the truckstar

"On the Road" with the original florida kid
Hello again fellow truckstars! It's week 25.........
.......and you're on the road with the original florida kid...
Grandma, Barbie and the gang here at the ranch say "hey"........

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN' -
Well, first up - it looks like roadStar magazine will no longer be published...I was sure sorry to read that since I'm a big fan of Dave Sweetman's, for those of you not familiar with Mr. Sweetman, he's a longtime veteran driver and has been writing a great column which has appeared on the pages of roadStar. I'd sure like to ask him if he'd be interested in doing a show on Truckstar Radio........
..............and that brings me, truckstars and internet fans, to a subject I've been talking a lot about for a long time, and that is web access on the road. It would appear that the laptop makers have seen the writing on the wall and are almost in "standard issue" mode when it comes to including mobile web capability in the newer laptops. No - it's not a new idea, but until recently it was less of a demand and feature expectation, much less, than it is now. I will be going with AT&T myself, since I have a cell phone, internet at the ranch, and the landline at home with them and I can't complain about the service. Also, when I travel(which hasn't been much lately.....freight and boat hauls are still down....) I have very few "dead zones", and most of you know this, usually when going through hilly or mountainous country. I reckon it'll be the same with the web access. There is a company(http://www.groundcontrol.com) that I've found can hook you up with broadband(much faster) sat web access, but BE SURE to check out the "in motion" systems, the antenna is a roof mounted, flat disc looking thing, which to me is much better than the "dish" anyway...also, for those of us still wary of "wifi" it allows you to turn the wifi reception off so no one can jump your sat hook-up.....(you know how those 8 year old hackers can be......) and you can get a cheap item that will enable tv, along with skype phone service - it should be good. I'll find out more about the tv offerings sometime this week. Also check www.skycasters.com -and- http://www.ussatellite.com -and- http://www.highspeedsat.com/inetvu.htm
This technology will cost a little bit to hook up( you can shop it for "freebie" install and equipment deals....) and there's a flat fee monthly for the usage, but, I myself see things headed this way technologically. For now, it's good, since tv and even web radio is "there" with mobile web laptop hook-ups.....check out - www.Last.fm - on the web. It's CBS with the fastest growing music site on the web......
......anyone out there, besides me, who likes "rock-a-billy" ?
In this weeks HEALTH DEPT. - I want to talk about "germs". That's right - germs - or more specifically - "germ transfer".
We've all heard about them since we were kids and nowadays, more than ever, it's an common reality, that truckers especially, have to deal with ALL day - everyday. Have you ever found yourself at the truckstop sitting behind the wheel with a burger in your hand taking those first few glorious bites as you pull away from the fuel pumps? Well, think about this with me for a minute.... first, you grab the fuel pump handle, on each side of your rig and put it into the tank, then you walk to the store, grab the door handle and walk in....then, I usually hit the "john" , then I come out and either go into whatever food joint they have there or grab a sandwich off the shelf and a bag of 0 trans-fat chips and maybe a sweet snack. Now you get some moola out of your wallet then hand it to the clerk, grab your stuff and head for the door, like hundreds of other people have before you that day. Still with me truckstars? You go back to the pumps, put the pump handles back, screw your fuel tank caps back on, grab your reciept(after 20 minutes of button pushing....) and jump back into the cab, and like the hungry wolf that you are tear into that burger or sandwich.....right? Think for a moment about the germs that are probably on those hands of yours - right this minute - from fecal bacteria - otherwise known as poop smears - (which has even been found on movie theatre seats....) to e-coli to flu and even tb germs. The germ spectrums, especially at places where lots of people use restrooms and shop in stores and restaurants are at horrific levels - everyday..... What do you do?......You know those plastic bottles of those dis-infectant wipes they sell everywhere? I have a bottle of the Clorox kind, the large size,(it'll cost ya 5 bucks or so....and GET the good ones, not the disount cheapo kind)) and I keep them with me in the truck, right where I can reach them, before I grab the wheel, scratch my eye, grab my food or touch anything. Maybe we can't or will never really win the "germ" battle but you can be really smart about how bad you infect yourself and contaminate you trucks interior, AND , your cell phone!!!!
Make this a regular part of your daily life truckstars......Please.......

*****Take a minute and PRAY for our troops around the world - with me - truckstars....whether you agree with the war or not - I think we can ALL agree that these are OUR men and women over there, our KIDS, and, the politics involved is way over my head, not to mention the idea that there's probably a lot going on we DON'T know about, so, and let's not forget about GOD in this equation....it's HIS will I want done, not my own, I'm just not capable.....how 'bout you truckstar?*****

NASCAR- Tony took the checkered at Fontana on Monday.....
PBR- Brazilian, Renato Nunes took the $31,000 money bag home with a first place win in St. Louis followed in second by Robson Palermo and third was Guilherme Marchi. The Brazilians swept the PBR event.
Next weekend - Baltimore.
Justin......how's the shoulder doin' buddy? We need ya over here....

Okay, so, anti-virus and spyware protection my pc at home computer ran out recently and I don't have the money to renew, I had Norton Security Suite. Thanks to laptop magazine I found both spyware and anti-virus, very high end stuff - free...it took some researching but I found it. Some of these freebie deals only last a few months but when they run out just go back in and find another co., if you have too. If you're rich and can afford $80 get the new Norton All-In-One, if you can swing $40 then do what I'm going to do, and that's get http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor/ - all the tech mags rave about this software. In my opinion, it's far and away the best deal, now, be careful to notice that when you click on the download for Spyware Doctor($29.99) make sure you ADD the anti-virus feature($10.00), it's a click box right there in the download box that comes up as you go to check-out. In the meantime I'm using one of the free anti-virus programs on www.avast.com(just scroll down the list(pick one in english and the type you want - I picked the one down the list a bit that prevents AND scans, it good for 60 days) and for anti-spyware I'm using www.safer-networking.org/en (just look for the Spybot download, it's easy....)
Man...I wish I could get one of the Alienware.com laptops.....un-believeable.........the one I want is, well, a lot......
I'm looking into gov. educational grants...I'll let you know how I make out....

TRUCKSTAR TECH - UPDATE -
The new website and the radio station are still in development and comin' along....it's a money thing as usual...
Barbie just rolls her eyes whenever I talk to her about it...it's not that she doesn't believe in me, it's just that, like a lot of women,(Thank God), she's a realist....when she gets home from work her eyes go right to the pile of bills sittin' here on the table, and this just tears my heart out (and I hate arguing over money......) she gets that scared look in her eyes.........I hope work picks up soon....this country's in trouble and it ain't just me........
I need to put this truck to work...(uhh,would ya like some fries and a coke with that sir? or "that was half pepperoni and half mushroom, extra cheese, large, right lady?").....awww, GOD help me.
I've been checkin' out helicopter pilot training schools....all I need is $65,000....yeah...that's all.....and you may not know this but student loans are one of the hardest loans to get....nowadays.....(because their UN-secured, meaning, if it was a car they could come get it, but it's an education, there's no way to repo it)........so.....I don't know, maybe I've got a scared look in my eyes too....
I don't want to find out, but this might be a little easier if I had nothing to lose......what'cha think truckstar?

Here they are, bookmark these sites ;
To find your Representative - www.house.gov ( just enter your zip)
To find your Senators - www.senate.gov - scroll to your home state.
Write them often, tell your friends to write them often....and tell them too that prices are not going to go down on Mexican shipped goods either......just more dope, crime, junky un-safe trucks with bad drivers, accidents and public costs.....Keep it going! Politicians care about 2 things most of all - Votes, and Money, in that order.......we elect em' that means they work for us.....doesn't it???..........

Okay truckstars - I gotta go - I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul, so until next week..........
(truck payments....know what I mean vern??)
Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day!
Contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows! Let's do this!!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's "Open Road Phone Line"
on-the-air - 12noon - 4:00pm - mon thru fri - you can call into the show at 817-451-6055
Remember - NO load or NO paycheck is worth dyin' for !!!!!
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me - I know...........
As always I want you to remember - I love ya and I'm prayin' for ya!
Play nice, drive safe and pull it on home...........
Crank em' up! - Check your gauges! - Watch out for four-wheelers!
Are you ready? Let's roll..........
......you're on the road with the original florida kid...................we gown..........


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Category: General

"On the Road" with the original florida kid...
Hello again fellow truckstars !
It's Week 24 and you're on the road with the original florida kid...........
Grandma, barbie and the whole gang here at the ranch say - "Hey!"
KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN' -
First up, I want to give a hearty "shout out" to our German trucker brothers and sisters, as I understand it, this blog is being translated into German, and being widely read, so I want them too to know that I love em' and appreciate them takin' the time to jump on the road with us all here at "On the Road" with the original florida kid..... Don't think, truckstars, that truckers all over the world don't go through the same trials and tribulations as us, here in the U.S., I'm here to tell you that they do.... I travelled a lot when I was younger as an aspiring pro surfer, mostly to third world countries, and you might be more than a little surprised to know that people all around the world are basically the same, and we all have common hopes, dreams, and.....problems.
True, they may live under different circumstances, but, as we're all humans(okay...uhhh..most of us.....) I've found that no matter where I go people are, well, just people.....
Let's take the Mexican trucking debacle, I don't blame the Mexicans and for that matter, all the central americans, for trying to make it over here to work - WHAT?? - you might be screaming.... No, I don't, in fact I more than understand....Think about it truckstars - if you found yourself a citizen of a third world country, what would you do? I'd swim, run, jump fences, crawl on my belly in the middle of the night to get to the U.S. at whatever cost.....Now does that mean I am in favor of the illegals coming, and being, here? No, it dosen't, because I'm not..... American business wants them here, and the government has been turning their heads for a long, long time....we ALL know that.....THAT'S why they are here...Being from south florida , it's an everyday thing for people to wash up on the beach. All the outdoor service trades, lawn co's, tree trimming services, plant nursery, farms, construction, roofing, the restaurants - they all use spanish and haitian labor.....they have for 50 years, that's right 50 years that I have personally witnessed, probably longer. What's really going on here is the kind of business and politics that made slavery a successful enterprise, globally, for thousands of years.
Listen to this - you're not going to believe this - I'm looking at the cover of a magazine called "Landscaping Management, the Jan. 08' issue...the cover story, with photos, is, and I quote, " What Now? - Smart strategies to survive and perhaps even prosper in spite of the DELAY and LOSS of H-2B WORKERS" - (H-2B workers being the kind of worker that we are talking about, many with weak forgeries of documents that no one really bothers to check and many with NO papers at all) South Florida isn't even close to being the exception to the rule, these workers are all over the U.S., and have been.
Who cuts the grass and trims the bushes at the mall or the apt. complexes and condos near your house? Hmmm?
That the trucking industry has been targeted for cheap labor to increase business profits should be no surprise to anyone, and trust me, big biz and their gov. puppets are counting on the fact that truckers will do little or nothing about it....You've read and heard about this for at least a couple of years now - I think we're all, to an extent, sick of the headlines and endless discussion, but I want you to check out the latest issues of Landline(theOOIDA mag, and while you're at it SIGN UP) and others like "The Trucker" or Overdrive, Fleet Owner, and roadStar. Every one has their perspective, which they are entitled to, but all seem to agree that the political pressure from the trucking side is DEFINITELY having a big effect on the situation. The ATA too, they are lobbying heavily for the trucking industry !!
Here they are, bookmark these sites ;
To find your Representative - www.house.gov ( just enter your zip)
To find your Senators - www.senate.gov - scroll to your home state.
Write them often, tell your friends to write them often....and tell them too that prices are not going to go down on Mexican shipped goods either......just more dope, crime, junky un-safe trucks with bad drivers, accidents and public costs.....Keep it going! Politicians care about 2 things most of all - Votes, and Money, in that order.......we elect em' that means they work for us.....doesn't it???..........
Freight is down..(we know)....even for us boat haulers.....so the experts are saying, and we could be staring into the face of a recession....(uhhh, I thought we already were in a recession...oh, sorry, am I bad...... I guess the dark cloud I see hanging over the country is just smoke from the forest fires.........riiiiiiiight........)
Truckstars - the gloves have to come off !! - roll up your shirtsleeves and get involved.......PLEASE........

Sprint seems to be the best mobile web access....so far.....
If you wonderin' where you're going to get the extra money for a decent laptop with mobile web capability - try this - for the next month save every single receipt you spend a "dime" on, and at the end of the month sit down and look them over. What you'll find may surprise you....it does me.(I even had the cable "movie" channels turned off) You'll see what your spending habits are and most people are shocked at the stuff they spend money on, too much money on. I guarantee over the course of a few months you'll be able to corral enough money to pay for a good laptop AND a monthly web access fee. Remember? In a recent blog I told you that you only really need one monthly web access provider and the tech mags all talk about how the trends are pointing to mobile web access being the new frontier....whether you're on the road or at home you can be online 24/7.....what'cha think truckstar? Weather, new release movie downloads, even tv, audio/visual communication with your loved ones at home, Skype for online phone service - there's pretty much everything you need to do you can do on the road now.... www.laptop.com - check it out!

I thought Fox did a great job with the Daytona 500 yesterday, kinda seemed like the Superbowl, only with race cars, didn't it? The #12 alltel car driven by Ryan Newman after an un-selfish push from teammate and number 2 finisher Kurt Busch. Mr. Penske is a great man, and though I'm partial to the Hendrick team because of family ties, I'm still ecstatic for the "Dodge boys".......Junior, Jeff, and JJ - don't worry Hendrick fans they'll be in it all season long...Junior ran a tight race, Jeff G. has suspension problems, JJ had a wreck.....get em' next time.........I'm still tryin' to get used to seein' the Toyota name on race cars.......and hearing race drivers talk who can't speak english..........whaaaaat-EVER.......

PBR action in Oklahoma over the weekend was great too at the Copenhagen Challenger Tour event in Oklahoma City for the one of the richest purses in PBR history - $500,000 for the first place win! It was a night for the Texans as Clayton Williams, out of Carthage, Texas for the second time, bad elbow and all rode all 3(the only rider of the event to ride all 3) of his bulls to take the CCT event. Oklahoma knows bull riding and the fans saw a dramatic finish that took the competition down to the wire.Young Brain Richardson out of Dallas, texas took second followed by Brazilian sensation Robson Palermo. Rising superstar Kody Lostroh came in 4th overall. A great show PBR fans, and next week follow the action when the Built Ford Tough Series makes a stop in St. Loius for the Enterprise Rent a Car Invitational!

Don't forget truckstars to be careful with what you eat! I know it's tough on the road to get to the salads and low fat salad dressings, whole grain foods with 0 trans fats but if you start looking for this kind of stuff more and more you'll train yourself to lean that way. IT DOES MATTER ! Fat is the killer in most peoples diets......Please take care of yourself...I want to see you back here next week! Okay? Great!
More on diet and germ warfare - NEXT WEEK !!

Help an abused kid in your neighborhood, you'll be a hero, trust me.........
See you on Facebook !!
I don't know what it is but I keep getting these "friend" requests from really cute young women on MySpace.....OOoookay...uhh...it ain't because of my animal magnetism or the fact that I'm rich and handsome(I wish.....)...soooooo...I don't know, maybe I'm dumber than I thought......aahhhh yes - to be young again.....

Okay truckstars - I gotta go....I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul, so until next week..........(truck payments....know what I mean vern??)
Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day!
Contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows! Let's do this!!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's "Open Road Phone Line"
on-the-air - 12noon - 4:00pm - mon thru fri - you can call into the show at 817-451-6055

Remember - NO load or NO paycheck is worth dyin' for..........
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me - I know...........
As always I want you to remember - I love ya and I'm prayin' for ya!
Play nice, drive safe and pull it on home...........
Crank em' up - check your gauges - watch out for four-wheelers.....
Are you ready? Let's roll..........
you're on the road with the original florida kid...................we gawn..........

Category: General

"On the Road" with the original florida kid

Hello again fellow truckstars!
It's week 23 and you're on the road with the original florida kid......

Grandma, Barbie, and the whole gang here at the ranch say - "Hey!"......

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN" -
Soooooo.... let me get this straight....but first....grab a cup of coffee, an ashtray, pull up a chair and let's sit down and hash this thing a little bit (more......) Barbie sure makes a great cup of coffee, and she looks kind of cute in her little pink tank top and her baggy pj bottoms this morning..........
Oh - before I forget - Cummings just came out with a power gen. that meets California's emission standards. Someday, and it looks like someday soon, this will be the minimum standard for power when not running. More and more, almost every day I read of another state or region banning idling. Now, I've driven in sunny Cal and it seems to me there is an underlying tension in that state between the drivers and the state. I wonder if they realize that beating up on the trucking co's is only pushing their freight and consequently their product costs even higher.... I know, I know this is an obvious point, but I also know that Cal. is one of the most expensive states to live in too and it's just their nature to cut off their nose to spite their face.(Also truckstars, frankly I think we should drill oil wherever and whenever we can, we have enough of our own oil to meet our needs and by the time we run out there will be alternative means, that is if the oil co's quit suppressing the new technologies)........... I have family, an ex-wife and a rock star kid there in California, I lived there in the days when I was a stuntman in Hollywood. I often wonder where the road tax money is going.....it's not going to the roads, at least in the greater LA area......
Been doin' a lot of reading lately.....and this mexican thing isn't going away. A few of the mex co's are backing out of the deal,( and I have yet to see a mexican truck that I would let, even, someone I don't like drive......... and the OOIDDA is still bangin' away at the legislature over this. I highly recommend becoming an OOIDA member.....at least check out their website you'll see what I mean when I say they are going after this thing with both barrells blazing. One guy or gal standing there screaming isn't going to crumble the wall...........but many of us will........I honestly feel like I'm a part of something with the OOIDA, and, if you want to get involved, and you should, they show you how, right from their website. And let us not forget truckstars, and everyone seems to be dancin' around this one.....we can always STOP buying products from the co's using mexican trucking.....who are they?? Probably the same cheap asses who ditched your neighbors job last year........I wonder if the exec's of these same co's got a pay raise and a bonus for fiscal 07'.........plus - and get this - foreign grown fruits and vegatables are often grown using pesticides and herbicides, (not to mention poor grade fertilizers made from God knows what) - that we outlawed in the US 40+ years ago....
GM is still tryin' to kick the UAW's ass. Their offering a buyout(whatever that really means) to some 23,000 workers. Why? So they can hire cheap labor like Asplundh(the orange truck tree trimmers), Waste Management, and a few other big, greedy co's?
I love the way(uhhhh...not really....) big business thinks......they pull the rug on their customer base by outsourcing US jobs, then they have the ba....uh, nerve, to raise prices(Levis,Ralph Lauren) even though their production costs have decreased by 30+ percent, then they get on the tv and cry about fiscal losses and how business is down and that we're in a recession. Corporate executives, however, don't seem to be suffering much I have to say, I'm in the high end boat hauling business and, trust me, biz is rockin'.............hmmmmmmmm..........oh yeah while I'm on a roll here let me mention these so called "trucking community" websites, which are really nothing more than little ad money machines for some yahoo who thinks that if he puts up a "closed" community, where you can't mention anyone or anything that takes you off the site, and manages it with an iron fist, and, this kills me, they all claim to be the fastest growing site on the web(with all 2,000 members......out of a poss. 3 to 4 million......) while doing absolutely NOTHING for drivers........ God! Well - it is a free country.............so how come nothin's free??? Now, don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good trucking websites on the web, okay well not a lot, but the free exchange of info and discussion on top notch sites like - truckertotrucker.com and truck.net and thetruckersreport.com, I'm also a member of a site called mytruckingspaces.com too, (drivers and drivers family members) and I've met some great and interesting people there, these guys, especially truckertotrucker.com / truck.net know what's going on in the world because they let people talk, exchange ideas and information.........Listen - I wasn't born yesterday - everyone has an "agenda", I do too, we're all tryin' to make a livin' the best way we know how......but the guy at truckingspaces.com(a copy cat site) needs to understand that people will come back to you if you're site is a good place to meet people and come away with new ideas and information and not feel like a ping pong ball bouncing around in a shoebox.........
Still with me truckstar??

Single? Check out www.countrymatch.com(this is the best site I have found for "country" lovers, cowboys and cowgirls, to find like minded "real" people.) Check it out!!

Also - the best credit monitoring site is www.myfico.com these guys are the ones the credit reporting agencies go to for info. The credit scores are accurate, unlike the big 3 who also have their own services too.(yeah, that's like the fire dept. hiring arsonists.....) Get on their monitoring program, a monthly fee and they let you know if any un-authorized activity happens, immediately so you can do something about it. Plus you can look at your credit report whenever you want. Tip of the day - make sure you check to see if the limits on your cards is posted with the account info. Why? Because it will read/show you are maxxed on the account no matter what amount you have charged on the card and that will drive your credit score down. This is a tactic some of the card co's use so they can manipulate your % rate at will. You can also call the card co's and negotiate a lower % rate too! AND if you see something not right on there, and check each agency report carefully, call them directly and dispute it, and I mean you're telling them, not asking them......got it?

Did you see the Bud Shootout last weekend, now that's racing!! Awwww come on now, let the boys settle their problems amongst themselves.....Tony? Kyle? Go to you're rooms - you're grounded! (I would've paid to see that one, how 'bout you truckstar?).......
I don't know why, to me, the NASCAR hierarchy is seeming more and more like a bunch of nazis, true, racing has come a long way, and any thing like this needs supervision, but racing has not become what it is because of "them" but because of the tech people, the owners, the drivers, and the fans....... and while I'm ranting here's another two cents worth.......Road course racing??? are you kidding me?? for cars that can race 180-200mph all day long? Let's just say that I know for a fact that the drivers HATE the road course tracks..........as a fan - so do I.......anyway I think you can look for Junior, JJ, and Jeff G. and the rest of the boys to drive the tires off the cars this year. Daytona - this coming Sunday.........wohooooo!

The last few weekends have seen some great PBR action - Paulo Crimber, he's a braz rider but he talks like a redneck.....he won the Anaheim Classic last weekend, my man travis Briscoe, Brian Canter and JB Mauney did great, I think they're nursing injuries.... Mr. White did alright, as did the aussie Brandon Clark. Justin and Ross and Chris.....where are you????????.........
Next weekend Oklahoma City!!!! Feb. 15.16 and 17th...

The next few issues will bring back all the different departments everyone seems to enjoy so much, including the Wanted:Heroes, Health Department, Cowboy Corral, Jukebox, and Truckstar Tech. and a few new dept's., like The History Book. (I like history, not just trucking history but American history too. I found out there are a lot of Civil War relic hunters, for example, and I find this kind of thing very interesting.)
Also a new section I'm calling - TRUCKSTAR KIDS - (check out these sites for kids, http://www.howtoons.com/ and http://www.truckerbuddy.org/)
I'll be writing a weekly series on the exciting adventures of Johnny Duke, and his computer wiz kid pal, Tommy "the Hacker" Jenkins, as they solve crime mysteries, while on the road with Johnny's trucker Dad.
JD and TJ are 12 year olds who want to be a trucking industry detectives when they grow up.....
The adventure begins when Johnny thinks he sees a suspicious vehicle, an older model Ford van, white, dirty, following them from a hazmat pickup in Miami, Dad says it's nothin' but Johnny and Tommy think otherwise.......Tommy's runnin' the plates...don't ask how..........


Don't forget about abused kids, and our impoverished neighbors in West Virginia !!

Write down the following web addresses, bookmark em' and make it a regular part of your web surfing!
To find your Representative - www.house.gov ( just enter your zip)
To find your Senators - www.senate.gov - scroll to your home state.
Write them often, tell your friends to write them often....and tell them too that prices are not going to go down on Mexican shipped goods either......just more dope, crime, junky trucks and bad drivers, accidents and public costs.....Keep it going!

Remember - NO paycheck and NO load is worth dyin' for......

Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day -
contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's Open Road Phone Line,
12noon - 4:00pm, mon thru fri - call him at 817-451-6055
Don't forget too, truckstars - if you're lookin' for a critter - I highly recommend you start lookin' at:
www.aspca.org and www.hsus.org (humane society) I see lots of drivers with little buddies on the road, I like the Jack Russells......
DON"T FORGET! Check out www.laptop.com You really need to start thinkin' about gettin mobile web access you guys, seriously. Just Google "refurbished notebooks" and you'll find, usually factory sites, with really good deals. You want mobile web access capability, upgradeable ram, a big screen, a built in web cam amd mic, if not,then just buy a headset with a mic.The Skype.com download is free and it's dirt cheap to make calls on, I used it all day yest. I think I called everyone I've ever met, I even called myself(alright you in the back...I heard that) I called myself to check the voice quality, which was great.................. QVC and HSN also have a good selection of notebooks with great features AND you can break up payments on for 4 to 5 months too! More on this next week! I'm hearing Sprint has the best mobile web network......I'll let you know....T-Mobile too, AT&T?? Don't know yet.....

Well alright - that's it for this week truckstars!
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me........I know......
Watch what you eat and watch the road !!
As always I want you to remember - I LOVE YA AND I'M PRAYIN' FOR YA!!!!

So - play nice, drive safe, and pull it on home...........until next week -
you're on the road with the original florida kid......................we gown..........

Category: General

"On the Road" with the original florida kid - Week 22

Hello again fellow truckstars! It's week 22.........
and you're on the road with the original florida kid....
Grandma, Barbie and everyone here at the ranch say "hey"...........

KITCHEN TABLE TALKIN' -
Well, this past week we had a family loss. Grandma June, Barbies grandma passed away in a nursing home in Hobe Sound, Florida. She had been there for about three years. Barbie and her Mom, Grandma Debbie(here at the ranch....) were very close to Grandma June. She was quite a gal, a skydiver, skateboarder, she loved motorcycles too(got pics of her on mine) a big high school basketball fan in her hometown in Michigan. Everyone who knew her, loved her.
Barbie and her Mom(Grandma Debbie) worked so hard to keep her comfortable, visiting several times a week making the 60 mile drive without ever complaining. It hurts to see someone you love have their heart broken by the loss of a loved one almost as much as the actual loss of the loved one.....doesn't it truckstar? Barbies Mom held her hand and whispered in her ear that we loved her, we would all be okay and she could go..... a few minutes later she did. 4:05pm this past wed., heaven received it's latest citizen........... Barbie and her Mom, I felt should be the ones with her since it was an "all girl" family for many years, raising the kids and stuff, so.........
she'll never, ever be forgotten.

Well truckstars, we all have to go sometime don't we? I guess.........I ain't in no hurry though......... I want to make the most of it while I'm here, don't you?

A few days ago I bit the bullet and went out and bought a 2008 F-450 4x4....this truck is nothing short of being a BEAST ! It's black and it's a crew cab with a 4.88 gear, meaning it will haul up to 33,000lbs.......I'll let you know.....yes I've heard the bad reports about the 6.4l diesel engines and I would much rather have gotten one with a Cummins diesel in it, but the Cummins come in the Dodges and I couldn't find a Dodge strong enough to do what I need it to do, or rather, what I want it to do. The high end pick-up truck market isn't what you think it should be out there in a market place where the costs of freight hauling is creating sub-markets for camper, car, boat and trailer haulers.........not to mention the fact that NOT ONE of the numerous salesman I spoke with on my trek to find the "beast" at a half dozen or so dealerships had a clue.....about anything(except his sales commission...)...............
Do your homework, truckstars, do your homework on what you need when you make a buy like this. You know what to do........
So far so good, like I said I'll let you know........

I like Dave Sweetman, he writes a column, "driver's view", in roadStar magazine, usually towards the back of the mag.I like his perspectives and outlook, being a driver himself he's out here in the mix with the rest of us. Check out roadStar mag and grab a copy of Landline, the OOIDA mag while you're at it.
I'm proud to announce that I became an OOIDA member this month, a link to them and Landline will be on thetruckstar.com, my new website which will be up soon. The Teamsters(I wish I was one...) and the OOIDA as well as the ATA, are major players in the courts across the U.S, including federal court. Think about joining the OOIDA truckstars, our strength lies in our numbers......right?
If any of you guys or gals are trucking history buffs, like me, and have any old trucking photos I can use on thetruckstar.com, Please forward them to Jim McCormack at truckertotrucker.com for me, he'll make sure I get them and I will put them up.
I see in the latest edition of The Trucker(I love this paper....all the truck stops carry em') the mexican border crossing fiasco is still raging. I saw a couple of mexican trucks on I-10, my last cross country trip in mid-december, somewhere in Arizona I think it was. Both trucks were junkers, I mean, in the worst condition I've ever seen. Fenders flapping, half the glass missing, just tape, and almost all the tires were bald, canned sparay paint over the rust spots..... I was truly stunned....how is it these guys are allowed to run with trucks in that condition??? Now....which U.S companies are using mexican truckers?.........I'll stop buying their products....I mean it, I will.....
The ATA is pumping lot of money, more than any other firm or organization in trucking, into lobbying.....cool......I think.......

Man! I love the new Western Star and K-dubba trucks.....sweet.....Freightliner claims to have the most fuel efficient aero-dynamic design, I drove one for Averitt, I liked it alright......I like the KW's better.....

Okay, are ya still with me truckstar?
I want to talk about eating for a second here. We all know road food, for the most part, is crap, and we all know until the truckstops get their heads out of their keesters it's not going to change, either, but you can still look for the salads, grilled chicken or what ever, on most fast food menus. I look for truckstops near good restaurants, like Sonny's or even Steak-n-Shake(good salads). The walk of a couple a hundred yards won't hurt you either, and since you're already saving money by NOT buying so much coffee and junk food, a couple of extra dollars for food that won't kill ya, is worth it, like the corporate androids say - "it's a win-win". Also, hit the Wal-Mart or Publix and grab a bag of apples or oranges, or both, some cut pineapple(it cuts grease in the digestive tract), or bananas(replaces potassium killed by coffee). Also, remember, whole food organic vitamins!! Meal replacement protein bars, low fat butter, dressings, chips,etc. )gram transfat foods..........The problem is, usually, the way we eat on the road is the way we eat at home, or vice versa...stop, think about what you are doing. Okay truckstar?....Please??? I don't want to lose you too............

Daytona in a couple of weeks, I hope to be there interviewing(hopefully, if my little bro' can hook it up) Jeff G. and JJ !!

PBR - This kid! Travis Briscoe, I told you earlier last year to watch for this kid, didn't I? 3 event wins(Worcester, Fresno and Albany) this year already including the winner take all event in Fresno where he walked away with $105,000 . Check him and the rest of the boys out this week-end in Winston-Salem, N.C. sat. night on Versus and Sun. afternoon on NBC. (I really wish NBC would make up their minds whether they want to show the PBR.....or not......) I like Ty, Justin and the G-man who call the action on Versus, I don't know who this guy on NBC is, he sounds like a car salesman or something........

The Feb. 08' issue of LAPTOP magazine, check out page 110 for the Annual Notebook buyers guide, and their Reviews section is outstanding, everything from laptops, to phones, software, services, all the good stuff! Good article on page 86. Knowledge is power..........uh, chances are, the saleshelp or web site you buy one from won't have a damn clue........sooooo..... and screw wi-fi, wi-fi still has too many security issues.....I love the all in one Sony VAIO VGC-LT15E, it's got a 20" high res. screen with a built in tv tuner and a pci cardslot for mobile web access, and the ram is upgradeable to 4 gigs..........(my birthday's comin' up.........)

Help an abused kid in your neighborhood, you'll be a hero, trust me.........
See you on Facebook !!
Okay I gotta go....I'm trying to find a haul and a back-haul, so until next week..........
Don't forget about National Truckers Prayer Day -
contact Billy Mack on Bozo Radio, or the other radio trucking shows! Let's do this!!
Billy Mack on(XMchannel171) Bozo radio's Open Road Phone Line,
12noon - 4:00pm, mon thru fri - call him at 817-451-6055

Remember - NO load or paycheck is worth dyin' for..........
Pray for us all, our nation, the world and the lost..... and try not to worry!!
God hears prayers, trust me - I know...........
As always I want you to remember - I love ya and I'm prayin' for ya!
Play nice, drive safe and pull it on home...........
Crank em' up - check your gauges - watch out for four-wheelers.....Are you ready? Let's roll..........
you're on the road with the original florida kid...................we gawn..........

Category: General