The rest takes care of itself.
I’m quite positive Mike will pull through because he has waited too long, while working too hard, for his new opportunity. Luckily, he has a great bunch of his fellow local drivers and even our dispatchers, to help him work his way through the city and with any other issues that may pop up. I’ll be standing by for moral support and to help out where ever I can. If things work out the way I hope they do, in a few months Mike will look back on his current state of affairs and laugh. I laugh at myself when I think about the DC trip I never took. These days, my biggest concern when heading into the United States Capitol is where I’m going to stop for lunch.
After Mike and I parted ways, I went inside the building with intentions of dropping off some paperwork, visiting the rest room and hitting the pavement, and hopefully as quickly as possible. As soon as I opened the door, I spotted one of our Massachusetts drivers, and he spotted me. He’s a super nice guy, and he loves to talk and I have no problem listening, but I keep my eye on any clock I can see thinking about the seven stops ahead of me. I learned he recently hit a deer. Then he told me about other drivers hitting deer which evolved into moose stories, and not just about people hitting those monstrosities. He told me this story about some guy who befriended one, the poor thing then died and he hand raised the babies and now uses them in his logging operation to pull the logs! How did he know this? He read it on a place-mat in a diner. Who knew you can learn such fun facts from a place-mat? I kind of wished my diner had place-mats like that, but I like my chatty waitress just fine. After that story he moved on to Nova Scotia and how they’re building hundreds of miles of fence because they had so many collisions with Deer and the dreaded Moose. Another fifteen minutes shot and our conversation left me completely paranoid about hitting a deer for the rest of the week! Driving at night became nerve wracking! Like I said, he’s a cool guy and he’s helped me around his part of the World when I was visiting up there, sometimes I wish I had more time to chat with the bloke.
Up next was my friend Doug, who mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. Doug is a great guy mostly because from talking with him, I learned he thinks about our World almost like I do. Even if I accidently severed a limb, I’d put off getting treatment if Doug wanted to chat for a bit and today no was no different. He related some tales about his own recent 10 stop adventure through Connecticut, which somehow included a whole bunch of problem customers, something I also have experienced. Doug is also an avid reader of what I write, so I say again to you my friend: you have an open invitation to be my guest writer and share your tales with the rest of us! That’s all I want for Christmas, just one good story. Thank-You.
By the time Doug and I were finishing up, I noticed other people were filling up the room and rather quickly. I saw this only through my peripheral vision, I couldn’t risk looking anyone in the eye and start another time consuming conversation. I quickly escaped through a door, did my pit stop in the boys room and ran across the yard to the truck, looking at the ground the entire time. My stint as a social butterfly was about to make me late, as it was just past 8 when I released the brakes and left the yard.
Soon enough I realized socializing was the best thing I could have done that morning. While other people were going painfully slow through the construction zone during so called “rush hour” I was catching up with some friends. By the time I got there, everyone was gone and I zipped right on through! The whole ride was virtually traffic free and I arrived at my first stop at 10:15 which is plenty fine. If I skipped the Chatty Kathy routine and left when I wanted to, I would have arrived at the same time! I plan on doing more socializing with who ever I can from now on.
My second day in Baltimore was another stunning fall day with sunshine a plenty and temperatures left over from a few weeks back. My second to last stop was in a gritty area of Southern Baltimore and my final one was more toward the Northern part. My customer suggested I go back to 95 and around the beltway and avoid the red lights but I quickly shot that down. I see the beltway plenty of times and on this day, I wanted to punch right through downtown, hook up with 83 North and see something different.
This was another great decision of mine! I got to go right past the Inner Harbor area, which I don’t think I ever saw before. I made a mental note to bring the family down in the Spring and check it out a little more. The stop lights were even welcomed, they provided the chance to just sit and look up at Baltimore’s Historic buildings against the beautiful blue sky. I’ll always be a Country Boy, but I swear a part of me fell in love with Baltimore that day- If I was forced to live in a big city, this would be my home.
My last stop was in a fancy trendy district with lots of fancy looking people milling about. It was my only concern of the day and I was just there the day before. The concern was for the 40 some pieces they would be receiving, and past experiences with them led me to believe this might be a couple hour adventure. To my surprise, there were a few sharply dressed, very friendly men there to unload me. To my utter amazement, we were done in under a half hour!
One of the well dressed guys walked over to count all the pieces that were now stretched out on the sidewalk in front of their store, and I became a tourist of sorts, taking in the sights of all the shops in the proximity and wondering if I should add this locale as a stop when I bring the family to Inner Harbor Day. The counter guy finished counting, walked over to me with a quizzical look on his face and said “forty?”
I looked him right in the eye and said “Nope, I’ll be thirty-six next month though.”
He started laughing and walked away, presumably for whomever had the paperwork and knew exactly how much furniture they were supposed to be receiving
I think I may have accidently lied to him- there’s a chance I might be older then that when my so called birthday arrives next month, though I’m not entirely sure. The thing is, a few years back, I thought it a good idea to give up the thought of when my birthday is and even gave up celebrating it. If I need to refer to the day I was born, I’d prefer to call the occasion ‘The day the earth was first blessed with my presence.’ This way, and I wrote about this previously, I’ll never know how old I really am and remain forever ageless. I Like to think I look the same as I did at eighteen!
I don’t think my Wife subscribes to my theory because I often point out quite a few of her gray hairs while wondering aloud if it’s a sign that I should trade her in for a newer model. She doesn’t seem to like this activity much and I highly recommend you not try this at home.
My theory is working for me though and here’s proof: A few weeks back I stopped at a service plaza along the thruway in New York. I went into the gift shop and asked to purchase a few bucks worth of Mega- Millions lottery tickets. I kid you not, the person behind the counter asked me for ID. I had no idea you had to be 18 just to play the lottery, which is just ridiculous in my opinion.
When I was eighteen, had I won a multi-million dollar fortune I would have blown through it in less then a year, most of it on fast cars and even faster Women. Now? At the ripe old age of however old I am, I’d be perfectly content to purchase a big old stone farmhouse in the Country, with a big chunk of land to house a hangar and a small collection of airplanes. Maybe a few bucks in a special account for the occasional truck wash with out the guilt the Wife lays on me now. The rest of the money would be stashed away to see me and my family through the rest of our days in a comfortable fashion. That, my friends, is why I hereby suggest we raise the lottery age to at least 30. Age and wisdom raise the ‘common sense with money’ factor considerably.
By the way, if you are reading this and you’re an eighteen year old girl who has just won a multi-million dollar lottery prize and happen to be in the market for a faster Man, I highly recommend you get in touch with me immediately. All I require is that you cook me food, clean up after my mess and buy us an old stone farmhouse in the country where I can house a hangar and a small collection of airplanes. What can you expect in return? Well, whenever I write, I’ll be sure to mock your cooking and any thing else about you I feel like making fun of. I’ll even be sure to point out your gray hairs when they come about, which probably won’t be long once you really get to know me. No reason to fret My Love, these terrible things I’ll be writing about you are only my twisted way of showing the Whole entire World, how much I truly adore you.
Getting back to my Baltimore Adventure, I had that run finished up by 2pm and made the short jaunt back to Leesport well before the evening rush hour people even had a chance to think about hitting the road. Sometimes I feel a little sorrow in my heart for those people who are trapped in cubicles and/or windowless offices all day, while I’m moving about having all this fun on a daily basis.
Once in Leesport, I stopped by our fueling location to cure my trucks thirsty condition. The liquid gold takes forever to fill her tanks, I used the time to look around at the sun that was now setting. I couldn’t help but take a picture:
It was the perfect ending to another perfect day. I would soon drive away into the darkness for several hours after which I would stop and sleep. I’d be anxious to wake up the next morning and check out the next sunrise, unless of course it rained. In that case, at least I’d have pictures to remind me of the good ones.
By the way, my paragraph about the “eighteen year old multi-millionaire” wasn’t meant to be taken seriously. I speak from experience when I say that the best things in life, like awesome sunrises and sunsets, and even the Wife I have right now, (and hopefully forever) are free.
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