@Pete Gaines: My sentiments exactly.....
Yay, for the UDMan!
@Bumblebee: He's got mad WIN!
@LostAmerica: Ms. (or is it Mz.?) Murilee wrote a book review of "Lost America" and I immediately ran out and bought it. The photos were amazing, and the stories/writing were really great, too.
I'm super-interested in taking a class in night-vehicle photography. My family restores old Big Trucks (well, it's really about 80% collect/20% restore) and my Dad will call me up on Sunday and see where I'm driving that week and send me on some wild-goose-chase for some part he needs.
"So, you're going through Seligman? Go ask Old Man XXXX if he'll sell the grille and radiator off that '54 White he's got out back (my Dad has this incredible encyclopedic knowledge of the location of every old broken down truck in the Desert Southwest). Offer him $50 but don't go higher than $100. Take a drill to get the rivets off, and watch out, he's a crotchedy old F*cker."
"Dad, I'm driving a tanker full of fuel, a freaking Bomb, I can't just go driving around looking for some old guy's ranch, all kinds of people get real upset by that kind of behavior."
I have found all kinds of cool stuff that way.
I'm super-interested in taking a class in night-vehicle photography. My family restores old Big Trucks (well, it's really about 80% collect/20% restore) and my Dad will call me up on Sunday and see where I'm driving that week and send me on some wild-goose-chase for some part he needs.
"So, you're going through Seligman? Go ask Old Man XXXX if he'll sell the grille and radiator off that '54 White he's got out back (my Dad has this incredible encyclopedic knowledge of the location of every old broken down truck in the Desert Southwest). Offer him $50 but don't go higher than $100. Take a drill to get the rivets off, and watch out, he's a crotchedy old F*cker."
"Dad, I'm driving a tanker full of fuel, a freaking Bomb, I can't just go driving around looking for some old guy's ranch, all kinds of people get real upset by that kind of behavior."
I have found all kinds of cool stuff that way.
If it weren't for FB, I probably would have missed this momentous event.
I finally got a job offer at this one trucking company where I had been trying to work for years pulling fuel-tankers. You know it's a good company when the last guy they hired (besides you) has been there 9 years and many have been there 20 years or more. Well, since I'm the "New Guy" (it's a funny yet awesome feeling being called "New Guy" when you have almost thirty years of driving experience), I end up doing all the weird graveyard and weekend shifts that nobody else wants, so I'm hardly here at all anymore. (plus Ray took my Star away for "being an inactive commenter and promoting silly comments")
This is the first time in a long while that I've actually read through all 250+ comments and replies, and there is some really good stuff in there and you should be proud to be so missed by so many. One thing that I liked so much about your writing that hasn't been said is your book reviews. I have a shelf in our Den/Library that is devoted exclusively to books that Your Hotness has recommended, and I buy a used copy of "Concrete Island" every time I see one and just give it away to one of my friends with the condition that they in turn give it away to someone they think will like it.
Thank You, and the very best of luck.
I finally got a job offer at this one trucking company where I had been trying to work for years pulling fuel-tankers. You know it's a good company when the last guy they hired (besides you) has been there 9 years and many have been there 20 years or more. Well, since I'm the "New Guy" (it's a funny yet awesome feeling being called "New Guy" when you have almost thirty years of driving experience), I end up doing all the weird graveyard and weekend shifts that nobody else wants, so I'm hardly here at all anymore. (plus Ray took my Star away for "being an inactive commenter and promoting silly comments")
This is the first time in a long while that I've actually read through all 250+ comments and replies, and there is some really good stuff in there and you should be proud to be so missed by so many. One thing that I liked so much about your writing that hasn't been said is your book reviews. I have a shelf in our Den/Library that is devoted exclusively to books that Your Hotness has recommended, and I buy a used copy of "Concrete Island" every time I see one and just give it away to one of my friends with the condition that they in turn give it away to someone they think will like it.
Thank You, and the very best of luck.
That was perfect, oddfish! Congratulations!
@coupeZ600: Oh, and Happy Future Fathers Day!
Hey Rob, check this out.
This is my hometown, and they started this over a hundred years ago.
Only the kids would run for a while, and then the adults would say, "Hey, I want to drive this thing!", and slowly the weight limits would rise as would the starting-line, until the inevitable occurred. They'd quit entirely for a few years, and then say, "Let's bring it back, but just for the kids."
The last time the adults ran was back in '79, and the weight limit for car and driver was 600 lb (kids have always been 250 lb), and everyone started about a mile farther uphill. Where these kids are just starting the average speed for the adults was 40mph, and the highest speed recorded going into the nuttiest turn (Castle Rock, where the posted limit for cars is 15mph) was an amazing 68mph.
The inevitable occurred, a coaster went into the crowd, and as you can see like The Isle Of Man Race, there's really no where to run.
Kids have been racing for about 15 years now, and every year the chorus for letting the adults run gets a little louder.
Skip to 4:00 at least, and I apologize this is the best vid I could find
[www.youtube.com]
This is my hometown, and they started this over a hundred years ago.
Only the kids would run for a while, and then the adults would say, "Hey, I want to drive this thing!", and slowly the weight limits would rise as would the starting-line, until the inevitable occurred. They'd quit entirely for a few years, and then say, "Let's bring it back, but just for the kids."
The last time the adults ran was back in '79, and the weight limit for car and driver was 600 lb (kids have always been 250 lb), and everyone started about a mile farther uphill. Where these kids are just starting the average speed for the adults was 40mph, and the highest speed recorded going into the nuttiest turn (Castle Rock, where the posted limit for cars is 15mph) was an amazing 68mph.
The inevitable occurred, a coaster went into the crowd, and as you can see like The Isle Of Man Race, there's really no where to run.
Kids have been racing for about 15 years now, and every year the chorus for letting the adults run gets a little louder.
Skip to 4:00 at least, and I apologize this is the best vid I could find
[www.youtube.com]
@Novaload: One of my first jobs was being the swamper/lumper on a beer delivery truck. We'd get to the stop (Bar), and while the Salesman/Driver had a few cold ones with the Proprietor, I unloaded the kegs and re-stocked all the bottled/canned beer.
One time, on a really long run the Driver/Salesman got a little cooked (It was the AZ desert and you had to cool off somehow), and the Driver could barely find the Truck, much less get in and operate it.
"You're going to have to drive us home", he said, slipping and tripping as he climbed up in the passenger seat.
"What?!!!!"
"Don't worry, I'll talk you through it.....", as he immediately passed out.
I was thirteen, and have since been challenged many times by work scenarios that made me wonder, "Can I do this?"
I got that Truck home, and I know that if I did that, I can do this.
One time, on a really long run the Driver/Salesman got a little cooked (It was the AZ desert and you had to cool off somehow), and the Driver could barely find the Truck, much less get in and operate it.
"You're going to have to drive us home", he said, slipping and tripping as he climbed up in the passenger seat.
"What?!!!!"
"Don't worry, I'll talk you through it.....", as he immediately passed out.
I was thirteen, and have since been challenged many times by work scenarios that made me wonder, "Can I do this?"
I got that Truck home, and I know that if I did that, I can do this.
@jestermeister1: I was trying to figure it out in "rods", and the damn calculator spit one into the dining room!
The Front Range has all kinds of cool stuff!....
I know it's kinda' out of the way, but Route 66 has all kinds of good yards, and the Crusher doesn't seem to spend much time down here.
I'm usually looking for Big Truck parts, but always remember the "Scavenger Hunt" you did when I'm banging around in these weird yards.
Any chance we could go "Global" with a scavenger hunt?
I know it's kinda' out of the way, but Route 66 has all kinds of good yards, and the Crusher doesn't seem to spend much time down here.
I'm usually looking for Big Truck parts, but always remember the "Scavenger Hunt" you did when I'm banging around in these weird yards.
Any chance we could go "Global" with a scavenger hunt?
Congratulations, Bud, hat-tip to you!
@Møbius: ".....has won." Now he's Ash79....
I had just pulled another City snow-plow driver's F-150 out of a ditch right after we got off shift and
our 12-hour shift was over, and left the snow on the roof for a little extra weight.
[i422.photobucket.com]
our 12-hour shift was over, and left the snow on the roof for a little extra weight.
[i422.photobucket.com]
@accipiter: I always yell, "Brick!" at the older ones, but only when I'm in mine.
Nice, maximum_sarge, and Congratulations!
I tell this to my friends all the time...
"Don't go to the Dealer and pay 30k for a brand-new car, get a $1500 car and throw 20 thousand at it, and put 8500 dollars worth of fuel in the tank. You'll at least have a car with a soul."
Some do, some don't, and some I never hear from ever again..... Quitters!
Congratulations on the COTD, Irishman72, Nice!
Excellent! Congratulations, armyofchuckleness, Thanks!
@Madness: Start in "1", go to near red-line and go to "2", progress to "3",... Uh-Oh! Stop Sign!.. Rev and pull back to "2", Rev again and pull back to "1". Stop signs are always a good time for a "Neutral Drop!" Move the lever all the way up to "N" (not "P"), gas it to red-line, and pull the lever all the way down to "1". You might be able to get smoke through "2" and maybe even "3" ....... Rental cars are the best way to practice these techniques.
When I first moved to Flagstaff to go to college in '81, I was blown away by the Pick-Up Culture..... I mean everybody drove a pick-up. Back in Bisbee there were tons of pick-ups, but lots of cars and vans and wagons too. But in Flag it was all pick-ups, and I felt super self-conscious about having the only "car" at the parties out in the woods.
Well, right up at the bonfire was a guy with a Challenger just like this one, and he took a liking to me as the only other "car" guy and would always ask if I would like to ride along as he was about to spank the truck guys in some serious high-speed Log-Truck Haul Road Racing. He never lost.
One thing he did was that he shifted every gear-change in the slush-box manually. It never up-shifted without permission, and the down-shifts were sometimes made under duress. While I tend to drive auto's in a similar yet kinder fashion, passengers always ask."Why are you moving that lever? Just put it in "D" and leave it there."
They've never ridden in a Challenger being chased by twenty pick-up trucks out in the log-woods.
![[i422.photobucket.com]](http://i422.photobucket.com/albums/pp308/rexjenney/PC070854.jpg){kind=link}